Knight with Wand

After drinking a few sips of bitter tea produced in Seralil, Inis regained her spirits, hurried out of the military tent, and mounted her horse.

She summoned the cavalry guards and immediately rushed to the place where Aorad and his team disappeared.

Near the northwest of Cantadar, near the Pangloss Forest, dozens of West Bay knights and dozens of Dire Wolf cavalrymen set out from the captured Cantadar town, rumbling across the wilderness until they reached a high ground, and the Aorand cavalry in bright clothes and furious horses stopped advancing.

".That damned eagle attacked the barracks' horses and livestock repeatedly at night. Lord Aolade was furious and vowed to shoot it down himself, so he took a dozen people to track it down, but it didn't return this time.

We sent hundreds of riders out of the camp to search along the claw marks. There were a few knights who explored a little further forward, and disappeared inexplicably in the blink of an eye."

The anxious knight Loman tried to remain calm, soothing the restless wolf under his crotch while pointing to the front.

Inis rode through the crowd, looking at the field surrounded by woods with her blue eyes, and asked carefully: "What do you mean by suddenly disappearing?"

"Your Highness, I don't know how to describe it, but...when I came to my senses, they were gone. We didn't see the moment our companions disappeared. It was really weird."

Hearing the other party's strange answer, Inis looked at the scene in the distance again.

The places further away seemed to be shrouded in a hazy and blurred color, like an illusion caused by the hot environment. Although it was summer, the local area was obviously not that hot yet.

"Your Highness!"

The young warlock in robes and armor rode to the side of the princess and hurriedly warned: "Don't get any closer. The concentration of magic here is frighteningly high. There is either a range spell set by a powerful caster in front, or... I'm not sure."

The young warlock had no experience and hesitated at the end.

"Tell me your guess, and I will judge whether it is right or wrong." Ines turned around and encouraged the northern warlock she trained.

Warlock Harvey heard this and continued boldly: "Looking at the situation described by these knights, if it is not a trap set by the Kantadar wizard, it is probably an unmarked cursed land. This place is not far from the Nightmare Forest. I think it is very likely."

"Cursed land?" The knight on the side asked in confusion: "Didn't the thousand-year curse of the Nightmare Forest disappear?"

"Maybe there are still some left in Kantadar." Without waiting for the young warlock consultant to answer, another West Bay knight continued to speculate.

Inis frowned slightly and turned back to ask the Dire Wolf Knight of Loman County: "Have you asked the locals in the town about the situation here?"

"No," the knight of Loman County replied embarrassedly.

"Then why don't you go quickly! Do you want your lord to wander in the Plain of Despair forever?" Inis scolded angrily in a pleasant voice.

She turned her horse and ordered the knights beside her: "Leave a scout to search around and take turns to keep an eye on this place, but don't continue to cross the high ground under your feet and go deep into the north. The others will follow me back to the camp."

Without making a meaningless stop, Ines led the soldiers back to the camp.

The girl sitting on the bumpy saddle fell into thought.

It's not that she was worried about the upcoming war. She always had an attitude of icing on the cake for Aorad's troops. Even if this group of dire wolf cavalry stayed here to find the missing lord, it would not cause too many variables to her offensive.

But the son of the Duke of the East disappeared inexplicably in her hands, which must be a headache in the future.

The eldest son is missing alive and dead, how will Duke Roman take advantage of the situation?

Ines didn't want to be involved in the dispute between the East and her father so soon. It was too early and she was far from ready.

The fan tapped her forehead vigorously and the girl sighed.

This troublesome guy, no matter if he lives or dies, even if he dies in battle or is assassinated, leaving a body behind is a good explanation.

But if he accidentally enters the so-called cursed land in public, how can he be found?

The Dire Wolf Cavalry who also disappeared in search of him proved the horror of the legend.

The poor zombies that the army had cleared when passing through the Nightmare Forest before had clearly told the world what the fate of those who entered it would be.

The incident had already happened. Even if she offered a reward to the brave men in the army, it would be meaningless to go and explore. After all, no one could

Hmm?

The three warriors who crossed the Nightmare Forest. The legend that she had heard in the Thorn Flower Territory before could not help but float to Ines' mind.

"Harvey, has anyone in history been able to enter the cursed land and return to the world?" She turned around and asked her warlock.

"Your Highness, regardless of those fictional folk tales, as far as I know, there is no record of the association." Harvey shook his head repeatedly with certainty.

"In the records of the association, is there any precedent for a cursed land as large as the Nightmare Forest to disappear?"

"It seems, but it hasn't happened yet." Harvey said awkwardly.

Ines nodded and said no more.

