Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords.

Chapter 364: Things Change, Stars Shift, Autumn

For Debuy, this is a very sensitive time.

The sudden appearance of the demons and the fight for the title caused the military of the Southern Territory to fall into a slump. After the war, it was calculated that at least 60,000 to 70,000 people were killed or injured, and the economic losses were incalculable.

The death of Telesi's next pope in Gonda cast a shadow over Debe, further straining relations between the two countries, which already had frequent border conflicts.

So much so that it was not too surprising to learn that a slave-owning noble from the Persian Gulf Empire had invaded the territory of the Duke of Highcliff Castle in the north.

Only the palace officials hurriedly asked whether the killer from Gaoyabao had slaughtered the noble from the Persian Gulf Empire like a dog.

When they learned that the other party was merely detained, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

For the officials, no matter whether it was the title of Dragon Knight, the first holy temple in the world, or the title of the Uncrowned King of the Wilderness, any one of them was enough to prove that this was a tough guy who could not be provoked, but the Lord of High Cliff Castle had them all.

But now this tough guy was provoked by that unfortunate jerk from the Persian Gulf Empire, and the fact that he was not chopped up and fed to the dogs on the spot was considered a great act of kindness on the part of the Lord of High Cliff Castle that day.

This prevented the matter from becoming irreversible.

Derby's diplomats in the country immediately challenged the Persian Gulf Empire over the matter, and wanted these slave owners to compensate Derby in some way.

The unprovoked invasion of Debe's territory caused heavy casualties among the Duke of Highcliff Castle's soldiers, the death of his subjects, the collapse of countless buildings, and incalculable economic losses. It would be completely unjustifiable not to pay hundreds of thousands of gold in compensation.

The noble needed his family members to pay a ransom before he could take him away.

According to the diplomats, since none of the Persian Gulf Empire bastards escaped, they had the final say on how much the loss would be. As long as they could extort something out of them, it wouldn't be a loss. After all, it was said that the only damage to Gaoya Castle was that the barbarians got so full after eating the meat of horses killed in battle that they were unable to move for a long time.

However, what the diplomats did not expect was that the king of the Persian Gulf Empire, who had a reputation for cruelty but a normal mind, seemed to have gone insane and denied that it was his vassals who invaded Godebe's territory. Instead, it was the poor and helpless slave owners of the Persian Gulf Empire who only wanted to go to Godebe to sell slaves and complete a trade transaction, but were ruthlessly killed by the greedy Godebe nobles, who took all the goods for themselves.

King Finn IX expressed his deep sorrow and asked Derby to hand over the Lord of Highcliff Castle who had killed his vassal, and make him pay with blood! If Derby chose to cover up, then he would have no choice but to go to war to seek justice. He even cut a hole in his chest in front of countless ministers to show his determination.

This speech almost made the Debe diplomats doubt whether it was true, but they soon realized that the Lord of Gaoya Castle was their own man, facing the King of the Persian Gulf Empire who was determined to turn the tables.

The diplomats hurried back home with the news.

All we knew was that the cabinet had received news that His Majesty Harland had smashed his favorite wine glass, and then the garrison of Gonda City, which had been abandoned for a long time, also began emergency training.

A tense atmosphere lingered throughout the land of Derby, and even the barefoot farmers in the countryside knew that a war might be about to break out.

And Gaoya Castle, which was at the center of the storm, inevitably had a somewhat tense atmosphere.

Now that the lord is away, only Lady Beristina can control the arrogant soldiers of Highcliff Castle. According to Levi's instructions before he left, the wilderness will be blocked and Highcliff Castle will develop behind closed doors. No matter what problems need to be decided, they can be delayed until he comes back.

……

It was a morning no different from any other. The entire wilderness was like a crawling beast that had not yet awakened from its slumber.

In the endless white world, a thinly clad knight suddenly appeared in the snow, followed by a convoy of dozens of orcs.

As the caravan poured into Highcliff Castle, the wilderness once again welcomed its sun.

"Darling, you're finally back." Tina rubbed her cheeks. It was obvious that she had just been awakened from her sleep. When she confirmed that this was not a dream, she was obviously relieved: "I thought it would take at least half a year for you to come back, but I didn't expect you to come back in more than three months."

