Laing had no reason to refuse Anthelm's request. He wanted to borrow the power of the Champion Knights Brotherhood of Quinnarius, so he naturally had to bear the corresponding responsibility.
However, he made it clear that Suria would not participate in this military operation. Attacking the Blackstone Stronghold was risky. As his wife, the female knight was more useful in the territory than going to war with him.
The dinner was a delicious southern Brittany feast, including baked snails, red wine chicken, fried foie gras, fish soup, sirloin steak, baked snails, and grilled lobster. Under the careful cooking of the chef brought by Suria, the food was particularly delicious. The chef also carefully added truffles to the dishes to ensure that the guests and the host enjoyed themselves.
By the way, these southern nobles also despised the poor cooking skills and monotonous dishes of the northerners.
After dinner, under the night sky, Anthelm offered to borrow Laing's time to go out for a walk. Laing nodded. He knew that the count had something to say to him.
In the boundless starry sky, the two Knights of the Holy Grail walked slowly in the forest near the cabin in the woods under the starlight. Laing slowed down a little. He was thinking about what Anthelm would say to him.
He did not know much about the count. In general, he only knew that Anthelm was a very powerful Knight of the Holy Grail. He was a master of both swords and spears. He was about fifty to sixty years old and had done a lot of heroic deeds. He was François's trusted cousin and an important noble in the Winford Duchy. He loved Suria very much.
He was also Laing's elder. It was necessary to show some respect.
"Young man, I've seen all the things you've done since you came to this kingdom. You have a big heart, do you know that?" The two walked along the forest for five minutes. Anthelm hesitated for a moment before continuing, "A little, too big."
"I don't quite understand what you mean, Uncle Anthelm." Naturally, Ryan followed Sulia and called Anthelm Uncle. In fact, after he came to this world, he found that addressing relatives was not as complicated as it was in the Celestial Empire in his previous life. To the elders, they were either grandpa, grandma, uncle, or auntie. Whether it was cousins or cousins, they were all the same general term.
"Laing, I'll call you that. You're an outsider. It's your honor to marry Suria. In principle, our family generally does not marry a duke's daughter to a foreigner." Anthelm turned around and looked at Laing. "But since it's you, I don't have much opinion. After all, you're the Lady's Chosen Champion.
"So?" From this alone, Laing could not understand what his uncle meant.
"However, just because Sulia is willing to marry you doesn't mean that you are qualified to compete for the throne." Anthelm continued, "I know that you may be blessed by the gods, you may have amazing strength, you may be a hero of the kingdom, but you are not qualified to compete for the throne."
"I'm not a duke." Laing nodded.
"You're not qualified even if you're a duke." Anthelm retorted, the fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes moving up and down. "Laing, it's not that easy to become a king. Laing has the support of the entire northern part of the kingdom. What about you? At most, your cousin will stand up to support you, right? Well, yes, you have a good relationship with Bastogne and Bordero, but so what? Berchemund, Duke of Bastogne, has the right to compete for the throne. Bordero's Bodrick is at most slightly biased toward you. He won't express his stance until the overall situation is settled. "
"I know." Anthelm's words were harsh, but he was right. Laing's foundation in this country was too shallow after all. He humbly accepted the criticism.
"What you need to do now is not to think about the throne. You need to get a duke's title in your pocket first." Anthelm continued. "The only title you can fight for in this country is the title of Duke of Muxilon. Fortunately, if you were in a hurry to get the title of duke like a hungry wolf, I wouldn't have come to you today."
Laing's expression was very bad. He did want to get Muxilon first before thinking about the Blackstone Stronghold, but Suria's words made him understand something.
Yes, the attack on Muxilon and the Blackstone Stronghold were both against the undead. However, the main beneficiary of the attack on Muxilon was Laing himself. The main beneficiary of the attack on the Blackstone Stronghold was the entire kingdom threatened by Kemmler.
Anthelm didn't need to say more, because Laing understood. There was no need to speak so clearly between the two of them.
