Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 359 The Powerful Undead Slayer Orion and the Donations and Requests of the Suncrown Knights
It was certainly a good thing that Eldrick joined the Green Knights. Su Li was also excited for their knights. This growth in strength was an irresistible sense of accomplishment for the leaders.

Su Li asked out of curiosity, "What is Vice Commander Freya doing there regarding your Green Knights?"

Freya is the vice-commander of the Sunfire Knights, but the vice-commander of the Light Arrow Knights isn't there for a meeting. What's the point of her, a vice-commander of the Sunfire Knights, getting involved?
"Of course, it's to attract another champion knight." The little green tea Sylvanas reached out and grasped Su Li's right hand, her eyes like pools of spring water, gazing at Su Li with a deep look, and said, "Not everyone is like me, with only the lord in their eyes."

"Captain Freya seems to have taken a particular interest in a captain named Orion lately. They've been seen together frequently these past few days. Oh, by the way... there's something I'm not sure I should tell you. I heard it from one of my knights, so I can't be sure if it's true."

"Then don't say anything." Su Li glared at her. This little green tea really takes every opportunity to show off her tea skills.

“But I’m afraid the lord might get hurt.” Sylvanas didn’t change her expression at all because of Su Li’s tone, and said quietly, “I heard that Captain Freya and Captain Orion had dinner together yesterday and didn’t leave the Love Dove’s Love Soup Restaurant until late at night, and their faces were still very rosy.”

When she mentioned the words "love dove" and "heart," she emphasized them.

If you weren't aware of it, you could easily mistake it for a couples' restaurant.

In fact, it was just an ordinary restaurant run by the Salya Church, providing care for the common people and people of all social classes in the territory.

Su Li knew all too well the tricks of a green tea bitch.

Did she lie? Definitely not! While these "green tea" types may use witty and manipulative language, they don't do things that are easily exposed as lies. Their skill lies in only telling half the story, mentioning only one part while omitting the other, thus creating misunderstanding and speculation. It may seem like they aren't lying, but they easily arouse misunderstanding and jealousy in their target.

Su Li sighed and asked, "Then it couldn't have been just Freya and Captain Orlean who went to the Love Dove Heart Soup Restaurant, could it? Captain Freya's face is flushed, could it be because she's been drinking?"

Sylvanas's beautiful eyes immediately turned to the decorations in the distance, and she changed the subject with a smile: "Oh dear, I don't know. My lord, do you think this decoration is beautiful? Should we add some more fresh flowers and roses? I think Vice-Captain Freya would love it."

"Should I thank you?" a cold voice came from behind.

Su Li looked in the direction of the sound and indeed saw Freya, whose skin was as white as snow and who was wearing a blue court dress. Her appearance and temperament were so charming, like a deep glacier, full of cold beauty and nobility.

"Oh dear, Freya's here? I just finished talking to the lord and was going to go and invite you over." Sylvanas seemed oblivious to Freya's sarcasm, her smile as bright as an innocent young girl.

"If I hadn't come, who knows what kind of scandals would have spread about the time I hosted Lord Orion with Commander Constantine yesterday."

Su Li smiled and pulled her soft, delicate body into his arms, inhaling her alluring fragrance, and said, "How could that be? Don't I trust you?"

Her hair was arguably the most captivating among all the female courtiers, mainly because she was willing to use the finest perfumes and balms, making her appear exceptionally noble. However, she had no choice; she needed such high-end perfumes to suppress Su Li's scent on her body.

She was also worried that if things continued like this, she might get pregnant. Although the probability of a champion knight getting pregnant was relatively low, with Su Li leaving traces of himself so many times, it was inevitable that some might slip through the net and break through a woman's natural defenses.

What if this female group leader gets pregnant out of wedlock, and the child she gives birth to is an illegitimate child?

Su Li didn't care too much about this. At worst, he could just take Freya as a female courtier. After all, given her status and identity, there wouldn't be any objections to her becoming a female courtier.

Then Su Li asked curiously, "Who is the leader of Orion?"

Freya could only suppress her unease; after all, her body was uncooperative, and she easily succumbed to it every time Su Li tied her up.

She looked at Su Li, pressed down his right hand that was restless on her slender waist, and replied helplessly, "Don't move. We're in public, and there are outsiders here."

When there are no outsiders around, I won't be so obvious; it's all for this little green tea b*tch to see.

