Chapter 292: Epilogue

Under the gaze of the crowd, Allen quickly won over all the lords with two sword strikes, and then, with a few words, persuaded the Imperials to retreat—yes, simply persuaded them to retreat.

Beyond fully demonstrating the power he currently possessed, Allen also had a detailed discussion with Marius I about the past, which in reality mainly concerned the conspiracy of the Snake Cult.

As early as two hundred years ago, the fall of the Pendor royal family and the destruction of the Old Baccus Empire were both orchestrated by the Snake Cult; the Dark God cursed the royal bloodline of Pendor and brought down the terrifying "Blood Plague."

Allen's branch only managed to survive thanks to the protection of the Goddess of Zeal, Eunomia, for which the Goddess herself suffered heavy damage from the Dark God.

The gods of the Pendor Continent do indeed step in when there is trouble, but their power is just a bit too weak.

At that time, the Emperor of the Baccus Empire was also killed by an assassin sent by the Snake Cult, and eventually, the Old Baccus Empire was controlled by the cult.

However, the Dark God was not satisfied, because it gains power from faith and souls, so it also cast a covetous eye upon the people of the Pendor Continent.

Allen told Marius I that the Dark God's grasp of human nature is terrifyingly profound; the fact that the Snake Cult has suddenly become quiet this time cannot possibly be because their power has suffered losses—there must be an extremely vicious plan hidden within it.

It is not that a war between the Empire and the Pendor Kingdom cannot be fought; Allen and Marius I would sooner or later have to contend for supremacy.

But it cannot be fought at this moment. He proposed a suggestion to Marius I: before completely eradicating the power of the Snake Cult entrenched in the Pendor Continent, the two countries should sign a non-aggression treaty.

Marius I pondered for a long time and ultimately did not agree to Allen's suggestion, but he also saw the many troops of the Kingdom of Ravenstern at this time, among which there were actually a large number of Elves.

The opponent's power was so formidable that he also knew that even if a war were truly to break out at this time, he would not be able to gain any advantage at all, and might even face a crushing defeat, so he offered a one-year truce treaty.

Moreover, Marius I intended to arrange for the military police to thoroughly investigate what the Snake Cult is actually planning once he returned.

From the words of this new king before him, he felt a faint sense of unease.

Allen agreed to this treaty. From the bottom of his heart, he did not really want to fight the Imperial army here until the ground was soaked in blood; after all, the other side had always been the primary force resisting the Snake Cult, and unless he were crazy, he would not think of taking on that responsibility at this time.

Wouldn't it be better to go north and fight the Ravenstern Kingdom? Or to expel those Vanskerry raiders in the west and take back the cities on the coastline—that was also a good choice. In short, if he could avoid fighting south, he would avoid it.

With this, the war between the Kingdom of Ravenstern and the Empire was considered over.

After dealing with the border conflict, Allen returned to the kingdom's most prosperous hinterland, Lion City. In the great hall housing the Silver Throne, he met all the lords gathered there and accepted their allegiance.

At the same time, he announced the reconstruction of the Kingdom of Pendor.

Watching the nobles drinking wine and chatting happily in the great hall, Allen, sitting on the Silver Throne, smiled as he responded to everyone's greetings, while calmly observing these people.

He knew that the throne beneath him was not stable; it was like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

However, he was now a king superficially recognized by all the nobles, and he was also very young and extremely powerful; he had plenty of time to sort out the tangled mess of relationships.

【Congratulations to the player for obtaining the highest status in this world: King.】

【The following permissions will be opened to you.】

【Reputation Rising: Omitted】

【Knight Orders at your service: Omitted.】

【Currently eligible Knight Order: Lion Knight Order. Can it be summoned: No, loyalty is insufficient.】

【Currently eligible Knight Order: Griffin Knight Order. Can it be summoned: No, numbers are insufficient.】

【Blessing of the Gods: As long as you appear on the Pendor Continent, you naturally obtain the blessing of the Goddess of Zeal, Eunomia. If you fall into danger, she will provide warnings in various forms, such as: dog barking that wakes you in the dead of night; ghosts that seem to exist in the room while you sleep; and those ethereal, illusory promptings. Occasionally, the pleased Goddess will also grant rewards, which may slightly increase your strength.】

【Restriction: Before losing the status of King, you cannot appear on the Pendor Continent with a new identity.】

In the days that followed, Allen focused his efforts on the development of the two Knight Orders.

