Chapter 13 Arrival at the Territory
Standing on the bridge and looking upstream and downstream, I found that the river bank on this side was made of stone walls. The walls were extremely smooth, like city walls, and were about ten meters high.
Gervis knew that this river bank should also serve as a defensive wall to resist the invasion of orcs in the winter, but it was still summer, and the banks of the Dead Leaf River were overgrown with weeds and no one was around. An hour away from the Dead Leaf River, Gervis had not encountered any pedestrians or caravans.
Gervis was in mixed feelings, thinking that his territory was like an abandoned child that would be invaded by orcs every year.
"I will resolve this matter sooner or later!" As a man, Gervis has a very strong possessiveness. He is unwilling to see his territory being plundered year after year, and he silently calculates in his mind.
However, according to Gandalf, he currently does not have the ability to solve it, but as long as he has a dream, it will come true one day. As a time traveler with a golden finger, Gervis vowed to defend his territory.
"Then let's set a small goal! First, earn 1.8 million gold coins, and then try to recruit more soldiers!" Gervis set a small goal with great pride, not doubting whether he could achieve it in his lifetime. You know, 1.8 million gold coins is about the same as 18 billion on Earth.
"Let's go!" After setting a small goal on the Dead Leaf River Bridge, Gervis couldn't wait to ride away on his horse. It would only take him half a day to reach his final destination, Viscount Major's Castle!
…
"Is this a small town?" Gervis found it a little hard to accept. After traveling for half a day, he finally came to a place where people gathered again.
This is also the only town in his territory, Binhai Town. Binhai Town is located in the south of Gervis Territory. It is named because it is close to the sea. 30 years ago, it was also the most prosperous place in Viscount Major's territory. From the location of the town, you can already see a huge castle located on a small hill in the distance.
To get to the castle, you have to pass through the small town. When Gervis stood at the intersection of the town, he looked at the dilapidated wooden houses and thatched houses in disbelief.
His impression of small towns in this world was still the small town outside Gandalf's castle. He had seen many market towns in the territory along the way, some prosperous and some dilapidated, but all of them were many times better than this coastal town. The coastal town in front of him was basically a standard village. The only thing worth mentioning was that the road extending to the castle was quite wide.
With a quick glance, Gervis only saw a few stone houses, all weathered and covered with moss. The rest were wooden houses and thatched huts. At this moment, there were not many pedestrians on the street. A few passers-by wearing worn linen shirts turned around and ran away when they saw them from a distance, running into the alleys on the side of the road.
Only then did Gervis feel that his small goal on the Dead Leaf River Bridge was set a little too high!
"Sir, there are people coming from the front!" Thomas suddenly reminded.
Gervis was still looking around, trying to find some prosperous scenes in the town in front of him, but unfortunately he found nothing. There were no pedestrians, no market, and he was disappointed. Hearing Thomas' words, Gervis slowly came back to his senses and looked towards the end of the avenue.
The three guards beside him had already taken two steps forward on their horses, surrounding Gervis in the middle.
"Don't be nervous, they should be the guards here!" Gervis saw more than a dozen people rushing towards him at the end of the street. When they got closer, he found that they were wearing fiery red cloth shirts on the outside of their clothes. This was the attire of the Jones family guards.
There is no such thing as standard military uniforms in this world. Due to the sparse population and low productivity, it is difficult for small nobles to support a large number of formal armies. Only when war breaks out will they issue conscription orders to directly recruit serfs as soldiers. The weapons are also very casual. There are hoes for tilling the fields, axes for chopping wood, and those who can't afford iron tools can even sharpen the wood and go directly into the battle, not to mention uniform clothing.
When there was no war, the minor nobles would only organize a guard team of a dozen to dozens of people to guard the castle and patrol the territory. These people were considered the elite soldiers under the command of the minor nobles, and they were basically equipped with swords, guns, bows and arrows, and leather armor. As for clothing, they were casual and could wear whatever they liked, which was basically linen casual clothes.
But it was different for the great nobles. Due to the need for ruling, their territories were vast and they were much richer than the small nobles. They would recruit a large number of guards to guard the important roads and military fortresses within the territory. In addition to weapons and protective gear, they would have the guards wear a cloth shirt representing a certain family on the outermost layer of their clothes. There was a large hole in the middle of the cloth shirt for wearing over the head. After putting it on, the cloth strips would be tightened around the body with a belt. This not only looked beautiful but also did not affect combat.
"Greetings, Lord Baron Gervis!" A group of people quickly came to Gervis and his group. Several guards raised their right hands to their chests, stood up straight, bowed their heads, and saluted Gervis in unison.
There were fifteen people in total in this group, fourteen of them were dressed as guards, and only one of them was wearing a green short robe. When Wen Hu Geweisi, he used the bowing salute between nobles.
