Chapter 241 Triumph

When they set out, there were 121 people.

When they returned, there were 106 people, and the bodies of 15 fallen soldiers.

However, the casualties did not dampen the morale of the Knights, not only because of the honor brought by victory, but also because they had gained rich benefits.

Leon knew that it was a daydream to build a disciplined elite army and to constrain the soldiers by empty words.

Without positive feedback of actual benefits, strict military regulations alone would only have a counterproductive effect in the long run.

Moral education and sense of honor are not useless, but it is too early to talk about these with the majority of illiterate soldiers. In this era, soldiers go to the battlefield and fight for wealth, power, and reproduction.

Soldiers will burn, kill, and plunder, and they are just for this.

In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the soldiers under his command are fully paid and well-fed, and that rewards and punishments are clear at the root. Only in this way can the habit of abiding by military discipline become a spontaneous positive struggle for personal interests, and the indulgence and killing behavior that violates military discipline become a negative damage to personal interests.

After a brilliant victory, Leon will naturally not enjoy the glory alone. Although there are no clear regulations and rules on how much spoils and gains the lord rewards the soldiers, there are only vague proportions. How much the soldiers can get depends mainly on whether the lord and the general are generous or stingy.

However, at the beginning of the establishment of the Avalon Knights, the six-member inner circle meeting formulated the military rewards and punishments and merit system within the Knights.

For a victory of the scale of the Battle of Usato today, every soldier can get a victory bonus of his own annual salary.

At the same time, the family of every Knight who died heroically in the battle can also receive the three-year salary of the victim as a pension, as well as a series of tax cuts and preferential treatment for education quotas.

The treatment within the Knights' Order is very detailed. The most intuitive one is that 2,652 gold crowns were handed over to the soldiers without any delay.

But this is only a reward for victory, not part of the military merit promotion system. Monetary rewards can boost morale and inspire loyalty, but they still cannot fundamentally create a spirit of fighting for what.

Why can knights and vassals die for their monarchs?

Country, nation, race, justice? These things are too far away and too empty for ordinary people in the current era.

The simplest and most direct reason for fighting is actually land.

Fight for your own land.

A basic system of granting land for military merit is being tried in the Knights' Order.

Generally speaking, ordinary civilian soldiers who can kill an armored enemy on the battlefield will be promoted to "sergeants" of the Knights' Order and receive roughly the equivalent of 20 mu of land and 1 mu of houseland in Leon's previous life, as well as corresponding bounties.

If you can kill five armored enemies, you will be promoted to "senior sergeant", and the land granted will be increased to 50 mu, and the house land will be increased to 2 mu.

If you can kill ten armored soldiers, you will be canonized by Leon as a "knight" of the knight order similar to the family's inner court knights, like Zabron and others, completing the class leap, the land granted will be increased to 100 mu, the house land will be increased to 4 mu, the food standard will be improved, and other benefits.

And if you are extremely brave on the battlefield and kill more than 20 armored soldiers.

Different from the first three standards, which are similar to the free people's land-owning nature of the reward.

Leon will directly canonize him as a "fief knight", and actually grant him a territory of no less than 800 mu, turning him into a real small lord.

He is not afraid of not having enough land to share, but he is afraid that he can't share it. At present, he has no shortage of land. 90% of his land is a large area of ​​uninhabited land that is virtual control and waiting to be developed. What he really lacks is the population and talents to build them.

Even if in the future, the full complement of 500 knights can make military achievements to be promoted to fief knights, it is only half of the fief under his name.

Moreover, after this battle, his territory has expanded by 40%

Leon thought, looking at the leather tube hanging next to the baggage on the caravan.

Lord Elliver didn't know what news he got, and he was really afraid that he would be abducted by the king.

The new territory should be conferred after returning, but he hurriedly wrote it in Usato Territory and stuffed it directly to Azerien for safekeeping.

You know, he was still in bed at that time, and there might be a certain probability that he would die.

However, Leon was curious, if he really died in the battle before, what would happen to his territory?

In the absence of any blood relatives and descendants, according to the noble laws of the Kingdom of Orland, he knew that there were two possibilities.

One is that the lord will take back the territory.

And the other is that some recognized legal betrothed people like Olivia may also inherit their noble titles and territories.

The former possibility is certainly greater, but it is not ruled out that Earl Elliver will adopt the second approach for his friendship and merits.

Especially since Olivia is not only his fiancée, but also a female knight who has been sealed.

But this is Elliver.

What if it was the young master of Thorn Flower who had an inexplicable prejudice against him?

Leon raised his hand, injected magic power into the box beside him that kept the broken arm to keep it cold, and thought about it.

He didn't die this time, but in the future, if he and Earl Elliver both met with bad luck in a war and died at the same time.

