At the dock, the family's soldiers detained all the sailors on the three-masted ship. The captain, first mate, second mate, third mate, and boatswain were detained on the other side. They would all be brought back to the manor for identification.
The severed heads of Slov and Master Swordsman Parker were hung high on two bamboo poles. Loriste was prepared to display them in the small town for three days to let the residents of Port Ametland know who was in charge now. If there was another situation like Fatty Shi who went to the town to buy weapons but couldn't even buy a cleaver, Loriste did not mind cleaning up the town and killing a few chickens to warn the others.
Slov and his men carried off a total of three large chests and one small chest. One of the three large chests contained miscellaneous items such as tea leaves and Max, while the second chest contained Slov and Master Swordsman Parker's personal belongings such as clothes. There was also a large chest containing the latest women's clothing, cosmetics, and other feminine items. It was likely that Slov had bought it for his beloved concubines and maids. What he did not know was that his women had already been divided up by the old students who followed Loriste.
The small chest was heavy with more than ten thousand gold coins. Loriste glanced at it and closed the chest again. He thought to himself that Fatty Shi would be happy again when he returned.
Bofinger and Roth disembarked from the ship and came before Loriste. "My lord, the ship is loaded with food, mainly rye flour and bran. It might be used to prepare food for the slaves. There's also some rough linen and some spears, leather armor, and other weapons. There's nothing else."
"Alright, transport these things to the manor first. Roth, send a squadron of spearmen to the docks to take care of this ship, "Loriste said.
"Yes, my lord." Bofinger and Roth saluted and left.
Dolus rode over and dismounted. His expression was regretful that the ballistae on his chariot did not have the chance to fire. Originally, Laurist had been preparing for Dolles' ballistae to launch a second volley of ballista bolts at Master Parker if his javelins were ineffective against him. Unfortunately, Master Swordsman Parker didn't last that long.
"Don't look so sad. Load these big boxes onto your chariot. One of the boxes is filled with women's belongings. If you have maids, go back and pick one as a gift. I guarantee you'll be able to enjoy your tenderness at night," Laurist said to Dorcas with a smile.
A horse barged into the small square at the pier and stopped in front of Laurist. "Sir, there is an army heading towards the manor. Sir Yuri estimates that it should be the army of the local lord. There are about 1500 to 2000 of them. There were a few knights, but most of them were peasants. Lord Yuri has asked if we should proceed with the attack, and he's currently leading a light cavalry scout squad to monitor the situation from afar. "
"Tell Knight Yuri not to act rashly. Send someone to contact him first. If the enemy was hostile, they would launch a restraining attack to protect their troops. If they are not hostile, tell their commander that I will immediately rush over to meet with him, "Lollister said to the scout.
"Yes, my lord." The scout rode off into the distance.
Laurist rubbed his chin as he thought about how slow the local lord's reaction was. He had already destroyed the slave hunters and occupied Slov's manor for eight days. In order to ambush Slov and Great Swordmaster Parker's group, he had even placed the small town on lockdown, forbidding the townspeople from leaving to avoid alerting Slov and the others. Logically speaking, the feudal lord should immediately know what happened in the territory, but nothing had happened in the past few days. Not even spies had appeared outside the manor. It was only after he had sealed off the Port of Ametlin and the small town for two days that the feudal lord reacted and gathered his troops to see what was going on. After all, these two places were related to the feudal lord's revenue.
"Pat, take the heads and put them in a box. We're going to give the owner a gift," Lollister said.
--- Dividing Line ---
Under the guidance of the light cavalry scouts sent by Yuri, Laurist's group quickly arrived at the location.
It was a small hill, and Yuri and his light cavalry scouts were forming a diagonal line on their horses.
"My lord, look, as long as we charge, I guarantee that these people will immediately run away crying for their parents. They're just farmers …" Yuri was very confident in the attack power of his light cavalry scouts.
On the opposite hill, there were groups of farmers with crude weapons, such as palladium pitchforks, axes, hunting bows, and the like. Yuri had probably sent people to contact the commander of this group, and they knew that Yuri's group was not from Slov's slave hunters, but the family army of a baron. Therefore, the group relaxed and did not form a formation on the hill. They just sat down and rested, gathering together and pointing at Lollister as they chatted.
