When Joske and Vasimir returned with their troops, it was already the sixth day of their expedition.
Lollister was taking a stroll on the tower with Baron Camorra, who had just arrived from afar. Baron Camorra's objective was to capture the Gold Knight Henned and a dozen Silver Knights.
"Lord Camorra, did I hear wrongly, or is there something wrong with your expression? I can't imagine that a Gold Knight's ransom is only a hundred gold coins from the Empire's elderly. This was not ransom money. This was an insult to a Gold Knight, as well as an insult to the Norton family. I can't accept the price offered by Duke Lujins. "
Lollister was truly shocked. Even though he was prepared to bargain, such an outrageous ransom price was beyond his wildest dreams. If such a ransom price were to spread, Gold Knight Henned would have no choice but to commit suicide.
Take the Knight Tournament as an example. If a knight failed in a challenge, he would have to hand over his mount, armor, weapons, and other equipment as spoils of war for the victor, or a ransom equivalent to the value of the equipment. Normally, it would be around 30 to 40 Gold Fords, or 100 to 150 gold coins from the Empire's elderly. This was a Knight Tournament, a competition and not a battlefield.
When a Silver-tier knight was captured on the battlefield, all of his weapons and equipment, including himself, were the spoils of war of the victor. If he wanted to regain his freedom, he must first redeem his equipment, mount, and even his servants and attendants. If the price of the ransom was 50 Gold Fords, then it would be 100 Gold Fords multiplied by 2. This 100 Gold Fords was the ransom of the Silver-tier knight.
In other words, if the Silver-tier Knight were to pay 150 Gold Fords, he would be able to retrieve his equipment and mount, then leave with his servants and attendants. The victor might even host a banquet to send him off. It could be said that no discord, no concord.
If the Silver Knight still had a title, then he would have to pay a corresponding ransom for it. After all, nobles were always worth more than quasi-nobles. These were the conventional rules of the battlefield, and no noble would go against such traditional customs. However, it was important to note that this only referred to the Silver Knights.
It was rare for a Golden Knight to become a captive on the battlefield. This was mainly because the combat power of a Golden Knight was much stronger than that of a Silver Knight. From the perspective of Combat Aura, a Golden Knight's Combat Aura could last longer on the battlefield. Their attack, defense, and endurance were also higher. It was difficult to capture a Golden Knight who was galloping around without paying a heavy price or ambushing.
The best way to deal with a Golden Knight was still a Golden Knight. A duel between two Golden Knights would often become the highlight of the entire battlefield. Unless there was a huge difference in strength between them, the loser would basically end up dying on the battlefield.
It was not that there had never been a Gold Knight who had become a captive. The most recent example was the Gold Knight Bisaya of the Fulondor Duchy. He had been severely injured during the bloody battle with the Redelis Kingdom's army and had fallen into a coma, becoming a captive of the first prince. The First Prince was only moved by the First Prince's offer of three thousand gold coins and a precious sword worth a thousand gold coins, allowing Visaya to regain his freedom. This became a popular story for a while.
The ransom that Duke Lujins offered for his Golden Knight was a hundred Empire Old Man's Head Gold Coins, which was more than thirty Gold Coins. This was simply unimaginable to Laurist. Although Henned was not captured on the battlefield, he was captured while drunk. Laurist did not expect Duke Lujins to offer a thousand Gold Coins, but it should at least be five or six hundred, right? After all, the ransom also represented the status and reputation of a Golden Knight.
Did this weird Northern Grand Duke have any brains? He was simply digging his own grave by offering such a price. Once this news got out, would he still expect anyone to work for him? What the hell was going on? Laurist felt very strange.
"Lord Camora, please don't joke around, okay? This is related to the honor of a Golden Knight, it's not something to be joked about. I don't believe that Duke Lujins would be so ignorant as to offer such a ridiculous ransom price … "Laurist said to Baron Camora sternly.
Baron Camora could only smile bitterly and say nothing.
Ten days ago, Viscount Gammus returned to the capital of the Duke's territory, Gildusk City. He brought back the body of Chevany Knight, as well as the Golden Knight Henned being captured. The news of the two Northern Legions that were sent to fight against the Norton Family, with four thousand people being completely annihilated shook the entire Duke's territory and spread to the North. Duke Lujins smashed the newly decorated study when he heard the bad news. He screamed madly in the Duke's Mansion for revenge, cursing the Norton Family, and swore to kill everyone related to the Norton Family.