Although one scenario can only summon one Knight Order, he could summon the Lion Knights and the Griffin Knights in two separate battles.

In this way, the combat effectiveness of the army could be maintained at a relatively stable state, and it would not be impossible to deal with sudden battles because one Knight Order had been crippled.

It was just that the reconstruction process of these two Knight Orders was not particularly smooth.

The recruitment conditions for the Griffin Knights were relatively harsh; they preferred to train young people through a master-apprentice system.

The advantage of this was that the bond between members of the Knight Order was stronger, their operational philosophy was passed down in one line, and their loyalty to the Pendor royal family was extremely high.

The disadvantage was also obvious: it was slow, very slow. For a young person to graduate and become a formal knight, they not only had to complete some harsh tasks but also had to obtain the recognition of three formal knights before they could shed their apprentice status.

And what about the Lion Knights?

Allen simply kicked all the existing members out of the Knight Order; what kind of local ruffians and hooligans were those people anyway?

When he arranged for relevant personnel to collect evidence everywhere, a large number of commoners and a small portion of nobles provided information about the evil deeds of the Lion Knight members.

From bullying men and women to forced buying and selling, from killing innocents to claim merit to rape and plunder, it could be said they committed every evil.

The most outrageous rumor was that some said the Lion Knights, in order to make Thrain happy, actually forced an old farmer plowing in the fields to admit he was a Noldor Elf, in order to obtain a reward from the King.

Of course, this news was mostly made up by people as a joke, but it could also be seen from the side how unpopular the Lion Knights were now.

For this reason, Allen recalled the members of the old Lion Knight Order and their descendants, and made Montwo, who had defected to him from the beginning, the Commander to preside over this matter.

However, Montwo was already a Baron now; Allen had bestowed upon him a higher title, as well as a village near Long River Town.

As for Duke Alama, he quietly slipped away overnight with a group of elite soldiers, not even caring about his son locked in the dungeon, and there had been no news of him since. Allen was too lazy to go looking for him.

As for the instructors for the daily training of the two major Knight Orders, Allen appointed Risadilan to this position; the training methods of the Noldor Elves far exceeded those of humans.

The Silvermist Rangers had only received some pointers and had become one of the top archers on the continent; he believed Risadilan could do this job well.

Besides training, Allen also planned to spend some time and money to update the weapons and equipment of the two Knight Orders in the direction of the Noldor Elves.

Re-establishing a Knight Order would take too much time, but this was not a game; it was entirely possible to make changes based on the old Knight Orders.

It was just that this would really require too, too much time.

Time: Third Age, 2961.

This was the end of autumn. The crops in the fields had been properly stored in the granaries, the branches and leaves of the orchards were beginning to turn yellow and wither, the flowers that had bloomed all summer had faded of their brilliance, and the bees that had worked hard for more than half a year were also returning to the Skin-changer's manor to prepare for winter.

At the highest point of Fislate, which was an open space on the south side of Tibert Castle.

Artimenner, the Dwarf Fudin, and an Elf engineer from Rivendell were fiercely discussing some matters.

"The foundation must be laid well; without a foundation, no matter how high you build, it's all empty."

"The stone bricks must be smooth; it's best if the surface of the building has no sharp edges. Only a circular shape can stand better in the wind."

"The bonding material between the stone bricks must be the best. As it happens, we have deep attainments in this area."

Allen intended to build a high tower in this place. To what extent? To the north, one must be able to see the Lonely Mountain; to the south, one must be able to see the Brown Lands; to the east, one must be able to take in the entire Mirkwood at a glance—which is to say, one must be able to see the Redwater River over a thousand miles away.

As for the west, forget the west; that was the Misty Mountains that towered into the clouds. Allen had not yet reached the point of wishful thinking to that extent.

But even so, this was a massive engineering project. If it were players of certain management games, they would certainly understand and say.

"Fed and watered, nothing to do but build wonders for fun, right."

To complete this high tower, Allen not only had Artimenner and Fudin participate in this project but also sent people to Gondor to invite Numenorean engineers.

After all, Orthanc was built by them; the Numenoreans should have good insights into tower-type buildings.

As for that Noldor Elf from Rivendell, he was specially sent over by Elrond after he heard about this matter by chance.

