PS: I have something to do, so I'll update in advance.
It was still very cold in February, but it wasn't as cold as it used to be. The snow was gradually melting, and the duchy on the west coast of Brittany had begun to wake up from winter.
Last year, the Duchy of Bereon suffered a disaster. A plague that was neither too big nor too small swept through the entire region, followed by tsunamis and earthquakes. There were also the terrifying skeleton pirates and the bandits from the southern countries. The Duchy was facing a huge crisis. The main force of the army went to participate in the Eight Peaks Mountain expedition. The army that was left behind was very difficult to deal with these strong enemies.
At this critical moment, Duke Theodoric of Bereon announced his return. He was holding the first Duke of Bereon, one of the twelve Knights of the Holy Grail, Balduin's sacred weapon. One man and one horse appeared on the battlefield. Theodoric's appearance at this critical moment greatly boosted the morale of the nobles and serfs in the Duchy. The army regrouped and fought against the skeleton pirates and the bandits. Theodoric bravely took the lead. The sacred weapon in his hand emitted an endless amount of pure light, resisting the evil spells of the undead pirates.
After five hours of bloody battle, the Duke managed to chop the undead pirate commander into two halves with a single swing of his axe. As the undead magic lost its effectiveness, the entire undead army was annihilated. The remaining bandits and robbers were also utterly defeated. The knights of the Duchy of Bryon hugged their victory and cheered loudly for their victory.
With this victory, Duke Theodoric finally announced his return. He swore to the Lady of the Lake that he would not repeat his old mistakes. He hoped that the Lady of the Lake would forgive his sins.
No one knew if the Lady of the Lake forgave him, but the Lady of the Lake, Morgiana, saw his performance and decided to give him another chance. Thus, Duke Theodoric was able to return to the Duchy of Bereon. This time, the Duke's attitude changed 180 degrees. He not only fully supported Laing's reforms and new policies, but he also promoted the serfs. He learned from Laing and cleaned up a large number of nobles who did not participate in the war. He confiscated their fiefs but kept their noble titles. Then, he promoted dozens of knights from the serfs.
However, after the chaos of war and plundering, the duchy's situation became more and more difficult. Theodore had been too hasty, causing the duchy's situation to become unstable. There was chaos, a lack of food, and the loss of winter wheat was disastrous. Many areas were not managed by the nobles, and famine was everywhere.
Fortunately, at this time, the Knight King Laing returned with the main army of the Duchy of Bereon.
Late February, Old World, Brittany, Duchy of Bereon, Baron Siburn, Siburn Town.
The cold wind whistled, and the air was filled with the smell of moist soil. Many homeless refugees poured into the town. Their villages and fields were destroyed, and the winter wheat was all gone. The Duke ordered them to gather in various towns and wait for relief.
Siburn Town was located on the southern border of the Duchy of Bereon. It was a town near the Bereon River. This town had a population of about four thousand. Suddenly, more than a thousand refugees poured into the town. The situation was a bit chaotic, but the army and the local nobles reacted quickly. They settled the refugees in the town, and the local nobles, together with the Lady of the Lake and the Church of the Goddess of Mercy, began to provide relief.
On the main street of the town, a knight of the Holy Grail appeared near the relief point. He was wearing a full set of noble attire and a golden cape with a white background. Behind him was a great noble lady with blonde hair and blue eyes, and a black-haired, silver-eyed witch. More than ten Old Guard wearing tall bearskin hats, luxurious dwarf rune half-body plate armor, and white military uniforms followed behind them.
There were a few big iron pots on the relief point, and firewood was used to cook things. There were more than thirty footmen and two knights maintaining order at the scene. In addition, the nuns and priests of the Lady of the Lake and the Church of the Goddess of Mercy were also there. Seeing this group of people, the knight in the lead immediately trembled with excitement. He quickly saluted, "My … My Majesty! Good afternoon! May the Lady bless us! I am Sir Dastyre de Vigeri of the Baron Siburn Town! "
"Shh, keep a low profile. Our Majesty doesn't want people to find him here." Suria, who was standing behind Laing, smiled and stretched out a white jade finger to her lips.
