The wandering knight Lopes and the female knight Suria immediately raised their halberds and spears and rushed towards the cyclops. Al Frey and Ryder followed closely behind. Laing was about to follow, but he was stopped by Julius.
"Not everything requires a Grail Knight, Laing." Julius shook his head calmly. Then the Royal Knight urged his horse and shouted angrily, "For the Lady!"
"…" Laing did not know whether to raise his warhammer or put it down. It was a little awkward.
"Roar!" The cyclops raised a large broken stone and threw it at them. Lopes and Al Frey immediately rode their horses to avoid it.
The huge stone hit the ground and a lot of dust splashed up.
The knight-errant shouted the name of the Goddess of the Lake, but his warhorse was startled and jumped high, trying to avoid the oncoming stones.
The young wandering knight's riding skills were not very good. He ordered his horse to continue forward, but his horse wanted to retreat. So in the conflict, the knight was hit by the stones. He and his horse fell to the ground together, screaming in pain.
Fortunately, the full set of plate armor on his body was quite strong. It should be a hard wound, but it was not fatal.
"For the Lady!" The female knight Suria's bright golden hair fluttered behind her helmet. She rode her pegasus and charged, her lance hitting the cyclops' right leg. The cyclops immediately counterattacked. Suria pulled the reins, and the pegasus spread its wings and flew quickly, dodging the attack with a beautiful glide.
"Watch me!" Lopes raised his halberd and sliced open a wound on the cyclops' left leg, then immediately dodged. Alfreid wanted to follow up with another attack, but when he saw the cyclops' palm slamming down, he had no choice but to give up on attacking and choose to dodge.
They might have to fight a lot to completely defeat the cyclops, but the cyclops only needed one hit to smash them into meat paste.
"Ugh!" The cyclops' left and right legs were injured. It staggered and was about to fall to the ground, so it reached out to support itself.
Julius rushed into the battlefield. The valiant Royal Knight aimed his lance at the cyclops' heart. The pegasus under him knew what its master wanted and charged forward at full speed.
The pegasus and its rider brushed past the cyclops. The sharp lance pierced through the cyclops' chest and broke. The cyclops fell to the ground with its hand covering its chest.
Turning around in the air, the Antrel siblings drew their swords together and dealt a fatal blow to the cyclops.
The battle ended quickly, leaving behind only the destroyed windmill and the barn.
As they put away their swords, Laing noticed that the Angeli siblings seemed to know this young man. Julius gestured for him to get up and said in a cold tone, "Thierry?"
"Chief Instructor Julius!" The young man quickly got up and said with a guilty conscience.
"What made you decide to challenge a Cyclops alone?" Julius' tone was very unpleasant. The cyclops' challenge rating was at least as high as that of an elite monster, and it was not recommended to fight alone.
"Well … I'm very ashamed. I met a serf who asked me for help. He said that a cyclops came here …" The knight named Thierry was a little ashamed and told the whole story.
It turned out that this young knight named Thierry was only 18 years old and was still studying at the Winford Academy. The young man's heart was filled with passion and the desire to make a name for himself. When he came out for a walk, he happened to meet a serf who asked for help. Without hesitation, he raised his lance and charged towards the cyclops, not caring about the difference in strength at all.
Ryan's head was filled with black lines as he thought to himself, 'What a waste of youth.'
Most of the young knights in Brittany were like this. No matter what enemy they met, they would charge forward without thinking about the consequences. This was why they always suffered heavy casualties in battle.
However, from another point of view, this was also an effective way to suppress the excessive expansion of the noble population and to prevent the survival of the fittest.
The Knight King's noble education was exactly the same.
"What kind of knight is a knight without a horse? What kind of horse is a horse without a knight? This is Brittany. Horses and knights, serfs and nobles. "
— — Arthur, the first Knight King
Nothing could make a knight prouder than defending his country. When evil and darkness approached this land, the Brittany knights would not sit in their castles and wait for death behind the high walls. They would mount their horses, raise their lances, and bravely face any enemy that came to attack. The spirit of chivalry and the belief in the Lake Fairy ensured that there would be no cowards.
