Chapter 192 It Has Nothing to Do with Bloodline
"Your Highness, you seem a little too nervous... If this continues, the army's morale will be weakened. You must make the soldiers understand that it is beneficial to follow you..."
Aldfred felt that this was not a good thing to continue. The morale of the troops was very low and they might collapse as soon as they came into contact with the enemy, so he began to give Alanric advice.
"What... benefits? I don't know... I don't know how to deal with these rude soldiers... What should I do?"
Alanric could hardly speak clearly now, and he really didn't know how to inspire morale and make the soldiers trust him.
But after enjoying the cool breeze for a while, his mind became clear. He also understood that it would be difficult for the soldiers to have the will to fight with his current appearance. However, he really couldn't control his fear. The closer he got to Lion Lake City, the more afraid he became.
"It is said that there is a rebellion in Kwen. Your Highness, there seems to be a man named Dallion who claims to be the royal family of Pendor..."
Baron Leofwan and Aldfred exchanged a glance, then turned back to look at the Kwen Village they had just passed...
Half a day later, Brunus and 1,200 Lion Knights arrived at the north of Kwen Village.
Then he saw unspeakable noise and misery.
In the entire northern area of Kwen Village, almost every house was on fire, children were crying everywhere, many villagers were running around in panic, and one could even see soldiers raping women in public in the fields.
There were corpses of civilians hacked to death everywhere, and countless villagers lying on the roadside crying and bleeding.
It seems that most of the civilians have been harmed, and it looks no different than the Jatu people entering the village...
The only things that were not affected were the nobles' estates in the center of the village.
It wasn't some bandits that caused all this - Kwen Village was a large town with nearly 10,000 people, and ordinary bandits wouldn't have the ability to wreak havoc on a place like this.
The ones who harmed the civilians in northern Kwen were Alanric's troops, including Alanric himself.
Barons Leofurvan and Aldfred were both noble lords with combat experience. In their opinion, it was understandable that Prince Alanric was nervous and confused on his first battlefield, so they planned to teach His Royal Highness some experience on how to adapt to the battlefield atmosphere and relieve stress.
At the same time, it also includes experience in boosting the morale of subordinates.
These experiences come from their previous personal experiences.
This is what their predecessors taught them before they went into battle for the first time - to wreak havoc on a civilian village and allow their subordinates to burn, kill, loot, and rape women.
After doing all this, you will basically no longer be afraid of war, and your subordinates will be happy to follow you. It can indeed boost morale and replenish military supplies.
Yes, most of the nobles in the western part of the Sarleon Kingdom did this, and it seemed to be effective.
At least it will definitely allow the soldiers under his command to fully understand the 'benefits'.
But ordinary nobles would not cause trouble in a big town like Kwen. At most, they would cause trouble in some remote mountain villages.
However, the prince was not an ordinary noble after all - a small noble was a scourge to the small village, so of course a prince had to have a bit of a grand occasion to match his status.
Of course, a town as big as Kwen wouldn't plunder for no reason, so Leofwan mentioned Dallion...
Of course, it is a very convincing reason to suppress rebellion.
Suspecting that someone was harboring rebels, it was a very convincing reason to check every civilian and search every house.
So, when Alanric, at the instigation of Aldfred, personally set fire to a civilian house with a torch, his soldiers immediately became excited...
Every soldier understood what His Royal Highness meant, and they immediately became "high-spirited". While shouting "We will follow His Royal Highness to the death", they rushed towards the civilians' houses with full energy.
Then, a large number of civilians were looted, girls were insulted, houses were burned down, and property was looted...
Alanric was indeed not so scared now, and he seemed to be a little addicted - he was personally assaulting a panicked girl, with two equally interested barons helping him.
It may take a lifetime to learn to be kind, but it only takes half a minute to learn to be evil.
It only takes a simple reason to cross the door of morality and eat up the conscience hidden inside.
The village of Kwen, which had always been peaceful and stable, was destroyed by more than half. The nobles in the manor were unable to fight against this huge army. They could only pray that all this would end quickly.
Half a day later, they saw their 'savior', Duke Brunus, coming with the Lion Knights.
But then they were disappointed - the people of the Lion Knights turned a blind eye to all this, as if the tragedy that was happening did not exist at all.
Brunus himself didn't care about the plight of the civilians at all. He just led his men to find Alanric, who was in high spirits and disheveled.
The prince came out of the house while tying his belt, and was immediately gagged and carried away by several Lion Knights at Brunus's command.
Brennus didn't even bother to pay attention to Aldfred, who was still laughing wildly in the house, or to Leofurvan, who was whipping an innocent child on the other side of the house.
After taking Alanric away, Brennus led the Lion Knights straight through the still messy village, lined up outside the village, and then blew the assembly horn.
The bugle call continued intermittently for a full hour, but the soldiers still had not all gathered.
The troops that Alanric was supposed to lead were originally 3,000 men, but actually only less than 2,600 men came to gather.
