Chapter 112: Owl and the Prophet's Legion
The lord looked at the situation and saw that no one on either side had used knives or guns. Both sides seemed to be restrained and no conflict had occurred.
"Who are you?"
Seeing the lord leading hundreds of farmers into the village, the knights walked over.
"Your Excellency the Baron, you are the lord here, right? We are the Order of the Owl, and I am Ors von Clancy. May I have the honor of knowing your name?"
The leading knight was a middle-aged man who looked polite. His equipment was a bit old and he was obviously not rich, but he was well-groomed.
Judging from the name, this Knight of Ors was probably a ruined nobleman, but Leon had never heard of the Clancy family.
When he got closer, Leon saw that they all had a finger-sized owl emblem on their left shoulders, which looked like the one on the shoulder of the statue of the goddess Eunomia.
"I'm Leon... Dear Owl Knights, what are you doing here?"
Leon had heard about this knight order from Sarah. They were once a regular knight order established in accordance with the Valides Charter. However, many years ago, this knight order was also identified as an illegal knight order by the previous generation of King Fierce Lion.
But I haven't heard of any bad reputation of the Owl Knights. Instead, they often help merchants and villagers.
Of course, help isn’t free…
Ors saluted the lord as a knight and looked at the farmers who came from the wheat field behind Leon.
"Sir Leon, we encountered a group of women in an open wilderness to the west. Their number is at least twenty times ours. They seemed to be holding some kind of tea party and were planning to invite us to have a drink... You know, this situation seems to be obviously heretical, and my Knights believe in the goddess Eunomia, so we left. That group was only a hundred miles away from Trubrun, and I originally came here to warn them."
Ors smiled awkwardly: "But after I came here, I only saw your flag and troops, but no villagers or village chief... I thought something happened in this village, so I waited here and didn't leave... Haha, I didn't expect it was because you took the villagers outside."
Think something happened here?
Something unexpected happened here before...
But the lord did not want to explain now. What he cared more about now was the sentence "the army is composed entirely of women, and the number of people is at least twenty times that of the Owl Knights."
Plus the small groups of troops spotted by the cavalry around Changhe Town...
This is obviously the Legion of the Prophet.
Li Ang jumped off his horse and stepped forward to return the greeting: "Thank you for coming to warn us. It is rare to meet upright knights like you in the continent of Pendor..."
Since the other party means well, then just praise them first. It doesn't cost money to say nice things anyway, and maybe you can get them to join you in dealing with the Legion of Prophet.
As a result, Ors seemed even more embarrassed by this compliment: "Sir Leon, in fact, we were originally planning to ask, as the lord here, if you need any help..."
It turns out that the Owl Knights were not just trying to warn people, but were planning to do business...
The Owl Knights originally wanted to get some food in the surrounding areas. They had no base, so every harvest season they had to go to various villages to buy food.
They came from Serenmis and met the Prophet's Legion on the way, so they planned to do some business in Troublen.
This kind of business is very common in Pendor - since there are abnormal troops with unknown movements nearby, they will first warn the village, then station in the village to protect it, and get paid for it.
This is also an important way for these "illegal knight groups" who have lost their bases to obtain supplies and survive.
Of course, this practice is only limited to teams like the Owl Knights that have always maintained kindness and order.
Many illegal knight groups have already become black-hearted rogues in their long dark lives. The only difference between them and bandits is that they are more powerful than bandits...
The Owl Knights have been roaming the territory of the Kingdom of Sarleon for many years, surviving by doing small businesses such as expelling bandits or guarding villages.
If the village is occupied by bandits, they will defeat the bandits and get the spoils, and receive "gifts of gratitude" from the villagers;
If there is danger near the village, they will give the alarm and stay in the village for a period of time, receiving supplies and rewards from the village lord or villagers.
Of course, when they really encounter danger that is enough to destroy them, they will actually run away... The so-called guarding of the village is actually based on having scouts to spy on the enemy. They will not sacrifice the lives of the entire knights to protect the village.
The Owl Knights are very good at gathering intelligence, and the name of their order is also related to this specialty - the owl on Eunomia's shoulder represents the goddess of order, who has a keen eye and a keen insight into the world.
Ors had been waiting at the entrance of the village with his men and had not left. In fact, he was waiting until night. There were no villagers in Trubrunn Village, only one troop, and the lord did not show up. It seemed very abnormal, as if it was occupied by some illegal armed forces.
He only had more than sixty people under his command, which was about the same number as the troops left by Leon in the village, so he blocked the entrance to the village and waited for other members of the Owl Knights to come here - he had previously sent many knights to find out the whereabouts of the women's legion.
Ors originally planned that if the lord of this place didn't show up by nightfall, he would attack the village...
