The leading Ebony Gauntlet Knight didn't know how to answer for a moment, so he could only salute first.
"Ah, Lord Leon! Nice to see you again..."
Seeing Leon, an Ebony Gauntlet Knight suddenly left the team and came over to say hello with a smile on his face.
"It's you... I'm not too happy to see you in this situation... Tell me, what's going on here? Why is it that every time I run into you, you're beating up my men? Why do I feel like you look down on me?"
Seeing the knight's smiling face, Leon remembered that this was the ebony gauntlet knight who had besieged Lisadilan in the Changhe Forest before.
But Li Ang still didn't give him a good look. The lord was not here to resolve disputes.
"I'm Dumbledore, Lord Leon. We're going to the Long River Forest this time. Everything here is a misunderstanding... You know, our life is to crack the skulls of the Noldor with a mace. We don't want to conflict with the people of your territory. This is really just a small misunderstanding."
The knight didn't mind Leon's attitude. He obviously saw John next to the lord and wanted to calm things down.
But the lord was not prepared to accept his kindness.
"Dumbledore, attacking my subordinates in my territory, can this be called a misunderstanding? Who were the people who just beat people in my territory? Stand out so I can see."
No one stands up, and no one is a fool.
But the merchants nearby had already started pointing and talking: "Sir, this, this, and this, they attacked Mr. John, and this, he just pushed me..."
The Lord nodded and said, "Alright, everyone else, get out of here. According to the law of Maixiang Territory, those of you who fought each other are considered to be disturbing public order and provoking trouble. You are under arrest!"
The Ebony Gauntlet Knights looked at each other in bewilderment. "Provoking trouble? Is there still such a crime?"
There really is no such security clause these days, and fighting is normal...
"Sir, they just tried to take these carriages!"
A coachman saw that the lord was obviously taking sides and quickly began to accuse him.
"Oh? You're robbing Mai Xiangling in broad daylight? You're really brave! It looks like you're planning a rebellion! Arrest them all!"
The lord had a hideous smile on his face, looking like a complete villain, and waved his hand to signal his men to arrest the man.
This was not a matter of arresting three or five people. Hundreds of soldiers separated the crowd, weapons drawn, and watched intently.
Naturally, the Ebony Gauntlet Knights all drew their weapons as well.
At this time, John behind Leon raised the golden griffin flag in his hand.
"Disobeying the control order, looting the nobles' territory, and trying to attack the governor of the border county of the kingdom! And this was when I was transporting prisoners of war from the Bacchus Empire..."
Li Ang began to read out the charges aloud.
To be honest, it's not that they are being wronged, it's just that everything is exaggerated a few levels...
"No! Lord Leon! We will withdraw from your territory immediately... We promise not to set foot in Maixiang Territory!"
But before the lord could finish reading out the charges, Dumbledore stopped him by waving his hands.
At the same time, he also pulled several Ebony Gauntlet Knights to apologize to Leon and John, and even took out a large amount of dinars as compensation.
That was several hundred dinars, and they gave it out without blinking an eye. The Knights of the Ebony Gauntlet were indeed rich.
This Dumbledore seemed to be a very smart guy. Seeing that the lord was obviously making a accusation, he knew that he could not have a bigger conflict with Leon at this time, so he quickly gave in.
Dumbledore was a noble of Cliff Bay. He knew that not everyone could use the flag with the golden emblem. It meant that Leon was now a rebel, and it meant the trust of King Ulric - Alfred, the Duke of Sarleon of the Kingdom of Pendor, was a rebel in the past.
In other words, Leon could directly attack this "rebel army" on the grounds that the "Ebony Gauntlet Knights intended to rebel" without having to report to or ask for instructions from anyone.
As for the evidence proving their rebellion - judging from Leon's current behavior, if the Ebony Gauntlet Knights don't leave, the evidence may be fabricated at any time...