The mercenary group that originally seemed to have the worst overall quality was basically all there, with only five or six people missing.
Most of the vacancies came from the Order of the Lion, the Royal Guard, and the levies of Barons Aldfred and Leofurvan.
"It seems that your troops' discipline is not very good..."
Brennus glanced at Aldfred and Leofuran with sarcasm in his eyes.
"Lord Brennus, isn't the army led by His Royal Highness the Prince..."
The two barons asked awkwardly. They were all Brunus' subordinates and could only obey him when they saw him - they all knew that the Duke had a bad temper and they would be whipped if they talked back.
"He is ill... with a stroke. Ignore those who are late, take your troops and set off. Our target is not Eagle Claw Castle, but Lion Lake City."
Brennus casually helped Alanric to get sick, and then signaled the messenger beside him to blow the trumpet.
The marching horn sounded, and the large army left Kwen and began to head north.
…
Charles and Darion are both in the Countess's vineyard, as are many of Kerwen's old nobles.
In fact, all the noble manors had not been looted, and so far, no soldier had entered the noble manors.
But the nobles of Kwen deeply understood what it meant to be like a bandit combing the enemy while soldiers combing the enemy - these soldiers were worse than bandits. Bandits knew not to go too far and it was best not to kill people if possible, but these rebel soldiers had no scruples.
Dallion had long been eager to rush out and fight, but Charles held him tightly.
When Darion was accidentally rescued by the drunkard gang, he met Charles who was about to escape from the Countess's manor.
Then Charles discovered that Darien and several of his men were locked in a prison van with no one paying attention to them. Based on the principle that most people captured by the enemy are friends, Charles released them.
So, after knowing that Charles was a knight under Leon, Dallion became Charles' friend and also mentioned that Eric was building a base for the Griffin Knights.
So Charles also went to see the ruins, but he did not meet Eric, because Eric had already gone to Changhe Town to rescue Godric.
So Charles stayed in Kerwin and waited for news from Eric - Charles was a servant and was very good at observing people's words and expressions. He could see Dallion's temperament and realized that there must be a reason why Leon arranged for Eric to follow Dallion.
Later, when Charles heard that Eric had rescued Godric, he felt relieved and did not leave in a hurry.
The Countess was also happy to let Charles stay in her own estate. She was very kind to Charles now, and Charles, who had lacked maternal love since childhood, was indeed a little reluctant to leave.
As a result, I have stayed here until now.
Charles had been with Count Oden since he was a child and had seen all kinds of nobles. He had heard a lot about these nobles harming the village, so of course he would not act impulsively.
"Charles, don't stop me! If they want to arrest me, I'll just go out! Why would they do this? Those are innocent civilians!"
Dallion was almost gritting his teeth. He knew that the army entered Kwen Village in the name of "tracking down rebellion", but he couldn't understand why the nobles of the Kingdom of Sarleon wanted to harm the civilians of their own country?
Burning houses, looting property, raping women, killing innocent people, what do these things have to do with investigating treason?
"Don't be impulsive... Dallion, you will only die if you go out. It won't help. Don't be impulsive!"
Charles held Darion tightly and prevented him from moving.
Charles didn't know why those nobles wanted to harm the common people, but Earl Oden had never done that. And as far as he knew, Alma, Leofric, Leon, Godric and other nobles in the eastern region had never done that.
It seems that this is a characteristic of western aristocrats?
Charles also didn't understand why such a trend would develop in the West where there were fewer wars...
"Charles, let me go... I know they are here for the bloodline of the Pende royal family! Let me out, I don't want so many innocent civilians to die because of me!"
Dallion felt that this force came in the name of hunting him down, and he was now filled with guilt.
"Royal blood? Humph... Dallion, they are not trying to capture you. No one cares about blood. They just use this as an excuse to rob civilians."
The Countess walked up to Dalion and said, "But if you go out, they will plunder our estate for harboring rebels!"
Darion, who was tightly held by Charles, stopped struggling, became quiet, and seemed a little dazed.
Before this, the nobles of Kwen, including the Countess, never paid attention to Dallion's cause of restoring the country, and would not even have anything to do with him.
But they all knew Dallion.
However, in their eyes, Dallion was just an upright but impulsive child. They didn't want to care about his royal status of Pendor bloodline.
But when Alanric's troops ravaged the village under the pretext of "hunting for treason", they joined forces to control Darion.
This was not to betray Dallion, but to prevent Dallion from taking people out to fight, so as not to bring more trouble to Kwen Village.
These old nobles were very experienced, and they knew very well that these rebel troops were not recruited by Dallion. Alanric just found a random excuse to rob the civilians of Kwen Village.
As long as Dallion doesn't show up, Alanric's troops will not attack the nobles' manors.
But if Dallion impulsively appeared in front of Alanric's troops, then the manors of these nobles would most likely be "thoroughly searched".
So, they took Darion and hid in the Countess's estate.
Now, these nobles were cursing the shameful rebel army, the Lion Knights, Prince Alanric, and King Ulric who had created this disaster.
