"Just one sentence. Get out of my way, greedy human. Exoloren doesn't welcome you!" François couldn't stop laughing. "Kasvann lost dozens of soldiers, a courtier, and a team of knights because of this. Oh, and his gifts, they were all accepted by the wood elves."
"Hahahahaha!" The three Grail knights roared with laughter. Berchemund slapped his thigh hard. "Serves him right! Any attempt to communicate with the wood elves will be seen as malicious. They're the only ones who take the initiative to sign trade agreements. They've never been passively accepted. Otherwise, I would've gone to them for trade. "
Louis chuckled. He stroked his goatee and shook his head helplessly. "Based on my understanding of Kasvann, he must've declared war on the wood elves in exasperation, right?"
"Kasvann? Our Duke Palawon has fallen out with the wood elves, but he's being chased by the debt collectors of Marlin Castle. I'm afraid he doesn't have the time to send troops. " François shook his head with a bitter smile. "Richard can't care that much now. He's still worried about next year's Culona Knight Conference. The royal family's finances are in trouble now, but for the sake of the kingdom, the Knight Conference must be held on a grand scale. Otherwise, it'll damage the kingdom's reputation."
"There will be a way. Even if Richard can't do it, Her Highness Morgiana will take care of it. That's not what I'm interested in. What I'm interested in is why that brat Ryan was able to make the wood elves take the initiative to sign a trade agreement with him. Berchemund turned to François and asked, "The wood elves are all stubborn. The last time we had someone who could trade with the wood elves was the Grail knight, Count Redmond. That was more than eighty years ago. Ever since Redmond passed away, no one has been able to gain the wood elves' trust."
"I'm not too sure, but … maybe we can do some analysis on Laing's background." François's expression turned serious. The duke squinted his eyes and said, "As you know, Laing's background is very complicated. It's more complicated than we can imagine."
Louis and Berchemund were deep in thought.
"First of all, Laing's biological parents are unknown. According to the information we currently have, Laing was picked up by Norman, the Lord of Orteny, when he was three years old and adopted as his son. When he was three years old, he showed extraordinary intelligence and learning ability. His talent was beyond everyone's imagination. You all know what happened after that. He was adopted by Duke Ivan as his godson and became a White Wolf Knight by fighting all the way."
"Yes, Laing's birth and bloodline are unknown." Berchemund nodded.
"Then, as far as we know, he received the Lady's help in the battle against the Northern Barbarians and became the Lady's Chosen One champion. I don't need to say much about what happened after that, you all know. But don't you think that the Lady appears too frequently by Ryan's side during your interactions with him? After coming to Brittany, when he was officially made a Knight of the Holy Grail in the Duchy of Kacason, Suria told me that the Lady appeared once in the Holy Grail Cathedral in Kurona. Then, when she was in the Kurona Palace, she appeared once in the body of Her Highness Morgiana. " François nodded. The duke squinted his eyes. His sea-blue eyes were as deep as the ocean, containing deep wisdom. "Don't you think … it's too much?"
"Also, his elder brother in his territory, the one called Anglo, has unfathomable power. But I sent people to investigate that tall and strong knight's history and whereabouts are completely blank. It's as if he appeared out of thin air."
"That's true. Wait … François, you mean, Laing, he's …" Louis finally realized. Even though he was no longer in the secular world, he still maintained his sharp senses.
François gestured for him to continue. The duke picked up the fruit wine and looked at the liquid in the glass. "First of all, we can be sure that Laing is definitely not a heretic or an anomaly. Just because he's the champion of the Chosen of God."
Berchemund and Louis nodded. François's words were simple. Since the Lady of the Lake recognized Laing as the champion of the Chosen of God, then there was no doubt about Laing's character and ability.
The Knights of the Holy Grail would never question or test the Lady of the Lake's authority and power. Laing had also proven his strength and excellent virtue many times.
"Then, behind Ryan, there must be an extraordinary force supporting him. His elder brother's appearance is the evidence, but his father is still unknown."