In this regard, the nobles of Brittany were stronger than the nobles of the Empire. Many of the nobles of the Empire preferred to appoint generals instead of going to war themselves.
"Ah! You must be Sir Laing Macado, the Knight of the Holy Grail! It's an honor to meet you! " Thierry suddenly recognized Laing. He excitedly rushed forward to shake hands with Laing. Laing had no choice but to shake hands with him. At the same time, he asked a question that he was curious about, "Why are there Cyclops here?"
"I'm not too sure. I heard that a few golden-armored Giants have been appearing at night in Baron Zeon's territory. They kill any Orc they see. The Orc tribes that wreaked havoc in Chalon Forest have suffered heavy casualties, so they avoided Zeon's territory and fled here." Thierry scratched his head helplessly.
"…" Laing suddenly understood something.
After walking to the next intersection, Baron Zeon's territory appeared in front of Ryan.
The Lake Fairy treated Laing well. The Baron Zeon Territory that she arranged for Laing could only be described as prosperous. There was a town with a population of about two to three hundred families, crisscrossing fields, a vineyard, a horse farm, and a castle that stood on the mountainside.
This will be my future territory. Laing rode on his horse and stood on a high ground, overlooking the Baron Zeon Territory in the distance.
Looking into the distance, in addition to Jean Town, there were some villages in the fields. Initial estimates were that there should be many villages around Jean Baron Town.
"Baron Zeon Territory has a town and five natural villages. The population is about a thousand families. There are two Royal Knights and five Ranger Knights." Laing took out his Baron title deed, which detailed the land's scale. "North of Chalon Forest is the Chalon Forest.
"To the north of the Barony Territory is Chalon Forest. There are many Orc tribes in the forest. To the east, the Barony Territory is close to the Winford Dukedom. To the south, the Barony Territory is bordered by the Karkazon Dukedom. This side is close to the sacred ground of the Lake Nymph, so there isn't much of a threat. To the northwest, along the Shinon River is the direction to the Bordero Dukedom. To the southwest, it is connected to the Bleon Dukedom. Mr. Ryan, please take note that the invaders from Estalia are still fighting with Duke Theodoric in the Bleon Dukedom. Please be careful." This was the advice of the female knight Sulia. After that, the female knight and her elder brother took their people and bid farewell to Leon, returning to their own dukedom.
In other words, this place was a battleground. Apart from the Winford Duchy and the Kacason Duchy in the south, there might be enemies in many other places. Leon frowned.
This place was rich, but it was also full of challenges.
The process of entering the castle was very simple. After he proved his identity, a nobleman who was in charge of the castle immediately came out to greet him. He looked to be about forty years old and had a thick beard. "You must be Lord Leon, right? I'm Gasparton, the tax officer here. "
"Hello!" Leon reached out and shook his hand. He had learned from the Brittanian court that the Lady of the Lake had arranged a tax collector for him. The tax collector was a cleric of the Order of the Holy Virgin. Although he had a strong resemblance to the Lady of the Lake, he could be trusted.
He was an assistant sent by the Lady.
That was why when the Goddess of the Lake said that she would "not interfere", she was just being polite. The Goddess of the Lake was already used to being deeply involved in the affairs of the mortal world. Her habits would not change so easily, especially since he was her Chosen of God champion. At most, some things could be discussed because of his strength and importance.
"You must be tired from the journey, Mr. Laing. I have arranged for people to clean up the castle. There are many things that you need to see in person. You can choose to see them immediately, or you can rest first and see them later." Gasparton took out a large book of accounts and various documents and asked Laing.
"I'll see them when I get to the castle." Laing nodded. Some things were better for him to see immediately, but now they had to enter the city first.
At the gate of the town, all the citizens and serfs of the city were out. In Brittany, the serfs served a lord, and the lord provided them with a place to live. In peacetime, the peasants' harvest was handed over to the lord, and the peasants' harvest depended on their master's character.
