Wearing black silk for a foreign woman

Chapter 366 Give Him a Happy Death

When the little leader in front of him said with a righteous look that he didn't want glory, Linde was stunned for a moment, and Fran next to him was also stunned.

"I don't need glory, sir." The little leader said righteously. "I am the descendant of one of the twelve holy knights who served Batoran, the only legitimate heir to the current Duke of Aquitaine, and the captain of the knight squire of Guillon IX."

The little leader introduced himself righteously and spoke with a very long prefix, but to Fran, apart from the last captain of the attendants, there seemed to be no useful information.

It feels like someone saying they are the neighbor of the son of a certain big shot.

"Your Highness, what is he talking about?" Fran asked Linde with a confused look on her face.

"Do you need a translator?" Lind looked at Fran.

"Yes." Fran nodded.

"To put it simply, it means 'Don't kill me, I have someone above me. If you spare my life, I can exchange it for a ransom.'" Lind translated it to Fran.

"You are indeed a noble." The little chief held his head high in response to Lind's translation, with a smug look on his face, and a strange curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"I guess so." Linde said without comment.

According to the customs of this world, am I considered a noble? Linde thought to himself, but it didn't matter.

"Ransom?" Fran still didn't understand and was still confused.

"To put it simply, in the civil war among human forces, there is a set of rules for the nobles." Lind explained with some displeasure. "In the civil war among human forces, the nobles of the enemy are often shown mercy and rarely killed. Instead, they are captured alive because the captured nobles can be used to exchange for ransom."

"What this gentleman means is that he can be exchanged for a ransom."

"What a strange rule." Fran frowned. In a war, one must be careful not to kill specific people. Whether in the current New Beastman era or in the past when she was a Chaos Beastman, Fran had never thought about such a problem.

"That's right, sir, you can use me in exchange for ransom." The little leader continued.

"You are a captain of attendants. Will your lord be willing to pay the ransom for you?" Linde raised his eyebrows.

"Of course, because I am the lord's right-hand man." The little leader said proudly.

"So you know your lord well?"

"Sorry, I won't reveal any information about my lord."

The little leader seemed to be certain that Lind would not kill him and would use him for ransom. In fact, this was indeed the rule of the civil war among human nobles, which the nobles claimed to be civilized.

However, Lind scoffed at such rules, including the so-called sacred duel, which made war seem like a game.

"Did you massacre a tribe of beastmen?" Lind asked.

"This question is a bit redundant, sir." The little leader raised his head proudly.

"So it's done?" Lind said without further ado, turning around and shouting, "Tyke, come here."

Soon, Tek, the only survivor of the slaughtered wolf-beastman tribe, walked over with a grim face.

"Do you know him?" Lind pointed at Tek and asked the little leader.

"I don't know any filthy beastmen."

"Then do you know him?" Lind asked Tek again.

"I know him, His Majesty the Beast King." Tek's eyes were filled with hatred and anger. "He is one of those butchers."

"Yeah." Lind nodded and patted Tyke on the shoulder. "Just be quick and give him a quick death."

“…Yes, sir.” Taking a deep breath, Tek clenched his fists.

Seeing Linde turning away and Tek staying where he was, the little leader's face flashed with confusion, and then turned into fear. The little leader shouted at Linde's back: "Please wait! Sir! I changed my mind! I can tell you the information about Jiyang IX!"

Lind ignored him. Tek stepped forward, raised the iron claw in his hand, and aimed at the little leader.

"His Majesty the Beast King wants me to give you a quick death." Tek said in a deep voice, and with a swipe he killed the little leader cleanly and neatly.

"Are we just going to kill him like this?" Fran glanced at the body lying powerlessly on the ground. "Can't he be used to exchange for... that... ransom?"

"He's just a captain of attendants. He can't be exchanged for much money. Besides, what do I need money for?" Lind rolled his eyes. "Is there any place in the camp that needs money?"

