The sunshine at noon is warm, and the temperature in the north has been slowly warming up since the end of the year.
At this time, the soldiers of Ironwood City had firmly closed the city gate. The soldiers had already stood in the fighting position on the city wall according to their usual training. The beacon fires on the battlements were lit and thick black smoke was rising.
Viscount Sauter was also alerted and sent his two younger brothers with some soldiers to check the outer city. He put on his equipment and sat in the castle.
“Dear, what happened.”
The commotion in the castle also alarmed Richard’s mother, Mrs. Kelly.
“It’s okay, it’s just a streak of black smoke, maybe some noble’s guard passed by.”
This is also the rule set by Richard.
There are watchtowers erected in many directions in Ironwood City, and beacon smoke will be lit when there may be enemies.
One smoke means that the danger is not great, and you can take basic measures. Two smoke means that the danger is strong. The city needs to be mobilized. If there are three smoke, it means that the intruder is very powerful, so be on guard. At this time, you should also be prepared to break out and escape.
Kailin nodded worriedly and returned to the inner house. She was a woman with general knowledge, so she naturally knew that her greatest contribution would be to control the maids and family members of the inner house at this time.
At this time, Richard had arrived outside Ironwood City, and he was somewhat relieved to see the closed city gate and the billowing smoke.
It would only make him angry if the Ironwood City guard, who had been trained for so long, didn’t react at all when he saw dozens of heavily armed soldiers approaching.
“I am Richard, open the city gate to lift the alert.”
Thanks to the fact that there are not many guards in Ironwood City, and Richard often brushes his face in front of the soldiers, almost all the guards in Ironwood City know Richard.
After the captain of the city gate recognized that the leader was Richard, he decisively ordered to lift the alert and open the city gate.
Although he didn’t know where that group of well-equipped strange soldiers came from, the prestige that Richard had established over the years had made him habitually carry out Richard’s orders.
After entering Ironwood City with the soldiers produced by the system, they went straight to Ironwood Castle. The civilians looked at this small army with some curiosity. After all, this group of soldiers was very strange. They were not familiar with Ironwood Castle. Wooden City Guards.
“Hey, Richard, nothing’s wrong, who are they?”
Richard and his men happened to meet the second uncle and third uncle who came to check the situation on the street.
“It’s okay, they are soldiers I trained separately, and they are all my own.”
Richard made a few random remarks.
“I’ve never seen these people before.” The two uncles muttered in confusion.
However, out of trust in Richard, he did not stop him. Instead, he joined the team and returned to the castle.
After returning to the castle, everyone was surprised by this group of well-equipped soldiers. Some even speculated that they were guards brought by visiting nobles from the Marquis Palace or the Royal Capital in the north.
This group of soldiers produced by the system are all wearing iron armor, and the three swordsmen are even wearing expensive plate armor. The most abnormal one is the Crusader, who is like an iron can with his closed helmet.
The Ironwood City Guards under Richard are all equipped with cost-effective cloth armors. After all, the Hunter family is not a wealthy noble, so it is not realistic to equip them with expensive plate armors.
Richard had no choice but to settle for the next best thing. He gathered the half-experienced blacksmiths and blacksmiths in the territory to set up the Hunter family’s equipment workshop, and finally came up with a set of cloth armor and iron bone animal skin helmets with a good overall cost performance. standard armor.
Ignoring the curiosity of the people in the castle, Richard ordered the officers in the camp to settle the system soldiers in a separate barracks, and then took the crusaders to meet his father, Viscount Sauter.
“Ron, when you see my father soon, you will ignite your fighting spirit and show your strength. Can you do it?”
“Yeah”
This crusader named Ron has a relatively silent character. He doesn’t speak much but gives people a very down-to-earth feeling.
Soon, Richard took Ron to meet his father in the front hall of the castle.
At this moment, Viscount Sauter was still wearing armor neatly. There were some signs of repair on the plate armor and arm guards, but they were well maintained and still had sufficient protective capabilities.
Viscount Sauter had already noticed Ron beside him, and looked at Richard with some inquiry in his eyes.
“His name is Ron, and he will be my deputy general from now on.”
“Where did he and those soldiers come from?”
Obviously, Viscount Sauter has also noticed this group of system soldiers.
Richard was a little hesitant when he heard the words. He had prepared a lot of perfunctory words but found it difficult to say them to his father, Sauter.
These lies can be easily exposed. He can fool the two uncles without any burden, but he does not want to lie to Viscount Sauter.
“Are they reliable?”
“Reliable.”
“That’s good.”
Feeling that Richard did not want to answer his question, Sauter took the initiative to change the subject. He had absolute trust and unparalleled doting on Richard, the genius son, and believed that Richard had his own reasons for doing things.
“Father, our fight with the Will family should come to an end.”
“Are you sure?”
Although Sauter doesn’t know much about territory management, he also knows that the Hunter family and the Will family are not in harmony and can even be said to be feuding.
The territory of the Hunter family and the Will family are close to each other, and the territory of the Hunter family is adjacent to the Tiemulin Sea and further north.
Before Richard’s grandfather made meritorious service and was awarded a title, this large piece of land next to the ironwood forest had long been regarded as their own territory by the Will family. Cross-border reclamation and cutting down of ironwood for sale were routine operations of the Will family.
It’s a pity that Richard’s grandfather chose this unclaimed land as his fiefdom after his meritorious service on the battlefield.
The Weir family did not dare to disobey the kingdom’s orders, but Liang Zi took over at that time.
The Will family has a longer heritage. Although the family currently only has one knight, Viscount Will, there are ten quasi-knights, who are stronger than the Hunter family, and they are constantly making small moves.
In the past, the Hunter family always suffered small losses, but in the past two years, Richard has managed the Hunter family better and better, constantly cracking down on the Will family’s out-of-bounds behavior.
In particular, Richard’s reduction of land taxes and standardized business management have caused a large number of Will family’s territorial residents to flow to the Hunter family’s territory, and caravans are more willing to go to Ironwood City for trade.
The Will family’s territory is showing signs of decline, so in the past two years the Will family has made more and more small moves, and there have even been vicious incidents of detaining caravans and chasing escaped farmers across the border.
In general, there is nothing wrong with the Will family itself. The prosperity of Ironwood City will definitely lead to the decline of the Will family, and further conflicts between the two parties will occur sooner or later.
“Ron”
Faced with Viscount Sauter’s question, Richard did not answer directly, but instead signaled to Ron.
Hearing this, Ron nodded and stepped forward, a faint blue-gray fighting spirit igniting.
Saote looked at Ron in disbelief.
“Knight?” Sauter was in disbelief.
“Yeah” Richard answered in the affirmative.
Saote looked at Ron and was about to say something again.
“Ron, please go back to the military camp first. Someone will arrange a separate residence for you.”
“Yes, sir.”
Ron stepped back to the door, bowed respectfully, and then walked towards the military camp where he came from.
Listening to Ron’s footsteps getting further away, Sauter lowered his voice and asked, “Is he reliable?”
“Absolutely reliable.”
“call”
Viscount Sauter squeezed his hand again and again.
“Richard”
“Father”
“Just do what you want.”
“Yes”
……
After Richard left, Viscount Sauter pulled out the sword and waved it a few times as if to vent his inner restlessness, and finally took the sword back to restore calm.
“Perhaps our Hunter family will also shock the Northland.”
…………