Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

It's common knowledge that the Southern Territory isn't a united monolith.

Most nobles are loyal to the Iseli family, the rulers of the Southern Territory, and therefore don't oppose the young duke inheriting the title due to his pure Iseli bloodline.

However, a small number of nobles remain loyal only to the old Duke Ceylon, and although they outwardly show no opposition to an heir not of the old duke's choosing, they are simply biding their time.

When the true heir arrives in the Southern Territory, ready to reclaim the title, they will fulfill their original oath.

Lia had been corresponding with these nobles loyal to the old duke while she was in the Southern Territory, and today, finally, there were promising results.

When she excitedly went to find the Lord of Highcliff Keep, she didn't expect to find him leisurely eating breakfast at a commoner's home in the town of Kalia.

"What is it?" The lord wiped his mouth, patting his stomach contentedly.

Nothing made him feel more grounded than being full; if he was hungry, he could only muster seventy percent of his strength.

"The old nobles loyal to my grandfather have sent troops to assist us, and they are only half a day's journey from Kalia Town."

Lia's happiness was evident; she held up her skirt with one hand and clutched a letter in the other, clearly having rushed over as soon as she received the news.

Levi was taken aback, a smile spreading across his face: "That really is unadulterated good news!"

"Old Kre, there are a lot of people in Kalia Town, so try not to go out these days. If anything happens, use my name; it'll work."

Levi pulled Lia and started walking outside, tossing a gold coin onto the table as he left, making a crisp sound.

"Lord..."

Kre tried to stop him, but just as he opened his mouth, the other waved his hand without turning back, leaving behind only a powerful voice.

"Don't bother looking for change, your lord has plenty of money!"

"...You haven't even said what your name is!" The little old man Kre looked at the disappearing figure, opening his mouth, his face helpless.

Turning his head to look at his dispirited granddaughter, he sighed again; what was going on...

...

To show his grand welcome for the arriving reinforcements, the lord went to great lengths.

He managed to find some old harps in this small border town of Kalia.

And he forced several gray-haired old men, who claimed their ancestors played the instrument, to act as a temporary band.

This large plucked string instrument, in an era where organs were popular, had become a complete antique, and those who truly knew how to play it probably traced back to the grandfathers of these old men.

The effect was that when Montvert Kerch arrived with his army at the place where they were being greeted, the awkward scene made him want to turn around and leave.

The five old men who were vigorously plucking the strings reminded him of farmers in a brothel who only knew how to show off their strength on beautiful prostitutes, and the terribly awful琴聲reminded him of his grandmother's hoarse voice like a black crow grinding its claws before she passed away.

Except for the members of the spellcaster squad, all the big and small leaders of Highcliff Keep had arrived, standing tall and straight, with the Highland Tulip and the Lord of Highcliff Keep undoubtedly at the front.

"It's Count Montvert of Wolf Island, along with some other barons, totaling over ten thousand soldiers." Lia smiled as she watched the approaching army, subtly conversing with the lord next to her.

"Fewer than I expected; I thought there would be at least thirty thousand." Levi surveyed the flags fluttering in the wind, the flag surface black with a majestic wolf-like head on it, and a sword from top to bottom, mostly blocked by the wolf's head, only revealing the hilt and a small part of the blade.

At a distance of eighty paces from the Highcliff Keep team, the middle-aged knight raised his hand, and the entire army stopped in just a few breaths, leaving only the flags rustling in the wind.

This level of elite troops made the lord take a second look; this army was definitely no weaker than the Thorns Legion.

The other party took off his helmet and held it in front of his chest, dismounting from a wolf-like magical beast and walking over on foot.

"Miss Lia, my people and I have been looking forward to this day for a long time."

Montvert bowed slightly, then looked at the young man next to him, whose reputation had recently become terribly loud. Just as he wanted to say hello, he didn't expect the other to laugh three times and open his arms to greet him.

"Count Montvert, long time no see!" Levi gave the middle-aged man a big bear hug.

