When the Duke of Alma brought Raphael to Fletcher Village, Ralph was still building defensive facilities without knowing anything.
When Ralph met the Duke of Alma, his expression was extremely complicated - of course he knew Alma, and he had known him for thirty years.
Alma left the Order of the Lion more than thirty years ago, and in the following years became the Knight Commander of the Horn Call Rangers. Ralph was just a young ranger at that time.
Moreover, Alma could have become the grand commander of the Horn Summoning Rangers. At that time, Alma was the lord of Changhe Town and had a high reputation in Changhe Town.
But after a tragedy occurred in Lion Lake City, the original lord of Lion Lake City, Elfwan, was relegated for failing to protect the king and the nobles, and lost the Lion Lake City territory.
Alma saved the Mad King and was named Lord of Lion Lake City.
But later, Alma killed some scum in his family. Parricide is a serious crime, so he lost his family's territory in Changhe Town. Coincidentally, Duke Elfwan, who lost Lion Lake City, took over Changhe Town.
The two dukes exchanged territories. This result was certainly not a coincidence, but the result of mutual support between these two close friends.
However, this result meant that Alma did not become the Grand Master of the Horn Summoning Rangers.
After all, the purpose of the Ranger Group is to defend their homeland, and allowing a lord outside the jurisdiction of Changhe Town to serve as the group leader is not in line with the tradition and charter of the Ranger Group.
Moreover, after Alma was conferred to Lion Lake City, he took charge of the Lion Lake City Flag Guard, which made it impossible for him to serve in the Horn Summoning Knights.
The Lion Lake City Flag Guard was actually formed by Duke Elfwan, and now this unit is the Lion Lake City heavy cavalry that Fothert led at the beginning.
In fact, the establishment of the Lion Lake City Flag Guard was also due to the tragedy caused by Leonardo in Lion Lake City - too many noble lords were killed, causing Lion Lake City to be extremely empty for a time.
Moreover, Elf Wanben lost the Lion Lake City territory because of his poor defense and failure to resist the Lion Knights led by Leonardo.
Although he had been transferred to Changhe Town, Lion Lake City was Elfwan's hometown after all. So before he left, he armed the wealthy citizens with industries in Lion Lake City and formed a heavy cavalry unit between civilians and nobles.
The newly formed Lion Lake City Flag Guard is actually similar in nature to the Horn Summoning Rangers, and was originally a civilian force whose purpose was to protect the homeland.
In order to enable Alma to quickly acquire the ability to protect Lion Lake City, Elfwan handed over the Lion Lake City Flag Guard to Alma.
Of course, it was also to allow him to continue to maintain his influence in Lion Lake City. During the years when Elfwan was in good health, the Lion Lake City heavy cavalry often helped Elfwan fight.
And Count Oden became the Grand Master of the Horn of Summoning Rangers.
Alma and Elfwan had indeed always been close friends who worked with each other, and Elfwan had been providing opportunities for Alma until his death.
But Count Oden and Ralph gradually became Alma's enemies during these thirty years. In addition to conflicts of interest, there were also conflicts in ideas and behavior patterns.
For example, Alma's current behavior is something that Oden and Ralph would never do...
"Ralph, old man, I know you don't like me now. But that's all right, as long as you still like your only son."
Alma raised her head and looked at Ralph: "I just need your help..."
"My Lord Duke, your behavior will only make me look down on you..."
Ralph shook his head, his eyes full of contempt.
"It doesn't matter... I never cared what others think of me. Ralph, I want to become the Grand Master of the Horn of Call Rangers, and I need your support. You also know that my patience is limited. For the sake of your son, tell the young people in the Rangers that I should be their leader."
Alma shook her head, her face expressionless.
"Killing the leader of the Ranger Group? Ugh!"
Young Raphael struggled constantly and was extremely aggressive. Alma killed twenty rangers in front of him, and his anger can be imagined.
"Shut up kid, I don't want to hurt you..."
