Armand nodded, and this last bloodline of the Duke of Aquitaine's Clan continued: "The huge loss and ineffective logistics exhausted the Knight Army's energy. Amidst the repeated harassnt and attacks from the Vampires, the Knight Army beca fatigued to the point of retreating. Before withdrawing, Lorne left two thousand troops to strengthen the outposts and quarantine line surrounding Musillon."
"Hmm~" Laine pondered over a series of matters.
Musillon is indeed a very troubleso place. Besides the dozens of ters-high walls of Musillon City, the land's corruption is really too severe. Vampire Corruption spreads across Musillon, making it difficult for any army to stay there for long. During his advance, Duke Lorne was forced to stop and rest every dozen kiloters.
Moreover, as Laine thought, whenever Lorne's army arrived at a place, they would surely storm into the town like a whirlwind, establish the "Holy Grail Court", and burn all the Vampires and humans affected by Vampire Corruption at the stake.
This thod is just, and it ets the requirents of the Knightly Path, but by doing so, Lorne turns the entire Musillon against him, plunging into a people's war ocean.
In fact, there are many factions within the Vampires. There are ambitious ones and those who just want a quiet life. So high-level Vampires are no different from humans in their lifestyle. Not all Vampires are planning on how to destroy humans; many have already rooted themselves in human society, Musillon included.
The thod of burning everything Lorne encounters is indeed a way to solve the issue thoroughly. However, the harshness of this approach creates panic among the Musillon people, forcing the entire Musillon to oppose the Knight Army.
In such circumstances, Lorne cannot quickly capture Musillon, the Cursed City. With the supply line constantly under attack and troops fatigued, the only option is to retreat.
Richard's plan to let Lorne reap the rewards failed. This war without a winner or loser was forced to stop, and Brittania was already exhausted, unable to continue fighting.
Finally, Richard gave Duke Lorne a regent's title, starting to let him assist in handling affairs. As for when the matter of succession would be raised again, it had to wait for the next opportunity.
"Musillon is indeed a tough nut to crack," Julius said disappointedly. "After this Chaos Invasion, the Kingdom's strength has greatly diminished; who knows when we'll be able to dispatch forces to reclaim Musillon again."
"Dispatch forces again? Yuri, I don't think reclaiming Musillon is the issue," Laine rubbed his chin, speaking as he thought: "I feel like even if we fight a few more tis, it will still end up like this. Firstly, how do we breach Musillon's dozens of ters-high walls? With catapults? Moreover, if we attack Musillon again, we'll certainly face severe Vampire Corruption. Before figuring out how to resolve the corruption, we can't casually go to war. Now the main thing is recovery."
"...Hmm." Julius could only nod: "For now, that's the only way."
"The Kingdom's losses in the north are severe, and it might take five to ten years to restore to its previous scale," Holy Grail Knight Armand also said: "Moreover, after two wars, the nobles in the Kingdom have grown weary, and reclaiming Musillon requires careful consideration."
"Yes." The waterlon was finished, and several Knights also bid farewell, leaving only Laine, Ollica, and Alia in the room.
The Count continued contemplating, and after much thought, he still shook his head: "The matter of reclaiming Musillon should be deliberated over a long ti."
"Laine, Vampires are not so easy to deal with." Alia shook her head: "Ever since five hundred years ago when the Empire lost the Hilvanian Province, it never succeeded in ruling that place again. The Vampire War exhausted the Empire; all Vampire Castles in Hilvanian were leveled, but since then, no noble has been willing to govern Hilvanian. Now, all that remains are ruins and a few villages. Every year, the Empire only sends people there to collect taxes; no one dares to go to Hilvanian."
Laine smiled bitterly upon hearing this. Isn't Musillon in the sa situation?
It's very easy for Vampires to corrupt a piece of land; just a period of ti, and shadows and death can affect a territory, leaving neither the living nor the dead at peace.
Then how about purifying a piece of land?
Purifying a land requires decades to hundreds of years and many large-scale magic spells.
Whether it's the Empire or Brittania, they all face a problem: defeating Vampires is easy; purifying land corrupted by Vampires is difficult and lengthy.
Simply put, this land can't be cleansed easily.
Then how can I reclaim Musillon?
Laine gazed out the window, lost in thought.
After mulling over it for a long ti, Laine still couldn't think of a particularly good thod. He suddenly felt that soone might be able to give him so advice.
The Count himself chuckled maliciously and said to Alia: "Alia, thank you for your hard work. You can rest now."
"Okay." The little maid saw Laine's strange smile. Having followed Laine for several years, Alia didn't know what Laine was up to? The maid looked at the Count resentfully, lifted her skirt to curtsy, and then exited.
The Dark Elf noticed Laine's gaze settle on her, and Ollica's face gradually blushed: "M...Master?"
"Hehehe~ Ollica, I have sothing to discuss with you." Laine mischievously scooped up the Dark Elf, kissed her cheek: "The usual way, let's talk in my room~"
"Ah! Master~" The Dark Elf hugged Laine's neck and said shyly, "Master, you're always like this."
......
Lord Beile took more than a month to escape all the way from Sea Gate Pass to Karak Breeze Castle, during which the King of Angland's funds were basically exhausted. The group looked quite shabby, having traveled through the Earth Vein Network across the southern ends of Black Mountain Range and Gray Mountain Range, arriving at Breeze Castle.
Along the way, this group of hundreds experienced several battles. There are many Green Skin Fortresses within the Earth Vein Network, but for so reason, the Green Skin Tribes they encountered along the way mostly appeared dispirited and lacked fighting spirit, and all the Green Skin Fortresses were in tatters, as if recently pillaged. Lord Beile's group relatively smoothly repelled the enemies.
At this mont, Breeze Castle was already in sight.
Karak Breeze Castle's King Rorrek the Granite Hand heard that Lord Beile had brought his clan to seek refuge, opened the gates, and used kingly etiquette to warmly welco them, arranging for them to settle in. In the evening, Rorrek held a grand banquet to welco Beile's arrival and didn't ntion a word about Beile's far-reaching expedition to Eight Peaks Mountain, which undoubtedly brought much comfort to Beile's heart, diluting so of the bitterness of defeat.
There are also differences among dwarves; the closer to the eastern part of World's Roof Mountain Range, the more stubborn they tend to be. Among them, the Dwarf Kings of Karak Iron Peak Castle and Karak Horn Castle still distrust firearms and prefer using crossbows, axes, and Iron Hamrs to fight.
The dwarves closer to the west are relatively more suave and adaptive, as they have more interactions with humans. Karak Breeze Castle's King Rorrek is one such person. Breeze Castle is located at the center of the Gray Mountain Range, sandwiched between the Empire and Brittania. It trades with both countries and often handles goods from Marinburg, making the dwarves here more skilled at negotiation and diplomacy.
"Beile, my friend, what brings you here?" At the banquet, Rorrek said to Lord Beile: "It's been a long ti!"
"Here's what happened, the Angland Clan's expedition wasn't going so well. I've decided to preserve the clan's strength and fight again another day." Beile stroked his white beard, the King of Angland's beard tied with many coarse burlap and a few copper rings, looking outwardly unremarkable: "I must trouble you for a while, Rorrek."
"Of course."
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