Baron Camora and another Golden Knight, the Northern Legion's Deputy Commander, Beatson, finally managed to appease the Duke's anger, and they began to plan to send troops to take revenge on the Norton Family.
When the Duke calmed down and prepared to mobilize the troops, the three of them were dumbfounded. The Duke's territory actually had no troops to mobilize. This, this was too shocking. The Northern Legion that had twenty thousand soldiers, oh, now only had sixteen to seventeen thousand soldiers. At most, they could recruit five thousand people, two companies. Wasn't this a joke? Four thousand people were gone, and these five thousand people were going to die?
There were many reasons for this result. First of all, the Northern Legion was a small legion, with a total of a little more than twenty-one thousand people. The legion was divided into two divisions, and each division had four companies of about ten thousand people. Moreover, the Northern Legion was not a field legion, but a garrison legion. The Southern Duke's territory had a capital city, a fortress castle, three manor castles, seven towns, and a chain bridge checkpoint. These places had to be stationed to ensure the safety of the local areas. This was especially so for the capital city, the Hendry Bridge checkpoint, and the Felstad Fortress castle next to it. These three places were the key points to prevent the second prince's forces from entering the Northern Territory. Garrisoning a company in each place was already very difficult.
The most important reason was that Duke Lujins disbanded the garrison after the Northern Legion was formed to save money. At that time, the Duke thought that with the Northern Legion, the garrison was completely redundant. Letting the Northern Legion be stationed in the towns, manors, and castles could completely replace the garrison's functions, and also save the garrison's military expenses. This was a good thing, killing two birds with one stone. Moreover, the Duke did not think that there was any territory in the Northern Territory that required the entire Northern Legion to be deployed. Sending one or two thousand people would be enough to sweep the four sides.
Now that the four thousand troops were completely annihilated, it was like a big slap in the face. Only then did he realize that he could not fight back, which made the Duke very angry. Then there was another problem. The Duke only had five Gold Knights under him who could fight on their own. Tabick was seriously injured by Laurist and would have to lie in bed for a year. Chevani, who had the most merit, was already dead, and Henned was captured. Now, there were only two Gold Knights guarding the Hendry Bridge checkpoint and the Felstad Fortress castle, Odemar, and Beatson, who was responsible for the capital's defense. Even if there was an expedition team, there was no one to lead them.
Duke Lujins pinched his nose and ordered Baron Camorra to find a way to get Knight Henned back first. He reluctantly offered four hundred Gold Fords. As for the Silver-tier Knights and the Northern Legion soldiers, they would be released first. It would not be too late to rescue them after the Norton family was destroyed.
Knight Beatson thought that four hundred Gold Fords was too little to make the Norton family give Henned his freedom. He hoped that the Duke would give him more bargaining chips so that he could rescue Knight Henned as soon as possible. He wanted to understand the course of the battle and know the true strength of the Norton family before thinking of a way to deal with them.
The Duke insisted that 400 gold fords was the most he could offer. While the three of them were arguing, they suddenly heard the butler report that a servant of Chevalier Chevalier had escaped and brought back a military report that Chevalier Chevalier had written to the Duke.
The squire of Chevani looked very miserable. He and another companion had suffered a lot when crossing the Morgen Hills, and they had unfortunately encountered a magical beast, a black-backed iron-toothed panther. After his companion was injured, he fell into a deep ravine with the panther in his arms and perished together with the panther. After going through many hardships, he finally got out of the Morgen Hills and trekked day and night back to Gildusk City. Although he was injured and very tired, he was loyal to his mission and still remembered Chevani's instructions. He rushed to the Duke's Mansion immediately and presented the silver tube that Chevani had given him to the Duke.
The Duke took out the animal skin paper from the silver tube and began to read it. Knight Beatson and Baron Camorra were also very curious. They wanted to know what Chevani had written, but the letter was in the hands of the Duke, so they could only wait. As for the squire who had delivered the letter, he already knew about Chevani's death and was sobbing with tears and snot.