Little did they know that far away in Tirion in the Undying Lands, there was a Tower of the Eldar, also known as Mindon Eldaliéva, whose beam of light from the silver lamp at the top of the tower could even penetrate the mists of the sea.

The Noldor Elves had extremely high attainments in architecture, passed down from Aule the Valar.

As the saying goes, professional matters must be left to professional people. Allen handed over the construction of the high tower entirely to the three of them, while he himself received a special young "guest" in his study.

The person who came was none other than Aragorn, using the alias "Thorongil." To this day, this future King of Men was already nearly thirty years old, looking heroic and spirited, naturally possessing a kind of kingly majesty.

Moreover, he had already made plans to set off for other parts of Middle-earth to begin a journey.

Just as Allen had once said, you must spend time to understand this world, to understand the operating laws of those affairs, so that you can appear in the best way to take back the throne that belongs to the Numenoreans.

Relying on learning alone is not enough.

Aragorn also intended to do just that. Now, the life of the Numenoreans in the North Downs was on the right track, and the population they ruled had already reached over ten thousand.

Not only had they rebuilt Annúminas a few years ago, but the evil forces entrenched in the Weather Hills and the North Downs had also been swept away. Now he finally had the time to do more things.

After bidding farewell to his mother and his foster father in Rivendell, he followed the road of the High Pass, plunged into the Wilderness, and then arrived at the first stop: Fislate, ruled by Allen, wanting to stay here for a period of time.

Actually, Allen's place had been calm and peaceful recently; there was really nothing that this young man could be of service for.

Unless he was sent to Fatis; there were indeed sporadic battles on the west bank of the Redwater River.

But this was of no benefit to Aragorn's growth, and his life should not be wasted in Rhovanion; only Rohan and Gondor were the places this young man truly needed to go.

Allen also proposed such a suggestion to Aragorn, while also mixing in a little bit of mischievous humor.

"Perhaps, before heading to Rohan, you could also take a trip to Lothlorien. Lady Galadriel, who resides there, is one of the few sages in Middle-earth; she might give you some inspiration."

Allen was smoking his pipe with a smile, looking at the young man before him with a playful gaze, because there was one more sentence he hadn't said.

"There, you might also run into the love of your life, the Elf Princess Arwen, known as the 'Evenstar,' and this lady is also the beginning of you truly striving for success, kid."

Yes, because of Allen, this butterfly that could be called an eagle, the fate of Aragorn and Arwen did not begin in the Third Age of 2951, because at that time Aragorn was leading his people to rebuild Arnor and simply did not have much time to stay in Rivendell.

And at this time, Arwen had already returned to Lothlorien, and Aragorn did not run into her when passing through Rivendell either.

And this piece of information, Allen easily pried out of the mouth of the still very young Aragorn, so he decided to continue this fate for his student.

Of course, Aragorn at this time did not know what he would encounter next; he only felt that his teacher's gaze was very strange, with three parts playfulness and seven parts of watching the fun.

Honestly, he was a bit confused, but going to Lothlorien was something Aragorn had originally planned; even if his teacher hadn't mentioned it, he would have stopped by on the way anyway.

He had also heard about the Golden Wood from his foster father more than once, and thus had a longing for it.

Watching Aragorn, who had already established a career and was preparing to strive for a greater cause, Allen was also quite gratified. To a certain extent, he had already changed this world and influenced many outstanding figures.

Before Aragorn left, Allen took him for a tour around Rhovanion and let him conquer a Mearas from his herd of horses.

Although the north was already very peaceful now, Dol Guldur, close to the Golden Wood, was still in the hands of Sauron, and that area was not particularly safe.

Having a good horse was still very important for this young man who wanted to travel, and the Mearas had extremely strong stamina.

At full speed, it only took a day or two to get from Isengard to Minas Tirith in Gondor.

However, the production of this kind of horse was extremely low, and most of the output was left to those generals who were very important to Allen.

For example, Fatis stationed near the Redwater River, Alayen holding Heidelberg, and Cress assisting Malherbe in managing Long Lake Town.

Even for Gandalf, Allen had never been this generous. After all, the Grey Wizard's combat power was extremely strong, and whether he had the help of a horse only concerned whether he could traffic people in Middle-earth faster.

Moreover, he would find his own mount in Rohan later, so Allen didn't need to worry about it. ===== CHAPTER 293 =====