In fact, Brittany was not like this in the past.
During the reign of Tayloff and the previous Knight King, there were still a large number of yeomen in Brittany. Although they were also classified as serfs, their lives were better than the current serfs. At least they had their own land and did not have to bear the burden of exorbitant taxes and corvee labor. They also enjoyed more power.
However, after the Dore Tower incident, the civil war broke out among the dukes and caused the yeomen to disappear on a large scale. Although the Knight King Tayloff had some countermeasures, it was an indisputable fact that the land had been swallowed by the dukes.
After that, John I and John II were the real tyrants. After the death of Tayloff, Brittany spent about 130 years under the rule of these two kings. They rejoiced in grandiose achievements and constantly launched chivalry expeditions abroad. They even went as far as the Southern Wasteland to fight the Green Army.
In the devastating battle of the Evil River, Brittany lost more than 8,000 knights and 20,000 conscripts.
Since then, in order to appease the dukes who had suffered great losses, John I and John II delegated a lot of power. The dukes also swallowed the land of the yeomen. It should be emphasized here that being a Holy Grail Knight had nothing to do with the claim of land. Being a Holy Grail Knight had nothing to do with land annexation. At most, the Holy Grail Knight treated the serfs with a relatively low tax rate and land redemption, but it did not mean that they would give up land annexation.
Because of this, the serfs were very eager for the Holy Grail Knight to become the knight who ruled the territory because it meant too much.
Many knight lords collected tithes from the serfs (90% of which was handed over except for basic rations), but the Holy Grail Knight was generally not so harsh.
In any dispute between serfs, as long as a knight intervened, someone would be hanged, regardless of the severity of the crime. For a knight, as long as a serf committed a crime, there was no need to worry about the severity of the punishment. Only the Holy Grail Knight would not. When they were present, justice would be served.
In addition, there were many benefits, which was one of the many reasons why Laing was popular. The serfs were sincere in their desire to be ruled by the Holy Grail Knight. In the dark age, the Holy Grail Knight was their only light and hope.
Unfortunately, the number of Holy Grail Knights was small, and most of them were in the Holy Land of the Guardian Goddess.
The town of Jean had about 300 permanent residents. The town was composed of low walls and hundreds of simple houses, but hotels, restaurants, and various guilds were all available. There was also a Temple of Sharia and a military camp in the town.
At the end of the town, one could reach Laing's Baron Castle through a short mountain road. The castle occupied a large area and was built halfway up a mountain. There was a water source behind the mountain. The whole castle was built with huge stone walls and was divided into two parts, the outer courtyard and the inner courtyard. The inner courtyard castle was occupied by the lord's family and his servants, while the outer courtyard tower and walls were enough to house the garrison and tax officers.
Laing refused the help of others and pushed open the heavy door with his own strength. The dust that greeted him made Lopes and Al- Frey frown. Many places in the inner courtyard of the four-story castle were rotten and damaged, but generally speaking, they could still move in immediately.
"Was there a baron in Jean before?" Laing asked Gaspardon.
The middle-aged man immediately replied, "There was, Mr. Laing, but since the last baron died in battle 33 years ago, there was no more baron here. Usually, Marquis Ascot manages this place."
Laing nodded. Barons were not hereditary. This was the same whether it was in Brittany or the Empire. After a baron died, the duke could openly take back the territory, either for his own use or to give it to someone else.
The current person who had the legal claim to the Baron of Jean was Marquis Connelly Ascot, who belonged to the Duchy of Vanford. He would be Laing's immediate superior in name. Of course, it was only in name. Kingdom knights were not qualified to order Holy Grail Knights.
Marquis Ascot's castle was about 30 kilometers east of the Baron of Jean, located in the Duchy of Vanford.
After arranging their temporary accommodations, Laing came to the auditorium in the inner courtyard and said to Gaspardon, "Let's begin."
"Yes, Mr. Laing."
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