"Uh, long time no see." Montvert replied awkwardly.

In fact, the two had indeed met once in Cologne, which could barely be called a long time no see, but their relationship wasn't good to this extent...

The Lion Hunter's enthusiasm made him unable to cope.

"Lord Montvert, we have already allocated the garrison. The journey has been arduous, so let the soldiers go camp and rest." Lia smiled slightly, "This is clearly not suitable for conversation. Fresh milk and food have been prepared in the camp."

Since the main force arrived, the Highcliff Keep garrison had moved from the baronial fort in Kalia Town to a sheltered flat area a few miles away.

It wasn't that the lord was afraid of anyone that he vacated the position; Kalia Town was surrounded by nearly 200,000 troops, with countless soldiers gathering here, and hemispherical white tents stretching like mushrooms after the rain to the end of the horizon. From a military perspective, it was clearly not suitable for garrisoning troops, as it would greatly limit the army's mobility.

So Levi directly moved the garrison out.

Inside the Highcliff Keep camp, a slightly spacious tent was used as a temporary command post and was now being used as a dining room.

A long table was placed in the middle, with a dozen chairs around the table, already mostly occupied.

The goat-men acting as cooks were constantly bringing food to the table, quickly filling the entire table.

"My lords, I am very happy that after my grandfather's death, you can still fulfill your promises. I will remember your loyalty and courage."

Levi coughed twice, and the noisy environment instantly became quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Lia took the opportunity to speak, looking around with sincerity.

Frankly speaking, although she had told Levi that there were still some nobles in the Southern Territory who supported her, it was just her guess. With the old duke already deceased, she, with only the title of a knight and an heir in exile, was not worth investing in at all.

But she didn't expect that even today, there would still be nobles, led by the Kerch family of Wolf Island, to assist her.

"Miss Lia, there's no need to be like this. You are the old duke's destined heir. We were all at the banquet back then. It's just that we didn't expect the old duke to not persist long enough to say it, but even so, we all know who the old duke recognized as the heir!"

Montvert put his hands on the table, his eyes firm:

"And now that young duke is the real thief, taking what doesn't belong to him by despicable means."

Montvert was one of those who supported Lia as the heir at the banquet in Cologne, but he didn't expect everything to happen so quickly. No one had anticipated that Cologne would change owners overnight.

With only a hundred knights, he had to choose to leave obediently if he didn't want to be swallowed by that group of Golden Lions and become nourishment.

But now, this girl from the Southern Territory had returned, and with a powerful army. He hardly hesitated, summoning the nobles under his command to come to her aid.

"It's just a pity that there are still two counts who didn't come with you." Lia sighed.

The other two counts had also clearly supported her as the heir, and later expressed their dissatisfaction with Damon in their letters, but when she actually arrived in the Southern Territory, they were silent and never replied.

"They don't want to support Damon in this struggle, nor do they want to bet too early." Montvert stroked the jade ring on his thumb, seemingly recalling what the two had said.

He clearly knew who Lia was talking about.

"Isn't that a fence-sitter? How nice they think, but as long as it involves disputes, this so-called 'fence-sitter' is beaten on both sides!" Levi interjected: "Even a child understands this principle; it's hard to imagine that a count doesn't even understand this."

"Levi, there are always people in this world who think they are smart but can't see the situation clearly. Not everyone is like you, daring to think and dare to do, and able to make a name for yourself." Montvert looked at Levi, smiling directly at him.

Regardless of this Lion Hunter's bad remarks about noble manners, just talking about what he did, Montvert admired him from the bottom of his heart.

He was also in Cologne back then, but it wasn't him who rescued Miss Lia, but this knight.

Whether it was because the situation was unclear or what, in the end, he hesitated at that moment.

Thus, the knight's bravery was highlighted even more vividly.

"I've long heard that even the children and women of Wolf Island are loyal, brave, and good at fighting. Today, seeing it, it's indeed true."

