Knight Oerstein and Knight Schwartz, accompanied by four knights and six ard attendants, finally rescued Su Li from the crowd.
After breaking away from those frenzied followers, Su Li took a deep breath, adjusted his robe, and said to Schwartz, "Are these people crazy? If you had co any later, I feel like I would have died before even starting my journey."
The way these people looked at him was the sa way they looked at the Innate Smoke-like Saint Body, with such fanaticism and envy, it was terrifying.
Schwartz quickly replied, "Young Master Suli, we have to thank Knight Oerstein’s robust physique; that’s how we managed to squeeze in. Rumors are spreading that you can help knights break through, and many want to join our ranks."
"Help knights break through? Who’s spreading these baseless rumors!" Su Li frowned and said, "I don’t have such ability. You all better not go around spreading this."
Don’t I know whether I have this ability or not? It’s entirely random! Out of four daily intelligence updates, only one ntioned Knight Oerstein breaking through.
If by then a flood of knights joins my ranks and I can’t help them break through, can’t raise their tier, wouldn’t they tear apart?
Schwartz and Oerstein exchanged glances, both wearing expressions of understanding: "Young Master Suli, don’t we already know whether you have this ability?"
Su Li took a chilly breath; why do I feel like what you’re saying is so different from what I’m thinking?
"Where are Frederick and Hilude?" He really couldn’t explain it clearly, so he shifted his focus elsewhere.
"Knight Frederick is selecting people to join us," Schwartz imdiately replied respectfully.
"Take to see." Su Li felt he must go take a look, or else sothing wrong will surely happen.
Soon enough, just as he anticipated, two long queues had already ford in front of his residence.
Su Li imdiately stepped forward, interrupting Frederick’s recruitnt, and asked, "Knight Frederick, how many people have you recruited?"
Frederick, upon seeing Su Li, his eyes almost sparkled, jumped up excitedly and said, "Hahaha, Young Master Suli, the results are very gratifying!"
"I have essentially drafted all the adventurous talents from Bauhinia Castle into our ranks. I feel that we have basically plundered all the knights willing to leave Bauhinia Castle, haha! If we weren’t setting out today, I’d want to run into Bauhinia Earl’s territory and advertise robustly in every village, town, and castle."
"Wasn’t all of this your arrangent? Only now do I see how perfect your layout is, each part fitting seamlessly."
"What?" Su Li looked at the excited Elite Knight with surprise, what else are you imagining now?
Frederick, brimming with enthusiasm, said, "The first day, you didn’t recruit anyone, just two won, and guided them through a breakthrough amid everyone’s mockery. This planted a seed, inciting curiosity and attention towards your abilities from everyone."
"Then on the second day, you helped acquire a Half Griffin, and Knight Schwartz obtain Vibranium Rune Armor. This step stirred people’s hearts, and everyone brimd with expectation for your following actions. It was like the night before a volcanic eruption, hidden and almost ready to burst forth."
"Until today, you helped Knight Oerstein break through to Champion level, instantly igniting everyone’s fervor. Without your orchestration of events, how could we have recruited four Elite Knights, ten formal Knights, and twenty-two Apprentice Knights? The ard attendants they brought alone number over 110 people!"
Su Li looked at Frederick in astonishnt; if you hadn’t told , I wouldn’t have known I had such deep strategic planning, seemingly mastering the essence of gradual buildup.
Four Elite Knights! That was a number Su Li wouldn’t have dared dream of when he first left the Count’s room.
At that ti, he thought being able to take four formal knights with him was already very impressive.
As things stood, there was now 1 Champion Knight, 6 Elite Knights, a squad of formal knights, two squads of apprentice knights, and a full squadron of ard attendants in the ranks!
Just as Frederick said, almost a third of Bauhinia Castle’s garrison was being recruited by him. If he kept recruiting at this pace, the Bauhinia Earl might even turn hostile.
One must know that even the Imperial Army of the Elector, in terms of average strength, is at this level; each of their soldiers is a formal knight, with an Elite Knight capable of serving as a Knight Commander.
Only those legendary Knight Orders would have their entire roster filled with Elite Knights.
Su Li’s current force was already equivalent to two squads of the Elector’s army, to put it more accurately, led by a Champion Knight Commander.
This military strength far surpasses most Kingdom Knights, of course, Su Li himself hails from a noble lineage, soone who obtained his status through connections with the establishnt and family ties, and shouldn’t be compared to ordinary Kingdom Knights.
Even compared to certain noble descendants exiled by Dukes or Earls to the Border Prince’s Territory, his starting point is considered relatively high.
So unfortunate duke offspring, exiled and banished, might just have this many knights around them.
So Su Li took a deep breath and said to Frederick, "Knight Frederick, haven’t you realized how severe the problem is? If you keep recruiting like this, we won’t even have money to pay the troops."
Frederick grandly waved his hand and said, "It’s not a big deal; those willing to join our ranks have already prepared for this. Even if you don’t pay salaries for the first two months, you couldn’t drive them away."
"What about after two months? What about food, clothing, and travel expenses?" A journey with a dozen people is just travel, with over a hundred, it’s called a military expedition!
Even for a company gathering, going camping with a hundred people, you’d need to plan ahead for toilets, dical needs, and everything else.
This is about heading to the Pioneer Territory, with no logistics line behind us; leaving Bauhinia Castle ans he cuts off the supply chain.
This might not be a major issue for other Imperial armies, they could just requisition locally. But can Su Li plunder a kingdom knight’s fief belonging to the Bauhinia Clan on the way?
And relying on buying grain, which village could provide sufficient supplies for so many troops?
Moreover, more crucially, while others might be oblivious, doesn’t Su Li know himself? He has no real ability to help knights break through; it’s entirely a matter of fate. The severity of the issue lies in such a large influx of elites into his small Pioneer Territory, but failing to offer them desired treatnt and a stage to display their abilities. Once they realize they’ve been deceived, it would be a blessing if Su Li does not get torn apart, let alone lie flat.
Upon hearing this, Frederick finally gave it serious thought and said, "This indeed poses a problem. All right then, since we’ve already prioritized recruiting the elites from Bauhinia Castle, the remaining candidates awaiting assessnt are mostly ard attendants; we can just continue recruiting in Marle Castle. For now, I’ll head to Bauhinia Town with Knight Schwartz to procure a batch of grain."
Marle Castle serves as the bridgehead for the Empire’s entry into the Border Prince’s Territory. Because the Empire feared that directly dispatching high-ranking nobles into the territory would incite intense alliance resistance from local forces, after conquering the area, the Empire’s Electors voted to assign its governance to a group of rchants, assisting the infiltration of a large number of Imperial Pioneer Knights into the Border Prince’s Territory. Ultimately, with gentle ans and without provoking intense resistance, the Empire seeks to control the territory using many Low Tier knights.
This city holds enormous wealth, with rchants from around the world bringing various goods and treasures, making it a flourishing trade hub.
In this bustling, vast marketplace, one can see guild rchants selling elven wine, fabrics, and weapons, dwarves selling silver ingots, lead ingots, and iron ingots mined from the Black Mountains, and nurous slave traders peddling individuals from various races.
Most Pioneer Territory lords set off with only their core team and, upon arriving in this city, purchase slaves to bolster their ard attendant forces.
Once everything is prepared, most lords will splurge their accumulated wealth one last ti, indulging completely in debauchery and revelry before leading their forces into the contested, ever-changing Border Prince’s Territory. Such a venture leads to either complete loss, having one’s head chopped off and kicked like a ball, or rising rapidly, conquering large swaths, and gaining imperial enfeoffnt once their governance stabilizes.
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