Knight Lords: Infinite Simulation and the Path of Light

Chapter 139 Snow in the North
"report!"

Beside an unnamed stream on the Western Australian plains, Earl Hylan, leading four battalions of white lion cavalry, was heading towards the Ugalama Mountains.

"what's up?"

Earl Hylan, dressed in a level-four custom-made 'White Lion Honor' outfit, slowed down his horse and looked at the messenger who had caught up with him.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, there is a letter for you."

Earl Hylan took the letters and looked at the signatures. He found that there were three letters in total. One was a summary of recent military intelligence from Whiterun, and the other two were written to him by his wife Louise and son Haven, respectively.

Thinking of this, Earl Hylan smiled knowingly, somewhat impatiently preparing to check the letter. He glanced at the sky, then turned to his adjutant beside him and said:

"Taren! Pass the word down, set up camp on the spot."

Upon receiving the order, Taren immediately turned his horse around and began relaying commands to the various captains. As Havent's personal bodyguard captain, he was an excellent cavalry captain in the White Lion Guard before he began protecting Havent.

Later, after successfully storming the magic circle behind the Church of Death with Haven, Taren was severely injured while resisting the surging ghouls. After Solis's careful treatment, Taren quickly recovered his health. However, Haven had already gone to the capital alone, so Taren's previous order to serve and protect Haven was naturally invalid.

Just when Taren was at a loss, Lord Kevin recruited him into his White Lion Guard and promoted him to be his adjutant, which made Taren, who was recovering from his serious injuries, feel grateful.

With the order given, the thousands of soldiers came to a halt. The soldiers quickly got to work, while the servants hurried to set up camp and look after the horses that had been on a long march. This black-scaled horse, which had the blood of a magical beast, was a valuable asset to every cavalryman.

Therefore, some knights didn't even need servants to help them maintain their black-scaled horses. Instead, after taking off their half-worn construct armor and handing it to their servants, they would roll up their sleeves and personally take care of their comrades.

Sitting in the newly erected central command tent, Earl Hylan placed the letter from Earl Morrie, sent from Whiterun, on the table. After drinking the Blackthorn wine handed to him by his guard, he signaled that the guard could leave and wait for instructions outside the tent.

Seeing his guards leave the tent, Earl Hylan eagerly picked up the letters from his wife and son. After thinking for a moment, he opened his wife's letter first.

As a multifaceted couple, Count Hyland and his wife Louise's relationship differed from that of typical imperial noble couples. On the surface, they appeared affectionate and incredibly sweet, but their true feelings were that they both wished the other dead.

On the contrary, the two had a very harmonious relationship. As they met at the Royal Academy, their love story was quite sensational in the capital. So, even though they had only been separated for half a year, Earl Hailan had already felt his wife's deep longing for him through her letters.

Louise's letter didn't say anything particularly special, only that her son Haven had arrived safely in the capital, and that their little Haven seemed to have grown quite a bit. Louise explicitly wrote in the letter that her son Haven had not only grown taller, but also that some indescribable features had changed significantly.

Upon reading this, Earl Hylan was somewhat dazed and lost in thought. After his wife's words, Earl Hylan thought about it carefully and indeed felt some very noticeable changes in his son. However, he couldn't quite pinpoint when exactly these changes began.

That was probably when the Church of Death surrounded West Tower and he went to rescue it, only to be attacked by a dragon and return to Whiterun. From that moment on, his son seemed like a different person. Every decision he made, in hindsight, could be described as insane. The key point is that despite so many crazy and extreme choices, his son didn't make a single wrong choice.

This was the most surprising thing when he and that old man Mori reviewed the situation afterward. Haven had found all the correct options in all the circumstances without bias, which made Earl Hyland feel both proud and shocked.

This made Earl Hyland curious about what his son had experienced on this trip. Thinking of this, Earl Hyland put aside his wife Louise's letter and opened Haven's letter instead.