Alma turned around and had his men cover Raphael's mouth, then stared into Ralph's eyes: "This is your only son, Ralph. He is brave and determined, and has a bright future. I swear, if you are willing to help me, I will make Raphael the next Grand Master. Of course, you don't have to agree, as long as you are willing to leave him forever... I'll give you five minutes to think about it."
Of course Ralph couldn't give up his only son...
No matter how determined a tough guy is, there will always be a soft spot.
With Ralph's cooperation, all members of the Horn Summoning Rangers gathered in Fletcher Village.
It only took Alma two days to nominally become the Grand Master of the Horn Summoning Rangers, and he led the Horn Summoning Rangers westward.
He claimed that he would lead the Ranger Group to 'suppress the bandits'.
The large group of Rangers actually just happened to pass by Godric and his men who had broken through the siege and were returning to BraveShield Castle. At their closest point, they were only twenty miles apart.
This was the route Alma deliberately guided, and the Horn Summoning Rangers did not approach the hill where Godric was besieged.
There were indeed a large number of "bandits" to the west of Fletcher Village, and the members of the Horn Call Rangers who were unaware of the truth had indeed seen many members of the Red Brotherhood with their own eyes, so they had no doubt about the purpose of the Duke of Alma.
So, just three days later, Alma brought the horn to summon all the rangers to "hunt down" a large group of bandits and came to the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City, near Payne Village.
But after arriving here, they lost track of the Red Brotherhood members...
Alma had sent Kaedren on a detour with the rogue knights and bandits of the Red Brotherhood to Braveshield Castle.
Of course, he would not allow those bandits from the Red Brotherhood to enter any village under the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City...
If these unruly and difficult-to-control hooligans appeared in Lion Lake City, it would arouse dissatisfaction among the nobles of Lion Lake City, especially those of his Horton family.
Half a year ago, many villages were ravaged by Forcher and the Red Brotherhood...
Everyone in the family knows that Alma is connected to the Red Brotherhood. If members of the Brotherhood appear in large numbers in the Lion Lake City area, the Horton family will abandon Alma.
In fact, it was difficult for the members of the Red Brotherhood to unite. There was a Red Brotherhood in every city in the continent of Pendor, but they had no common leader, no clear hierarchy, and no proper army.
This is a huge underworld organization that makes money through assassinations, protection rackets, drug trafficking, trafficking in stolen goods, and slavery. It is probably the largest organization on the entire continent, but it is very loose and difficult to manage.
Many seemingly ordinary civilians, businessmen and even nobles are also members of the Red Brotherhood, but they all belong to different gangs. The gangs in each city have been fighting each other for territory, and it is difficult to unite.
However, the Duke of Alma spent a large sum of money to bribe a number of rogue knights, and asked these noble rogues to recruit people from various cities to form such a large army, and let Baron Keldren coordinate and manage it.
The price Alma offered to persuade Kaedren to fully support him was to give these rogue knights to Kaedren to become his private soldiers.
Members of the Red Brotherhood have been keeping track of Raphael's movements. Raphael was able to find traces of bandits near the hill. Of course, Alma deliberately sent people to lure them. His main purpose was to catch Raphael.
Using Kedron, who was familiar with the terrain, to capture Raphael and trap Godric and Charles, Fletcher and Ralph's border camp became empty and prevent Godric and Charles from ruining his plans.
Alma then used Raphael to force Ralph to cooperate and become the Grand Master of the Horn Summoning Rangers. He once again used members of the Red Brotherhood to induce the Rangers to go out on a large scale to suppress bandits. All members left the eastern region and were unable to assist BraveShield Fort - BraveShield Fort temporarily became an isolated city.
And Kaedren's mission now is to lead the members of the Red Brotherhood back to the eastern border, completely occupy Ralph's camp and Fletcher Village, and then besiege Fort Brave Shield.
——This is the same tactic that Alma used to occupy Changhe Town, but this time he has more goals to achieve.
Use the bandits of the Red Brotherhood to capture BraveShield Fort, and then lead the Horn Summoning Rangers to "recover lost territory", thus gaining a good reputation while being both a leader and an advisor.
If Duke Alma obtains Brave Shield Castle and controls the dangerous areas on the border, he can use the safety of Changhe Town as a bargaining chip to completely force the Horn Summoning Rangers to obey his orders.
