291 – Foursome (3)
This estate, which was associated with the duke’s family, was once a place where countless nobles settled in the eastern outskirts used to come and go.
Starting from non-noble nobles who have difficulty making proper connections because they only have one village, they have several villages or cities, or use vast lands to create rich granary areas and take control of the surrounding food situation. Even the great nobles who hold it.
And since all such nobles traveled by carriage, the people of Lakor Village here were quite familiar with the cultural object called ‘horse carriage’.
You can guess the power, wealth, and authority of the nobles through the carriage.
For example, in the Kingdom of Biend, eight-horse carriages are allowed only to the royal family, and six-horse carriages are allowed only to the duke family.
Therefore, the ‘Sadhu chariots’ are the great nobles immediately below them, and among them, they were divided into high-class Sadhu chariots and low-class Sadhu chariots in terms of various factors such as the decoration of the carriage, the horses, and the driver who drove the carriage.
From their point of view, the sadhu carriage approaching the village was a carriage belonging to the upper class.
Although the decoration was simple, the closer you got, the more the material of the carriage became apparent. It was made across the sea and could not be found on the Side continent. Since wood is weak to moisture, the only items of value that can be imported by sea are.
Next is the horse leading the carriage. One of the horses pulling the carriage seemed to be of poor quality, but the other three and the huge horses running next to the carriage were different.
The handsome and beautiful horses that aristocrats like have a different elegance from other horses even when they run. The huge horse running next to the carriage seems to have been used as a war horse, but its unusually large body gave it a general-like appearance among horses and made it look very expensive.
What about the driver who leads the carriage? I don’t know what kind of strange taste it is, but the nobleman riding that carriage was somehow using an unidentified human-like monster to be his coachman.
The fact that something like that was possible meant that the owner of the four-horse carriage was a nobleman with enormous power and authority at the level just below the duke’s family.
But that actually put the guards in an awkward position.
‘In the current situation, is there any noble family capable of something like that?’
Perhaps he is bluffing even though his entire family is ruined. It could have been because there was no jewelry in the carriage.
‘But that kind of bravado can only be achieved by a family that can maintain itself even if the entire family is ruined.’
Why would such a family come here on purpose? There’s not much here! When the war turned into chaos due to the invasion of a neighboring country, the only secret advantage was that they plundered the granaries of nearby territories and accumulated a huge amount of food.
“Food? “Is it because of food?”
“But there is no army following us. There’s only one carriage with no other occupants. “I don’t think it’s for distribution purposes.”
“Hmm. Did you run away from the war? “I heard from people who recently fled that there was a clash between the invading army and the duke’s army near here.”
Well, even if you worry about it like this, it was ultimately the higher-ups who decided what to do.
After a while, the guard who had gone to announce the carriage’s approach hurriedly ran over and delivered an order from above.
“Hey! He tells you to open the door! Open the door! Open the door! “Open the door!”
Perhaps, the lord of Lacor Village was trying to prepare for when Duke Raynald once again conquered the land and established a kingdom. Perhaps with the intention of making his connections, he accepted an unknown carriage as a guest.
* * *
“What can I say, I thought they would ask me to at least show their face, but I didn’t know they would let me into the mansion right away.”
Monia said this as she looked out from inside her carriage. Everyone else in the carriage nodded her head, probably feeling the same way.
“Are you a fool? “Here’s the lord.”
At Lorwan’s words, Monia shook her head.
“No, it’s just because I’m used to inviting nobles to the mansion and dealing with them.”
“I guess they saw no need to be on guard since there were no visible knights or other soldiers guarding them.”
As soon as Chester entered the estate, he saw knights surrounding the carriage.
“The size of the article is enemy. Rather than forming an order of knights, is it possible to appoint knights as chiefs of ten or hundreds and attach ordinary soldiers under them?”
“Still, he’s a knight, but he’s probably not a member of the Ten Seals.”
“I don’t think it’s enough to assign a hundred soldiers to every knight here… “Then it seems that many soldiers died during the war and the knights survived.”
From what you can see, the number of knights is 15.
Even if only nobles can become knights, the number of knights in the Kingdom of Biend is by no means small. This is because there are noble families, such as ‘knight families’, who give birth to large numbers of children, train them professionally as knights, and then sell them to other families.
In that sense, sending only about 15 knights to ‘guide and escort the nobles who came in the four-horse chariot’ was too small.
“There are only 15 knights.”
Senna, who was sitting back in the carriage, was confused when he saw that Chester and Monia had only 15 knights. It was the same with Lorwan.
That’s right, in the war they know, being a knight means galloping around the battlefield on horseback.
Originally called ‘Knights’, it was rare for knights to gather together. Gathering knights to form a kind of military unit was impossible unless the country was quite powerful.
“Knight 15… Are you going to turn this place? Really? “There will be more when we get to the mansion, so 15 won’t be the end.”
Monia glanced at Lorwan.
