Mount and Blade System: Start from Pioneer Lords

Just looking at this army, you couldn't see the end of it. It occupied half of the wide street, with well-equipped soldiers and warhorses carefully selected for their trace of magical beast blood.

A quick glance would tell anyone that this was a well-organized and powerful regular army.

They carried carts of supplies, moving in a mighty formation, with each soldier's nostrils practically pointed to the sky. They startled barefoot farmers and merchant caravans into quickly making way, fearing to offend these military thugs, lest they be beheaded without recourse.

The Orc warriors, however, were unimpressed. They picked their noses and strode forward, proceeding with their usual interrogation.

"Where are you headed? Do you have permits?"

Roar!

A three-headed dog, about half the size of a man, suddenly leaped forward. Its three ferocious wolf heads roared menacingly, saliva dripping from their mouths onto the ground.

Though small, its aura was terrifying, causing the warhorses to become restless. The riders' arrogance vanished, and they hurriedly soothed their mounts, fearing to be thrown off and lose face.

"They're my good brothers, what permits do they need?" The Lord, who had been lying on his chair, appeared out of nowhere.

The Orc warrior's usually stern face broke into a simple grin, and he scratched the back of his head: "Oh, they're the Boss's brothers, then no permits needed." He ordered the roadblock to be opened.

Looking at the wailing Grief, the Lord gave it a light kick: "Stupid dog, why are you barking? Get back."

"Woof woof woof."

The three-headed dog, which had been so fierce and snarling, immediately wagged its tail and barked ingratiatingly a couple of times before running back under the table to sleep.

Since following the Lord, this dog had perfectly embodied the phrase 'a dog relying on its master's power.' Apart from its owner, only Sophia could make it fearful; it didn't care about anyone else.

"Li Wei, you've been having a leisurely time lately, I envy you." Andao waved his hand to signal the troops to halt, leaving his rider and mount to walk towards Li Wei alone. He took off his white gloves, his face full of smiles.

"Hey, there's nothing to envy. There's no battle to fight, and I'm stuck in the camp every day, my body is getting rusty. I can only come here to move around and lose some fat." Li Wei waved his hand, then looked at Andao with curiosity: "Forget about me, where are you going, Your Grace?

"Why aren't you enjoying yourself in Colon, instead of running around everywhere?"

As he spoke, Li Wei looked at the cavalry unit, with carts of supplies trailing behind.

Clearly, they were preparing for a long march, not just patrolling around Colon.

He secretly guessed, could it be that Furena was planning to send someone to take over White Harbor in advance?

"I'm just born with a restless spirit. My butt hadn't even warmed up in the brothel before Lady Furena assigned me a task." Earl Andao said as he walked, picking a plum from the plate on the table where the Lord was sleeping and throwing it into his mouth: "The Duchess is not very reassured about the South... Ouch, so sour..."

"Hahaha, Your Grace, do you know why this plate of plums can sit in front of a bunch of Orcs for so long?"

Andao gave the Lord, who was laughing heartily, a resentful look before continuing: "We sent some scouts to the South, but none of them returned. Lady Furena is very worried about this, so she sent me to investigate the situation and establish an intelligence route."

"That's indeed an urgent matter." Li Wei frowned. "Until now, we still know nothing about Damon's situation. It's as if the other side has disappeared without a trace, and no news has been sent back."

"That's exactly what Lady Furena is worried about." Andao shrugged. "In fact, to be frank with you, even most of the radical nobles don't think it's necessary to fight a demon, increasing unnecessary casualties."

"Oh? So what faction are you?"

Li Wei was stunned. If even the radicals didn't want to fight the demons, then what was he going south for?

"I'm a conservative."

Andao smiled calmly.

Then he spread his hands: "As you probably know, the management of White Harbor will fall into the hands of Duchess Furena. In order not to let the efforts of the Northern Territory go to waste, at the very least, we must find out the movements of the demons."

"Alright." Li Wei reached out his hand, and the two clenched their fists together and bumped their chests: "Your Grace, bon voyage!"

Li Wei had a good impression of this Earl. He could be considered approachable and didn't have the arrogance of nobles who thought they were superior to everyone else.

