Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 415 Massive Expansion and the Unparalleled Mighty Man, Luther Huss
Tiberius was also puzzled to find the perfumer's ash and ingredients in the ashes of Nurgle, so he said to Su Li, "That's what Hela told me anyway. I guess besides corruption, distortion, and plague, Nurgle also has the authority to heal, life, and mercy."

That's true. Besides being the Plague Lord, Nurgle also has another name: the Compassionate Father. "Feel the love of the Compassionate Father" is the most common slogan among the Nurgle faction.

Su Li thought for a moment and then said to Tiberius, "Then give these to Hela. You performed well in this battle, and it was worth it for me to go against the majority and reward you with the God-Chosen Armor. The Marshal will conduct a thorough review of the subsequent rewards and punishments to ensure that the soldiers can rest assured that no meritorious person will be treated unfairly."

Su Li spoke these words with complete confidence!
What supports his confidence is, of course, his strong financial resources!

In the treasury district, the wealth of the Hessian Territory increased day by day. After conquering Blue Mirror Fortress, the Hessian Territory's finances surged by 5 gold crowns.

Although the number dropped to around 2 after deducting battle losses and soldier death benefits, it was still enough for his territory to sustain itself for several more months.

More importantly, after this round of expansion, the size of the army in the Hessian Territory decreased and its fiscal expenditures declined, but its fiscal revenue increased significantly as the territory expanded!

The monthly fiscal deficit of the Hessian Territory has now plummeted to less than 5000 gold crowns per month.

However, the treasury of the Hessian Territory now contains 14 gold crowns!
At this rate of consumption, even with monthly fiscal deficits, it can sustain operations for more than two years.

The main source of their wealth, including so many gold coins, came from two sources: the slave trade and the capture of nearly a thousand elite knights and nobles of all ranks during the Black Forest's defeat of the Blue Mirror Territory.

Even if only half of these slaves were sold, that would still amount to 50000 gold crowns.

Another important source of income is the fruit pods of the consecrated wisteria tree.

During the time Tiberius led his army on campaign, the pods of the Blessed Wisteria tree had ripened.

Last year, the Wisteria tree produced about 130 bunches of fruit pods. Su Li ate 10 bunches herself, distributed 60 bunches to the ruling class, and sold 60 bunches.

The Wisteria 'Blessed' tree is now nearing maturity, with the number of pods it produces increasing from 130 to 190. Vandall estimates that this is not yet the Wisteria 'Blessed' tree's full maturity; it will continue to grow next year, the year after, and even the year after that, taking at least five years to reach full maturity.

By then, the fruit pods will be fully ripe, and eating one pod can extend your life by one year.

Even before the pod was fully ripe, it was already a sensation in the Black Forest Territory; no one would refuse to pay for a longer life. The only thing limiting the desire to buy was poverty. Given enough wealth, there were plenty of people willing to pay for this extraordinary fruit.

The distribution of these 190 strings of pods was entirely at Su Li's disposal; those close to him received 10 strings each, and every female courtier received one.

In addition, each of the knightly orders, whether ecclesiastical or secular, received 3 strings of knights.

The ruling class, including the Chosen Knights, Champion Knights, and the knight commanders and platoon leaders of the provincial legions, also received a share. This constituted the vast majority, with nearly 100 strings being consumed.

In the end, only 80 strings were sold on the market, but the sensation it caused was enormous. A major arms dealer from Maleburg bought 5 strings in one go for his ailing wife, and in order to acquire this highly sought-after extraordinary fruit, he also purchased 500 weapons and hundreds of sets of armor in the Black Forest Territory!
Meanwhile, a powerful count in the empire secretly sent someone to purchase three strings of coins for his own use.

The most sensational case occurred in the province of Gray Mountain. An elderly dwarven jeweler, nearing the end of his life, had his heir, in order to ensure a smooth inheritance of his father's treasure, sell some of his ancestors' belongings to raise enough gold to purchase a string of beads. It is said that after consuming the beads, the elderly master's mental state improved, and he was even able to briefly manage the affairs of his jewelry shop. This directly disrupted his inheritance plans, causing a great uproar and family feud within the small circle of the Gray Mountain jeweler guild.

These 80 bunches of fruit directly brought the Black Forest Territory nearly 20000 gold crowns in revenue. Although it was not comparable to the figure from the slave trade, it was completely cost-free and greatly won over the hearts of the people, consolidating the rule of the Black Forest Territory.