There is really no place in the camp where money is needed at this moment. All humans are serfs, and the beastmen originally bartered for goods. At least at this stage, there is no place in the camp where money is needed.

However, in the near future, when the first batch of serfs have accumulated enough points and gained freedom, the issue of money or circulating currency will be put on the agenda.

All the overseers' servants died, and all the serfs joined Lind's army. However, it was not realistic to bring them back now, so Lind decided to let them wait where they were, and then take all the serfs back when they returned after completing the reconnaissance.

All the reserve grain here was confiscated, and a portion of it was distributed to the serfs here, asking them to wait on the spot. Then Lind began to collect intelligence on the enemy.

Soon, the oldest old man was picked out and brought before Lind.

"Respected sir, are you looking for me?" The elder walked tremblingly to Linde and bowed respectfully to him.

"Yes, old sir, please take a seat." Lind took the initiative to stand up and return the greeting, and motioned for the elder to sit down.

"No, no, no..." Like the serfs in the camp, the elder was at a loss and spoke incoherently at Linde's politeness.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just asking a few simple questions." Lind comforted him. "Are you the village elder of Batoran?"

"No, no!" When the elder heard the word "village elder", he was shocked and denied it repeatedly.

"Relax, I'm not a Batolan, I was born in the Holy Empire." Lind comforted.

Hearing that Linde was not from Batoran but from the Holy Empire, the elder relaxed. The elder was nervous because he was an elder from another village.

The so-called village elders are simply the elders of a village. However, in Batoran, the village elders have a special duty, which is to adjudicate criminal cases. The village elders will adjudicate cases without the intervention of the knight lords.

"I have some questions for the old gentleman." Lind asked politely.

"Excuse me, sir." The elder was at a loss for words due to Lind's politeness.

"Excuse me, how many immigrants are there from Batoran and what are their identities?" Lind asked.

"There are about a thousand immigrants, including about two hundred knights and their followers, and the rest are refugees." The elder said respectfully.

Chapter 367 Holy Grail Knight

In Lind's memory, the life spans of people in this world vary greatly. The average life span of ordinary people is only about 30 years old. If the infants who died in infancy are also counted, it is difficult to even reach 20 years old. Malnutrition and heavy physical labor are the main reasons why ordinary people have such a short life span.

In contrast, the average life expectancy of nobles was much longer, not far from the world before Lind crossed over. Excluding the influence of magic and divine arts, the average life expectancy of nobles was still slightly lower, but living to over sixty was not a difficult task for ordinary nobles.

The average life expectancy is short, so the marriage age is also early. For the nobility, men usually get married when they are 16 and women when they are 14, while among the common people, in many places, men get married when they are 14 and women get married when they are 12.

However, the short average life expectancy does not mean that there are no civilians who can live a long life. It is not uncommon to have one or two elders in their fifties or sixties in every village. In Batoran, such elders often have another identity, that is, village elders.

Village elder is not just a respectful title, but also a position.

To put it in an inappropriate way, the village elders are somewhat similar to the grassroots judges in the folk of Batoran, who will make judgments on various crimes. For the knight lords of Batoran, the village elders are illegal because they infringe on their sacred right to govern the territory.

Judging criminal acts is a very important part of territory governance, so the knights of Batoran do not allow the existence of village elders at all. Some extreme ones even kill all elders over 50 years old in the territory, without thinking about why the serfs would rather seek help from the village elders than let the "fair" knights administer justice.

Linde showed enough respect to the old man in front of him, and did not show any hostility to him because of his status as a village elder. The old man was also a little overwhelmed by the courtesy of the noble lord due to his age, but he quickly adjusted his mood.

From the village elder's narration, Linde roughly understood the other party's situation.

"Well, there are about a thousand people in total. The organizer of the immigration team is Guillon IX, the eldest son of the Duke of Aquitaine. There are a total of 20 knights and 180 knights' attendants in the immigration team. The rest are landless peasants from various regions. Is that right?"