There was also a group of fully armored people on horseback on top of the hill, looking in their direction. The flag behind them had a small white flower on it. Laurist did not recognize this family emblem …
"We beat them away, and then what? We'll fight with these nobles every day, and in the end, the nobles of this kingdom will form an alliance to attack us. We won't get any support here, and we're in the wrong both legally and morally. This is not our family's territory. "Laurist said.
"Ugh …" Yuri did not say anything. He did not think that much, but he could not resist the urge to attack when he saw the mobs in front of him.
"Padt, take our family's flag. Redi, take the box. We'll go to the other side." Laurist urged his horse forward.
Yuri grabbed the reins of Laurist's horse, "My lord, isn't this a little risky …"
"It's fine, the fewer the more sincere we are. Also, look back. Bofinger's heavy armored knights are almost here, and Terman's knights are here too. There's a group of archers behind them, and Dorles' war chariots are here too. They won't dare to attack. " Laurist pointed behind him. Yuri looked back, and it was just as Laurist said. Terman's knights were already at the foot of the mountain, and they were going up.
"Then I wish you success, my lord." Yuri let go of his horse. Laurist led Padt and Redi towards the opposite slope.
When they reached the opposite slope, Laurist got off his horse when they were about ten meters away from the peak. He passed the reins to Redi and quickly walked towards the group of people dressed in luxurious armor. Padt followed behind with the Raging Bear Flag, while Redi led Laurist's horse and walked at the back.
"May I ask who is the lord?" Laurist came to the front of the group and placed his hand on his chest.
"I am Earl Miranda, and Port Amethrin is my territory. May I ask who you are? " A knight in full armor took off his helmet in front of the group, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with a tired expression.
"Greetings, Lord Earl. I am Norton Lollister from the North." Lollister bowed to the Earl.
"Norton? I seem to have heard this name before … "Earl Miranda muttered to herself as she stared at the Raging Bear Flag behind Laurist.
"Please forgive me for my rudeness, but my family has been guarding the Northern Wastelands since the age of the Empire," Laurist said.
"Oh, I remember now. The Great Roaring Bear of the North, a noble family with military achievements. But I am curious, why would the Norton Family, whose territory is in the North, come to my territory and seal off Port Amethrin? "Earl Miranda asked as she stared at Laurist.
Laurist spread his hands. "My lord, I didn't expect that my family's army would be attacked in your territory. They were supposed to escort me to the north to inherit my title, but I didn't expect that someone would attack them in Port Amethrin and capture them as slaves."
Countess Miranda's expression darkened, and she cursed fiercely, "Damn slave hunters."
"But the people who attacked us did not expect us to be an army. We easily destroyed them after we armed ourselves, and even took over their headquarters, that Sloff Manor. As for sealing off Port Amethrin, I'm sorry, my lord, but we did it to completely destroy our enemies. The Norton Family never fears the strength of their enemies. They only ask where they are. Reidi, present the box. "
Laurist opened the box, revealing the two heads inside. "My lord, these are the heads of the two main culprits who attacked us. They are the heads of Commander Sloff and Master Swordsman Parker. They were killed by my family's army at the port an hour ago."
"What? You killed Sloff and Master Swordsman Parker? "Earl Miranda's expression was one of shock, followed by ecstasy." Really? "
The crowd behind him also began to stir. They all rushed forward to see the head in the box.
"The heads are here. My lord, you can examine them."
Earl Miranda did not even need the help of her servants. She jumped down from her mount and took two steps forward to snatch the box from Reidi's hands. She carefully examined the two heads.
"Haha, it really is Sloff and Parker. Damned bastards, you finally have a day like this." Earl Miranda was overjoyed and laughed maniacally. It seemed like the rumors about Captain Hellov were true.
At this moment, the crowd began to stir again. Rows of armored soldiers, crossbowmen, knights, and chariots had appeared on the opposite side of the hill. Countess Miranda glanced at the other side, and her expression changed again. "This is your family's army?"
"Yes, my lord." Laurist replied.
"Your family's army is not inferior to the kingdom's regular army. Why did the slavers attack you?" Indeed, the slavers must be crazy to provoke such an elite army. Earl Miranda suspected that Laurist was just looking for an excuse.
"My lord, we passed through your territory. We didn't want to attract attention, so I ordered my family's army not to be equipped with weapons or armor. They were all bare-handed. In the end, the Sloff slavers thought that we were also slave traders and wanted us to hand over half of our slaves to them. No matter how we explained, they didn't believe us. Instead, they thought that we were deceiving them. They actually gathered their men to attack us. We had no choice but to go into battle and destroy them. That's why you were alerted. You can ask the tax collectors and townspeople at the port. We did not bring any weapons when we went ashore, "Laurist explained.