After all, the Ebony Gauntlet Knights were not well received. Apart from the nobles of Cliff Bay, no one would speak up for them. Then again, those nobles and the king be happy to see them become an illegal knight order...
In fact, the entire Ebony Gauntlet Knights has a total of 600 members, including more than 100 knights and 500 followers. They are all well-equipped heavy crossbowmen and hammermen, and their combat effectiveness is quite strong.
Even if we only count those currently on site, there are nearly four hundred people.
If a fight really breaks out, Li Ang and his men will probably not be their match.
But they didn't want to become rebels, but they couldn't say openly that this mission was the king's order, so they wisely did not create greater conflicts with Leon.
If they attack Li Ang, they would definitely be rebels.
Who wants to become an illegal knight group?
Judging from what Leon meant, it seemed that he wanted the Ebony Gauntlet Knights to attack him?
Considering Leon's golden emblem...
So Dumbledore made a prompt decision to withdraw from McShane County immediately to prevent the situation from escalating further.
But the lord still stopped them.
"Dumbledore, I'm not trying to embarrass you. Ayrshire just fought a great battle with the Bacchus Empire two days ago. I captured more than a thousand people, including a governor. You should understand the importance of this matter, right?"
Leon looked at Dumbledore sinisterly.
"Understand, Lord Leon, we really shouldn't step into your territory at this time. It's understandable that there are some misunderstandings. We will leave immediately."
Dumbledore nodded frequently with a very good attitude.
"It's not enough to just leave the McShane County, Dumbledore... For the sake of the prisoners and the safety of the entire Ayrshire, I must personally see that you stay away from Ayrshire. I don't care why you come here, but you can't set foot in Ayrshire, otherwise I will regard you as rebels!"
The Lord shook his head and pointed in the direction of : "I am referring to the entire Ayrshire."
"Lord Leon, but we need to at least rest in the village, right? We can choose not to enter Maixiangling and Bailubao, but we can't not even have a place to stay..."
Dumbledore frowned.
"You have been in the market for so long, you should have purchased all the materials you need, right? I can take you to a suitable place. That is the camp built by the Bucks Empire in order to attack White Hart Castle. It is large enough to station thousands of people. Dumbledore, take your people and these mercenaries who come from who knows which country, follow my men and go there now. I will keep an eye on you from behind..."
So, the Ebony Gauntlet Knights followed Leon's cavalry with an unpleasant look on their faces and went to the large camp two hundred miles south of White Deer Castle.
We walked for a day and a half, and the lord was indeed watching from behind.
It felt like a small force of more than a hundred people was escorting a large army of more than three thousand people...
Those mercenary groups actually don't care. Most of them come from other countries. The nature of the mercenary groups' work determines that they have to obey the requirements of local lords in every place. As long as the requirements are reasonable, they will not conflict with the local lords.
But being stationed in the wild was not comfortable. Although the mercenaries could understand that military control would definitely be implemented during the war between the two countries, it was still inevitable that they would make noises and complain along the way.
Although the people of the Ebony Gauntlet Knights felt very embarrassed, completing the king's mission was more important, so they didn't care so much and even made less noise.
The Ebony Gauntlet Knights is a knightly order after all, and the overall quality of its members is much higher than that of pure mercenaries.
So many armed men were moving in a mighty manner on the edge of the Noldor Forest, and they also moved into the camp with great fanfare. Anyone with eyes could see it.
Especially since the mercenaries' military discipline was not very good to begin with, they were noisy all the way...
Of course Noldor could see it too.
When the lord first discovered the camp, he felt that the location would easily attract the attention of the Noldor elves.
Amy, who had lived in White Hart Castle for a long time, was more familiar with the Noldor elves. In Amy's opinion, the two thousand civilians cut down trees and built the camp, but they were not attacked by the Noldor elves. It was probably because those Bacchus were lucky...
And Lisadiran also told Leon that he had met the Noldor behind the White Hart Fort - this means that the Noldor are actually very concerned about the White Hart Fort.
