Knights and Magic Wand
Chapter 354 - 354 172 News of Rolannar_2

354: Chapter 172: News of Rolannar_2 354: Chapter 172: News of Rolannar_2 The Scar-faced Knight finished his sip of wine and continued with bewilderment, “But in the past month the armies of the various families in the kingdom have swallowed up most of the territories south of the forest.

The Kantadar people should have reacted by now, yet so far, we haven’t seen the enemy form a significant military force to push back from the north.”

“Since the kingdom marched south, there hasn’t been any considerable resistance?” Leon asked in surprise.

It was one thing for the counties bordering Nightmare Forest to be unable to withstand the sudden raid across the millennium-forbidden land by the Orland Army.

But after more than a month of war, it was impossible that no refugees or defeated troops had retreated further south…

With such earth-shattering movements, had the Kantadar Kingdom still not summoned a large army to resist the invasion of the Northern Kingdom on such a scale?

“The enemy is indeed moving slower than a tortoise, but anyway, it’s good for us.

Now His Majesty’s army has also arrived, nearly forty thousand troops have gathered.

Maybe we can take advantage of the situation and swallow up Kantadar’s Northern Four Regions in one go…” As he spoke, Balfe paused and turned to ask Leon, “By the way, I remember a few of you are Seryan, right?”

“That’s correct.” Leon nodded.

“Then there’s a rumor which might be good news, and you might be interested.”

Balfe thought for a moment and continued, “According to what we’ve learned from the Glade nobles taken as prisoners of war…

it seems King of Aviut of Kantadar has withdrawn his forces from Seryan land.

Maybe his eastern invasion wasn’t going well.

Anyway, it’s possible that your hometown, Holy Land City, might’ve already been liberated by Seryan troops.”

Azeryan and Lokhak, who were nearby, couldn’t help but cast surprised and delighted looks upon hearing this.

Kantadar people have withdrawn their troops from the Seryan Kingdom?!

Although Leon was not a true Seryan, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of joy.

If this information was true, wouldn’t he be able to fulfill the promise he made to Miss Lora and repay his life-saving debt without having to find a way around the Kantadar army?

If Holy Land City had been liberated by Seryan, then as a Lord of Orland with actual power, leading the Guard troops to return home in glory and then applying to the Church, in the name of a Holy Sun follower, for a pilgrimage to the Great Temple Underground Tomb, surely the Church wouldn’t obstruct him.

“Sir Balfe, are you telling the truth?” Azeryan set down his wine glass, leaned in, and pressed the Scar-faced Knight for answers.

He was even more agitated than Lokhak, who still didn’t know that Leon might be able to bring back the dead.

“Well, I can’t guarantee the truthfulness of that.

From the tone of those few noble prisoners, it seems they also heard it through the grapevine.”

Balfe shook his head truthfully.

He remembered that those noblemen from Kantadar’s north had been cursing King of Aviut in their cells.

According to their indignant comments, before the King of Kantadar’s eastern campaign, he had promised to hope to the north just after conquering Rolannar to guard against Orland reinforcements, but there had been no sign of him in half a year.

“Are those prisoners still in Glade County?” Unable to help himself, Lokhak interjected.

“Those who haven’t had their ransom paid are all locked up in the dungeons of Archers Castle, waiting for the feast to end in the next two days.

I can take you to ask them, but I expect you won’t get any useful information.

Those Kantadar nobles from the north are not well-versed in the east,” Balfe replied.

Leon and his companions nodded, their spirits lifted regardless of the uncertainty.

Even if the details were unclear, this news was a hopeful lead.

Whether they would send someone to the east of Kantadar or venture there themselves, they had to thoroughly investigate the situation in Seryan.

After arranging a time with Balfe to interrogate the prisoners in the dungeon, Leon suddenly felt that the leisurely banquet had become exceptionally prolonged and draining.

Fortunately, since none of the commanding nobles had brought female companions, except for a few women like Count Eriv’s family and Princess Ines, most of the guests gathered at Archers Castle were men.

So, once the “buffer feast” ended, there would be no dance but rather an immediate transition to the “dinner” phase.