Whether the folk legend exaggerates the deeds of the knight or not, she has to write a letter to ask the other party.

She will leave for the Shuangxia City area soon, and she has little time to be delayed by a sudden accident.

On July 11th of the Orland calendar, the temperature gradually rises.

The half-month southern tour of the baron's territory ends.

On the way back, the Avalon Knights had no need to show off their military authority, so they took off the heavy armor of most cavalry and infantry on the safe path guarded by the Thorn Flower Family Pass and put them in the horse-drawn carts transporting military equipment to save the soldiers' physical strength and speed up the return to the city.

Behind the carts transporting military equipment, there were also many horse-drawn carts and herds driven by civilians.

The vehicles loaded with goods carried the taxes collected from the towns and villages in the southern part of the barony.

They were mainly food and production materials such as grain, livestock, wool, leather, etc. harvested from the territory, as well as handmade products such as agricultural tools and instruments.

Monetary taxes were not the whole of the territory's finances. In most cases in this era, only towns that developed a certain degree of commerce were able to pay taxes with a large amount of gold and silver coins.

Stepping into the valley again and looking at the towering Avalon Fortress from afar, the feeling of going home made Leon feel relieved.

The trip was assisted by two southern advisors, Knight Larian, who was familiar with the customs of the south, and Lady Veresa, who was once the eldest daughter of the Lord of Cantadar. There were no accidents during the armed parade.

The Avalon army, with its clear flags and magnificent armor, caused enough deterrence to the towns and villages of Cantadar under the rule of the barony.

The emblem of thorn flowers and sword wings clearly conveyed the fact of the change of ruling regime to the people of this area.

Turning the black horse's head, Leon rode to the side of the road and looked back at the team behind him.

To be more precise, he looked back at the "fat and blood of the people" collected by him, the evil feudal landlord.

The tax collection process was smooth, because although it seemed that the team "scrounged" a lot of the hard work of the working people, in fact, the total amount of taxes collected this year was less than one-third of what those villages and towns had paid to the original lords in the past.

Leon was not stingy in giving many villages in difficult situations the grace of exempting this year's taxes until they can restore production surplus.

This time, the sword is the stick, and tax reduction and exemption are naturally the carrot.

Moreover, all parts of Glade County have experienced the oppression of the original lords due to the war, and Leon certainly does not want to play the role of "Tongliao Renjun" and rush to drain the people under his rule.

Under his investigation and the personal supervision of the Knights, there was no vulgar plot of forced collection and extortion.

When taking time to visit the public opinion, the team also executed several village thugs who had relied on their relationship with the original lords to do evil in the past and had a lot of public resentment, in order to strengthen their prestige.

It must be said that killing a few local bullies to win the hearts of the people is really useful and satisfying. Although there is no spare energy to establish a perfect legal order in the territory, as a ruler, the feeling of directly "bullying the evil with power" really makes him feel like a great master.

Leon looked away from the material taxes that were better than nothing this year, and looked at the three carriages in the middle of the team that were specially used to transport people.

There were about 20 boys aged between 8 and 13 on the carriages. They all looked well-nourished and obviously did not come from ordinary tenant farmers' families.

The boys looked around at the castle and town ahead. After being well taken care of along the way, most of them were no longer nervous and timid when they first set out, and gradually relaxed.

These children who were selected to be brought back were the eldest sons and grandsons of the new or former village officials in the southern parts of the barony.

However, those who did not meet the age requirements were the second sons. For families without even a male child, Leon turned to other popular local families in the villages and towns to select male children.

He chose to bring back the direct male children of the village and town managers in the Cantadar territory, on the one hand, to serve as "hostages". If they were girls, to put it bluntly, they would not have much weight in the eyes of the locals.

Although he knew that even if he really encountered a rebellion, he would not do anything to these children.

However, outsiders who were not familiar with him, especially those Kantardars, would definitely not dare to have such a "naive" idea. Such a move to hold the eldest sons of each family in his hands was a symbolic insurance to scare people.

In addition, there was a more important purpose.

Leon planned to place these children in the academy under construction in Avalon, and under the guidance of Ms. Veresa and Ms. Sally, they would learn the writing and language of the North and South Kingdoms together with the local Orland students.

The human society in this world is not as clear as the era of national consciousness awakening in the previous life. Nationalities and countries are far from being so clear, otherwise the three Serians would not have become Orland nobles so seamlessly.

If the Kantardars were not used to the Uriah language, the difference between them and the Orland people would not be much different from the Grey Shirt Valley, Wester, Kronian, and Roman people in the Kingdom of Orland.

