Knight: Becoming King of the World

Henry sighed at this. Decades had passed since the Empire’s last war of expansion, and the population had since recovered. He wondered how many would die this time.

He had heard that in the last war of expansion, over six hundred thousand serfs had died and thousands of farming villages had been completely wiped out. The exact death toll for the royal imperial Legions and the nobles’ Private Armies was unknown.

The Empire’s current advantages were its abundance of cannon fodder, superior forging technology, and higher crop yields.

’The King must have launched the great inspection because the losses this time have been a bit heavy,’ Henry thought. ’He needs to recoup some of his strength.’

"By the way, Henry, you mentioned in your letter that your castle isn’t in great shape? What’s wrong with it?"

Henry listed the castle’s flaws one by one. Fass laughed and said, "That’s not so bad. Putting up a stone frame in over four months with more than two thousand craftsmen and laborers is quite good. If they’d taken their time, eight months might have been better."

Henry raised an eyebrow and asked Fass, "Are you suggesting I should live in a wooden hut for the winter?"

Fass thought about it for a moment, then laughed. "Forget I said anything."

Henry wasn’t like them. Even if their fiefs were destroyed, they had the original infrastructure to rebuild quickly; all it took was money. Henry’s fief had originally been just a small village, and it had been razed to the ground during the Half-Beastman raids.

"Bain is probably going to be bored this time. There’s no one to compete with him to see who can eat faster."

"That might be for the best. Bain has no resistance when it comes to food. He starved for over a decade as a child, so whenever he sees a good meal, all the etiquette he’s learned goes right out the window."

"Hahaha, but he’s a qualified Attendant, after all. He’s not a Knight."

The two chatted as they walked, wandering aimlessly through the army encampment.

"By the way, do you remember Knight Laine?"

"Vaguely. I think we first met at Count John’s Earl’s Mansion. That was when all our fiefs had been pillaged by the Half-Beastmen."

Fass took a deep breath and said, "That’s right, he’s dead. And not just him—Baron Hene Lalu is dead, too. They died in the Battle of Tuye."

The two shared a moment of sorrow. After all, someone they had spoken to before was gone in the blink of an eye.

Henry lifted his head, gesturing toward the nobles’ camp. "The nobles seem pretty subdued this time."

He didn’t know if it was because of the snow or some other reason, but Henry felt the atmosphere was somewhat oppressive this time.

Fass nodded. Two months had passed, and while more nobles were participating in this grand assembly, that arrogant "guaranteed victory" attitude had dissipated significantly.

"The production efficiency of the royal armory in Makabe has been terrifying lately. They’ve forged over ten thousand weapons and a thousand sets of Legion infantry armor in a single month."

"And didn’t the ordnance department in Chai Kan produce two hundred thousand arrows? That’s enough for two major battles. The technology from the overseas kingdoms is terrifying. How strong do you think they are?"

As they talked, their conversation drifted to armaments, and before they knew it, they were discussing the various technologies controlled by the royal family.

Henry subconsciously licked his lips, then quickly wiped them with his hand. ’Can’t let them get chapped in this cold winter weather.’

"The overseas technology is truly incredible. Their construction speed is frighteningly fast, and who knows how they came up with all those bizarre contraptions. How powerful must they be? To think they’d dare to sell us high-yield crops like potatoes and pearl rice."

"It’s just tough on the weaponsmiths in the small workshops. Who would have believed that one day on our grasslands, weapons and armor would become cheaper than warhorses?"

Henry nodded in agreement. It was indeed a strange turn of events.

HOOO... HOOO...

Just as the two were chatting idly, a series of horn blasts echoed from the city walls. They exchanged a look and immediately rushed over.

It was the call for an emergency meeting, sounded only for exceptionally important military intelligence.

A buzz went through the vast encampment of the nobles’ Private Armies. The nobles, wrapped in fur coats or cloaks, began to gather at the city gate.

A few Armored Cavalry arrived to lead the way, escorting the large number of nobles into the city for the meeting.

Hundreds of nobles entered the council hall of Autongard’s municipal building. The room was packed to the gills with chairs, almost to the bursting point, and the large number of military officers already waiting inside had no choice but to stand.

Henry and Fass were among the first to enter the council hall and took seats right at the front. If anyone asked why, the reason was simple: they were the stars of the Battle of Zhiluo. They could sit wherever they pleased.

"Esteemed Legion Commanders, Henry Bro offers you his sincerest greetings."

The two generals seated on the dais were none other than the Legion Commanders of the Eighth and Ninth Legions, who had been sent as reinforcements.

Legion Commander of the Eighth Legion, Soslan Campbell, an Honorary Count who had risen from the ranks of commoner officers.

Legion Commander of the Ninth Legion, Mirene Wilson, also an Honorary Count who had risen from the ranks of commoner officers.

These two were legendary figures at the Royal Capital Knight Academy, even appearing in textbooks. They had once driven the tall and ferocious Two-headed Ogres into a full retreat across the snowy plains of the Northern Territory. These two were the real deal—true heavyweights.

Soslan grinned, letting out a hearty laugh. In a thick Badan Mountain Range accent, he said, "I know you. You’re a valiant one. Knight, I am honored by your presence."

"The honor is mine, Count Soslan. I learned of your and Legion Commander Wilson’s deeds at the Academy. I have the utmost admiration for your achievements."

Mirene didn’t speak, only nodding at Henry. Henry didn’t mind. Mirene had damaged his throat from shouting too many commands during a past war and tried to speak as little as possible.

Even the King would provide him with a soothing drink for his throat when granting him an audience.

Soslan stood up. After waiting for everyone to be seated, he began, "A message has arrived from Tiyaer. Countess Ratifa has not found any trace of the Centaurs that attacked the Third Legion."

"However, Marquis Alberti of the Eleventh Legion sent a message by raven, stating that a large force of Half-Beastmen is gathering with the intent to encircle the Seventh and Eleventh Legions." 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

"They need us to reach the Tianyin Plains quickly and fight a decisive battle against the Half-Beastmen there!"

Those few short sentences contained a massive amount of information.

An elite unit of several thousand Centaur Heavy Armor Soldiers had vanished without a trace. The Seventh and Eleventh Legions, veterans of two major battles, were now facing encirclement, which meant their supply lines had almost certainly been cut.

Soslan raised his arm, his voice booming with anger, "The Seventh Legion is down to just six thousand men, and the Eleventh Legion has only seventy-three hundred! They still have twenty thousand serfs and eight thousand Auxiliary Soldiers, but that’s not enough to fight their way out!"

"We must! Move out! Immediately! If we lose two more Legions as complete units, our days will be numbered."

The nobles all nodded. Deaths were not frightening. A high death toll was not frightening. But losing entire units was terrifying.

The loss of so many veterans would drastically slow down the training speed of new legions in the future.

"As long as we arrive quickly, this will turn from a siege into a counter-encirclement!"

"Nobles! For the Empire! For the King! For your fiefs and the heads of the Half-Beastmen! To war!"

"To war!"