This year's summer in Brittania was relatively cool and not as hot as before. This was good news for the serfs in Count Glamorgan's dominion. What was even rarer was that the knights did not hold any large-scale hunting or training activities this year.
Because of the Chaos invasion in the North this spring, the knights in the entire Count's territory had received enough training. What they needed now was rest. The refugees who fled to the North at the beginning of the year had begun to get used to life in the Count's territory. Under their hard work, the produce in the Count's territory was getting richer and richer. There were even some serfs who had accumulated enough food to last them for two to three months.
This was a rare occurrence in Brittany.
Five new villages had been established in Chalon Forest, and new residents moved in. After repeated exterminations, the Orc tribes in the forest were unable to cause any trouble. The Count also ordered the residents not to go too deep into the forest. After all, clearing the forest was a long process.
As usual, in the afternoon, Ryan found some free time. The count himself seemed to be sitting behind his desk in his office, doing his work with a straight face.
In fact, he was slacking. His maidservants, Olica and Emilia, were serving him in the room. Laing's flag bearer, Grail Knight Armand, Winford's Knight Jerrold, Winford's brother-in-law, Julius, and Count Garamente, who was preparing for his Grail Expedition, were in Laing's office. They were eating iced watermelon and enjoying the air conditioner made by Teresa.
"Laing, you know how to enjoy life. I always thought that His Excellency François's courtyard in the Castle was luxurious enough, but you actually thought of using Mana to cool down." Jerrold held the iced watermelon in his hands and took big bites. There was juice on his face.
"The Castle is fine in winter, but not in summer. So, I have to make some changes." Laing didn't look too good. He spent two days to come out of the Lake Nymph's tower. Fortunately, he had just advanced to the Sanctuary-realm, and his body was far stronger than that of an ordinary Legendary powerhouse. Otherwise, he might not have been able to deal with Morgiana. The Lake Nymph was obsessed with him and was willing to cooperate with him. They unlocked many new positions.
Laing and Olica secretly discussed this matter under the blanket. He thought for a long time and knew that he could only discuss it with the Dark Elves.
Olica said, "Master, it's really comfortable when I'm with you, especially when I'm absorbing Psionic Energy. I can't help it … Morgiana and I feel the same way. Besides, Morgiana … she should be a few decades. Once something is opened, it can't be closed....."
"Alright." Laing didn't say anything else.
After a long time, Laing began to form his own circle. The people he gathered were all young talents in Brittany, and they were all in their thirties or forties. He noticed that Kalad's expression was very gloomy. Obviously, the death of Ulles and Anna was a big blow to him.
Kalad wasn't defeated by the setback. He was stronger and more determined.
"By the way, I remember that Duke Lauen Leo Cornwall of Connet started a knight's war to reclaim Muxilon?" Laing tried to change the topic. "What's the situation?"
After defeating the Chaos invasion, Richard ordered Duke Lauen to lead more than ten thousand soldiers to attack Muxilon. He wanted to reclaim Muxilon, the cursed city, in one fell swoop.
According to what Francois heard from Curona, Richard had the idea of abdicating. He wanted to pass his throne to Lauen Leo Cornwall. If Lauen could take advantage of the fact that he had defeated Musillon and become Richard's successor, then his ascension to the throne would be almost certain.
Richard's plan was also very clear. The entire Kingdom of Knights knew that a huge army of vampires had been inexplicably annihilated on their way to Leon's territory. Mu Xilong's vampires had suffered a great loss of strength because of this and could no longer take the initiative to attack. They could only settle down in Mu Xilong's territory and work hard to recover their military strength.
Therefore, Richard's plan was to let his nephew, Lao Enlai, be the one to "pick the peaches" and reclaim Mu Xilong's vampires because of Ryan.
Duke Lauen did lead more than ten thousand soldiers to attack Muxilon, "Kalad nodded. His tone was a little melancholy. "But the result was the same as it has been for hundreds of years. Duke Lauen's army returned to Muxilon without success. Duke Lauen originally planned to besiege the city, but in the end, he chose to retreat."
