When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#313 - That's it!

The stone-built hall had its windows wide open, the white curtains fluttering back and forth in the cool breeze beneath the black stone arches.

Although it was only May, the hot wind from the Emerald Sea had already reached the castle of Red Copper Fortress.

Inside the hall, a young bard strummed a lute, softly singing a Western-style tune.

In such a vast hall, only two people were seated: Nidsarr and Zeraken.

Due to the bard's status as a slave, Nidsarr did not consider him human.

On the glossy fir table, cantaloupes and bayberries from Black Serpent Bay were soaking in ice water.

Sauce-colored oily soup and sugar water dripped down the edges, and several gnawed bones were propped up in the bone china bowls.

Several small black wolves were frantically tearing at a piece of rare beef under the table, the aroma of spices, bad breath, and sweat filling the once fresh and elegant hall with a foul stench.

Wiping his greasy hands casually on his body, Nidsarr belched and reached for a nearby wine glass.

The wine glass was decorated with gold and rubies, and the scarlet wine exuded a fruity aroma.

Downing nearly a pint of the delicious wine in one gulp, Nidsarr slammed the glass heavily on the table.

"Woo-hoo!"

After guzzling down two quarts of wine, his face flushed red, and his voice involuntarily doubled in volume: "Zeraken!"

"I'm here, Your Excellency."

"Do you know what makes me happiest since I came to this godforsaken place?"

"How would I know, Your Excellency?"

"First, hairless women!" Leaning on the table with his elbow, Nidsarr drunkenly held up two fingers. "Second, cheap fruit!"

He picked up a cantaloupe and bit off half of it, skin and all, chewing it together with the seeds and swallowing it.

"爽! Hahahaha."

Zeraken winked at a nearby attendant, who tremblingly brought out an ice bucket and a handkerchief, and walked to Nidsarr's side.

Nidsarr wet the handkerchief in the water, smeared the grease and dirt on his face, and leaned back in his chair with his legs crossed: "Prince Condé wants me to wipe out that bunch of stupid farmers?"

"To be precise, Prince Condé wanted to do it himself, but he was stopped by the Church.

Because currently, everyone can see that both the Rising Tides City uprising and the Jeanne d'Arc Fortress uprising are minor ailments.

But the Coldspring Fortress uprising can truly shake the foundation of the Thousand River Valley Church, whether in terms of momentum, bloodline, territory, or strength...

Grand Duchess Melia is the more threatening party, so the Church has designated her as the primary enemy.

I estimate, and this is just my estimate, that the Church is willing to give Prince Condé the Thousand River Valley tax-free, provided he puts down the Coldspring Fortress rebellion."

"So Barney Foss's letter is just, hic..." Nidsarr hiccuped loudly, "the Church's intention? My being the Knight Commander is one of the conditions of the deal between the Church and that blockhead Condé?"

"Yes, you take Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, and you will be the future Knight Commander of the Thousand River Valley Temple," Zeraken said decisively.

Nidsarr's scarlet tongue picked at the meat fibers and fruit pulp in his teeth, but the greed in his eyes could not be erased.

As a high-ranking knight who defected from the royal court, although he was granted the title of 【Sand Sculpture】, in the eyes of the Church, he was still a stepchild.

Just like how he and his Niggosacks were assigned to Red Copper Fortress, this godforsaken place with no benefits, just to get rid of him.

Compared to Red Copper Fortress, Jeanne d'Arc Fortress was a place that matched his status.

"Has the spring plowing been completed?"

Hearing Nidsarr say this, Zeraken knew there was a chance.

"It's all done, at least until July, there is time."

"Then have the knights been assembled?"

"They have all been assembled, everyone is waiting on the border, just waiting for you to return, otherwise, they would have pounced on Jeanne d'Arc Fortress long ago."

"Oh, when did this bunch of cheapskates become so enthusiastic?" As if having a bottomless stomach, Nidsarr grabbed another cantaloupe. "I don't see them being so proactive when I usually summon them."

Zeraken smiled obsequiously: "You don't know, as soon as those Salvation Army soldiers arrived in the Kush Territory, they strangled hundreds of nobles, big and small.

The family members were forced into becoming forced laborers and prostitutes, engaging in lewd acts with their soldiers every day, and that sorcerer Horn even has incestuous orgies with his witch younger sister every day."

"Impossible!" Nidsarr interrupted him directly. "With a witch? Are they brainless?"

"Yes, yes." Zeraken quickly echoed, "The main thing is that the nobles hate and fear these rebels. They are helping the farmers execute the nobles, they have crossed the line."

For nobles and transcendent knights, they can be killed by nobles, they can be killed by transcendents, and even assassinated by civilians.

But they cannot accept being executed by the lowest mortals on the execution platform for "legitimate reasons", instead of dying in battle or being assassinated.

"Stop talking about these虚的, how many troops do they have, where are they stationed, how many do we have, where are we stationed?"

These data were too familiar, Zeraken opened his mouth and said: "According to our informants in Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, their infantry should be around 5,000, all pikemen and crossbowmen, and more than 500 transcendent knights.

Currently, about 2,000 are stationed near Jeanne d'Arc Fortress, and more than 3,000 are stationed in the border area.

Currently, the Ibe Knight of Golden River Township and the knights of Kasha County who came to support have a total of 800 transcendent knights, 1,200 squire knights, and 3,000 armed farmers.

Plus your 200 Niggosacks, we will have 1,000 transcendent knights.

If we add the 300 Temple Knights of Red Copper Fortress..."

"No." Nidsarr drank the wine, but his mind was very clear. "The Temple Knights cannot be moved, we still have to guard against the Secret Sect in the south, their methods are weird, we cannot take it lightly."

"I didn't think carefully." Zeraken quickly made amends, "They are about to go south, we are not sure..."

"Oh, not thinking about defending, but wanting to attack me instead?" Nidsarr seemed to have heard a joke and laughed loudly.

Zeraken smiled along: "I also think they are overestimating themselves. According to the intelligence, they are planning to go south to attack us on June 1st, it's too absurd."

"You have a lot of intelligence, is it reliable?" Picking up the ice bucket he had just washed his face with and taking a sip, Nidsarr smacked his lips and asked.

"Reliable."

"The barbarians and magicians in the south have been killed almost, there shouldn't be any problems in a short time." Nidsarr kicked away the little wolf that came to rub against him. "They are sending troops on June 1st, then we will set the date for sending troops on May 21st, to catch them by surprise!"

"As you wish, Your Excellency." Zeraken, as a member of the Ibe Knights, was overjoyed. "I will go to mobilize and transport the food and grass."

"Hey, wait, did I let you go?" Nidsarr knocked on the table in dissatisfaction, and Zeraken sat back on the chair as if attracted by a magnet.

"I have one last question - what is Prince Condé's current movement?"