"Well, what are you cooking?" Laing, who was in the lead, smiled. The Old Guard behind him was dressed too conspicuously and betrayed the king's identity. The Knight King looked into the iron pot and saw a large lump of semi-liquid liquid bubbling. It was light brown in color.
"I'm cooking porridge, Your Majesty!" Sir Vigeri said nervously, "Be careful, Your Majesty. Don't get burned. The porridge will take a while."
"Porridge? Porridge? " Laing heard the advice and smiled. He immediately reached out to the nun of the Goddess of Mercy who was cooking the porridge. The nun quickly handed the big iron spoon in her hand to the king. She almost wanted to kneel, but Suria indicated that there was no need to kneel. "Don't kneel, don't kneel. Everyone, do your job well and that's the greatest respect for us."
"Yes!" Sir Vigeri immediately saluted excitedly.
"Very good. Let me see what this porridge is made of." Laing put the big iron spoon into the big iron pot and stirred it vigorously. The edge of the iron spoon and the bottom of the iron pot made a sharp noise. The king scooped up a spoonful and looked at it carefully.
The semi-liquid substance in the spoon was made up of chopped vegetables, soybeans, peas, as well as some partially ground rye, buckwheat grains, and flour bran. Ryan put the spoon down and stirred it again before scooping it up again. This time, he saw nuts and a little bit of pig's innards.
The king put down the big iron spoon and asked Sir Vigeri, "Is that all?"
"That's all. These big pots are cooking the same thing." Sir Vigeri nodded and said respectfully, "A refugee, a bowl of porridge, and half a piece of rye bread. This is the relief food."
Laing did not comment. He gave the Old Guard Commander Bertrand, who was standing behind him, a look. Bertrand immediately ordered, "Go and check every iron pot and the relief food in it!"
"Yes!" The Old Guard immediately began to check the contents of several big iron pots, as well as the bags of rye bread, and buckwheat piled behind them. The Old Guard rummaged carefully and opened each bag to check. Only then did he come back and report, "Your Majesty, these big pots are all the same thing. The room is full of rye, buckwheat, and rye bread. The smell is so bad! It's so sour! "
"Yes!" Leon nodded in satisfaction. This sudden inspection had come without warning, but the king was satisfied with the results. Today, he had inspected three towns one after another, and he was quite satisfied with all of them. "Well done, Sir Vijeri. I am very happy. I have visited three places today, and I have ensured that none of the refugees have starved to death... Why did you add some pig organs?"
A bowl of porridge and half a piece of rye bread was enough to fill an adult man fifty to sixty percent. It was enough.
"The baron said that he plans to repair the town walls. These refugees can be used as manpower. He asked us to add some pig's innards." Sir Vigeri saluted again. "Those things have always been eaten by serfs. They are very cheap in the market. A big bag can be bought with a few copper coins. We bought a lot and piled them behind us."
"Very good." Laing nodded again. The king said casually, "Anyway, we have nothing to do, right? Let them know that relief food is not easy to come by. Well, let's wait a little longer. When the spring plowing comes, I will ask Theodoric to send troops to let the refugees return to their homes, rebuild the village, and let them return to the fields. "
"Yes!" The knights and nobles agreed. Laing smiled and looked at the people in the distance who were pointing at him and waiting in line to get porridge. The king's eyes were a little unfocused. "Governing the world, the people are heaven."
"Governing the world, the people are heaven!"
After that, Knight King did not stop. He smiled at Suria and Teresa who were standing behind him. "Suria, Teresa, would you like to experience the food of the refugees?"
"I will eat whatever you eat. I am your wife, my dear." Suria said with a smile.
"… If you must." When Theresa smelled the rancid smell of the black bread, the sorceress felt a strong physical and psychological discomfort. But when she heard Sulia's words, the sorceress, who refused to admit defeat, said awkwardly, "Don't worry.