Apart from the two months of traveling, it turned out that Levi's trial only took one month, which was much less than she thought.

"It should take this much." Levi rubbed the other person's silver-haired head. If Fatih hadn't followed him in, who knows how much longer it would have taken.

"Is everything going well, Darling?" Heather raised her hand to ask. She didn't know why, but ever since Levi walked into the hall, she always smelled a faint fragrance that made her feel relaxed and happy, and she couldn't help but want to get closer.

"It's just killing a demigod." Levi smiled proudly and threw the damaged Degen's Howl to the middle of the hall to keep warm. This action was unanimously praised by the girls.

Then there was a sound of gasps.

As a legendary weapon, indestructibility is only its most basic characteristic. However, at this moment, this flaming sword looks like a wooden stake gnawed by a nutria, with gaps all over the sword. It is hard to imagine what kind of hard battle it has gone through. It is more shocking than any words.

"Is Darling hurt?" While Tina was glad that Levi came back safely, she bit her lip and checked the lord's whole body worriedly. Only after she confirmed that little Levi was fine did she let Levi go with satisfaction.

Levi, who was spared, immediately shouted at the top of his voice: "Where's the cook? Hurry up and prepare a hearty meal for us. We have been eating dry food for a month and our mouths are almost dry."

It is better to expect the orcs to cook good meals than to expect the horses to sit on chairs, so they lived on bread and milk all the way.

While cooking, Levi drank a cup of hot tea to moisten his throat, and then vividly recounted his experiences in the Trial World.

Of course, the bravery of his lord is naturally the top priority, and countless words must be used to emphasize it to make it more wise and powerful.

"What a vicious ritual! They actually use the resentment and flesh and blood of millions of people to propel themselves to become demigods!" Ai Xilu, who was holding hot milk in her little hands, heard of such a cruel thing for the first time. She was so scared that her face turned pale, and she even forgot to lick off the trace of milky white at the corner of her mouth with her little tongue.

This is equivalent to sacrificing half of the residents of the city of Gonda.

"Yeah." Levi rubbed her little head to reassure her, just like the big brother next door.

He also thought of Kemisi and Kemini. Although he had spent a very short time with the two siblings, they left a deep impression on him. However, he could only watch them being engulfed by resentment.

Later, I heard from Saint Igo that these servants of God all have a part of the blood of the fallen servants of God, and the most important point of this ritual is the same blood, because the ritual is engraved in the blood, so the scene at that time was actually impossible to save. And this is the fact, he clearly held Kemini and was thousands of steps away from the torrent of resentment, but in his arms, the resentment still turned into an intangible flow into the Tower of Sin, and turned into food to promote the promotion of status.

"Now that the trouble has been solved, this trial world should be able to promote the archbishops of the Holy Light Church, right?" Tina's face was full of curiosity.

You should know that there are quite a few epic priests in the Holy Light Church. Apart from His Holiness the Pope, there are three cardinals.

If they were all promoted to legends, both their strength and status would increase.

"I'm not sure, because logically speaking, the so-called trial is to let them turn into mortals, fall into the dust and experience life again, during which they can show their inner character and gain the recognition of the goddess. But now there is no living person in the trial world, how can they experience life?" Levi shook his head. It can be said that he took a back door, otherwise the promotion ceremony would not be so easy.

"By the way, I was away during this time, so nothing major happened in Highcliff Castle, right?"

"Nothing happened in Highcliff Castle, mostly good things." Tina smiled and said, "Just a few days after you left, Chief Ashe brought all her people to Highcliff Castle and became your vassals according to the agreement."

"In addition, there are seven or eight Models who have come to High Cliff Castle, saying that they want to follow the 'Duke Dragon Knight Levi' and contribute their own strength."

"Where are they? Please bring them to me!" Levi automatically ignored Ashe and focused all his attention on this group of model people with shining eyes.

The model tribe is also called the turtle tribe. They are rare in number, but most of them have long lives and are very knowledgeable.

