Unknown Knight

About half an hour later, the gate of Tiha opened a crack, and a wealthy Rhodok merchant rode up to Aix. Before he got close, he dismounted and trotted over, bowed to Aix and said:

"Respected Lord Count Aix, I am here to deliver a message to you on behalf of the nobles in the city. The nobles in the city asked me to ask you, if we release the slaves of the Kingdom of Swadia in the city, will you withdraw your troops and stop attacking the caravans?"

"Go back and tell the people in the city that I, Aix, keep my word. As long as they release those Swadians, I will withdraw my troops immediately and will not affect other people's business."

Aix spoke loudly to the Rhodok merchant in front of him, with a look of disdain and contempt. It was not that he had changed and started to boss people below his status, but he was afraid that his tone was wrong and the person delivering the message would misunderstand him and fail to achieve the effect he wanted.

Less than two hours after the wealthy Rhodok merchant returned, the gate of Tiha city suddenly opened, and four or five hundred people poured out.

When Aix saw the chaotic crowd, he was afraid that there might be an ambush among them, so he sent two cavalrymen forward to warn these people, asking them to march in a long line, one person in a row, and told them that anyone who was pretending to be there would be killed immediately if discovered.

As soon as these words were spoken, several people actually ran back to the city. Aix did not allow anyone to chase them and just waited for them to get close to the edge of the forest.

After these people lined up and walked to the edge of the forest, Aix ordered more than ten cavalrymen to dismount and identify and select his own subjects. A total of more than fifty subjects were captured. What made him happy was that Catherine was among them.

Several leaders of Aix rushed forward to comfort Catherine, and this woman who had been to the battlefield was so moved that she burst into tears. Through her, Aix learned that before leaving the city, the bad guy Edenyar put more than a dozen people into the slave team, and now there must be spies among them.

Aix immediately ordered dozens of cavalrymen to check one by one, and anyone who dared to move during the check would be shot immediately. As a result, they quickly found out five or six spies who were different from the others. Before these people could take out the short blades in their arms to hurt people, they were shot one by one by the nearby cavalry.

Aix knew that there might be spies among these rescued slaves, but there were not many, probably only a few at most. He did not have time to check them carefully one by one, so he immediately ordered everyone to retreat into the forest.

This was a forest near the coast. Aix and his party walked more than ten miles with the hundreds of rescued Swadians. The sky began to slowly darken. At this time, the scout cavalry behind came to report that Idenyar's troops had left the city of Tiha. Aix had to urge and warn everyone to speed up if they did not want to be caught and enslaved again.

The group walked for a few more miles and saw a bay in front of them. More than ten dragon-headed ships were anchored on the beach in the bay. Several blazing bonfires made them very clear. Aix immediately ordered everyone to run and board the ships.

These ships were the ones that Aix sent out cavalry to contact five or six days ago. They belonged to Miss Gand's maritime trade fleet, and seven of them nominally belonged to him. This morning he received a report saying that Miss Gand's fleet had arrived, so he ventured to Tiha City to propose conditions for Eden to release his people.

X had originally just wanted to give it a try. If it failed, he would have to plunder the Nords outside the city of Tihar, and then exchange them with Idenjar. Unexpectedly, Idenjar really agreed. He must have wanted these rescued slaves to slow down the speed of X's cavalry, and then he could take advantage of the night and lead his troops to destroy X's cavalry in one fell swoop. After that, it would not delay him from sending troops to capture these escaped slaves. The surrounding areas were all his territory, and where could these people who had no food or water run to?

However, his cleverness backfired. No matter how well Edenyar planned, he never expected that Aix had this trick up his sleeve. Not only did he release the slaves that he had captured with great difficulty, but he also suffered a setback and was verbally abused and humiliated by Aix. Aix could imagine the scene of him jumping up and down in anger.

Miss Tsunde personally led the fleet this time. When she saw Aix coming, she ran into his arms, but was gently pushed away by Aix. He would not allow his woman to hide such an important matter from him. No matter what the reason was, he still couldn't let it go. He just said to her lightly:

"Take good care of these people. I will send some supplies over later. I hope you can treat them as your subjects."

Then he turned around, mounted his horse, and left with the cavalry without looking back. Poor Miss Gangde had never suffered such an injustice before, and regret and discomfort surged in her heart. She covered her face and squatted down, crying.

More than an hour later, Idenyar led more than 400 elite Nord warriors and ran over, but could not find any tracking footprints on the beach. Looking at the piles of bonfire embers left on the beach, he couldn't understand what was going on. Just as Aix thought, he jumped up and down and cursed without any image, swearing to the sky and the earth that he would take revenge.

In his heart, he had already identified Aix as the kind of enemy who would never give up, and his "enemy for life". At the same time, on a high hill in the distance, Aix, looking at the long line of torches on the seashore, sneered with contempt, and he thought the same thing.

