Knight and Wand

Chapter 178 Recruiting an officer

Back in Selva, Leon and Olivia, who ran out to greet him, hugged each other tightly, feeling their longing for each other.

Although the time they had been apart was not long, Leon was still somewhat immersed in the happiness of having someone at home waiting for him.

However, when the hug ended, Leon noticed that Olivia looked a little tired.

After returning to the mansion, before he could get a response to his concerned greetings, he was hurriedly pulled to the backyard by Olivia, who had a joyful look in her eyes.

Leon looked at her faintly proud expression and was a little confused: "What's the matter? Why are you so anxious?"

"Of course it's the result of these days, you have to look carefully~"

Standing in the yard, Olivia smiled, drew out her sword, and held it in front of her with both hands.

She calmed herself down a little, her eyes became serious and her face solemn.

Suddenly, the girl's golden hair fluttered in the wind.

Leon felt that the circulation of magic energy in his body was slightly delayed for no apparent reason.

But his attention was quickly drawn to the other person's eyes.

Those green eyes.

In an instant, it was dyed with pure gold from the inside out.

Staring at the girl whose green eyes turned into golden ones, Leon couldn't help but open his eyes wide.

"Olivia! You succeeded?!"

"Hmm~hmm~"

The girl had a serious expression, and smiled slightly at the sound of approval Leon had just expressed.

But in the next second, the gold in his eyes suddenly disappeared like melting snow.

Feeling that the power she had gathered with great difficulty had returned to chaos, Olivia put down her sword in disappointment.

"It's not very stable yet, it can only last for a while, but I found the trick." She clenched her fists in encouragement: "I will practice more, and next time I will be able to stay by your side."

"How did you do this?" Leon took her to sit aside and asked curiously.

He now had some understanding of magic, and he knew very well how much difficulty Olivia's extremely high density of active magic elements in her body hindered her from mastering magic power.

Could it be that this little girl is not just a martial arts genius?

If it weren't for the forbidden magic field bloodline inherited from her ancestors, would she actually be an extremely gifted magic genius?

"After you left, I missed you very much, but the more I missed you, the more upset I was that I couldn't go with you."

Olivia held Leon's big hand affectionately, recalled the frustration a while ago, and explained to him: "So the next day I really wanted to try your previous training method that can quickly feel the magic power. But since I can't be affected by the magic card and actively consume magic, I had to think of a stupid way myself."

"Stupid way?"

"Well, using that, although it's not very efficient, but I keep doing it every day. My physical strength is not unlimited."

Olivia turned around and looked towards the corner of the yard.

She couldn't help but blush as she thought about how she had been running back and forth between the two places every day, regardless of her manners, in the astonished eyes of passers-by.

Leon looked in the direction the girl pointed.

I saw a thick log that was about six or seven meters long and so long that one person couldn't hug it, lying flat against the courtyard wall.

He had just come in and seen the log, but he thought it was just the raw material that Elena had asked the workers to bring to make something.
"I took an axe and went to the woods to chop down a heavy enough tree and brought it back. Then, I carried it back and forth between Selva and Longka, from morning to night, until I was completely exhausted. When I was very tired, I felt the power that seemed to have become lighter due to the consumption." Olivia said, sitting upright.

"It's probably something like this, but it never worked until two days ago, when I was very tired and took a day off from my daily sword practice at home. At that time, I remembered how handsome you looked when you cast spells with a long sword, and I couldn't help but imagine if I could do that with a sword." She shook Leon's hand a little awkwardly. She was in a playful mood at that time and even made a "hey ha" sound to simulate the effect. It was really embarrassing to think about it in front of her lover.

Leon didn't find it funny at all. He just thought her childishness when she was practicing sword and playing alone was unexpectedly cute.

After all, if it were in her previous life, the girl would have long since left the "middle school second year" stage, but she had only just entered the "second year of high school", which was an age that should have been for playing around.

"At that time, I suddenly felt as if I could direct some of the 'flow' that was previously difficult to control into the sword in my hand, so I did it instinctively. Afterwards, my eyes became hot, and when I looked in the mirror, I found that my eyes had turned into the same golden color as Corvis's." When the girl said this, she raised her eyes with a spirited look.

This little girl is really amazing.

Leon was impressed that without the help of Neti Card and the assistance of Corvis, he only relied on a flash of inspiration in the right training direction and instinctive exploration to resist the negative interference of blood and master the trick of controlling magic power in just a few days.
Well, she is worthy of being my wife.

Leon ruffled the girl's hair proudly.

