Auper began to act. Everything seemed wonderfully perfect in his imagination, yet he did not know that such a course of action was simply foolish. The Habs Merchant Guild could indeed hire Great Knights for protection, but that was merely protection—and employment at that. It was not the same as possessing a Great Knight of one's own.
There was a fundamental difference between the two.
Once the Lawrence Territory lost its Great Knight, the consequences were almost already decided.
This was different from a Pioneer Lord.
As long as Pioneer Lords did not possess vast wealth and resources, they generally would not face much trouble. A barony, however, possessed extensive lands and abundant resources. Without a Great Knight and a considerable force of knights, those resources and lands could not be defended at all, even with a hired Great Knight.
Of course, Auper did not know any of this for the time being.
At that moment, he was completely consumed by the excitement of soon taking over the territory.
This was a territory.
A territory that would belong to him.
He had nearly given up hope already.
Yet he had never expected to receive the Goddess of Life's favor at such a time.
An unexpected Pioneer War had prevented both his father and elder brother from returning.
And it gave him an opportunity.
Faced with this opportunity, he could barely restrain himself from celebrating. He had even wanted to send some gold coins to the lord of Eagle Territory.
Of course, it was only a thought.
On the surface, he still put on an appearance of anger and sorrow.
He quickly began taking control of the entire Lawrence Territory.
Fortunately, his father had taken away a large number of knights, so gaining control was not difficult for him.
Once he