If anyone in the territory were to rebel and overthrow Su Li's rule, he wouldn't need to lift a finger; there would be plenty of enraged knights to hack them to pieces.

Rebels who might act with impunity in other territories would become the target of everyone's wrath if they appeared in Black Forest Territory! All knightly families would actively attack any exposed rebels.

Aside from the knight families who were misled by cultists and Chaos believers, almost everyone supported Su Li's rule.

The only thing that displeased the knights was why their lord hadn't expanded the army yet.

The knights and councilors who came to the hall today were not doubting the lord's authority; on the contrary, they highly recognized the fruits of victory in this battle. What troubled them was how to further deepen their connection with the lord.

So when Tiberius finished his report, before the enthusiastic atmosphere in the hall had completely subsided, an excited voice rang out.

"My Lord!" The speaker was Frederick, the chief judge of the territory's court and a typical representative of a knightly family; all his family members had participated in the Battle of Blue Mirror Lake. He stood up, bowed deeply to Su Li, and spoke with a respectful tone but with remarkably bold words: "Please allow me, on behalf of many knightly families present, to express our highest respect to you and congratulate your warriors on their glorious victory! The fall of the Chosen One, Gorg, is a heavy blow to the forces of Chaos and a testament to the Goddess's favor upon your rule! We are deeply honored to follow a lord like you!"

He paused, glancing around. He saw many knight chieftains and large landowners with private armies nodding slightly, their faces showing both joy at victory and fervent desire. Frederick took a deep breath and continued, "However, behind this glory lies a great crisis. Please forgive my frankness, my lord. In the Battle of Blue Mirror Lake, although we ultimately won the victory, the process... also resulted in heavy losses."

"My eldest son, along with four of his family's elite knights, fell on the charge, trying to breach the Blue Mirror Knights' defenses. This is not an isolated incident! Ask your colleagues, how many families have lost outstanding heirs? How many loyal warriors lie buried on the shores of that cold lake? The infantry phalanx was almost wrecked, the halberdiers lost more than half their number, and the crossbowmen suffered heavy losses!"

Frederick's words resonated strongly. Another knightly patriarch, Sir Stern, added in a booming voice, "Lord Frederick is absolutely right! My lord, we are not questioning your decisions or the bravery of your army. On the contrary, it is precisely because we have witnessed the brilliance and prowess of Lord Tiberius, Lord Dietrich, and all the generals, and the invincibility of our Blacksin Legion, that we are even more pained by our previous losses! We believe that the most important reason for the heavy losses in the last battle was our insufficient manpower. If we had more troops, we would not have needed to fight for so long."

"Moreover, this battle wiped out nearly half of the territory's troops, leaving the territory stretched thin and defenses weak everywhere. It's terrifying!"

A councilor representing a large landowner from the agricultural province also stepped forward, more concerned with the security and continued development of his territory: "My lord, the glory of victory cannot conceal the scars of reality. We have swept away the rebels and chaos around Flashspear City and slain the powerful Gorg, proving our strength. But the territory of Blacksin has expanded like never before! Blue Mirror Lake, the plains of Flashspear City, the edge of Bloodpine Forest... these newly acquired territories all require a strong army to guard, purify, and deter any remaining forces or new threats! With our current forces, we can manage to maintain the defense of the core area, but to ensure the absolute security of such a vast territory and deter any troublemakers is simply beyond our capabilities!"

"Expand the army!" A voice rang out from the crowd, resolute and unwavering. It was another young knight chieftain, renowned for his bravery. "We must expand the army, my lord! The losses at Blue Mirror Lake need to be replenished! The defenses of the new territories need to be strengthened! Facing the potentially even stronger Chaos threat in the future, we need thicker shields and sharper swords! Look at our victorious army today—two thousand men were enough to crush a powerful Chaos Knights! If we had three thousand, four thousand, or even five thousand such elite troops, who in the entire province—no, the entire northern border princely territory—would dare to underestimate Blackforest Territory? Who would dare to easily extend the filthy hand of Chaos onto our land?"

"Exactly this!"

"Lord Frederick has spoken our minds!"

"With insufficient troops, the fruits of victory cannot be protected for long!"

"I humbly request that Your Lordship consider expanding the military!"

The hall was instantly filled with pleas and voices of agreement. The councilors, the knights, the clan chiefs, and the representatives of the large landowners were all united in their demands: to continue conscripting troops and expand the army.

And in this process, it is obvious who benefits! They want to squeeze more family members into the army, making them a ruling class more closely tied to Su Li.

