Knight with Wand

After eating and drinking in Longka and resting for a night to recover his spirit, Leon borrowed a packhorse from Lohak and set off for home early with Corvis.

Leon did not let Lohak go with him. He temporarily let him stay in Longka to handle the defense of his territory.

Undead attacks are not isolated incidents. They may become more and more frequent in the future. If there are really groups of zombies, or powerful beings like the Ghost Knight attacking the village, one or two hunters on guard will definitely not be able to deal with them.

He rushed back to the territory of Selva and crossed the hillside that he had not seen for more than a month. The cool breeze was blowing and the wheat fields were surrounded. Leon felt a sense of relief that he had finally returned home.

After asking the village elders of Longka Village, it was already January 21, 673 in the Orland Kingdom calendar, and winter had already begun.

But the climate in southern Orland is still not very cold. According to past experience, there is little snow throughout the winter, and the temperature feels basically above zero degrees.

"This is my territory." Leon turned around and introduced it to Corvis.

"What a beautiful manor." The blond boy looked up at the pastoral scenery below the slope, and his memory brought him back to his distant childhood.

The two drove their horses into Selva while chatting.

The villagers bowed their heads respectfully on the road when they saw the lord returning.

Although Leon had been away for more than a month, people still recognized the hero who saved Selva.

Not only because of his bravery in crossing the Nightmare Forest and beheading Baron Cantadar in the legend, but also because of his kindness and generosity.

The relatives of the victims in every household were properly buried in coffins, and in the future there may be a huge ransom for the noble captives to be distributed to everyone. After experiencing the unprovoked disaster, the people knew that their future livelihoods were firmly tied to this kind young lord.

Crossing the village road to the door of his small lord's mansion.

Leon glanced sideways and saw a blonde knight riding a warhorse not far away, walking towards the south end of the village.

Looking at the back of the person wearing plate chain mail and the familiar knight's sword, and looking closely at the tied golden ponytail, who else could it be?

"Olivia!" Leon raised his voice and shouted to the friend who looked like a female knight from a distance.

The blonde girl on the horse heard the call, stopped the horse's hooves, and turned her head to look.

"Leon?"

The girl pulled the reins back in surprise.

The warhorse tilted its head and turned sideways. The blonde girl riding on its back had her helmet hanging on her side. Her upper body was wearing the plate chain composite armor of the squire cavalry, with a breastplate, arm armor, and iron gloves.

Although it was not so fitted, the slightly larger shoulder armor on both sides also made her petite body present a contrasting beauty.

The girl's lower body was mixed with the leg armor of the Uriah cavalry, and the scale armor skirt on the left and right was placed on her thighs. It seemed that such a loose combination would not hinder her free movement.

Come to think of it, if the plate chain mail is not suitable for the upper body, it can be barely used, but if the width and length of the leg plate mail are too different, it will be uncomfortable to walk.

Leon looked at Olivia wearing armor and carrying a sword, and admired her heroic appearance in this outfit.

If it weren't for the wrong hairstyle and the exaggerated blue dress, he suddenly felt that she was COSing a certain King of Dai Mao.

Of course, the armor on the girl at this moment is obviously much more realistic and detailed than the simple cartoon style in his memory of his previous life.

Olivia rushed over and saw her friend's safe appearance and complexion with concern, and breathed a sigh of relief: "Azerien said that you didn't come back together, I was a little worried, God bless you, it's really good to see that you are okay."

"What about you? I heard from Lohak that the undead attacked the village. Are you not injured?" Leon greeted.

"Undead. Are you talking about those monsters before?" The blonde girl smiled and raised her fist covered with iron gloves: "Of course not. The wolves and tigers in the forest look scary, but their movements are stupid. They are not my opponents at all. Even if there are ten or twenty more of them, they can't hurt me."

"With your ability, it's true."

Leon looked her up and down, and couldn't help but joked: "Come to think of it, this outfit really suits you. If I become rich in the future, how about making you a knight?"

Olivia waved her hands awkwardly: "How can a woman become a knight? Don't make fun of me. It was Azerien who insisted that I find a set of armor to wear when I patrol. I told you it's not necessary."

Leon raised his eyebrows. He really didn't know whether the Kingdom of Orland allowed women to be canonized as knights.

As far as he knew, at least in the European Middle Ages in the previous life, there were female knights in many regions. There were indeed many examples. Some inherited the title, some were canonized by military merit, and there were even armed knights composed entirely of female knights.

However, what he said to Olivia now was just a joke. He was a newly promoted lower-level knight who didn't know the rules of Orland, and he didn't dare to arbitrarily confer titles on others.

Leon shook his head at Olivia: "Azerien's worry is okay. If you are patrolling outside, you should be more careful. The undead that will run out of the forest in the future may not only be those beast zombies.

We have encountered more dangerous human corpses, and they even retained their martial arts in their lifetime. Don't be careless when facing them."

"Will there be more monsters coming out of the forest? Okay. Since you said so, I will be careful." Olivia had to nod obediently.