The salutation at the very beginning of the letter made Earl Hylan raise an eyebrow;

"You heartless and ungrateful old man, your great and intelligent son has successfully arrived in the capital. I must say, I am truly remarkable."

I've encountered many interesting things along the way. I must say, you and that old fox, Count Mori, have done a really good job. I've already seen some of your activities in the Black Horse Express.

Watching his son's unrestrained and eloquent speech as always, Earl Hyland, sitting cross-legged on the ground, couldn't help but smile. He could already imagine Haven's expression as he said these words.

As he read further down the letter, and came across information about what had happened in Helgen and what followed in Falling Moon Canyon, Count Hylan's expression gradually turned serious.

"、、、、、、、

It seems the situation in the North is even worse than you and Lord Morley described that night. I've already arranged for this man named Coopers to report to Whiterun. If nothing unexpected happens, he should already be meeting you by now.

You two can discuss the specifics with Kubasi. Oh, and I've agreed to let him join White Lion, so you'd better make sure to arrange this for me…”

After reading this passage, Earl Hylan fell into deep thought. It wasn't that he hadn't expected some of the empire's nobles to be plotting behind the scenes; after all, the Northern Territory's long-standing alliances meant it was difficult to establish a harmonious relationship with some of the nobles.

However, through Havent's letter, the experienced Earl of Hyland vaguely discovered something that worried him even more: the meticulous planning and wide scope of this operation against the North were far beyond what he had seen in the past.

So, given this situation, the number of people dissatisfied with the North, or rather, dissatisfied with His Majesty the Emperor's rule, has increased. Judging from the current situation, the balance that has been maintained is likely to be disrupted very soon.

Filled with worry, Earl Hylan continued reading.

"Speaking of our Emperor, I have met him in person, but how should I put it, I feel that he is not as good as you described, Father."

I always felt that he seemed preoccupied, and after I gave him the letter, he asked me for my opinion on the matter. What opinion could I possibly have? Of course, I just said whatever came to mind. For example, I was curious as to why the relationship between His Majesty the Emperor and the Church was so tense.

Although it's true that "two tigers cannot share one mountain" and "internal stability must precede external defense," neither His Majesty the Emperor nor we, the royalists, seem to have taken any concrete action. In my view, this is a meaningless drain and bleeding of the empire's strength, and in the end, it's the ordinary poor people who suffer the most.

However, it seems that our Emperor Frederick IV did not think that way. Instead of answering my question directly, he gave me a very profound answer, saying that I would understand when I grew older and experienced more things.

You adults are really indecisive. Luckily, I don't have to see him every day.

Looking at his son's description, Earl Hyland smiled helplessly. He wondered if Havent, that impetuous fellow, had done anything disrespectful to His Majesty. As a noble lord who had been in power for decades, Earl Hyland naturally understood what Frederick IV's behavior meant. He muttered to himself, "My dear brother, my Majesty, it seems your situation is indeed not good. Was such a test really necessary? The North will always be the North you remember."

Count Hylan sat in his tent in silence for a long time. The sky outside was gradually darkening. At this moment, the guard standing at the door came in and activated the magic chandelier, hanging it in the middle of the tent.

As a pale yellow magical halo illuminated the entire space, Earl Hylan looked up. Sensing Earl Hylan's gaze, the guard quickly turned around and replied:

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the camp has been set up and the squads are currently having their meals in an orderly manner. The scouts have been deployed and there are no abnormalities at present."

"Okay, I understand. Thank you for your hard work. You can go eat now."

"Yes! Lord Earl."

Watching the guards' departing figures, Earl Hyland opened the last letter. In the letter, Earl Morley described the progress of several things they were currently doing and mentioned Coopers, the Free Ranger commander mentioned in Havent's letter.

According to Count Mori, this Coopers arrived the afternoon after he led his team away from Whiterun. At the time, he was dealing with some business, and Coopers specifically requested to see him. After some commotion, he came out to meet him, but at first, the guy refused to say anything.