The successor to the throne, Lord Feo, would probably not make the same decision as his father. Even if he didn't take all of it, he would take most of the land.

Unless Olivia is his real "legal wife" instead of just a "fiancée" under contract.

No wonder the issue of the offspring of the leader in the ancient ruling group was so important.

He shook his head and sighed that only a few brothers around him, all young people with little experience, were not in a hurry about not having offspring and family.

If it were an experienced political aide, he would probably be worried about him not having a date yet to marry Olivia.

If a monarch had no offspring, the accidental death often meant that a military and political power was half on the verge of collapse.

"Get married."

Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but imagine Olivia's beautiful appearance in a wedding dress for him.

A trace of happiness overflowed from Leon's mouth. It was indeed time to consider the date.

I was not in a hurry before, mainly because I didn't think that I would encounter life-threatening danger so soon.

Now I am afraid that if I die on the battlefield before marrying her, I will die with regret.

Raising his head, Leon looked in the direction of Avalon, looking forward to it.

He glanced at Azerien beside the carriage. His own chief steward was humming the folk songs of Serian and looking at the valley from afar. He seemed to be missing his lover in the same mood.

The wedding date set by this boy and Miss Raya, the Ascension Day of Ilaril, was only more than a month away.

The team returning to Avalon Castle was not moving fast. The injured griffin and other wounded knights including Leon greatly slowed down the march.

Fortunately, they still passed through the town area and arrived at the fortress before the sun completely set.

Standing up with the help of the carriage frame, Leon saw the people who had received the news from the outpost cavalry and went out of the city early to greet them. At a glance, he saw Olivia, who was thinking about her.

Without armor, Olivia knew that her lover liked her to wear a skirt. She carefully took care of her blonde hair and put on the white shirt and blue skirt that she was reluctant to take out on weekdays. She even gave the sword to Treya who was beside her to carry.

".Leon!" Seeing the familiar figure on the carriage, she put down the anxiety she had been looking forward to for many days.

Before the carriage stopped, Leon jumped off the carriage and walked towards the girl who was trotting towards him.

"I'm back." Hugging the girl in his arms, Leon lowered his head to feel the familiar fragrance.

However, Olivia, who was hugging her lover, suddenly froze.

She leaned back, raised her hand and touched the empty cloak on Leon's side in panic, and her blue eyes revealed an uncontrollable heartache.

"How could it be?! What's wrong with your hand?"

Facing the sad look on the girl's face and the rare weakness, Leon lowered his head and stopped her words with a kiss.

He deliberately didn't let anyone inform her of his injury because he was afraid that she would worry unnecessarily.

Until this greedy deep kiss that ignored others broke up, he smiled and stroked his lover's hair, comforting the little lion with water in his eyes.

"It can be brought back. With my magic mentor here, what's there to be afraid of?"

Olivia's heart-wrenching sadness was slightly relieved after hearing this.

"Then where else are you injured? Is it serious? Did I hurt you just now?"

The girl was not shy about kissing in public.

She carefully reached out and touched her lover's body, fearing that she would accidentally touch the scars covered by clothes and regret her excited hug just now.

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious, just rest for a while." Although none of the ribs under his chest were good, Leon still decided to show off a little in front of her.

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At this time, he turned his head and looked at the people who were coming, and found that not only Olivia, but also Corvis and Larian were there.

"When did you come back? Did you have a smooth journey?" Leon said in surprise.

"It was pretty smooth, sir. We just returned to Avalon five days ago." Larian saluted.

Corvis looked at Leon's left arm with concern and reported: "You have fulfilled your mission, my lord. Rangers from the surrounding areas have responded to the call of Lord Larian and have come to Avalon.

We have contacted more than 20 rangers directly, some of whom are in the Holy Kingdom and may still be on their way.

However, the rangers still know their companions. After contacting each other, including the servants they may bring with them, I am afraid that the number is far more than the 20 or so we saw."

"Avalon can accommodate as many as possible, the more the better, the more the better, let's go back, we will talk while walking." Leon nodded.

Leaving the army to Lohak for placement, Leon and the others entered the city.

"Olivia, how is Uncle Brian's recruitment of new soldiers at the Selva Barracks?" He looked at the girl next to him.

"My father has recruited enough qualified soldiers, but Ms. Martha still hasn't found a horse merchant with a suitable price for the problem of military horses." Olivia replied.

"Don't worry about the horses. This time we seized a large number of war horses from the Uriah people, a total of 300 horses. Now we should worry about how to plan a large enough horse farm to accommodate them as soon as possible."

Leon said and looked at Azerien: "Take Lord Elliver's letter tomorrow and discuss the rotation schedule with the family garrison in the fortress, and vacate the barracks for our army as soon as possible."

