Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

When it comes to playing cards, the Lord's ability to control winning or losing purely relies on his skillful sleight of hand.

Even during the card-drawing phase, he can swap out the bad cards in his hand with practiced ease.

Currently, poker cards are unique to this world, with no other variations, so the techniques for cheating are naturally only known to the Lord.

The rapidly balding heads of Muto and Hogg are proof of how much suffering they've endured at his hands.

Not to mention Sophia, the silver dragon, who isn't the brightest, loves to play despite being terrible, and still believes she's a card shark.

The Lord doesn't even need to look at his cards to win against her.

After estimating the time, Li Wei gathered the Highcliff Castle's fully equipped, motley crew and led them to a location about ten miles southwest of Highcliff Castle.

The White Stream City's team coming north to Highcliff Castle usually takes this road, worn out by merchant caravans.

Like Cao Cao escorting Guan Yu out of the city in ancient times, today, Lord Li greets his liege lord from afar.

Li Wei felt this tale was worthy of being sung by bards throughout the continent.

"Damn it, such a scene isn't being recorded by a scribe; what a loss," Li Wei muttered, looking around with a frustrated expression.

To his left was Bai Ruisi Tina, the chief of internal affairs of Highcliff Castle, draped in a northern-style azure wolf fur robe, her small face solemn.

To his right was Zha Te, fully armed, wearing cold, black iron armor and an exaggerated horned helmet, currently picking his nose with a bored expression.

The Lord directly ignored him.

After searching, besides Bai Ruisi Tina and Mi Er, everyone else was illiterate; not even able to write a single character, let alone be a scribe.

The position of scribe must be close to the Lord, recording his great achievements, which obviously wasn't suitable for a man, so Mi Er was directly ignored.

That left only Bai Ruisi Tina, but even with Li Wei's thick skin, he was too embarrassed to have Bai Ruisi Tina, who was responsible for Highcliff Castle's logistics, internal affairs, and other matters, also work as a scribe.

If this were his previous life, he, this unscrupulous boss, would have been fired by his employees long ago.

Highcliff Castle now had Zha Te, Muto, Hogg, and Ao Lake for military affairs, which was enough, but it lacked talent in clerical positions, and Li Wei felt that finding talent in this area should be prioritized.

The northern wilderness cold wave had already arrived, and the temperature had plummeted in the past few days, making the women, children, and elderly of Highcliff Castle somewhat unbearable.

The exquisite robe Bai Ruisi Tina was wearing was specially commissioned by Li Wei from Luo Linna and given to Bai Ruisi Tina.

It was a reward for her hard work over the past period.

As for the salary... Li Wei, who had never paid the Highcliff Castle leaders, chose to ignore it.

After all, Highcliff Castle was in the startup phase, and everyone was joining in as shareholders to start a business together; mentioning money would hurt feelings.

As the fourth scout team brought news, a convoy came into view.

At the front were two fully armored knights, holding the banner of the White Stream City's Matel family to clear the way.

Behind them followed a cavalry of about a hundred men, with cavalry armor, spears, bows, and swords, well-equipped, with orderly ranks and solemn spirits; this was an elite ranger squad.

They often acted as vanguards, responsible for clearing the way, and their individual martial prowess was among the most outstanding in the army.

Behind them was a fine carriage guarded in the center, obviously where Liya was sitting.

Li Wei was stunned by the extravagance of the team.

He wasn't sure whether Fulina's deployment of so many guards was to show Liya's importance or to flaunt the Duke's wealth to him, this pioneering lord.

However, no matter which behavior it was, the Lord said she had successfully achieved her goal.

In terms of equipment sophistication alone, these cavalrymen were clearly a level above Highcliff Castle's, but of course, their defeat against Highcliff Castle's guards would also be proportional to their sophisticated equipment.

"Lord, long time no see."

Just as the Lord was about to stride forward to greet them, a familiar voice came from one of the armored knights carrying the flag.

"Hey, who is it? It turns out to be the famous Sir Sky," the Lord joked. "Speaking of which, have you fallen on hard times? How did you end up doing odd jobs like carrying flags?"

One of the knights lifted his visor, revealing Sky, whom he had met not long ago. He smiled helplessly: "Lord, you still like to joke as always."

"If you were to say who is the most famous in the Northern Territory now, it would only be you, the dragon-slaying warrior who repelled the wilderness coalition with inferior forces, defended the iron mine, and achieved a complete victory against the dragon army."

As he spoke, Sky's eyes were filled with curiosity.

Since leaving Highcliff Castle last time, in less than a month, he didn't expect this Lord to have done another shocking thing.

Dragon slaying...

From the time he was born until now, he had only heard about it in stories, but he didn't expect to meet a real dragon-slaying warrior today.

"Oh, oh, it's all just empty fame," the Lord waved his hand with an embarrassed expression, but his eyes clearly showed the expression of "Say more if you can."

Sky pretended not to see it; this Lord's skin was as thick as his reputation was loud, and continuing to praise him would only make him take advantage of the situation, so he changed the subject, "I came from a flag bearer, and when I have nothing to do, I want to relive this memorable day."

Sky's face showed a look of nostalgia, it seems he was also a person full of stories.

"I didn't expect you to be so nostalgic. Now that you're here, stay for a few more days. Highcliff Castle dares not say anything else, but wine is definitely enough."

Patting Sky's shoulder as he handed the flag to another knight and got off his horse, Li Wei said quite generously.

"I probably won't have a chance to drink this time," Sky shook his head, his face a little heavy.

"It seems serious," the two exchanged a knowing glance.

While the two were chatting, the escorting knights separated their formations, leaving a road wide enough for a carriage to pass.

With the coachman's superb driving skills, the exquisite carriage stopped steadily in front of everyone.

The maid accompanying the carriage lifted the curtain, revealing the scene inside.

There were no so many accidents and surprises in the world; inside the carriage was Liya Iseli, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

"Good day, Miss Liya."

Li Wei stroked his chest and bowed slightly, performing a noble salute.

The Highcliff Castle guard, who had rehearsed long ago, slammed their leg armor together with a "pa" sound, their posture upright and solemn, their right hands clenched into fists and patted on their breastplates, the crisp sound echoing throughout the wilderness sky.

The uniform black-armored guard saluted, and an unspeakable sense of iron and blood permeated, making it clear that this team must have been a strong army forged by blood and fire.