Chapter 197 Horse Riders and Oxen Riders, Aphrodisiac Blades, and the Beginning of Conquest (6,000 words!)

In the past, Count Feihu looked down upon the power of the cultists.

Just like the vast majority of nobles in this world, he believed that cults were filthy and harmful to humanity and were enemies that must be eliminated.

But after losing the civil war, he was transformed from the Grand Duke of Needle Leaf to the current Earl of Flying Fox.

A lot of things are different now.

Many of his vassals began to treat him as an equal. Although everyone still called him "Sir", compared to before, at least in the eyes of Earl Feihu, this was a humiliation.

Later, some cult incidents occurred, so that to this day, he is still in contact with the cultists of the Scourge Cult.

But now, he didn't look down so much on these cultists who liked corpses and death.

He saw the superiority in it. As long as he created death, he could gain power! And in this world, death was the most common thing.

Now he didn't think these cultists were so hateful anymore. The only bad thing was that as a partner, he needed to complete some tasks of the cult while obtaining the power of the cult.

Theoretically, it is difficult for an earl to be threatened by a cult. At least for now, if Earl Feihu asks for help from the Torch Church and the king in the royal city and says that he is being threatened by the cultists, nothing will happen.

But now, Count Feihu has set his sights on the power of the Scourge Cult.

The little nobles may not have any feelings about the current situation.

But Earl Feihu, as the former Grand Duke and current Earl, is an absolute nobleman and has some understanding of the international political situation.

There is no sign of the gold mine war in the Southern Kingdom ending anytime soon. The orcs in the North are now beginning to riot, and the murlocs and nagas in the ocean, as well as the elves in the forest, are also watching.

Humans have taken over the most productive lands, but that doesn't mean it will last forever.

If war and death intensify in this world, then he, Count Feihu, will surely be able to seize power that is unimaginable in normal times through the Scourge Cult.

Now that we are being instructed by these cultists, we can only endure it for the time being.

"So what needs to be done?" Count Feihu sat on a mahogany chair, crossed his legs and looked at the messenger of the Scourge Cult in front of him, who was wrapped in a shroud and exuding a faint stench.

"There is an iron mine in Crescent Territory. Stop them from mining it." The messenger's tone was devoid of any emotion.

"Got it. You may leave." After hearing this, Earl Feihu waved his hand, indicating that the envoy could leave.

The messenger of the Scourge Cult did not care about Earl Feihu's arrogance. After confirming that Earl Feihu understood the situation, he disappeared into the night.

It only needs Earl Feihu to do the work. As for the attitude issue, there are too many nobles like him. As long as he works, the cult does not care about anything else, at least for now.

After all, it is not easy to find a great noble who has enough strength in all aspects and is also smart enough.

Count Feihu is not stupid. His analysis of the world situation and understanding of domestic politics are highly admired by the cult.

Moreover, Count Feihu possesses many virtues that the cult admires, such as greed, suspicion, and unwillingness.

This is the basis for cooperation between the two sides.

Watching the messenger of the Scourge Cult leave, Count Feihu withdrew his gaze.

He hated Viscount Crescent Rand very much, but he had to admit that he really had no way to deal with Viscount Crescent using normal means.

As a powerful noble in the Frost Moon Kingdom, it is not impossible for him to violate some regulations and carry out military oppression on other nobles in the country, but there is a very important condition, which is that he cannot be too far away.

But unfortunately, Earl Feihu's territory is too far away from Rand's territory.

One is in the north of the country, and the other is at the southern border of the country, so it can only be said that they are out of reach.

The territories of both sides are too far apart, and many things are out of reach. If the army wants to reach the Crescent Territory, it needs to cross the territories of too many nobles. Without a legitimate reason, Earl Feihu can be sure that these nobles in the country will definitely not let them pass.

But now there is finally a chance to crush this annoying fly and complete the mission of the Scourge.

This time, his strategy of expanding the territory was originally just to let his heir gain some military reputation. If the expansion goes smoothly, as an old noble, he still has some foundation and may have a chance to make a comeback.

After thinking for a moment, Count Feihu called the butler over. He had changed several butlers. The previous one was killed by the little bitch around Viscount Rand, and the new butler made him unhappy in every way.

The butlers were all trained by the family and had served the Feihu family for generations, but ever since the previous butler passed away, the new ones made him feel very uncomfortable, which made him very irritable.

After ordering the butler to call his second son over, Earl Feihu waited in the night.

His residence was an extremely luxurious manor, but it was very dim, and even at night, not many lights were on.

