Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 144: The Flirty Knight (4000 words)
After Leah left, Skye also led the team to the depths of the wilderness to gather information.

As the vanguard, their duty was to investigate the movements and strength of the Minotaurs. After resting for a few days in High Cliff Castle, they started their journey again.

"What a troubled time."

The lord stood at the highest point of the hill with his hands behind his back, looking out at everything in the wilderness.

The sky was covered with dark clouds and the wind was howling. At a glance, the ankle-deep ryegrass was surging like waves of wheat. It was so gloomy and terrifying, and it looked like the end of the world.

Two days later, it began to snow lightly. Except for the lord and the strong orcs, everyone changed into seasonal cotton clothes to keep out the cold.

What Levi didn't expect was that he didn't wait for Sikai who went deep into the wilderness, but waited for the army coming from Bailiu City.

A messenger rode his horse to a position about a hundred steps away from Gaoya Fort and stopped. Obviously, he was a veteran and knew that this was the edge of the cordon. If he went any further, he would draw the warning of the people in Gaoya Fort.

He carried a banner with an eagle holding a sword in its mouth, the symbol of House Martell.

Levi led a team of dozens of people down the hill, looking back curiously and asking in a familiar manner, "Knight, is the big shot from Bailiu City leading you this time?"

"Sir, this is a very important person, you will never expect it." The messenger did not expect that the lord of Gaoya Castle, who was rumored to be so legendary in Bailiu City, would be so simple, so he was a little bold and kept it a secret before telling the purpose, "Duke Fulina asked us to station near Gaoya Castle and said you would make the arrangements."

"Then I'll wait and see." Levi replied absentmindedly, secretly pondering in his heart.

There are many important figures in Bailiu City, but few of them can surprise him.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed through the lord's mind, and he murmured to himself uncertainly, "Could it be that Florina came in person?"

But after thinking about it, it seemed unlikely. After all, the Minotaur's southward migration seemed to be a big deal. In fact, Florina could easily resolve it by sending any of her legion commanders. It was far from being enough for a duke to come in person.

Levi couldn't figure it out, so he simply gave up thinking about it. No matter who the big shot was, he would meet him soon.

As for the issue of the military stationed in Bailiu City, Florina did write to him personally some time ago to talk about it.

After all, the area around High Cliff Castle could be considered his territory. Even if he was a duke, he could not allow soldiers to enter a noble's territory at will.

Levi had already sent people to clear a piece of wasteland under the hill. He wouldn't dare to station tens of thousands of people there, but it would be easy enough to accommodate tens of thousands.

……

When the number of people exceeds 10,000, there will be a boundless visual effect. Although the marching team at this time does not have 10,000 people, there are about 8,000 people.

The group of Gaoyabao country bumpkins who were watching on the hill and had never seen the world could not help but be shocked. This was a grand scene they had never seen before.

A team of four soldiers wearing sharp armor and holding flags lined up to lead the way, followed by a huge team stretching out backwards. The cavalrymen patrolled around the team. Looking back along the line of sight, it was like a group of advancing ants, endless until the end of the horizon.

Levi even saw the Thunder Lizard Beast behind this team. This giant beast had a shoulder height of more than three blades and weighed several thousand pounds. Its body was covered with scales as densely packed as armor plates, and it had an extremely sharp horn on its head.

But unlike their ferocious and terrifying appearance, they are mild-tempered and completely herbivorous animals. Although they move slowly, they have sufficient endurance and great strength.

It is generally used as a draft animal in the military to pull heavy logistical objects.

But even knowing this, the vibrations caused by those pillar-like hooves hitting the ground were enough to thrill people.

Levi couldn't imagine what the scene would be like if thousands of Thunder Lizards charged at the same time.

Excluding the accompanying logistical support troops, there are probably about 6,000 people who can be considered regular soldiers.

This is Debe's commonly used legion organization. A small legion has a full strength of 6000 people, divided into 12 squads, with 720 people in the first squad and 480 people in the rest, and 80 people in a squad.

The first squad is often composed of cavalry, so it has a larger number of people.

