"When we arrived, the manor was under siege. The knight told me to report back, and I don't know what happened after that..." The herdsman shook his head like a rattle drum. He clearly knew nothing about the battle that followed.
"May the old man bless them! I hope they're safe!" Count Laimon made the sign of the cross over his chest. He was genuinely afraid of the ferocious Orcs, but this also showed that the nobleman was not entirely rotten. Regardless of his competence, a noble willing to fight and brave enough to fight was worthy of his people's support. Compared to those useless parasites, he was already qualified.
"..." Grand Duke Ocrean Yaso and Okrian-Lujin exchanged looks and subtly shook their heads. They had little hope for this remote territory. That was assuming there was one knight leading a few dozen militia. If they knew it was one knight leading only several Armed Herdsmen, they would probably have declared the area doomed outright.
"Does that baron have only a few dozen soldiers?" Grand Duke Ocrean Yaso still held onto a shred of hope. In his understanding, border nobles were martial and warlike. A Border Baron might appear insignificant, but he was actually a De Facto Noble capable of raising a terrifying army. His war potential was generally no less than that of an inland De Facto Count.
"Uh, if you mean regular full-time soldiers, our baron probably has thirty or forty. If you mean militia, then the villages and herdsmen can gather several hundred!" Seeing Grand Duke Ocrean Yaso in his magnificent armor, the herdsman instinctively shrank back, seeming to become several inches shorter.
"Haha!" Grand Duke Ocrean Yaso appeared to laugh, but he was actually at a complete loss. If you were going to call old farmers