He originally asked Forcher to send people to build a camp and repair a bridge by the river in order to coerce the Rangers.
Almako has never forgotten his family's original territory, Changhe Town... This plan has consumed all his savings. He wants to achieve his goal in one fell swoop and make full use of all the Red Brotherhood members who are about to be sent to Kaidren.
Moreover, he brought the Horn to summon the Rangers to the village of Payne near Lion Lake City, which was killing two birds with one stone.
Alma went straight to the First Flag Guard of Lion Lake City.
This was a force of heavy cavalry numbering more than two hundred men, who were now gathering at Penn, for they had discovered a large number of armed troops approaching from the east.
Due to the large number of invading troops, out of caution, the flag-bearing officer of the First Flag Guard of Lion Lake City, Granlong, did not act rashly, but arranged defenses in Payne Village.
But Granlong never imagined that these people were actually the Horn Summoning Rangers, and that they were led by his old lord, Duke Alma.
Duke Alma, who was with all the rangers, took only a few minutes to get Granlong to stand behind him again.
The total strength of the Horn Summoning Rangers is over nine hundred, and they are all elite.
The large and powerful Ranger Group certainly has a huge deterrent effect. Granlong doesn't know that the Ranger Group was just fooled...
You must know that the Horn Summoning Rangers were only protecting the security of the eastern region before. They almost never left the eastern region, let alone entered the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City.
In Granlong's opinion, there was only one possibility for the Rangers to be able to leave the East and appear in large numbers in Payne Village near Lion Lake City - he thought that the Rangers were under Alma's full control and had become his private army!
In this case, of course, Granlon must give in...
Moreover, in addition to the deterrent power of the Ranger Group, there was also a sentence that worked - "Gronlon, take the Flag Guard and follow me. I know that the families of the Flag Guard members are under the supervision of Fothert. Let's go and change all this."
The families of this troop had always been controlled by Fotherg, but the young nobleman probably didn't expect that his father would do the opposite and easily instigate a rebellion against this elite troop.
After all, Alma is the lord of Lion Lake City, and it is only natural that Granlong, the flag bearer of the First Flag Guard, should return to his old master.
In the following half day, Granlong brought Alma into Lion Lake City unnoticed and privately visited the commanders of various troops in the city.
Two knight commanders and a dozen knights were killed one by one by Alma and Granlong, and most of the troops in Lion Lake City quietly returned to Alma's hands overnight.
Just as Alma said, as long as he appeared in Lion Lake City, no one dared to attack him.
That same night, Fawcett became Alma's prisoner.
This was also done by the heavy cavalry of the Lion Lake City Flag Guard. They tied up Fothert while he was sleeping and brought him in front of the Duke of Alma.
From the moment Alma began planning to capture Raphael, within just a few days, Lion Lake City was back in the hands of the elderly Duke.
Fawcett finally surrendered to his father and confessed everything, including what happened with his sister, under the whip and salt water.
Alma drove him out of the house and exiled Fothergill to Ravenstern along with his sister.
Afterwards, Baron Kaedren's 'scouts' brought news that 'the Jatu people and bandits joined forces to attack Brave Shield Castle'.
Alma immediately led most of the Lion Lake City army, along with the Horn Summoning Rangers, and marched towards Brave Shield Castle.
Like a loyal minister who actively guards the border for his country.
…
Brave Shield Castle, Lord's Hall.
After successfully breaking through and meeting up with Leofric, Godric, Charles and others entered BraveShield Castle to rest.
There were too many wounded in the team, and Riva was dying. Only Yongdun Castle had a military doctor to treat her injuries.
When they passed Fletcher Village, they received a report from Ralph's craftsmen that the Duke of Alma had become the Grand Master of the Horn Summoning Rangers and was leading the Rangers to the west to "suppress bandits."
Godric could naturally realize that the thousands of Red Brotherhood members must have been created by Duke Alma, because this reminded him of the time when Alma led his army to "suppress bandits" and control Changhe Town.
