After a period of rest, Chen Mo prepared to continue expanding his territory.
His caravan still hadn't found the person he was looking for, so he could only continue to expand his influence and the scale of his caravan. He believed that the person he was looking for would appear sooner or later. Chen Mo, who had been injected with the Super Soldier Serum and had his lifespan greatly extended, had plenty of time and patience.
However, Chen Mo noticed that the leader of his Knight Order, Andrew, had been acting strangely recently. Others might not have noticed, but with Chen Mo's sharp senses, he could often feel a sense of worry and confusion from him.
Especially after learning that their next target was Marquis Leonard, who was located on the outskirts of his territory, this feeling became even stronger and more obvious. He even seemed to be absent-minded during his daily training.
Chen Mo could conclude that Andrew's mood must have something to do with this Marquis Leonard's territory.
As the first to follow Chen Mo, as well as the leader of the Knight Order with the strongest strength and the highest status under Chen Mo's command, Andrew's performance had always made Chen Mo very satisfied.
He was persistent, brave, and incomparably loyal. He would carry out all of Chen Mo's orders unconditionally. Under his leadership, the entire Knight Order's loyalty to Chen Mo had always been incomparably firm. Even if they had to ram the city gates with their bodies of flesh and blood, no one was afraid or timid. They were all determined to die and pressed forward courageously. Of course, Chen Mo didn't disappoint them.
The original hundred-man Knight Order had experienced a year of war and now had expanded to more than five hundred people. And the original hundred-man Order had all been conferred the title of true Knight by Chen Mo through their own efforts.
Due to the large number of Knights under his command, Chen Mo simply divided the official Knight Order into four ranks in order to distinguish the different ranks and clarify the subordinate relationship.
The highest rank, Gold Knight, had not been conferred yet.
As the leader of the Knight Corps, Andrew was also the strongest Warrior who had killed the most enemies. He was also the only Silver-ranked Knight under Chen Mo's command. He was in charge of the entire Knight Corps.
The eight Knights who were rescued by Chen Mo together with Andrew and Viktor, who had just joined Chen Mo but had outstanding performance, were all Bronze Knights. Each of them led a squadron of dozens of knights.
There were more than a hundred Black Iron Knights, and most of them were originally members of the territorial guards. They each led four squire Knight squads, forming the most basic combat unit.
These four hundred or so Knight Attendants were selected by Chen Mo from the original noble Knights who had volunteered to join him or were captured. They were added to the Knight Legion.
When they came to Chen Mo's territory, they had to start all over again. The original title of Knight was no longer useful.
Some of them had fought bravely through their own efforts and became official Black Iron Knights again. The others were all full of energy, hoping to take back the honor that belonged to them as soon as possible.
Chen Mo was fair in his rewards and punishments to his subordinates. He was never stingy with rewards to the soldiers who had made contributions, such as gold coins, land, and even titles. As long as you made enough contributions, it was not impossible for you to become a Baron.
Therefore, the morale of the entire Knight Corps was extremely high. They were eager to fight for their Lord and accumulate merits.
Everyone hoped that one day they could get their own territory, establish their own Knight family, and even become a true hereditary noble. Among them, Andrew was the most hardworking.
Not only was he brave and fearless on the battlefield, but even though he was already the strongest existence under Chen Mo, he never slacked off on his training. He seized every opportunity to improve his strength.
Under his leadership, the Knight Corps did not slack off on their daily training just because they were equipped with excellent armor and weapons. Everyone trained very hard, especially the Knight who joined later. They treated the Holy Cross Swordsmanship like it was a treasure and practiced it diligently every day.
But now, their Knight Commander was acting abnormally. He was absent-minded and had no fighting spirit. Chen Mo had to ask him personally. There must be something that made his valiant and trusted subordinate act so abnormally.
Blackstone Castle, Lord's study.
A portrait of a charging Knight hung on the wall. It was majestic and domineering. The floor was covered with a soft and gorgeous wool carpet, and the surroundings were decorated with thick and exquisite solid wood furniture. The entire study was decorated with elegance and grandeur.
Chen Mo sat behind a dark solid wood desk, flipping through the latest intelligence sent by the Chamber of Commerce.
The firewood in the fireplace crackled, and the study was warm and quiet.
Suddenly, a series of heavy footsteps sounded outside the door, followed by a light knock on the door of the study.
"My Lord, Knight Andrew is here."
The voice of the castle's butler came from outside the door.
"Come in."
Chen Mo's majestic voice sounded.
With Chen Mo's permission, the butler outside the door opened the study's door. He bent down slightly and gestured for Andrew to come in.
Andrew was wearing armor and holding a helmet in his hand. He strode into the study with a serious face and stood straight in front of Chen Mo.
With the expansion of the Knight Corps, the original manor could no longer accommodate the large number of Knights and warhorses. In addition to the important secret workshop, Chen Mo simply moved the Lord's Manor from the original Baron's manor to the Blackstone Castle that originally belonged to Count Warren.
