After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Setting down the blade, the gentle green magic slowly entered the sole of the foot from which the rotten flesh had been removed. Once the wound stopped bleeding, the nun grasped the patient's foot, carefully applied medicine, and finally wrapped it with a bandage with considerable force.

"Get some rest and be careful about hygiene." Wearing a black veil, Jenny blurted out these words instinctively, then quickly added, "This is the envoy's request."

The farmer nodded repeatedly and skipped away.

Jenny washed her hands by the stream and softly asked the knight who had been watching her for a long time, "Is something wrong? Where are you hurt?"

Paul hesitated, then shook his head. "You...aren't you tired from treating them all one by one?"

For half of the ten minutes he stood there, Jenny was casting spells; an ordinary nun would probably have given up long ago.

"You're not from the Northern Territory, are you?" Jenny cupped some clear stream water in her hands and said with a smile, "Everyone in the Northern Territory knows that here, no matter what you do, you're never short of manpower."

"But things always need to be done little by little. Once you get used to it, it won't be tiring anymore."

Before him stood a beautiful soul, and Paul bowed respectfully, saying, "I have learned much. I am also a clergyman, but I hold the position of a paladin."

Jenny returned the greeting, glancing at his attire. "You come from the royal city, sir?"

"Yes, I came to the Northern Territory on the orders of the Archbishop to discuss some matters with the Duke, but I'm sorry, I cannot disclose the specifics."

"It's alright."

Seeing that more patients were being brought in by the militia, Jenny stopped chatting and said directly to Paul, "I have other matters to attend to. Please make yourself at home."

"Okay, sure..."

Many of these farmers suffer from foot rot, and they are reluctant to seek medical help, as if doctors were some kind of monster that eats people without spitting out the bones.

Having no other option, Jenny had to send the militiamen to conduct forced checks one by one.

Using a stern tone, she forced the patient to lie on the newly made wooden platform. Jenny took off the shoes they had recently received, and the sudden stench made Paul, who was several meters away, frown.

But Jenny carefully disinfected the knives, comforting the patients while gently scraping away the rotten flesh from their feet.

Strangely enough, after these patients lay down, they neither cried nor made a fuss. Like Paul, they stared blankly at Jenny, seemingly lost in thought.

Paul had left sometime earlier, and the longer he stayed there, the lonelier he felt.

Because he knew that he did not belong to this group, but was just a passerby who happened to be involved.

Everyone has their own sense of belonging, and perhaps from the very first moment they meet someone, a feeling called happiness wells up in their heart.

However, they build a false haven in their minds, make unwarranted expectations, and pretend that nothing has happened.

The warmer the imagined haven, the more intense the pain when it silently collapses. You comfort yourself by finding proof in your memories, but when you look back, you realize that no one cared about your joys and sorrows.

Only after living a lonely life do I realize that death is the only destination.

Green Gorge City, Day Two.

As the saying goes, it's not that we're afraid of a lot of silly people, it's that we're afraid of a bunch of silly people gathered together.

Perhaps it was from the day Kate went crazy whipping herself that an abstract gene was unconsciously injected into the Second Regiment; these lively young men always managed to find amusement for themselves.

No one knows where Fei Sanbian's inspiration came from, but after witnessing the "three-dimensional battle formation" firsthand, even Kate stared in amazement.

"Hey, you're a real talent."

The so-called three-dimensional battle formation refers to a six-man combat team consisting of two swordsmen and shieldmen and a heavy infantryman carrying two spearmen on their shoulders, with archers and crossbowmen standing on the top layer. It is a battle formation that can significantly reduce combat effectiveness. It looks powerful, but in reality, it is only powerful in appearance.

Kate had the other combat teams that were training try to copy it, but they racked their brains and still couldn't figure out what the point of this formation was.

Perhaps it's a terrain issue?

In certain special environments such as narrow, low-lying, or underwater spaces, what role should three-dimensional warfare play? It's just a pity that we can't test its value in actual combat yet.

"Where exactly can it be used?" Kate began to take it seriously, vaguely sensing that there must be some essence to this formation.

"So you figured it out too?" Elena said casually as she passed by, without a hint of surprise or curiosity in her eyes.

Kate's ears perked up, and she quickly followed, asking, "What are you researching? A three-dimensional battle formation? Lady Elena is familiar with this formation too?"

"It's changed its name again..." Elena sighed, explaining to the inquisitive Kate, "The Duke's own military treatise includes this layered combat system."

He personally named it—the Peeping Widows Queue.

Kate froze, feeling both enlightened and utterly absurd. Meanwhile, Eleanor had already walked further and further away, her calm voice drifting back slowly.

"Mind your military discipline, Commander Kate. You'd better pray I don't receive any complaints from the residents."

……

As soon as Paul entered Green Canyon, he saw a spectacular sight in the distance.

Thousands of soldiers stood in the sun in a human pyramid formation, their imposing presence quite striking, while their superiors hysterically emphasized discipline, shouting and reprimanding them.

Paul was more active than he had imagined; they always seemed to come up with something new. In any case, he had never heard of any army in the kingdom being disciplined for suspected peeping at widows bathing.

Paul handed the Duke's decree to the guard, and was soon allowed to pass.

Instead of taking him to see Elena, the soldiers led him directly to a heavily guarded hut.

"The Duke has ordered that the princess be handed over to this gentleman to be taken away."

