NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 64: Joint Expedition
Chapter 64: Joint Expedition
"Thank you both for your assistance. I, Orper Lawrence, am deeply grateful!"
Orper Lawrence feigned immense gratitude as he spoke, even personally seeing his guests off outside the castle.
"Avenging Baron Pape is our duty!"
"Indeed, rest assured, we will avenge Baron Pape."
"That damned Lord of Eagle Ridge is truly cursed by the Goddess of Life."
Baron Valmy and Baron Graton spoke resolutely, as if they were genuinely intent on avenging Baron Pape.
"Thank you so much!"
Orper Lawrence responded similarly.
After this exchange of cordialities, they parted ways.
However, once they had left, Baron Valmy and Baron Graton quickly dispatched knights to investigate the situation.
They were not fools who would take Orper Lawrence's words at face value, despite the tempting news.
Some things need verification before they can be trusted.
A few days later, the knights they sent out returned with information.
There were indeed iron mines in Eagle Ridge.
They discovered numerous knights and evidence of extensive ore transportation several miles from Eagle Ridge.
This news instantly excited the two barons.
Several miles?
Impossible to joke about. Without a large iron mine, why would a pioneering lord occupy territory several miles away?
This undoubtedly confirmed Orper Lawrence's claims.
Baron Valmy and Baron Graton immediately began preparations.
Three days later.
At Graton’s territory.
In the castle.
"The situation is confirmed. That pioneering lord is a descendant of the Dresrosa family."
"Moreover, within several miles of his territory, there are signs of mining, likely the large iron mine discovered by Baron Pape."
Baron Graton spoke in a low tone, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"The Dresrosa descendant is not easy to deal with. I’ve heard that within his territory, he has over a hundred apprentice knights, at least twenty official knights, and even a grand knight. This force already rivals our combined strength."
Baron Valmy frowned as he spoke.
"Indeed, the Dresrosa family is worthy of their count status. Pioneering lords are not our equals."
"But we don’t need to fight him head-on. We just need to seize that large iron mine."
"Baron Graton, we can do it this way!"
The two continued to discuss in the castle.
Meanwhile, knights from both territories began to gather rapidly.
Compared to the Lawrence family's strength, they were indeed weaker, but each territory still had five or six official knights, themselves as grand knights, and dozens of apprentice knights.
With slaves added in, they could muster over two thousand men.
Combined, their forces exceeded four thousand.
As the two territories gathered their forces, Tor also quickly got wind of it.
In fact, the traces near the mine were deliberately leaked by him.
It was to draw the main forces of the two territories to the mine.
At this moment, almost ninety percent of his forces were concentrated at the mine.
Five magical crystal cannons, nearly thirty official knights, over a hundred apprentice knights, several hundred reserve knights, and thousands of slaves were there to ensure nothing went wrong.
In contrast, Eagle Ridge was almost empty, with only a scant few forces remaining.
Moreover, with the recent construction at Eagle Ridge, he didn’t want the war to cause damage.
Even though he had Neil Morton as a fallback, and had already discussed it with him, Thor didn’t plan to ask him to intervene unless absolutely necessary.
After all, favors used once are gone.
A sky knight like Neil Morton would have many uses in the future.
Three days ago at the mine.
Thor had returned with his men.
Over the past few days, he had been arranging deployments and preparing for war.
In three days, everything was almost ready.
All that remained was to wait for the enemy’s arrival.
"How are the preparations?"
In a room, Thor asked Steve, who had just entered.
"Master, everything is ready. The remaining two magical crystal cannons are also in place!"
Steve nodded seriously, replying.
"Good!"
"If we win this time, everyone will receive double merits."
Thor laughed heartily, his expression filled with anticipation.
If the first battle was his foothold, this battle would be his rise.
If he could take down the two noble houses in one go, his presence in the entire Maine River Valley would be unshakeable, and he would gain vast resources to further develop his territory.
It was of immense importance.
"Thank you, Master!"
Steve nodded excitedly.
Meanwhile, tensions rose between the two sides.
The atmosphere in the entire Maine River Valley grew tense.
Even other pioneering lords vaguely sensed this tension.
As the tension mounted, time swiftly passed.
In the blink of an eye, five days had gone by.
On the sixth day, forces from Valmy’s and Graton’s territories began marching toward the mine.
Simultaneously, Orper Lawrence from the Lawrence territory also set out with a large contingent.
Under the guise of avenging his father, he naturally dispatched troops.
However, unlike the others, he sent only serfs, and they followed at the very end.
His intentions were clear.
Revenge was out of the question.
He only wanted his father and brother to die together.
Barons Graton and Valmy paid little attention to his actions.
A Lawrence family without a grand knight, relying on hired knights to survive, posed no threat to them. They believed the family would inevitably decline or disappear in a few years.
A joke; how could they sustain thousands of gold coins a year?
If they did, the Lawrence family would have no funds to train their own knights.
This would lead to a vicious cycle.
Moreover, hired knights, unlike family knights, lacked contracts.
In such circumstances, anything could happen.
Currently, the Lawrence family posed less of a threat than their mutual rivalry.