Soon Perrault arrived at Count Feihu's residence, where he had been preparing for the development.

At first, he thought he was assigned to develop the land of the Southern Kingdom because his father had other ideas about the inheritance rights.

But after communicating, he finally understood what his father meant.

To be honest, due to his father's previous failures, whether it was the failure in the civil war, the failure in assassinating domestic nobles, or the failure in the trial in the royal city, family members, including Pero, have doubts about the strategy of the current Earl of Feihu.

However, under the current inheritance system, as long as Earl Feihu is alive, the position of lord will always belong to him.

So even though they were dissatisfied with Earl Feihu, no one dared to oppose him.

However, after a recent detailed discussion with Count Feihu, Perrault realized that his father was much better than he had imagined, and at least he could clearly analyze the current situation.

Things are indeed different now than in the past. In the increasingly chaotic times, the status of military nobles will gradually increase.

Then it must be said that the previous participation in the military friction with the Southern Kingdom and the subsequent pioneering actions now were a wise decision.

"Father." It was night time, but the entire room was illuminated only by a few oil lamps, but not a single ray of light shone on Count Feihu's face.

Count Feihu's face was hidden in the shadows, and his luxurious clothes looked dark in the candlelight: "Sit down."

Perrault sat down.

Count Feihu looked at his second son's black hair and smooth skin with some envy. He himself was about the same age as the Black and Brown Marquis. The old man was about to be buried. He didn't know how long he could live. "Are you almost ready?"

"Yes, father."

"I have another mission for you this time." Earl Feihu said, "There is an iron mine in Crescent Territory. Stop Rand from developing this iron mine."

Pero's face froze. Asking him to fight Rand?

Now he was somewhat suspicious of whether his military ability test scores when he was a child were too seriously falsified, so that his father had made a wrong estimate of his military ability. The famous Snow Fox Countess couldn't do anything to Rand, so how could Pero do it? Feeling the panic of his second son, the Flying Fox Count snorted coldly: "A Viscount scares you like this? This is not a war period. He only has his few troops. At best, the so-called Royal Guards have some combat effectiveness. The rest are just chickens and pots. What are you afraid of?"

Pero had only heard that Rand had an 86-man guard that was well-equipped and had a brilliant record, but he was not sure how strong the rest of Rand's army actually was. But judging from the results of the Battle of the Line of Defense, they were not incompetent.

But Pero could not go against his father's wishes, and at least from an objective and rational point of view, the military strength of the Earldom of Flying Fox was far stronger than the two territories of Viscount Rand combined.

Of course, Count Feihu is also aware of Rand's battle record, so he will naturally make adequate preparations and provide sufficient support.

"One third of the Flying Fox Army will accompany you, and you can also bring more soldiers from the territory. The first batch will be 1,000. We will arrange for you later depending on the situation. The territory will help you with logistics and supplies."

Hearing this, Pero breathed a sigh of relief. The family would definitely give him strong support for this expedition, but the support was still beyond his expectations.

With such military force, it is easy to destroy all the viscount territories in the Frost Moon Kingdom. If they break into a certain earl's territory when the earl is not prepared, there is a chance that they can capture the earl.

This undoubtedly greatly boosted his confidence. After all, as he had thought before, no matter how good Rand was at military affairs, he only had so many troops, so he would definitely have a chance.

"Yes, father." Pero was a little excited. It was the first time for him to have the opportunity to command so many troops.

"Then let's get ready and set off." Earl Feihu didn't say anything else. The military force was already excessive.

At least as long as the Kingdom of Bolen does not form an army to fight head-on, such a large number of troops will definitely sweep across the developed areas, unless the Earl of the Stag also provides Shelan with additional troops.

In short, the rations that Count Feihu gave to Pero were already much more than the quota. It was not that he could not provide more, but if he provided more, it would be a very dangerous signal - for example, he not only wanted to expand the land of the Southern Kingdom, but also wanted to expand the new fiefdoms of Shelan and Rand, and even wanted to occupy more land on the border, whether it was the Frost Moon Kingdom, the Bolen Kingdom, or the Lunsa Kingdom.

…

The cattle and horses in the den have grown a lot now. Although they are still young, they can already run.

And Rand found someone who specialized in horse appraisal.

The conclusion is that when you grow up, you will have good qualities in all aspects.

Whether as a mount or as livestock, according to the observation of horse appraisers, the combat effectiveness of cattle and horses is not very bad if they are taken out alone.