Just from the appearance of this legion, it can be seen that they are not a group of temporary civilians who were recruited to fill the numbers. At the very least, they are a legion that receives regular training. Otherwise, they would never be able to advance in silence as they are doing now. The only sounds in the sky are the coordinated footsteps and the metallic friction of armor colliding.

As the messenger waved the flag, it soon stopped fifty steps away from the lord who was waiting.

The team naturally separated into two paths, and a silver-armored knight who was slightly thinner than the other knights came out riding a magical beast that Levi had never seen before.

Levi squinted his eyes and looked at it carefully.

The plate armor worn by this silver-armored knight is engraved with exquisite patterns, and there are cat-eye-sized gems inlaid on the chest and backs of the hands. Whether it is a good defense or not is not the point.

The price alone is absolutely beyond the lord's imagination.

The knight sat upright on an extremely handsome mount that looked like a deer but was not a deer.

This mount is slender and strong, with flowing blue hair and snow-white fur on its chest. Its head is like a fox but with two antlers, and its eyes are extremely smart.

This is definitely a monster with high intelligence!

After some mental evaluation, Levi had to admit that this flashy outfit alone was enough to scare people to death.

I'm afraid that I might get bumped into something by accident and lose everything.

After swallowing several times, the lord finally gave up the idea of ​​doing something.

"Long time no see, Levi." A familiar voice came from the silver-armored knight's helmet.

"Huh?!" The lord looked surprised, as if he couldn't believe it.

"Levi, it's only been a few months, don't you recognize me anymore?"

The silver-armored knight took the initiative to lift up his visor, revealing a very familiar face.

"Duke Flinna?"

Levi was shocked.

The person who came was exactly the person he didn't expect. No matter how he looked at it, he really didn't expect that the person would be Florina.

"Did you not expect me to come? Or did you not expect that I would not take a carriage?" Florina's expression was full of amusement, and then she explained to herself, "Don't look at me as weak, I am a master of fighting spirit. Even Sikai is not my opponent. It's nothing to travel a few days on horseback."

"Besides, I'm riding a magical beast whose back can become soft at will, so it's actually no different from me sitting on a velvet pillow."

After saying that, Florina reached out her hand to Levi, and the Lord was very tactful and lifted his hand to support her and helped her down from the horse. "Not really, but I am flattered that the Duke would come to my poor and remote place." Levi showed what he thought was the most handsome smile.

Zat on the side turned his face away and pouted. The tone of his boss was very different from usual, which made him feel very uncomfortable as if he was covered with lice.

No matter what Florina's intentions are, she is still his and Leah's most powerful ally, and a duke cannot be neglected.

Levi naturally couldn't ignore it easily.

"Levi, I have always heard legends about you in Bailiu City. You are very famous."

Florina smiled and said.

In fact, unlike those civilians and mercenaries, she knows more.

The Lord's fame is largely due to the contribution of the Patriarch Rolina of the Kovic family.

Of course, it is undeniable that the baron paid her to do all this, but getting so many bards to sing the lord's story is not something that can be achieved by just spending money.

It also reflects a certain aspect of the energy of this legendary businessman.

"Haha, it's all just empty reputation." Levi laughed.

He really spared no effort in promoting Highcliff Castle, to the point that everyone felt it was a bit of false publicity.

For example, the huge castle in the story that is guarded by a wall of eighteen blades is actually just a large village surrounded by low walls on a hill.

Compared with the group of merchants in his previous life, Levi felt that he had only polished it slightly. At least Gaoya Fort was indeed called Gaoya Fort, and it was not even the place name that was wrong.

Levi waved his hand and asked Zat and Mir to hand over matters to the military officer of this team. He and Florina went up the hill together.

I don’t know if it was because of his superb fighting spirit or because he felt that the army was right next to him, but the pioneer baron definitely didn’t dare to attack himself.

In short, Duke Florina walked towards High Cliff Castle alone with the lord.

"Where's Skye?"

Florina asked as she took off her helmet.

A waterfall of red hair instantly fell to his waist, without any of the oily shine that had clinging to his scalp due to the long journey and the pressure of the helmet.

As if he had noticed the lord's curiosity, the duke explained, "This helmet is a magical device. It has a cleaning spell engraved inside, and it will automatically clean the dust."