But with Su Li's current authority, their clamor and clamor have no effect whatsoever.

So Su Li raised his hand, interrupting everyone's excited voices, and turned to look at the territory's Marshal, Erstein, asking, "My Marshal, what do you think of the matter of expanding the army?"

Erstein pondered for a moment, then slowly rose from his chair and said, "My lord, I believe everyone is speaking from the heart."

"Now that the territory has been expanded, it does indeed need a larger army. To give you a few examples, on the western side of the Blue Mirror Plains, which is the westernmost border of our territory, Drake's minions from the Twilight Mountains frequently come down from the mountains to harass us. We have already had three villages raided by them. Fortunately, they did not destroy these villages; we only lost some wealth and had some buildings damaged."

"Within the Bloodpine Forest, we discovered that the number of messengers and zombies from the Night Wanderers is increasing, and they are constantly approaching the Valley of Memories."

"In fact, judging from the increase in strength and the level of danger, our territory has not become safer after its strength has increased. On the contrary, there are even more huge crises. Dangers that could destroy our territory are lurking everywhere, and our level of unease is far greater than before."

“The reason we can still hold on is for one reason only. The Knights of the Church have helped us fend off numerous crises.” At this point, Orstein turned to Freya, nodded to her, and said, “We must especially thank Commander Freya for her support. The Knights of the Sun have provided us with immense assistance in dealing with the crises. The Knights of the Church’s contribution is indispensable.” Freya nodded slightly and said coldly, “It is only right. Faced with the threat of evil, all of us humans should stand up.”

Orstein then added, “But if a major war breaks out and the Knights of the Church suffer heavy losses, we will no longer be able to support such a large territory and domain. At that time, we will be vulnerable everywhere.”

“Our territory now has a large surplus in its finances, so it is only right to expand the size of the army. Even if it is just for the imperial assessment at the end of the year, we should increase the size of the army. There should be at least 1000 elite knights.”

"Moreover, it is now the season from autumn to winter, so the planting of crops can be slowed down a bit, which is just right for a winter training. We can recruit a batch of new soldiers to supplement the troops of high-ranking squires, various knightly orders, provincial legions, and free militias."

"In that case, let's go with everyone's suggestion." Su Li decided to follow suit.

Since the territory currently has a fiscal surplus, it can easily afford to spend tens of thousands of gold crowns on military expansion and reorganization.

With Su Li's orders and, crucially, the support of the entire ruling class of the territory, the autumn troop review and winter training proceeded very smoothly.

The organization of each unit was reorganized. Some units that were initially chaotic or temporarily formed were reorganized, with some being disbanded and others expanded.

The first to be expanded was the Sun Vengeance Half-Griffin Knights. Last year, the autumn and winter seasons were the peak expansion period for the knights. Autumn was fine, but in winter, the half-griffin knights faced difficulties hunting, which made them particularly vulnerable.

Meanwhile, the human knights, having rested and recuperated, are now robust and healthy. Crucially, before entering the Griffin Forest, they will replenish their supplies of Steel Wheat and Extraordinary Ears for several days, reaching their peak strength. This will result in a significant reversal in the balance of power between the two sides.

Now, knights can tame a griffin without asking Su Li's permission and simply enter the griffin forest on their own.

Just like the proverb inscribed on that silver-plated taming whistle: "May those who come after win the griffin's loyalty with courage, not chains."

With the support of the territory's strength and Su Li's intelligence, the Black Forest Territory once assembled two and a half Griffin Knight battle groups.

Half-griffin knights belong to the monster cavalry, and a band consists of 24 knights.

In other words, the Vengeful Sun Half-Gryphon Knights currently have 48 adult half-griffins capable of fighting, in addition to more than 50 reserve knights, all of whom possess strength no less than elite level and ride magnificent warhorses. However, these reserve knights do not all lack half-griffins; more than 30 of them have half-griffins that are merely minors.

If all these griffins reach adulthood, Su Li will have nearly 100 half-griffin knights. This is, of course, quite different from his expected 500 half-griffin knights. But within the baron's rank, he is already a unique existence!

If the imperial examiners saw 100 half-griffin knights lined up outside the castle, they would probably be so shocked that their jaws would drop.

The leader of the Vengeful Sun Half-Griffin Knights is Hilde, a chosen knight whom Su Li absolutely trusts. Her divine magic is [Master of Combat], which allows her to instill Violet's martial arts into the members.

This made the knightly order extremely powerful, basically representing the highest level of military force in the entire church and even the entire empire!
There is no doubt that the half-griffin knights are the pinnacle of the Empire's military power.