The reason why they had to wait until dark was because the Owl Knights were all night owls - they were good at moving in the dark, and most people in the continent of Pendor suffered from night blindness due to the lack of sufficient food. This was also the main reason why the Owl Knights were good at spying on intelligence.
However, when he saw the lord coming with the villagers, Ors realized that it was a misunderstanding.
But Li Ang knew that this was actually a misunderstanding within a misunderstanding...
Trubrunn was not originally Leon's territory, and the lord had previously purchased food for free - this practice was essentially no different from that of bandits or illegal knights.
Considering that the Owl Knights acted in a fairly decent manner and had a straightforward attitude, the lord decided to tell Ors the truth.
"Sir Ors, I must tell you that something unexpected happened in this village before..."
…
"So, Lord Leon, all the people in this village were killed? Not a single one survived?"
After hearing about Trubrunn's situation, Ors frowned tightly and there was some fear in his eyes.
"Yes, I thought it was caused by the gangsters..."
Leon looked at Ors's expression and felt that the Owl Knights seemed to know something.
"It can't be bandits, Lord Leon. We are very familiar with bandits' behavior. Normal bandits won't kill everyone in the village. At most, they will just steal everything..."
Ors turned his head and looked west, frowning even more deeply: "This kind of killing of everyone... Sir Leon, have you seen the bodies of young women and children in the village?"
"When I arrived, all the remains had turned into scattered bones and were impossible to distinguish... However, it seems that I did not see the remains of the children."
Li Ang was reminded of this and indeed realized that at least he didn't see any remains that were too small.
Ors's face turned pale. "This was done by heretics... I guess the women I met were them. I heard that they would take away young girls and children, and use witchcraft to control those girls to kill their relatives! Those girls will eventually become their soldiers... warriors who completely disregard life and death!"
The Lord noticed that Ors used the word 'they' and also mentioned 'witchcraft'.
It seems that the Owl Knights do know something.
"Who are they? Why did they take the children away?"
Li Ang knew that the heretics of this era were very strange, but he did not understand their behavior. After all, he had never encountered such a cult in his previous life.
"They are three witches. Some people call them the Three Prophets. It is said that they possess unimaginable beauty and power. All those who are weak-willed will be lured by them to become their guards, and those who cannot be seduced will be killed by them... They will use the blood of children for living sacrifices. It is said that this will allow them to gain power from the God of Darkness!"
Ors shook his head and said, his face under the black hood became even paler: "They are very dangerous. I thought this village is more than a hundred miles away from their army and should be safe. I didn't expect this place to be related to them..."
So that's how it is. This guy didn't just come here to discuss business, but thought he could take shelter here for a while?
You can avoid the heretic troops and make some money at the same time.
The way this Owl Knight seeks business is somewhat shameless...
The lord thought that this guy could be befriended.
Ors said as he was about to leave: "My Knights can't handle them, I have to go... I also suggest you leave here as soon as possible."
"etc……"
Li Ang stretched out his hand to stop him, unfolded the map in his hand, and gestured on the map with his fingers.
"You see, you encountered that large heretic force in the west... and I just came back from Changhe Town, and there are many near Changhe Town. Your team doesn't look like it has much supplies, and it's probably not appropriate for an illegal armed force to go to the border - where are you going?"
Ors looked around and realized that he actually had nowhere to hide except the border area...
Illegal knight orders are indeed not allowed to appear on the border, as this could easily cause misunderstandings and lead to them being mistaken for bandits and eliminated by the garrisons - in fact, the garrisons in various places have an obligation to eliminate illegal knight orders, but most of the time it is better to do less than more.
"... So, Mr. Leon, do you have any good suggestions?"
It seems that the reason why Ors turned pale just now was because of this - it was not safe for his troops to go in any direction now, which was probably the main reason why he waited at the village entrance for so long.
"Let your team move with me. Of course, you have to obey my orders... I promise I won't lead you to a dead end."
The lord laughed. He didn't expect that while he was rushing over to harvest the wheat, he could actually pick up a troop by the way.
However, Leon did not want them to assist in the battle. What he needed was the expertise of the Owl Knights.
"I only need you to scout the enemy, which is what you are best at. As for whether or not to participate in the battle, it is up to you. I will take you to my territory to station and provide you with supplies. And you need to keep reporting the movements of the Prophet's Legion to me... Deal?"
"make a deal."
Ors did not reject the lord's kindness. It is always safer to cooperate with the local lord.
Besides, he didn't really have many supplies.
But he only obeyed orders to a limited extent - he said that if he encountered an extremely difficult battle, he would not participate, and he wanted to ensure that his knightly order could survive.
Let the farmers harvest the wheat here first, and Li Ang led his troops back to Maixiangling.