"That's right, sir." Village elder Mike saluted respectfully to Lind.

"Now, Jiyang IX is building his own territory with the ruins of Vickro as the center. At the same time, he has divided three groups of people to go to the east, west and north of Vickro to build affiliated villages. Is this the location of the eastern affiliated village?"

"Your memory is very accurate, your Excellency."

"Then the purpose of Jiyang IX coming here is to find the Holy Grail?"

"That's right, sir." Village elder Mike nodded.

"Thank you for the valuable information you provided. You have worked hard, old sir. You should go and have a rest first." Lind said to the old man and took the initiative to stand up and see him off.

"Thank you very much, thank you very much." The elder was flattered by Linde's politeness, but he also gradually got used to this new lord who was not arrogant.

In the eyes of the nobles, the common people are stupid, ignorant, lazy, and have no moral honor. If they want to make them work, they must be whipped from behind. Village elder Mike originally thought that Lind was also such a person, but after an actual conversation, Old Mike found that Lind was different from other noble grandfathers.

Some nobles would claim to be close to the people and be polite to the common people, but Lind's politeness was different. Old Mike, as a village elder, had some experience, after all, he had to adjudicate various cases and mediate conflicts. He could see that Lind was different from other nobles.

Maybe, life in the future will really be different.

After watching Old Mike leave, Lind called his subordinates together for a small meeting.

"The old man has roughly described the situation." After calling Fran, Judy, Fenrir, and Schnee over, Lind told the four little animals about the situation. "The enemy's situation is similar to what Fran found out. There are a total of 20 knights and nearly 200 knight attendants, which means we have to face nearly 200 enemies."

"Not many." Fran was the first to say. "With so few people, don't investigate. Just go back, gather the main force, and charge in directly!?"

"It's not that simple." Lind shook his head. "Don't underestimate the Knights of Batoran. Ordinary knights are fine, but we don't know if there are any Holy Grail Knights among them."

"If there are Holy Grail Knights, that would be troublesome." Linde frowned. "And the one coming here is the Duke's heir. If I were the Duke of Aquitaine, I would definitely send Holy Grail Knights to protect my son and prevent him from dying."

The four animals looked at each other. Schnee raised her hand and asked Lind, "Is the Grail Knight very powerful?"

"Very impressive." Linde nodded affirmatively. "At least much better than me."

"Ah?" Linde's words stunned the beastmen.

"You know I used to be a knight's squire, right? My father was a knight of the Holy Empire, and he once fought with a Holy Grail Knight." Lind continued. "I can say without exaggeration that a Holy Grail Knight can easily wipe out an entire tribe of beastmen."

The so-called Holy Grail Knight is a knight who has completed the expedition trial in Batoran and drank the water from the Holy Grail in the spiritual world. According to Lind's speculation, Jiyang IX came to Ivozhen Island to become a Holy Grail Knight.

By the way, most of the Holy Grail Knights do not need to actually find the legendary Holy Grail to obtain the power to drink from the Holy Grail. Instead, they need to go through enough training. When the Lady of the Lake feels that you have trained enough, she will let you drink from the Holy Grail in the spiritual world.

"Is the Grail Knight so powerful?" Schnee asked curiously.

"Remember the mill in the camp?" Lind patted Schnee's head. "A Holy Grail Knight could ride a horse and destroy the mill with one charge."

"Imagine how much casualties would be inflicted on us if all those twenty knights were Holy Grail Knights."

After Lind's description, several people realized Lind's concerns. They did not think that Lind's words were exaggerated because Lind was the Son of God.

Lind's concerns about the Holy Grail Knight were indeed real, because he had seen the Holy Grail Knight's strength with his own eyes.

"Linde, did your father ever fight against the Grail Knights?" Schnee demanded.