Leon guessed that this banquet would be much shorter than the usual courtly feast since the lords who had come to attend would need to return to their armies to consolidate their gains.

Setting down his empty wine glass, he looked around aimlessly at the kingdom’s nobles, pondering how to inquire about the current state of the distant Holy Land City.

In his field of vision, he suddenly caught sight of that pure white palace dress.

Only then did Leon sharply remember that he had nearly forgotten another matter of equal importance to himself.

That Princess…

He looked towards Princess Ines not far away and hastily weighed his words.

How should he approach and test her mood?

In hesitation, Leon carefully observed the two people beside the Princess.

The tall and imposing scar-faced woman must be her attendant, given her neat male attire; she’s definitely a titled female knight—otherwise, in this setting, she’d surely be wearing a court dress.

The other is the plump noble young man I noticed earlier.

Since entering the city, this possibly noble-born, title-bearing fat brother has constantly been by Princess Ines’s side.

In the welcoming party, he followed, and at today’s ceremony and banquet, he still lingered close by…

could this earl, the plump young man, be Princess Ines’s betrothed?

Leon speculated as such and looked around to see many young nobles approaching to greet Princess Ines and the stout man.

Some young nobles and knights couldn’t hide their admiration in their eyes for the little princess.

The beautiful and noble daughter of the king naturally has immense appeal to the young nobles and knights.

But besides the elders of various families, indeed no young person stopped to have a longer conversation with Ines after a courteous greeting.

Could it be out of concern for the male companion by the princess’s side?

Leon frowned, wondering if he would annoy the plump brothers if he recklessly approached and started chatting.

Although he wanted to test the Third Princess’s impression of Olivia,

He truly didn’t want to provoke some melodramatic trouble…

…

Ines maintained her graceful smile, nodding politely as she greeted the nobles who came forward, then suddenly turned to Akman beside her, who looked strained, and asked, “Does walking with me make you that uncomfortable?”

Akman forced a bitter smile, feeling his spine tingling.

Without looking back, he could feel Orad’s chilling gaze.

“Spare me, Your Highness, standing so close to you, I feel like that barbarian from Loman is about to stab me in the back.”

“With my father here, how would he dare to trouble you?

Can’t you show just… a tenth of the courage you have when you play servant behind your father’s back?…” Ines glanced at the side, almost bursting into laughter at Akman, who was nearly developing a complex from the son of Duke Loman’s gaze.

“Oh, that’s true, with His Majesty looking out, what do I have to fear?”

Akman’s eyes blinked and he then smirked at Ines, “In that case, he probably won’t dare to pester you, so I might not need to block him anymore, right?

How about you let me go grab something to eat, I’m so hungry after standing for so long.”

The young lady gently shook her fan, her willow brows nearly unable to maintain her smiling demeanor as she whispered irritably, “Go on then, I hope you stuff yourself to death here, you big ball of fat.”

“Alright then, Your Highness, your servant obeys,” Akman rubbed his sausage-thick fingers, not caring about the princess’s annoyance.

After all, he had grown accustomed to his father’s scolding and lessons since childhood—minor beatings saved him, severe beatings sent him away.

Compared to that, the little princess was quite mild, never actually resorting to hitting him.

With a belly looking as if pregnant, Akman joyfully made his way to the table piled with desserts.

He had specifically inquired in the kitchen beforehand and heard that the Thorny Flower chef had even learned to make several local Kantadar delicacies.

In West, you couldn’t taste these, so he had to take the opportunity to savor something novel…

Ines folded her fan and did not bother with the increasingly round and puffy “hungry beast.” She took Agatha to Count Eriv and his wife, congratulating them earnestly.

After exchanging pleasantries with the kingdom’s new nobility, she recalled an unexpected discovery in Selva and subsequently asked Count Eriv, “Your Excellency, on my journey through the Thorny Flower Territory, I’ve heard many legends about a Griffin Knight under your command.

May I know if he participated in your investiture ceremony?”

“Griffin Knight…

are you referring to Leon, Your Highness?”

Eriv nodded, raising his gaze to search the eyes of his trusted aid who stood in a corner afar.

“That young man with black hair and black eyes over there, that is the Griffin Knight you speak of.”