"Duke, it's time for us to leave. All of Nurr is waiting for you." Urstein, the Grand Marshal of Nurr, said to Emilia in a serious tone.
Emilia took one last look at Laing's territory reluctantly. It was full of green hills and clear waters. On the farmlands, the serfs were harvesting the winter wheat. The knights under Laing's command had all arrived. They lined up neatly and took off their hats to Emilia.
No one expected that the head maid of the count would be a Kurfürst of the Empire. However, after knowing this, everyone gave Emilia the highest respect. The knights admired people who were persistent and responsible. Emilia had been Laing's maid for more than eight years.
Now, Emilia had to return to the Empire. There were her vassals and her subjects. They needed Emilia, and Emilia had to fulfill her duty. After all, she was the last direct descendant of the Kurfürst family.
Suria, Teresa, Veronica, Dark Elf Olica and Lake Goddess Witch Morgiana, who rarely went out, also came.
Of course, the one who caught Emilia's attention the most was the count with a faint sadness and a smile on his face. As time went by, when the elite troops of the Armoured Nur surrounded her, the twenty-five-year-old Emilia looked at Laing affectionately. She vaguely remembered the first time she met Laing when she was seventeen years old.
At that time, he was just a knight of the Kingdom of Nords, an ordinary member of the White Wolf Knights!
Along the way, Emilia had been the witness of Laing and the countless epics he had created. Emilia thought that she could be a loyal spectator and watch forever. However, when the time to leave finally came, the Duchess' eyes were filled with tears. When the light serenaded her home, she tried to recall the scene eight years ago when she packed up and set off with Laing at the dock of Marlin Castle.
Emilia slowly turned around and signaled the Armoured Nur and the Grand Mentors to make way. She walked to Laing with a doting smile on his face. He put his hand on Emilia's shoulder and patted it twice.
The Duchess gritted her teeth. She knew how fragile she was in front of this man. As long as he asked her to stay, she would be willing to abandon everything and stay by his side, even if she had to be a nameless maid for the rest of her life.
However, he did not. On the contrary, Laing's meaning was very clear. It was up to her to choose. No matter what she decided, he would support her.
However, this was the hero of mankind in her heart. Laing was a man who was soaked in a sense of responsibility and mission. He was the role model of chivalry, the champion of the Lady of the Lake, and the role model of all knights.
If Laing really begged Emilia to stay like a dog, she would look down on him.
"… In the end, I still have to say thank you, Laing. Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't be who I am now." Emilia came to Laing. The Duchess of Nur said one last sentence, "I will always be your little maid Emilia, my man."
After that, Emilia stood on her tiptoes and kissed Laing's lips softly. Then, the Duchess left and never looked back.
The army of Nur left in front of Laing. Laing watched the army leave in a daze. The count sighed. Emilia's choice to leave also meant that she would give up her current stable and comfortable life and choose to throw herself into the political whirlpool of Nur. At present, Emilia did not lack opposition in the court of the Empire. The position of Kurfürst and the position of Grand Duke were both taken by someone. Although she had the sacred sword of the Kurfürst, "Fire of the West", there would be a storm of blood when she returned.
However, this was her choice, and Laing had no right to interfere.
"Let's go. Let's go back." Laing turned around. Today, his backyard was very neat. Except for the Lake Fairy, who had been sneaking around and planning something, all the women he had a relationship with were here.
The first to leave were the two witches, Teresa and Veronica, who had been busy with magic experiments recently. Then, Morgiana, the Lake Fairy witch, was sending people to investigate Mu Xilong. She was trying to find out the whereabouts of the Holy Grail through divination.
Suria and Olica stayed. The female knight gently walked to Laing's side and held his arm. She gently comforted her husband who was somewhat disappointed. "It's not that we won't see each other again. When the time is right, we can go to Nur to see Emilia. She has already built the transmission magic circle and is only waiting for Ms. Elspeth to activate it."
"In fact, Emilia's departure time is not right." Laing shook his head and signaled the knights to disperse. Then, he turned around and returned to the winery. "But it can't be helped. It is indeed the appointed time. Nur has been delayed long enough."
"Master, she's pregnant." The dark elf's words were quite straightforward. Olica squinted and said in an unpleasant tone, "Really, master has been with her recently."
