Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

“Let’s decide about that after we solve the immediate problem.”

Aishe rubbed her brow.

Currently, the Whisperwind Tribe and the Northern Territory are in a balanced trading relationship. A magic crystal mine isn't enough to make Fulina turn against them. If they increase the stakes further, it's hard to say what kind of future the Whisperwind Tribe, which has already suffered heavy losses, will face.

At this time, they need to find an extra ally to share the risk.

And Aishe thinks this Highcliff Castle lord is very suitable. He has strong personal strength, but not too much stronger than the Whisperwind Tribe, and he doesn't belong to Fulina's direct command.

“We understand.”

Several elven elders nodded, and then discussed some details before leaving.

……

Fulina left earlier than expected.

The next morning, nearly ten thousand Thorn Legion soldiers were lined up in a long queue on the open ground, with countless carriages gathering behind the team.

Cement-gray clouds covered the sky in sight, as if within reach. There was no snow today, but the wind was howling, breaking dry grass and rotten wood on the ground, and hitting everyone equally.

“Lord, we’ll be leaving first.”

Looking at Skye, who was leading his horse and about to leave, Li Wei was a little reluctant. He stepped forward, shook his hand, and bumped chests with him: “Have a good trip.”

“Hiss!” Feeling the pain in his chest, Skye couldn't help but grit his teeth. “Lord, can I ask you something?”

“Speak.”

“Did I say anything when I was drunk last night?” Skye looked at the lord expectantly.

“You mean that?” Li Wei smiled mysteriously. “Like peeking at the maids bathing, or confessing your love for…”

“Stop, stop, stop.” Skye was startled and glanced at a beautiful figure on the other side, quickly pulling Li Wei to a corner: “Lord, can you promise me something? Please don't tell anyone about these things.”

He looked pleading.

“Old Skye, I didn't realize you had so many romantic affairs.” Li Wei smiled.

“Those were all things from when I was young. Back then, I was easily impulsive and did stupid things.” He smiled wryly.

Li Wei shook his head. He hated people who kept bringing up other people's dark history. He leaned close to Skye's ear and 'comforted' him in a low voice.

“Sorry, Old Skye, I’ll be laughing about these things my whole life.”

The whispers of the devil swirled around Skye's ears.

“Hahaha.”

After saying that, the lord laughed and turned to leave, leaving Skye frozen in place.

In fact, Skye had spilled everything when he was drunk last night, and even the elven maids who were serving the dishes had heard it all.

Only he himself was still in the dark, thinking that even if he said anything, only the lord who was closest to him would hear it.

However, Li Wei didn't reveal this. As long as Skye thought that he was the only one who knew about these things, wouldn't it be easy to manipulate him?

“Lord, we are ready to leave.”

Masha, the snow priestess, found the lord and bid farewell with a reluctant expression.

Originally, Li Wei thought that this priestess was a sure addition to Highcliff Castle, but reality proved one thing: never trust your own illusions.

Especially the three major illusions in life: phone vibration, I can outplay them, and she likes me.

Even though he felt the pain of his daughter being snatched away by a punk, the lord had to pretend to be magnanimous: “Be careful on the road. If you have time, you can come to Highcliff Castle to play. The gates of Highcliff Castle are always open to you.”

Looking at the handsome young man with a warm smile like a spring breeze, Masha finally mustered up her courage and gave him a hug.

“I will.”

Watching Masha leave and walk towards the snow priestess's team, Li Wei shook his head. Fortunately, he had captured several drow priestesses this time, so even if Masha didn't join Highcliff Castle in the end, he wasn't too disappointed.

He turned his gaze to Panda beside him.

“Lord, don't ask those questions. I don't have any plans to join Highcliff Castle at the moment.” Panda quickly waved his hand, very honestly.

“Damn, do you think you're a hot commodity? Do you think I'm begging you to join?” Li Wei couldn't help but laugh and cursed a few times, then bumped fists with him: “Next time we meet, it'll probably be next year. I'll have to test whether your martial skills have improved by then.”

“Please spare me. Who dares to compete with you in martial arts? Isn't that just asking for a beating?” Panda shook his head like a rattle drum, quickly avoiding danger.

He was a war lover, but he definitely didn't like being beaten.