It wasn't until I took Kubasi to your study and confirmed some things that this guy started to tell me everything.

"Hey, old buddy, you need to finish up that pile of chores as soon as possible and then get back. I've already told Charlton that once you're done here, the three of us will head to the Arma Line together. Those unruly guys are a real headache."

We must react, otherwise, if it happens again, the North will be finished. As for His Majesty, I believe your son has explained the situation, and what His Majesty plans to do is his business. We need to make some new decisions now.”

After reading all the letters, Earl Hylan rubbed his slightly numb temples. The good mood he had when he first started reading the letters had completely vanished. All sorts of things were like a huge rock pressing down on him, making it hard to breathe.

Feeling a bit stifled, Earl Hylan put on his undergarments and stepped out of the tent. After taking a deep breath of the dry, cold air outside, he felt some relief from the stuffiness in his chest.

At that moment, the captain of the personal guard walked over.

"Sir, the meal is ready. Would you like to eat now?"

"Bring in the food. Also, inform all the captains that we are under a lot of time. It's going to snow soon, and we need to finish our work before it snows. Tell them that they must take the care and maintenance of the horses very seriously. I don't want anyone to fall behind because of horse problems when we launch the charge."

"Yes, sir! I will go and deliver it again immediately."

five days later

The White Lion Legion, galloping wildly through the snow, resembled a pack of ice wolves on a hunting expedition. Their bright silver armor, soaked by the snow, had lost all its metallic luster. As they ran, the breath exhaled by the horses and cavalry froze on their faces.

"Damn it, it's snowing again."

Earl Hylan, at the head of the procession, looked up at the misty sky. The snowflakes seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, which was a bit different from his prediction. According to his prediction, it should have been at least ten more days before it got very cold and started to snow. Why did it happen so early this year?

“My Lord, we are still ten kilometers away from Hitzsen. Should we let the troops rest first? This weather is taking a heavy toll on the horses.”

Taren, draped in a white cloak, caught up from behind and shouted at Earl Hylan while covering his mouth.

After five consecutive days of intense raids, although the wights in the Northern Territory had been largely wiped out, the fatigue of the half of the White Lion Legion that had come out with them had reached a considerable level.

"Taren, give the order: the troops will rest for two hours, keep the horses warm, and give the soldiers something hot to eat. We'll clean up this last place in Hitzson today and then return to Whiterun."

As the advance ceased, the soldiers dismounted and began to rest. However, their excellent military discipline meant that even when they were exhausted, the White Lion Knights took care of their horses first before setting up iron pots in small groups to boil water and cook.

Earl Hylan glanced back at the orderly soldiers, spurred his horse up the nearby earthen slope, and pondered the various events that had occurred in the past few days. After he led half of the White Lion Legion to wipe out the remaining ghouls, it seemed that the ever-growing number of ghouls had stopped.

Previously, I only thought there was some conspiracy waiting for the North, but now it seems that the group of people knew that the plan had failed, so they used the ghouls to distract the North, so that they could complete the cleaning work more easily. If that's the case, then everything makes sense.

Moreover, Aurelion's Dawnguard disappeared in the North on the third day after he led his army away from Whiterun, which means the Church was indeed involved in the incident.

On the other side, at the northern border.

"Sir, are we just going to let those heretics go?"

Riding a white horse, Aurelion watched the few black dots disappear into the vast snowfield and said calmly:

"Our mission is complete. We're now withdrawing from the North."

Salen watched the remnants of the Church of Death disappear into the snowfield, not quite understanding what they had been doing all this time. However, seeing that Aurelion was in a bad mood, he didn't dare to say anything more and could only reply in a muffled voice.

"Yes, sir."

Everyone, gather your belongings, make sure nothing is left behind, and await orders to leave the North.

(End of this chapter)