"Captain Orion was one of the contestants in the championship group this time. Although he stopped at the top 8, he was still very good. If he hadn't encountered that thug Tiberius, his performance could have continued to improve. But Tiberius was indeed incomparably strong, with the strength of a champion, which allowed him to win the championship without much effort."

Tiberius's strength is beyond doubt. If it weren't for Hilde as his high-ranking steward keeping him in check, given his lawless nature, he would probably have turned the territory into a complete mess.

His victory in the championship group was well-deserved, since another high-ranking champion knight, Commander Constantine, could not possibly participate in such a competition.

Orion's narrow defeat to Tiberius also proves his strength.

Freya continued, "Commander Orion is the leader of the mercenary group War Dogs, but although it's called a mercenary group, their team only has four people in total. However, each of them is an elite, and Commander Orion has even reached the champion level. Yesterday, Commander Constantine and I specially hosted a banquet for all of them to invite them to join our knightly order."

"A mercenary group of only four people?" Su Li asked in surprise, "Is there anything special about them?"

Freya nodded slightly and said, "This all started with Commander Orion. He was originally just an ordinary child born in a small village near the city of Ebesrek in the Avalan Territory of the Empire."

"There are rumors that his ancestors were Kisliv nobles, the kind who even slew dragons. But for young Orion, it just means that his grandparents were forced by a citizen of the Empire, and it has no real impact."

"Upon reaching adulthood, Orion immediately shed the rural environment he hated and resolutely joined the army to fulfill his dream of making money and then adventuring everywhere."

"To escape the boredom of his hometown, he joined the army in Columbus. For the martial Avalan people, joining the army was the best career path for a man. But for Orion, his carefree nature and personality destined him to clash with his superiors. Columbus only taught him basic combat skills, and then he was transferred to serve in the legions of other provinces due to his conflict with his superiors."

"The Imperial Provincial Army's pay is not low, reaching nearly 40 silver coins a month, which is twice that of our Provincial Army! But it has all been spent by Orion in various ways, such as taverns, prostitutes, and gambling, which easily emptied his wealth."

"His reputation was infamous in his previous life because he had been imprisoned for drunken brawls, imprisoned in a debt prison for debts, and for the ewes in the brothel in Avalan."

Su Li was very interested and really wanted Freya to tell him about his relationship with those ewes.

Don't think that ewe brothels are anything strange. They exist in the Empire, and even on Earth. For example, in India, the price of ewe brothels can even be higher than that of certain criminal women (for religious sins or heresy).

In the Empire, the prices at ewe brothels were also higher than those for certain slaves or cult women. This involves a matter of fastidiousness and chaotic contamination.

However, Freya was clearly not interested in saying more about these things. She simply skipped over all of that and continued, "Soldiers like him in the provincial army usually continue to serve, then get married, have seven or eight children, receive a decent retirement pay, and finally buy a small farm to retire peacefully. In the end, when they get old, they sneeze themselves to death, and that's the end of their lives."

"But everything changed when he was ordered to support the Auster Territory in a battle. At the age of 21, he had become the captain of the Imperial Provincial Legion's swordsmen, leading 12 young men like himself in battle. It was no exaggeration to say that he was young and promising. If things continued like this, he might be able to join the Foot Knight Legion and continue serving. Perhaps he could even become the captain of the Foot Knights. If he worked hard for a few more years, he could try to be appreciated by some nobleman before retiring and be granted the title of a Kingdom Knight."

"But a battle in Auster Territory completely changed Orion's life. In that battle, his squad was responsible for protecting the legion's flank. It was a simple task: hold the line and the battle would end easily."

"But at that moment, a necromancer nearby raised his hands, and Orion's squad was swept into Zerels's purple evil sun, a huge purple magic sphere that, when it appeared on the battlefield, would turn anyone it touched into a cold purple crystal statue. In the final moment, one of Orion's comrades pushed him out with all his might, but he himself did not have time to dodge. Orion became the sole survivor of the entire swordsman squad."

"The Empire won a great victory on the front lines, and those who died will receive generous compensation. However, the shock of all those familiar to him being instantly killed by magic, and the guilt of failing to protect his teammates as captain, made Orion disheartened and submit his application to retire."

"His superior, though surprised, granted the young man's request to retire, and gave him a large sum of money for retirement. But Orion, who couldn't save money, squandered it all in almost a day and became a lone wolf in Auster territory."

