Raymond's house was located in a very nice stone house in the town of Jean. The whole house was made of sturdy and beautiful stone. Laing's family coat of arms was hung on the door, symbolizing that he was a soldier of the count. There were some colorful flowers planted in front of the door, as well as a large basin of water.
Raymond had made great contributions in the battle of Blackstone Stronghold. As a result, he was recognized by Leon and was conferred the title of Sergeant. His status in the army also rose as a result. It was later confirmed that he was the first to discover Kemmler's figure in the battle of La Messenell Abbey, which gave Bertrand the opportunity to kill him in one strike.
Yes, he killed him in one blow. After all, the Brittany would never announce that Gul killed Kemmler.
Morgiana, the witch of the Lake Goddess, posthumously gave Bertrand and Raymond the special honor of being able to live in a stone house.
The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of the house. Juan was the first to step out of the carriage, followed by Leon. He then reached out his hand and helped his wife, Sulia, out of the carriage. When Sulia's high heels touched the ground, Leon took a good look at the Raymond family's house. There was a smile on the Count's face as he said, "This family fled from Lyonnaise. They went through untold hardships and finally got here today."
"It's all because of your leadership, my husband." Suria looked at the clean and tidy two-story stone house. The female knight was in a good mood. She held her husband's arm, her face full of happiness.
The tall wooden door was wide open. Raymond's family, including his old mother, Raymond, and Raymond's brother, Thomas, came out to greet them. Sir Bertrand and his subordinates, Hugo and Guy, were also there.
"Greetings, Sir Laing, Lady Suria! May you be in good health, and may the lady protect this blessed land forever. "Everyone immediately knelt down and saluted Laing when they saw him.
"Good morning, everyone." Laing nodded calmly and gestured for everyone to get up. "Alright, it's hot outside. Let's talk inside."
"Yes!"
Before sitting down to talk, Laing and Suria first toured Captain Raymond's house. As if knowing that Laing would be coming, the house had been cleaned very, very well. The two-story house that the family lived in was very spacious. Raymond's old mother no longer did needlework for the nobles and soldiers to supplement the family's income. Instead, she concentrated on doing housework, and the family even hired a servant. Compared to a few years ago when they were fleeing, the old mother's body and complexion were much better.
Raymond's younger brother, Thomas, had been sent to the Church of Justice to study under the tutelage of Alfred Frey. The little boy was a little over ten years old this year. His complexion was healthy and rosy. He wore white linen clothes, and his brown hair was messy. When he saw the graceful and luxurious Madam of Suria, he was very shy and lowered his head to greet her. He even offered her some of the handmade toys he made in the church, such as a small wooden war hammer, a wooden cross symbol, and a wooden skull symbol.
Suria was obviously very satisfied with her influence among the people. She happily patted Thomas' head.
"Thomas! You're so rude! " Who knew that Suria's action would scare the old mother. She quickly pulled Thomas over and reached out to smack his butt.
How could a lowly serf be qualified to be patted by a noble like Madam of Suria?!
"It's okay, it's okay!" Suria hurriedly stopped her.
After touring around, everyone came to the dining room and sat down. There was a long wooden table here for everyone to discuss matters. Of course, Laing and Suria sat at the head of the table, with Silvia and Juan standing behind them. Then, the seats were arranged according to the order of Bertrand, Raymond, Hugo, Guy, and the others.
"I can see that you're doing well, Mr. Raymond?" Laing sat down and said to Raymond, "You don't plan to get married yet? This house is a little quiet! "
"Hahahaha!" The long table burst into laughter. The young soldier lowered his head a little awkwardly. "I don't have any plans at the moment, my count. I'm still young."
"What are you laughing at, Bertrand? I remember that you're not married yet." Laing then turned his attention to Bertrand. Now, it was the 40-year-old knight's turn to be embarrassed. The table burst into laughter again.
Through friendly greetings and banter, Laing successfully improved the relationship between him and his men. After a little small talk, the conversation began to gradually get to the point.
"Bertrand, Raymond, this time you went to the Dukedom of Connaught, which is to say, Muxilon. Did you find anything? Or more important information? " Laing began to ask. "I must get first-hand information. You must tell me everything you know in detail. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to your house to visit."
