Chapter 10: Winter Season

After listening to Gandalf's words, Gervis nodded. It was similar to what he thought. Before there was absolute force, no one dared to cross the bottom line between nobles. Breaking the rules would affect everyone's interests, and then all nobles, big and small, would rise up to attack.

"Father, you should eat something too! This roast chicken smells delicious! Did we change the cook in our kitchen?"

Most of the roast chicken on the table had been eaten by Gervase, who was only concentrating on listening to Gandalf talk about Alice and didn't notice anything unusual.

Now after listening to it, Gervase realized that Gandalf only ate the smoked ham and left the roast chicken untouched, eating half of the chicken himself.

But the roast chicken tasted really good. He was very skeptical that Old John, who could make such delicious roast chicken, could have made the smoked ham taste like salted fish some time ago.

"Little Gervis, this roast chicken was made by the cook you brought from Rose Castle."

"You will start living alone tomorrow. It's too late to kill a sheep, so I asked the kitchen to kill a chicken. I saw that you liked roast meat at the banquet, so I asked your cook to roast it for you."

Gandalf was a little embarrassed. Although Gervase didn't say it himself, he knew that Gervase didn't like bacon and ham, nor did he like old John's cooking, so he asked Jimmy to bake it.

"Oh! Father, you should change the cook! Old John is too old. At his age, he should enjoy life in the country!"

Knowing that it was Jimmy who roasted the chicken, Gervis was not surprised. It was because he was conquered by the taste of Jimmy's barbecue that he half-jokingly asked Alice to be the cook.

"I also advised Old John, but he was worried about the food made by others and was afraid that I would not be used to it!" Gandalf shook his head helplessly at Gervis.

“He is such an admirable man!”

Gervais nodded.

Gervase's grandfather was a lord, and when Gandalf was still a teenager, Old John had already become the Gaelic family's cook.

Gandalf grew up eating food made by Old John. Gandalf already regarded Old John as his elder. However, in the past two years, because Old John was too old, his sense of taste had deteriorated, and the food he made did not taste very good.

Gandalf didn't dare to tell Old John directly for fear of hurting his feelings, so the food in their home has not been very delicious in the past two years.

Gervis could understand Gandalf's feelings better, just like when he was a child in his previous life, he grew up eating meals cooked by his grandmother and always thought they were delicious.

As grandma grew older, the food she cooked gradually became saltier and saltier, but no one in the family dared to tell her directly for fear of making her sad.

After crossing over here, although Gervis had been complaining about the bad food in his heart, he had never expressed it in words. Today was the only time he mentioned it to Gandalf.

The atmosphere in the restaurant became silent because of the talk of Old John. Seeing that Gandalf had a deep worry on his face, Gervase guessed that Gandalf was worried that Old John would leave him in a few years, so he changed the subject and asked about his own territory.

Matters concerning the territory were also key points that he had to understand in advance so that he could make plans for the future.

"Father, next I want to know something about my territory. What is the Winter Season?"

Gandalf, who was feeling sad, heard his son's question and pulled his thoughts back. After thinking for a while, he answered: "In the winter season, when the first snow falls every year, orc armies will appear in various places on the continent."

"These orc armies will plunder along the way, and only when winter passes and spring comes will the orcs retreat! For nearly a hundred years, the orcs have appeared on time every year, without interruption. There are a total of six places in the Principality of Zeon where orcs will appear, and one of them is in the dark forest to the west of your territory."

"Father, does that mean my territory will be invaded every year? Where do those orcs come from? Why are they in every corner of the continent? And why do they appear in the winter?"

Gervis was very surprised. There was no information about orcs in the original owner's memory. Orcs could appear from every corner of the continent and plunder cities, so why did they retreat after the looting?

According to his father's description, there are quite a lot of orcs and they are fully capable of competing with humans. If the orcs do not retreat, humans will not be as prosperous as they are now.

"Dear Gervis, your territory will indeed be attacked by orcs every year. As for your subsequent questions, father cannot answer you because I don't know either." Gandalf shook his head slowly at Gervis.

After a moment's silence, Gandalf continued, "Nobles all over the continent also want to know the answers. Under the leadership of the church, the major duchies once explored many places where orcs appeared, but found nothing."

"It's as if they appeared out of nowhere. We can't find any traces of orcs' lives. Moreover, orcs appear in the winter every year. They don't come early, nor do they leave late. The old earl also explored the Dark Forest, but found nothing."

"But you don't have to worry. During the winter, you can take refuge in Rose Castle. When the winter is over, the orcs will leave your territory, and you can go back again. Although this will result in your territory only being able to grow crops for one season, your territory will be comparable to that of a viscount's territory."

"If you can recruit enough serfs, you will live a richer life than any baron."