In the end, Anthelm patted Laing's shoulder hard. "Fortunately, you know how to control yourself very well. If you really used the lady for everything, you would have relied on the lady's favor and oracle in your promotion. Otherwise, I might have been thinking, why not me?"
"???" Laing's boots stepped on the somewhat damp woodland, leaving a footprint.
"Why can't I be the lady's champion? Am I not good enough? I completed the Holy Grail expedition in my forties. Am I not strong enough? I once killed a wyvern alone, annihilated a goblin tribe alone, and killed a bile troll. I once had a good chance of inheriting the title of duke. Even after my cousin inherited the title of duke, I was still third in line after Suria. Why can't I be the lady's champion? "Anthelm said with a smile." Can't I be the king? Why did my cousin choose you and not me? Just because you are my cousin's son-in-law? So I have to adapt to the situation and give the opportunity to you? On what basis? Laing, you are just a country bumpkin from Nord. I am still a direct descendant of the Winford family! "
"If you can do it, why can't I do it? I just didn't get the chance! If the lady chooses me to be the champion, I can do it too! " Anthelm asked a series of questions. Seeing that Laing was thinking, he continued, "Laing, there are many things that don't have to be done by you. I hope you understand."
"There are many great nobles in the kingdom who think so, right?" Laing understood the meaning behind Anthelm's words.
"Yes, Laing, not everyone adapts to the situation. If everyone is smart and adaptable, His Majesty Arthur wouldn't have resisted desperately in the face of the Green Skin army thirty times his own. His Majesty Ludwig the Savior wouldn't have called on all the people of the Empire to unite against Chaos when the capital fell. Even Emperor Karl-franz on the other side of the mountain wouldn't have won by a narrow margin in the first round of voting with Boris Todbinger."
"If everyone adapts to the situation, the world should still be under the rule of the High Elves, and there wouldn't be Charlemagne's Empire. If everyone adapts to the situation, when His Majesty Ludwig invited Brittany to join the Empire with the great achievement of winning the great Holy War and the power of 200,000 elite troops of the new Empire, wouldn't the then Knight King Tayloff have obediently submitted?" Anthelm continued, "I dote on you, so I won't tell you this. But I want to tell you that there are many such people. They like to use the results to deduce the cause and process to prove that they are right. They think that they can see through others, but in fact, they can't even see through themselves. Fortunately, at least from what you have done so far, they can't find too many problems, but there are definitely many who have opinions in their hearts."
"Sadly, such people make up the majority." Laing smiled bitterly. "There are many people who want a little change, but there are very few who want to make a little change."
"That's all I have to say." Count Anthelm signaled that there was no need for Laing to send him off. He blew a whistle, and a pegasus descended from the sky and carried the count away.
Only Laing himself, who was deep in thought, remained where he was.
The gray knight gene prototype stretched out his hands. He felt the overflowing power in his body. The sparks and lightning of psionic power danced happily in his palms. These hands had many uses, but Laing chose to use them to protect the things he cherished, his family and lovers, humans, and order. He had used these hands to hold the warhammer thousands of times to kill the enemy. For more than a decade, he had been doing so, and in the future, he would continue to do so.
What he did was not for his own selfish desires or for the benefit of his family. He had a clear conscience about this.
That was enough.
…
The vacation time in the villa in the woods was always very short. Laing did not enjoy enough of the short leisure time before he continued to devote himself to internal affairs. Countless government affairs had to be handled by him, including the preparation and selection of the army. The huge barn built by the count had long been filled with military provisions. The dwarf trade caravans from the Gray Mountains and the wood elf trade caravans from Esolorn came one after another. They came with full goods and left with full goods.
Gradually, summer came, and the scorching sun replaced the spring sun, baking the ground. Conscription Day was coming on midsummer night. This year, the serfs signed up for the army more enthusiastically than anyone had imagined. As long as the serfs did not have to worry about food and clothing, they would talk about conscription loudly. They would bring themselves or their children to the count's castle to be selected. Everyone was eager to join the army. Death was not scary. What was scary was being a lowly serf for the rest of your life. The status of a free person was so scarce that only the count's order and approval could be promoted.
