Outside the car, the neighing of the war horse woke Victor awake, he opened his eyes and tried to sit up, but found a soft and silky body in the arm bay close to him, and looked down to find Lilia snuggled in his arms like a little white sheep.

Looking at the long eyelashes and upturned corners of the girl in his arms, Victor couldn't help but smile.

On the third day of Nelson's return, Victor officially announced to everyone that Liliana would be his personal maid, and a special celebration banquet was held that night.

The banquet was a success, and all the members of the hill camp sent their best wishes to Lilia, especially the war bear mercenaries, who could be said to be uncles and uncles who watched Lilia grow up, and they were sincerely happy that Lilia could have such a home.

That night, a dozen or so young guards were very drunk, and Lilia was in a position of power and a long time in charge, but that didn't stop the boys from adoring her. Now, the most delicate flowers in the camp have fallen into the arms of the lords, and they can only use the luscious purple cane wine to relieve the bitterness in their hearts.

Nelson was also drunk at the dinner, not that he was reluctant to give up his sister, and Nelson did not have such delicate emotions. What really touched Nelson was that Victor insisted on holding a celebratory banquet for Lilia, and no nobleman would hold a banquet for his personal maid, which was not in line with aristocratic etiquette. After all, this is a world of knightly blood.

Victor wasn't bound by aristocratic etiquette, he wanted to throw a banquet for Lilia, so he did it, for no more reason. If I had to find a reason, it was that Victor wanted to announce to everyone that this delicate girl as delicate as a flower now belongs to me, so don't worry about it.

Perhaps because she couldn't feel her arms around her, Lilia pouted her red mouth in her sleep, squeezed it inside, and then wrapped around Victor's body like an octopus, making Victor feel both funny and warm.

In Victor's view, Nicole and him are like a pair of tight sequoias, connected by branches and leaves, and their hearts are in touch, but even if one of them breaks, the other can grow into a towering tree, because they both have strength and faith.

Lilia is different, she is like a vine attached to the body of a tree, the height she can reach depends entirely on the growth of the tree, if one day, the tree does fall, then she will also wither.

Thinking of Nicole and Lilia, Victor had another beautiful and charming figure in his mind, and it was the target he was going to visit this time: Countess - Sylvia.

Speaking of which, Sylvia is the first woman after Victor's rebirth, but Victor feels that Sylvia is like a beautiful lake, walking around the lake, you will feel that the scenery here is charming and beautiful, and at the same time, you will also feel that the lake is unfathomable and terrifying.

Sylvia deliberately provoked a conflict between him and Baron Verpin, forcibly divided fifty percent of the purple cane wine, and sold only to Nelson for January's grain, which did not surprise Victor.

What really puzzles Victor is why did Sylvia invest in him in the first place?

Sylvia not only gave him 40,000 gold soles, half-sold and half-sent a batch of armaments to him, but also sent knights to help him stabilize the situation, which is what Victor is most confused about now. At first, Victor thought that this was because of the compromise that the House of York had made to him in their eagerness to unify the territory. But now, he no longer has such a naïve idea, at that time he had no money, no people, no power, and was not qualified to negotiate terms with the York family.

Could it be that the Countess tasted the taste of a half-elf and gave him a red envelope? Thinking of this, Victor's face darkened.

In any case, Victor now needs the York family to support him for more than two years, so he is coming to Blackcastle, and he is going to hand over the noose to Sylvia.

In fact, Victor has already thought very clearly, he has no way to take the path of self-sufficiency at all, because he has a fatal weakness: he has no family support!

Therefore, when the purple cane wine showed great potential, the York family cut off the possibility of Victor returning to the family, squeezed out the share of purple cane wine in the market, and put pressure on him through food, which was the normal reaction of the great nobles. Victor believes that not to mention that he has no money now, even if he has money, the York family can make him unable to buy a grain of grain, and he can also make his purple cane wine unsold. The York family is telling him: they will not let Victor develop freely anymore, and they want purple cane wine!

But it doesn't matter, it's not necessarily a puppy tied to the leash, maybe a dragon. By that time, who will lead whom?

Just as Victor was thinking, he noticed a pair of big watery eyes staring at him, and he didn't know when Lilia had woken up.

"Victor, what are you thinking?" Lilia rubbed her tender little face on Victor's chest, she especially liked the breath on Victor's body, natural and fresh, like a forest after rain.

"I'm thinking about Sylvia. ”

Feeling the girl's tender skin, Victor said comfortably, since the intimate relationship, Lilia is particularly clingy to him.

"Who is Sylvia? Is she as beautiful as Sister Nicole?"

Lilia fanned her eyes and asked in a coquettish voice, but the girl's slightly pursed red lips revealed her jealousy, which had nothing to do with high or low, it was a woman's nature to be jealous.

