The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

When Laurie saw Hammond waiting for her with the deputy commander of the Pétain Line, a hint of confusion appeared on her face, but she still accepted the head of the commander-in-chief of the Pétain Line.

The troops behind them also began clearing out the largest fortress in the Pétain Line with their equipment.

Although many fortresses have not yet surrendered, they are not truly determined to resist to the end, but rather want to increase their bargaining power.

But Laurie wasn't going to tolerate these people who had developed bad habits under Doug's influence. Once the surrounding fortresses were cleared, the remaining ones who refused to surrender would be slowly bombarded with artillery.

"You're not the kind of person who would resort to petty tricks."

On the way back in triumph, Laurie and Hammond struck up a conversation.

"You want to give me the credit? I thought you were the kind of pedantic knight who could recite the code of chivalry by heart."

"I just don't like dealing with those nobles."

Hammond glanced back at his brothers who were laughing and cursing behind him and said, "My dislike doesn't mean I don't understand human relationships."

"Hahahahaha."

Laurie laughed as if she had seen something funny, and casually tossed the head back to Hammond.

Hammond hurriedly and clumsily took the head.

"We don't record merits this way here. If the merit is yours, it's yours, and no one can take it away from you."

"But I really didn't expect you to have such thoughts. The pedantic knights have become worldly and pragmatic here. The governor will be nagging me again, saying that I, this rogue soldier, have corrupted someone again."

Hearing Laurie say this, Hammond realized that he had been too deliberate in doing so. He scratched the back of his head and said, "After all, we are surrendered soldiers. I may not care about myself, but I have to think about my brothers."

"And I don't want to be like before, stuck in some insignificant place as a garrison commander just to get by because I'm so cold-hearted."

Hammond looked at Laurie's soldiers and continued, "I want to do my part for the North. I have the ability and the mission."

The seemingly impenetrable defense line has fallen. Although some other fortresses, large and small, are still holding out, they are completely unable to stop the advance of the Gray Collars. The entire defense line has lost its function.

After reading the battle report, Linde organized his next course of action. Now that the Pétain Line was passable, there was no need to detour through the Colossus Mountains as before.

After discussing with Lena, Lind decided to use Black Iron City as a springboard to launch a full-scale attack.

"Don't rush to recruit those soldiers; let them go back to farming first."

Lind said to Lena.

The rest of the North was depopulated by Doug, with large tracts of land left uncultivated. Lind really didn't want these low-quality soldiers to affect the quality of his army.

Linde preferred to recruit some local serfs or free men rather than use these Doug veterans on a large scale.

Hearing this decision, Lena felt a little heartache, after all, these soldiers were nominally Lars's soldiers, but Lena also understood Lind's general idea.

“We can let them go on the expedition with the army first. After we conquer a place, we can let them help the remaining local people farm the land, allocate land to them, and let them settle down there.”

"Well, that's okay too."

Linde nodded, agreeing with Lena's decision. When it came to military matters, Lena's thinking was very clear.

In this world, there's no such thing as being discharged from the military after enlisting. There's even a local folk song about a man who joined the army and ended up in another region, married and had children, and became a local without even realizing it.

Lena's decision was simply to regroup the soldiers who had been conscripted by Doug and redistribute them to various parts of the North.

Lind helped Lena supplement this policy, so that the army would no longer need to settle down and allocate land before conquering a new place, as before.

Some powers need to be stripped away from the military. This is not about suppressing the military, but about allowing it to grow in a healthier way.

Land allocation and governance should be handled by civil officials. Fortunately, the earliest group of nobles has completely submitted. Although there are not many of them, they are enough, and they are all powerful figures who have risen through the ranks.

After the discussion, Lena took the documents and went to the army.

"They really are a loving couple."

Tia yawned as she lay on the sofa.

"You're still elevating their status in the military. Aren't you afraid of what might happen in the future? Or are you afraid of what might happen in the future?"

“There are already many Lars’s people in the military, so it’s appropriate for Lena to do these things.”

Linde did not answer Tia's question directly, but simply gave a brief explanation.

Tia didn't press further, but instead said, "Now that the defensive line is gone, the forest rangers who guided you through the mountains can come back now, right?"

"Okay, thank you very much, I'll add more money."

"Looks like selling weapons made you quite a bit of money."

Tia got up, stretched, and started flipping through the thick books beside her.

This elven princess is increasingly showing signs of becoming a NEET lately, living a more and more lazy life and being less and less inclined to go out.

Moreover, she likes to eat snacks while reading. When she opens a book, Tia's hand is already reaching into the snack box next to her.

The elves seem to never gain weight no matter how much they eat; at least Tia's figure is still very good.

"Reading chivalric romance novels again?"

"No, I'm looking at the history of you humans."

Tia flipped to the page where she had last bookmarked the book and started chatting with Lind as she read.

"I think you humans are the real race of war. Ever since there are written records, you humans have been fighting. The number of years you haven't fought is about the same as the number of years we elves have been fighting. Compared to you humans, even demons seem innocent and kind."

"And having looked at human history up to this point, I think you can win."

This elven princess has learned from history; at least the elven queen wouldn't admit to ruining her daughter. However, no matter how long this elven princess spent in the gray-collar world, it was just a small episode in her long life.

"So that's why you went to the Elf Queen and those druids to help me, and even had some rangers at my beck and call?"

"Don't get me wrong, it wasn't for you. I actually asked you to pay more."

Tia looked up from her book and glanced at Lind, as if to tell him not to be presumptuous.

But Linde had already sat down and started taking out his letter paper, preparing to write a reply to the Queen in the capital, as well as the next steps in the plan. He was also thinking about the Black Iron City he would have to visit later, completely unaware of Tia's gaze.

However, Linde continued chatting with Tia: "Did you know? Although the probability is very low, some demi-humans can have offspring with humans, like you elves."

"Huh? Oh, I know that."

Tia, who hadn't thought much of it before, panicked when she heard what Linde said. She buried her head in her book, stopped eating snacks, and secretly watched Linde.

"Half-elves born have the lifespan of elves, but they cannot reproduce, regardless of gender or whether they are elves or humans."

Linde stroked his chin and began to think. Although there were all sorts of strange creatures in various fantasy worlds that defied all scientific principles and broke through reproductive barriers, this world still seemed to have reproductive barriers. There were no bizarre magical beasts, and there was a similar concept of reproductive barriers among druids. The reproductive barriers between humans and elves at least showed that although humans and demi-humans had significant species differences, they were relatively closely related.

"So you're saying that the difference between humans and elves, or rather, between humans and other demi-humans, might be smaller than you imagine?"

Linde finally looked up and sized Tia up and down. Seeing that her eyes were clear and even had a hint of academic intent, Tia realized that she had been presumptuous.

“Well, my druid course grades have always been mediocre. You should go and talk to our archdruid.”

Tia was a little angry, and like a deflated balloon, she put down her book, lamenting that she had been reading too many knight novels lately, and her mind was filled with all sorts of random thoughts. She needed to find a way to quit reading those knight novels.