He stood up and walked to the wall. Out of curiosity, he bent down and tried to feel the weight of the huge weight.

When I raised my hands, I felt it was indeed very heavy.

Gritting his teeth and frowning, Leon adjusted his breathing, exerted force with both arms to lift it up, and with a bang, he carried it on his shoulders, and his knees bent.

My goodness. Has Olivia's strength increased to this level without her realizing it?!
It seemed that he could carry it, but was he going to run from Selva to Lonca and back again, carrying it like Olivia did?

Well, he admitted that it would be difficult to do it even if he activated the Boiling Heart.

Not to mention several days in a row. If it weren't for Corvis's magicka, I would have died of exhaustion on the way.

He lifted his shoulder and threw the heavy log to the ground.

--boom!

Dust rises.

Leon raised his hand and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

With Olivia's current growth rate, if he doesn't use magic, he may never be able to beat his own wife in his life.

At the dinner party in the hall that night, the people who returned announced their decision to move to the city in the forest to the whole family at the long table. The local servants in the house were not too scared. At this time, the army, civilians, and merchants who came and went from north to south had already spread the news that the curse of the nightmare forest had dissipated.

Although Olivia was reluctant to leave Selva, where she grew up, it was not a farewell to this place forever. Avalon Castle was actually not far from Selva, and one could go there and back in a day by horseback.

The next day, the entire mansion was busy sorting and packing important furniture and sundries.

Except for old Brian who still needs to stay in the Selva Barracks to manage the army and will not accompany them for the time being, everyone else will move to Castle Avalon together.

While he was busy at home, Leon took some time out to come to the inn in Selvadon, visited the knight-errant, and invited him to bring Miss Margarina to the banquet tonight.

He heard that when Larian came to visit those ladies a few days ago, he had already informed Elena that he planned to set off again and embark on the journey to the Holy Court Kingdom.

It was only because of Elena's insistence that the other party decided to wait until she returned before saying goodbye in person.

Leon understood that after observing Martha for some time, the knight-errant seemed to be reassured about the future life of Martha and the others.

But he didn't want to let the other party go easily. Before the eloping knight-errant left, Leon wanted to make a final attempt to keep him.

Previously, he was just a Selva knight, so naturally he couldn't offer any decent conditions for recruitment. He didn't have much money to build an army and recruit soldiers.

But now the situation is different. As the Baron of Avalon, the scope of his territory has increased hundreds of times, and he has plenty of chips to recruit talents.

As for the war and hostility between Orland and Kantadar, in fact, the nobles and knights of this era generally did not pay much attention to nationality, especially since Larian's hometown was far south of Kantadar.

Moreover, there is no strict ethnic distinction between the Kantardars and the Orlanders. Although they speak different languages, they are mostly the same Feru people in essence.

Moreover, Leon was now hoping to recruit Larian because of his identity as a Kantadar. Considering his character, he had prepared a very hopeful argument to keep him.

At the banquet, Leon specially arranged for Martha and the others to sit near Miss Margarina, which improved the atmosphere and played the friendship card with Larian and his party.

After the banquet started, Larian learned of Leon's current status and bowed solemnly in surprise, saying, "So you have become a distinguished baron. Please forgive me for being rude."

Leon waved his hand and smiled: "Since we are friends, there is no need to be so respectful. Besides, I invited you to the banquet tonight because I actually want to ask you for something."

Larian naturally thought it was a commission to eliminate monsters.

".Have you encountered any trouble in your territory? Don't worry, it is the duty of us rangers to slay demons and eliminate evil." The young knight, full of ancient chivalrous spirit, puffed out his chest and held his head high.

"You misunderstood. I haven't found any monsters in my territory yet, but I can't guarantee that. I don't know if you know that the forest in the south is actually a 'cursed land' that has existed for thousands of years. I don't know how many safety risks are hidden in it."

Leon shook his head: “Of course, there’s more I want to say today.”

He raised his hand and gestured to the other party, "As the Baron of Avalon, I would like to hire you, Lord Larian, to serve my territory. I wonder if you are willing?"

Larian was stunned: ".Hire?"

Margarina, who was chatting quietly with Martha and others beside her partner, turned her head to look over because of the conversation between Leon and Larian. The worry she had about her partner's safety some time ago came to her mind again.
"Yes, I guess you already know about the conflict between Orland and Kantadar?" Leon asked back.

Larian nodded and said, "I have heard about this during my time here, and I have also seen the huge army passing through here. But this makes me even more confused, Lord Leon, since you know that I am from Cantadar, why would you want to recruit knights from the enemy country?"