Probably, the elves would keep an eye on any war that took place near the Forest of Noldor, but they would not get involved in human struggles.
This is a very normal way of thinking - if your neighbor is fighting with another group of people, you will definitely pay attention and probably watch the whole process, but you probably won't participate...
But if they stop fighting, and a lot of little hooligans come and squat downstairs of your house, and not only that, you also find out that one of the hooligans has a grudge against you - then you will definitely have to get involved in this situation, and you would probably rather skip work and classes to get rid of these little hooligans first.
At this time, if the neighbors came forward to drive away the hooligans and called the police directly, showing a hostile attitude towards them...
Even if the hooligans who have been driven out by your neighbors are still in the stairwell on your floor, at least you know that these hooligans have nothing to do with your neighbors, and you will share the same hatred with your neighbors.
So the Lord wanted to create a conflict, and then use the conflict to drive out the more than 3,000 mercenaries, and make them squat in the "stairwell" built by Governor Levius...
Moreover, after the lord completed this task, he closed White Hart Castle.
After returning to Bailubao, the first order Leon issued was to close the city gates. Except for the side doors that allowed civilians to enter and exit, any strangers would be strictly checked, and those carrying weapons would be expelled on the spot.
Amy also sent a large number of soldiers to announce the decree in various rural knight territories, placing the entire county under control and not allowing any armed personnel to enter even an inch of land in the county.
If a knight's territory is found to provide supplies and accommodation to foreign armed personnel, it will be regarded as "suspected of treason."
At the same time, Roland was asked to expel all the outsiders around White Deer Castle again.
This is the first time that such strict control has appeared in Bailubao.
At this time, the attitude was very clear - White Deer Castle did not support these mercenaries. Not only did it not provide supplies, it even refused to allow them to enter the country.
In this way, the Noldor elves probably won't cause trouble for White Hart Keep.
After all, the Noldor were keeping an eye on White Hart Keep, so they would definitely know that White Hart Keep didn't even let the mercenaries in.
The Noldor saw it, too.
In fact, as early as when Levius asked the "Second Imperial Legion" to build a camp, the Noldor had been paying attention to the whole process.
If it weren't for the fact that Islandil didn't allow his subordinates to attack civilians, the two thousand civilians would have been dead long ago...
But more than 3,000 armed men, plus the Knights of the Ebony Gauntlet who have a blood feud with the Noldor, this is completely different. Islandil had also issued an order - as long as anyone enters that camp, kill them!
The current attitude of White Hart Castle clearly does not support the actions of those mercenaries, and Islandil can certainly understand that.
He was probably the most understanding of the Noldor.
Because he knew that the Lord of White Hart Castle had once expressed his trust in the Noldor Elf Lisadiran...
More than half a year ago, White Hart Castle was besieged by a large army. When it was about to be captured, Lisadilan blew the horn in the forest and bought time for White Hart Castle - this was what the Twilight Knight mentioned to Islandir.
Islandil is also the great lord who commands the army. In his opinion, only the most trustworthy subordinates will be sent to carry out the most important and dangerous tasks.
Since the Lord of White Hart Castle trusted a Noldor Elf, it is easy to understand why White Hart Castle expelled the mercenary group.
In the forest near the camp, Islandil was listening to the report from his men.
"Judging from the reaction of White Hart Castle, these mercenaries are not attacking us as a whole human race, but are just private actions... Where is Aldarian now? Didn't he claim to be going to deal with the Ebony Gauntlet Knights? How come this Knights are still here intact?"
"Your Highness, Lord Ardarian seems to have chased dozens of Ebony Hammermen all the way north... As you know, he will never let any human go..."
The one who answered was a Twilight Knight, and his tone seemed to be somewhat mocking towards Aldarian.
"It's hard to imagine that a powerful warrior favored by God has not made any progress in three hundred years. His mind is still so simple and crude... He was actually led away by a small army like this?"