She looked to the side, and then noticed the handsome blond boy beside Leon, and couldn't help but asked curiously: "Who is this?"

"This is a friend we met during this trip. His name is Corvis. He comes from a very far away place. He has nowhere to go for the time being, so I invited him to live with me." Leon raised his hand to introduce.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Olivia." Corvis habitually held his chest and saluted.

"So you are the friend that Sister Elena mentioned. You don't need to be so respectful. I am not a noble, just a commoner." Olivia quickly clarified after looking at the other party's solemn etiquette.

Leon waited for the two of them to get to know each other, and then asked: "Where is Azarian? I have something to discuss with him as soon as possible."

"He should be patrolling outside the village with others. I'm about to replace him. It just so happens that you go back to the house and wait while I call him back."

Olivia said, pulling the reins, bidding farewell to Leon and the two, and then rode south again.

Corvis followed Leon and got off the horse. Seeing Olivia's back getting further and further away, he couldn't help turning his head and asked: "Is that young lady very good at martial arts?"

Such a young girl with such a petite body, unless she is also a spell caster, even if she is wearing armor, it is not like she can deal with ten or twenty jackals, tigers and leopards.

But Covis looked at Leon's trusting attitude towards her, and the conversation between the two obviously didn't seem like a joke.

"Her? Not only is she powerful, I think your swordsmanship is also pretty good, isn't it? Come and practice with her when you have time. You will know after fighting her." Leon said with a smile, and opened the door to the house.

The lobby on the first floor, which was decorated to imitate the Lord's Hall, was still as clean as before leaving.

Lina, wearing an old apron, hummed softly, standing beside the high-backed chair that temporarily symbolized power, wiping the lord's throne that she had polished every day.

The little maid raised her head when she heard the noise, and when she saw her master coming back, she immediately jumped on her feet and came forward excitedly.

Leon rubbed the little guy's head, praised her hard work, and then asked her to ask Hawke to settle the horses outside the door and ask the kitchen to prepare extra food for herself and Corvis tonight.

Went upstairs to find an empty room for Corvis and settled down.

Leon returned to the room, took off the leather chain armor that was damaged in the battle with the mage, and asked the servants to put them back into the warehouse.

Sitting at the table, waiting for Azarian to come back to discuss matters, Leon suddenly found a piece of paper with writing on it spread out on the table.

I picked it up and looked at it. What was recorded on the paper seemed to be a month-end settlement expense?

It records the salaries paid to horse herders, grooms, cooks, and servants.

There is also the food consumed by the war horses in the stables, as well as the rations, tools and utensils consumed by the mansion and other unexpected expenses. Every transaction is very detailed.

Leon looked at the delicate handwriting and felt that it didn't look like Azarian's handwriting. It should have been written by Olivia.

After all, the other party has been managing his own finances for more than a month.

He lamented the girl's attentiveness. Although he was not worried about the other party being corrupt at all, being able to write it so clearly did save him a lot of worry.

Leon continued to read and roughly calculated Olivia's total expenses to make sure that the girl did not make a mistake.

It cost 2034 dires in the first month.

Datou mainly raises horses, which accounts for more than half of the expenses.

Leon realized that this was the cost of riding away three noble war horses when they set off, and only keeping six ordinary war horses in the territory.

He calculated based on the expenses on the paper. From now on, if he adds the three top war horses and other expenses remain unchanged, his expenses will be as high as about 2,500 dires next month.

And the remaining funds on hand——

In order to save Rohak's sister, the three of them spent money generously along the way, buying dresses, giving gifts to the Falcon family's wedding, and even extravagantly buying and taking away horses on the way to escape. The money has been completely spent.

He didn't regret helping the brothers of life and death to save his only close relative, even if it cost Leon a fortune, he didn't care.

But the problem is that while the territory is facing a security crisis, its own financial crisis is also coming.

The cantadar gold coins that were originally left for Olivia's safekeeping were probably worth a hundred gold crowns.

After more than a month of spending, there are now about eighty gold crowns left.

That is less than 8,000 dire.

In the future, the monthly expenditure will be 2,500 dires, so the money on hand can only last for another three months.

Moreover, in order to cope with the security pressure in the future, the territory's expenses will probably increase.

While thinking, Leon soon waited for Azarian who came back from outside the village.

He stood up and hugged and exchanged greetings with his overjoyed good brother.

After chatting about their experiences, the two sat down to discuss the troubles in the territory.

Leon told Azarian about the general process along the way and the fact that the area had disappeared, and then discussed countermeasures with him.

Azarian was shocked. This was far beyond the noble boy's previous speculation about the cause of the undead beast's attack.

Because according to the memories of the locals, the Nightmare Forest existed long before the founding of the Kingdom of Orland. Although it is scary, as long as you don't risk your life to enter it, the man-eating forest is nothing more than a natural barrier that separates the north and the south. constant.

The human settlements close to this ancient natural barrier have always enjoyed the tranquility under disguised protection.