After the expansion of the army, the barracks on the Selva side obviously cannot continue to accommodate so many soldiers.

At present, his troops are enough to protect himself, and he has also established a connection with Ledwin. To a certain extent, as long as Olivia's identity is not exposed, his family can also be regarded as the king's faction, so he is not worried about the threat of the Gunnar family in the west.

Besides, he still had Cannis in his hand. During the time in Usato, Baron Grey Wolf sent people to look for his son, but he just refused and asked Cannis to recuperate in Avalon instead of going to war.

With such a "hostage", if nothing unexpected happens, the Gunnar family will weigh the consequences of provoking him for at least the remaining two years.

In this case, there is no need to continue to entrust the Farolisbon family's army to help him guard Avalon Castle.

Even if he doesn't need to pay the military salary himself, it is still a big burden to feed and defecate hundreds of people. Their role can now be fulfilled by the knights and soldiers under his command.

Once the barracks fortress in Avalon is vacated, it will save money to build additional permanent barracks.

After returning to the main castle, everyone was dismissed and went to rest. Leon asked Larian, "Are your fellow rangers who came to help you in Avalon now? They are not far away, and I want to host a banquet for them to express my gratitude in person."

Olivia next to him raised her eyebrows tightly, her lips parted, and she was about to speak but stopped.

Larian saw that the knight lady was a little anxious and worried. He had often seen similar expressions on Magerina's face in the past. So he looked at Baron Leon's left shoulder and shook his head and said, "My lord, you are injured and have been traveling on the road. You should rest as soon as possible today. Besides, Miss Olivia and Lord Corvis have already received the knights on your behalf. You might as well rest for a few days. I think they will understand your inconvenience now."

"." Olivia also took the opportunity to pull her lover's right hand and blinked at him.

Leon tilted his head and saw her eyes hinting at the direction of the Mage Tower. He suddenly realized that the girl was worried that the injury of the broken arm would be delayed for too long, and wanted to urge him to find Laura for treatment.

Yes, a broken arm, such a serious disability, is obviously not a minor injury in the eyes of the world.

Master Hilgard said that he had to go to the Fortress Academy in the north to recuperate before trying to find a warlock who specializes in this school to perform surgery to reconnect his arm.

In other words, he knew that his little teacher was an ancient magic king with great magical powers, so he could be so heartless and not take it seriously.

"Okay, then I'll trouble you to take a message to thank them for me. When I recover from my injury, I will definitely host a banquet for all the rangers." Although he wanted to meet these chivalrous wandering warriors as soon as possible, Leon did not insist.

After Larian left, he asked Corvis to take his broken arm and quickly took Olivia to the Mage Tower together.

Having not seen Laura for such a long time, Leon missed her very much. He wondered if he had his little sister with him when he fought with Count Arsen, would his fate that day be better.

He was afraid that Laura would get angry and pinch his face when she knew that he almost died on the battlefield before fulfilling the agreement. Her hand was stronger than Olivia's, and it was not ordinary pain.

Now he brought Olivia and Akao with him, hoping that with them, Laura would be able to save some face for him.

However, Leon was secretly glad that he had inadvertently kept a record of the worst case scenario.

Even if he really died at the hands of Arsen's old man, as long as the brothers could find a way to get the moon silver from the king, plus the materials that Ines would send later, and give them to Laura to make a new Neti card, maybe the little teacher could summon him back from the Dead Sea.

The Griffin Knight of Avalon.

The Snake Slayer who injured the Dragon Slayer.

He is not an unknown person now. If not a hero, he is at least a famous celebrity.

The only regret is that after becoming a card spirit, he and Olivia will definitely not be able to give birth to the fruit of love.

Looking at the worried girl, Leon's heart was filled with a burst of muttering.

Marry, marry, marry, marry.

It's like the breeding instinct of small animals trying to leave offspring before facing the crisis of death.

His inner desire for the person he loves has increased a little.

". Who hurt you so badly? Big Claw too, your body is covered with wounds, and your wings are broken."

Unable to see the desire in her lover's mind at the moment, Olivia muttered with lingering fear, staring at the box in Corvis's hand that contained her lover's broken arm.

She couldn't bear to touch the box. Even if she just took a look at it, she felt very uncomfortable. She kept regretting that she couldn't fight side by side with the other party when he was in such danger.

"I fought a great knight of Kantadar head-on, but I was not as skilled as him and was defeated. Fortunately, Baron Kailan arrived in time and rescued me. I will tell you about it later. However, I also got a blessing in disguise." Leon suddenly changed the subject and laughed when he thought of what he had gained after waking up.

"A blessing in disguise?" Olivia was puzzled.

"When the injury is healed, let's go to the arena to compete. 'Master Leon' is no longer the same as before." He raised his eyebrows mysteriously.