Godric and Amy had brought a troop of 500 men from White Hart Castle, leaving only 300 men at White Hart Castle.
The lord pulled Godric into his room and confessed his plan to him.
There were only him, Godric, and Amy in the room.
"Leon, do you mean to let the Prophet's Legion surround Changhe Town first, and then we attack from behind? Do you want to gain the power to govern Changhe Town as a 'savior'?"
Godric didn't seem too surprised, Amy had already told him about this intention.
"Yes, I don't want to hide it from you. But it's not me who entered Changhe Town as a savior, but you, Lord Godric!"
Leon looked at Godric with a smile.
Godric was shocked. "Me? If you want to defeat the heretic army to protect the people, or if you want to gain more power, I am willing to help you. But for myself... I don't want to get involved in these political struggles!"
Li Ang smiled bitterly: "My qualifications and military strength are not convincing enough, Lord Godric, only you can suppress Changhe Town."
Godric still shook his head: "I hid in White Hart Castle because I didn't want to get involved in these power struggles..."
"Lord Godric, I'm afraid you have no choice but to fight... With Amy's status, she has encountered such a thing as Fawcett, and Fawcett dared to frame you. This is already a very obvious signal - if it was ten or twenty years ago, would anyone dare to treat you like this?"
Li Ang shook his head and sighed.
Godric was stunned for a moment when he heard this, but he still did not change his attitude: "The Fothergill incident was just an accident, right?"
Leon shook his head and sighed, "Lord Godric, no wonder Lady Philina stayed in Sarleon to protect you...Changhe Town has been fighting for years, so the lords of the eastern region - including you, have been able to get by."
"But think about it, why did Count Oden fight for the military control of Changhe Town? Was it just for greater power? In my opinion, he wanted to ensure that Brave Shield Castle would always have support behind it!"
"In the war at White Hart Castle earlier this year, your men suffered heavy losses, but did the kingdom give you any compensation?"
"During the months that Fothert was in charge of Changhe Town, did he provide even the slightest help to Brave Shield Castle and White Hart Castle? You know, Brave Shield Castle lost Earl Oden and seven hundred elite soldiers because of Eldred's treason! And White Hart Castle is short of military strength and food! This is a border fortress guarding the kingdom!"
"But when Amy came to him, he used food to force Amy to respond to his pursuit... and then he even slandered you as a heretic. He didn't consider the safety of the entire kingdom at all!"
"And Fothert is even considered one of the more reputable nobles!"
"Brave Shield and White Hart, one in the south and one in the north, each face the strongest enemy of Sarleon. If the ruling power of the eastern region is in the hands of those who only know how to mess around, then how can we guarantee support when we encounter a full-scale attack from Jatu or the Baccus Empire next time?"
"I don't want you to become the Archon. I just think that the military control of Changhe Town must be in the hands of trustworthy people! I can't kidnap the enemy leader every time, and Amy shouldn't stand on the city wall to face the enemy again and again!"
"But now, who else can I trust besides you?"
Leon could understand Godric's thinking. A former commander of the Royal Guard, a young earl with a promising future, was willing to lower his title and run to a border town like White Hart Castle, and stayed there for more than 20 years. This was obviously a case of seeing through, but not completely seeing through...
On the contrary, his wife, Ms. Philina, sees things more clearly.
Wherever there are people, there are conflicts. Armies and castles are the foundation. The more armies and castles you control, the more capital you will have.
Amy kept staring at her teacher with big eyes and nodded frequently.
She seemed to think more about it than Godric, probably because she was better at studying.
Godric sighed: "But can I definitely become the military officer of Changhe Town?"
"King Ulric must be very clear that military affairs can only be managed by border lords... just like when he asked Earl Oden to manage the military affairs of Changhe Town. Even though Earl Oden served in the House of Nobles, he did not replace him..."
Li Ang has already brought the ink bottle: "Besides, as long as we can defeat the heretic legion and bring the army into the city, no one in Changhe Town will dare to say no... King Ulric will not refuse... You are his brother-in-law!"
Godric was silent for a long time, then nodded: "I can be the initiator of the coalition... but where can I find military rations?"
"That's why you must be the commander-in-chief to lead the coalition army... Baron Leofric of Brave Shield Castle has enough food, and he will only join in if you lead the troops - he will definitely not respond to the call of a small lord like me..."
The Lord handed a quill to Godric.
Baron Godric no longer hesitated. He sent letters in his own name to various territories in the eastern region, expressing his intention to form a joint army to fight against the heretic legion.
Three days later, the cavalry returned and brought back the news that the heretic legion had indeed arrived near Changhe Town.
They even raised a flag with a pair of goat horns on it.
It was indeed the Prophet's Legion. A cavalryman with the best saw three extremely beautiful women with his own eyes.
Or a witch.
