Medieval Gacha Lord
Chapter 91: Setting Out

Chapter 91: Setting Out

Chapter 91: Setting Out

The sky was dark, the moon bright, and stars sparse. Correct content is on NovelFire.

Lothar, seizing the opportunity while Fringilla and Banu were in a standoff, stealthily slipped out the door for a breath of air.

Although the air outside wasn’t particularly fresh either—one could faintly smell the subtle odor of livestock from the stables not far away—most people didn’t consider this an unpleasant smell. A few serfs even slept in livestock sheds. In Lothar’s old home, Aargau, being able to huddle together with livestock for warmth during a blizzard was considered a rare privilege.

Just as he stepped out, he saw Hans squatting in a corner by the wall, an embarrassed expression on his face. "Milord, if I said I wasn’t eavesdropping, would you believe me?"

"I believe you. No need to explain." Lothar patted his shoulder. Hans was an honest fellow; he must have been worried about his safety to specifically wait by the door.

"But just letting those two fight, will it be alright?"

"Relax, they know their limits."

Lothar suddenly asked, "Hans, in your world’s State of the Teutonic Order, if you encountered an attack by a supernatural creature like a dragon, what would you do?"

Hans replied without thinking, "Siege crossbows, magic, or powerful paladins should all have their uses. Besides, Milord, our State of the Teutonic Order also has dragon knights, though it’s only a Land-walking dragon."

Lothar was taken aback. "Is that so."

He knew nothing about these things. When designing the game’s background, many areas had been left blank.

For example, the Americas were only briefly mentioned in the background, but the internal details were never filled in. Did the Spanish or the Portuguese sweep through and occupy all of Central and South America, or did the French dominate overseas, or, as in the history of his previous life, did the British hold sway in North America?

None of these were mentioned. But for a real world, these details naturally couldn’t be missing. For his game, while lore and plot were important, they could be gradually perfected with subsequent updates; leaving blanks beforehand was fine. It seemed this "blank" portion had been automatically filled in when the game evolved into a world.

"Alas, I actually didn’t design a dragon among the first batch of six-star retainers. Otherwise, I could be like the Mother of Dragons in Game of Thrones, riding a dragon and sweeping across the world."

In the system, there were quite a few high-level retainers with mythological creature bloodlines. Although there was no Dragon Girl, there were many comparable beings.

Fringilla, for example, after unlocking her Tier 2 Elite template, could use Tyrant Transformation, becoming a Blood Tyrant—a terrifying creature no less formidable than a dragon.

The problem was that this threshold was far too high. To complete the second elite promotion, one first had to level a five or six-star retainer to the maximum level, then after the first elite promotion (where the level resets to zero but attributes remain), level them to max again before the second elite promotion could be performed.

4-star and 3-star retainers only had one elite promotion, while 1-star and 2-star retainers reached their maximum with no possibility of further unearthing their potential.

"Rest early today. We march tomorrow, and we might encounter Saracen mounted scouts who have infiltrated into our territory. Don’t forget, even the leader of a band of desert robbers could command a certain degree of supernatural power. As one of the two most powerful monarchs in the Zoroastrian world, Saladin must also have supernatural assets under his command."

Lothar adjusted the folds on Hans’s surcoat and patted his shoulder. This was the only talent under his command who could truly take charge of matters independently.

Although Hans’s affection had dropped by one level, from Adoration to Trust, after his star-level increase, that was because the numerical values had "shrunk" due to the quality improvement.

To put it bluntly, the exchange rate had changed; For example where previously a hundred affection points meant Adoration before, it now required three hundred.

It wasn’t that Hans truly had any complaints against Lothar. His loyalty had in no way betrayed Lothar’s expectation of him.

"Yes, Milord." Hans paused, then added, "So, Milord, will you be inspecting the camp for me tonight?"

Lothar felt a pang of guilt. He coughed lightly and quickly pulled out the letter of appointment bearing Baldwin IV’s personal emblem from his clothes.

"You should do it. After all, you have already been promoted by His Majesty to Commander of the Royal Knights. This falls under your responsibilities."

Hans looked somewhat surprised. "Commander?"

In his world, the State of the Teutonic Order had a similar framework. The position of Commander was one of high authority, a rank he had previously never dared to imagine achieving in his entire life.

Lothar patted his shoulder. "Mm, do a good job. You deserve this."