"No offense, but even though I eloped with Margarina and fled from Cantadar, I really can't turn my sword against my homeland just for money." The Knight Ranger shook his head.

Leon quickly clarified: “No, I want to hire you, sir, but I certainly don’t intend to ask you to conquer your own country.

In fact, the Thorn Flower Family, to which I am loyal, has already ended its war against Cantadar, and now the Thorn Flower Family rules the 'Glade County' south of the forest."

Leon sighed and continued to explain: "Because of this, after returning from being conferred the title of baron, my companions and I obtained a lot of fiefdoms in Glade County, but this brought foreseeable troubles.
As you can see, I am a noble of Orland, and before I was a noble, I was actually a Cerrian."

Larian frowned slightly when he heard this.

Although he didn't know much about the wars that broke out in the north of Kantardar and Orland, when he was in the south, he heard that King Aviut had assembled an unprecedented army to invade the "thousand-year-old country" of Serian in the east.

The king's summons had even been sent to his home, but as one of the few knights-errant in the world who still followed ancient teachings and had not given up his chivalrous oath, he preferred to punish evildoers and eliminate demons, and had no intention of participating in the expeditions of the secular nobles.

Leon nodded to the daughter of Lord Kantadar who was sitting not far away, and looked at Larian as he continued to talk about his difficulties: "Now, as a foreign lord, except for Ms. Vereesa, I can't find any more staff who know anything about Kantadar.

Even if I could recruit local people in Glade County, I really couldn’t trust them in a short period of time, which made me very distressed. ”

Lion changed the subject and said to Larian, "I'm not afraid to tell you that Sir Lohak, Sir Azerien, and I are actually all survivors of the massacre committed by the Kantardar army on the city of Rolandar. The three of us were once slaves of your motherland. After many hardships, we escaped from the hands of the Kantardar mercenaries."

Upon hearing this, Larian stood up in embarrassment and apologized: "I am deeply ashamed of the atrocities committed by King Aviut and those mercenaries."

In fact, the large number of "mercenaries" who are half soldiers and half bandits in Kantardar are also a headache for the Kantardar nobles when there is no war. Larian's sword has also been stained with the blood of many mercenaries who occupied the mountains and did evil.

"Please sit down, Larian. You are a noble man. I will not vent my hatred on you. Likewise, I do not want to inflict this hatred on any innocent people under my rule."

As Lohak listened to Leon's words, his mind flashed back to the massacred village of Kantadar that he had seen when he was escaping, and the father and daughter who had been brutally killed. With a depressed mood, he took a sip of wine with mixed emotions.

Having said this, Leon believed that Larian also understood his purpose: "I mentioned my experience just to tell you that if I had a knight like you who has good conduct, Cantadar, by my side as an advisor and assistant, I would definitely be able to avoid any unnecessary conflicts between my people and the locals of Glade County in the future."

After stating the purpose of recruiting the other party, Leon did not forget to give practical promises.

"Please rest assured. If you are willing to serve me, I will definitely not be stingy with your salary. If you wish to join the banner of Pendragon, I can even give you a fief from my territory so that you can settle down with Miss Margarina in peace. What's more, "

Leon looked at Larian's partner and advised, "Even if you don't consider the people of Glade County, I'll be frank with you, but the journey to Dineshien is still long, and it's risky for Miss Margarina to travel with you. Since you have entrusted Ms. Martha and the others to me, why don't you stay here and settle down together? I can promise that even if people from the Salain and Falcon families come to you in the future, I will protect you two."

Seeing Larian still frowning and hesitating, Leon understood his last concern and immediately made a promise.

"Please rest assured. I don't plan to call you to fight against Kantardar in the future. I just want to use your power to maintain the security and order of Glade County. Besides, the forest south of here has not been opened up yet. There may be many evil beasts hiding in the depths. We need a ranger like you to eliminate the evil for the people."

Listening to Leon's sincere words, Larian fell into thought.

Although Margarina beside him did not say anything, her eyes were filled with anticipation.

Although I don't mind traveling around the world with Larian, it would certainly be better if I could have a stable and undisturbed life under the rule of the famous Baron Orland.

Especially when she thought that her always warm-hearted lover would have the help of the lord's army when he goes out to fight monsters in the future, and would not have to take risks alone, the girl felt even more moved.

100,000 collections! Sprinkle flowersヽ(°▽°)ノ, really, when I was writing and playing with pictures, I couldn't even think about it, alas

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(End of this chapter)