The Strength of the Duchy of Camai (Three Chapters Combined)

Not every knight came from a wealthy noble family. Although many nobles retained a Knight's Legacy, it was usually nothing more than a set of inherited armor and weapons, with no other valuables.

Just like Count Bennett back then, if he had been captured on the battlefield, he would not have been able to produce enough ransom money.

Most nobles were the same. That was why these knights joined their respective duchies' knight legions, seeking a chance to change their circumstances.

Knights generally joined duchies' legions for one of two reasons. Some sought to improve their strength. Their families lacked an inheritance or possessed an incomplete one, so they joined a duchy's knight legion to grow stronger.

The others came from wealthy families with good inheritances and deep foundations. They joined knight legions for power. Whether military achievements or promotion within the legion, both were their goals.

The five duchies could not ransom all their knights, so these ten thousand knights were left in the Duchy of Camai.

How to deal with them became a major problem. Killing them would be a waste, but persuading them to join the Duchy of Camai would not give them peace of mind.

After the captives had been confined in the Gamba City prisoner camp for a month, despair spread through it. The ten thousand knights had gone from anxiously awaiting ransom to watching knights with powerful family backgrounds leave the camp one after another.

After that month, no more captured knights were ransomed and released from the camp.

A feeling of having been betrayed by their own duchies rose in their hearts. They had fought for their respective duchies, yet those duchies had abandoned them without caring whether they lived or died.

Most of the more than ten thousand knights were low- or