After dealing with the affairs of Eagle Claw Fort, Li Ang returned to White Deer Castle.

Noyer said goodbye to Leon with his troops, his mission was complete, and he had to go back to report back to Yinslandil.

Most of the Horn Callout Rangers also dispersed home on the way, and there was no foreign enemy for now, and the Rangers would not be in battle.

Leon even asked Vendatier to take the Teenage Ranger to the forest east of White Hart Castle, where Lai Silky was preparing to build a trade zone with the Noldors, and Vendatier, the "Protector", had to cooperate.

Of course, Leon's main purpose is to get the Noldor to go back and promote it, so that more Noldor elves can come to White Deer Castle.

Now Leon only had two hundred men left.

One hundred of them were Pande soldiers, who remained the most loyal non-commissioned officers of the original batch.

The other hundred, the male Noldor Ranger led by Risadilan, the other half of Vendatil's students.

These Noldor Ranger are currently Leon's personal guards, and Rizadilan is now the captain of the guard.

That's actually what Vendatil meant - she now values Leon's safety more than anyone else.

Those girl rangers are not suitable for running around with Leon, their beauty and worth are likely to attract covetousness, and if they cause some unnecessary trouble, it will make Leon more dangerous.

But the male Noldor Ranger doesn't have that to worry about, they just need to wear a hood like Risa Dilan.

A hundred Noldor Rangers, this must be the most luxurious lineup of the pro-guard team in the entire continent.

The Noldors would protect Leon like this, of course, because of the "magic" they saw with their own eyes......

Although Leon had already told Vendatil that there was such a thing as gunpowder in the Buckley Continent, and it was something that everyone could use.

But Vendatier still thinks it's magic - the vast majority of Noldor elves also insist that the gunpowder explosion is a magic product, and the dynamite bag is a magic item made by Leon, and if it can make a magic item, then it is a Magister.

Of course, it's understandable that the Noldors had this idea, after all, people in the Middle Ages did think of all kinds of chemical reactions as spells, witchcraft, or alchemy, and they were almost the same type of magic anyway.

Older people are basically stubborn, and the hundreds of years old Noldor is no exception.

They didn't think it was strange that there were people on the Buckley continent who could make and use magical items, and the Noldors had originally come from another continent.

And Leon was a Buckley......

As for Leon's insistence that this is science, not magic, the Noldor is artificial, this is probably due to the fact that the two continents have different names for such things as "magic".

After all, the Noldors had seen that it was Leon who led Wendy to send out the "Thunderstorm Arrow", which shattered the city gate with one arrow......

They felt that they had seen it with their own eyes and that there was nothing wrong with it.

Leon simply didn't explain it—he really couldn't explain it to this group of people who didn't understand science and were full of tradition......

Vendatier didn't ask Leon much about "magic" or "magister" or anything like that, because she didn't know anything about it and didn't know how to ask.

Vendatier is only a young man among the Noldor Elves, and her age is roughly equivalent to her twenties if put on a human, and she really doesn't understand ancient magic and other things.

In addition, for Noldor, whether he has magic or not actually means the identity of master and servant......

If Leon is an elf, then under this misunderstanding, Vendatier and these Noldor Ranger are likely to directly follow Leon as their master, after all, this is their long-standing tradition, and even engraved in their genes.

But the problem is that Leon is a human being.

This makes Vendatier very entangled, whether it is Leon's help to the Noldor or Leon's status as a magister, it is worthy of her highest level of respect and protection for Leon, but you can't let a human become the master of Noldor, right?

Human lifespan is too short......

So Vendatil simply didn't ask, the arrogant pride of the Noldors couldn't tolerate them

Blind to everything they see, but equally unable to tolerate a human being the master of the Noldor.

Only Wentilph herself understood that this was indeed not magic, because she knew very well that she had just shot an arrow normally.

But again, Wendy doesn't know what to say, and she doesn't understand the principle and can't explain it......