With Lord Li's achievements during this period, if he really sparred with him, he would definitely be beaten to the point of having no temper.

Gus silently covered his panda eyes and walked to the corner.

This morning, he believed the words of the green-skinned orc and sparred in wrestling with the Lord of Highcliff Castle who was doing morning exercises. As a result, he was unilaterally rubbed on the ground, and he completely understood that his own bravery was like a stream and the sea compared to this human, and there was no comparison at all.

After saying goodbye to the few people he knew, Li Wei put his hands in his pockets and returned to the garrison area assigned to Highcliff Castle.

He could understand why Fulina left so quickly.

After all, nearly ten thousand people here consumed an astronomical amount of resources. The longer the time dragged on, the greater the losses would be. In addition, the southward journey was next year, and she had to go back and prepare many things.

So, after the matter was resolved, there was no need to stay here, and it was natural to go back as soon as possible.

However, Li Wei was not so anxious. He had few people, so even if he delayed for a few days, he wouldn't consume much supplies. In addition, Highcliff Castle was in the wilderness, only six or seven days away from here, so he simply waited for the people of Highcliff Castle to rest before returning.

When Aishe found Li Wei, the latter was playing cards with a few people in the tree house.

The earth goblin Layton had a smile on his face, and Mil and the lord's faces were covered with paper strips.

Zat sat next to the two, watching all this with a gloating expression, almost saying that boss, you have this day too.

Li Wei was depressed. When he first taught Layton to play cards, this guy was also terrible, but after only playing two games, he instantly became proficient. The key was that he also learned his own cheating skills.

This led to the situation where he was now hoist with his own petard, and was almost losing all his money to the other party.

He glanced at the last two threes in his hand, and there was no doubt that he would probably lose this round too.

At this moment, Aishe entered his sight, and the lord instantly threw the cards on the table. “No more playing, no more playing, business is important.”

This made Mil, who was finally about to win once, look resentful.

“Queen Aishe, what's the matter?” Li Wei asked casually.

“I have something to discuss with you.” Aishe smiled. “Just call me Aishe.”

Li Wei just wanted to avoid the card game, but he didn't expect that there was really something. He asked curiously: “What is it?”

“It's about the distribution of spoils and some trivial matters of gratitude.”

Aishe lied without drafting, and couldn't see any problems at all.

This matter was of great importance to the Whisperwind Tribe, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better, so the Lord of Highcliff Castle was the only person they designated to share it with.

Li Wei thought it was really something important. He got up and patted his butt, and ordered the people playing cards to deal with things before leaving.

After all, the boss had started to get busy, and the people under his command certainly couldn't be idle.

In the middle of the Whisperwind Tribe stood a palace. Generally speaking, elven meetings were discussed in the center of the hall, but Li Wei found that their destination was not here, but continued to walk inside.

“Aren't we discussing things in the hall?” he asked in confusion.

Could it be that this elven queen had taken a fancy to him? Was she planning to find a place where no one was around to express her feelings?

“They are waiting for us ahead.” Aishe said concisely.

“Li Wei, do you know about the elves' Tree of Life?” On the way, Aishe suddenly asked.

“Ah, the tree of origin of all life, the center of the world, the garden of the gods…” As soon as he opened his mouth, Li Wei couldn't help but chant this widely circulated poem in a poetic tone.

His tone was long and full of epic meaning.

But in this declining era of elves, it seemed a bit ironic.

After chanting, he realized that something was wrong. The Tree of Life had a higher status than gods in the hearts of these elves, and he didn't want to create a gap with them because of a poem.

But the facts proved that he was completely overthinking it.

This elven queen didn't look like a devout believer who believed in the Tree of Life at all, and didn't show any signs of anger.

“What you said was all at the beginning. After that, the Tree of Life turned into the sun and the moon for some reason, leaving only two seeds. Our ancestors planted them and obtained the Sun Tree and the Laurel Tree. They are known as the Twin Holy Trees, representing the rise and fall of the elven race.”

“But since the magic power receded like a tide, the gods disappeared, and the Twin Holy Trees also began to wither. No matter what methods my ancestors used, they couldn't stop it from dissipating.”

“The elves have since lost the Holy Tree forever, or rather, the Mother Tree abandoned its people.”

