The Winter Festival holiday ended quickly, as it often seems that ti flies by when people are on vacation. In almost the blink of an eye, the Winter Festival holiday passed by in a leisurely manner.
In the blink of an eye, it was January. Almost as soon as the rainy and snowy season of the Winter Festival ended, Duke Casvan of Paragon finally led over fifteen hundred knights and an army of over ten thousand to prepare to cross the Gray Mountain Range and attack the empire on the other side.
The departure of the army could not escape the notice of all the nobles closely watching this war. Almost imdiately upon hearing the news, Laine rendezvoused with Francois, Jerald, and Julius, preparing to cross the Gray Mountain Range at the sa ti and observe the war.
The group of them took two days to ride to the edge of the Gray Mountain Range. Of course, because of the presence of Francois and Laine, the four knights received a warm welco from the locals wherever they went.
Desolate fields, cold air, distant mountains, small towns, this was all the scenery Laine saw as he traveled with Francois and the others. Human towns and villages were like islands of civilization in the wilderness, relying solely on sturdy high walls and guards to preserve the fla of civilization.
This world was fundantally different from the Celestial Dynasty where Laine had lived in his previous life, which was crowded with people. Even in the densely populated Brittania, it was still a country where towns served as strongholds and roads as arteries. Although there were more areas with villages and hamlets, most territories remained uninhabited wastelands, such as forests, swamps, and mountains.
At night, only walls and armies could protect the territories' people.
"We have entered the Duchy of Paragon territory," Francois pulled on the reins of his beloved horse. The Duke himself rode a Pure-blooded Elf Pegasus nad Prague, the strongest and smartest among all Pegasi in Brittania. It had imnse intelligence and so magic ability. When surrounded by enemies, Prague would transform the sacred energy it contained into a brilliant light, incinerating the enemies to ashes and escaping from the battle.
In his shiny blue and white enchanted secret silver plate armor, both Julius and Jerald nodded. Only Laine, clad in gray Spiritual Masterwork Power Armor, sighed, "This place is truly desolate."
Everywhere in the Duchy of Paragon was barren land, with only so scattered fields near towns and villages. Reaching mid-January, the weather was extrely cold—even Holy Grail Knights like Francois and Laine were exhaling white breath.
"The most famous part of the Duchy of Paragon is its mountain peaks," Francois, atop his Pegasus, said with a gentle smile on his elegant face, "The Paragon Peaks produce the best Pegasi in the Old World. Compared to those from the Oracle Mountain Range in Winford, the Pegasi from Paragon Peaks have superior endurance."
"The Duke of Paragon domain originated from one of the first twelve Holy Grail Knights, Agirgel. At the ti, he rode atop the ancestor of all Pure-blooded Pegasi, Glovedale, and singlehandedly defeated over three hundred of the Green-skinned Big Guys," added Jerald, Francois's cousin, who finally gained Francois's favor after a series of trials.
"And for this reason, the Duke of Paragon domain is a narrow mountain region," Julius nodded. This man, Laine's future brother-in-law, seed in good spirits. He calmly said to Laine, "More than sixty percent of the Duchy of Paragon is mountainous, with very little arable land. Only so land near Paragon Castle and a small hilly area above the Aisloron Forest can be fard."
"The land is barren and lacks arable land..." Laine murmured, "I understand."
The four knights rode to the front of the town, where the na "Grenelle" was written above the town gate.
Grenelle is one of the three large towns in the Duchy of Paragon, with a population of about eight thousand. It is located southeast of Paragon, north of Aisloron Forest, and near the southern entrance of the Gray Mountain Range. This would be the pathway for Duke of Paragon's army to cross the Gray Mountain Range to attack the empire.
It was dayti, the town gates were wide open, and upon seeing Laine and the others appear, the town's guards imdiately knelt, "Greetings, Holy Grail Knight! Welco to Grenelle!"
"Welco to Grenelle! Master Holy Grail Knight! Welco!"
"Bless you, Master Holy Grail Knight!"
"Seeing the Master Holy Grail Knight brings us good fortune for the year!"
"Salute to you, Master Holy Grail Knight!"
Everyone from townspeople to guards almost all knelt, cheering and applauding, surrounding Laine and Francois in the crowd. The stories of Holy Grail Knights were famous even in the most remote villages of Brittania, and to the peasants, Holy Grail Knights were icons providing a glimr of warmth and solace to their lives of poverty, like sunshine in winter.
A thousand years had passed since Arthur founded the kingdom, and the knightly spirit had decayed into a degenerate set of symbols. Many knights zealously adhered to dogmatic knightly codes, treating the peasants as less than human. So knights used knightly spirit purely as tools and ans to extract wealth, existing only to gain greater profits from the peasants.
Only in such tis of moral decline did the knights who could grasp the true aning of knighthood beco all the more precious. They were the ones truly upholding the knightly spirit, not zealous believers clinging to dogmas. They used their souls to understand the real essence hidden within outdated classics, rather than letting scriptures beco shackles that hindered personal thought.
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