Two days later, Aix and his party returned to the temporary camp in the Black Forest. This time their operation was a great success. Not only did they rescue the surviving citizens, but they also rescued most of the Swadians who were abducted by the Nord pirates. They also looted a lot of much-needed supplies, which filled the backs of more than a hundred horses.

After returning to the camp, Aix was troubled. He had not slept well for several days. At present, the temporary camp had sufficient supplies and food, and he had just obtained a valuable treasure. There were no urgent problems, but in the long run, he had a biggest hidden danger that troubled him, that is, the ownership issue.

As the saying goes, a tree without roots will not last long, and duckweed floating on the water will drift with the current. Now that the Kingdom of Swadia has expelled him, the people who depend on him are just like trees without roots and duckweed floating on the water. They will not last long. The so-called people are the people of the territory. People without the territory will sooner or later disperse and become refugees again. Weren't all his people refugees before? Aren't many refugees in this chaotic world this way?

It seems that I must own a territory as soon as possible. Only by owning my own territory can these people in the temporary camp continue to depend on me, and only then can I be called a force in this chaotic world, and only then can I stand firm and go further in this chaotic world.

After comprehensive analysis, there are currently six major countries on this continent that have the ability to divide the country. They are: the Kingdom of Swadia, the Kingdom of Rhodok, the Kingdom of Nord, the Kingdom of Vaegir, the Khergit Khanate, and the Emirate of Sarranid.

Among them, the Khergit Khanate had a grudge against him and was in a state of hostility, especially the lord of Aichmor City, Toju Nayan, whose youngest son was crippled by his subordinate Desevi and later died on the road due to excessive blood loss. Not only that, that time Aix rescued nearly 300 people from his territory, robbed more than 300 horses, and killed many Khergit people along the way, including several Nayan nobles.

Based on the above, it is impossible for Aix to reconcile with the Khergit Khanate, let alone obtain territory from them. There is no feasibility at all.

What about the Sarande Emirate? First, it was too far away. Second, he had no intersection with their noble circle and was not familiar with them. Moreover, the country was in a desert area. The people who depended on him would definitely not be able to adapt to the climate there. Not to mention that the chieftain Atiya had sent assassins to assassinate him because of the conflict over snow and salt. Therefore, it was impossible to obtain territory from the country. At the same time, Aix did not want to obtain territory from the country, so the country was directly rejected.

What about the Kingdom of Nord? King Ragnar has a good relationship with him, but does he have the final say? The Lord of Iaia is his father-in-law, but he also failed to stop the surging Nord pirates from breaking into his territory? In addition, Idenjar is his lifelong enemy, and the ethnic hatred between them during the pirate invasion. Even if the relationship is good, King Ragnar will not grant him territory out of unity. The Kingdom of Nord can only be ruled out.

What about his old employer, the Kingdom of Swadia? Having been a noble for so long, Aix should still have some dignity. They just kicked him out without saying hello. Can he go and beg them now? Not to mention that he has an irreconcilable conflict with Dilinard and his daughter.

He simply had to give up his dignity. With the corrupt aristocracy of the Kingdom of Swadia and the king Harlaus who would not do anything for no gain, what could Aix give him? How long could he stay with such a man? If Edenjar attacked again one day, surrounded the city, and then made a condition to expel him, wouldn't that be a humiliation? The Kingdom of Swadia? He might as well forget it!

The remaining ones are the Rhodok Kingdom and the Viegir Kingdom. Among them, Aix likes the Rhodok Kingdom the most. Although he has no intersection with the aristocratic circle of their kingdom, there is basically no friction or hostility, except for the impact of Suno's porridge distribution on the war situation last time, which was also a passive and indirect impact and cannot be regarded as direct hostility. Therefore, the Rhodok Kingdom is a good place to go. Aix decided to go to the Rhodok Kingdom first to walk around and see if there are any opportunities.

Finally, the only one left is the Kingdom of Vigia. There is no irreconcilable contradiction between the aristocratic circle of the entire Vigia Kingdom and Aix. There was indeed a conflict with Voldratboye last time, but it was just that Aix was unlucky to run into a bad guy. In fact, there is no fundamental conflict of interest between the two parties. If you believe that people like him are against you, other Vigia nobles may not agree with him.

Needless to say, there is the relationship between King Yarogelk and Rodelaboye. These two must have their own feelings for each other. Aix believes that the Kingdom of Vigia should be the kingdom where he can easily gain territory. It's just that it is too cold there, and the current dependent subjects may not be willing to go there. Moreover, the kingdom is close to the warlike Khergit Khanate. Even if he gains the territory, he may not be able to stand firm. Therefore, it can only be used as a backup plan.