Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 154: Chapter 95: Massive Knight Forces

The banner of the Bauhinia family unexpectedly condensed the powerful effects of two runes, which truly delighted Su Li.

He excitedly held Ingrid’s slender waist, kissing her cheek and earlobe, and said, ”Darling, this surprise really makes me even happier.”

”My mood will be better all day today. Tell me about the effects of these two runes.”

Ingrid, accustomed to Su Li’s kisses, said calmly, ”You should have heard about the effect of the Fear Rune.”

Su Li nodded. Belos had introduced this Fear Rune to him before. The army carrying this banner creates an illusion, making them seem taller than the enemy. Dwarves are formidable opponents in their own right, and a gigantic dwarf army is enough to scare the strongest enemy!

This rune, combined with powerful knights, can effectively unlock the fear-inducing effect.

Then Su Li asked concernedly, ”What about the Holy Rune?”

”This rune can enhance the innate magic resistance within every dwarf to form an aura. It significantly increases their resistance to magic and divine magic.”

Upon hearing the effect, Su Li furrowed his brow and asked, ”Activating the dwarves’ innate magic resistance, will it work for knights?”

Ingrid said calmly, ”Normally, it doesn’t. But with the Anaric Giant Spider silk enhancement, it can greatly activate human magic resistance, producing effects not weaker than dwarves’ talent.”

Listening to Ingrid, Su Li somewhat understood. Although humans don’t have as strong magic resistance as dwarves, they do have some natural resistance to magic. Otherwise, magical damage to humans would be like divine damage, wreaking havoc.

With the Anaric Giant Spider silk enhancement, these hidden human magic resistance abilities can also form a divine aura, resisting magic and divine magic damage.

Su Li smiled and kissed Ingrid’s cherry lips, saying, ”Your rune banner arrived just in time, significantly increasing our victory chances against the demon legion.”

”Is there anything you want? After I defeat the demon legion, I’ll prepare a gift for you when I return.”

Ingrid gazed at him, and after a few seconds, she calmly said, ”I want to return to the Forest Witch.”

Su Li paused for a moment, then asked, ”Why? Aren’t you happy living here?”

Ingrid turned her head and said calmly, ”No. It’s too lively here; I’m not used to it.”

Su Li breathed a sigh of genuine relief; he thought this woman’s tenderness all this time was just an act.

He slowly slid his hands from her shoulders to her slender waist, leaned close to her cheek, and asked, ”If you leave, what about me?”

”You have other female courtiers.”

Su Li gazed into her eyes and said, ”But none of them are you.”

Ingrid met his gaze and, after a few seconds of silence, calmly said, ”If you want me, come to the forest cottage; I can accompany you.”

Su Li smiled and said, ”Alright then.”

Ingrid’s beautiful eyes flickered, and she looked at him expressionlessly, saying nothing.

Then Su Li kissed the beautiful witch’s cherry lips and said, ”I promise you. You want to return to the forest cottage, but you didn’t say which one. I’ll build you a beautiful treehouse under the Holy Purple Vine Tree, just like those beautiful gardens of the Half-Elves, so that no one in the territory is allowed to come near. Except me, no one will disturb you.”

Ingrid’s cool eyes showed a hint of surprise, and her face bloomed with a bright smile like a summer begonia.

This solution made her very satisfied.

So she offered a sweet kiss and whispered in Su Li’s ear, ”Do you want to try the effect of these stockings?”

Of course, Su Li wanted to!

And the effect of these stockings was indeed delicate and smooth, giving Su Li an entirely different experience.

He didn’t expect Ingrid’s young, smooth toes to be so agile, feeling even more flexible than knights.

After ending the morning practice and finally easing the tension among some female courtiers, Su Li left the room and headed to the dining hall.

By that time, it was almost noon, and the Half-Elf chefs were already preparing lunch.

Su Li decided to skip breakfast and invited the territory’s Military Commander, Knight Oerstein, to join him for lunch.

When Knight Oerstein arrived, Su Li first asked concernedly, ”My Commander, you didn’t get hurt in the intense battle last night, did you?”

Knight Oerstein laughed heartily and said, ”Just a minor injury, nothing significant with my physique. With the Hospital Knight Order’s aid, I recovered quickly.”

Su Li nodded, understanding that the territory had elite-level Hospital Knights, whose main divine office was to manage healing, so there shouldn’t be any major problems.

Then Su Li shifted his focus to military affairs and asked, ”How was the breakthrough situation last night?”

