Looking at the blue and gold card in his hand, Roy still felt as if he was in a dream.
7.77 million blue gold coins. It has the secret seal of the Golden Skull Trading Company and can be used throughout the continent.
This was a huge amount of wealth, enough to make Roy rise from a poor boy to one of the richest people in the empire.
From a cash perspective, even a nobleman of Adolf's level or one of the top ten business groups in the empire would not be able to come up with so much money at once.
Although the card in his hand was only a thin one, Roy could clearly appreciate the power contained in it.
This makes him feel satisfied.
"Look at this kid's appearance," Adolf said to Kahn, squinting at Roy, "he can't even close his mouth."
The two burst into laughter.
Roy put the card into the space ring with a drooping eyebrow, and said nonchalantly: "I'll just take a look."
"Look, look, it's all yours anyway." Adolf said with a smile, "But to be honest, you got a big deal this time. You know, in normal noble wars, even if the rich and powerful families fight for more than ten years, the harvest will be small.
Not as many as you. Important members of the family are not captured so easily."
Roy said with a smile: "Who asked them to bully me, a little mercenary?"
All three of them laughed.
This is indeed the case. If several major families hadn't thought that Roy was just a small mercenary, I'm afraid they wouldn't have underestimated the enemy so much. As a result, they not only defeated a strong man from the Holy Domain, but also got involved themselves.
And this matter has become the hottest topic in the aristocratic circle. I don't know how many people are envious of Roy's good luck.
Of course, if it were them, they probably wouldn't dare to attack these big families.
After laughing, Kahn said: "But having said that, you should be more honest in recent times. Although they have all signed an agreement and agreed not to retaliate, this does not include the Bano family. Old Bano is a member of the family.
An old wolf, he will do anything to avenge her son."
Adolf nodded and said: "In recent days, the guards and spies we have deployed on the Lulian border have detected the entry of many unidentified people. Moreover, some caravans that were not active in Lulian before have also entered the country in large numbers.
A lot has happened. I can’t rule out the possibility that some of these people will be harmful to you.”
Hearing the caring words from Adolf and Kahn, Roy felt warm in his heart.
He secretly decided to give Adolf a surprise by completing the magical costume he promised before the Lulian army set off to the north.
"In addition, there is news about Bandez." Kahn took out a piece of information and handed it to Roy.
Roy's face became serious. He took the information, unfolded it and read it carefully.
After a long time, Roy's face showed an expression of disbelief. He raised his head and looked at Adolf and Kahn, "Is this true?"
Facing Roy's question, Adolf and Kahn looked at each other with complicated expressions, even a little bit dumbfounded.
"I think," Kahn said helplessly. "You should know the monsters under your command better than we do..." He nodded. "Yes, the information has been verified repeatedly. It is absolutely true!"
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Bandez is divided into two parts, the north and the south, by a rushing river.
There is a 200-meter-long stone bridge on this river called the Mustang River. It is called the Huju Bridge. It is also the only bridge connecting the north and south of Bandez. If you want to cross the river without going through the Huju Bridge,
, you have to go around twenty kilometers upstream, or thirty kilometers downstream.
Because the roads are all mountainous and difficult to navigate, Bandez's Huju Bridge has become the most important transportation channel for local residents and passing merchants.
Originally, Bandez was a quiet town.
Although the land here is barren, for a small town with only more than a thousand residents, it is enough to make ends meet. In addition, the nearby rolling mountains are home to a variety of magical beasts and precious magical plants. Therefore, living in
People here live a relatively stable life.
However, since the Roman Dynasty collapsed a hundred years ago and the three empires formed their current structure in several years of war, a land area equivalent to more than half of the empire has been formed in the northeast of the St. Solan Empire and the southeast of the Pompeii Empire.
a chaotic region of the Pompeii Empire.
There are dozens of independent city-states here, home to all races that people can recognize, and thousands of tribes, mercenary groups, and bandit groups. There are intricate relationships between them. There are cooperations, alliances, but more
What is happening is the struggle for interests and the conquest of power.
