Section 1: Mining

"That's it?" Leo asked his companion a little silly, looking back at the misty mist halfway up the mountain.

To Ashrufat, Leo looked as if he had just swallowed a large glass of wine, but he had not tasted the wine at all.

In fact, it's pretty much the same. In Leo's conception, the mission was not an easy task. An offering to the god of nature is followed by a rhetorical eloquence. They had to convince the hesitant prophetesses—of course, if the prophetesses were adamantly opposed to intervening, no one would be able to do so.

For this reason, he also racked his brains to conceive the various points of the negotiation, and discussed them carefully with Ashrufat, until he could no longer revise them.

But the results were surprising. It's as if all the soldiers of an army go to the battlefield with the intention of death, only to find that the enemy has already fled.

"Either way, we succeeded. Ashruphat comforted his companion. Winning too easily can sometimes be a loss of fulfillment. Leo, for example, is like this at the moment.

"Yes, no matter what, we succeeded. Leo immediately recovered from his frustration and became elated. "Even better, Thomas gave us two months. Of course, it doesn't matter if we delay going back for three months. ”

"Two months? right...... What does that mean?" said to his companion, and Ashruphat did not think about it for a moment.

"That means we have at least a month at our disposal!" Leo replied, his eyebrows fluttering. "We came by boat, and when we had a tailwind, we saved at least three days of travel than expected. We had expected to be delayed for at least ten days at the Holy Mountain, but now we can do it in one day. So now we don't have to rush back at all. We can now make a little circle, and to the north there is the domain of Baron Arthur, who has three very beautiful daughters......"

"Leo, remember what Master Thomas said. We still have a mission. ”

"Hey, that's a very easy task, and it won't take us much time. Leo thought for a moment and pulled out a rough sheepskin map from his backpack.

"Ashrufat, I have a proposal, what do you think of our separation?"

"What do you mean?"

"It means...... We act separately. There are three lords here, I'll go to two, you go to one. Leo gestured to the map. Ashruphat immediately saw that the two lords that Leo had predetermined for himself were not as far away as the other.

"This ...... Is there a problem? Ashrufat stared at his companion's face, and Leo had that embarrassed smile on his face as if he had been caught cheating.

"Alright, Ashrufat, we're good friends, do me a little favor. ”

"I don't think it's a small deal. ”

"This is a rare opportunity. Baron Arthur is my best candidate for father-in-law. If it takes a month, maybe I can get his approval. I swear that if he really agrees to marry a daughter to me, I will invite you to my wedding, and promise not to accept any money!" Leo had a pitiful expression on his face.

Ashrufat sighed helplessly.

"And what about your other lovers? And what about our guards?

"Those are just lovers! not candidates for wives. Leo replied immediately. "Although everyone thinks that the marriage of knights is very free, in fact, it is also about the right family. And it's really hard to find a wife who can give a good dowry. Ashrufat, if you do me a favor, when this war is over, I will do my best to help you find a good spouse, I swear by the honor of a knight!"

"Okay, okay, I'll get it. What about our men?"

"Of course it's all with me. I need them to be a guard of honour so that my future father-in-law can impress me. ”

"Well, I'll be a lone messenger. Ashrufat looked at the map. "Oh, this knight's territory is very close to the Danden Mountains, and that's my fief. ”

"It's just a nominal miner. Leo followed. "There's no one living there. But rest assured, Ashrufat, as soon as the war is over, I'm sure Princess Irina will have a rich territory in store for you. You can have a high income every year. When the time comes, there will be groups of beauties willing to post upside down. Well, I wish I could be promoted at the end of the war, even if it's a baron. ”

The two men began to make their way towards the town at the foot of the mountain. Because the big event has been decided, they can enjoy the wild scenery with peace of mind all the way. It was already autumn, and the distant farmland was shining with the golden light of ripe rice ears, and the small shrubs that happened to appear on the roadside were full of fruits.

"By the way, Leo, I'll ask you something. Why did these three knights not know about Princess Irina's summons? Even if they didn't get any definite information, they could tell the situation from the actions of their neighbors. The other knights were summoned. ”

"They are knights directly under the royal family...... Eshurufat, it seems that you really don't know anything. Let me explain. For example, I am the direct knight of Count Thomas. In addition to paying a certain amount of taxes to Count Thomas every year—of course, Count Thomas hadn't done this for many years, so I had a lot of money—and had to be called upon by Count Thomas at any time to provide him with an army of knights and fifty militiamen. Count Thomas is my vassal, and I am his vassal. Unless I am granted another territory, I must assume this obligation. My realm is included in the realm of the Earl of Thomas and is not counted separately. Therefore, if Her Royal Highness needs my services, then she can only summon Count Thomas. And I naturally appeared in the troops commanded by the Earl of Thomas. ”

"And these knights are different?"

