Chapter 165: Bretonnia Seeks Aid

Hearing Lord Luoleike's words, the high-ranking officials of Weifengbao present all furrowed their brows. It was common knowledge that many Vampires were lurking in Bretonnia; there were even some Vampires and their thralls in the Heishi Judian further north of Weifengbao.

Successive lords of Kalake-Zifulin had fought against the Undead entrenched there, partly because these creatures desecrated land that originally belonged to the Sons of the Mountains,

and partly for the more practical reason that they blocked the only path to reclaiming the Jinte Kuangshan. There were massive reserves of pig iron there, which would be an excellent supplement to the relatively meager mineral deposits of Kalake-Zifulin itself.

Over nearly a thousand years of conflict, the Heishi Judian had changed hands many times. The Dwarfs of Weifengbao discovered that every time the Vampires were defeated and fled, they could quickly pull another Undead army from the Bretonnia kingdom at the foot of the mountains; the faith in the Lady did not extend its care to the peasants.

This was not something the Rune Smiths could resolve by clearing the fortress's own corruption and pollution through the Hearth and Home Rune. Even using ambushes or concentrated fire from ranged weapons to kill the leading Vampire would, at best, only slow the process.

When the Dwarfs used the Heishi Judian as a bridgehead to continue fighting against the Greenskin warbands or Beastmen warherds occupying the Jinte Kuangshan, the Vampires would harass their overextended supply lines, and given the Dwarfs' marching speed, they were destined to be exhausted against Vampires who lacked no air support.

Such wars had left many entries about Vampires in the Book of Grudges of Weifengbao, and lords had even lost their lives to the blades and magic of those immortals. Precisely because of this, the local Dwarfs had the experience and the will to fight the Vampires.

"Are we going to support them?"

"Many of the Knights have gone on crusades, our workshops lack orders, and our kin have nothing to do!"

"We just had a big battle with Gudu at the beginning of the year, otherwise..."

The classic scene of a Dwarf meeting appeared once again in this place; everyone expressed their own opinions and began to clamor. Lord Luoleike himself participated in the discussion, while Sinuoli, as an outsider, had been drinking tea the whole time.

"Fellows, we must reach a conclusion as soon as possible!" Two hours passed, and the tea in Sinuoli's cup had lost all its flavor, yet the local Dwarf leadership still had not reached a consensus.

From his observation, this was not because Lord Luoleike lacked control over his territory, but because he himself did not have a clear idea of whether to send troops to help.

"The envoy who came for aid, that regent lord of the Bo'erdeluo Gongguo, is still waiting in the reception room!" Lord Luoleike himself was also a bit tired; he had been busy all day for the welcome banquet at noon and the challenge banquet in the evening.

Hearing the words "Bo'erdeluo," Sinuoli perked up; this was one of the wealthier duchies in Bretonnia. Most of the land in Bo'erdeluo was arable, and there were also some pastures near the coast.

Its coastline was not very long, but it possessed a fine harbor rare in all of Bretonnia, and its location was not too far north, so it suffered relatively less impact from the Norscans; thus, the city of Bo'erdeluo had become an important trade center in Bretonnia.

Sinuoli had not forgotten the hidden goal of his long journey, which was to find possible external assistance, preferably the kind that could compensate for the lack of shock and pursuit capabilities in Dwarf troops.

"That envoy from Bo'erdeluo, what conditions did they offer?" Sinuoli suddenly blurted out. Since entering, he had been drinking tea with his head down, and his sudden opening attracted the attention of the clansmen present.

"Uh, the usual, I suppose? They pay our military expenses, potential pensions, and a full reward after victory," said Lord Luoleike.

Sinuoli's opening seemed to represent his own attitude, and in the subsequent discussion, the direction of the clansmen began to tilt toward sending troops to support. Often, all it takes to make a decision is a little push.

When the grudge against the Vampires and the frustration of the workshop furnace fires being extinguished because the big customers were away on crusades outweighed the war-weariness brought by the big battle at the beginning of the year, the clansmen of Kalake-Zifulin made the decision to support.

Lord Luoleike decided to set the departure date for three days later; it wouldn't be too late to start the war after everyone had finished celebrating the New Year.

As for the concept of the New Year, the time was basically the same throughout the entire Old World. This was because the first Human Emperor, Sigmar, knew the importance of a unified calendar.

To reduce the difficulty of the work, and to ensure mutual understanding of the passage of time between the Dwarfs in the Qunshan and the Empire of Man, and to strengthen the relationship between the two races, he basically copied the calendar that the Dwarfs had used for thousands of years and proven to be accurate, only changing a portion of the holidays.

The first Knight King and unifier of Bretonnia, Jilesi, divided the duchies and unified the calendar nearly a thousand years after Sigmar. In this process, he undoubtedly copied Sigmar's homework, though he also changed a portion of the holidays.

However, the definition of the New Year was the same, and departing to provide support after the New Year also provided just enough time to assemble the troops.

Lord Luoleike sent someone to reply to the regent of Bo'erdeluo and then signaled for the meeting to adjourn; before leaving, he made an appointment to meet with Sinuoli this afternoon. Yes, this afternoon; the military council after this banquet had already lasted past midnight.

Sinuoli naturally had no objection to this; having passed the challenge, the process on the sister-in-law's side was basically complete. In principle, after the dowry was handed over, he could take his people and leave now, and the only reason he didn't do so was to wait for the caravan to return together.

The fatigue of the journey and the hangover meant it was past lunchtime when Sinuoli woke up.

"Cousin, I heard that you might want to lead troops to support the horse-riding Humans?" Balin asked while bringing coffee.

"I don't? Wait, where did this news come from?" Sinuoli was stunned for a moment; although this matter was exactly what he wanted, he shouldn't have revealed it too much in the previous meeting.

"Just now, a lady who called herself Lena sent the message; she is truly gentle!" There seemed to be some luster in Balin's eyes again.

"Lena?" Sinuoli muttered, racking his brain before he remembered the sister-in-law's maid who had opened the door and stood guard for him yesterday.

"Good fellow, this Lord Luoleike is really willing to fleece me!" Sinuoli thought to himself, but connecting it to his illustrious reputation—Weifengbao was the furthest from Everpeak, and his stories were spread the most outrageously,

combined with his performance of taking down a young talent with one hammer blow last night, it was normal for Lord Luoleike to want to borrow the strength of this "peerless warrior."

"Has she left?" Sinuoli asked.

"She left after delivering the message; I even wanted to keep her for coffee..." Balin muttered.

Sinuoli nodded; this timely news gave him the initiative in the upcoming meeting.

Thanks to Southern Swamp, Stone's Fifth, Aged Patrick, Cangyun Bomu, Haixiao006, DAWN76, Zhixiu Zishu Wutong, and the book friends.