"After all, Emilia is going to leave. It's only right to give her more time. I can only blame myself for not working hard enough …" Suria covered her lower abdomen bitterly. In more than a year of marriage, Laing had been with her for the longest time. His spiritual tattoos had long matured, but there was no sign of her pregnancy.
At the same time, the female knight also had a faint sense of crisis in her heart. If Emilia gave birth to a eldest son, then due to their identities, the child would definitely be recognized by everyone as a legitimate illegitimate child with noble status and inheritance rights! If she failed to give birth to a child, did that mean that all of Laing's titles would be inherited by Emilia's child?!
"Don't worry, Suria, Emilia's child will only inherit Emilia's title. In the future, all of my titles will be inherited by our child." Laing saw Suria's worry. He smiled and said, "Don't worry about that. I won't die so easily."
Suria's face flushed. The female knight said in a low voice, "That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about … what if she can't give birth?"
"No, Emilia … is just a little special." Laing complained, "Her spiritual tattoos only matured three weeks ago. Then, in just a few days … she immediately had them."
"Master, why did Emilia have them so easily?" the dark elf asked curiously.
"Because there are no violent magic elements in her body, so the whole process is relatively easy." Laing shook his head. "You're both different, Olica. You have a lot of dark magic power in your body, and Suria has a lot of divine power accumulated in her body."
The female knight and the dark elf maid suddenly understood, especially Suria. The female knight blushed and wondered if the goddess had possessed her too often recently.
"Okay, let's not talk about this. Emilia is lucky. You will all have them." Laing signaled that they should go back. There were still many things for the earl to deal with.
… I'm the dividing line in dealing with internal affairs …
Old World, east of Brittany, Gray Mountains, valley below Blackstone Stronghold.
Expedition Knight Kalad was marveling at the uncanny workmanship of the dwarves.
Under the peaks of the Gray Mountains, there were fields being cultivated. More than 2,000 serfs were working hard to atone for what they had done. They were grateful for Duke Hagan's magnanimity and worked hard.
The dwarves of the Angran clan had only built a few outposts to completely control the valley. There were only five to ten dwarves stationed in each outpost. These dwarves relied on elite firearms and all kinds of defensive equipment to resist an army of thousands!
If the dwarves in the outposts judged that there was an enemy they could not fight against, these outposts would light a beacon. At that time, the dwarven army living in the outposts would go out and give the enemy a fatal blow. The knights of the nearby duchy of Gisoleiox would also immediately go out to fight when they saw the beacon.
At the same time, some of the actions of the dwarves were an eye-opener for Kalad. In the face of these unarmed fugitives, Bellegar ordered his men to train them to learn basic spear thrusts and use some simple crossbows. The dwarven crossbows were too easy to learn. The serfs only needed to learn how to load, aim, and pull the trigger. This kind of brainless tutorial allowed the serfs to quickly learn how to use the crossbows and even play a certain role.
The expedition knight faintly realized why the serfs in Laing's territory had considerable combat power.
Unfortunately, time and tide waited for no man. Kalad could not stay in this place for too long. In order to continue winning the attention and pity of the lady, he had to set off. The human army led by Sir Bertrand had left two weeks ago.
He picked up his divine sword Durandale, mounted his beloved horse Gallipa, and cleaned his tattered robe. To Kalad's delight, Bellegar had his rune smith, Sincerity, reforge his knight's plate armor and added three more runes to it to protect the powerful knight. Out of the friendship they had when they fought side by side in La Messenell Abbey, the dwarf only took Kalad's cost and 300 crowns as a reward. This was already very generous of the dwarves.
After a long expedition, Kalad had saved up quite a bit. Equipment and horses were the life of a knight. He paid for them without hesitation.
After donning his armor and mounting his horse, Kalad bade farewell to the dwarves and the serfs in the valley and embarked on the expedition alone.
The Holy Grail Expedition was a lonely one. After three hours, the people and towns of the mortal world had already left Kalad. Now, what was left for the expeditionary knights was an uninhabited wilderness. It was already April, and some places in the Duchy of Gisoleiox were still snowing. Kalad suspected that the snow was the last struggle of winter, but there was no doubt that it was indeed snowing softly.