He was also easy to talk to. Although he couldn't be too close to him due to the issue of faction alignment, it didn't affect his feelings towards him.

If it weren't for the fact that they each belonged to different masters, he would have probably been persuaded by him to play cards with Meng Weite and become sworn brothers.

"When I come back, I'll probably have to call you Your Grace."

Andao joked, waved his hand, climbed onto his magical beast mount, and led his cavalry through the city gate without looking back, heading towards the distant horizon.

The Lord shook his head, continued to lie on his chair, took out a knight novel and began to study it word by word. When he was tired, he put the book over his head and fell asleep.

Life was extremely comfortable.

......

Not long after Andao left, Colon began to be flooded with nobles from different places.

These nobles were neutral, watching the struggle between Damon and Leah, and would be loyal to whoever won in the end.

This approach would definitely offend both of them, but the benefit was that they didn't have to worry about losing everything in this investment war.

Of course, rewards and titles had nothing to do with them. They would even have to be thankful that Leah wasn't a petty and stupid ruler to avoid punishment.

White Castle also launched a grand usurper trial.

Almost all the participants were nobles, from both the Southern and Northern Territories.

The location was the Unending Garden of White Castle.

The ground in the middle was paved with marble bricks, and the surrounding tulips were already beginning to bloom, all of them a charming gold, decorating the place with splendor.

Shrubs and exquisite sculptures, managed by gardeners into various styles, added a touch of realism to the place.

Nobles dressed in formal attire, their hair meticulously styled, stood on both sides, leaving a space in the middle covered with a red carpet.

At the top of the stands, a throne and two exquisite chairs were arranged, but currently only two similar-looking noblewomen were sitting on the chairs.

"Where's the boss?"

Zat stood on the city wall, holding a simple telescope in his hand, scratching his butt from time to time.

He scanned around but didn't see his boss's mighty figure in the crowd.

"Brother-in-law said he seemed to have been asked to be some kind of ceremonial knight." Mir also held a telescope, his tone somewhat uncertain.

Since the Lord started carrying a telescope on his lower back every day, looking impressive, the big and small leaders of Highcliff Fortress followed suit and had craftsmen make simplified versions of telescopes to carry with them.

"Is it done yet? You guys have been looking for so long." Sophia jumped up and down beside them. She had been waiting for a long time, but neither of them showed any intention of letting go.

As a Silver Dragon born on Dragon Island, she knew a lot, but all of it came from books. Now she was seeing with her own eyes how humans conferred the title of Duke, and she was naturally extremely curious.

After all, the investiture ceremony of a Duke was said to be not much different from that of a King.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll give it to you after I watch for a while longer." Zat responded verbally, but he constantly twisted his body to avoid Sophia, who jumped up to grab the telescope, and had no intention of letting go.

In the end, Sophia couldn't wait any longer and raised her fair little fist in threat: "Big fool, if you don't give me the telescope, be careful I'll punch you!"

She jumped up and pointed at Zat's waist a couple of times on the battlements. She was only one and a half blades tall, which was frighteningly small compared to Zat's three blades.

The threat, mixed with a girl's voice, would be taken as a charming addition to the relationship by any strong man.

But when Zat heard it, his body couldn't help but tremble, and he said the weakest words with the hardest mouth: "I'll give it to you, why do you want to hit people at every turn? It's not like I'm afraid of you."

He muttered in dissatisfaction.

In the end, he could only reluctantly hand the telescope over to her.

At first, he had a rush of blood to the head and went to challenge this dragon transformed into a girl, but he didn't expect that she would give him a beating even in human form.

Her flurry of punches was completely disorganized, and even a country farmer would be better than her, but unfortunately, a random punch could kill a master. Her fists were fast and ruthless, and Zat was really unable to resist.

And once she couldn't beat him, she would use all kinds of magic, making him suffer a lot.

From then on, this dragon was no longer afraid of him and would come to him for trouble every day, making him almost depressed to death.

"Big Brother Zat, you can use mine." Mir, who was next to him, looked at the aggrieved Zat and smiled as he handed over the telescope in his hand.

"Mir, I didn't misjudge you, you're really my best brother!" Zat grinned and put his arm around Mir's shoulder.

