Chapter 1342 - 574: I’m Leaving Laine in Your Care, Lady

Chapter 1342: Chapter 574: I’m Leaving Laine in Your Care, Lady

In this situation, the conservative nobles simply couldn’t stand up straight to oppose Laine’s decision.

Speaking of which, Surya voluntarily said: "By the way, recently a lot of peasant women from Leonais have come to our side, especially many women, who often stay in bars and some inns."

Laine couldn’t help but smile at hearing this. "Staying" is a euphemistic way to put it; surviving in Leonais is an incredibly difficult task now, while the Free People class is rising within the Laine Territory to the point where even peasants have a fair amount of spare money and food. It’s not surprising that many female peasants from Leonais would seek a livelihood here.

"Humph~" The Chief Maid Sylvia behind Surya snorted scornfully, visibly displeased. "I think we should expel all of them!"

"Demand creates its own market." Laine wasn’t bothered by it. "Even if we expel them, as long as there’s a market, others will still come. There’s no point in doing this."

"Master is right." The Dark Elf maid fed a pastry into Laine’s mouth and was evidently in a very good mood seeing Laine return. "Others will come; this fundamentally cannot solve the problem. It’s the nature of mortals."

"But in the long run..." Sylvia still didn’t quite like these outsiders.

"You’ll get used to it in the future," Laine laughed. "Not to mention, my knights under me are very favored by the noblewomen of Leonais; after recovering Musillon, many noblewomen expressed their willingness to marry down. For instance, Devon the Great Baron Hex, who came back with me, had a Countess take a liking to him. Besides Hex, many other noblewomen are also willing to marry down, leading many Ranger Knights into a blissful dilemma. Many Kingdom Knights find they can marry daughters of Barons and even daughters from Count families."

"Isn’t this too... strange?" Sylvia flushes red upon hearing this. "A Baron’s daughter marrying down to a Ranger Knight or something?"

"Yet this is the reality." Surya gently smiled. "Marrying can help stabilize matters, and large-scale intermarriage between your knights and the Leonais side aids in promoting noble fusion. This is good news; we should encourage more intermarriage among our knights."

"Mm!"

The group chatted a while longer, and the afternoon tea time, Surya’s daily "time to get some fresh air," came to an end. With Sylvia’s assistance, Surya returned to her room to rest.

Before leaving, the Female Knight took hold of the Lake Fairy and her husband’s hands, placing the Goddess’s small hand in Laine’s large hand, seriously saying, "My Lady, during this time, Laine will be with you. You must watch over him for me!"

"Rest assured! Surya, leave it to me!" The Lake Fairy smiled, with the Goddess’s face showing indescribable pride. "I won’t give those outside harpies the slightest chance!"

"Then I’ll leave it to you." Surya smiled charmingly, turning to Laine. "Did you hear that? My husband, during this time, you’ll need to get along well!"

"Uh..." The Duke felt a bit awkward. He opened his mouth but could only nod in submission under Surya’s sharp gaze. "I understand."

"Then I’ll go rest. Laine, you’re tired from your journey back as well." The Female Knight understandingly suggested: "Go take a bath and relax for a while. Tonight, the Lady will join us for dinner."

"Please follow me, Master." The Dark Elf’s eyes gleamed brightly. "Let me attend to you for your bath."

"Alright!" Laine said no more and followed the Dark Elf toward the castle’s bathroom.

...I am the bath divider...

At the same time, in the Old World, off the coast of the Southern Realm.

A massive fleet was navigating the ocean.

This was a highly equipped, well-trained army. Almost everyone wore superior armor, arranged neatly on the deck, preparing to guard against all possible threats in the summer heat.

On the ship’s main flag, the vivid emblem of a reborn eagle claw.

A tall, powerful warrior with well-groomed silver hair stood on the ship’s bow, wearing a full vibranium plate armor blessed personally by Crok the Great Lord, the First Generation Demon Toad. He held a golden power sword named "Glory," with a gold Snake God Pendant on his chest. His Sotigo Battle Spear was strapped to his back, imbued with the Snake God’s aura.

This fleet’s ships had deep water lines, evidently not only due to the loads of soldiers they carried.

"Legion Commander, within a week we can estimate arriving at Margaret." Pedro Alvarado from the Ash Legion company came behind the Legion Commander, his tone filled with uncontrollable excitement. "Finally returning to the Old World!"

"Pedro, being Estalian, do you think we can recruit enough new troops in Estalia?" Fugen looked at the turbulent sea, casually asking.

"Estalia has never lacked people leaving their homelands; there’s always been a tradition of adventure here, my Legion Commander." Pedro nodded. "The key is what level of recruits you want, Legion Commander."

"Time left to us isn’t plentiful anymore. I hope to recruit soldiers who can fight." Fugen’s brows furrowed at those words.

There wasn’t much time left for this world. Recruiting a batch of ignorant new soldiers to train from scratch might take too long.

The great First Generation Demon Toad, Crok the Great Lord was resurrected under the Emperor’s power.

Its rebirth brought new hope to the servants of the Ancient Saints. Crok knew how to rebuild the destroyed and lost Ancient Saint cities, how to repair and sanctify the polluted Hatching Pools. This First Generation Demon Toad forewarned, in facing the Chaos threat, the Ancient Saint’s servants must prioritize resolving the threat of the Skaven Ratmen.

The Ash Legion suffered heavy losses in previous wars, so Fugen decided to lead three thousand to the Old World to recruit new troops. Supported by the Lizardman’s treasury, Fugen planned to recruit thirty to fifty thousand soldiers to form a new Expeditionary Army.

"If you’re looking for recruits who can fight, it’s difficult in Estalia," Pedro continued. "We need to go to Tiriel to recruit."

"How about Brittania and the Empire? They are the strongest countries in the Old World right?" Fugen asked with curiosity. "Why not go there?"

"Brittania’s knights are the Old World’s strongest heavy cavalry, but they rarely accept mercenary work. To hire them, there needs to be a reason for them to deploy, such as the Red Flame Grand Expedition or the Arabi Holy War," Pedro explained. "As for the Empire, the army can be hired but requires connections. Does the Legion Commander have acquaintances there?"

"No acquaintances would make it difficult, huh?" Fugen laughed, realizing it’s like this everywhere.

"Yes," Pedro nodded.

"Then what about Tiriel?"

"In Tiriel, many are willing to fight, as long as the price is right," Pedro said. "We can recruit humans, dwarves, elves, ogres, even Green Skins and the undead, as long as there’s money."

"Green Skins..." Fugen shook his head with a bitter smile. "Let’s skip the Green Skins."

"If the Legion Commander truly needs, we can even recruit soldiers from the Border Prince’s Domain, where people are fierce fighters but equally are a bunch of unscrupulous, immoral scoundrels," Pedro continued. "Moreover, if we’re lucky, we could hire Kislev’s Winged Cavalry. They take up any task not involving humans and dwarves due to their oath restriction. It’s unclear if they would follow us on an expedition due to these constraints."

"Let’s initially recruit in Estalia and Tiriel!" Fugen finally decided. "Meanwhile, I need to visit my brothers in Brittania."

"I have a gift to give them."