"Lord Gervis, I am the herald sent by Lord Earl! Here I have the certificate of title issued to you by Lord Earl, and the certificate of your territory, please inspect them!" After saluting to Gervis, the herald in the green robe immediately took out two leather scrolls in his arms and handed them to Gervis.
"May I know your name, Herald?" After taking the scroll, Gervis took a look at it. It was not made of sheepskin, but a kind of leather that was softer and thinner than sheepskin. After opening the scroll and confirming that the person inside was correct, Gervis asked the Herald with a smile.
"My dear sir, it is my honor to serve the Earl and you. You can call me Eagle!" The herald saluted again and replied to Gervis.
"Lord Eagle, when did you arrive?" Gervis didn't know what the position of the herald was, nor did he know whether he had a title. However, since Eagle followed the etiquette of the nobility, Gervis was quite polite in his address. As a lord now, he would inevitably have to deal with these people in the future. As the saying goes, it is easier to see the King of Hell than to deal with the devils. Since he was far away in the territory, it would not hurt to establish good relationships with those who worked in Winterfell.
"Sir, I just arrived at the castle and gave the Earl's orders to these guards!" Hearing Gervis addressing him, Eagle behaved more respectfully to Gervis. He was just a lord, without even a territory, and was just a herald officer in Winterfell. He didn't expect that the baron, the husband of the Earl, would be so polite to him. He was full of goodwill towards Gervis.
"Sir Eagle! Thank you for your hard work! Please stay in the castle for one night so that I can fulfill my duties as a host!" Gervis nodded. He noticed that there were traces of sweat on Eagle's face and clothes, which meant that they had not been here long.
He and his men had been traveling non-stop, and Iger had arrived before him, which meant that he had not neglected his duty. He had originally thought that if the herald arrived later than him, he would take them around the town first to experience the feeling of a secret visit. After all, the emperors in TV dramas loved to do such things, and the audiences were also very excited to watch. If some scenes of heroes saving beauties happened, it would be even more wonderful. However, Iger and his men arrived first, so his plan could not be implemented.
Of course, ideals are full, but reality is skinny. After seeing the real appearance of the town, Gervis was sure that he would never dare to get off his horse and walk on those muddy roads, because he would definitely step on the excrement dumped by the residents. Standing at the intersection of the town, Gervis could smell the pungent smell from a long distance away.
"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Gervis, but my mission has been completed and I need to rush back to Rose Castle to report! I cannot accept your kindness, but I hope to serve you again next time!" Eagle replied.
"What a shame! I hope you'll have the chance to come to Binhai Town again next time! I'll treat you well again!" Gervis nodded and didn't force it. He had already shown his goodwill, so it didn't matter whether the reason Eagle gave was true or false.
In fact, it was only noon, and Gervis and his companions had not had lunch yet. However, since they were entertaining guests, they must prepare wine and food, and Gervis didn't know what the castle would look like, so he said he would entertain them in the evening.
"It's an honor to serve you! Lord Gervis, I'll set off back now! Otherwise I won't be able to reach the next town before dark!" Eagle said goodbye to Gervis respectfully.
"Okay, Lord Eagle, see you next time!" Gervis nodded.
"See you next time, sir!" After saying that, Eagle turned and walked towards the castle. Their horses should still be in the castle, and now they were ready to go back and ride.
After Eagle and the guards who followed him walked away, Gervis looked at the remaining guards and couldn't help but frowned. There were only seven guards in front of him. According to the countess, there should be ten guards stationed here. Did they stay in the castle?
"Who is the captain among you?" Gervis frowned and asked, looking at the seven guards in front of him.
"Reply...Reply to the Baron, the captain is not here!" Several guards lowered their heads, not daring to look at Gervis. Hearing Gervis's question, they didn't dare not answer, and they looked at each other. Finally, a knight in the middle mustered up the courage and answered Gervis' question, but he still stuttered.
Hearing the answer, Gervis frowned even deeper. These guards were timid. Their attention had just been drawn to Igor and they hadn't noticed yet. They didn't even have the courage to answer. How could he satisfy Gervis? It would be okay to expect such people to catch petty thieves, but if there were three or five vicious thieves, they would probably be killed as soon as they met.
Just like the three guards Gandalf sent to him, they were all veterans who had been on the battlefield. Although they showed great respect to him, Gwyss did not show any cowardice or fear when he talked to them.
Of course, it's not that the three guards were disrespectful to Gervis, but while they were in awe of Gervis's identity, their fierce aura was still there. To put it in a metaphysical way, they all carried the aura of having seen blood, and one glance at them would tell you that this person is not to be trifled with.
(End of this chapter)
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