"But it was precisely because of this that he successfully began his magnificent life. During his travels, he formed the renowned War Hounds squad. After acquiring a lava warhorse, Hephaestus, he successfully broke through to the Champion level. The horse's hooves were covered with anti-magic meteorite iron, leaving burning tracks when it charged. Riding this warhorse and leading his War Hounds squad, in a battle against necromancers at Blackflame Pass, the four of them successfully shattered thousands of undead monsters!"

"This battle made him famous, earning him the reputation of the Blazing Iron Wall. It also allowed him to find himself, giving him unparalleled abilities in the fight against the undead. More than a dozen vampires and necromancers have died at his hands!"

"How many?" Su Li asked in shock, "The four of them slashed through over a thousand undead monsters!? How did they do that?" Freya shook her head and said, "I don't know, but without a doubt, this achievement is so shocking that countless people can hardly believe it. Four mercenaries, even if one of them is a champion knight, it would be very difficult to deal with 100 undead at the same time, but they defeated ten times that number, which is unprecedented in the entire history of the empire."

“That’s beyond doubt.” Su Li nodded. “Regardless of how they did it, even if it was clearing caves or going deep into tombs, the fact that they could kill in batches in narrow terrain is enough to demonstrate their unparalleled combat power!”

Let alone over 1000 terrifying undead, even if it were over 1000 pigs, four people would be so tired they couldn't even lift their arms to chop them down.

Moreover, the undead in this world are not the weak skeletons of some other worlds, easily crushed by a farmer with a pitchfork. Empowered by dark magic, these undead monsters are as strong as steel, and ordinary humans wielding swords and knives would feel as if they were striking steel, their hands going numb from the impact.

It takes at least a squad of properly trained squires or provincial legion soldiers to defeat a squad of skeletons.

It's truly hard to imagine how those four knights managed to cut down over a thousand undead monsters. Keep in mind that four knights would have to fight to the death to defeat a company of armed squires—an extremely difficult task. And yet they defeated ten times that number!
It's no wonder that Commander Constantine and Vice Commander Freya valued them so much, personally hosting a banquet for the four mercenaries as commanders.

Freya agreed, saying, "Even if they have the advantage of terrain, they must possess extremely high-level skills in fighting undead. They must have a very good understanding of the undead's combat characteristics and could even deal with undead attacks with their eyes closed."

"Constantine and I agree that hiring them to join our Order of the Sun and serve as mentors will greatly enhance our offensive and defensive capabilities in the fight against the undead."

That's possible!
If their knightly order had such a mentor, they would definitely gain a new trait in the future: "+10% damage to the undead, +10% defense against the undead," and the effect might even be stronger than that.

Su Li's eyes lit up, and he asked, "Is Commander Constantine preparing for the battle against the Night Wanderers?"

Freya nodded slightly and said, "That's right. We plan to hold a joint exercise with the Knights of the Light Arrow to enhance our combat capabilities and clear out the monsters in our territory."

"That's a good suggestion," Su Li said with a smile. Within the Empire, the Flame Sun Knights and the Green Field Knights frequently practiced tactical coordination, a tradition between the two large knightly orders.

The Sun Crown Knights and the Light Arrow Knights are subordinate knightly orders of the two major knightly orders, and conducting joint exercises is in accordance with tradition and is also very beneficial to the Black Forest Territory.

When their two knightly orders take action, the security situation in Black Forest Territory will improve significantly, allowing them to clear out many monsters in the wild and generate considerable wealth for the territory.

"If you need any support from the territory, please let me know. We will do our best to cooperate with your church knights to wipe out the monsters and spread the glory of the Sun Goddess."

Freya didn't stand on ceremony and replied directly, "There are indeed three areas where I need your support."

The Church of the Goddess of the Sun is really not polite.

However, as the future quasi-god chosen by the Goddess of the Blazing Sun, Su Li didn't have much of a way to refuse, so she asked, "Which three places? Just tell me."

“First is the monastery of the Goddess of the Sun.” Freya looked at Su Li and said calmly, “We all knew before that the territory’s finances were relatively tight, so we never made a request. But the territory now has a large financial surplus, and we should build a landmark monastery. It should not be inferior to the Cathedral of Eternal Flame, but at least it should not be inferior to St. Benevolent Hospital.”

"During this Glorious Arena, many of the visiting Sun Goddess Knights were puzzled. We are clearly in the territory of the Sun Goddess Church, so why doesn't the church have a large monastery? In fact, the Sun Goddess Church is not as magnificent as the Church of Sharya."

Unlike Rhea, who doesn't care about the size of monasteries, the Goddess of the Sun loves gold and marble, so she prefers grand, white churches.