As for whether there are more spells engraved, there must be, but Florina did not continue to say more.

Levi forced his eyes away from the fist-sized gem on Florina's chest and smacked his lips before saying, "Sike led his men deep into the wilderness a few days ago to investigate the movements of the Minotaur group, and he hasn't returned yet."

"Well, actually, this group of Minotaur is not worthy of my coming here in person. I have another deeper reason for coming here."

After entering the Lord's Hall, Levi filled a cup of hot tea for the Duchess, and then continued, "Oh? What is the matter that would make our Duke, who works day and night, come here in person?"

"I've tasted this tea before. Yours is too bitter. I can tell at a glance that you bought a fake product." Furlina drank the warm tea in one gulp. She criticized him first, and then said, "Although our king tried his best to stop the southward movement and the nobles were unclear about their side, it is actually a foregone conclusion."

The lord secretly cursed those black-hearted businessmen with maggots in their hearts. He bought this tea from Bailiu City specially to entertain Leah. There was not much of it, and he had been cherishing it these past few days, but he didn't expect that these two cents would steal his money.

No wonder Leah's face changed slightly when she was drinking tea a few days ago, but she didn't say anything. She was probably afraid that he would lose face, so she didn't say anything. Only Florina didn't care about this.

Shit, they even dare to cheat a baron. They really are not greedy and don’t know how to make money, right? When I lead the soldiers south to Bailiu City, I will deal with these profiteers first and let them see what powerful military aristocrats are!
Florina didn't say why it was set in stone, she just set the tone before continuing, "There are often disturbances on the northern border, but they are all minor ones."

"The soldiers have been slack for a long time and urgently need an opponent to hone them. However, it is difficult to choose this opponent. It cannot be too strong to cause heavy losses and be disadvantageous to the southward march, nor can it be too weak to make the soldiers relax like traveling. The Minotaur came into my sight at this time."

"They may seem aggressive, but they are just a makeshift team put together at short notice. In terms of numbers, they are indeed a powerful enemy that cannot be ignored, but the real backbone of the team is only the group of minotaurs. As long as we defeat them, the team will collapse on its own. This completely meets this requirement."

After saying so much in one breath, Florina's Adam's apple rolled a little, and the lord very considerately poured her a glass of boiled water.

After drinking some water to moisten her throat, Florina continued, "I originally sent out negotiators some time ago to delay time so that I could mobilize soldiers to come, but I didn't expect that these Minotaurs would directly kill my people."

"I originally wanted to defeat them, whether it was to capture them and take them to the arena or to use them as fill-in troops to attack the southern border, but now none of them can survive!"

When she said this, Florina smiled coldly:
"Levi, I saw the Jingguan you built. It's pretty good. In a few days, I will use the heads of these Minotaurs to build a Jingguan for 10,000 people in the wilderness to completely defend the reputation of the Martell family in the North!"

"hiss!"

The Lord took a deep breath and made an indelible contribution to the warming of this world.

The Duchess still looked charming and was a rare beauty, but he did not expect that she was even more murderous than Lord Li.

It is unimaginable to imagine the Jingguan Temple with tens of thousands of people gathered there.

However, Levi noticed another function of the Minotaur mentioned by Florina. This group of Minotaur is really good to be used as cannon fodder to attack the enemy.

In the past, when civilians were used as filling-in soldiers, they would easily be defeated and rush towards their own troops to disrupt the formation, which often did not make up for the loss.

But this group of Minotaurs has no such worries at all. Once they go berserk, they will lose their fear and will not stop until they die or their physical strength is exhausted.

Perhaps as regular soldiers they would disrupt their own formation and fail to distinguish friend from foe because of the berserk spell, but as frontline fillers they are simply the chosen ones.

Whenever we encounter a strong city, we will let these stubborn people launch a siege first to consume the enemy's supplies and manpower.

When things are almost done, they will send out their precious elite soldiers.

But now a duke has decided not to leave any survivors, so these Minotaurs are doomed to die.

Levi shook his head. Why did he have to pick on a woman, especially a powerful duchess who controlled the military?

This time it's going to be a big deal.

The lord expressed his compassion for the world.

(End of this chapter)