"Ding! Congratulations, Lord. You have completed the quest: Defend your territory. You successfully defeated the invaders who ambushed your castle."
"Quest rewards are now being issued: one castle upgrade and 200 merit points."
Reiner was in an excellent mood. Not only had he won the war, but he had also gained a tremendous amount of merit from the two battles. The quest rewards had been issued at the same time, and a smile appeared on his face before he even realized it.
"Sir Cord, you're responsible for tallying our losses and sending the report to me. Let the soldiers rest for three days. After that, we'll gather our troops and attack Goer Castle. Baron Lobean is dead, and his castle will belong to me."
"And as for my knights, I'll reward them according to their merits as well. The Squire Knights will become true knights with fiefs!"
Reiner spoke before everyone, and every face was filled with delight. All the Squire Knights of the Moreland Family were eldest sons of knights who already possessed fiefs. Granting them fiefs would increase the strength of their families, making this a form of reward in itself.
Goer Castle had one castle and eighteen villages. Although its territory was not as large as Morland Castle's, its population density was higher. After all, the Krad People had to pass through Morland Castle first whenever they raided south each year, so Goer Castle suffered less destruction. Its population was even greater than Morland Castle's.
More importantly, Goer Castle also possessed an iron mine. Otherwise, Baron Lobean would never have had the means to arm an army nearly as large as Morland Castle's with a territory so much smaller.
After obtaining Goer Castle, Reiner would have another iron mine under his control. He could now forge equipment for his army while once again shipping iron ore to the empire's interior.
The empire's interior was currently in turmoil. The emperor had been bedridden with illness for years, causing the lords to grow increasingly lawless. Lords who had long harbored grudges and conflicting interests were now openly on the verge of war, while some nobles had even begun coveting the imperial throne.
As a result, the empire's instability had sent the prices of strategic goods such as grain and steel soaring. Reiner had previously used the steel produced by his territory's iron mine to forge armor and equipment, so he had hardly sold any to the interior, missing out on a tremendous fortune.
Now that he had obtained another iron mine, it was easy to imagine how quickly he would accumulate wealth.
That said, Morland Castle's economy was still relatively primitive. Currency was rarely used in practice. A lord who needed manpower had manpower, who needed timber had timber, and who needed grain had grain. Even the soldiers' wages could be paid in goods.
Morland Castle was not unique in this regard. The entire Northern Frontier of the empire was more or less the same. Except in the empire's interior and in more commercially developed regions, currency was rarely needed.
It was still too early to worry about such things. His most urgent task was to bring Goer Castle, which had lost its lord, under his rule as quickly as possible. Fortunately, heavy snow had blocked the roads, and the Krad People's invasion had disrupted communication among the various lords. Otherwise, Reiner would never have dared give his soldiers time to rest. After three days, another lord might already have taken a share of Goer Castle.
After making these arrangements, Reiner returned to the castle to reassure his family, servants, and maids. At the same time, he needed to spread the news that he had defeated the Krad People throughout his territory.
This would cause his reputation to soar once again, and everyone in his territory would submit wholeheartedly to his rule.
"Oh! Holy Father be praised! You've finally returned, my Reiner!" Lady Moreland embraced Reiner. Wearing a light-purple dress, she spoke in a trembling voice.
She had opposed Reiner's decision to fight the Krad People out of concern for him. Although her son had eventually persuaded her, as a mother, she could not help worrying about her child putting himself in danger.
Her son had yet to return when another lord began attacking the castle. This left her terrified. Her husband had already died of illness; if she lost her eldest son as well, she would have no reason to go on living.
"Uh..." Reiner had been an orphan without a father or mother since childhood. Although he had initially struggled to adapt after gaining a mother here, he had eventually come to cherish her. Yet when his mother suddenly showed such intense emotion, he was at a loss.
"D-don't worry, Mother. Haven't I returned safe and sound?" With his limited vocabulary, he could only try to comfort the mother of this body.
After being subjected to a tearful outpouring from his mother, Reiner was thrown into a fluster. Only after finally getting through it did he breathe a sigh of relief and collapse onto his bed.
In such a wonderful mood, he had no desire to sleep. When he saw a faint glow appearing on the horizon, Reiner's thoughts stirred, and he opened the system interface.
"System, open the hero lottery interface!"
"As you command, Lord. Opening the hero lottery interface now."
The system's electronic voice rang out, and a lottery machine resembling a wheel appeared before Reiner. He carefully examined the ten randomly selected characters displayed on it.
When he saw one of the characters, he immediately sat upright in bed. He was utterly stunned.
"Holy crap! This is actually possible?"
He was so shocked that his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. "My God..."
The character's profile appeared before Reiner's eyes: "General Kencho Afs, a powerful commander from Calradia, the legendary God of War. On the battlefield, defeating a thousand enemies single-handedly was an everyday occurrence. He had never once suffered defeat. Loyalty: 100. Personality: None. Overall Evaluation: Top-Tier Hero."
"General Afs! Holy crap!" Reiner could not help swearing as he sat on the bed. In his previous life, he had been a model young man raised under the red flag and rarely used foul language, but the tremendous shock he felt made him blurt out two curses.
Who was General Afs? Probably no player who had played Mount & Blade had not heard of him. He was unstoppable on the battlefield, and no enemy could remain standing wherever he passed.
Yet despite being a general, he was also one of the rare compassionate individuals. Not a single person who fell to his hand would die. They were all knocked unconscious rather than killed.
That was right. This damn thing was nothing more than a cheat code—a cheat code the game company had deliberately created to lower the game's difficulty for players.
He had never dreamed that the system would materialize a string of code into a hero character. Looking at General Afs before him, Reiner's heart burned with excitement. If he obtained General Afs, what would he have left to fear? Wouldn't becoming invincible beneath the heavens be just around the corner?
"System! Start the lottery immediately!" Reiner spoke urgently. He could hardly wait to obtain General Afs.
"As you command! Lord, the hero lottery is now beginning!"
As soon as the system finished speaking, the entire wheel began spinning at a speed Reiner could not follow. After spinning for a while, it gradually slowed, and Reiner slowly began to make out each hero.
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