"They are knights directly under the royal family. The other nobles and they were only legally equal, and no one could order them to provide obligations except for the princess. They can offer to help, but only if they voluntarily do so. Of course, most of the knights were eager and willing to help another nobleman - for example, when we were preparing to deal with the greyhounds, a dozen or so knights were asked by Count Thomas to help, either by themselves or by sending a militia team. In fact, a large part of the knights in the country were directly subordinate to the royal family, so it was not surprising that such a remote lord did not receive orders. ”

"And different territories have different obligations. For example, the knight you're going to visit. I don't know what the road is, but Ashruphat felt that Leo emphasized the words "you are going" very carefully. "There is a small town in his domain, which is a rare center of trade in the area, so this territory could have been a baron's domain. The obligations of a lord are higher than those of an ordinary knight. In addition to the higher annual tax amount, he was to provide the princess with at least one knight, three hundred militiamen, and fifty horsemen at all times. Militia can be replaced by high-quality horses, and horseback can be replaced by mercenaries. ”

After saying this, Leo suddenly sighed. "If I don't become a baron at the end of the war, then at least I want to get a piece of this bountiful territory. When the time comes, no matter who I propose to, her parents will never refuse. ”

"You seem to have just said that you intend to marry the daughter of Baron Arthur. ”

"Did I say that? Even if I did, I might be rejected. People always have to be more prepared just in case. ”

Ashrufat suddenly felt that he had nothing to say.

"By the way, I remember you said that the widow seems to be able to enjoy the benefits of her husband's fief for the rest of her life. Do they have obligations?"

"The only difference, of course, is that there is one less knight in the obligation. If the widow is also dead and the child is not yet an adult, then on the one hand, the territory is recovered, and on the other hand, the child is allowed to go to the noble academy for free. Ah, in fact, now is an era of great opportunity. As long as you are brave in battle and make remarkable achievements, you will definitely be rewarded. We, as Thomas's lieutenants, certainly have a much better chance than others. Do you know the way, Ashrufat, since the princess ordered the army to be called, many knights and probationary knights from other countries have gathered in our country and volunteered to join the army to serve St. Jean. ”

"For what?"

"Because there are a lot of ownerless fiefs here in St. Jean. Not to mention the Cassilos thing. You must know that Lord Thomas, as an earl, should have had sixty or seventy knightly vassals. But now it's just me and William Daley. So you get the idea. Their mounts trotted all the way into this quiet town.

......

"Bad luck!" said Ashrufat, standing alone in the middle of the road, looking at his lame horse. "I knew that it would be nice to bring one more horse with me. ”

"Master, this is your own refusal. Leo had already suggested that. In her mind's eye, Carrie reminded.

Shut up! He pushed Carrie back in his mind. Carrie let out an aggrieved whimper.

In his original plan, it was only a simple trip of ten days, so Ashrufat was too lazy to take a horse with him, for he didn't have much to take with him other than his luggage. But I never expected the horse to be lame.

Then again, this kind of thing is normal and nothing unusual. But Ashruphat was once accustomed to the undead horse, and had long forgotten about the little thing about the horse's injury. In the military, there is no need to worry about this, so this risk is ignored.

He led the horse for a short distance. This is a well-bred war horse, fast, endurance, able to walk day and night, and can be said to be the best mount for knights. But after the lameness, the poor animal now walks with a limp, slower than he walks.

"Master, I suggest you kill it and resurrect it with magic. Carrie suggested.

Ashrufat looked back at the animal, and the horse's eyes were full of spirituality, completely different from the deathly indifference in the eyes of the undead horse. If he killed this horse, he really couldn't bear it.

"Go ahead, maybe there's a veterinarian in that little town who treats horses. Ashrufat sighed.

"Master, you didn't bring much money ......for the journey," Carrie reminded in a whisper. "I'm afraid I can't get a doctor to treat ......"

"I know that there must be a way to get to the city anyway! No, we can sell this horse and exchange it for a cheaper mount. For example, a farm horse or something. ”

"Master, a lame horse can't be sold for a good price......"

"Shut up, I know!" Ashrufat roared in his head, so that Carrie could not say anything more.

Hey, I don't know what to do. By the way, find the lord and borrow a horse from him first.