The civil servant position in Gaoya Castle had always been vacant. After all, it was really difficult to expect a group of barbarians who were good at wielding swords and guns to be clerks. The arrival of these model tribesmen solved the urgent problem.

As for their surrender, Levi did not find it strange. As his reputation became more and more famous, it would naturally attract more talents to surrender, just like America in his previous life. This also indirectly proved the prosperity of Gaoya Castle.

"Models tend to be more sleepy than normal people, so they should still be in bed."

Tina's words stopped the Lord's excited thoughts and he sat down on the chair again: "Forget it, let them have a good sleep."

He was not an unscrupulous lord who was inconsiderate enough to pull a few old men out of their beds.

"In addition, all the old people in the Kaas Mountains were recruited, about 150,000 people, and all were settled in the Gaoyabao territory. I followed your instructions and divided them into two groups, one to build Gaoyabao, and the other to reclaim wasteland."

"Yeah." Levi nodded while gnawing on the roasted lamb leg that was finally ready.

The number of people was more than he had expected, but it was still within an acceptable range. Only after these numbers were slowly absorbed, would Gaoya Castle be able to truly have the confidence to say that it was a castle in the wilderness and become a provincial capital in the wilderness.

"Originally, they joined Highcliff Castle because of your promise. After arriving at Highcliff Castle, they all wanted to see the legendary Lord of the Wilderness with their own eyes. But then you went to the trial again. During that time, they were very unstable and there were some bloody conflicts." Tina took out a handkerchief and wiped the grease that splashed on the corner of Levi's clothes. She said, "I lost a few pounds just by personally leading people to deal with these things every day. I killed a lot of people before the situation was barely settled. Fortunately, you came back, otherwise I really don't know how many more people I would have killed."

"When my wife comes out, she's worth two." Levi immediately gave a thumbs up.

"Well... Actually, it's Zat and the others who have been helping me." Tina immediately waved her hand modestly with a blushing face.

"I can only use an axe to chop people. It's Manager Tina who does the most work." Zat quickly touched his head and smiled foolishly.

This fool is rarely humble.

"Don't be so modest. You all have worked hard while I was away." The lord simply raised his glass and praised everyone.

The men raised their oak wine glasses and the girls raised their tea cups and drank together. The hall became lively with the return of the lord.

"Apart from this, is there anything else?" Levi continued to ask.

"Remember the sea caravan you asked Miriel to form and Mr. Mellumb?"

"Of course I remember." Levi nodded.

That was a large slave ship, and the cost alone was unimaginable. He was counting on this ship to open up maritime trade for him.

After all, this thing is a big deal, no different from the other Silk Road, and the profits it brings to him are simply unimaginable.

However, Highcliff Castle has nothing right now. Many things are still in their infancy. Even the dwarf captain Mellumb was dug up by Miriel.

However, all things are difficult at the beginning. You can't not do it just because it is difficult. As long as you take the first step, everything will gradually go smoothly.

"Not long after you left, Miriel and Mr. Mellumb prepared to sail to White Harbor in the south with the selected goods and enough manpower, but they encountered a rare sea storm in the Aegean Sea."

Tina's first half of the sentence made the lord's body go cold. He covered his chest to suppress the pain of the landslide in his heart. Damn it, that was a large slave merchant ship full of goods and elite warriors! My beautiful Miriel... my little old dwarf captain... my warriors...

But the second half of the sentence brought him back to life, and he grinned non-stop - "But fortunately, Mr. Mellumb has enough sailing experience. He just dropped some cheap goods to reduce weight, escaped from the center of the storm, and arrived at White Harbor safely. It is expected that he will be able to return soon."

"Well done!" The lord gave a fierce punch. If the old dwarf was present, he would probably hug him and kiss him hard twice before he was satisfied.

For sea voyages, the biggest threat is undoubtedly the storm at sea. The calm sea surface may suddenly be swept by huge waves in the next second, enough to bury everything. Only experienced captains can avoid the center of the storm in advance.

Without a doubt, Mellumb is one of them.

"I didn't expect so many things to happen in just a few months of my absence. You guys did a great job."

(End of this chapter)