Aishe walked in front, and Li Wei couldn't see what her expression was at this time, but he could also hear the helplessness and sadness contained in it.

“Wait.” Li Wei rubbed his temples. Even if he was careless, he realized that something was wrong at this time. “Are you going to tell me a secret next?”

He felt a headache. Secrets often meant trouble.

And it didn't seem small, because it was obvious that this group of elves was deliberately hiding it from Fulina.

“It's not telling, it's seeing with your own eyes.” Aishe quickened her pace, and the golden boots made a da da da sound on the floor, leaving only two white and slender long legs.

When he walked into the depths of the palace and came out from a circular arch, his vision suddenly brightened.

In front of him was an unusually spacious cave connected to the palace. The stone walls and the ground inside were filled with a kind of fluorescent plant, illuminating the entire cave as bright as day.

In the center was a tunnel that kept going down, like a deep abyss that chose people to devour.

“This isn't the location where you found the magic crystal mine, is it?” Li Wei pointed to the various drafts and tools scattered on the ground not far away.

“That's right, there is a magic crystal mine under this cave.” Aishe nodded without any concealment.

“Because of one thing, all the miners were called out, so now there is no one here except us.”

Li Wei nodded,

“Good afternoon, Lord Li Wei.” Several elves who were obviously old had been waiting for a long time.

They were wearing exquisite elven costumes, with daggers hanging from their waists as pendants, but the most eye-catching thing was the huge round stone hanging around their necks.

It had a sense of incongruity like modern people hanging a string of animal teeth around their necks.

“Good afternoon, elders.”

Li Wei looked curiously. One of them was holding a stone ball that was exactly the same as the ones around their necks, and it felt like it was prepared for him.

“Li Wei, since you know we have a magic crystal mine, you should also know the dangers of the magic crystal mine.”

“This special stone ball is a magical item that can resist the dangers brought by the magic crystal mine.”

Aishe took the stone ball about the size of a fist, with a red string in the middle,

Li Wei didn't refuse, and directly stretched his head over, and Aishe took the initiative to put it around his neck.

“Tell me, what exactly did you call me here for?”

After putting on the stone ball, Li Wei directly asked.

If this group of elves couldn't give him a satisfactory answer, he wouldn't go underground with them no matter what.

Who knew what was hidden below? Or was this group of elves preparing to kill him, the Lord of Highcliff Castle?

“This is related to one thing. As time went by, the mine became deeper and deeper, and darker and darker. When we continued to mine the magic crystal mine, suddenly, a crack appeared on a wall that was large enough to accommodate two people entering and exiting.”

“Whether it was to eliminate danger or something else, we later sent people in to investigate, but the results we obtained were something we never expected. For the elves, that is definitely the most precious treasure, no matter how much gold and silver cannot measure it.”

It could be seen that Aishe was trying her best to maintain the composure of a king, but the excitement on her face was still hard to hide.

Not only her, but everyone present except the lord was shaking with excitement.

Li Wei really couldn't think of what it was that could make this group of elves who possessed a magic crystal mine feel excited.

After all, the value of a magic crystal mine was not much worse than a gold mine.

Just from the fact that all the elven warriors were wearing sophisticated plate armor, it was known that they had made a lot of money from this magic crystal mine.

“Then what exactly is it?”

“It's not clear for a while, you should go and see with us.”

Heather took the lead and walked to the edge of the pit.

The pit was much safer than Li Wei thought. It wasn't bottomless at a glance.

On the contrary, this was just a tunnel leading to the underground. There were unknown crystals on both sides emitting white light, illuminating the dark tunnel very brightly.

“In fact, this tunnel has existed for a long time, and we discovered the magic crystal mine after that.” Aishe explained, stepping forward and walking into the depths.

The lord was also skilled and bold. Seeing that Aishe, the elven queen, took the initiative to walk inside, he also didn't want to fall behind and walked side by side.

Several elven elders followed behind the two.

This tunnel was wider than expected, and could accommodate two people walking side by side. The height was also about two blades, just enough for Li Wei to not have to bend over uncomfortably.

The team moved forward silently. Li Wei didn't know how long it would take, he only knew that the walls around him began to bulge, filled with various traces of iron picks, and thick wooden stakes were used to consolidate the passage.