Crime is rampant here and rivers of blood flow. It is called the Land of Chaos and the City of Sin. Unfortunately, Bandez is on the edge of the traditional Land of Chaos.
Although from the map, Bandez is still part of the Saint Solan Empire. However, it is only less than fifteen kilometers away from Wolf Town, a famous town in the Land of Chaos. Even if it goes around the mountain road,
It's only over forty kilometers.
Moreover, this is not the garrison of the Saint Solan Empire.
The nearest army stationed at the border is more than fifty kilometers away. Basically, the nearby lords, the imperial troops, and the police officers who maintain order don't care about Bandez, and in fact they can't control him.
Over the years, as the Land of Chaos expanded, Bandez gradually fell into decline.
A large number of bandits, liars, thieves and all kinds of villains gather here. Some of them are people from a nearby force, some are wanderers, and some are hunted down from other places in the Chaos Land and have escaped here.
Come. Their appearance has profoundly changed Bandez's environment.
The current Bandez is not so much a part of the Saint Solan Empire as it is a part of the Land of Chaos.
These lawless villains forced away the local lords and replaced the order and law here with the underground rules of the jungle.
The lord who sold Bandez to Roy couldn't even leave the castle with his decree.
If they weren't afraid of being too blatant and attracting an encirclement and suppression by the Saint Soland Emperor's team, these villains would have already captured the castle and occupied this place.
A few months ago, the Bandez people discovered that a convoy came here and stayed in the lord's castle.
The convoy was led by a little old man named Grandet. Most of the people in the convoy were refugees from a small town called Borabel on the southern coast of Lulian. It seemed that Grandet's owner had bought it.
This place serves as a resettlement place for these people.
"Another idiot."
The underground rulers of Bandez looked down upon the new lords.
Although they saw several knights and an infantry squad of dozens of people in the convoy. Moreover, the flag with red leaves on a white background made them understand that these guardians had some relationship with the Red Leaf Knights. But after all, here
It's Bandez.
If the new lord doesn't want to cause trouble for himself, he'd better stay in his castle and don't let her officials and soldiers come to North Bendez via Huju Bridge. Otherwise, they don't mind letting her
This gentleman understands who is the real owner here.
You know, this is the border of the Solan Empire. Although the Red Leaf Knights have a famous name, they are too far away from here. And the people here can hide in the chaotic land after killing people and stealing goods.
Just relying on this alone, they are already in an invincible position.
At first, the situation was just as they imagined.
Everyone discovered that the housekeeper named Grandet seemed to know the situation in Bandez very well. She restrained everyone south of the Huju Bridge. This made the orthodox rulers of South Bandez and North Bandez
He and the underground rulers lived in peace for a month or two.
However, as time went by, this pattern was broken.
No lord wants to see more than half of his territory occupied by others. The most prosperous towns and relatively good land in Bandez are all north of Huju Bridge. The south is just a narrow strip, because
The terrain was difficult, so the castle was built here.
The land available for cultivation is only a small area beside the river beach.
The number of Borabel civilians who followed Grandet numbered as many as two thousand, which was one thousand more than the native people of Bandez. Such a small area was obviously not enough.
Moreover, as Roy's butler, Grandet must also control North Bendez, otherwise, it would be a dereliction of duty on his part.
Grandet knew that he had spent a lot of money on the way to Bandez.
It can be said that in order to settle the civilians in Borabel, Master Roy and Miss Maler gave most of the money to themselves. But now, not only can Bandez not be able to provide help to the young master who is in the war in the south, but
Their constant assistance is needed.
As a result, Grandet began to infiltrate North Bandez.
Because of the lessons learned from the previous lord, Grandet knew that with his own power, it would be impossible to eliminate the locusts in North Bendez by force. Moreover, it would probably cause a disaster. Therefore, he
Decided to start from the economic aspect.
When it comes to doing business, Grandet has a natural vision. After inspecting the entire Bandez, he decided to fund the construction of another bridge five kilometers upstream from the Huju Bridge. At the same time, he also leveled the northeastern part of the castle.