Earl Miranda was relieved. Laurist would not lie to them about this. It would be clear as long as they went to the port and asked. In other words, the slavers had dug their own graves and hit an iron plate. Not only were they badly injured, but they also lost their lives.
Looking at the heads in the box, Earl Miranda smiled happily. She waved her hand to summon the two knights behind her and told them the names of seven or eight shops. Then, she asked the two knights to take their men to seal up the shops.
"These shops are all owned by Slov and his relatives. They practically monopolize all the businesses in the small town and the docks. As the lord, I can't even collect a single coin from them in taxes. That's why the development of Port Amitlin has been delayed for so long," Countess Miranda explained to Laurist.
Laurist nodded. It seemed that this earl was very economical. He waved his hand to summon Redi, asking him to accompany the two knights to avoid any misunderstandings with the pikemen left in the town.
"You said that you have already occupied Sloff's Manor?" Earl Miranda asked.
Laurist laughed. He knew what the earl was worried about. "Yes, my lord. Don't worry, we will only be staying here for another month or so. Due to the large number of soldiers, we are only borrowing the manor to rest for a while. We will probably set off for the North after the new year. At that time, we will hand over the manor to you in good condition."
Earl Miranda's face turned a little red. According to the traditions of the nobles, Sloff's Manor should be considered Laurist's spoils of war. It did not need to be returned to the lord, or the lord could only redeem it with a sum of money. Now, Laurist was willing to hand over the manor to the earl unconditionally. All he needed was a month's time. This made Earl Miranda feel very embarrassed.
"How about this. We can provide the supplies that your men need while you rest in the manor. I will ask the officials in Port Amitlin to take care of it," Earl Miranda said.
"Thank you for your concern, my lord." Laurist bowed respectfully.
"If my lord is free, can I invite you to visit Sloff's Manor and allow me, the temporary host, to show my respect to you?" Laurist extended an invitation to the earl.
Earl Miranda looked at the formation in front of her, then at her subordinates. She nodded and said, "Very well. Lord Norton, please wait for a moment. I will send these soldiers back and go to the manor to take a look."
Since Laurist had not officially inherited his territory and title, the earl could not address him as a baron. He could only use the honorific "Sir". Indeed, no matter who commanded the army on the other side, they deserved to be addressed as' sir '.
Laurist bowed once more. "Then I shall await the Count's arrival in the manor."
--- Dividing Line ---
Countess Miranda rushed to the manor with only four knights and a little more than fifty guards in leather armor.
Laurist held a grand banquet to welcome the Count and his four knights, and introduced them to the Count one by one.
Countess Miranda was extremely envious of Laurist for having so many outstanding knights. However, he found that the servants waiting on him were all in a hurry, and their etiquette was very strange. Lollister smiled bitterly and explained that these servants were all relatives of his subordinates. They had been temporarily brought in to serve as servants today. Originally, the servants in the manor were worried that something might happen to them, so they were locked up with the relatives of the slave hunters. If the Count was willing, he could hand them over to the Count to deal with.
Countess Miranda was very happy. She patted her chest and said that she would mobilize a group of servants and maids from her castle tomorrow to take charge of the daily affairs of the manor. Laurist handed over the relatives of the slave hunters to him. Whether he sold or used these thousand people, it would be an additional source of income.
At the end of the banquet, Countess Miranda asked Laurist a question. She realized that Laurist only had three Gold-tier subordinates. She counted Bofinger, Roth, and Ingelec, so she was curious as to how Laurist managed to kill Master Swordsman Parker. If it wasn't for Master Swordsman Parker suppressing him, he would've fought to the death against Slov. As a lord, he didn't want another force to exist in his territory that didn't listen to his commands.
Laurist thought for a moment, then picked up a pot and a silver cup and placed it in the pot, saying, "If I were to fight a Master Swordsman in close combat, it would be as if this silver cup was inside the pot. It would be very difficult to break the pot. The strategy I used was very simple. "
He placed the pot on the table, picked up the silver cup, and threw it. With a bang, the pot broke.
"It's that simple." Laurist pushed the credit of killing Master Parker to the crossbowmen, "Even if he was a Master Swordsman, he had no chance of winning against a well-equipped and well-trained army."
Countess Miranda nodded thoughtfully.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