Gervis was a little speechless. It seemed that he would have to run away for refuge every year. Gervis was a little unwilling to accept this. Anyone would feel bad if they were driven away from their home every year.

"Father, what about the other lords? Why have there never been orcs in Gael Territory?"

"The orcs cannot cross the Dead Leaf River. The river is fast flowing and it does not freeze even in the winter. There is only one bridge across the Dead Leaf River from your territory."

"Every winter, the Earl will send the Rose Castle's most elite Knights of the Rose to guard the bridge. The Rose Knights have one thousand trainee knights, two hundred bronze knights, and ten silver knights."

"And every year, five vassal nobles take turns to assist the Rose Knights in garrisoning. That's why no orcs have ever been able to cross the Dead Leaf River."

As an old noble, Gandalf naturally knew a lot and told Gervis in detail.

"There are only two territories of Earl Jones across the Dead Leaf River now. One is Baron Pat's territory, and the other is your territory."

"It turns out there is another unlucky guy like me!"

Gervis tried to make the best of his misery and couldn't help laughing. He decided to take the time to visit the noble who was just as unlucky as him. It seemed that there was basically no solution to the orc issue. One could either flee or fight.

Gervis still wanted to know more about the orcs' strength and make long-term plans later.

"Father, how strong are the orcs? I seemed to have heard at the banquet that a viscount in my territory had died in battle."

"Orcs are very strong and there are many races. Some of the weaker races can be matched by ordinary people. But some races can only be dealt with by bronze knights. Facing title knights, the threat of orcs is not that great. There has only been one orc comparable to the silver knight in the Earl of Jones' territory."

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Gandalf thought for a moment, and when he saw Gervase's expression he knew that he was unwilling to give in, so he told Gervase in detail the strength of the orcs so that he would not dare to harbor any luck.

"But their numbers were very large. For some unknown reason, Viscount Major suddenly decided to garrison his castle during the winter. He recruited a large number of soldiers and stockpiled enough food to last through the winter. To boost morale, he only allowed his subjects to cross the Dead Leaf River for refuge, while all his family members stayed in the castle."

"But unfortunately, Viscount Major's castle was eventually breached by orcs. Viscount Major, his family, and all the guards were killed by the orcs!"

"Later, the old earl took back Viscount Major's territory. However, ever since Viscount Major's death, civilians have been afraid of that place and dared not live there. That territory has gradually become deserted. Now there are only less than 2,000 people in the entire Viscount's territory, which is only one-fifth of the population of Gael Territory. They are basically serfs and cannot escape. They can only cross the Dead Leaf River to seek refuge when the winter comes."

"So, Gervis, you must remember that Viscount Major told us with his blood that we should never try to stop the orcs in the territory. You can go to Rose Castle or to father. No one will laugh at you for this!"

At the end, Gandalf's tone became serious. Although he knew that Gervase had always been timid and cowardly, he was also worried that Gervase would suddenly become a lord, be blinded by power, and misjudge his own strength.

"Don't worry, father, I won't do anything stupid!"

Seeing Gandalf's serious tone, Gervase knew that he was worried that he would act without thinking.

But Gandalf's worries were unnecessary. For Gervase, he lived in the era of information explosion on Earth. He might not have much experience himself, but he had seen many lessons from previous experiences on the Internet, so he would of course be more cautious in doing things.

"I'm so relieved, Gervis, you've grown up!"

Gervais answered straightforwardly and confidently, no longer showing his previous cowardice. This only showed that Gervais had grown up, which made Gandalf feel relieved.

Among Gandalf's three children, only Gervase worried him the most, because Gervase's talent for cultivation was not as good as his brothers and sisters, and his personality was introverted and cowardly.

Now, Gervis is about to become a nobleman with a territory. As long as he manages it well, the Gale family will become more and more powerful.

The conversation between the two came to an end, and they had almost finished the food on the table. Gandalf finally did not eat the roast chicken. Gervis knew that it would be useless even if he tried to persuade him again, so he said nothing more. This was fatherly love.

Gandalf put down his knife and fork, took a towel and wiped his hands. Suddenly he saw Gervis' jade box, so he asked Gervis, "Little Gervis, do you know what kind of plants are suitable for growing in the space of this fairy insect that the Earl gave you?"

"Um?"

Gervis still had half a chicken wing hanging on his lips. He was a little stunned by Gandalf's question. What kind of plants are suitable for growing?

Gervase reacted immediately and thought that Gandalf probably thought that what Alice gave him was an ordinary green elf worm.

So, after swallowing the chicken wings, he answered: "Father, Alice gave me a royal blue fairy bug!"

"Oh! Little Gervis, I'm a little jealous of you!"

Gandalf laughed and joked, and he was very happy. He was very pleased that as long as Gervase worked hard, he would definitely achieve more than him in this life.

(End of this chapter)