François's voice was very low. He stretched out his finger and drew on the table. "Finally, Laing himself has a valuable quality. Whether it's the dwarves, the elves, the people of the Empire on the other side of the mountain, or even the country bumpkins in Nord, he seems to be able to talk to and interact with them. He can even walk into their circles. This is a unique ability. Think about it, Louis, Bosch. Other than Laing, who else in this country can talk to so many forces? The wood elves took the initiative to trade with him. The dwarves accepted his invitation to work as craftsmen in his territory. The high elf wizard in Bordero expressed goodwill to him. The leader of the Griffin Knights of the Empire is his Godfather. He used to be a White Wolf Knight. In fact, after he left the White Wolf Knights, the White Wolf War God sent an oracle to the White Wolf Archbishop that Laing's departure was allowed by him. This means that the White Wolf Knights are still friends with Laing. "
"Then, he's the Lady's Champion and the leader of the Holy Grail Knights."
François's analysis shocked Louis and Berchemund. Thinking about it carefully, they realized that Laing was related to all three major knight orders in the Old World.
"So, François, what you mean is …" Louis asked.
"What I mean is, I've already reserved this guy, Laing." Unexpectedly, François changed the topic like an old fox showing his fangs. "The young people in this kingdom are either very naive or very addicted to pleasure. It's not easy to find an outstanding guy. Don't think about it. Tell the unmarried girls in your family to stay away from him!"
"Hahahahaha!" There was another burst of laughter in the tower.
…
While the Dukes were chatting on the tower, in the Old World, Brittany, the Dukedom of Bereon.
Bereon was known as the jewel of Brittany. It was a very beautiful city in the Old World. It was located on a narrow peninsula that connected the Old World to the mainland. The entire peninsula was a small mountain, and the castle was built along the mountain. The local farmers built their houses with white stone and plaster. The sand in the bay was an excellent material for making glass. Regardless of whether the castle was rich or poor, almost every window had glass that shone under the sun. This was extremely rare in the Old World.
However, it was also because of this reason that this beautiful dukedom was invaded by a neighboring country, the Southern City-State United Kingdom, Estalia.
The war between Bereon and Estalia could be traced back to more than 30 years ago. At that time, the Dukedom of Bereon was the invader, and Estalia was the invaded party. The knights were eager to expand their territory and killed their way into the territory of Estalia. Under the encouragement of Tyrant John II, the originally respected knight's creed was torn to pieces. The knights went deep into Estalia, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of crimes.
In the same year that John II was overthrown by the Holy Grail Knights led by the Lake Goddess, the war between the Dukedom of Bereon and Estalia also changed. A mercenary knight named Tobalo stood up and defeated the invading Duke of Bereon in a glorious duel. He then led his army into the Dukedom of Bereon. From then on, the Dukedom of Bereon and Estalia began a tug of war. The fierce mercenaries of the Southern City-States quickly relied on the shaky serf system in the Dukedom of Bereon to gain a foothold in the Dukedom. The small Dukedom of Bereon had a total of six baronies. Two of the baronies had been in the hands of the enemy for a long time. Duke Theodoric of Bereon had never stopped fighting since he ascended the throne.
But in the cold winter, Duke Borleon barely managed to come to an agreement with his enemy. In this cold season, soldiers were often severely depleted before they even got to the battlefield. Thus, Duke Theodoric and his enemy, Count Tobalo, agreed to a temporary truce until February of the next year. The duchy ushered in a brief period of peace. Before the serfs had time to heal the wounds of war, and before the knights had time to take off their damaged armor, the duchy ushered in the first snow of the year.
At this time, the Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana came to the Dukedom with a prophet of the Lake Goddess.
Holding the Holy Grail in one hand, the reins in the other, and a runic longsword in the other, Morgiana wore a gray strapless silk dress. The dress was covered with golden threads and silver chains, as well as pieces of golden irises. The Lake Goddess Witch wore a golden laurel crown on her head and a golden belt on her waist, revealing her beautiful figure.
She wore a blue cloak on the outside, and her golden wavy hair draped over her shoulders. Morgiana's green eyes were full of coldness: "We have arrived at Bereon, Clement."
