The child's hair was soft and clinging to his head, and he was not very good at turning his head, and he kept looking around with his big round eyes. Like Siegel, he had black hair and black eyes, and there was no trace of the Demon Descendant's physical features from him, as if all traces had been completely erased by Siegel's strange bloodline.

Siegel named the child Isaac Squid.

I don't know if it was attracted by the strange aroma of the spellcasting materials on the mage's body, but the little guy could always accurately find his father's location and stretched out his little hand in this direction. If Siegel didn't grab his outstretched hand, Isaac would soon burst into tears. He has a strange ability to catch the twenty-sided dice accurately even if Siegel hides the twenty-sided dice with a spell. Curiously, he tugged and pinched it twice, and he would return it to his father.

Janet is completely occupied, and her life becomes incredibly busy. She doesn't want to be a maid and take care of her own children. At first, it was always scrambling, but the next day it was the same. It's rare for Siegel to leave spells and spells behind completely, away from the study and spell lab, and stay with his family. Looking at Isaac, Siegel only felt that he was the most perfect creation in the world.

The little guy is active by nature, and his hands always like to grasp all kinds of things, so Siegel made him some soft leather toys. But his favorite is Baron, a raven, who is docile and obedient. Siegel puts the pet in charge of watching the little one, using the soul connection to report changes in the surrounding environment at any time, so that the child can know whether he is hungry or annoyed. Unexpectedly, the demon pet became Isaac's toy, and he always kept pulling the raven's feathers with his hands. Then pinch its belly. Fortunately, Baron has tough feathers. The baby's strength can't hurt it. So it was up to him to play.

Everyone was busy, Janet solved the problem of eating and drinking for the children, Siegel was responsible for finding the toys, and the servants cleaned up the room, so that Isaac had a warm environment to grow up. However, the happiness that belonged to the family was only a short one, and by the third day of the end of the war, Siegel was busy, and he had to take over the affairs of the Heim Realm. Restoration of jurisdictional power. He was the first to summon the female knight Mana and looked at the report she had drafted in crooked handwriting. Manna circled the knights and knight squires who performed well in the guard battle and asked the lord to reward them.

"These people have high and low martial arts, but they have always been loyal in Haim Ling, and they are all people who talk about honor. The knight said: Promoting them will be good for the territory. ”

Siegel looked at the list and pointed to a few names: "Is Kenji the one who has missing his left ear and has a burn on his chin?"

"Yes, he's from Scat Town, and he's a hired knight. Fought valiantly in the Guard, and was able to sacrifice his life to save his wounded comrades. ”

"Who is Griner. I don't remember. ”

"He came to Myr after you left, and he took his family with him. Including six lively boys. Because he couldn't pay the nobility registration tax, his father's title could not be extended to him, so he lost his fief and came to the New World to earn a living. "Manna knows the situation of each of her subordinates very well, and she has put a lot of effort into remembering it.

Siegel set the list aside and stared at the female knight with piercing eyes until Manna coughed twice out of unease. "Do you have any orders, my lord?"

"Why aren't you and Hum on the list?"

"It's already a great honor for the two of us to be knights and to be able to command an army. Fighting for you is the right thing to do, and there is no need for another reward. ”

Siegel shook his head: "Without your name, this piece of paper is waste paper." You are knights, but there are knights above you. I'm only a baron, so I can only promote you to the knighthood for now. This will definitely change, and you should not be in a hurry. But if you want to become a knight, you have to pass my test. He pulled out his wand, chanted a spell, and used illusions on the table to map the area around Heim Territory.

"After this battle, what will happen to the situation in the south, you can tell me. ”

Manna frowned and thought about it carefully, then cleared her throat and said in a firm tone, "Most of the southern lords are small lords with only one castle, and some only have manors, only simple walls instead of walls. After this battle, there is a good chance that the minor lords who participated in the war will collapse and be swallowed up by the almost intact Uther family. I think it is very likely that Uther will shake hands with Viscount Khray of Kamei Province and take advantage of this opportunity to expand his territory. ”

Manna moved her slender finger and pointed to the southernmost part of the map: "Baron Brown, as the victor, relies on the remnants of the army collected along the way, which is enough to expand his territory several times and become another rising force." Since he was also the son-in-law of Uther III, in this sense, Uther would become the largest lord in the south. ”

Siegel nodded: "Is it possible for them to unify the south?"

"No way, no one will sit idly by and watch them win without a fight. Manna waved her hand and said, "I didn't understand it at first, but now that I think about it, the order given by the lord to stop the pursuit was very important to the situation. Many of the southern lords kept their armies, and their heirs would cling together to resist the annexation by the Uthers. For a while, this will be another force, but over time it is difficult to say whether they will suffer the same fate as the Southern Coalition. ”

Siegel said, "What should we do as we straddle the ore avenue?"

