It sounds like the "Captain of the Temple Guard" is the most powerful hole card that Roddy has gotten so far, but after thinking about it, he also understands that this is the most "chicken-ribbed" hole card... The so-called "conditions allow" can only be triggered when the orcs invade or the undead attack, and there is no need to expect anything else to do on weekdays.

Having said that, the cavalry and infantry sent by the Overseer were definitely a great gift - counting the scouts, there were 49 cavalry men and a squad of infantry as auxiliaries... For a small lord who did not have a standing army, Roddy's "military strength" was already quite powerful.

And the good thing comes in pairs... Duke Angmar then promised Roddy a great deal of resources: in addition to the things he had previously sent to Sodrore, Roddy also had full command of the Wellington knights in the "battle plan with Magda".

In addition, he also received a "subsidy" of 3,000 silver coins and 500 gold coins, the status of a lord as a "retainer", and the "right to share" intelligence information about the territory. In terms of personnel, Roddy has the right to directly mobilize all the resources of the Rusiflon family in the vicinity of Kig Town if necessary, with a family crest and a letter from the duke's own handwriting!

In the past, such a delegation of power was simply unheard of, but because of the crisis of the orcs and Magda, Duke Angmar completely acted like "doing extraordinary things in extraordinary times", and with a wave of his hand, he almost made Roddy hold more real power in his hands than some counts!

In this way, although Roddy did not have any titles, the Duke of Angmar still gave Roddy the power comparable to that of an earl - even if it meant to repay the grace of saving his life, but this kind of trust still made Roddy sigh in his heart.

What made Roddy even more relieved was that the topic that Angmar had discussed in the evening was already about the plan to start strengthening the fortified defenses in the territory and start planning defensive measures.

Although winter is approaching, and many of these plans will not be implemented until next spring, these things have exceeded Roddy's expectations - which means that there are already people "awakening" in the twilight of the kingdom.

For this reason, Luo Di feels that this battle will be fought in one word: value!

Early morning of September 28th.

After waking up, Sally, who had changed into a priest's robe, was trying to calm her expression, but when she reached out and touched the round bony dice, her mouth involuntarily pursed.

"Two years..."

Although the decision was made, the reluctance in her heart could not be concealed, but Sally also understood that her trip was not a "vacation", thinking of the vows made by Roddy and herself, she was in a daze in front of the mirror for a long time, and finally when the bell rang, accompanied by Roddy and her father, she stepped on the carriage to the convent.

After all, the father is different from the mother, even if he is a caring word, he will not say it a second time, and all that can be taken out is silent actions. Sending four extremely skilled guards to Sally, and quietly stuffing her bag with a few magic amplification robes and necklaces that she bought a lot of money, can naturally prove that the Duke cares about his daughter.

A few carefully selected books were also asked to be brought, most of which had to do with the way the territory was governed, apparently implying that Sally had the right to inherit the future duke—Sally didn't say it, but her heart was warm. However, when she looked up, she still wondered why her father was willing to let Roddy come with her to see him off, could this be a sign of...

Sally's cheeks flushed a little from some strange imagination, but no one in the carriage said much. The Duke and Roddy were preoccupied with what was going to happen because of yesterday's conversation, and as the carriage passed through the street and was about to arrive at the abbey, Roddy, who had been sitting for a long time, smiled as if he remembered that there was Sally sitting in front of him, and reached out and took out a small scroll of parchment bound with twine.

"Let's open it when we're on the road. ”

Sally silently took the scroll, then placed it in her close pocket—Angmar looked up at it all, but didn't speak.

Looking out the window at the monastery that was getting closer and closer, Sally's lips twitched several times to speak, but the name "Nephi" was not mentioned because of her father's presence.

When the carriage stopped, Rubens' motorcade could already be seen lined up at the entrance of the monastery.

The expected picture of farewell did not appear, and for Sally, the process of "farewell" was too simple - after a few words of conversation between Rubens, Benjamin and Duke Angmar, the entire convoy was escorted out of the South Gate by the Duke's convoy, and embarked directly on the long journey back to the "Temple" without stopping.

Sally, who was sitting in the carriage, had red circles in her eyes, and she watched the procession of the Duke's Palace gradually disappear from view, and the indescribable taste in her heart made her look a little depressed.

The team was far away in the bumps, the boring journey had begun, and the cool breeze at the end of September blew in through the car window, already carrying a slight smell of depression.

"Don't forget what you promised me. ”

Still rubbing the bone dice between her fingers, Sally sighed softly in her heart.

After seeing Sally off with the team, Roddy wandered several times on the way back.

Not because of the clear goal to be set next, or because of the pressures of orcs or undead - it might be a joke to the average person to say it: Roddy is distracted at this point because... Relationship problems.

Speaking of feelings, even if Roddy's head is dull, he actually understands how far Sally's attitude towards himself is, but in the face of Sally's "confessions" again and again, he either ignores or ignores them, although he has made jokes, but seriously, he actually understands these very well.

But let him give Sally an answer, Roddy really doesn't know what to answer at the moment.