"Hahahaha!" Laing laughed loudly. Knight King stretched out three fingers. "Come on! Three bowls of porridge and a piece of rye bread for me, my queen, and my female courtiers! "
"Your Majesty, you are a king. How can you eat such things?!" The knight could not believe what he heard, but seeing the king's firm attitude, he had to agree.
Soon, the porridge was ready. Laing picked it up and ate, while Suria ate slowly with a spoon.
Only Teresa was holding a small wooden bowl. The sorceress looked at the semi-liquid food in the bowl with a complicated expression. She pretended to be afraid of the heat and blew on it for a long time, but she still could not eat it.
When she looked up, Laing was looking at her with a faint smile.
Teresa's face suddenly turned red. Laing's gaze made her feel very strange and ashamed. It was like two people in private. The sorceress gritted her teeth and put the spoon into her mouth.
A lump of paste with a strange taste and many particles in it made the sorceress feel disgusted. She could not help but spit out the porridge. Then Teresa put the bowl on the table angrily. "How is this food for people? Laing, this taste is too … too strange, isn't it? "
Laing and Suria looked at each other and smiled.
"There are fifty thousand people in Braon who rely on this porridge to survive, my dear Madam Teresa." Laing had finished the porridge at this time. Knight King put the bowl down. "Forget it. It's okay if you don't want to drink it. Teresa, it's good that you are willing to taste it."
The sorceress was ashamed. She was about to say something, but Laing put his arm around her waist and asked her to go back to the carriage. He also patted Teresa's hand, indicating that it was really okay.
As a sorceress, she was born to be superior. Laing really did not mind that she was not used to this kind of food. If a sorceress at the peak of the legendary level had to eat the same as the refugees, then there was really something wrong with this society.
Suria ate a few mouthfuls and put down the bowl and spoon. The female knight shook her head slightly at Laing, indicating that she could not eat anymore.
Thus, the day's surprise inspection was over. Laing immediately ordered to return to Gene City. He, Suria, and Teresa washed up and got into the luxurious carriage. Today was also the last day that Teresa would stay here. She had to return to the Ice Wizard Tower tomorrow. The Grass Festival was getting closer and closer. She had to spend two or three days with Aurora to prepare and then teleport to Sky Castle.
The three of them sat down in the luxurious carriage, and the carriage began to move.
Theresa was still a little reserved. Today, the sorceress was wearing a set of evening snow pink ripples with light cherry blossoms and a pink woolen coat. Her long legs were paired with flesh-colored thin pantyhose and milky white high heels. Her long legs were placed beside Ryan's hand. The sorceress had never liked to dress so brightly. Bright colors and pink were not her colors, but Sulia had advised her to try it once, so Theresa did not refuse.
The effect was not bad. Today, she still felt sore and her legs were weak at noon. Sitting on the soft sofa, the sorceress secretly cursed Laing in her heart. This guy was getting worse and worse. He did not know how to take care of himself. But the sorceress knew that her body and mind were very comfortable, and it would be even better if she was lucky enough to have a child.
Suria was wearing a set of warm apricot yellow floral carved lace dress. Like Teresa, she wore flesh-colored thin pantyhose with a pair of red and black high heels inlaid with pearls. She was graceful and luxurious, and the aura of a queen filled the whole carriage. She and Teresa sat on Laing's left and right, but Suria had an obvious advantage in terms of aura.
Laing had already started to talk about the topic, "The news from Berliat has arrived. The recent situation in Kislöw is very bad. Starving people are everywhere, and the palace can't pay the soldiers. Relying on Katarina's tactics and means, as well as bloody killings, the army mutiny was forcibly suppressed … Berliat is now sure that Master Sheogh must be in the Qitar prison, but he can't find a way to save him at the moment."
Laing showed the urgent news from Berliat to Suria and Teresa. Both women felt the crisis of the matter. Suria was still thinking, but Teresa was interested in the name.