Coupled with her Purple Child, who is exactly the appearance of a Sindari elf with a high magical talent, the Noldors now almost regard her as the Elven King.

If it weren't for the fact that Wendy still needed to "learn magic" by Leon's side, maybe the Noldors would have taken her back and forcibly ascended the throne......

Leon didn't expect this joke to be taken seriously, it was too sloppy to describe - he now somewhat understood why the elves had fallen to this point when they were so powerful......

But this misunderstanding is also a good thing, at least it will make the Noldor elves more willing to cooperate with him, and Leon is even ready to really train Wentilv to be the elven king.

……

White Deer Fort.

Castle White Hart is very different from what it used to be, and Baron Godric almost doesn't recognize his own territory.

The people are still those people, and the place is still the same place, but it seems that many things are not the same as they used to be.

It has only been more than half a year since he came to Changhe Town to serve as the chief of military affairs in the east, but Godric is almost unknown now......

Between Mai Xiang and Changhe Town, the originally rugged dirt road has become so spacious and smooth?

There are even some "buses......

Godric had been riding a horse when he returned from the Lion City, but after meeting the team leader John at McChanling Square, he also tried to ride back to Fort White Hart.

Originally just an ordinary carriage, Godric took a new experience.

Drop money into a self-service coin box or show your monthly pass and get on the bus, find your own seat, and then either look out the window at the almost endless wheat fields or chat with the people next to you—everyone looks like this, and looks familiar.

And the people on the bus basically didn't have much luggage, and they were obviously used to frequent car trips back and forth between the two places.

It took only two and a half hours for the carriage to cover a hundred miles – which was about the same speed as a gallop on horseback.

The speed was fast on the smooth and spacious road, and the horses were rested on the way as they stopped at the station on the side of the road every few moments.

On this road, the average speed of the carriage reached almost forty miles per hour, which was a complete miracle in this era, and only the horsemen of the Gatu had been able to move so efficiently on the steppe.

Once at Whitestag, there were more wheat fields around it—the ones Amy had planted for the commoners of Godric's Domain, following Leon's example.

The area around Fort White Hart belonged to Godric's direct domain, which meant that the wheat fields were Godric's property.

This made Godric feel extremely comfortable......

He really didn't expect that in the past six months when he handed over Bailu Fort to Li Ang, he would be able to get tens of thousands of acres of land!

"Your Excellency! Ah, Lord Godric is back!"

The guards at the gates of Fort White Hart were still the archers, and they were all happy to see Godric return.

"Are Leon and Amy in town?"

Godric looked around, these old subordinates seemed to be in good spirits, and he was very relieved.

"Lord Leon and Miss Amy led their troops to support Baron Leofrick at Shield Fortress a few days ago...... That's a big deal! Your Excellency, you don't know that Lord Leon can command the Noldor Elves! It seems to be a formed regular army of the Noldor......

The archers were babbling to their old lord about recent events, intending to send Godric to the main building.

But Godric didn't let them leave their posts, and since Leon hadn't returned, he planned to take a look himself.

There was a huge new barracks built inside the White Hart Fort next to the city walls, and Godric could see that this was supposed to be the place

Used to hold prisoners - these barracks still hold a small number of Bacchus Empire soldiers.

He knew that Leon had defeated Livius and captured many of them, but it seemed that most of the captives had been ransomed.

Now that the barracks is being remodeled, one of the foremen says that Lord Leon is going to turn it into a barracks, and that there will be Noldor elves living in it......

Godric didn't have any ill feelings towards the Noldor elves, after all, he knew that Leon had a Risadillan under him, and he only thought it seemed a little unbelievable, this place was going to be converted into Noldor's barracks?

This means that the regular army of the Noldor that the archers just said will serve Leon for a long time?

And White Deer Fort seems to have been expanded again, but not because of this barracks, but because there are more people doing business.