After confirming that the new type of mount he had trained seemed to be really useful, Rand began to arrange for people to come into contact with the young cattle and horses.

The cattle and horses are still young and cannot be ridden yet, but it is still possible for them to come into contact with people early and understand some instructions.

The training of mounts should start from childhood.

In fact, the same applies to the knights in the hideout. Rand also requires them to be familiar with the mounts.

The knights of those noble families with a long tradition were all trained in horsemanship, swordsmanship, formations and command from a young age, passed down from father to son and from son to grandson.

That is why these knights possess such superb riding and combat capabilities.

This is something that the den does not have.

Among the cavalry in the hideouts, except for the White King's personal guards, the ones who are best at riding are the scout troops who need to perform reconnaissance missions all year round. The riding skills of the accompanying cavalry and the personal guards are slightly worse.

Of course, if the riding skills of the centaurs in the den are taken into account, the overall riding level of the den is still good.

In the stables, the soldiers were getting close to the cattle and horses allocated to them, while Rand was watching with Elsa.

"Do you want to adopt a cow or horse as well?" Rand looked at Elsa beside him.

Elsa shook her head, indicating that she could just ride an ordinary horse.

Rand was a little disappointed, then turned back and continued to look at the horse farm.

The horse farm is an area specially opened up in the den, but it doesn't only house cattle and horses, there are normal horses as well.

At the beginning, Rand was worried that cattle and horses were not a practical species, so he did not neglect the acquisition and training of ordinary war horses.

Moreover, even now that it has been confirmed that cattle and horses will be very useful, the number of cattle and horses in the den is not increasing rapidly. The birth of cattle and horses requires Rand's personal efforts. It is not certain whether cattle and horses have reproductive ability. All the cattle and horses in the den were born through Rand's ability.

Elsa rested her elbows on the railing outside the stables, watching the soldiers in the hideout getting close to the horses and cattle.

Rand took a closer look at Elsa. Recently, she had been dressed very smartly for office work. Although she should still be wearing armor underneath and must be carrying weapons, from the outside, her overall style was more like an office clerk rather than a cold-blooded thief.

Although Elsa is neither cold-blooded nor a thief.

But it is true that although Elsa's current outfit does not suit her style, it is still unique and charming. At least it always makes Rand look over from time to time.

Rand knew very well that his sight would be discovered by this powerful thief, but he was confident.

After looking at it very confidently for a while, Rand said, "What's the next schedule, my dear adjutant?"

Elsa had long been accustomed to Rand's occasional teasing tone. She opened her schedule, ticked off one item, and said to Rand, "The formula for the potion seized from the cult has been officially produced. You need to review it."

It seems that the progress is quite fast.

Following the road to the hideout, we arrived at the alchemy workshop.

The alchemy workshop has expanded into multiple areas, including the chemical area, mechanical area, agricultural area, heavy industrial area, etc. Different areas are also built in different locations.

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The area Rand is heading to this time is the chemical area, and the only items available here are currently soap and aphrodisiac potions.

Seeing Rand coming, the alchemists in the alchemy workshop, all with dark circles under their eyes and looking a little haggard, saluted Rand.

In fact, Rand did not oppress them. He gave them enough rest time, delicious food, and comfortable housing.

But they seem to like working overtime very much. They volunteer to work overtime every day, and their attitude is very positive. They don't seem to have any complaints.

They also actively sent letters to invite their classmates to work in their hideouts. Perhaps alchemists are natural workaholics.

Thanks to this, with the recipe, their efficiency was very high and they quickly produced the aphrodisiac potion.

"See the effect." Rand looked at the alchemist.

The alchemists produced cages containing several white rabbits.

Inject the medicine.

The drug worked quickly. The rabbits immediately went into heat and began to engage in () behavior. Perhaps due to their superior craftsmanship, the potions made by these alchemists were more effective than those made by the cultists, but they were still far inferior to Rand's Blessing 2.

The rabbit soon became tired. When the demonstration was over, the alchemist said, "My Lord, the current effect is in line with expectations. There is no permanent effect on living things. The effect on humans is unknown and has not been tested yet."

"We will assign death row prisoners to you later." Rand said to the alchemists before leaving with Elsa.

In theory, death row inmates also have human rights, but Rand feels that they do not.

The death row prisoners in the den are usually cultists captured nearby, or enemy soldiers or bandits who have committed serious crimes. Some will be executed, while others will be used in some dark experiments.

In a sense, the alchemy workshop is now considered an evil black magic experiment area, and Rand is the evil lord who experiments on humans.