But now, the peace here is about to be broken.

Faced with the imminent threat, Azerien's original plan of relying on only a few villagers to patrol was definitely not enough.

Lonka and Selva, which are adjacent to the Nightmare Forest, must have armed forces that can cope with large-scale zombie attacks.

Mobilizing the people to defend their homes does not require military pay, and they can eat and drink at home, without too much extra expenses.

In an emergency, the sixty or so young men who returned from Selva can be summoned to form an infantry phalanx to resist the zombies.

Thanks to the military decree of the Kingdom of Orland, they have simple spears and iron helmets, most of them have ordinary coats and armor, and some wealthy families even have simple chain mail. At the same time, they have also undergone simple training when serving in the fortress. As long as they are properly commanded, they can be considered a force that can barely fight.

But the population of Longka is small. When in danger, there are no men who can fight. It is unrealistic to expect a few young people and some old people there to protect the women and children of the whole village.

Azerien thought about it and decided that this was the opposite. He had originally wanted to recruit archers from Lonka to help Selva, but now that he had discovered the seriousness of the problem, he might have to withdraw people from Selva to protect Lonka.

The problem came back to money.

He transferred the militiamen to other villages for defense. Lohak would always be responsible for the food and drink expenses of the militiamen away from home.

Selva village was already short of labor, and those soldiers had to leave their land and not do production. He couldn't let those militiamen work hard but get nothing next year.

Either give money or give food.

The two of them calculated that even if only 20 spearmen were sent to garrison Lonka, their monthly food expenses would be nearly 300 to 400 diers.

At this cost, Leon would go bankrupt and consider selling horses in less than three months.

The problem was raising horses. The biggest expense of the territory was the nine war horses.

Selling the extra six horses now was also a solution.

But Leon was reluctant to part with them. They were all good horses from Uriah. The price they sold them for was not the same as the cost of buying them again in the future.

After all, before the three of them became lords, the main manpower of the territory was conscripted to fight in the war, which was very embarrassing.

If nothing happened, they could wait for the war to end and the young and strong to return, but who would have thought that they would be in a hurry to use troops now.

"Can Baron Elliver return the young and strong conscripted from Longka to their hometown?" Azerien suggested.

Leon nodded. He was going to go to the front line of Mamor County as soon as possible to report to the feudal lord the threat of the undead to the southern part of the territory of the Thorn Flower Family after the disappearance of the cursed land.

As long as Baron Elliver was explained clearly about the changes in the Nightmare Forest, if the war in Mamor was not too tense, the other party should not refuse.

After all, the baron's rule was not only Selva and Longka close to the Nightmare Forest.

They asked Longka's archers to go home to defend the territory in order to fulfill their military obligations to resist the undead.

But the problem of soldiers can be solved, but the problem of money is still unclear.

He can ask the feudal lord to return his own people, but he can't ask the feudal lord to return the money and food that were collected before.

The income of Longka and Pleydon's territory can only be collected in the second half of the year.

If he doesn't want to sell horses and weapons, even if there are no other expenses, there is still a shortage of funds.

Leon seemed to see a big word "poor" rising above his head.

Of course, he was not too anxious. There was still a way. If nothing else, he would go back to the Nightmare Forest and find Miss Lola to get the few gold and silver ingots left in the Mage Tower. It should be able to solve the urgent problem in the short term, although it is not a long-term solution.

So, what can I do to make money quickly in the future?

Should I go out to rob?

Leon supported his chin with a smile, staring at the wood grain on the table. In a trance, he seemed to have hallucinated it into a nightmare forest, and his mind was full of random thoughts.

Lack of money, robbery, war, war

The forest cursed land disappeared

Disappeared

Leon sat up straight.

An idea flashed through his mind that had been ignored because he was too focused on the undead.

"Leon, since the cursed land has disappeared, will we become the border with Kantadar in the future?" Azerien seemed to have come to his senses, and couldn't help but frown and confirm with Leon.

"Yes, that's it!" Leon slapped the table, secretly cursing himself for ignoring such an important thing.

He took Corvis to Kantadar and fled north into the Nightmare Forest. The few villages and towns near the forest he saw were all empty.

There were few military strongholds along the way. After all, no one in the Southern Kingdom had ever imagined that an army could launch an invasion from the direction of the Nightmare Forest.

At present, the main force in Kantadar is maintaining the war against Serian in the east, and the lords in the north are gathered in Mamor County to resist the sudden attack of Orland. I don't know how many lords responded to the call and fell into the two war zones.

The natural barrier of the Nightmare Forest, which had existed for at least a thousand years, has disappeared. At present, no one knows about it except for a few of us.

This piece of information alone is worth more than a million gold.

If the Kingdom of Orland can gather its army, it can take this opportunity to cross the Nightmare Forest and head south.

Leon stood up excitedly.

What hidden danger of the undead attacking the village is a trivial matter.

The time difference he has at this moment is a big deal.

He must go to the Mamor County military camp as soon as possible to meet Baron Elliver.