Raphael is the younger brother of Li Ang.
Ever since he met Li Ang at Fletcher Village, he has always admired Li Ang.
Most young people admire strong and fierce warriors, especially those who grew up around Gatu Grasslands.
Back then, Li Ang stood in a pool of blood with his whole body red and black. He pulled off his helmet and a large splash of blood spilled out. This image has always been deeply imprinted in Raphael's heart.
He also keeps that face-covering helmet in his saddle bag. Whenever he feels scared or nervous, Raphael will take out the helmet and take a look.
Although his father Ralph is also a fearless warrior, Raphael does not admire his father very much...
This is probably due to the darkness under the lamp.
People are always like this. They can't see the idols around them, but they can't forget the people they don't know well.
Raphael really doesn't understand Li Ang - he is a little confused now. He doesn't quite understand why Li Ang asked him to give gifts to Gatu people.
Yes, it's a gift, free of charge, free of charge.
A king, and probably the most powerful king in the entire continent at present, would actually send gifts to a group of savage marauders...
And these gifts are very precious.
There are spices and wine from the Bacchus Empire, there are works of art made by Noldo Elves, there are glass products and velvets from the west of Lion Territory, sea salt and salted fish from Lion Lake City, as well as tulle and some expensive medicines from Xingar...
There are even a few luxury carriages.
Moreover, His Majesty Li Ang even said that if Zakar is willing, he can even give dozens of luxury villas to Zakar--Gatu warlord who are captains of thousands and above. Each one will count, and everyone will have a share.
In other words, the gifts given by Li Ang cover all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation, and they are all high-end products that ordinary people cannot afford.
To be honest, Raphael is a little envious--except for Lion Lake City's salted fish, he can't afford anything else...
Give it to Gatu people...
What a waste.
However, no matter what he thinks, Raphael will still strictly follow Li Ang's requirements. After all, His Majesty Li Ang just transferred Raphael was conferred the title of Oath Knight - not a knight of Duchy of Lionheart, but a knight of New Kingdom of Pendor, directly loyal to Li Ang himself.
This is rare, because there are not many direct subordinates of Li Ang, and there are even fewer Oath Knight who have personally consecrated him.
Everyone who has been following Li Ang before is now a big shot.
Eric is currently the Minister of State for Duchy of Lionheart, the Lord of Balanli, and the Deputy Commander of the First Legion of New Kingdom of Pendor - the Commander of the First Legion is Li Ang himself. Although he has never been knighted, he can serve as the chief political officer of the entire Lion Territory, which is at least equivalent to the identity of Earl.
Charles is Lord Fletcher, and he has just inherited Brave Shield Fortress from Herriwold. He is currently the guardian of Brave Shield County - he is also not knighted, but he is also in charge of the Earl leader.
Radiant Knight Ansen, after taking Phoenix Knight Order to kill Snake Worship Cult's army, Li Ang personally acted as a guarantor and let Ansen became a member of Radiant Cross Knights, and officially appointed Ansen as the lord of Calundru Castle - without any knighthood, he was also in charge of a Earl lord.
Kloze is now the commander of the second legion of New Kingdom of Pendor and the leader of Silver Hand Knight Order. Since he is still Meitengheim, he cannot accept the title and fief of New Kingdom of Pendor. In other words, he is only Oath Knight who is loyal to Li Ang, and this knight status was awarded privately. But there is no doubt that his status as Legion Commander is also equivalent to Earl.
Including Risadiran, this Noldo Elves, is now also the leader of Amera Fortress and Pavlon, and New Kingdom of Pendor Commander of the Imperial Guard--also in charge of a Earl leader.
Former Twilight Knight Jocelyn is currently the chief instructor of New Kingdom of Pendor recruits, and Long River City is starting to form the new Pendor Third Legion 'Mortal Legion'. If nothing else happens, when the legion is completed, he will also become Legion Commander.
Li Ang has only sealed a few Oath Knight in total. Compared with other kings, this number is really too small-but Li Ang's knights are actually all Earl level characters.
And now, Raphael also gets the same opportunity as these predecessors.
Also getting this opportunity was Sigismund·Sinclair, who is now the commander of the Free Legion, and Sergeant Major of Silver Hand, who is also the material and military leader of this 'mission' - Li Ang asked Sigismund to escort Raphael and those valuable gifts.
Let a person who is good at running away do the job of escort... To be honest, Raphael always feels a little uneasy.