"yes!"

The guards lined up and marched away in unison.

Paul stepped forward, his hand pausing as he knocked on the door, when a series of crashing sounds came from inside.

His heart tightened, and he pushed open the door. A gem was thrown at his feet. He picked it up and saw that it was the same style of Wishing Star as Maria's.

(Grandmother Jia: Why did you have to smash that vital organ!)

"Give it back to me!"

Diana roared and was about to rush forward to snatch it, but when she met Paul's calm and unwavering eyes, she froze on the spot.

"The Paladin Commander?"

She was both surprised and delighted. It seemed that Maria was still reliable after all, as she had actually sent Paul to take her away.

"How can a princess of a nation, of royal blood, be so lacking in dignity?"

Paul's face remained expressionless. After returning the Wishing Star to Diana, he turned and said, "Come with me. His Majesty is waiting to see you."

At the same time that the princess and her entourage left the Northern Territory, several large carriages entered Green Gorge City, leaving two deep ruts on the ground.

Three days later, the armies of the Northern Territory and the Eastern Territory clashed in Green Gorge City. It is said that the battle was exceptionally fierce, with the city walls changing hands several times and blood staining the earth.

To make the play more realistic, Eleanor ordered the soldiers to dig up the corpses of the mercenaries again, throw the bones down the city wall at night, and splash some black and red paint on them.

When the royal city's spies arrived, they had never seen such a scene before, and they quickly sent out news of the heavy casualties on both sides.

While the fighting raged on the front, the ice city behind remained peaceful.

Luna was the first to return. She had accidentally hurt her hand while climbing the city wall, and she came to Oswald with two white radishes in her arms, looking pitiful.

While others leap over the dragon gate like carp, she, while leading the attack on the city, took a leap that went too far and landed directly inside the city wall...

"It takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone, so you should stay home and rest for now, and don't go out and cause any trouble."

Oswald patted her head. Overall, Luna had done a good job. There weren't many casualties in the east, the nobles were wiped out, and the treasures she brought filled the warehouses.

In terms of management, officers at all levels of the regiment have taken over the city defense work in the eastern cities, and with Jacob remaining to oversee the land distribution, the problems in the east have now been properly resolved.

After Rondo took 5,000 surrendered soldiers to Kuogu City for retraining, some of the remaining surrendered soldiers were incorporated into the newly formed militia. Those who did not want to serve or whose physical condition did not permit it were simply discharged and sent back to their hometowns.

They left in a hurry because the village had distributed land, and they needed to go and see where their own land was.

In this battle, Luna's personal guards earned a large amount of rewards thanks to their great strength. With their bulging purses, they swaggered past the knights, attracting a lot of envy.

Everyone has a bright future, except for Jim, who is anxiously waiting for the Duke to summon him at the Duke's mansion.

Humans are a highly adaptable race. In the past, Jim might have been surprised: How could they kill nobles? This is a call to chaos!

As for now, the nobles in the east and south are almost all dead, but there hasn't been any trouble. On the contrary, everyone is living better and better.

Old Marquis... why couldn't you have done a better job...?

He sighed deeply, and after the treasury was filled, the old butler, his back straightened once more, approached. "Mr. Jim, the Duke requests your presence."

"Okay, I'll go right away."

Jim tried to calm himself down by constantly adjusting his breathing, but even with a clear mind, his legs still trembled uncontrollably.

The office door was wide open, and as soon as Jim stepped inside, he saw the Duke intently reading a book in the sunlight streaming through the window.

He didn't have the gentle face Jim had imagined.

Despite being a man who cared about ordinary people, he had a pair of sinister eyes and eyebrows. His imposing presence, even without anger, made Jim feel as if he were looking up at a towering mountain, and for a moment he forgot to bow.

Gao Shan moved his hand, and Jim came to his senses. He realized that it was the Duke who had reached out to steady the plate. Luna was sitting next to him, her hands wrapped up like rice dumplings, so she could only bury her head in her mouth and gnaw on the meat, making a clattering sound.

For some reason, Jim relaxed when he saw Luna looking like that.

"Your subordinate Jim greets Your Grace, the Duke," Jim said, kneeling on one knee and bowing respectfully.

"Hmm." Oswald put down his book and gave him a calm look. "Jim, can you tell me what you're pursuing in your loyalty to the old Marquis?"

Jim felt ashamed; in the end, he had been running away from too much. "It's just... just to repay a debt of gratitude."

"Ha, let me ask you another question then: if a man forces a woman to bear his child, should that child thank the man for bringing him into this world, and even protect him when he continues to do evil?"

"Your subordinate knows his crime!" Jim knelt down and kowtowed heavily.

Oswald took out a handkerchief and gently wiped the grease from Luna's lips. "When I read history, I often felt that most people's lives are a result of their own actions."

"But history doesn't record those at the bottom. What choices do they have? What opportunities do they have to suffer the consequences of their own actions? They are just stuck in a dead end, struggling with difficulties all their lives."

"You're an orphan, you should feel the same way they do. Now, Jim, tell me, what are you really pursuing? What choice did you make by coming before me?"

Jim gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face.

Yes, he had asked himself the same question: the new era had arrived, should he really continue to run away? Was there really no stage for him to use the skills he had acquired by chance?

"To atone for our sins! Your subordinate is willing to guard the Northern Territory for the rest of your life, until you die on the battlefield!"