The lord looked at the situation and saw that no one on either side was using a knife or a gun. They seemed to be quite restrained and there was no conflict.
"Who are you?"
Seeing the lord leading hundreds of farmers into the village entrance, the knights came over.
"Your Excellency Baron, you are the lord here, right? We are Owl Knight Order, and I am Ols·von·Clancy. Am I honored to know your name?"
The leading knight was a middle-aged man who looked polite and polite. His equipment was a bit old and he was obviously not very wealthy, but he was well groomed.
Judging from this name, this Ols knight is probably a run-down nobleman, but Li Ang has never heard of the Clancy family.
After he got closer, Li Ang saw that they all had a finger-sized owl emblem on their left shoulders, which looked like the one on the shoulder of the Goddess Eunomia statue.
"I am Li Ang... Everyone Owl Knight, what are you doing here?"
Li Ang once heard about this knighthood from Sarah. They were once a regular knighthood established to respect Valides Charter. However, many years ago, this knighthood was also recognized as an illegal knighthood by the previous generation Lion King.
But I have never heard that Owl Knight Order has any bad reputation. On the contrary, they often help business travelers and villagers.
Of course, help is not provided for free...
Ols gave a knightly salute to the Lord, and looked at the farmers brought over from Wheat Fragrance Territory behind Li Ang.
"Lord Li Ang, we encountered a troop of women in an open wilderness to the west, the number of which was at least twenty times ours. They seemed to be holding some kind of tea party, and they planned to invite us to have a drink... You know, this situation seemed obviously heretical, and my knights believed in Goddess Eunomia, so we left. That troop was only more than a hundred miles away from Trublen, and I originally came here to warn."
Ols smiled awkwardly, "But after I came here, I only saw your flag and troops, but not the villagers or the village chief... I thought something had happened to this village, so I waited here without leaving... Ha, I didn't expect it was because you took the villagers outside."
Think something happened here?
Something happened here before...
But the lord doesn't want to explain now. What he cares more about now is that 'the troops composed entirely of women are at least twenty times the number of Owl Knight Order'.
Plus the small groups of troops seen by the cavalry around Long River Town...
This is obviously Prophet Legion.
Li Ang jumped off the horse and returned the greeting. "Thank you for coming to warn me. Pande Continent It is rare to meet upright knights like you..."
Since the other party means well, let's praise him first. Anyway, you don't have to spend money to say good things, and maybe you can let them deal with the Prophet Legion together.
As a result of this compliment, Ols seemed even more embarrassed. "Lord Li Ang, in fact, we originally planned to ask, as the lord here, if you need help..."
It turns out that Owl Knight Order was not just a warning, but intended to do a business...
Owl Knight Order originally wanted to buy some food in the surrounding areas, but they had no base and had to go to various villages to buy food every harvest season.
They came from Serenmis, but met Prophet Legion on the way, so they planned to stop by Trublen to do business.
This kind of business is very common in Pendor - since there are abnormal troops with unknown movements nearby, they will first alert the village, and then stationed in the village to protect the village, and get a reward for doing so.
This is also an important way for these "illegal knights" who have lost their base to obtain supplies and survive.
Of course, this approach is limited to teams like Owl Knight Order who have always maintained good and lawful behavior.
More illegal knights have become black-hearted scoundrels in their long dark lives. The only difference between them and bandits is that they are more powerful than bandits and robbers...
Owl Knight Order has been wandering around the territory of the Lionheart Kingdom for these years, relying on small businesses such as expelling bandits or guarding villages to survive.
If the village is occupied by bandits, they will defeat the bandits and get the loot, as well as get "gifts of gratitude" from the villagers;
And if there is danger near the village, they will warn and stay in the village for a period of time to receive supplies and rewards from the village lord or villagers.
Of course, when they encounter a real danger that could lead to their destruction, they will actually run away... The so-called guarding of the village is actually based on having scouts to detect the enemy's situation. They will not risk the lives of the entire knight order to protect the village.
Owl Knight Order is very good at gathering information, and the name of their knighthood is also related to this specialty - the owl on Eunomia's shoulder originally represents Goddess of Order's clear eyes and ears, and insight into the world.
Ols was waiting at the entrance of the village with people before leaving. In fact, he was waiting until night - Trublen Village There were no villagers, only one army, and the lord did not show up. It looked very abnormal, and it felt like it was occupied by some illegal armed force.
He only had more than sixty people in his hands, which was equivalent to the number of troops left by Li Ang in the village, so he blocked the entrance to the village and waited for other members of Owl Knight Order to come here - he had previously sent many knights to inquire about the whereabouts of the female army.
Ols originally planned to attack this village if it got dark and the lord here hadn't appeared yet...
