Fort Lionheart was built on the plains east of the Cold Mountain Domain, next to the Taka Mountains to the east, and beyond the Taka Mountains, it was the territory of the Askar Alliance. However, because that mountain range was difficult to climb, except for some steep mountain roads that hunters would take, there were almost no roads for the brigade of people to pass, so the cold mountain collar and the Askar Alliance basically did not interact.

This plain is one of the best fertile fields in the cold mountain territory, and the Qing River to the west irrigates the land, so that the crops here grow well. Around Lionheart, there are some large fields of farmland, but now that the autumn harvest has passed, the wheat on these fields has been harvested by the farmers, and it seems a little empty.

Lionheart Fort stands on a raised hill in the plain, the terrain is dozens of meters higher than the surrounding farmland, coupled with the towering buildings of Lionheart Fort itself, it is extremely eye-catching in the open plain, even if it is more than ten kilometers away, you can see the figure of Lionheart Fort.

As the capital of the Leng Shan Lord, the castle where the Duke of Leng Shan lived, the Lionheart Fort deliberately highlighted its magnificent momentum from the time it was built, with its towering towers and the heavy city walls around the castle, as if it was really a male lion standing in the mountains, especially the main fort, which was as high as seven floors, occupying almost half of the area of the entire castle.

The large corridor hall on the top floor of the main fort is a wide belvedere, although it is the top floor, but the area is not much smaller than the ground floor, a large area of the lookout is suspended outside the main fort, standing on it will make people can't help but have a thrilling feeling, but at the same time the view is also wonderful. Looking down from the lookout in the Grand Gallery to the castle, the peasants who toiled under the castle looked like ants, and the feeling of looking at the world would arise.

This is also Duke Tagman's favorite place to stay, and as for the reason why he likes to stay here, it naturally needs not be detailed.

The entire gallery is not divided, but the top of the castle is supported by two rows of eight columns each and four or five meters high, so that the open design is suitable for many activities, such as knights' pre-royal competitions.

Duke Tegman was a martial artist, so he often asked his knights to compete in front of them, and the Grand Gallery was a very suitable place.

It was nearly dusk, and Duke Tegman sat on the stone throne in the main hall, leaning on the armrest on one side, with his hands on his cheeks, watching with great interest the competition of his knights.

The two knights who were placed in the field went back and forth, and it seemed that they were evenly matched, but if you look closely, you will find that one of them is comfortable in attack and defense, and it is very easy to deal with. The other has to fight with all his might to parry the opponent's attacks while countering a strike or two from time to time.

As the sun set and the last rays of sunlight shone into the hall before the night covered the earth, the knights, who were gradually revealing their defeat, seized the opportunity to take a step back and take a position to the west, leaving the other party facing the dazzling sunset.

Illuminated by the setting sun, the knight's movements, which had been easy before, couldn't help but dull his movements, and his opponent immediately took advantage of the opportunity when the opponent's vision was blocked, and stabbed the opponent in the chest.

However, at this time, the knight who was illuminated by the sunset had already expected it, and took advantage of the situation to raise his sword, just in time for the opponent's blow. At this time, the sun also completely set, and the night covered the large hall.

"Alright!" Duke Tigerman interrupted the contest with a sudden speech, "the winner has been decided, and Oz has won." ”

Oz, who managed to block his opponent's final blow, lowered his sword and reached out to the other knight.

"The sword that used the sunset line just now is really beautiful. ”

His opponent quickly lowered his sword as well, and took Oz's outstretched hand. "You're still superior, and I'm convinced. Although defeated, the knight did not resent, but looked quite impressed with Oz.

Then the two of them turned together and saluted Tigerman.

"You already guessed that the other party would use the light to make that sword, right?" Tiger Man looked at Oz with interest, "Moreover, I also predicted that the other party would stab you in the chest, Oz, it looks like your swordsmanship has improved again." ”

"Thank you for the compliment, Lord Duke. Ozzy Pildenore put his hand on his chest and bowed, "It's only because I know the other side better that I can get away with it." If I had changed to an unfamiliar opponent, I was afraid that I would have lost just now. ”

"A victory is a victory, and there is no need to be modest in winning or losing, that is an insult to the opponent. Duke Tigerman stood up and walked over to Oz, "If it's on the battlefield, it doesn't matter if you insult your opponent in a vulgar way or in a pretentious way, but when you are competing with your colleagues, this kind of modesty is not necessary. ”

"Remember your teachings, my lord. Oz lowered his head, not daring to look at Tagman's face.

Tegman admonished the other knight a few more times, then turned to Rayleigh Clive, the governor of Lionheart's Castle, who had been standing by the stairs for a while—he had already seen the other man, so he ended the contest early.

"Go down first, all of you. Duke Tegman raised his hand, waved his finger, and motioned for the knights to stand down, "Everyone who won the contest just now went to get a bottle of black truffle, but they were not allowed to get drunk. ”

After dispatching his knights, Duke Tegman beckoned Reilly to approach.

"What's the matter?"

"Letter from Lord Fonner, Lord Duke. Reilly respectfully handed over a letter, although he was also the head of the court, but compared to Rodney of the Vortagan Lord, he was just a servant, "The letter was delivered in such a hurry that the messenger even broke a horse, and it took two and a half days to deliver the letter." ”

"Huh?" said Duke Tagman frowned, he was sure that Funner would not be the kind of person to make a fuss, and that what he was so anxious to tell himself must be a big deal.