But this time, Changhe Town is under surveillance by knights sent by the king, and Duke Brunus's son Malbert is also there. Alma should not have any ideas about attacking Changhe Town.
Plus, those Red Brotherhood members appeared on the northern border—then, Alma might want to deal with Brave Shield!
So he ordered all the troops to enter Yongdun Castle to prepare for battle, and sent people to Changhe Town to summon troops to come for support.
"Lord Godric, how did Duke Alma become the leader of the Horn Rangers? Ralph wouldn't support him, would he?"
Leofric still didn't quite understand.
Godric certainly didn't know the reason. He thought about it for a long time and finally came to a conclusion: "No matter what method Alma used, I at least believe that the Rangers will not attack us... As long as we can defeat those hooligans, his plan will not succeed. For the time being, we will only face those members of the Red Brotherhood."
"No, maybe there are Jatu people..."
At this moment, Riva suddenly opened her eyes from her coma and said something with a pale face.
Her injuries were very serious. Although she had been bandaged, the bleeding from the two fatal wounds on her chest and abdomen had not stopped. She was currently being looked after by Charles.
"Riva...you'd better stop talking and get some rest!"
"No, Charles, let me see Fort Brave Shield... Ha, so this is what this place looks like..."
Riva held Charles' arm tightly, let Charles help her sit up, and leaned on Charles to look around.
"Jato people..." Leofric muttered.
"I have made deals with the Jatu people... I know that the one who has the most contact with the Jatu people is the Duke of Alma. He can even hire the Jatu people to work for him. The Red Brotherhood is not capable of attacking Brave Shield, but the Jatu people..."
Riva's voice became lower and lower, and her face became paler. Sitting up all of a sudden probably consumed all her remaining strength.
Everyone looked at Riva.
"She's right. We are going to face a tough battle..."
Godric nodded in agreement, "Miss Riva, you...Miss Riva?"
Riva suddenly stopped moving.
"Riva...Riva, don't sleep, don't sleep! Riva..."
Charles felt a sudden pain in his heart and tears welled up in his eyes. He supported the limp Riva and shouted helplessly.
He had realized that the fact that Riva was able to sit up just now might be a last gasp of energy...
"Don't make a noise... Charles, tell Lord Leon that I can't repay his favor. But at least, I'm back home..."
Riva's voice gradually became as low as a mosquito, and after the last murmur, her head drooped.
Until the last moment, she kept her eyes open, greedily looking at everything in the lord's hall.
This was the castle her father had built, but this was her first time entering the lord's hall.
It’s also the last time.
She once denied that this was her home.
But she finally went home.
In a noble manner.
…
Sarleon.
After being imprisoned in the secret room for two and a half days, Leon finally met King Ulric.
The king's face was so pale that he didn't look like a living person. This look reminded Leon of the spy from the Bacchus Empire.
However, even after seeing the king, the lord still lay in bed without moving.
"Leon, the Bacchus Empire is attacking White Deer Castle. You have to find a way to repel the enemy..."
Ulrich didn't care about Leon's rude behavior. He gave Leon instructions confidently in the first sentence, as if nothing had happened.
"Your Majesty, I am imprisoned here now. How can I repel the enemy? Rely on my mind?"
The lord turned over in his bed, lying on his side facing the king, probably as a sign of respect.
"This is Igor's fault... Well, go back to your territory, I will give you some compensation."
Ulrich originally planned to put the blame on Igor, but seeing Leon's expression, he changed his mind and directly offered compensation.
"What kind of compensation, Your Majesty?"
Upon hearing this, the lord stood up from the bed and his attitude became unusually correct.
"I know your business is doing well, and I need a lot of money now... You find a way to help me raise 100,000 dinars, and I will grant your flag tax exemption within my jurisdiction - this is a privilege that only royal industries can get. Is this compensation enough?"
Ulrich's voice was low and his breath was weak, and it was obvious that he was in poor physical condition, but he kept his head held high.
"…Your Majesty, this is a transaction, not compensation…"
Leon shook his head, gaining a new understanding of Ulrich's shamelessness.
But Leon also knew that what Ulrich proposed was indeed a win-win approach.