Yesterday, the territory had cooked a light-scaled fish weighing over a hundred pounds. The succulent fish meat, when sliced open, was as thick and tender as beef.

After being simmered with clear water, herbs, and seasonings, three large pots of fish soup were produced.

Then the Half-Elf distributed it bowl by bowl to the knights and armed attendants.

In general, the distribution principle was that the knights ate the meat, with each person getting a piece of fish weighing half a pound. The armed attendants drank soup, and although the meat in their bowls was not even the size of a Silver Coin, the fish soup filled the bowl.

It can be said that the territory gave everyone a chance for a breakthrough, but whether they could achieve it depended on their personal insight and effort.

Knight Oerstein took a bite of steak and replied calmly, ”Lord, the effect of the light-scaled fish last night was quite significant. After a whole night’s settling, today’s statistics show that, excluding the Knight Order personnel, our territory had 17 knights make a major rank advancement, including two knights elevated to elite level.”

”Additionally, 29 knights experienced an internal rank advancement, with very significant effects.”

Su Li smiled in surprise and asked, ”Did this battle inspire the knights so much? It seems we need to build an even bigger Lion Ring Arena.”

Oerstein shook his head and said, ”It’s not just because of the inspiration from our battle, but more importantly, the increased strength of our army. The scale of the territory’s army is now different from the past, so even with the same breakthrough probability, the number increased per time is also more.”

Su Li nodded slightly, ”In this regard, we indeed need to make some calculations. How many soldiers do we have now, my Commander-in-Chief?”

This question, Su Li really could only ask Commander Oerstein.

Because as the territory expanded, the army’s composition became more formal, and it increasingly resembled a noble feudal domain.

Now, the army under Knight Commander Oerstein is no longer mostly Hilude’s followers, who were directly under Su Li’s high-level attendants.

He now has troops contributed by affiliated manors, such as the Balan Autonomous Region, which provided an entire squadron of soldiers, including two squads of elite soldiers.

There are also many knights, armed attendants of the Church, and militia organizations. For instance, the Sun Goddess Church organizes free people for training every leisure day, and the Dwarfs of Hesse Town also have their militia organization, whose direct superior has not yet reached Su Li but is the military commander of the territory.

Of course, the most elite army in the territory is undoubtedly Su Li’s direct high-level attendants, which include the most knights, equipped with the finest equipment and armor.

Commander Oerstein was outstanding in managing the army, and he immediately reported with precision: ”Your high-level attendants currently total 186 people, all of whom are at the Apprentice Knight level or above. Additionally, there are a total of 44 elite knights.”

elite knights! 142 knights!

Su Li took a deep breath. He knew his subordinates’ strength had surged, but he didn’t expect it to increase to such an extent!

The formal knights and apprentice knights were still manageable, with increases and decreases. It was about four times the number since he left Bauhinia Castle.

But how did the elite knights increase so much! They’ve nearly increased tenfold!

”44 elite knights, just their salary for a month is 220 Gold Crown! A year, without doing anything, maintaining such a knight’s squadron would cost nearly 3000 Gold Crown. Where did they all come from! Why are there so many elite knights?”

Just yesterday, the joy of Harvest Day had Su Li feeling proud.

The current development of the territory seemed full of hope. He roughly calculated that just by farming, industry, and the production of some fantasy items, he could earn 5000 Gold Crown a year.

With such money, he could maintain the army while still having some financial surplus for investing in production, or buying some beauties to enjoy.

Thinking even further, he could also save enough for a dowry, pursue a marriage alliance with a powerful noble, mimicking the ways of the Habsburg Dynasty, and strategically uniting through blood ties to gain divine authority.

Then, after enjoying himself enough, he would still leave a fortune for his sons. The legacy of the Bauhinia family must not be broken; his sons couldn’t venture out without giving them at least 300 Gold Coins as sponsorship!

However, all these beautiful and easy plans came to an abrupt halt today!

The meager output from his less than two thousand peasants was not even enough to supply his high-level attendants.

Without additional large revenue, the mere 186 knights could financially ruin him.

This truly was a case of joyfully expanding the army, but feeling heartache in maintaining it.

Su Li was now curious, where did so many knights break through? Especially as the elite knights had already increased to 44!

Knight Oerstein calmly said, ”Isn’t this quite normal? The slaves you originally purchased and the surrendered captives alone included nearly two teams of elite knights, and through consuming Fire Rabbit, Light-Scaled Fish, and Elk Finch repeatedly, the fire, light, and wind attribute knights have been advancing.”

”We haven’t even begun to account for those elite knights among the immigrant followers of the Sun Goddess.”