From Kalad's perspective, he could occasionally see some barren farmlands. Yes, occasionally. But when he looked into the distance, there were very few serfs working in the fields. Obviously, the damage that Kemmler had caused to the duchy would not disappear in such a short time. Kalad even doubted that the damage that the necromancer had caused to the land could be healed. But no matter what, Kemmler was dead. The serfs and nobles would live on.
That was life.
What made Kalad feel strange was that the merchants gathered like sharks that smelled blood. Along the way, he met many caravans that were going to the newly built trading post to trade. They brought hides, wine, and horses to trade for weapons and equipment produced by the dwarves, dark beer, and food produced by the Empire.
This allowed this piece of land to more or less have some vitality.
The caravans were escorted by troops. Some were the troops of the Duchy of Gisoleiox, and some were the guards of the merchants themselves. While the safety in the wilderness was guaranteed, Kalad felt frustrated. If this was the case, how could he offer enough tribute to the lady?
He decided to continue staying away from the human world.
As he gradually approached the Forest of Arden, Kalad finally saw his prey as he wished. Amidst the hooves of the expeditionary knights, a panicked woman was running wildly in the woods, trying to get away from him.
Kalad immediately recognized the other party. She was wearing a stained green robe and a pointed wizard's hat. Seeing the figure of the expeditionary knights, the woman screamed and ran wildly in the woods. Her face was full of fear. She released a lot of magic involuntarily, forming green waves in the air. Her gray hair was filled with the smell of curses. She tried to rush down the hill, intending to disappear into the depths of the woods.
This was a rogue mage! A female rogue mage who had awakened her magic talent without systematic training! Kalad knew that among the people, they had an unwritten uniform name, and that was the witch.
Kalad had recently seen a witch hunting in the valley under the Blackstone Stronghold. The witch was tied to a stake and waiting for the flame to purify her. But the witch was not afraid of the flame. She let out a shrill laugh on the stake and controlled the flame to attack the serfs. She cursed everyone loudly and warned them that she would come back to destroy the land.
Then the dwarves immediately blasted the witch into pieces with their cannons.
In this world, witches were not synonymous with the number one productivity, beauty, and kindness. Under the corruption of Chaos, every rogue sorcerer without systematic training would become a Chaos Sorcerer sooner or later. In the end, they would become a portal for Chaos Demons to enter the mortal world.
"Evil creatures, lackeys of Chaos, die!" Kalad kicked his horse's abdomen with his spurs. The pure-blooded elven warhorse neighed loudly as it ran through the woods. The horse's hooves stomped on the snow-covered and muddy ground. The dense branches made Kalad lose sight of himself. The witch chanted a spell, and crazily growing thorns and spikes almost surrounded Kalad.
She almost succeeded.
"For … the Lady!" The expeditionary knight clenched his sword with both hands. The branches that were entangling him seemed to have become nothing. The divine sword Durandale burst out with the light of the God of the Lake. Kalad unleashed endless anger and curses. The obstacles that were troubling him were chopped into pieces by his sword. Riding his warhorse with all his might, Kalad signaled his beloved horse to make the final dash. "Finish her!"
Amidst the sorceress' terrified screams, the warhorse galloped like a bolt of lightning through the serene forest. Dolandale accurately tore through the thorns and spikes. At this moment, the Expeditionary Knight's superb swordsmanship had obtained the perfect opportunity to display. The sorceress' spine was cleanly sliced apart by Dolandale's blade. A chilling glint flashed as her head fell to the ground. Her headless corpse continued running for another two steps before collapsing into a patch of mud. It twitched faintly before it stopped moving.
"Hmph!" Kalad dismounted from his warhorse in disgust. He carefully observed the witch's corpse and knew that she was just a small fry. If this level of tribute could satisfy the Lady of the Lake, then the Holy Grail Expedition would not be so difficult. The expeditionary knight knelt on one knee and prayed to the Lady, telling her of his insignificant victory. He then planned to continue his journey to find his next target.
However, before he could finish his prayer, the sound of horse hooves suddenly came from the depths of the forest.
A green figure appeared in front of Kalad. He was riding on a tall warhorse, wearing a strange green armor with ivy twining around it. His entire body was green, but he exuded endless majesty.
"You are?!"
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