The expansion didn't cost anything, and it wasn't meant to add to the defenses, but it just formed a general market at the foot of the main castle hill of White Hart Fort - an automatic formation of small traders.

At the foot of the hill, facing the city gate, is one of the few spacious flatlands in White Deer Castle, where there were only a few shops and hostels in the past, but there were not many people.

But now it is very lively, and there are probably nearly a thousand people at a glance, and there are hundreds of vendors alone.

Although the vendors are small and most of them set up stalls, the place where the goods are piled up attracts many people from the surrounding villages.

Godric knew the population of the entire county—there were only 10,000 people in all, but 10 out of 10 people came to the market of Fort White Hart to shop?

This ratio subverts his previous perceptions.

In fact, Mai Xiangling's wholesale market has subverted his cognition - Mai Xiangling's wholesale market is now resident with dozens of firms, and the overall shipment volume of this small place with a poor geographical location can surpass that of many large towns!

This is because many merchants in Changhe Town will first send the goods to Mai Xiang Ling, and then the companies under Mai Xiang International will resell them.

As long as you become a supplier or agent of Maixiang International, you will not have to pay business tax at all, and these businessmen will naturally ship goods in Maixiangling.

Anyway, there is Changhe Express, and Changhe Town can also take water transportation, and the transportation cost is already very low.

Of course, in order to become a partner of Maixiang International, you need to pay a deposit first - as for whether the deposit will be returned when you exit, this is not known for the time being.

Because there are no businessmen who have withdrawn yet, after all, they can be tax-free, and Maixiang International will bring them orders from other places.

Of course, the warehouse that occupies Mai Xiangling has to pay rent, and the rent is not cheap, after all, there are more merchants who need warehouses.

In these years, basically no one can understand this kind of platform operation, and the only one who can find a little bit of the way is Amy, a good student who follows Leon throughout the process.

Nearly 1 in 10 people in Ayr go to White Hart Castle every day to sell souvenirs or shop, which is actually because the people of the county have more channels to distribute goods.

There is almost no market in the village, and if you want to sell souvenirs, of course, you can only go to Bailubao, and if you sell souvenirs, you will have money in your hands, and you will naturally buy some things to go back.

Dig out a valuable rare medicinal herb from the mountain, hit a good game, or get a good leather...... This is enough for people from the surrounding countryside to visit White Hart Fort and then walk around the market for most of the day.

The circulation of goods has accelerated, and there are more means of realization, and there are naturally more people who will go to Bailubao every day.

The small traders in Bailubao are not just sellers, they will buy local products, and then go to the wholesale market of Mai Xiangling to sell to those resident merchants, and at the same time buy goods in the wholesale market of Mai Xiangling and sell them back to Bailubao.

That's why they travel back and forth between the two places frequently.

The merchants of Mai Xiang Ling are backed by Mai Xiang International, have more shipping channels, and can also carry out some processing and production, so they can naturally sell the purchased local products.

This made Bailu Fort and Mai Xiangling form a greater ability to export goods, and the continuous circulation of money also made the lives of the people in the territory gradually change.

In fact, the money in people's hands is still that money, and the money itself has not increased

But as long as money flows faster, and frequent back-and-forth movement in people's hands, it can make these people's lives better—wealth increases in the process.

Money is not wealth, but materials and ideas are.

This is actually the effect of the free zone, it seems that not collecting taxes seems to be a loss for the lord, but in fact it can be much more. The business logic is like this, often the free ones earn the most.

Godric looked at all this happily, he felt that it was really a good thing for him to go to Changhe Town, although he encountered a lot of trouble in Changhe Town, but looking at the current prosperity of White Deer Castle, the troubles in Changhe Town were nothing.

Only the main building of White Deer Fort has not changed, it is still the same simple appearance, there are still no maids in it, and the guards are still those old acquaintances.

"Mistress Godric, you're back?"

The knight of the guard of the main building stepped forward to greet his old lord.

"I didn't expect you to be guarding here, aren't Leon and Amy both out......