What happened next was forever fresh in Baron Camorra's memory. He saw the Duke's face suddenly turn red, his eyes bulging, and his nostrils emitting heavy breaths. He went crazy. This time, he really went crazy, and not the usual kind of crazy. The Duke flew into a rage and smashed the small table beside him in the small reception room. He cursed loudly, and it was still Chevani and Henned, "You two bastards! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to tear you into pieces! How did you do it, you actually lost my gold coins, my three hundred thousand Gold Fords! My gold coins! Chevani, what did you do! Why didn't you transport my gold coins back first! Henned, how did you protect my money! My money! My money! … "
Baron Camorra was very surprised. Seeing the few pieces of animal skin on the ground, he quickly picked them up and found a corner that was not smashed by the debris and started reading. Knight Beatson also came over, and the two of them squeezed together to read.
Soon, the two understood why the Duke went crazy. It was all Chevani's fault. You could have just written about the disadvantageous situation of the battle and the reason why the entire army was wiped out. Why did you have to write about the amount of wealth you obtained after slaughtering the residents of Northern Field Town? You even stated that the value of the wealth was about two to three hundred thousand Gold Fords. Such a large amount of wealth fell into the eyes of the Duke, and it was lost again. With the personality of the Duke who valued money as much as his life, how could he not go crazy?
Perhaps the duke's scolding was too vexing, the loyal servant reminded him weakly, "My lord, Sir Chevani has died heroically in battle …"
The Duke, who was dizzy with gold coins, glared at the squire with his red eyes. The words that came out of his mouth were like winter, making everyone present feel cold to the bone …
"Dead? Does he think it's over once he's dead? I won't let him go even if he's dead. He lost my money, three hundred thousand Gold Fords! He's sinful! He has to pay me back my money! Men, men! "The Duke's roar echoed throughout the Duke's Mansion.
"Go and search Chevani's house. Confiscate everything, chase his family out, and throw his body into the mass grave to feed the wild dogs! How dare he lose my money, my three hundred thousand Gold Fords! "
"Sir, you can't do this …" Knight Beatson and Baron Camora turned pale with fright. They hurriedly went forward to stop the Duke's order.
"No, why not? It's all Chevani's fault. Why didn't he transport my gold coins back first? Why did he have to attack the Norton Family's castle first? Why did he transfer the three hundred longbowmen from Northern Field Town to the extent that Northern Field Town lacked defense and was ambushed, letting my gold coins fall into the hands of the enemy? Why did he rush back and attack Northern Field Town once? Why did he give up on attacking the castle with only one thousand and seven hundred soldiers? Why did he only think of retreating and getting wiped out? How could he just watch as my gold was taken away by someone else? What kind of intentions did he have? Tell me, if he's not guilty, then who's guilty? "The Duke's series of questions left Knight Beatson and Baron Camora dumbfounded.
"And you …" The Duke turned his bloodshot eyes to the pitiful servant, "You shameful deserter. You're a shameless coward like your lord. You betrayed my trust and threw away my gold coins … Men, hang him immediately. Drag him out immediately!"
The servant who had completed his mission with great difficulty was stunned by the Duke's rage. He was silently dragged out by the guards of the Duke's Mansion. Baron Camora only felt a chill in his heart. His whole body trembled. He suddenly felt that the Duke in front of him was so unfamiliar …
Only when the guards came to report that the poor servant had been hanged on the flagpole outside the Duke's Mansion did the Duke seem to calm down.
"Camora, go to the Norton Family tomorrow. Tell them that I'm going to pay for the ransom of Henned and those Silver Knights. Remember, Henned's ransom is one hundred Empire gold coins. Those Silver Knights will each get ten gold coins … "The Duke's eyes were still bloodshot …
Baron Camora's face turned pale, "My … my lord, this … this is impossible …"
The Duke's voice was very calm. It was so calm that Knight Beatson and Baron Camora could not help but tremble, "Just tell the Norton Family that I will not pay a single copper coin for these sinners. I'm not giving them freedom by ransom. I'm punishing them. They shouldn't have lost my gold coins … "
Baron Camelot staggered out of the Duke's Mansion in a daze. He stood outside the gate and saw the corpse of the attendant hanging high up in the air. He turned his head to look at Knight Beatson. Knight Beatson also looked at him. Both of them were speechless …
Finally, Knight Beatson whispered softly, "The Duke has really gone mad … You're on your own … Maybe you should go and tell Henned that being a captive of the Norton Family is better than coming back …"
…
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