The reason why we have to wait until dark is because all Owl Knight Order are night owls - they are good at operating in the dark, and most people in the Pande Continent suffer from night blindness due to lack of sufficient food. This is also the main reason why Owl Knight Order is good at spying on intelligence.
However, seeing the lord coming with the villagers, Ols realized that this was a misunderstanding.
But Li Ang knows that this is actually a misunderstanding within a misunderstanding...
Trublen is not the territory of Li Ang. The lord used to buy food for zero yuan - this method is essentially no different from bandits or illegal knights.
In view of the fact that Owl Knight Order behaves fairly decently and has a straightforward attitude, the lord decided to tell Ols the truth.
"Ols Your Excellency, I must tell you that something happened in this village before..."
"So, Lord Li Ang, everyone in this village was killed? Not a single person left alive?"
After Ols heard about Trublen's situation, he frowned tightly, with some fear in his eyes.
"Yes, I thought it was caused by gangsters..."
Li Ang Looking at Ols's expression, it seems that Owl Knight Order knows something.
"It can't be a gangster, Lord Li Ang. We are very familiar with the ways of bandits. The average bandit will not kill everyone in the village, but at most steal everything..."
Ols turned his head and looked at the west, his brows furrowed deeper. "This way of killing everyone... Lord Li Ang, have you seen the bodies of young women and children in the village?"
"When I came, all the bones had been broken into pieces and could not be distinguished... However, it seems that the child's body was not seen."
Li Ang was reminded by this, and he did realize that at least he didn't see too small remains.
Ols's face turned a little pale. "This is the work of heretics... I guess the women I met are them. I heard that they would take away girls and children, and use witchcraft to control those girls to kill their own relatives! Those girls will eventually become their soldiers... dead soldiers who completely disregard life and death!"
The Lord noticed that Ols used the word 'them' and also mentioned 'witchcraft'.
It seems that Owl Knight Order does know something about the situation.
"Who are they? Why did they take the children away?"
Li Ang knew that the heretical believers of this era were very strange, but he did not understand the behavior of these heretics. After all, he had never encountered such a cult in his previous life.
"They are three witches. Some people call them Three Prophets. It is said that they have unimaginable beauty and strength. All those who are not determined will be seduced by them as guards, and those who cannot be seduced will be killed by them... They will use the blood of children as a living sacrifice. It is said that this will allow them to gain power from God of Darkness!"
Ols shook his head and said, his face even paler under the black hood. "They are very dangerous. I originally thought that this village is more than a hundred miles away from their army and should be relatively safe. I didn't expect that this village has something to do with them..."
So it turns out that this guy who co-authored the book didn't just want to come here to discuss business, but thought he could get away from here temporarily?
You can avoid the heretic troops and earn some money on the way.
This Owl Knight's way of finding business is somewhat shameless...
The lord actually thinks this guy can be a good friend.
Ols finished speaking and planned to leave, "My knights can't deal with them, I have to leave... I also suggest that you leave here quickly."
"Wait..."
Li Ang stretched out his hand to stop him, unfolded the map in his hand, and traced his fingers on the map.
"Look, you met that large heretical force in the west... and I just came back from Long River Town, and there are many near Long River Town. Your team doesn't seem to have brought much supplies, and it's probably not appropriate for an illegal armed force to go to the border-where are you going?"
Ols took a look and found that except for the border area, he actually had no place to hide...
Illegal knights cannot appear at the border. It is easy to cause misunderstandings and be regarded as bandits by the garrison and to be exterminated. In fact, the garrison in various places has the obligation to exterminate illegal knights, but most of the time it is better to do less than to do more.
"... So, Lord Li Ang, do you have any good suggestions?"
The reason why Ols turned pale just now seems to be because of this - it is not very safe for his troops to go in any direction now. This is probably the main reason why he waited at the entrance of the village for so long.
"Let your team act with me. Of course, you must obey the command... I promise that I will not lead you to a dead end."
The lord smiled. Unexpectedly, he came here to harvest wheat, but he actually picked up an army by the way.
However, Li Ang did not want them to assist in the battle. What he needed was the expertise of Owl Knight Order.
"I only need you to investigate the enemy's situation. That is what you are best at. As for whether you want to participate in the battle, you can decide on your own. I will take you to my territory to station and provide you with supplies; and you need to keep telling me the movements of the Prophet Legion... Is it a deal?"
"Deal."
Ols did not reject the lord's kindness. It is always safer to cooperate with the local lord.
Moreover, he really didn't have many supplies.
But he only obeyed the command to a certain extent - he said that if he encountered an extremely difficult battle, he would not participate, and he wanted to ensure that his knights could survive.
Let the farmers harvest wheat here first, and Li Ang led the troops back to Wheat Fragrance Territory.
Godric and Amy have brought 500 troops from White Deer Fortress, while White Deer Fortress only left 300 troops.