Even in the Emperor's Imperial Guard, the top-tier Flame Sun Knights, a large-scale and well-organized elite force, consisted of champion-level half-griffin knights.

Occasionally, one or two exceptionally strong men will emerge and become chosen knights.

The Half-Griffin Knights of Blackwood Territory are also full of fierce men. For example, Luther Huss.

This is a priestess of the Church of Rydmar, renowned for her justice, erudition, and fanatical purge of Chaos. She is popular among the common people of the Empire, but ostracized by most of her peers because she has repeatedly swung her hammer and smashed the faces of priests she considers heretical.

Despite his illustrious reputation within the Empire, Huss's origins are somewhat obscure. Even the name Luther Huss isn't his real name. All that is known is that many years ago, on a cold, rainy night, a twelve-year-old boy arrived at the gates of the Temple of Redmar on the Empire's frontier, overlooking the Claw Sea. The old priest, Edsor Zeiss, asked him his name, but he wouldn't answer. When asked why he was at the temple, the boy simply replied that he wanted to study. Zeiss noticed a sharp determination in the boy's eyes, unlike the innocent gaze of ordinary children. Reluctantly, the old priest took him in.

Unexpectedly, the boy was exceptionally capable and hardworking, helping Zeiss a great deal and showing a strong love for learning. Within a month of arriving at the temple, he was already studying advanced theological textbooks. Two months later, he could engage in simple catechism. A year later, the boy had thoroughly read the biography of Ridma and began studying the church classic, *Reflections on the Nature of Faith*. Because of his diligent studies, his fellow students became jealous and began to bully him, but the boy always refrained from retaliating. Later, Zeiss felt that constantly calling the boy "child" or "acolyte" was too cumbersome and made it difficult to distinguish him from others, so he let him choose a new name. The boy picked up a biographical directory of the Ridma order, flipped through it, and finally chose two people: Adrek Luther and Boris Huss. The pastor thus named the boy Luther Huss.

Four years later, Luther Huss had grown impressively, quickly surpassing the size of his former bullies. He constantly studied, trained, and honed his skills, aspiring to become an outstanding church priest. Zeiss, not wanting to cultivate a fanatic, soon began teaching Huss the true meaning of faith and the uniqueness of the human spirit. He finally allowed Huss to accompany him on his journey, to tour the area around the temple, and to learn in practice how to wield a warhammer like a true battle priest.

Four days later, the two arrived at the village of Hernell, where the old pastor was to hold a ceremony to bless the residents. In this dilapidated village, Luther saw for the first time the true face of the wider world: where was the promised happiness, joy, and well-being of the people, the empire bathed in a warm, silky spring breeze like the hair of Ryderma? Instead, he saw only poverty, despair, and cowardice. The weakness of the people he was supposed to serve, lead, and protect almost made him physically uncomfortable.

At that time, a sixteen-year-old girl in the village was suffering from leishmaniasis and was dying. The inexperienced Huss resolved to be a hero. He tried to bring the girl back from the brink of death with his own soul, but at the last moment, her soul vanished into the darkness. Luther, just entering puberty, was heartbroken, saying he had failed to save an angel and wept uncontrollably. Old Zeiss, who had arrived after the ordeal, tried to comfort Huss, saying, "You're neither Priest Mor nor a healer, you're a battle priest of Redmar! Your duty is to give hope to the living, stand up!" Zeiss told him that the world was full of demons and angels, and if Huss lived long enough, he would eventually meet another angel.

As Huss grew older, Zeiss aged, and when he was too old to hold ceremonies, he began to have Huss perform them for him. The old priest arranged one final test for Huss to establish the young man as his successor. Zeiss gave Huss his armor and warhammer, sending him to the town of Wiesmond to eliminate the beastmen who had seized the local temple of Redmar. Huss defeated the beastmen in the temple, but was accidentally poisoned and lost consciousness. When he finally awoke, Huss struggled back to his temple, because he had promised to return to the old priest before he died. Upon entering, he saw the old priest kneeling in a chaos magic circle, frantically drinking a potion of rejuvenation.

