You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 231 Still Too Young

The component of the shell splitting is not mentioned.

First of all, the Muddy Swamp is a breeding ground for mercenaries.

Ranged attackers include longbowmen and crossbowmen, while melee attackers include swordsmen.

It is organized despite its chaotic nature, and possesses strong combat capabilities.

However, mercenaries are also very expensive, with daily wages far exceeding those of conscripts.

Gale must have spent a fortune to be able to muster a mercenary force of three thousand men; this battle must have cost at least ten thousand gold coins.

Secondly, there is the influence of the Papacy.

Roman massacred papal priests during the plunder of Kandeland.

A whole year has passed.

The Vatican can't pretend it doesn't see anything either.

In particular, the Duke of Gael personally wrote a letter to the Pope.

So the Pope immediately dispatched thirty knights of judgment, and they were not fighting alone; including the squires and attendants who served the knights, there were about two hundred soldiers in total.

This is not the point.

The highlight was the gathering of nuns from the monastery, priests, and believers.

Led by Bishop Merad, the priests performed rudimentary magic, and the nuns formed a choir.

Believers are like the conscripts of the Vatican; some of them bring their own families and provisions.

There's no other reason; it's mainly a fight for our beliefs.

In the past, the Vatican had no way of organizing such a large army of believers.

The three Black Iron Dukes were watching closely, forbidding the Church from using external armed forces.

Even if it is used, it can only be used for self-defense, not for offense.

However, the current situation is chaotic, and the old dogmas are gradually becoming ineffective.

Not to mention, this was initiated by the Duke of Gael, and the gatekeeper handed the key to the prison guard.

What are you waiting for!
Let's set the stage for the imminent rise of the Papacy's power!
Even the Pope himself is quite concerned about this matter.

This is the first time the Papacy has sent its forces; otherwise, they wouldn't have dispatched the Inquisition Knights.

The Vatican has had a very difficult time over the past century.

Monasteries and churches were built one after another, and believers of the gods were spread throughout the seven countries, but they just couldn't be mobilized.

Roman was not the only one who massacred priests.

The Arctic pirates also put in a great deal of effort in killing the priests.

Who can blame them when monasteries and churches have money?

Not to mention the annual tithes, the monastery and church also own their own land, allowing them to accumulate wealth each year. Over the years, that wealth is no small sum.

The difference in beliefs between the two sides is also a major issue.

The Arctic pirates hail from the land of Igor, and belong to the dragon race, vowing to bring the Dragon King's wrath to the entire land.

This is completely different from the belief in gods.

Pirates and the Papacy were extremely hostile to each other and persecuted each other religiously.

In the current situation, the pirates have the upper hand because the Papacy has been constantly hampered.

Roman's rebellion ignited Gale's fury.

The Grand Duke of Cracked Armor is prepared to no longer abide by past treaties and has relinquished some of the Papacy's mobilization authority.

This mobilization involved a force of five thousand men.

This is the vanguard; the Papacy is using Roman as a whetstone to see how effective it is.

Finally, there were Berchtesgaard's thousand men.

But Berchtes did not want to participate in the war.

The total number of troops sent to suppress Roman was in the five figures.

Even without Berchtesgaard, it would still be in the five figures.

That is, neither too much nor too little.

There's no need to travel so far; it's a waste of money and effort.

However, the Berchtes and the Cracked Armor families were able to resist the pirates, and Gale was the commander-in-chief. In addition, the Berchtes had indeed participated in the war against Roman.

For various reasons, Count Berchtes reluctantly sent Frant with a thousand men.

While doing so, they also secretly observed the strength of the Papacy.

While setting up camp, the army commanders gathered to discuss how to successfully quell the rebellion.

Frant had fought Roman before, so he spoke first, "I dare to remind you gentlemen that our opponents this time are not simple, and may be even more difficult to deal with than pirates."

“If he dares to come out, I’ll shoot him dead with an arrow! Just like I shot Lord Owen!” Kate Riftarmor said coldly.

Kate is Gale's second son, and is over thirty years old. Theoretically, he should call Roman "uncle".

Noble marriages formed a vast network of connections, with each member related to the others.

Even the defeated and the victors, due to their intricate kinship ties, could fight to the death during the day, but once the war ended, they would drink together afterward, and could safely return to their territory as long as a large ransom was paid.

In Kate's view, Roman has distanced himself from the aristocracy; what kind of marriage alliance is that?
Even if they did not sever their ties with the nobility.

He didn't even care about a mere illegitimate child of Ulster.

Now Gael is the Archduke of Cracked Armor.

The succession system of the Cracked Armor family is that the next duke is designated by the previous duke.

However, the system it followed was the feudal system.

The first three generations of the Grand Duke of Liejia did not have many descendants; they either died young or died in battle, so the lineage was always a single heir.

The fourth generation of Ulster had only one son and one daughter, so he didn't have the opportunity to establish fiefdoms.

Duke Gael, however, was prepared to follow the ancient tradition.

Regardless of whether he is the eldest or second son, as long as he is legitimate, he should still be given what he is entitled to.

Gale was a rigid and self-disciplined man who had never had a lover or an illegitimate child, a fact that Kate and his older brother had always known.

Therefore, Kate is not worried about the future, but she is extremely disgusted with her illegitimate son, Roman.

He shouldn't have gotten that land; it was a piece of land with immense potential.

Ulster hid that land for decades before finally giving it to Roman.

People thought that place was a wild, remote and harsh place, equivalent to Lingnan.

But little did anyone know that it was a paradise on earth, and after the arrival of the second lord, it immediately underwent earth-shattering changes.

Everyone is wondering now.

What kind of output does a piece of land have to support such a powerful army?

If possible, after suppressing the rebellion, Kate asked his duke father to grant him the valley.

“He also has the surname Liejia, and there are supposedly no cities in that valley, so he won’t be able to move around on city walls. Lord Kate, I’m afraid you won’t be able to succeed,” said Judgement Knight Donald Rasoul.

Demon Hunters wear black armor, Templar Knights wear silver armor and white cloaks, and Judgment Knights wear red armor.

Red armor signifies war and bloodshed; they are the true force on the battlefield.

Liejia's expression was cold, and he didn't speak.

He knew perfectly well what was going on, but he still held onto a sliver of hope—who knows?

The armor-splitters are specially trained and have very keen intuition. They feel like they have a thorn in their side when they encounter danger, especially when something sharp is pointing at them. The stinging sensation can even make their scalp itch.

The Broken Archer fears no unit, except for one other Broken Archer.

Because they can't shoot accurately, let alone at long range, once the two are a hundred meters apart, unless there is fire coverage, the armor-piercing can dodge in a very short time.

He was hoping that Roman would make a mistake.

People make mistakes, especially young people.

He knew that his young illegitimate uncle was only 18 years old.

“Let’s talk about how to attack the valley first,” said Bishop Melard.

At that moment, the scouts of the Cracked Armor entered the camp and whispered in both of Kate's ears.

Kate raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Looks like we don't need to attack anymore; he's come out on his own."

I guess I'm still young.

Subsequently, everyone learned of this matter.

Only Frant frowned; in his memory, the young lord was not a reckless person.

On the contrary, that one was unusually calm.

Facing a relentless barrage of attacks, they withstood four waves of assaults – that was a bloody battle.

Despite being sandwiched between two forces, the warriors still managed to hold their ground against the beasts.