He once had a "friendship" with the little witch Nete, and as time went by, "friendship" seemed to have finally begun to transition to "love", but on one side he was a stuffy gourd otaku, and on the other hand, although he was eccentric, he was also a little girl who was ignorant of feelings, and the two of them had been so bored for a long time, and no one had pierced the layer of paper, but just when Roddy thought that his love would have a romantic beginning..."War" used that cruel big hand to directly slap him with a bloody slap.

As a young man who originally lived in the 21st century, the so-called "chic and romantic life", "living in a thousand flowers, not a single leaf sticking" or "building a big harem" and other ideas, he has not had it when he played games, he has not had it in life, and he has not thought about it after crossing over.

His thoughts on feelings are limited to the extremely vague concept of "find a good girl and live a peaceful life". But in troubled times, the words "safe and stable" have completely lost their relationship with Roddy.

So now when Sally takes the initiative to express her love, Roddy is actually unprepared in his heart - he can kill decisively in the face of the enemy, but in the face of this girl who has come through the life and death crisis all the way, he can no longer see the other party as a pawn in the layout, a representative of the force or a simple symbol... promised her, but he couldn't allow her a stable day, and rejected her, but Luo Di really didn't want to lose such a "friend".

Fortunately, Sally chose to leave at such a time, and for Roddy, there was a feeling of "relief", and even after Sally's team disappeared from view, he secretly sighed that he finally didn't have to worry about emotional matters.

But having said that, as the little virgin Roddy walked all the way, he found that several images would pop up in his mind inexplicably - Sally hugging herself tightly in the Cobb Forest, throwing herself down on the bed in the Duke's Palace, looking at herself when she was dressed as a man, the softness on the minecart that she was holding down, when she was in the Silent Forest...

Roddy shook his head, trying to drive away these distracting thoughts, but he could go to his always rational head, but he couldn't suppress a little unspeakable emotion.

Turning his head to look out the car window at the slowly receding street, the leaves fluttering in the rustling autumn wind, and the echo of metal horseshoes hitting the stone pavement was full of ears, and scenes flashed and replayed. After being in a daze like this for a long time, Luo Di closed his eyes slightly, and finally confirmed the slightly sad emotion in his mind... It seems to be called "reluctance".

In the year 588 of the Elon calendar, countless major events occurred in the territory of Evta, some of which were not well known: the raid of the orcs on the border and the counterattack of the scouts, the Duke's daughter Sally was almost killed, Francis was killed by his own sister, the Duke's palace caught the undead mole, etc... Others, on the other hand, can be described as alarming - the assassination and counter-assassination in front of the monastery, the bloody battle between the infidels and the "Rosicrucius" in the city square, the huge ambush battle against the undead team at the West City Gate...

The conflicts and entanglements involving orcs, the undead, the Rosicrucian, the Viper Cross, and the Rusifron family seemed to have finally come to an end by the end of September. And the captain of the scout, who played a decisive role in all events, also disappeared from people's sight.

As the weather cooled and the noise of these events came to an end, civilians stockpiled firewood and food for the winter, while soldiers huddled in warm clothes and complained that the weather seemed to be freezing too quickly.

On the 1st of October, Roddy handed over the scouts and his Templar Guards to the Wellington Knights, who were about to begin their training, and the group left Houllier to march towards the "Parl" obtained by Baron Sodlore, and a day later, Roddy gave Wellington, Sodlore, and their loyal men, and set out on the road to Kig at a fork in the road.

At the same moment, the undead Magda was dragging her scarred body to the outskirts of Kieg Town with a lot of anger, although she did not feel hunger or pain, but after maintaining her mutilated body for a long time, the tired Magda finally chose to find a cave that no one noticed and began to sleep and recuperate, quietly waiting for the arrival of Ansadin in December.

The breath of winter gradually permeated the land, and while the clouds gradually enveloped the town in the north of Hollier, the Silent Forest in the northwest welcomed two mercenary teams at the same time.

One of the teams came from Kig Town, with only eight people, poorly equipped, and sleepy and lacking horses, and it was completely helpless to enter the forest at this time, because of the failure of a mission in the summer, this team called the "Iron Horse Mercenary Group" no longer had enough funds and food to survive the winter, and now entered the forest, just thinking about catching some animals that had not yet hid in their nests for the winter and gathering some herbs on the periphery. The "Silent Forest", which most people dare not set foot in, is also thanks to a new "Holy Priest" who has recently joined - and coincidentally, she is none other than Akasha, who has escaped from Hollier City and is incognito.

The other team called the "Blood Shield Mercenary Group" is much larger, the team of more than fifty people is not a local mercenary in the territory of Ivta, they speak with a slight accent, scolding and scolding into the forest, although most of the time it is a little noisy, but the style is old and spicy, the breath is strong, the whole team has a ruthless spirit of old bandits, although it is hung with the emblem of the mercenary group, but take off this clothes, I am afraid that in the blink of an eye, you can turn into bandits and horse thieves to do some dark things.

The two teams entered the "Silent Forest" with their front and back feet, neither of them knew each other's existence, the huge forest was still quiet, and when the figure with a bag and a bow and arrow walked into the woodland alone, the territory of Evta also ushered in the last heavy rain of late autumn.

Exhaling a white mist that swept away in the cold rain, Roddy reached out and tugged at his cloak, stepping into the forest of countless enemies and dangers, wealth and opportunities.

[End of Volume 1]