“Do you only think about taking everything by force? “It’s not about stealing, it’s about speaking well and receiving appropriate support.”
“What if we can’t communicate well?”
“I have to shake it off. “As you said.”
“Why? “Didn’t I say there was no need to make more enemies?”
“Yes, but.”
Monia said, thinking of the reduced supplies.
“Urgo and Rex ate more than expected…….”
“Ah. …… But if you turn it on, how do you shake it off?”
“Hmm.”
Monia looks at Urgo.
“Hmm. There aren’t enough of them to confidently rob a noble house. However, Monia’s presence is too great to steal and run away.”
“That’s right. “Once Monya is in her arms, she will never want to let go.”
Urgo nodded her head and said.
“It was a surprise upon a surprise. Attack first and reduce the number of knights to a maximum of five. After that, me and Rex will go on a rampage. All eyes will be on us right away, so if you take advantage of that gap, you three will be able to take down more people. Meanwhile… ….”
Senna said while checking the condition of the newly acquired sword while in William’s territory.
“No matter who they are, they take a noble hostage. If you take a noble hostage, you can unsettle the knights. Attack it again. “We surprise, surprise, and surprise again.”
Urgo grinned.
“In order to win a fight, you must be in a completely advantageous position from beginning to end.”
Seeing Urgo like that, Chester remembered what happened in the desert.
‘Now that I think about it, Urgo liked surprise attacks, even in the desert. While the enemy was off guard, he repeatedly advanced unreasonably and made a surprise attack… In addition, Anubis’ bombardment confuses the enemies from the beginning.’
It is probably a characteristic that arose from the experience of losing his wife and daughter at the hands of those who attacked his tribe in a surprise attack.
“Are you moving as soon as you leave?”
From noble mtl dot com
“Well. “If the knights stay together properly, we can follow Urgo’s plan.”
How do I collect articles? Monia wondered if there was a way to gather the articles reasonably tightly.
“…… “Why don’t you just use me as bait?”
Monia, who was worried, said that.
“You are pretending to appease me by using me as bait. If I do that, they’ll capture me and present me to the duke, right? “If you’re a person in your right mind, there’s no way you’ll listen to me properly.”
At least a little bit, but you will be able to gather the articles in one place.
“It may not be possible to attack all 15 people as per Urgo’s strategy, but this would be the best way to reduce the number at once.”
“Hmm. Clearly, my strategy is idealistic. “It’s impossible unless all 15 people are gathered together properly.”
“That’s enough. “No matter what happens, the first step should be to talk about the best outcome.”
Chester rubbed his knife against his leather belt as he spoke. If you’re going to make a quick surprise attack, a knife is much better than something as big as Anubis.
After simply sharpening the knife’s edge, Chester hid the knife inside so that it could not be seen and looked at Lorwan.
Although Lorwan mainly used polearms and sticks, he naturally knew how to use a variety of weapons.
Since it was impossible to bring out visible weapons in front of nobles, it was natural that Lorwan, like Chester, hid his long spears and sticks and brought spare weapons.
“Urgo, and you?”
“With that level of armor, bare hands would be enough.”
‘…… ‘I guess you said that because of the armor, not the knight.’
Urgo and Lorwan hid their weapons near the window so they could be quickly drawn out if necessary.
“Chester, isn’t this noticeable?”
Monia asked as she wore her long-necked leather glove on her left arm, where she was wearing her star wisher.
“Hmm. Do you think it’ll be okay? “I can see a slight curve, but I think I can just ignore it as a wrinkle.”
Chester helped him put on a leather glove on his other hand and then hid in his arms the string for his slingshot and a small piece of metal to use as a bullet.
“Why is that?”
“If the knights come charging in, I’m going to shoot them.”
“I am confident in throwing a javelin, but my hands are not good at throwing.”
“For long distances, me, Monia, and Rex are enough. Yes?”
“Yes. Because as long as the distance is long enough, a knight is not scary. “Urgo and Lorwan, please stop those who come close.”
While I was thinking about the strategy, the carriage moved and arrived at the yard of the mansion.
Immediately after arriving, the knights moved away from the carriage and took a position as if they were surrounding and guarding the carriage at the same time.
‘There are two ordinary soldiers at the entrance to the mansion. From the sounds it sounds like there are soldiers undergoing training. There will be knights at the training ground, right? How much more? 20? 30?’
Monia waited for the carriage door to open, guessing the number of knights. When one of the knights came and opened the carriage door, she smiled and took graceful steps.
“…… Miss Monia?!”
When Monia appeared, the nobleman who came out to meet her shouted in surprise, and the knights around her also became agitated and began to mutter.
Seeing them, Monia smiled and greeted them.
‘If you shoot her without any hope, you won’t be able to pierce her armor, right?’
Behind the smile that pretends to welcome you. Monia thought so.
‘Fighting with a knight is dangerous, so I hope you don’t think strange things and just listen carefully.’