Opening the envelope, Tegman scanned the contents of the letter at a glance and quickly read the short letter. When he had finished reading it, he clutched the letter tightly and closed his eyes in deep thought.

Reilly stood beside him with his hands down, and said nothing. He has been a servant of the Figlaf family since he was a child, and has been following Tigerman for more than forty years, so he can be the steward of Lionheart Castle, so he naturally knows Tigerman's temper well.

"Where's Valolet?" Tiger Man suddenly opened a pair of tiger eyes, and a sharp light shot from his eyes.

The Ovalette that Tegman asked about was Valolet Evelyn, Earl of Frecon.

He was also detained in the South Tower. Reilly replied with his head bowed.

Tiger turned around and walked to the lookout platform, where the Grand Gallery was built to the south, and the tower called the "South Tower" in Lionheart was naturally within view.

He caressed the railing of the lookout, and there was no support under his feet except for a floor floor, which was seven stories above the ground, and the average person would surely die if he fell.

"Put him in a dungeon!" Tegman's eyes turned horrified, "I must interrogate him before sunset tomorrow for his confession of treason!"

"Yes......" Reilly hesitated slightly, although he had followed Tagman for more than forty years and served him almost since he was born, Reilly still couldn't get used to Tagman's unscrupulous style.

"In addition, immediately summon Titus back, and then issue a conscription order to the territory, hurry!"

"How many men are to be recruited?" asked Reilly, wisely not asking who the troops were.

"At least five thousand men must be called up first, and it must be done before the day after tomorrow. Tegman looked at the farmland outside the castle at night, because of the fertile land around Lionheart, it was densely populated, and there were a large number of young men who could recruit, so it was not too difficult to quickly gather five thousand people, "In addition, I have to continue to recruit ten thousand people, and issue a call order to those earls and barons, I have not used their troops this year, now is the time for them to send troops, tell them to gather at least ten thousand people, I will give them a week." ”

"Yes. Reilly replied in a low voice, and at the same time sighed in his heart, less than half a month ago, Duke Tagman gathered the levies in his territory and fought a battle in the gloomy castle, and those peasants had not been home for long before they had to go to war again.

"Any other orders, Lord Duke?"

"Nothing, what's dinner today?"

Reilly was stunned, although he had followed Tiger Man for so many years, he was also a little old, and he couldn't immediately turn around from Tiger Man's leapfrog thinking. After thinking for a while, he replied: "There is fresh fish from Qinghe, and the kitchen specially made charcoal-grilled fish steak as the main dish, accompanied by truffle soup and ham meat, I don't know what wine you want tonight?"

"Add one or two more dishes and I feel a good appetite today. Tiger touched the beard on his chin, his face flushed in the light of the lights in the hallway.

Reilly bowed his head, it seemed that every time before the war, the Duke would have a good appetite, which Reilly had learned a little bit over the years.

After a sumptuous dinner, Tagman went back to his room early, as did his current wife, Mrs. Aegabi.

"Your Excellency. Seeing Tagman come in, Mrs. Agelby quickly stood up and saluted, her expression and posture looking more like a female servant than the mistress of Lionheart.

"Hmm. Tigerman replied in a dull voice, without saying anything more. He lay straight on the bed without even taking off his clothes.

"What about Edward and Albert?" Tagman asked, Edward and Albert are both the sons of Lady Egabie, that is, the younger brother of William, the Baron of Hottuburg, William is twelve years old this year, so he was given a territory by Tigerman, and Edward is only eight years old, and Albert is only four and a half years old, and he can't leave his mother, so he didn't leave Lionheart like his brother.

"They were tired of playing today, so they were taken back to their rooms by the maids to sleep. Mrs. Egelby replied cautiously, lest she might make Tigerman angry.

"What did they play today?" Tiger Man didn't care much about the kids' playfulness, and he didn't think much of the bachelors anyway.

Edward was clamoring to learn the sword from the Gallup Knight, but the Gallup Knight felt that he was too young to let him hold the sword, and only let him watch from the sidelines. Lord Leslie's youngest son laughed at him, and Edward and Leslie fought. ”

"Oh?" Tigerman seemed to be in a state of interest when he heard this, and he stood up, put his arm around his wife, and asked, "Did Edward win?" I remember that Titus' youngest son is ten years old this year. ”

"Yes, Edward has won......" Mrs. Egabby was holding her husband around and did not dare to move, "he beat Leslie's nose to blood, and then Albert went to help him, and the two of them beat Leslie to the point where her nose was blue and her face was swollen." ”

After saying that, she carefully glanced at Tagman's rosy face after drinking, as if she was afraid that he would be angry. But there was only a smile on Tegman's face, and he didn't look angry at all.

Haha, Titus himself is so good at fighting, but his son is so useless, he can't even deal with two children younger than him!"

Mrs. Aegby didn't dare to answer, and probably only Tegman didn't care about his son hurting someone else.

"Your sons are very good, it's good to be able to fight, if I have more sons who can fight like this, then the Figlaf family will definitely be more prosperous in the future. Tagman hugged his wife and lay down on the bed, "It's not too early, blow out the candles, I want to have more sons." ”

Madame Egelby could only go and blow out the candles, and how could she resist in the presence of such a man?