A simple market was built on a small hillside.
A large part of Bandez's economy relies on trade. If many commodities and goods in the Land of Chaos are to be circulated within the Saint Solan Empire, Bandez is one of the accessible roads. Especially in the southeast of the Land of Chaos
This is especially true in the direction and the area northeast of the rope.
Bandez is located in a shell-shaped area between mountains. The Huju Bridge was originally built to facilitate the local people of Bandez to cross the river, and later it became a major transportation thoroughfare.
This also means that when the caravan passes through Bandez, it needs to go around more than ten kilometers to pass through the valley to the north of Bandez. But if Grandet builds a bridge five kilometers upstream, it will connect the north and south.
After the business routes are connected, it is completely unnecessary to take this detour.
They can cross the bridge and follow the flat road on the south bank of the river directly to the south bank of Bandez. The journey is saved by at least two-thirds. Even if they want to go to North Bandez, they can go south first when walking this section of the road.
Bandez, if you go back through the Huju Bridge, it will be much closer.
Building this bridge cost Grandet more than 50,000 gold royal langs.
At first, the Bandez people just regarded this as a joke. However, after the bridge was repaired, as more and more caravans turned to the south, the empty and crude market gradually prospered and became a
A money tree that makes people jealous!
At this time, the underground rulers of Norte Bendez could not sit still.
The original Wild Horse River separated the north from the south, and they had a natural geographical advantage. Apart from a castle, there was nothing valuable in South Bandez. And to seize the castle, apart from staying there for two days, it was impossible to sell it. The only function
, perhaps to anger the Saint Solan Empire and send troops to eliminate it.
This is why, as long as the real owner here stays in South Bandez, they can live in peace with him.
But with Old Grandet's move, the underground rulers discovered that wealth was flowing from North Bandez to South Bandez. The geographical advantage they relied on turned into a disadvantage.
Although they looked jealous, no one dared to take action.
However, they did not dare to touch Nan Bandez directly, and it meant that these people would sit and wait for death. A few weeks later, several caravans passing through the New Bridge and heading to Nan Bandez were robbed one after another. At the same time, the guards stationed at the New Bridge
, and also fought against several groups of bandits who tried to destroy the bridge.
The situation quickly became intense as the struggle between the two sides centered on New Bridge. In just five days, the number of casualties among the Bandez Guards led by the three heroes exceeded 70.
Although the number of casualties among the bandits was higher, after the fight, Grandet discovered that these guys were relying on the support of certain forces in the chaotic land and were becoming more and more fierce. They were not afraid of killing him at all. He could win once.
Win twice, or even ten times, but you can't win all the time.
If the fight continues like this, we and others will not be able to hold on. Once the castle's guard strength drops to a dangerous level, these guys will even attack themselves and others directly.
In fact, two Borabel civilians were attacked and injured while farming.
Grandet knew very well the status of the Borabel people in Roy's mind. Seeing that the situation would get out of control if this continued, he could only swallow his anger and concentrate his forces near the castle.
That night, the New Bridge was destroyed. The situation in Bandez returned to its previous state.
This made the underground rulers of North Bendez even more arrogant and rampant.
They even sent people to set up a tax collection gate on the Huju Bridge. Even people from the Lord's Mansion had to pay tolls to them when they went to the town to make purchases. When nothing happened, they even trampled their horses on the beach of the South Bandez River.
The newly cultivated crops destroyed everyone's hard work.
What made Grandet and others even more angry was that some aborigines who supported the Lord's Palace and hoped that they could drive out the gang of guys who harmed Bandez were also persecuted. Seven people were hanged beside the Huju Bridge.
On a big tree was the corpse collected by old Grandet himself for them.
Another month has passed.
Just as the Bandez people watched with cold eyes as the lord's palace on the south bank became increasingly deserted and desolate, and even some of the mercenaries hired by Grandet left because they saw no hope, one night, hundreds of knights came from afar.
Then, led by a female knight, they entered the castle.