"Retreat?" Julius crossed his arms in front of his chest. Recently, there had been some warmth on his cold face. Obviously, he was happy that his sister was about to get married. He had always thought that Sulia could only marry a Holy Grail Knight, and it had to be a young one who could fight.
"Yes, retreat." Jerrold nodded. The cousin of François said with a bitter smile, "Duke Lauen won every encounter after entering Muxilon and defeated every vampire raid. But in the end, he had no way to fight against the vampire residents of Muxilon. Even if Duke Lauen personally fought and killed a black Grail Knight, even if he led a hundred guards to defeat five hundred undead black knights, the huge vampire corruption and the resistance of all the residents in Muxilon made the supply and logistics of the entire knight's army very difficult."
Armand nodded. The last bloodline of the Duke of Aquitaine's family continued, "The huge losses and poor logistics exhausted the strength of the knight's army. Under the repeated harassment and attacks of the vampires, the knight's army became exhausted. In the end, they could only retreat. Before retreating, Lauen left two thousand soldiers to strengthen the sentries and anti-epidemic belt around Muxilon."
"Hmm …" Laing thought about a series of things.
Muxilon was indeed a difficult place to deal with. Other than the tens of meters high walls of Muxilon City, the corruption of the land was too serious. The corruption of the vampires had spread throughout the land of Muxilon, and it was difficult for any army to stay in that place for a long time. Duke Lauen was forced to stop every ten kilometers to rest and reorganize.
And in Laing's opinion, every time Lauen's army went to a place, they would rush into the town like a whirlwind and set up a "Grail Court" to burn all the identified vampires and humans who had been corrupted by the vampires.
This method was a righteous method and also in line with the requirements of the knight's path. But Lauen's actions meant that he would be an enemy of the entire Muxilon and would be caught in the sea of people's war.
In fact, there were many factions among the vampires. Some were ambitious, and some just wanted to live a peaceful life. Some high-level vampires even lived the same life as humans. Not all vampires were planning to destroy humans. Many vampires had already taken root in human society, and Muxilon was one of them.
Lauen's method of burning every vampire he saw was a way to completely solve the problem, but the cruelty of this method made everyone in Muxilon feel threatened, forcing everyone in Muxilon to become enemies with the knight's army.
Under such circumstances, Lauen could not quickly take down the cursed city of Muxilon. His supply line was attacked again and again, and the army was tired. The only thing he could do was to withdraw.
Richard's plan to let Lauen take advantage of the situation had failed. This war that was neither lost nor won was forced to stop. The Brittany was also exhausted and could not fight anymore.
In the end, Richard added the title of regent to Duke Lauen and began to let him help him deal with government affairs. As for when he would bring up the matter of passing on the throne again, that would have to wait for the next opportunity.
"Muxilon is really a difficult bone to chew," Julius said disappointedly. "After this invasion of Chaos, the power of the kingdom has declined greatly. I don't know when the next time we send troops to reclaim Muxilon will be."
"Send troops again? Yuri, I don't think reclaiming Muxilon is a problem. " Laing rubbed his chin and said while thinking, "I think even if we fight a few more times, the outcome will still be the same. First of all, how are we going to break through Muxilon's walls that are dozens of meters high? With trebuchets? Besides, if we fight Muxilon again, we will definitely have to face serious vampire corruption. Before we figure out a way to deal with the corruption, we can't go to war at will. The most important thing now is to rest and recuperate. "
"… Well." Julius could only nod. "That's the only way now."
"The northern part of the kingdom has suffered heavy losses. It may take five to ten years to recover to its former size." Armand, the knight of the Holy Grail, also said, "After two wars, the nobles of the kingdom are already tired of war. We need to slowly consider reclaiming Muxilon."
"Okay." After finishing the watermelon, the knights also took their leave. Only Laing, Olica, and Emilia were left in the room.