Everyone carries the sedan chair, Levi also gave a thumbs up and praised back:

"Count Montvert's choice to come and help us is enough to beat 90% of the nobles in the Southern Territory."

There was a reason why the lord was so enthusiastic about Count Montvert, who had come to help from afar.

Just like Lia said earlier, because of his dazzling record and his background, the result was that when he got such great benefits, he also stated that he was only loyal to the future Duke of the Southern Territory.

It was like adding fuel to the fire.

Lia at least had a blood relationship with Frina, but the lord was unanimously ostracized by this Northern Territory army.

The entire army's soldiers, officers, and nobles all chose to ignore the Highcliff Keep Burning Legion as if they had all agreed in advance. Even though they were all stationed in one location, they just acted as if Highcliff Keep didn't exist.

Once this invisible rule was formed, even those who didn't care had to choose to comply; this was the power of the collective.

Even Ando, the kind old man, and Earl Luke, who wanted the lord to be his son-in-law, could only choose to avoid the limelight, afraid of being seen talking to the lord and being labeled as a Southern Territory party.

However, Forgero, the long-unseen legion commander of the Thorns Legion, secretly found the lord when no one was around, saying that because the limelight was stolen, these Northern Territory officers were jealous and going crazy, and it would be fine after a while.

Levi remained noncommittal; the two were not in the same system, and he didn't have to play with this group of Northerners. Since that was the case, then goodbye.

It was good to draw a clear line, so that when there was a real conflict, he could kill a few more without psychological burden.

Count Montvert was Lia's vassal, and the two would inevitably belong to the same system in the future and would become colleagues. It could be said that this was the real own people.

Completely different from the Northern Territory Legion, which was only briefly mixed together because of intertwined interests.

It was worth making good friends with.

The arrival of Count Montvert didn't cause too much of a stir in the Northern Territory army. The only effect was probably to make the lord even more ostracized.

But the two sides couldn't be further apart, so there was no need to attend those annoying meetings.

In the end, Levi was not under Frina's jurisdiction, and whether or not he attended their Northern Territory army's internal meetings completely depended on whether the other party invited him.

Now that the relationship was so stiff, there was a good reason to refuse.

Although the relationship was stiff inside, on the surface, their self-defense army, which only supported Lia as the heir, was still led by Frina.

When Frina decided what to do next, they would all remain on standby and would not attack Damon's army on their own.

Therefore, while waiting for the next order to begin, the lord was idle all day long, and his heart began to stir.

So he found Montvert to discuss organizing a wrestling competition.

To let the soldiers vent their nowhere to vent energy.

Montvert, who wanted to try the composition of Highcliff Keep, immediately agreed.

The arena was circled out on an open space that day, simply surrounded by fences.

In addition to the small soldiers, the officers also participated in this wrestling match.

However, at the officer level, only three people were selected to compete.

Based on the idea of fairness and justice, the lord originally didn't want to play in this wrestling match.

Otherwise, it would be a bit like bullying people.

But because Count Montvert, after seeing Gus, Zart, and Orak's burly figures, directly forbade these three oversized strong men from playing, and chose the thinner lord.

After abandoning these three heavyweight figures and the earth goblin Layton, who was not good at force, the only players who could participate in the wrestling match were Mil and Hogg.

Montvert secretly looked at the three leaders of Highcliff Keep who were participating in the wrestling match, his mouth slightly raised, only thinking that the advantage was on his side.

One was burly, two ren tall, half a head taller than him, but his face was immature and it was obvious that he was an inexperienced kid.

The one-eyed jackal's figure was tall, two ren three, but it was not impossible to win, after all, wrestling was not just about brute force.

As for the Lord of Highcliff Keep, the Lion Hunter?

The other party's record was indeed dazzling, but after all, he had not seen it with his own eyes, so Montvert believed that he was not without the power to fight with the blessing of decades of fighting spirit.

After all, wrestling only relies on strength and skill.

A very high chance of winning!

He thought so.