"My count, we found a lot of things during this trip to Muxilon and Lyonnaise." Bertrand nodded respectfully. He said, "First of all, we found that the epidemic belt in Muxilon has been strengthened under the orders of Duke Lauen."
Laing nodded in silence. He knew that this was a sign that the army was ready to be deployed.
The epidemic belt in Muxilon was composed of more than 20 towers and walls. The entire line of defense was stationed with less than a thousand troops, forming an isolation belt to isolate Muxilon from the outside world. Of course, these troops and towers could not stop the vampires, but the Kingdom of the Knight King did not want to stop them. The original purpose of the epidemic belt was to isolate the vampires from the corruption and the spread of the disease because no one wanted a new epidemic to break out.
The establishment of the epidemic belt was only to prevent the serfs from leaving on their own and bringing the disease to other dukedoms. Each tower could be self-sufficient through farming and grazing. Most dukedoms in the kingdom sent a small army to guard two or three towers in the epidemic belt. The soldiers rotated every two months. Most of the towers were stationed with a knight.
"Duke Lauen ordered more troops to be sent to the epidemic belt. He also encouraged the expeditionary knights and the knight-errant knights to patrol here more." Bertrand took out a permit signed by Francois, Duke of Winford, "Of course, the knights are free to enter and exit the quarantine zone, and those who have the permit signed by the Duke can also enter and exit the quarantine zone freely. I chatted with the local knights and soldiers when I was entering and exiting the quarantine zone. In fact, a sip of wine and a piece of bacon can make these people who are bored in the camp open up a conversation."
"Mr. Bertrand obviously has his own experience in gathering information." Suria smiled and praised him.
"You flatter me, Madam Suria. I used to be a peasant, and I know many people's habits." Bertrand quickly said modestly, "Ahem ~ Speaking of which, in fact, the anti-epidemic zone in Muxilon has rarely faced situations where the serfs there try to leave. I mean, most of the serfs there don't even know what the world outside the village is like, let alone leave Muxilon. What really troubles the guards are the desperadoes and smugglers who can't be stopped."
"Outlaws and smugglers?" Laing said thoughtfully.
"Yes, many outlaws will try to cross the epidemic belt to enter Muxilon to make a living, and a large number of smugglers often cross the epidemic belt to smuggle prohibited goods inside and outside Muxilon. The guards often face challenges from these people." The short Hugo whispered, "My Count, I secretly tried to inquire about the information from the guards. It turns out that as long as enough commission is paid, smuggling is often done. The premise is to satisfy the appetite of the guards and the lord of the castle. The smuggled goods have nothing to do with cults. The guards often have a secret passage for selling stolen goods and arranging for smugglers to pass through. If they really want to force their way through, the guards will use force to solve the problem."
Sure enough, Laing thought that it was right to let Bertrand and his group investigate Muxilon.
These bandits and thieves originally made a living in the cracks, and they knew how to find this gray area the best.
"The epidemic belt is currently like this, so what about inside Muxilon?" Laing then asked, "How is the life of the people? And what about the activities of the vampires? "
"It's very bad, Mr. Laing." Bertrand frowned, "Before the flood and war, the life of the people was still okay, but after Duke Lauen swept through Muxilon twice, the serfs there have now fallen into extreme poverty. Now, the whole Muxilon is soaked in swamps. There are swamps everywhere, and the village is even more decadent and dilapidated. Many houses have been seriously damaged, and the roads on the streets are like sewers. Many serfs would rather hide at home and eat rats, drink dirty water, and wait for death than go out to hunt or work in the fields."
"When we were in Muxilon, we actually prepared a lot of so-called 'small gifts' with us, including a few small bottles of wine, some dried meat, and some bread. But when we came to the village and took out these things to ask for something, the first reaction of the serfs in Muxilon was not to accept them, but extreme fear." Bertrand had a pained expression on his face, "It was as if they had seen something very terrible. They ran desperately until they were out of our sight."