But before that, Laing wanted to take a look at the goods.
Veronica and her apprentices spent three months carving runes and constructing magic circles for the Light Magic Mount from the Royal Empire Wizard Academy. Finally, most of the settings were completed in the summer. This included adjusting the degree of magic overload, constructing and carving magic circles, and repairing the interior of the Light Magic Mount and experimenting with magic.
Now, it was time to complete the assembly. In the future, Veronica would be able to stand on this powerful war machine and fight.
Under the scorching sun, Laing brought his female courtier, Teresa, to Veronica's Dawn Wizard Tower to see the power of the Light Magic Mount in actual combat.
The sorceress was a little unhappy. She was originally very dissatisfied with Laing's priority of providing Veronica with the Light Magic Mount. But after experimenting with it herself, she found that Laing's priority of purchasing the Light Magic Mount was not entirely due to his preference for Veronica. It had something to do with magic adaptability.
The Light Magic Mount was created by the Academy of Light of the Royal Empire Wizard Academy. In principle, it was given priority to Light Wizards before being distributed to all Great Wizards of the Royal Academy.
Therefore, Veronica, who was proficient in Light Magic, was able to master this powerful war machine very quickly. As a sorceress who specialized in Ice Magic, Teresa's understanding of magic theory was lacking. Ice Magic did not belong to the Eight Elements of Magic. This caused her a lot of trouble when using this war machine.
For example, Veronica and her apprentices could complete the construction of the Light Magic Mount in three months, but Teresa and her apprentices could take three years. Not to mention, her Wizard Tower was only half completed, and her apprentices had yet to arrive. This was the time when money and energy were needed everywhere. The sorceress gave up on competing with Veronica for the ownership of the Light Magic Mount. She also coerced Laing to sign many unequal agreements with her, including going to Bordero alone with her to purchase various magical items for three days.
"Teresa, you don't look too well. Is there a problem with your meditation recently, or is it because of the weather? " Laing asked his female courtier as they walked near the castle. He noticed that Teresa's spirit was very low.
"The weather, especially in this hot weather, I'm sure you understand." Teresa's face was very pale. The sorceress held onto Laing's arm. She was wearing a white wavy calico shirt, a pair of tight straight pants, and a pair of black pointy heels. She looked very fresh and simple, and even more so, she looked like a clean CEO.
Suria treated the two witches very well. After returning to her territory after completing the tour in the Empire, Suria officially granted Teresa and Veronica the status of courtiers and reported it to the Kingdom. From then on, Teresa and Veronica could legally stay by Laing's side. If they had children, they would also be legally recognized illegitimate children. Other than not having the right to inherit, they would also enjoy many of the privileges and privileges of nobles.
To put it simply, Teresa and Veronica were "authorized" in Laing's backyard. Without a proper reason, they could not be casually expelled or removed from the status of courtiers.
Whether it was Brittany, the Empire, or the Southern countries, it was a well-known fact that nobles had many lovers. The courtier system was a compromise for some powerful nobles in the aristocratic system. That was, there could only be one wife, and more courtiers were allowed.
Charlemagne had five wives and five concubines in his life. Francois had three legitimate illegitimate children in addition to Julius and Sulia. Wamil von Zhukov, Elector Wolfensohn, had two female courtiers and many lovers, six legitimate illegitimate children and ten illegitimate illegitimate children who were not recognized by the Emperor, except for his two legitimate sons, Oleg and Wassily!
"In this season, we Ice Wizards and Warlocks are in this state. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to see how good Veronica's Magic of Light was, I might have stayed in the forest villa built by your brother for the whole day to cool off." Teresa nodded. Her tone was full of resentment. "On the other hand, Veronica's magic power is at its strongest in summer. In winter, when I'm at my strongest, she likes to hide under the quilt and read books, meditate, sit in front of the fireplace, and have sex with you."
"What's the magic power of a wizard like?" Laing asked curiously.
"Then I'll explain to you in detail the magic power storage and the magic chanting method."
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