When these children grow up under the protection of Avalon and become familiar with the languages ​​and cultures of the two countries, they will be able to directly contact and control the officials of the villages and towns of Kantardal as baronies in the future, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

Without the financial and material resources to carry out universal education, they can only start from the upper class of foreign territories and firmly control the grassroots managers of the next generation.

And this purpose is not a secret. Knowing that their children and grandchildren can learn from the lord and have the opportunity to be trained as officials and confidants of the baronies in the future, those village officials and elders wish they could come to Avalon instead of their children and grandchildren.

It's a pity that Leon doesn't want those over thirteen years old. If they are too old, the lord will be too strong. He doesn't want to spend money to accidentally train a traitor.

Looking at the twenty or so little kids in the car who were curiously looking at their future living place, Leon felt a little strange and touched his chin.

Perhaps because these children were on the road with the tax, Leon felt that it was a bit like the blood tax imposed by the Ottomans in his previous life.

He shook his head. No, there was no need to think so badly.

The blood tax separated the flesh and blood of the family and dragged them to be glorious slave guards. He just chose these children to board and study. Many families would not have such a good thing even if they had lanterns, not to mention that they did not even stop their relatives from visiting occasionally.

In other words, it should be called selecting good families to train the future team.

This is much more pleasant.

If there are smart and capable people in Avalon College in the future, maybe they can be selected as members of the Knights.

Hmm. Zhongsi College?

Leon was happy.

The cattle and sheep were driven into the grasslands around the territory.

Cart after car of food and fodder was sent to the territory warehouse of Avalon Fortress and stored properly in different categories.

The Kantadar gold coins collected from the town were counted and recorded, and then collected into the "public treasury" of the Knights managed by Azerien and Elena.

As for the energetic boys, they were arranged by the school workers recruited from the pioneers of Avalon to rest in the collective dormitory in the lower city of the fortress and wait for the start of school.

Returning to the main castle, Leon was about to shamelessly pull Olivia to take a bath together to relieve the fatigue of the journey, but he saw Corvis hurriedly coming up to him.

"My Lord, the urgent letter sent by Her Highness Ines did not say what it was, but stated that you had to open it yourself, so I dare not open it without permission." The boy presented the letter.

"It's okay. You are my deputy. If Azerien and I are not here, you can handle urgent letters. Don't delay anything important." Leon took the secret letter and looked at the wax of the sea eagle emblem on it. He felt strange.

Didn't you say not to urge him to make a decision?

But now that he has established the Knights of Avalon, it is not convenient for him to join the organization of the princess.

He hurriedly opened it and took a quick look. Only then did he find that it was not what he thought.

He looked at Corvis and asked, "How long has the messenger of Princess Ines been away?"

"He left yesterday. The messenger said that from the day he was delivered, Her Royal Highness will wait for you in the town of Kantadar mentioned in the letter for a maximum of four days. Today is the second day." Corvis replied.

Hearing this, Leon quickly changed his route to the meeting room.

He asked Corvis to spread the map on the big table. He fumbled and searched for the location of the landmark in the letter to the southwest of Avalon.

After finding the approximate location of "Lutansan Town", Leon felt relieved.

The journey was not particularly far, and it seemed that the troops of Orland had occupied the road. If they galloped day and night, two or three days would be more than enough.

However

After confirming the location, Leon sat on a chair and thought carefully.

Should I help?

Indeed, in the entire Orland Kingdom, maybe in the entire Western Continent, there is no other living person who can easily go in and out of the spirit-like field like himself.

However, should I go in to help find someone, or go to search and rescue the son of the Duke of the East who looked down on me at the banquet?

Haha, it seems.

He was not very kind, so he didn't want to care about the life and death of the arrogant guy who looked down on me.

After secretly laughing for a while, Leon held his cheek, put down his smug smile, and weighed it again seriously.

Although he didn't want to care about the safety of Orland, it would be a good deal if Ines owed him a big favor.

Since he is now starting his own business and does not intend to join the other party's knights, he can take this opportunity to ask the other party if he can get some moon silver and molten gold from the Alchemy Guild in the capital as a reward for himself, which will really save a lot of money and time.

Of course, entering an unknown spiritual field, the possible dangers inside must also be considered.

Who knows whether the cursed land that Ines encountered is the same as the nightmare forest.

Leon thought about it, stood up, and decided to consult Laura first.

Speaking of which, he originally planned to come back this time, practice flying with Deathclaw, and then set off on a griffin to find out the situation in the Holy Land City in the east.

Now he is not sure and will be delayed because of an accident. I just hope Laura will not be angry.

Otherwise, he still has to focus on his little teacher's affairs, and Ines can't help.