Hans held the "letter of appointment," looking at it under the moonlight for a long time, still feeling a sense of unreality. "Wait, that’s not right... Didn’t you tell me to rest early?"

***

When he returned to the great hall, Banu didn’t seem to have actually clashed with Fringilla. The latter was looking at Lothar with a pout.

Lothar’s heart skipped a beat. He pondered for a moment, then a thought struck him: ’So you two were putting on a show for me? If I’m not watching, there’s no need to fight, is there?’

He rather awkwardly changed the subject. "Fringilla, since this Ring of the Gargoyle once belonged to you, why don’t you teach me how it should be used?"

Fringilla said irritably, "Just infuse it with magical power. But once the summoned soldiers die, you have to wait a whole day for the Ring of the Gargoyle to recharge. This is actually a signet of our Țepeș family, like the signet ring you wear on your hand, mainly used for stamping seals."

"Your Blood Court truly is extravagant." Lothar sighed lightly. "A pity."

"What?"

"Nothing." What Lothar regretted was why he hadn’t designed a powerful staff for Fringilla or a suit of full plate armor for Banu back then.

Even if those two didn’t use them, they would surely be very fine treasures.

Although Lothar had already had Marlus forge a suit of full plate armor for Banu, this didn’t mean the armor was of much use to her.

It was purely because for her to slaughter her way through enemy ranks in her usual attire was simply too shocking to the world.

***

Early the next morning, at the Royal Knights’ headquarters, Lothar adjusted his armor and donned his bascinet, which was topped with peacock feathers.

He had to admit, this helmet looked somewhat ugly from the front, but for Lothar, practicality was more important. Besides, ugliness, in a certain sense, also possessed an intimidating quality.

Lothar swung himself onto his Arabian warhorse, which had been specially fitted with scale barding.

Cataphracts had also begun to be used by the Franks after they entered the Levant region, with the aim of mitigating the threat Saracen mounted archery posed to their mounts.

However, heavy horse armor also restricted the cavalry’s charge impact, transforming shock cavalry, which primarily relied on repeated charges, into melee cavalry that had to switch to close-combat weapons to cut down enemies once they plunged into a crowd.

Therefore, Lothar had not equipped his Winged Hussars with horse armor. For this type of cavalry, which fell between light and heavy cavalry, speed was the wellspring of their vitality.

Lothar had already "nerfed" the Winged Hussars’ combat effectiveness due to his inability to produce those hollow lances, the shortest of which were four meters long. If he then equipped them with full horse armor and turned them into cataphracts, the Winged Hussars would be entirely playing to their weaknesses, with no distinctive features left.

He might as well wait until he drew an Eastern Empire or Sasanian cataphract barracks one day and train specialized cataphracts excelling in both mounted archery and charge impact.

His own barded mount was also merely for show; in a real battle, he would definitely switch to another horse.

Looking back, a dozen or so Winged Hussar personal guards flanked him. They held lances over two meters long, and each had a lightly armored sergeant on a packhorse serving them; during marches, they would remove some of their equipment and distribute the load onto the packhorses.

Behind them were the Royal Knights and their squires, arranged in an orderly fashion, wearing two-toned dark red and white surcoats.

A considerable number of them had also equipped their mounts with padded, wooden, or leather armor; some wealthy knights had even specially fitted their mounts with plumed helmets.

Unlike those newly arrived crusaders, the knights of the Royal Knights had undergone training aimed at improving organization. They wouldn’t charge haphazardly and their attire was more uniform.

Of course, like those knights in their motley colors, they too would engrave their personal emblems on their shields and surcoats to display their identity.

Following the cavalry was the contingent of armored sergeants, a mix of veterans and new recruits trained by Lothar in formation drill, led by the Axe Guards.

They were arranged neatly in two columns. Compared to those Pilgrim Crusaders who couldn’t even all get a helmet, even the newly conscripted sergeants of the Royal Knights had, at the very least, some form of body armor and a kettle helm.

Most of the spoils seized from the bandit camp had been conveniently sold by Lothar to his own Knightly Order, using his official position. View the correct content at NovelFire

Looking at this well-equipped and "elite" army, Lothar raised the arming sword in his hand and ordered, "In the name of the Heavenly Father, we march forward! We shall rendezvous under His Majesty the King’s sacred banner outside the city!"