"Sylvia is the Countess of York and the head of the House of York, and we are here to visit her. Victor put his arms around the girl in his arms and explained softly.

"Victor, are we going to hand over all the purple cane wine to the York family?" the girl asked with some reluctance.

"Of course, we don't have a choice. ”

Victor nodded, and then said, "Lilia, do you know the strength of the York family? This family has been inherited for thousands of years, and is known for its tenacity and tenacity, and by now, they are the most important nobles in the human world. ”

"There are five silver-rank knights in the Earl of York's family, no less than twenty bronze knights, hundreds of trainee knights, 3,000 elite soldiers, more than 20,000 vassals, no less than 40,000 people, and countless freemen who rely on the York family to live. ”

"And that's just the strength of the House of York themselves, they also have many vassal families, including one count, two viscounts, and five barons. ”

"The House of York could mobilize more than 5,000 troops in the event of a war. Such a family is a real military nobleman! Do you think we can refuse?"

Victor's eyes flashed, such a behemoth did not make him afraid, but made him inexplicably excited.

"The Yorks are so strong, why did they leave their homeland and run to the Centaur Hills?" Lilia asked with a pout. No matter how strong the other party is, being bullied always makes her very uncomfortable.

"This is the style of the York family, try to avoid strong opponents, save their strength, and fight to the end if they are forced to do so. Victor explained.

In fact, most of the millennial aristocracy had their own family style, such as the unity of the Eskeri family and the frugality of the Chebman family, and it was these traits that united the strength of the family and kept them endless. ”

"Your Excellency, you know so much!" said Lilith, her bright eyes full of adoration.

Victor only smiled wryly, all this knowledge was the gossip he talked about with people when he was in the royal capital, but it was not good at the time, the York family was caricatured as a hillbilly boar, the Escree family was a tendon, and the Chebman family was stingy。。。。。。 In fact, these taunts are all sour.

"Lilia, in the final analysis, our strength is too weak, in the coming period, we need to learn to compromise, only quietly develop, gather strength to control our own destiny. ”

Victor laughed again: "Hurry up, I have heard the barking of the dogs, old Hamm should have caught a prey, it looks like there will be a good breakfast today." ”

"Hmm. Lilia agreed, but hugged Victor tighter.

After a little more warmth, Victor and Lilia got dressed and left the carriage.

Outside the carriage, more than a dozen guards were surrounding the campfire, watching Old Hamm roast a bobtail deer, and Victor smelled a tempting aroma from a distance, and he couldn't help but say, "It's so fragrant!"

"Good morning, my lord!"

"Good morning, ma'am!"

Seeing the lord and Lady Lilia get out of the carriage, the guards saluted Victor and Lilia one after another. Lilia glared at her, she always felt that these uncles were looking at her with teasing eyes.

"Old Hamm, your barbecue skills are the best I've ever seen!"

Victor was amazed to see a fat bobtail deer strung on the shelf, roasted to a golden brown without any burnt spots.

"My lord, when I was grazing on the grassland, I roasted a lot, and naturally I became proficient. ”

Old Hamm removed a deer's hind leg and respectfully handed it to Victor, who then expertly cut off a deer loin and handed it to Lilia, Lilia's favorite part.

"Thank you, Uncle Hamm. Lilia happily took her breakfast.

"How do you think of hunting early in the morning?"

Victor saw that another bonfire was also grilling a yellow sheep, and couldn't help but ask.

"It's not because the big man is too good to eat, so he dragged Shak to hunt early in the morning. One of the guards said with a grin.

"That's it, Renault is really good at eating, and like Nelson, they are all rice buckets, but this Shak is really good at hunting, and these prey are killed with one arrow. Another guard laughed.

Renault's strength has won the approval of the guards, although his origin is unknown, everyone has been convinced that Renault is a tendon rammer, no need to be careful.

Victor smiled slightly, Renault and Shak should have gone to practice the secret form, and hunted by the way to replenish their physical needs.

Shak, who chases for Victor, is a spirit monkey militia who joined the camp as a mountain man and was brought in by Victor as a coachman.

On this trip, Victor didn't bring Nelson with him, after all, the territory still needs to be guarded.

In the end, Victor chose a dozen guards, plus Renault and Shak, as well as Old Hamm, and took two carriages and ten war horses to Black Castle.

Victor brought Old Hamm with him because his dogs were very sensitive, and only by taking these hounds out of the territory could Jack have more space to carry out Victor's plan to drive away the mountain people.

Victor took a bite of the roasted bobtail deer, and his mouth was full of fragrance, and he asked Hamm, "Old Hamm, do you steppe people live by herding, and do you also have knights?"

"Yes, our knights are all called warriors, and later I joined the War Bear Mercenary Regiment and learned that warriors are knights. Old Hamm replied.