But Sigismund is very relieved - Li Ang has told him that he can just drop the gift and run away when the situation is not right. It doesn't matter if the talks with Zakar break down, as long as he comes back alive. Sigismund was deliberately asked to lead the escort because he was originally worried that Raphael, a young and hot-blooded boy, would easily fall for him...
"What kind of person is Raphael, Zakar?"
Sigismund's question interrupted Raphael's vision for the future.
"How should I put it... He is a terrible enemy, but he is an enemy with a sense of honor and chivalry. To be honest, I don't like him, but I kind of admire him..."
Raphael spoke with some ambivalence about the Jatu warlord Zakar.
In most people's minds, Gatu people is often a bloody, rude and brutal savage, and he has a special love for horses.
These impressions are actually correct, but they may be a little one-sided.
On the other side of these labeled stereotypes, Gatu people is actually a human being. They also have love and hate, and they also have many good qualities.
People have two sides. It is true that Gatu people robs everywhere and is murderous and barbaric, but this is mainly affected by their living environment - anyone living in a society that must rely on robbery to solve the problem of food and clothing will become the same as Gatu people.
In the same way, the difficult living environment has also created some Gatu people's excellent qualities such as tenacity, love of freedom, and emphasis on honor.
"Warlord" Zakar is such a hero who is completely different from the Gatu people that ordinary people have in mind.
Unlike the bloody and brutal "Destroyer" Zhuda, Zakar leads the army with his personal charm rather than fear and violence.
He is outstanding in martial arts and is always the first to lead on the battlefield;
He was generous and always gave most of the spoils to those warriors who followed him;
He values honor and sticks to his word. As long as he makes a promise, he will go all out until it is fulfilled.
Of course, he would also lead people to plunder, but he usually would not kill all the men and take away everything including women and children like Zhu Da did - Zakar would not kill civilians at will, and usually leave some rations for the village to survive.
A few years ago, Zakar's tribe was located in the north of Gatu Grasslands, and Zhu Da's territory was in the south of the grassland. Therefore, Zakar usually went to Raven Territory to make a living, while Zhu Da usually went to Lion Territory.
Dark Falcon Fortress, Odenburg of Raven Territory, including the Xiaolu City area, are actually often extorted for money and food by Zakar, but at least the people there have always been able to survive.
And Lion Territory... Just look at the wilderness hundreds of miles east of Lion Lake City. There were dozens of villages and towns in that area twenty years ago.
Many things are afraid of comparison. The shining points of Zakar are quite rare against the backdrop of Judas the Destroyer, so he has gained respect from both his compatriots and enemies. The young Jatu warriors all worship Zakar; and the proud knights of Raven Territory are also in awe of him - of course, maybe more of it is fear.
In fact, Zakar could only be regarded as a small warlord at first, and his initial strength was probably similar to that of Drash, who was raising horses for Li Ang.
But in just over ten years, he became one of the top tribal leaders in Gatu Grasslands, and even defeated the strongest Zhu Da, forcing Zhu Da's tribe to move south and give up the best pasture.
This is because Zakar has a valuable quality that other Gatu people rarely has - the courage to innovate.
Whether it is Gatu people on the grassland, Misty Mountain people in the mountains of the far north, or Dexian people in the desert, they all have a common characteristic - tradition and conservatism.
Nomads have always given sacred meaning to their way of life - only by freely traveling through the prairie and practicing the ancient plundering roads can real warriors be cultivated. Those so-called civilized people are weak, like lambs waiting to be slaughtered, Gatu people are hunters, and they are prey. Although the world is constantly changing, Gatu people remains unchanged...
These are the words Gatu people often talks about.
Even though they crossed the endless sea and came to Pendor from the grasslands of Amara, Gatu people still insisted on their traditional way of life and resisted change.
After breaking away from the Osa Emperor, Gatu people's life was extremely difficult during the more than one hundred years of isolation and self-defense in the northeastern grasslands.
Since the grassland borders Noldo Forest, and Noldo Elves's extremely xenophobic culture and hatred of humans, they have constant conflicts with Gatu people.
But most Jatu people only regard the Noldor elves as cruel and ruthless opponents, hate the Noldor elves' sophisticated weapons and armor, but have never tried to learn the Noldor elves' advanced technology.
Most of the old-fashioned Gatu people will regard Noldor's equipment as a blasphemous 'Indar' evil object, which will bring a curse when touched, so they will even destroy or abandon it after capturing it.