The lord pulled Godric into his room and confessed his plan to Godric.
There were only three people in the room: him, Godric, and Amy.
"Li Ang, do you mean to let Prophet Legion surround Long River Town first, and then we attack from behind? Do you want to get Long River Town's power to govern as a 'rescuer'?"
Godric didn't show too much surprise, Amy had already told him this intention.
"Yes, I don't want to hide it from you. But it's not me who enters Long River Town as a savior, but you, Lord Godric!"
Li Ang looked at Godric with a smile.
Now Godric was shocked. "Me? If you plan to defeat the heretic army to protect the people, or if you want to gain greater power, I am willing to help you. But myself... I don't want to get involved in these political struggles!"
Li Ang smiled bitterly, "My qualifications and military strength are not convincing enough, Lord Godric. Only you can suppress Long River Town."
Godric still shook his head. "I hid in White Deer Fortress because I didn't want to get involved in these power struggles..."
"Lord Godric, I'm afraid you have to fight... As Amy, to be able to encounter such a thing as Forster, plus Forster actually dares to frame you, this is already a very obvious signal - if it were more than ten or twenty years ago, would anyone dare to treat you like this?"
Li Ang shook his head and sighed.
Godric was stunned for a moment after hearing these words, but still did not change his attitude. "What happened to Forster was just an accident, right?"
Li Ang shook his head and sighed, "Lord Godric, no wonder Madam Philina wants to stay in Lion City to protect you...Long River Town has been fighting for these years, so the lords of the eastern region, including you, are getting along pretty well."
"But think about it, why did Count Oden compete for military control of Long River Town in the first place? Was it just for greater power? In my opinion, he wanted to ensure that Brave Shield Fortress always had support behind him!"
"In the war at White Deer Fortress at the beginning of the year, your men suffered heavy losses, but did the kingdom give you any compensation?"
"During the months when Forster took charge of Long River Town, did he provide even the slightest help to Brave Shield Fortress and White Deer Fortress? You need to know Brave Shield Fortress lost Count Oden and seven hundred elites because of Eldred's treason! And White Deer Fortress's military strength and food are insufficient! This is a border fortress guarding the kingdom!"
"But when Amy came to him, he used food to force Amy to respond to his pursuit... and then even slandered you as a heretic, without considering the safety of the entire kingdom!"
"And Forster is even considered to be the one with a better reputation among the nobles!"
"Brave Shield Fortress and White Deer Fortress, one in the south and one in the north, are each facing Lionheart Kingdom's biggest enemy. If the power in the eastern region is in the hands of those who only know how to mess around, then how can we ensure backup the next time we encounter a full-scale attack by Jatu or Bacchus Empire?"
"I don't want you to become a consul, I just think that Long River Town's military control must be in the hands of trustworthy people! I can't kidnap the enemy's leader every time, and Amy shouldn't stand on the city wall to face the enemy again and again!"
"But now, besides you, who else is worthy of trust?"
Li Ang can understand the thinking of Godric. A former Royal Guard commander, a promising young Earl, is willing to be demoted and condemned to go to a border like White Deer Fortress, and stay there for more than 20 years - this is obviously seen through, but not completely seen through...
On the contrary, his wife Madam Philina saw it more clearly.
Wherever there are people, there will be battles, and armies and castles are the foundation. The more armies and castles you control, the more capital you have.
Amy kept looking at his teacher with big eyes and nodded frequently.
She seems to think more than Godric, probably because she is better at learning.
Godric sighed, "But can I definitely become Long River Town's military officer?"
"King Ulrich must be very clear that military affairs can only be managed by the border lord... Just like when he asked Count Oden to manage Long River Town's military affairs, even if Count Oden held the position of Noble Council, he did not replace him..."
Li Ang has already brought the ink bottle. "Moreover, as long as we can defeat the heretic legion and lead the army into the city, no one from Long River Town will dare to say no... King Ulrich will not refuse... You are his brother-in-law!"
Godric was silent for a long time and nodded. "I can be the initiator of the coalition... but where can I find military rations?"
"This is why you must be the commander-in-chief to launch the coalition...Brave Shield Fortress's Baron Leofric has enough food and you will lead the army, so he will participate - he will definitely not respond to the call of a little lord like me..."
The lord handed a quill pen to Godric's hand.
Baron Godric no longer hesitated. He sent letters in his own name to various territories in the eastern region, expressing his intention to form a coalition army to defeat the heretical legion.
Three days later, the cavalry returned, and they sent back the news that the heretic legion had indeed arrived near Long River Town.
They even carried a flag with a pair of goat horns on it.
It was indeed Prophet Legion. A cavalryman with the best eyesight saw three extremely beautiful women with his own eyes.
Or a witch.