However, the territory does not have a cathedral of holy scale. The only church that can be considered the core of the Sun Goddess Church in the territory is the church in the north of the city, but that is not because of its grand scale, but because the goddess statue inside is very spectacular.

Su Li sighed softly and said with a smile, "I poured my heart and soul into organizing this Glorious Arena, and before I even got the money I earned, everyone was already eyeing it covetously."

If you want to build a large and magnificent church of holy significance, you can't do it without tens of thousands of gold coins.

Even the St. Renji Hospital of the Salya Church had a startup capital of tens of thousands of gold crowns.

With his meager savings, at this rate, he'll probably run out of money in just a few months.

Freya was also very gentle and considerate, saying, "My lord, I know that this may be a bit too hasty. So I discussed it with Commander Constantine and Commander Alfred, and we will also invest in and support this large monastery, providing at least 15000 gold crowns."

Upon hearing Freya's suggestion, Su Li's face lit up with a bright smile. Who said that the Church Knights only accept donations and never give them back? Doesn't this also generate gold coins?

15000 gold crowns—even for the wealthiest church knightly order, that's a considerable expense.

Among the knights of the Goddess of the Sun, only the knights of the Flame Sun Knights are the wealthiest in the world. The Green Field Knights are far less wealthy than the Flame Sun Knights, since they are always in the forest and their wealth is relatively limited.

Of these 15000 golden crowns, probably the majority were provided by the Knights of the Sun. The Knights of the Arrow of Light would be lucky to contribute a few thousand.

Therefore, from this perspective, both sides are doing their utmost to support the construction of a large church in the territory.

It would be inappropriate for Su Li to refuse again, especially since he had originally intended to do so. So he said, "No problem. In that case, I will contribute 20000 gold crowns to expand the church in the northeast of the Forbidden City."

"Let's gather these 35000 gold crowns and hand them over to the Provincial Council and the Bishops' Conference. Oliver, Lord Ron, and you will act as the three supervisors to oversee the construction of this church. What do you think?"

Freya was very satisfied with the proposal and immediately said, "Your Lordship's decision is very wise, and we will support your plan."

"What are your other two needs?"

"The second request is the combination of the expeditionary force. Our Sun Crown Knights and Green Field Knights will each send a knightly unit, totaling no less than 300 knights, to participate in this Holy Great Expedition. We hope to obtain a mentor position in the Bauhinia Expeditionary Legion to spread Her Majesty Violet's teachings."

This is why the Bauhinia Expeditionary Force participated in this sacred imperial expedition in the name of the Goddess of the Sun.

Although the Goddess of the Sun holds an absolutely dominant position within the Black Forest Territory, this sacred grand expedition is a massive celebration for the entire empire. Major empire churches such as the Church of Yurik, the Church of Redmar, the Church of the Goddess of Justice, and the Church of Mor will all send influential legions to participate.

Many lords will represent their respective church factions in this expedition.

This is also the best stage to show the influence of the gods. For example, the Yurik faith has 120 lords and 8 troops, the Redmar faith has 80 lords and 6 troops, while the Violet faith, which is also the lord of war, only has 40 lords and 3 troops. So their respective influence is self-evident.
Therefore, before the expedition, the priests and knights of each church would do their best to persuade the lords of each territory. The empire is a polytheistic country, and each territory has a large number of churches and believers of different churches.

Therefore, it is crucial that the lord represents which faith during the expedition. If the at least thousand knights of the Black Forest Territory were to be incorporated into the Sun Goddess's camp, it would undoubtedly further enhance the influence of Violet's faith.

Su Li replied decisively, "No problem. I will have the handsome Gilles take care of the knights you sent and give them the positions of instructor and vice commander of the expeditionary legion. As believers of the Goddess of the Sun, we have an unshirkable responsibility in this regard."

"What's the last thing?"

Freya's usually cool face flushed slightly, probably because she was embarrassed by the number of requests she had made. However, since it was for the sake of the Knights' development, she had no choice but to speak up: "Our Sun Crown Knights have recently grown in strength rapidly. Grand Master Constantine would like to ask you if you could provide us with another base, as well as several new villages and farms."

"Of course, no problem." Su Li smiled and pulled her into his arms. The donation of 15000 gold crowns was enough to buy out the output of 10 villages for over a hundred years. He could easily allocate more to the Sunfire Knights for two or three more villages. "But I've provided so much help, my vice-commander, shouldn't you show some appreciation? How will you repay my generous donation?"

(End of this chapter)