Behind Morgiana, a prophet of the Lake Goddess followed. This prophet of the Lake Goddess also wore a blue strapless dress, but unlike Morgiana, she used a headscarf to wrap her hair into a ball and then tied it behind her head, forming a large inverted triangle. After hearing Morgiana's words, the prophet of the Lake Goddess named Clement whispered: "Your Highness, do you intend to go to the folk to find the prodigy first, or do you want to go to Bereon Castle to ask Sir Theodoric for a tithe?"
"… The war continues here. According to my prophecy, there is only one girl with enough talent in the Dukedom of Bereon this year. Let's go directly to the village and then to Bereon Castle." Morgiana hesitated for a moment, but still decided to go to the village in the prophecy and take the girl away first.
"Yes." The prophet of the Lake Goddess did not say anything else.
Morgiana sat sideways on the unicorn Hillfain, while Clement rode a mixed-blood elven warhorse behind them. They did not take the main road, but took the smaller paths to avoid the main flow of people and also to avoid crowded places.
Even so, Morgiana also noticed that the population of Bereon had decreased a lot after more than twenty years of war, especially during winter. The land was vast, and there were only a few small villages and a large amount of wilderness covered in snow. Many farmlands had been abandoned, and the two even passed by a few battlefields that no one cleaned. There were dozens of corpses piled up there. Many of them were mercenaries from the southern kingdoms and soldiers of the Dukedom of Bereon. The whole battlefield was emitting a foul smell.
In the middle of the battlefield, several ghouls were greedily eating the delicious corpses. They used their teeth to tear the rotten flesh and drink the stinking blood, making a crunching sound.
The appearance of the Lake Goddess witch quickly attracted their attention. Seeing the fierce and fierce eyes of the witch, the ghouls were so scared that they roared and ran away.
"Wind Blast!" Morgiana immediately raised her hand and chanted a magic syllable. A whirlwind of pure energy blew through the cold air and swept up the snowflakes on the ground. The whirlwind rolled up the snowflakes and rolled them toward the ghouls.
The ghouls screamed and ran away, but the whirlwind of the Wind Blast gathered them together and blew them away. Then, Morgiana fiercely reached out a hand wearing a white lace glove and clenched it fiercely in the air.
Crack! The ghouls were instantly reduced to a mist of blood, and not even their corpses were left behind.
"Hmph!" Morgiana's eyes were full of disgust and hatred. She snorted coldly. "Hurry up and get to the destination, or it will be dark soon. The night is the paradise of these undead creatures."
"Go, Hillfain, go quickly." Morgiana urged her unicorn. Her unicorn also understood her master's intentions and began to trot. The Lake Goddess Witch and the Lake Goddess Prophet no longer paid attention to the situation on the road and focused on hurrying along.
After years of war, the farmlands were abandoned, and the originally dense population had thinned out. Corpses were hung from many trees by the roadside. Duke Theodoric was very cruel to the serfs in his territory. If they were found to be related to the Southerners, the only punishment was to be hanged.
Steal, hang, hurt others, hang, resist taxation, hang, hang, hang, if a knight finds you an eyesore, hang.
So, they could see serfs being hanged along the way. Many vultures were gnawing on the corpses. Morgiana's face was heavy. She just kept her head down and hurried on.
After trotting for more than half an hour, the destination village was behind a small hill not far away. In front of them was a cemetery, and behind the cemetery was a small forest. Morgiana signaled for Hillfain to slow down. She felt that something was wrong. "Clement? Is there a cemetery here on the map? "
"Your Highness, something is wrong." The prophet also felt that something was wrong. "There shouldn't be a cemetery here."
"… There's someone there!" Morgiana pulled on the reins. The sharp-eyed Lake Goddess witch immediately noticed a serf running out of the forest. The serf's face was pale, covered in mud and snow. It was the middle of winter, and he was only wearing tattered cotton clothes. He rolled out of the forest on all fours. "Help! Help! Lady Shariah, help me! "
Behind him, a dozen zombies and a few ghouls were chasing after the serf.
"Help! I beg you! " The serf also noticed Morgiana riding her unicorn. He immediately shouted, "Help, Your Highness!"
"Help!"
Seeing that the serf was about to be caught by the zombies, Morgiana drew her runic sword. "Save him."
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