"Sheogh?" Teresa asked curiously, "Who is he? It sounds like you care about him a lot. "
"Master Sheogh is one of the designers and manufacturers of the Hellstorm rocket launcher. In the Kislöw language, Sheogh means' hell ', so the Hellstorm rocket launcher is named after him." Laing's expression was serious. Knight King had already focused on this matter, "We must find a way to get this great engineer!"
"If he's a great engineer, why is he imprisoned?" Teresa asked curiously, "Why don't they use this kind of talent? Why lock him up?"
"Sigh …" Laing shook his head. He said to Teresa, "Because Kislöw is now a country controlled by wizards. The kingdom's palace is actually controlled by the ice witches led by Katarina, and the ice witches … don't like engineering or gunpowder weapons. Compared to these, they are more willing to believe in their own magic. There are too few people who can be a wizard, a master chemist, and a master engineer like Galt. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Yes." Teresa nodded. Indeed, she was more willing to believe in her own magic.
"And because of this, Katarina and the ice witches monopolized and occupied most of the country's resources to meet their training needs. Naturally, the resources given to Sheogh are less. Sheogh is a talented and skilled person, and people like him usually have one characteristic." Laing continued, "That is …"
"That is, he has a bad temper!" Suria said with a smile, "We have already understood from the dwarves."
"Yes, he has a bad temper. Since the previous Tsar, Boris Bokhar, passed away, Master Sheogh has been getting fewer and fewer resources. This made the great engineer very dissatisfied. He has made a lot of remarks against the female Tsar and mocked the privileges of the ice witches. The whole Kislów Castle is filled with Cheka's secret police, so the news spread easily. At first, Katarina was still tolerating it, but not long after, the ice witches couldn't take it anymore and collectively asked the female Tsar to send Cheka to arrest Sheogh. If it weren't for the pleading of the general and Poillé, Sheogh would have been killed long ago."
"How could this be?" Teresa muttered to herself, "I have met Her Majesty Katarina many times. In my impression, she is not such a person."
"That is because you are an ice witch, and she is also an ice witch!" Laing laughed a few times, "Aurora is also an ice witch! You are all ice witches, so naturally, you are all equal. But Sheogh is not, the nobles of Kislów are not, and the commoners are not! That's how a wizard's country works. They subconsciously treat a country as a warehouse for their research materials and an ATM for their research funds. For a wizard, the first thing that comes to mind is not how to distribute or how to cut costs, but how much they can get. "
"…" Theresa was speechless. The sorceress wanted to retort, but she thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. Her mother, Aurora, had always been a spendthrift. She had used half of the funds that Leon had allocated to MI7 to research the latest great spells and purchase various luxuries (of course, the great spell scrolls that Aurora had provided to Leon not only covered all of it, but also more). Her own annual expenses were no less than a thousand crowns, but her income was meager, unlike Veronica's Dawn Sorcerer Tower, which had achieved a balance of income and expenditure.
"But no matter what, Kislów cannot fall, or the Empire will have to face the attack of the northern barbarians." Laing stopped there. "At the same time, we have to speed up our preparations. Suria, about my previous arrangements …"
"The construction of the Mu Xilon Military Academy has already begun. The orphanage for the disabled soldiers and the museum to display the glory of war will be completed by the end of the year. The foundation of the Mu Xilon Military Academy is also being laid. At the same time, the Old Guard's manor will be doubled. All the old guards who participated in the Battle of Ba Feng Mountain will enjoy additional benefits and the right to send their children to the military academy." Sulia smiled and said, "You said it before, Ryan. If we don't get enough pay, how can the soldiers fight with all their might? Also, we can't let the soldiers bleed and cry. They put their lives on the line to protect the country. We should let them know that the king and queen will never forget their sacrifices and contributions. We have an obligation to do it well."
"Mm, very good. But there's one more thing." Laing nodded. Now, the soldiers of the kingdom worshipped and supported King Laing more than the knights. This was a well-known fact in Brittany.
"What?"
"It's …"
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