Perhaps the nobles of Kwen were not very friendly to the common people on normal days, but everyone was extremely indignant at the moment. Kwen, which was originally an excellent place for retirement, had suddenly become devastated and in dire straits. Everyone would be angry.
"Dalion, when you were seeking support before, you seemed to have said that you were the successor of a certain knight order... Are you planning to rebuild the knight order?"
The Countess suddenly brought up this matter at this time, and the nobles present stopped cursing.
Dallion stopped struggling and fell silent.
"Yes, I want to rebuild the Griffin Knights... Madam, I am of the royal bloodline of Pendor... Have you seen this ring?"
Dallion raised his hand and turned the ring face outward to gesture.
"This griffin looks like Baron Leon's banner... Dallion, if you are willing to form a knightly order to protect this village, I will be happy to provide you with money and food support. But this has nothing to do with your royal bloodline - look at what the prince outside did? He is also the royal bloodline of the Kingdom of Sarleon... I just hope that this place can be protected. However, if you just want to seek support from the nobles with your so-called bloodline, then I hope you leave Kwen and never come back, so as not to provide an excuse for these scourges again."
The Countess didn't care much about Dallion's ring and identity. She just didn't want such a thing to happen to Kerwin again.
"Yes, we are willing to support a knight order to protect the village, but please don't mention royal orthodoxy..."
"Yes, just like the Horn Summoning Rangers, they don't participate in power struggles..."
"I heard that Charles' Fletcher Village also formed a longbow team..."
"If you just want to fight for power and become a king, then go try your luck somewhere else, young man..."
The other nobles were silent for a while, and then they all echoed the Countess's opinion. They basically agreed with her.
Dallion stared at the Countess in a daze, then turned to look at Charles. He was a little confused. This was completely different from what he had always accepted and imagined .
"It has nothing to do with blood... It has nothing to do with blood... Charles, you don't care about the orthodoxy of blood either? Why are you loyal to Lord Leon?"
Dallion asked as he looked down at the High King's ring on his hand.
"I don't understand blood... Lord Leon selflessly helped me avenge my father's death, so I pledged my loyalty to him and swore never to betray him."
Charles shook his head slowly. "My father didn't have a noble birth either... and he once said that only those who are willing to protect civilians are true knights, and this has nothing to do with bloodline. That's why he became the Grand Master of the Horn Summoning Rangers."
"A true knight is one who protects civilians... I understand . Madam, everyone, I will form a knight group to protect this village..."
Dallion seemed to understand something.
He looked around at the people in the manor, then turned the ring face back and put on his helmet.
"But before that, I should be a qualified knight. Charles, let's go and clean up those troubles outside... Their main force seems to have left, and those who are still reluctant to leave, we should let them stay here forever."
From far outside the village came the sound of a horn signaling a march. Dallion was very familiar with these military signals.
Charles nodded, took off the two-handed sword on his back, and walked out of the manor side by side with Dallion.
…
Kaedren really didn't expect that the large army of the Kingdom of Sarleon would arrive at the city so soon.
He was somewhat nervous in Lion Lake City, because his legion of rogue knights was not very suitable for defending the city - the people of Lion Lake City would not help them.
Not only will they not help, but they will be hostile to them.
Because after those gangsters entered the city, they either robbed or stole things, causing every household in Shihu City to close their doors and there was not even a dog on the streets in broad daylight.
Although Kaedren had always restrained them from doing anything too violent that would cause public outrage, the citizens of Lion Lake City still disliked them very much. It was just that one brave citizen was about to rise up and raise the flag to start an uprising.
Outside the city was an army of nearly 4,000 people led by Duke Brunus, and basically the entire Lion Knights were here. Kaedren was of course nervous...
He knew that in recent years, this 1,800-man Lion Knights had basically no rivals in field battles on the plains.
When those highly skilled heavy-armored knights of the Lion Knights charged in formation, they were a torrent of steel and lances. So far, no unit in the entire continent had been found that could withstand the charge of the Lion Knights in a field battle.
So he couldn't even run now. If he left the city and walked into the wilderness, he would surely die.
But defending Lion Lake City doesn't seem to have any good results. When Brunus starts to attack the city, the citizens may riot.
The desperate Kaedron couldn't understand, didn't Ulric care about the safety of Sarleon? Why would he send out all his elite troops?
And why didn't he take back Changhe Town first? Why did he come directly to Shihu City?
There is not much time left for Kedren, as Brennus's army has already sounded the clarion call for attack.
In fact, when Kaedron saw the army, he immediately raised the kingdom's Fierce Lion flag and waved the white flag on the top of the city...
He did not openly declare his support for Ursula, and to date, Kedren was still considered a vassal of the kingdom.
But Brunus seemed to have not noticed the flag on the city wall at all, and the Duke did not even send any messenger to inquire.
He directly sent out Aldfred and Leofurvan, using the Lion Knights as the supervisory team, forcing the two barons to lead their conscripted soldiers to start the siege.