Islandil shook his head and it seemed that he didn't like Aldarian very much either.
"Your Highness, when do we attack?"
This Twilight Knight seemed to be quite smart. He changed the subject - after all, Aldarian was a great lord. His Highness could comment on him, but he could not agree with him.
"Is His Majesty Kailer von Ir still unwilling to let his people fight?"
Islandil looked at the camp, then at his subordinates who were looming in the forest, and seemed a little hesitant.
"His Majesty has been doing this for hundreds of years, but as always, he has agreed to let you gather the warriors of the Finarfin family on your own, as long as they are willing..."
Twilight Knight shook his head.
"Come on, I can't command the artists of the Finarfin family... Never mind, let's just leave it at that... Pass the order! Launch the attack at the crescent moon!"
After saying this, Islandil turned around and walked deeper into the forest. Just then, another Twilight Knight came running towards him from the forest.
"Your Highness, I received a message from Lisa Dilan! He sent it on his own initiative!"
The Twilight Knight held a silver Noldor arrow in his hand.
There was a letter tied to the arrow.
…
There was a little quarrel at night in the camp at the edge of the forest.
"Dumbledore, I can understand why you don't want to clash with Baron Leon. In fact, I think what you did is right. But why don't we attack immediately? White Hart Castle won't let us enter, and we don't have many supplies. We can't waste time here!"
A man who looked like a mercenary leader was questioning Dumbledore, the Ebony Gauntlet Knight.
"My friend, you should understand why I became the knight commander of this operation... I spend half of every year in this forest fighting those pointy-eared people. I know those pointy-eared people! I don't want to fight them at night! Besides, our people haven't arrived yet, and the big mercenary groups such as the Griffin Sword are not in place yet."
Dumbledore shook his head, trying to remain calm.
"I think our current military strength is fully capable of completing the king's mission. We are not here to exterminate the pointy-eared race..."
The mercenary leader shook his head in opposition, looking a little anxious.
There are hundreds of tents in the camp, and the scale of more than 3,000 people is indeed enough to accomplish a lot of things. It is understandable that he would have such an idea.
"Shut up! I told you not to mention this... This is a private mission issued by Grand Maester Igor. I hope you and your men understand this!"
Dumbledore glared at the mercenary leader fiercely.
"Okay... okay, I won't mention the king... I want to do it but I dare not admit it, huh... Then how long are we going to wait in this damn place? I miss the taverns and brothels in Singal..."
The mercenary leader shook his head slightly, a sneer on his face.
"After hearing the news from the north... do you think our Knights did not take action? We have already sent people to lead away the most terrifying army of the Noldor..."
The mercenary leader shook his head and sighed. The sneer on his face had clearly turned into sarcasm: "You people in the Fierce Lion Realm like to use these tricks too much. I don't think those pointy ears are that difficult to deal with..."
"Enemy attack!!"
Just as he was saying this, a hail of arrows came and the mercenary leader fell down without a word...
A silver Noldor arrow was stuck in his head.
The D'Shar pointed helmet on his head provided no protection at all - it was pierced through by an arrow.
"Take cover, get down! Hold up your shields!"
Dumbledore rolled over and lay on the ground, then crawled forward to a low wooden wall of the camp, tilted the shield at an angle, and slowly raised it upwards.
'Whoosh!'
A Noldor arrow easily pierced his shield even though the shield was tilted at a forty-degree angle .
But Dumbledore judged the distance from the force of the arrow - the Noldor who shot the arrow was only fifty meters away from him at most!
He was too familiar with the Noldor. If they were shooting arrows at this distance, it must be a small Noldor patrol!
If a small patrol of the Noldor encountered a large human force, they would either shoot arrows from hundreds of meters away or hide in the forest. Close-range attacks would only occur when the Noldor were absolutely sure!
And now, there are three thousand people stationed in the camp...
This is the army of the Noldor coming out!