The knightess pointed to the map and said to Siegel categorically, "We should quickly go south and occupy or take control of Talon Castle, Encatel Crag Manor, and Sol Forest Castle. In addition to being able to expand the territory, it can also form sufficient perimeter protection. Even if the Uther family wants to trouble us, there is enough time to react. ”

"However, our strength is only enough to protect our homeland, and we can only take one place if we attack. However, if the lord can go out together, I am confident that I will take these three places. ”

Siegel nodded, looked at the female knight Mana and said, "You have been with me since Makabuda, and now you are able to take charge on your own. If you talk about the sense of responsibility of being a lord and a general. I'm not as good as you. I'm just taking advantage of the mage's convenience. From now on. You will be my left hand, exercising the duties of a vicarious lord. ”

Manna knelt down on one knee and bowed her head deeply: "I will definitely live up to your trust, and I will take effect for the helm of Heim and the squid family." ”

"Now I want you to do two things. The first is to arrange a canonization ceremony, according to the list you submitted, plus Hum, tomorrow I will personally canonize the knights. The second is to prepare for an attack, in addition to Talon Castle, Encart Cliff Manor, and Sol Forest Castle. You'll also want to take the town of Mochâcher on the edge of the Rift Zone and Starpeak Castle next to Redbird Lake. The dwarf Elint has organized a mercenary group of several hundred people at the top of Mora, and it will arrive around the day after tomorrow, and that is your strength. ”

Manna raised her head, "If a mercenary fights, it is easy to have problems with military discipline, and looting and ** can happen." It is also difficult for them to persevere in siege battles, and they do not have a strong fighting spirit in the face of setbacks. ”

"You tell these people who will be ordained tomorrow that they will be responsible for leading the mercenaries into battle. After you conquer the castle, in addition to Talon and Enkat, you will award the other three castles according to their performance and choose a new city lord. Knowing that this will be their territory in the future. These people will fight hard and restrain the mercenaries. Prevent vandalism. ”

"And what about Talon Castle and Enkat Cliff Manor?"

"That's for you and Hum, but you know that if you let the orcs run the castle, he'll make a mess of it, so Hum stayed in Myr and coordinated his relationship with the orcs. And you need to pay more attention to the overall situation of the territory, especially when I am researching spells, I will exercise the power of the lord on my behalf, so I will not send you to be stationed in the castle outside. Fezak will be in charge of both places, and the cliff manor is said to be a good place to retire. The two of you pay Fezak some more pension, and the rest of the territory income is yours. ”

"Besides," Siegel continued, "when you have completed your occupation, write in my name to Baron Hugel of the county of Vanet." Let him choose whether to be loyal to Uther or to me. When Viscount Uther attacked the Heim Territory, his zeal helped bring us victory, a matter that Uther would know sooner or later, so ask his opinion. ”

Manna nodded, "In this way, our Heim Territory will be able to expand its area tenfold, and because we have defeated Uther and still won against the coalition forces, we will become the strongest among the Southern Lords." ”

Siegel agreed, "You're right. Only in this way can we have enough say. In addition to protecting ourselves, we also need to keep the whole of the South under our influence and not build a magic tower for the Knox Society. The real enemy hasn't shot yet, and you know there's still a fight in the future. But you can't say it explicitly, you tell them that all magic towers in the south must be built with my consent, otherwise it will be considered a challenge to the Heim Territory. Don't care if the other lords are upset, as long as they can execute it is enough. ”

Manna was silent for a moment, her eyes moving back and forth between the map and Siegel, and finally spoke, "Your Lord, you really need to raise your title. It is impossible for a baron to manage such a large place. ”

"I've thought about that," Siegel said, "and write letters to the Starry Royals and the Council of Lords of Waterdeep, respectively, and ask them for a knighthood." Although this is very dishonorable, I think that the two families will consider each other's situation and try to win me over, so they are more likely to approve my request. But there's no need to rush this matter, let's talk about it after the territory is under control. At that time, the knights and knights of the Heim Territory are likely to achieve higher status. ”

Siegel looked at the map like a chess player carefully calculating the strength in his hands. He had carefully studied the blueprints of the Knox Commons' magic array and knew the limits of its effect. The Hub Fort was too far away to affect the city of Myr - the rune walls were designed to greatly reduce the transmission of psychic magic. As long as the magic tower does not appear in the south, then Siegel is safe here for the time being.

That way, he could concentrate on dealing with the North and wait for Waterdeep or the Mage Guild to make a move. Knox has suffered a setback in Heim and may soon get his revenge. But if the retribution didn't come immediately, it meant that the time was imminent for them to start their next move, and the wizards were too busy with the final preparations to care about the Helm Territory.

Seegal set his sights on the Elven Forest, secretly hoping that Mage Edith would be able to reach the Mage Guild safely, and convince the Mage Guild to concentrate on dealing with the Knox Guild.

Have hope, but don't put all your hope in others. Siegel dismisses Manna and begins planning what Heim needs to do next. (To be continued......)

PS: I will continue to work hard to write!