Zeiss's inner turmoil is easy to guess: he had toiled and toiled his entire life for the church, only to die alone in this godforsaken place. His acolytes—who were also Hus's classmates—felt life was not worthwhile and decided to worship Chaos for eternal life. Hus felt they had betrayed him, and more importantly, they had betrayed their faith. The battle escalated from a mob fight to a one-man show, and finally to a hunt. Hus killed Zeiss and every heretic he could catch, and then set the temple ablaze. The other acolytes fled into the forest. Before the burning temple, Luther Hus experienced his first wave of doubt about faith. Zeiss's last words to him were: "You will be alone, Luther. You cannot understand us. You know nothing of the temptations we face. You are certainly a good priest, but you have never been a real man, never."

In the years since leaving his homeland, Luther Huss has hunted down evil throughout the empire, eradicating it with an unwavering and almost ruthless resolve. Many priests suspected of corruption have been kicked to death by Huss, and his ruthlessness towards his colleagues has led more than one diocesan to request his excommunication. But Archbishop Vokmar would only chuckle at such requests, for Huss was both a formidable fighter and impeccably devout.

But Huss had so many colleagues he had destroyed each year that the church leadership could no longer contain the boiling resentment and immense pressure, and was forced to exile him to the border princely territory. (However, he retained his position as a pastor, as they absolutely refused to expel such a capable fighter from the church.)

Here, the solitary battle priest had not abandoned his faith. He tracked a horde of zombies to a town called Helga, now a ruin, where he stumbled upon a survivor, a beautiful girl covered in bruises. This girl, named Mira, initially wanted to follow Huss, but she constantly reminded him of a girl he had failed to save in his youth. So, Luther, unusually, showed kindness, trying to comfort her and leading her to the town of Eschenbach, where they were met head-on by a horde of zombies.

Hus rallied the townspeople to defend the town, using a highly inflammatory and inspiring speech to transform the working class into religious fanatics willing to face zombies head-on. Despite the danger of the battle, the naive Mira remained by his side, forcing Hus to work even harder to protect her. Soon, Hus realized that Mira brought him unprecedented hope and happiness, but he also feared she would die if she stayed by his side. So, the day after the battle ended, Hus secretly left the town alone as a way to protect the girl.

The lone Husse ventured deep into the Blackpine Forest, where he fought a fierce battle against the entire Beastman Warband in an abandoned stone temple, but was ultimately outnumbered and mortally wounded. Just as the story of Husse was about to end, the Griffin Rider Edwin suddenly appeared with a provincial army.

Edwin rushed forward and dragged Huss to the rear of the battle line. The priest looked up in a daze and saw Mira, who was in the middle of a small group of cavalry. Her golden hair looked silvery in the starlight and she was shouting something. This time, she was the one who saved him.

Just as Huss smiled with the satisfaction of a proud father, a group of beastmen suddenly charged at the cavalry squad from the nearby woods. Mira raised her sword to block the beastmen's first attack, then was cleaved from her saddle by a giant axe. Huss flung Edwin's hand away and ran, struggling to call out Mira's name through choked sobs, but his legs gave way and he collapsed into the mud, tears streaming down his face. Before his allies could rush up and pull him away, Huss crawled forward a meter or two, catching only a glimpse of a blood-stained patch of blond hair discarded in the blood and mud in the distance, before he fainted.

After that day, Huss became depressed. He refused to communicate with anyone and became extremely decadent. The priests of the Hessian Territory even suspected that he had been corrupted by Chaos and plotted to burn him alive.

But Huss's fighting prowess improved by leaps and bounds. He was incredibly powerful, and no one in the entire Vengeful Sun Half-Griffin Knights could withstand his fury. On one occasion, someone insulted his two deceased lovers, which enraged him. Four Half-Griffin Knights couldn't subdue him; he single-handedly defeated them, breaking three legs, four nasal bones, and knocking out more than 20 teeth.

This even alarmed Su Li, and the case was brought to Su Li's desk. Hilde was unsure how to punish him.

In the end, Su Li made the same decision as Archbishop Vokmah: those who can fight are innocent. He personally took potions from the treasury to compensate and silence the others, determined to keep this tough guy in the army.

Half-griffin riders, those are the kind of beings capable of charging at dragons. Twelve half-griffin riders might have a chance to kill a dragon, yet four of them working together were defeated by a single, burly man with his bare hands. How could Su Li not take such a powerful man seriously?

As far as Su Li knew, there were at least 3 to 4 other powerful men like this in the Half-Griffin Knights Order. These were all powerful beings with a chance of breaking through to the Chosen God level. Of course, having a chance was one thing, but actually breaking through was another.

After all, to become the chosen one, opportunity is sometimes much more important than aptitude and probability.

And Black Forest Territory, or more precisely, Su Li's greatest asset is opportunity.

(End of this chapter)