As the nobles led their respective knights away one after another, the tense atmosphere at Cast Iron Pass suddenly disappeared and became relaxed.
Before leaving, Earl White looked at Martin with concern and warned him, "Martin, if you encounter trouble you can't solve, don't force yourself. Let the dragon knight take you away. Saving your own life is the most important thing."
Martin nodded seriously and kept these words in mind.
At this time, Marquis Roderick also stepped forward and said earnestly, "Little Martin, I know you are becoming more and more powerful now, but no matter what time, you have to be more careful about everything. It will never hurt."
After saying that, he changed the subject and a meaningful smile appeared on his face: "Don't forget, come and marry my daughter when the time comes."
Martin nodded speechlessly.
After saying goodbye to everyone, Martin returned to his assigned room. With the departure of so many nobles, the originally tight accommodation situation suddenly became more relaxed, and Martin was lucky enough to be assigned a room worthy of an earl.
Entering the room, Martin pulled out the casualty report Prince Herbert had sent to the nobles. When his eyes fell on the casualty figures of his own knights, he felt a sudden pain in his heart, as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer.
A total of 350 people were killed or wounded, not counting the injured knights. The loss was extremely heavy and could be described as a huge loss.
Even if the kingdom will give corresponding compensation later, what are lost are fresh lives and knights who have loyally followed him. Martin is filled with unspeakable heartache and self-blame.
Then, Martin called Eric and ordered, "Go and gather the remaining members of our Knights."
Prince Herbert was only concerned about the dragon knight Eric, so Martin's knights were not incorporated into the legion and remained independent.
After all the knights had gathered, Martin looked into those pairs of eyes full of loyalty and swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
He handed Eric a space ring and whispered, "Send the contents down."
Eric understood and began to distribute the items. Each knight received a magic potion and some gold coins, which was Martin's small reward for their bravery.
He was planning for a bigger reward, but it was not appropriate to make large-scale promotions in Prince Herbert's territory right now, so he planned to make the promotions after he returned.
Martin adjusted his mood and said loudly, "Everyone, take these small gifts first. There will be surprises waiting for you when we get back!"
The knights' blood boiled, and they shouted "loyalty" in unison. The sound was so loud that even the soldiers patrolling in the distance were alarmed.
Martin hurried out to appease the people, and then disbanded the Knights, telling everyone to rest if they needed to, and to rest and recuperate if they were injured.
The Dwarven Kingdom had gained a significant advantage in this conflict. The Charlemagne Kingdom's army had not fallen for their ruse, and subsequent combat plans had to be shelved.
When the Dwarf Kingdom learned that the other side was holding on to the Cast Iron Pass, they considered attacking. However, when they thought of the dragon knights of the Kingdom of Charlemagne, the three kingdoms became timid and retreated one after another, which unexpectedly benefited the Dwarf Kingdom.
The four sky wizards trapped in the center of the formation were enough to protect the western border of the Dwarf Kingdom for more than ten years. As a result, the Dwarf Kingdom no longer needed to send heavy troops to the western border and was able to recuperate in peace. The Orcs and the Orc Kingdom could only swallow this loss helplessly.
Seeing that the war could not be fought, the five forces began to prepare for peace talks and redeem their respective prisoners.
With the joint efforts of the five parties, the peace talks progressed smoothly and a treaty was quickly signed. The Dwarf Kingdom was required to compensate the Dante Kingdom with knight armor or magic items worth eight million gold coins.
The Dwarf Kingdom only agreed to use the Iron Pass as the border and ceded it to the other side. Apart from that, it refused any compensation and said firmly: "If you don't agree, keep fighting!"
After some discussion and weighing the pros and cons, the Royal Parliament of the Kingdom of Charlemagne finally agreed to this plan. After all, it would be difficult for the army to break through the daunting magic circle.
The next step is to redeem the captives.
The Charlemagne Kingdom offered a package price of one thousand gold coins per captive, regardless of their strength. This price immediately caused an uproar in the Dwarf Kingdom, and the Dwarves loudly denounced the Charlemagne Kingdom's shameless behavior.
However, the Kingdom of Charlemagne remained unmoved. The negotiators sat leisurely in front of the huge communication crystal, drinking black tea, looking calm and composed.
The Dwarf Kingdom was now in a dilemma: if it did not redeem the gold, the Orc Kingdom and the Half-Orc Kingdom would not lend a helping hand if something unexpected happened in the future, even if they were willing to pay a huge reward; but if it wanted to redeem the gold, the Dwarf Kingdom could not afford such a huge amount of gold, and even if it did, it would be unwilling to pay.
After fierce bargaining and extreme tug-of-war between the two sides, the price of three hundred gold coins per prisoner was finally agreed upon.
With the successful delivery of more than 50,000 captives, the Dwarf Kingdom went to great lengths to scrape together nearly 20 million gold coins.
After King Charlemagne successfully received the generous ransom, he immediately began to reward and compensate the nobles involved in the incident.
After careful calculation, the kingdom actually gained only half of the western border, an area roughly equivalent to five earldoms.
The king was generous and gradually distributed these lands to the nobles who showed bravery in this incident. However, unlike before, this time he no longer granted tax exemption privileges.
Not long after, Prince Herbert found Martin and told him that the reward had been given.
Martin was directly granted the title of Viscount, and the fiefdom he was granted was located in the present western border, which was mainly mountainous and hilly areas, with a small plain in between, close to the border of the Kingdom of Charlemagne.
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