The count was still thinking with his head down. After thinking for a long time, he still shook his head. "The matter of reclaiming Muxilon needs to be considered at length."
"Laing, vampires are not that easy to deal with." Emilia shook her head. "Since the Empire lost the province of Sylvania five hundred years ago, it has never successfully ruled that place. The Vampire War exhausted the Empire, and all the vampire castles in Sylvania were razed to the ground. But since then, no noble was willing to rule Sylvania. Now, only ruins and a few villages are left. Every year, except when the Empire sends people in to collect taxes, no one dares to go to Sylvania."
Laing smiled bitterly. Wasn't Muxilon in the same situation?
It was very easy for vampires to corrupt a piece of land. It only took a while for the shadow and death to affect a piece of land. Neither the living nor the dead would be able to rest in peace.
Then, how about purifying a piece of land?
It would take decades and many large-scale spells to purify a piece of land.
Both the Empire and the Brittany were faced with the same problem. It was easy to defeat vampires, but difficult and long to purify the land corrupted by vampires.
In layman's terms, the land could not be purified.
Then, how can I reclaim Muxilon?
Laing looked out of the window and fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a long time, Laing could not come up with a particularly good idea. He suddenly felt that someone should give him some advice.
The count laughed wickedly and said to Emilia, "Emilia, thank you for your hard work. You can go and rest first."
"Okay." The maid saw Laing's strange smile. Emilia, who had followed Laing for years, did not know what Laing wanted to do. The maid looked at the count with a little resentment, lifted her skirt, and bowed before leaving.
The dark elf found Laing looking at her. Olica's face gradually turned red. "Mas … Master?"
"Hehehe ~ Olica, I have something to discuss with you." Ryan picked up the Dark Elf by the waist and kissed her on the cheek. "Same old way. Let's go back to the room and talk ~"
"Ah! Master … "The dark elf hugged Laing's neck and said shyly," Master, you're always like this. "
…
It took Belegar more than a month to escape from the Sea Gate all the way to Callak Breezy Castle. At this time, King Angerland's funds were basically used up. They passed through the Black Mountain Range and the Gray Mountain Range and arrived at Breezy Castle through the underground network.
Along the way, this team of a few hundred people experienced several battles. There were many green-skinned fortresses in the underground network, but for some reason, most of the green-skinned tribes they encountered along the way were dispirited and lacking in fighting spirit. Moreover, the fortresses were all in tatters, as if they had just been robbed. Belegar and his team defeated the enemies relatively smoothly.
At this time, Breezy Castle was in front of them.
When the King of Callak Breezy Castle, Lorek Granite Hand, heard that Belegar had brought his people to join him, he opened the gate and warmly welcomed them with the etiquette of kings. He also arranged for them to stay. In the evening, Lorek held a grand banquet to welcome Belegar's arrival. He did not mention a word about Belegar's expedition to the Eight Peaks Mountain. This undoubtedly brought a lot of comfort to Belegar's heart, and the pain of defeat was also diluted a little.
There were also differences among the dwarves. The closer they were to the east of the Roof of the World, the more stubborn the dwarves were. Among them, the kings of Callak Ironpeak Castle and Callak Horn Castle did not even believe in firearms. They still preferred to fight with bows, axes, and hammers.
The closer they were to the west, the more tactful and flexible the dwarves were because they had more contact with humans. King Lorek of Callak Breezy Castle was such a person. Breezy Castle was located in the middle of the Grey Mountains, sandwiched between the Empire and the Brittany. It had trade with both countries, and it often took in goods from Malinburg. The dwarves here were more tactful and diplomatic.
"Belegar, my friend, what brings you here?" Lorek said to Belegar at the banquet. "What a rare guest!"
"Here's the thing: the Angerande tribe's expedition is not going well. I've decided to preserve the tribe's strength and fight another day." Belegar stroked his white beard, which was tied up with many coarse linen and some copper rings. There was nothing unusual about it. "I'll have to trouble you for a while, Lorek."
"Of course."
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