And Noldo Elven Horse was regarded as an evil monster by them. For a long time, Gatu people would kill Noldo Elven Horse on sight.
Stupid?
Of course.
But that ancient eastern country that had led the world for thousands of years also did countless things even more foolish than this during the period of nomadic rule.
It seems that only tradition, gods, riding and shooting, and plundering are all that the prairie people have.
But Zakar is different.
He is an outlier among Gatu people.
In many confrontations with the Noldor, Zakar realized the advancement of Noldor technology. The sophisticated Noldor compound bow and the tough Noldor sword gave him a considerable shock. Noldo Elven Horse's fast, strong, and dexterous characteristics made him envious.
In an encounter with the Noldor, despite thinking of the curse spoken by the old men, he tried to remove the weapons and equipment of a fallen Noldor warrior and captured the injured Noldo Elven Horse.
He put on the Noldor boots, took the Noldor sword and shield, and rode Noldo Elven Horse, but found that nothing happened...
The so-called curse is nothing but old-fashioned superstition!
He rode Noldo Elven Horse, wearing a stylish Noldor equipment, and swaggered through the Jatu tribe.
The older generation of Jatu warriors glared at him, cursed him loudly, and told him the ancient legend of the curse; but many young Jatu warriors saw their idol wearing the equipment of the Noldor, and the legend of the curse was self-defeating.
After that, Zakar no longer clung to the traditions of the tribe. He began to consciously collect Noldor equipment and began to introduce advanced technologies from various countries.
He attacked Noldor sentries and patrols, and gave his young followers the boots of the Noldor;
When he plundered Lion Territory, he accidentally encountered a strange group of witch archers. He keenly discovered that these witches' bows and arrows were quite good, and compared to Noldo Elves, Jatu's cavalry could easily crush their team - so Zakar captured their Darkwood Bow.
Due to the introduction of new equipment and Zakar's example-setting style, Zakar's tribe quickly stood out from the many Jatu tribes.
Most of Zakar's tribe are young Jatu warriors. Zakar gave his young followers a very personalized name - Zakar's Cold Riders.
He obtained armor technology from the Crow people and equipped these young people with Gatu Honor Armor, always reminding them: Don't forget honor!
Under the influence of Zakar, most of these young people grew up to be honor-oriented, brave and fearless warriors, and gradually became one of the strongest groups in the grassland, and achieved a series of victories.
After that, countless Jatu young people from other tribes flocked to join Zakar. He quickly grew from a small warlord to a leader in the northern part of the grassland.
Those Jatu warriors who still adhered to the tradition had to admit the power of Zakar, but they were dissatisfied with Zakar's deviant approach, so they followed the 'typical' Jatu leader in their minds - Judas the Destroyer.
So Gatu people split into two groups - the Zakar tribe that tried to change, and the traditional and conservative Zhuda tribe.
Zhu Da's tribe is a typical high-pressure warlord, but Zakar is not.
He has been trying to develop the tribe into a real nation.
Moreover, judging from what he has done before at Raven Territory, he may be close to success.
If Zakar was born in the Lionheart Kingdom, then he might become a very successful and famous general, Raphael thinks.
"Raphael, if Zakar is really what you said... then maybe we can talk about some business with him..."
Sigismund suddenly stopped, turned sideways and looked at the wilderness in the distance and said.
"Talk about business? Didn't His Majesty Li Ang say that our main task is to find out Gatu people's intentions?"
Raphael glanced at Sigismund strangely, and also looked at the wilderness - there was nothing there?
"This is business... Gatu people did not grab food or attack villages or towns this time. He has been hiding and not showing up... Of course he endured this expense in order to negotiate a big deal... Raphael, help me ask in Jatu dialect - Mr. Zakar, what kind of business do you want to do?"
Sigismund kept staring at the wasteland in the distance, and the volume of the last sentence seemed particularly loud.
"Your Excellency has really good eyesight... I can be discovered by you even if I'm hiding here."
Hundreds of people suddenly appeared in the wasteland, all of them covered with grass.
The leader is a guy with dark green paint on his face, wearing a camouflage outfit and full Noldor equipment. It is really difficult to find him lying in the bushes in the wilderness.
"You can actually speak Pendor? That's great!"
Sigismund smiled, put his hand on his chest and bowed. "Your Excellency Zakar, His Majesty Li Ang would like to invite you to have dinner with him."
"Dinner? Where should we have dinner together? Li Ang shouldn't be at Long River Town now?"
Zakar smiled, "It's already afternoon, can he fly?"