This gothic style ancient castle was built with solid black stone. It had a large area and a long history. The tall towers and pointed arched roofs were majestic, mysterious, and slightly gloomy.
In the study, Chen Mo put down the intelligence in his hand and looked at Andrew who was standing proudly in front of him. Although he tried to hide it, Chen Mo could still see the worry in his eyes.
Under Chen Mo's sharp and wise eyes that seemed to see through everything, Andrew felt as if he was completely seen through and had no more secrets.
"Do you have anything to say about this attack on Marquis Leonard's territory?"
Chen Mo looked into Andrew's eyes and asked slowly.
Under Chen Mo's gaze, sweat gradually seeped out of Andrew's forehead. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind. He clenched his teeth and said.
"My Lord, in fact, I came from Marquis Leonard's territory. My father was once a Knight under Marquis Leonard."
As if he had completely let go of the worries in his heart, Andrew said everything in one go.
It turned out that back then, because Andrew's family could not afford the huge expenses for him and his elder brother to become Knights, as the youngest son, Andrew resolutely joined Marquis Leonard's territory guard and fought for him for many years in order to realize his dream of becoming a Knight.
Relying on the strict Knight training he received from a young age, he had great strength and outstanding talent. Andrew had made many meritorious military achievements. Logically speaking, even if he could not become a Knight, he should be appreciated by the Lord. At the very least, he should be able to become an attendant Knight or a guard leader.
However, many years had passed. Andrew had even killed two werewolves with his own hands, but he had not been promoted in the slightest. He was still an ordinary soldier.
The reason was actually because of Marquis Leonard's daughter.
Once, Andrew, several dozen soldiers, and two Knights were ordered to escort the Marquis' daughter on a trip. Who would have thought that they would encounter two terrifying werewolves?
Several dozen soldiers were tragically slaughtered, and the rest fled in all directions. The two Knights fought with their lives on the line, but only managed to kill one werewolf and injure the other.
Just as the two Knights had died tragically, the soldiers had been slaughtered and fled, and the noble lady was about to be eaten by the werewolves, Andrew, who was the last to survive, picked up a longsword dropped by a Knight and stood in front of her. In the end, he paid the price of serious injuries and killed the werewolf, saving the young and beautiful noble lady.
The noble lady, who had lived in the castle since she was young and had never come into contact with the outside world, had experienced this thrilling crisis and secretly developed feelings for the brave and powerful Andrew.
Andrew gradually developed a good impression of this pure and kind lady, who did not have the slightest bit of arrogance and delicateness of a noble lady. The two of them secretly met and went on dates from time to time.
After experiencing the danger of being eaten by the werewolves, this delicate noble lady was also filled with interest in swordsmanship. After seeing Andrew's strength, she often asked Andrew to teach her swordsmanship.
After knowing that his dream was to become a Knight, she said that she also wanted to become a female Knight in the future and kill werewolves with him.
The two of them secretly dated and practiced swordsmanship. As the noble lady's swordsmanship improved, their feelings for each other also deepened.
A few years later, this noble lady reached the age for marriage. Although Andrew had been working hard, he was still an ordinary soldier. It was impossible for him to marry the daughter of a noble marquis.
In the end, Marquis Leonard arranged a marriage for her. She, who had always been docile, was abnormally stubborn and would rather die than marry. In order to show her determination, she even wore armor and mixed into the Knight Regiment, following them to the battlefield to fight against the enemy.
In the end, the marquis had no choice but to cancel the marriage. But later, he found Andrew. It turned out that he had already known about the two of them.
But all this time, the two of them had not done anything out of line. They only chatted, played, and practiced swordsmanship. Marquis Leonard only thought that his daughter trusted his strength after being saved by him, so she always let him escort her to play. In addition, she liked swordsmanship and wanted to learn from him. So he did not interfere too much, only letting his trusted subordinates pay close attention.
As for Andrew, Marquis Leonard did not take him to heart. He had nearly a hundred powerful Knights under his command. In his eyes, infantrymen were just cannon fodder. He did not pay too much attention to them. Even if Andrew was much stronger than the other soldiers, he still did not take him seriously.
In his view, Andrew was just a servant who played with his master. As for saving his daughter's life from the werewolves, this was what he should do as a servant. If he did not protect his master well, all of them should be executed!
Discovering the relationship between the two of them, Marquis Leonard was furious. Due to his daughter's unyielding character, the marquis did not directly execute Andrew. Instead, he banished him and asked him to leave a letter for her so that she would completely give up.
According to Marquis Leonard's words, a lowly commoner like Andrew was not worthy of the noble Marquis. It was better not to be delusional. Only a noble could be worthy of his beautiful and noble daughter.
Andrew felt that it was hopeless to even become a Knight, let alone a noble. He knew that he was not worthy of her and could not give her a better life. Disheartened, he left a letter according to the marquis's request and left the marquis's territory in dejection. He came to the small village where he had met Chen Mo and stayed there. He planned to forget the past and live an ordinary life like this.
But how could he forget? He would always remember the beautiful girl who had wielded a sword with him.
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