"My lord, look! We can already see the fortified city."
These words jolted Lind awake. He stopped worrying about anything else and looked toward the distant horizon.
At the far end of the horizon, at the foot of the towering Gur Mountains, a colossal city, entirely white, is built against the mountainside.
Like a giant rock that has been carved out, the entire city gives the impression of being integrated with the Gur Mountains behind it, appearing incredibly solid and stable.
However, a huge gap appeared on the side of the city gate in the entire magnificent city wall, which must have been the "surprise" the old count had mentioned.
Now that it's early spring, the surrounding vast grasslands have sprouted new buds, and the winding river flowing out of the city has added a unique touch to the scene.
There are also many villages around the fortified city. In addition to the villages at the foot of the city, there are villages in several other relatively good locations in the surrounding area.
As noon approached, it was time to light fires and cook. Smoke was already rising from the chimneys of some villages surrounding the fortified city.
The morning trip with the Cloudclaw caravan took some time, and it looks like we'll have to wait until the afternoon to reach Fortified City, which we originally planned to arrive at around noon.
As the migrating caravan found a flat, high ground, they stopped to start a fire and cook. Linde also stopped his horse and began to wander around the makeshift camp.
Linde rode Copperlight around and eventually arrived at the soldiers' camp.
This 400-man guard is the backbone of Linde's forces. Every soldier here is a full-time professional soldier, well-trained and in good physical condition.
They were all equipped with full sets of chainmail, along with a spear and a short axe, which was fairly standard heavy infantry equipment.
Led by a soldier, Linde arrived at the wounded soldiers' camp, which housed soldiers who had been injured during the previous killing of cultists.
At that time, the 18 guardsmen who had suffered minor injuries had gradually recovered, and the remaining two were seriously injured soldiers from the Bronze Guards.
The two soldiers survived thanks to Lind's deliberate reduction of the activation aura, but it will take some time for them to fully recover.
These bronze warriors are Linde's most valuable asset right now; each one is the foundation of Linde's existence.
After visiting the two bronze warriors, Lind casually summoned Aster and gave him instructions:
"Let's slaughter a few sheep and have a big feast for lunch today to reward the brothers."
Linde then instructed Astaire:
"This afternoon, I will lead 20 bronze warriors into the city with me. The rest of the warriors will remain where they are and will receive a bonus for those who stay."
"Yes, sir."
Astaire turned and went off to do his work.
Linde strolled over to the serfs' makeshift camp.
Although these displaced serfs looked disheveled, they were all full of energy and worked very hard.
Several serfs saw Linde approaching from afar and exclaimed in surprise:
"It's the lord, the lord has arrived."
As they spoke, they pulled one by one to kneel down by the roadside. Lin De looked at these kneeling serfs and couldn't help but feel uncomfortable.
He had also thought of becoming a pioneer of liberation, like the time-traveling predecessors in other novels, leading people to a better life.
But after spending some time in this world, he discovered that everything was different from before.
It was not the lords who enslaved the serfs, but the serfs themselves who chose to be enslaved by the lords.
This world is unlike the original Blue Star. This world has magical beasts, all kinds of other races, and even gods.
Compared to the humans who once dominated Earth, the environment here is much harsher, and the survival pressure from other races is immense.
Here, feudal authoritarianism is more suited to this world, and feudal rule is further solidified by the pressure from power and other races.
Throughout the thousands of years of history of this world, there has never been a slave rebellion or serf uprising.
People are willing to submit to their lords, and lords, for their own benefit and future, are also willing to treat their subjects relatively well.
Rather than going against the natural order, it's better to go with the flow and wait until you have enough strength and the conditions are right, then everything will fall into place naturally.
In this world, the law of the jungle is vividly demonstrated.
"Get up, all of you." At Lind's command, the serfs rose one by one, but they were very hesitant and awkward.
Seeing this, Linde told them to summon their leader, and soon a lean old man was brought over.
After some questioning, it was learned that the old man's name was Edmund, the former village chief of these serfs, and he was 48 years old this year.
Although he wasn't particularly old, years of hard work and toil had made this old man look much older.
"Your Excellency, is there anything you wish to instruct me to do?" the old man asked, leaning on a cane.
"After lunch, we will lead the people to build a simple camp here. We estimate we will stay here for a few days. I will send someone to inform you if there are any other arrangements."
"By the way, add an extra serving of wheat porridge to everyone's lunch today."
"Thank you, my lord, thank you, my lord," Edmund said, his hand holding the cane trembling slightly.
"Thank you for your kindness, sir."
Linde didn't linger any longer and rode away on his bronze light.
Even as Linde rode away on his bronze-lighted horse, Edmund behind him was still uttering words of gratitude.
They carried enough food to treat themselves occasionally, and appropriate rewards could fully motivate the soldiers.
After finishing everything, Linde returned to his small tent and enjoyed his aristocratic meal. Linde wasn't feeling well today, so he didn't plan to treat himself to an extra meal.
He planned to go to Fortified City in the afternoon to experience the local food and wine (customs and culture), since he had finally arrived in the first major city besides Earl's City, and the famous Fortified City at that.
It was soon afternoon. Lind, along with his 20 personal guards, Astaire and Alice, flew the Earl's banner and found the Cloudclaw caravan, which was also camped behind them.
After joining up with the Cloudclaw caravan, Linde's new team of several hundred people quickly arrived near the Fortified City.
The flat land surrounding the city wall was compacted so firmly that not a single blade of grass could grow, leaving the area completely exposed.
The closer you get to the fortified city, the more you can feel its grandeur; the towering walls are even more impressive than when you see them from afar.
This otherwise very secure city wall had a huge gap on the side of its gate, and the entire wall had collapsed, as if it had been melted by something.
Huge melting marks were imprinted on the pristine white wall. It was hard to imagine what a terrifying force it was that could melt away the heavy boulder in an instant, leaving only a breach filled with magical crystals.
Before, when I looked at it from a distance, I couldn't see it clearly enough. Now that I'm at the foot of the city, I can feel just how terrifying the force that struck it must have been.
Looking at the large amount of magical crystals that stretched from the crack in the city wall all the way to the ground, Lind truly felt the power of magic for the first time.
"Is this the surprise the old count was talking about? This is quite a surprise..."
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