"Do you have a castle, then?" said Victor, who suddenly became interested in the life of the steppe herders.

"My lord, there are no stones and no trees in the grassland, so we don't have a castle. Old Hamm shook his head.

"And how do you fend off monsters and beasts, or are there no such things in the grasslands?" asked Victor with a frown.

"My lord, there are a lot of monsters and wolves on the grassland, in order to defend against these monsters, we raise dogs and goshawks, and avoid them from afar, if we really can't escape, then there is only a fight. Old Ham said hoarsely, apparently not a pleasant recollection.

"For the most part, we can't defeat the gnolls, but fortunately, the Church of Radiance has built 12 cities in the steppe so that we can take refuge in them. ”

"I see, no wonder you steppe people are devout believers. Victor nodded.

The size of the gnolls is not comparable to that of humans, and once their numbers reach several hundred, the knights cannot stop their attacks, and the herdsmen are basically impossible to survive on the grassland without the protection of the city. However, this also shows that the Church of Radiance is indeed fighting against the murderous orcs for mankind, you must know that it is a very difficult thing to build a city on the grassland, and the hardships and sacrifices in this can be imagined, but the church has done it.

Perhaps the Church had cleared the grasslands of the orcs countless times, but the grasslands were too big, and the orcs were too capable of life, so they finally decided to build a city on the grasslands to shelter the herdsmen.

As for these nomads, they should be people who have lost their territories in the civil strife for thousands of years, and they have gone to the steppe to survive under the leadership of their lords. This pioneering behavior has always been encouraged by the Church, so the Church spares no effort to help the nomads, and because of this, the steppe people are devout followers of the Church.

"Later, how did you get annexed by the Sassan Empire?"

This is where Victor wonders, how could the steppe people be defeated by the Sarsanians when they fight against the orcs, they are fierce and brave, they can all ride and shoot, and they have the support of the church?

"We were not defeated by the Sarsanites!" cried Old Hamm with some excitement.

"According to the old people, it was three hundred years ago that the Glorious Church suddenly gave up the 12 holy cities on the grassland, and our patriarchs fought each other in order to control those cities, and finally there were more and more orcs near the cities, and our ancestors could only join the Sassanian Empire and the Kingdom of Duoduo. ”

"What did you say?!" Victor staggered to his feet.

"We defeated ourselves in order to rob the Holy City. Seeing his lord's face change drastically, old Ham explained that he would not admit that the brave steppe people had been defeated by the Sarsanians anyway.

"Hehe, yes, you were not defeated by the Sassans. Victor sat down with a smile, he already understood.

What happened three hundred years ago? The Rand Empire split into three kingdoms, and then the Sassangs took control of the steppe herders.

What happened seven hundred years ago? The Emperor of the Rand Empire built a city in the north with the intention of unifying the north, and he was killed by the church.

Victor can already see the strangeness of this, the 12 cities in the steppe were built by the church with the support of the Rand Empire, and only the Rand Empire has such manpower and material resources.

At that time, the Lante Empire wanted to build a city on the grassland and use it as a springboard to unify the north, but their plan failed. First the emperor was killed, then the empire was divided, and then the church withdrew from the steppe, allowing the Sassangs to take 12 cities without blood.

Therefore, the Sassan Empire is the core of the Church Knights' camp, and they want to let the Sassan Empire dominate the human world!

Victor thought quietly, he thought of Archduke Williams.

It is clear that Archduke Williams is the pro-church force in the Kingdom of Gambis, and the Kingdom of Gambis is one of the backbones of the struggle against the Sassan Empire, or one of the Iron Triangles, and if the Church controls the Kingdom of Gambis, then Dodor and Neville will be defeated by the Sassians.

So, what about the position of the House of York? They are the White Tower camp! Could it be that the White Tower camp has split?

Victor thought carefully about the role the House of York had played in the war a few years earlier.

Instead of supporting King Lane, the House of York handed over the eastern provinces to the Emperor Rand in its entirety, and then they migrated to the westernmost part of the human world, the Centaur Hills.

Just like what Victor did, jumped out of the quagmire!

After the Kingdom of Gambis lost the three eastern provinces, this became the rear of the kingdom, and the House of York and the Rand Empire had formed a front and rear attack on the Gambis Kingdom! If the two joined forces, the possibility of the restoration of the Rand Empire would be greatly increased.

If it can't be done, the York family is a staunch supporter of Williams, and it has become the target of the church camp, no matter how you look at it, the York family is invincible.

This also shows that the White Tower camp is collapsing, and the war may be very close!

"I see!" Victor said with a laugh.

"Victor, what do you understand?" asked Lilia, looking at her man, confused.

"We can't be vassals of House York!" said Victor firmly.

Vassals are cannon fodder!