Dawn was breaking, the eastern sky just beginning to pale. High Cliff Castle, a slumbering giant beast, was slowly stirring to life.
Two hundred bare-chested, brawny n were slick with sweat on the training grounds, the twang of bowstrings echoing without end.
These were the Feder Warriors, assigned to the Archer Division of the Burning Corps’ Second Army, practicing their archery.
Levi watched them practice. ’As expected of Tier Four Soldiers, the Federation Longbown,’ he thought. After getting their aim in, they could accurately hit a running rabbit from sixty paces away.
It wasn’t legendary marksmanship, but it was still exceptionally impressive.
After all, they were using the Tier Four template longbows Levi had specially purchased from the System: Purple Fir Longbows.
The bows stood half a man tall. Within forty paces, an arrowhead designed for heavy armor could pierce a layer of Iron Armor.
Only these Warriors—hand-picked by Levi from the Feder Tribe for their burly builds and long arms—could draw such bows, and only then with the enhancent of System Power.
These High Cliff Castle Warriors hadn’t been idle lately. After their morning drills, they would head into the Wilderness to hunt down any foolish Wilderness Bandits and gain experience.
As a result, all two hundred of these Warriors were now Tier Four Soldiers, just one tier below the Beastn.
Their equipnt wasn’t nearly as lavish as the Beastn’s, though. Each was equipped with only a Longbow and a Hand Half-Sword. To maintain mobility, they wore just Leather Armor over Chain Armor.
As for the Beastman Barbarians, Levi had the old Blacksmith, An Zhi, lead his Apprentices to focus on forging their Iron Armor first.
While it couldn’t compare to the exquisite Plate Armor of Debei, its defensive capability was by no ans inferior—in fact, it might even be superior.
Back at the Feder Tribe, Levi had already bought two layers of armor for the Beastman Guard Team. With the addition of this new Iron Armor, they now wore a total of three layers: Inner Chain Armor, Stitched Armor, and the Special Large Iron Armor. They were ard to the teeth, so to speak.
All told, the armor weighed nearly two hundred pounds. Currently, aside from the Beastn—who were all Tier Five—no other Warriors in High Cliff Castle could carry such a load and still move with ease.
The cost was also imnse. A rough estimate put the Gold Coins sunk into this fifty-man Beastman Guard Team at well over two thousand.
Of course, with them being outfitted so extravagantly, Levi could confidently say that anywhere on the Middle Ages Continent, this Guard Team would be considered the elite of the elite, the finest of the fine, no matter which Kingdom they were compared to.
After all, there wasn’t a single Kingdom extravagant enough to outfit its soldiers in Three-Layered Heavy Armor, let alone a Kingdom whose soldiers could still move freely while wearing it.
After breakfast, an idle Levi took advantage of Miriel’s presence in High Cliff Castle to organize a ga of mahjong.
"Our Debei Kingdom’s Monarch is nad Harland. The man beca King through sheer luck. The throne ca to him so easily that after his ascension, he spent his days lost in wine and won, ignoring all matters of state." Miriel was explaining the affairs of Debei to a group of country bumpkins from High Cliff Castle and had just gotten to the current King’s backstory.
"What kind of luck?" Zat imdiately interjected, and while everyone’s attention was diverted, he sneakily swiped a tile from the center of the table.
Unfortunately, the sharp-eyed Lord shot him a glare, and he reluctantly put it back.
"It’s a long story, and we don’t have all day, so I’ll give you the short version."
"Go on."
"In fact, this King is the previous King’s illegitimate son, who was living elsewhere." Miriel started with a bombshell. "The previous King had two Princes and one Princess. The crown prince, naturally, was the elder Prince."
"But no one expected that the elder Prince would be gored in the abdon by a wild boar during a hunt and die on the road. Then, just three days after becoming the new heir apparent, the second Prince was found dead in the Canary Garden. That’s how he earned the titles ’The Three-Day Crown Prince’ and ’The Debauched Crown Prince’." Miriel gave an enigmatic smile; it was hard to tell if it was scornful or mocking.
Following the principle of asking if you don’t know, Baisitina raised her small, delicate hand. "Um, Sister Miriel, what’s the Canary Garden?"
"A brothel," the Lord answered first.
Even though he’d spent most of his ti in the Western and Southern Territories and knew little of Debei Royal City’s affairs, any man worth his salt had heard of Debei’s most famous brothel, the Canary Garden.
After all, it boasted a collection of beauties from every Race—they even had a pure-blooded Elf. Its only drawback was the price.
Rumor had it that a single night cost several dozen Gold Coins. It was a true den for spending ’gold’—in every sense of the word.
Baisitina shot the Lord a questioning look, her expression clearly asking: ’You seem to know an awful lot about it. Have you been there?’
"Don’t look at like that. I might talk a big ga, but I’ve never actually been to a place like that." Levi put on a righteous and noble expression.
On this point, the Lord wasn’t lying. In a world with such backward dical Treatnt, a brothel was little more than a hotbed for infectious diseases.
He couldn’t guarantee he’d be one of the lucky ones, so to protect his own hide, he stayed away.
’However, I’ve heard the Canary Garden has virgins...’ Levi thought. ’If the opportunity arose, I wouldn’t mind giving it a try.’
"I didn’t expect Lord Li to be a virgin," Miriel said, the corners of her lips curling into a smile.
Frankly, in this male-dominated era, most boys had their first taste of a woman by thirteen or fourteen. An adult man like Levi who was still a virgin was as rare as Mithril—practically unheard of.
"You’re being a little forward," the Lord said, feeling deeply offended.
’His predecessor was a Baron so destitute he’d nearly had to sell his own ass, so he naturally had no money for brothels. After I transmigrated, I was too afraid of catching so disease to go. So, bizarrely, I’m still intact.’
"So what happened next?"
"The old King was no longer able to sire children. Just as he was reluctantly preparing to pass the throne to his married-off daughter, he suddenly rembered he had an illegitimate son."
"When they finally found this ’lucky fellow,’ he was working as a male attendant in the Canary Garden."
"And just like that, with the old King’s unwavering support in the face of all opposition, he smoothly ascended to the throne."
Miriel threw up her hands, her expression an unreadable mix of envy and jealousy.
"’Lucky fellow? I’m not so sure. Perhaps this new King was the real ’oriole stalking the cicada’.’" The Lord had a different take on it. ’From an outsider’s perspective, it’s all a bit too convenient. And I happen to believe that coincidences in this world often have a hidden logic.’
Having shared his opinion, the Lord abruptly shoved his tiles forward. "Pardon , a trash hand, but I win again. Pay up!"
"A trash hand still counts as a win?"
Miriel, who had only learned to play mahjong a few days ago, was stunned. She reluctantly fished two Gold Coins out of her pocket.
"’Hey, a win’s a win.’" The Lord said with a grin as he tucked the Gold Coins into his small, growingly plump wallet.
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