Godric was a little surprised to see that this knight was still doing his duty, after all, the lords in the castle were not there, and the guards were not lazy?

"Miss Amy has told me that no one should be allowed to enter the main building, and Lord Leon has put a lot of valuables in the building and in the cellar, and I can't afford to lose it. Oh, that cellar is the old prison, and the ...... downstairs."

The knight pointed to the entrance to the prison on the side of the bottom of the main building, where several soldiers were guarding.

"Oh? It seems that he has made a lot of money again...... What is it?"

Godric clearly wanted to check it out.

"There should be some grain seeds in the cellar, and you won't see the light until it's time to plant them. It was well protected, and Lord Leon had soldiers patrol the outside at all times."

The knight pointed to the top of the building again, "There is something on the top floor, too, but Miss Amy doesn't allow anyone to go up to the top floor, and I don't know what's inside."

"Since the grain seeds can't see the light, forget it...... I'd like to see the things on the top floor......

Godric also knew that some grain seeds really can't see the light when they are stored, and when they do, they will easily germinate, and the bud embryos will die in the cellar, and they will not be able to plant the next year.

But the things on the top floor sounded so mysterious, and he was a little curious.

"Then I can't send you up, my lord, I can't go up to the top floor."

Of course, the guard knight will not stop his true lord, but he also obeys Amy's request and seems to be very well-behaved.

He was originally a member of Godric's personal guard, and he couldn't enter the personal guard without rules.

Godric patted the knight on the shoulder approvingly, and went upstairs himself.

Several rooms on the top floor were locked, but Godric had found the key in the room where he used to work—the key was too big and long for a trouble-prone child like Amy to carry with him......

One of the rooms on the top floor had a lot of unpleasant-smelling black particles, packed in a lot of large jars.

Godric didn't know what it was, but on the instinct of an old warrior, he thought it might have something to do with weapons.

In the other room, there are iron shells and small clay pots, some of which have wooden handles that look like drum hammers or short sticks.

Isn't this too short for this thing to be used to knock people?

It's a little too light......

Godric didn't understand, but the iron shells and wooden handles were hollow, and they were probably unmade.

Doesn't seem to have any mystery about these things, right?

Amy didn't even want the room on the top floor to practice swordsmanship, and turned it into a warehouse?

Godric thought he had hidden a lot of treasure......

In fact, Leon and Amy really couldn't find a suitable place.

Black powder needs to be moisture-proof, and you can't just find a random place to hide in the wild, otherwise it will be all over in a few days.

It is also because black powder is extremely susceptible to moisture, and the source of saltpeter is temporarily unguaranteed and cannot be wasted, so

It's also best not to encapsulate it directly into an explosive pack or a grenade.

Because there is really no way to save it from moisture after encapsulation, this thing can't be baked......

In order not to waste material, it is best to assemble a sufficient amount before it is needed.

In fact, the contents of these rooms have not yet had time to be put into production, because this is not a warehouse, but a laboratory.

The raw materials are not here.

The reason why it is placed on the top floor is to avoid moisture on the one hand, and on the other hand - if there is an accident in the basement, it will be troublesome, and the top floor must be safe after all......

When the lord returned to Fort White Hart, Godric had been waiting for two days.

When Leon returned, since Amy didn't come back with him, the ban on entering the main building had not been lifted, so no one could inform Godric.

As a result, Leon saw the uncle lying on the bed in his room—the book "The Centurion's Combat Life" under his pillow.

Godric watched with relish, and didn't even notice that Leon was back......

"Aha, Lord Godric, long time no see!"

Leon looked at the door awkwardly for half a minute, but Godric was so immersed in the ocean of knowledge that he didn't notice him at all—the lord could only say hello.

"Huh? Yes! Oh! You're back!"

Godric scrambled to his feet, a three-point embarrassed and seven-point stiff smile on his face—basically the same expression on Leon's face now.