Elsa returned to the lord's hall with Rand and smiled.

Rand immediately felt something was wrong. Elsa's kleptomania had not seemed to have acted up recently, and now with this expression, it looked as if she had succeeded in stealing.

The first thing Rand did was to touch his crotch.

Still here.

Rand breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his pants were still there, it wasn't a big problem.

"What did you steal?" Rand stared at Elsa.

Elsa was not surprised that Rand could guess that she had stolen something. She just chuckled and took out a tube of aphrodisiac.

"What do you want to do!" Rand glared, "This thing is useless to me."

Elsa carefully recalled the contents of the booklet that Lisa had stuffed into her hand, licked her fingers gently with her tongue, and then let the saliva remain on her fingers, making them look slightly shiny.

She opened the bottle of potion.

"It hasn't been tested on humans yet. Just because it's harmless to rabbits doesn't necessarily mean it's harmless to humans," Rand said very cautiously.

"I should be the top one, I have a good physique." Elsa looked at Rand, "And with the golden leaves and your magical dirty ability, I think it's fine."

Most of the time, Elsa is a cold assassin with a blank expression.

Much shyer than Olena.

He is so proactive today.

Doing something fancy while Olenna's away, eh?

Seeing that Rand did not strongly object, Elsa sniffed the potion. As a powerful thief and experienced killer, she was naturally well versed in poisonology.

In fact, he was also involved in the development of the aphrodisiac potion, and she was very sure that it would not cause any harm to the body.

Extending her wet tongue once more, Elsa licked a little of the potion before closing the lid and setting it aside.

Twisting her waist, she brushed her fingers across her chest, belly button, lower abdomen, and between her legs.

The movements were very stiff, and Rand felt that she was imitating something, and she looked very distorted.

The posture he deliberately posed was also quite magical. If it weren't for his strong balance ability, he would have probably fallen down by now.

All in all, Elsa has a good foundation and a beautiful appearance. Although her figure is only slightly better than Ellie's, it is not bad either.

This look is artificial, not ugly, but rather cute.

But as for charm, Rand couldn't feel it anyway.

But that doesn't mean such an Elsa can't arouse Rand's desire.

Elsa twirled her hair. She knew that her movements were not standard and very stiff, even ugly.

The pamphlet that Lisa pushed over also said that eyes are crucial.

She tried very hard to control her eyes, but every time she looked into Rand's eyes, she would feel flustered. After a while, she would subconsciously look away.

Elsa didn't know how she was bewitched by Lisa.

Lysa always said that if you don't take the initiative, you will be forgotten. Elsa doesn't think Rand is such a person, but she also wants to fight for a little more...

So now it has become like this.

She was so shy that she had to avoid Rand's gaze to keep doing her own things.

"Did Lysa trick you?" Rand asked helplessly.

Elsa did not deny it: "You, are you annoying?"

Rand stood up and walked back.

Elsa's eyes dropped a little.

Rand turned back helplessly: "Come to the bedroom."

Elsa's steps became silent and she arrived in the bedroom before Rand.

Maybe it's due to the effect of the medicine, or maybe it's due to Elsa's inner heart, but now Elsa's fair and rosy skin looks even more rosy.

Rand pushed Elsa onto the bed, pulled her boots off, and pinched her feet.

Maybe it’s because he’s a high-level professional, even though he walks a lot, his feet are still delicate, soft, white and tender, and his toes are like lotus buds.

Elsa subconsciously wanted to retract her foot, but was held back by Rand.

"Let me go~"

…

This area was named Full Moon Territory by Rand at this time.

Fenris ordered a garrison in a town.

Although there are traces of a fire here and many houses have turned into charred charcoal, the damage to the city wall is not serious.

There is a river nearby and some of the brick and stone houses in the town are still usable.

Fenris intends to use this place as an outpost, and then radiate to the surrounding areas based on it.

There are some villagers in the town now, some of whom fled when they were looted and have now returned.

Another part was found and captured by Fenris.

In the town, the villagers were full of distrust and fear of the new army.

Fenris could certainly sense the villagers' concerns.

The army brought nothing but nightmares to the villagers.

Fenris would not try to establish any image in the eyes of these villagers. That would come later and would be something that the missionaries and administrators of the hideout would do.

What he had to do was simple: arrange these people to work and ensure that the villagers would not starve or freeze to death this winter.

The rest is none of his business.

Big chapter! No more tonight.

(End of this chapter)