This made Mir wince in pain: "Big Brother Zat, let go quickly, your grip is too strong."

"Wow, Leah is so beautiful! Li Wei is so majestic!" Sophia exclaimed.

Zat quickly picked up the telescope to watch, after all, they had never seen such a big scene before.

In the lens, a knight in golden armor was leading a girl in a custom-made exquisite Duchess's robe along the red carpet to the bottom of the stands.

It was Li Wei and Leah.

Originally, the Lord was still sleeping in, but he was temporarily notified that he was to be some kind of ceremonial knight, responsible for some matters by the Duchess's side.

Seeing that it was a great opportunity to show his face, Li Wei agreed without saying a word, and then hurriedly packed up and entered White Castle.

After the two reached their position, an old man in a yellow papal robe and a papal hat walked from afar, followed by three Earth God officials holding golden square plates.

"That's the Pope of the Earth Mother Church, Saint Smode, who is already one hundred and ninety years old. His magical cultivation is very profound. If he participates in this struggle, it will be many times more difficult for us to take Colon."

Today, Leah was wearing a luxurious Duchess's robe, embroidered with gold thread and adorned with cat's-eye-sized gems, making her look incredibly valuable. She moved her lips lightly, explaining to the knight standing upright beside her.

"Then why isn't he participating?"

"Popes are generally not allowed to participate in factional disputes. Those officials are already the limit that Damon can mobilize with the face of the Iseli family." Leah explained part of the church's rules to someone.

"Moreover, the title of Duke of the Southern Territory is conferred by this Pope. Penny and the others were not conferred by this Pope, and strictly speaking, they can't even be considered Dukes, they are just gilding their faces."

Li Wei wasn't surprised. In this world with gods, the divine right of kings was a rule shared by everyone.

But he didn't expect how Leah had persuaded this Pope to recognize her as the heir and confer the title on her.

After all, even Penny hadn't done it.

Soon, Saint Smode came to the two of them. The old man's face was very calm, like an undisturbed pool of water. He lowered his eyes slightly, revealing a pair of deep golden eyes.

He glanced at the Lord, then took a pure gold scepter from the golden plate of the official beside him and gently placed it on Leah's shoulder.

"I, Saint Smode, the current Pope of the Earth Church, by the will of the Earth Mother, in the name of a spokesperson, confer Leah Iseli as the Duchess of the Southern Territory."

"All the territory of the Southern Territory is under your rule, and all the people are protected by you."

"May you always hold humility in your heart!"

The Pope finished speaking and gently placed the scepter on the other shoulder.

"May you always hold honor in your heart!"

He followed the same pattern.

"May you always hold justice in your heart!"

......

By the time he finished speaking of the twelve virtues, the Lord was almost yawning. He then handed the scepter to Leah and took a crown inlaid with a sapphire in the middle from the golden plate and put it on Leah's head.

"Now, if you want to wear the crown, you must first bear its weight." His tone suddenly became serious, causing everyone to be unable to help but concentrate.

Finally, he took the ring from the golden plate and put it on Leah's finger.

"The coronation ceremony is complete."

A soft chant.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, this coronation ceremony was declared over in the other party's chant, and Leah finally became a Duchess.

With the Pope's personal conferral, even if the King appeared here, it would be impossible to change the outcome.

The Pope's coronation not only proved that Leah had become a Duchess but also proved her legitimacy.

It acknowledged that Damon's line was all usurpers, and that they were the ones with the true right of inheritance.

Whether it was in the Deber Law or anything else, it was impossible to criticize.

Li Wei thought of many things. The King did not personally come down to prevent this battle for the title, probably partly because of this Pope.

After all, Penny and the others had not been granted the title of Duchess. If the King personally intervened for this reason, he would be denying his own legitimacy in some way, so he could only smooth things over. Later, seeing that it was useless, he simply didn't care.

After the conferral, the Pope directly led the officials away, without saying a word.

Because the Pope is not allowed to participate in politics, this is also a law that all countries abide by.

Taking the little hand of Leah, who had become a Duchess, and helping her onto the throne, Li Wei walked down the stands and guarded her side.