"Yes." Lind nodded. "Before coming here, my father did fight against the Holy Grail Knights of Batoran."

"What's the result?"

"It took my father thirty moves to defeat the opponent."

Chapter 368: Sisters Ranna and Hespan

When Fran first conducted reconnaissance from the sky by controlling pigeons, Lind had a preliminary assessment of this immigrant team: they were from Batoran, with a population of about one thousand, including about two hundred combatants.

The village elder Mike confirmed that Fran's investigation was correct. The enemy did have that many people, and he was even more precise. Among the 200 combatants, 20 were knights and 180 were knights' squires.

It seems that there are not many people, especially the combatants, only 200, as if as long as the large forces in the camp arrive, they can easily wipe out the enemy. But Lindelinde doesn't think so, especially after confirming that the other party is really from Batoran.

What if there is a Holy Grail Knight among these twenty knights...

As a country that made its fortune with knights, the Holy Grail Knights are the most powerful knights in Batoran. Each of them has gone through hard training and became a superman after being favored by the Lady of the Lake and drinking the water from the Holy Grail.

Others may have only heard of the power of the Holy Grail Knights, but Lind has seen it with his own eyes. Lind's father, Kong Nan, who never falls off his horse, has fought against several Holy Grail Knights. As a famous knight of the Holy Empire, Kong Nan, who is powerful in combat, has had friendly exchanges with the Holy Grail Knights of Batoran several times. Although Kong Nan won in the end, each victory was difficult.

There are not many Holy Grail Knights in Batoran, but conservatively speaking, there should be several hundred. The twelve dukes, including the King of Batoran, must complete the Holy Grail Knight Trial to inherit the title. Every year, many knights in Batoran embark on the trial journey to find the Holy Grail. Then, within the organization of the Kingdom of Batoran, there has always been a Holy Grail Knights Order composed entirely of Holy Grail Knights. In other words, although the number of Holy Grail Knights is not large, it is still no problem to make up a knight chart.

The one who came to Ivojin Island now was one of the twelve dukes of Batoran and the only son of the Duke of Aquitaine. With such an important identity, the old duke should at least send one or two capable subordinates as bodyguards in order to avoid extinction of his own family. Among them might be the Holy Grail Knight that Lin was worried about.

Even if these twenty knights were all Holy Grail Knights, they could kill the enemy with the strength of the island, but given the fighting power of the Holy Grail Knights, it is conservatively estimated that hundreds or even thousands of people would die. The Holy Grail Knights were truly invincible.

If possible, Lind still hopes to minimize the death toll, especially now that the magic energy machine has been developed and there is a shortage of population.

"Is there a way to determine how many of those twenty knights are Holy Grail Knights?" Fenrir thought for a moment and asked. "Can't the old gentleman tell?"

"If I saw it with my own eyes, I might be able to recognize it. As for that old gentleman..." Linde smiled bitterly and shook his head. "The knights' equipment is all prepared by themselves. It is full of personal customization style. It is difficult to find any common features. It is too difficult for the old gentleman to judge."

Just as Linde and his group were discussing, Ranna suddenly came over.

"Sir." Ranna walked up to Linde and gave him a not-so-standard salute.

"Is there something wrong?" Linde asked Ranna.

"My sister is awake, I..." Jeanna hesitated for a moment, then mustered up the courage to say, "I want you to check on my sister."

Commoners, even serfs, took the initiative to ask nobles to check on their relatives. In any place, a beating would be considered mercy for this rude serf. But Linde was different. Ranna was sure that Linde was different from other nobles.

"You woke up so soon?" Linde was a little surprised, then he stood up and walked towards the haystack.

In front of the haystack, Jana's sister Hespin had regained consciousness and was sitting up with her back against the haystack. A woman dressed as a peasant woman was feeding Hespin bread porridge mouthful by mouthful.

Seeing Linde coming, the peasant woman immediately stood up in panic and bowed her head deeply towards Linde.