"In the muddy roads and swamps, there are corpses everywhere. If the dead are not properly buried, these corpses and souls will never be able to rest in peace. They will gradually rot, or they will stand up again and become wandering zombies."
Laing also felt that it was very troublesome after hearing this. The environment in Muxilon was so bad that the human army would face a lot of difficulties if they wanted to fight here. It was no wonder that Lauen encountered so much trouble when he attacked Muxilon.
Suria closed her eyes after hearing Bertrand's description of the miserable scene. Juan's face was full of indignation. The young man believed that the evil in this place must be purified. The maid, Sylvia, had a look of disgust on her face. It seemed that mentioning this problem and this place would seriously affect her mood.
Only Laing was as calm as a mountain. He frowned and did not say anything else, "Go on, Bertrand, Raymond, what else have you investigated?"
"We have investigated a few villages and saw the same situation, Lord Laing," Bertrand said. Lord Winford's face was a little weathered and unbearable. "Most of the serfs were married to their relatives, and under the years of corruption and poor hygiene, they became deformed and sick. Later, we finally found a young man who was willing to answer our questions. He was obviously starving. After eating almost crazily, he told us that all the people in Muxilon were scared. Duke Lauen had come here twice. Every time he went to a place, he would immediately set up a Grail Court, and then almost all the people in the village would be burned at the stake."
"Because the knights led by Duke Lauen could not tell the difference between the distorted creatures of Chaos and the deformed serfs, they could not find a clear dividing line. So, they simply treated all the serfs as creatures of Chaos and burned them at the stake."
"Therefore, the first reaction of the local serfs when they saw us was to run for their lives. The young man was only talking to us because he could not stand the hunger. He said that he had only eaten one full meal in three months. It was a frog in the swamp. He swallowed it whole. His stomach beat for a long time before it stopped."
Bertrand was a little choked up.
Raymond took over the topic. The young commander of the halberd company said cautiously, "Also, the wilderness in Muxilon is very dangerous. There are all kinds of undead, wild orcs, and creatures of Chaos. We encountered them several times along the way. If Sir Bertrand's archery was not good enough, and we were equipped with firearms to deal with those powerful enemies, we might not have been able to come back."
"That place is still as rotten and depraved as ever." Laing sighed.
The room fell into silence. Only the sound of Thomas counting outside could be heard in the dining room. Raymond was a little embarrassed and wanted to go out and stop them, but Laing immediately waved his hand to indicate that there was no need.
"So, have you ever been close to the lord's castle?" Laing continued to ask.
"Yes, there are many castles of the lords in Muxilon." It was Bertrand's turn to answer because he had the best eyesight. "There are many castles, but most of them are dilapidated. Some of them were captured by Duke Lauen when he attacked Muxilon twice, but some of them are still there. The common thing is that there are a lot of corpses outside the castle. Some of the corpses were left behind by the knights led by Duke Lauen when they broke into the castle and killed the vampire lords. But most of them were killed by the vampire lords as a warning to anyone who dared to invade their territory."
"We can learn from the local serfs that these lords and nobles wear black armor and black helmets all day long and lock themselves in the depths of the castle. They may have ruled the castle in their own name for centuries. In Muxilon, all the lords are basically undead. It is said that the undead lords are very dissatisfied with the current Duke of Muxilon, Matthew Bard, because he chose to retreat to Muxilon twice in the face of Lauen's attack and ignored their interests."
"Very good. Now we have basically figured out the situation in Muxilon." Laing acknowledged and said, "Very good. You have completed more than half of your mission. What about Lyonnesse? Raymond, I heard that you returned to your original village? "
The atmosphere in the room became strange. Laing and Suria immediately sensed that there was an important discovery in this investigation.
Laing gestured for Juan to close the door.
"The situation is very bad, my Earl. Lyonnesse is in a very bad situation," Raymond said. He said mysteriously, "The nobles are fighting among themselves, the serfs are rioting and small-scale civil wars, and there are threats from the Orcs and the Northka pirates. The entire Dukedom is like a lid on a barrel of gunpowder. The fuse has been burned into the barrel of gunpowder."
"The Dukedom can explode at any time."
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