Chapter 178: The Duchy of Bastonne

"I still plan to take a detour to avoid Chalons Forest!" Kangsitanting continued. "Besides the blood kin, there are Greenskins and Beastmen in there. The villages on the edge of the forest are frequently attacked, and we have to organize troops to clear them out every so often, otherwise, the next time we go, it might just be a pile of ruins."

"No problem!" Sinuoli agreed directly to Kangsitanting's plan; in the absence of a better idea of his own, following the advice of a local was never a mistake.

After a night of rest, Sinuoli and his troops set out on their journey after the sun rose; those who had kept watch the previous night hid in the wagons carrying the Artillery to rest.

Along the way, Sinuoli clearly sensed a hint of unease. Although not even a small group of Greenskins dared to show themselves along the route, he could still feel the prying eyes from the woods on both sides of the road while sitting on his Rock Sheep.

"Perhaps this is the merit of that talent?" Sinuoli thought to himself. He boredly poked at the "See Through Trickery" title he had obtained after slaying Skarsnik within the system, but naturally, he received no reaction, and he had no way to go and verify it with anyone.

"Your Excellency Regent, I fear it is not peaceful around here, is it?" Sitelinge, after being called aside by his advisor for a few whispered words, shook his head and approached Kangsitanting to strike up a conversation.

Sinuoli took this scene in; he discovered that Yubalin, compared to Sitelinge's advisor, was more about guiding him and teaching him to do certain things. In fact, this was indeed the case; the advisors of eldest sons often needed to shoulder more, and certain experiences needed to be imparted by them.

"Hahaha! More than that!" Kangsitanting took another drink of wine. This time his rum was finished, and what he was drinking should have been the wine he had just bought.

Good wine from the people of Bordeleaux was also famous throughout all of Bretonnia. The wine produced along the coast there was of good quality, and more importantly, the yield was also very large, so the price was low, and with the relative wealth of the duchy, the general public could also afford it.

There had always been a saying to describe the love of the people of Bordeleaux for wine: "If a Bordeleaux man happens to hit the full moon of the benevolent moon Mannslieb on his tenth birthday, then he might stay sober for one day without drinking."

"This stretch of road is full of peasant mobs! They go in groups and organize to rob passing merchants. It's just that because we have many people, these bastards don't dare to make a move! Do you know how much effort it took me to scatter these scoundrels when I came?"

Kangsitanting's voice carried a hint of anger; clearly, this young regent had a bad experience. "These guys, who are slipperier in the woods than fish in the sea, smear everything they can find on their filthy weapons! Dung forks, the literal kind!"

Upon hearing this, the corners of Sitelinge's mouth twitched. For people of such noble status as them, perhaps even giants were not as terrifying as dung forks. Fighting a giant beast, even if one lost, was considered honorable, but fighting these peasants, even if one won, would leave one disgusted for a long time.

Sinuoli's army passed through two villages in succession; their persons-in-charge chose to keep their gates tightly shut when faced with such a torrent of steel.

Although Sinuoli felt there was no need to pull out his Cannon—those dilapidated wooden doors couldn't even withstand the physical impact of the Anvil Guard—this could at least give the poor people inside a little psychological comfort.

"The nobles of Bastonne, one by one, are almost all excellent Knights, but as lords, the proportion of them who are qualified can be reversed!" Kangsitanting had quite a few opinions on the behavior of his neighbors.

The Kingdom Knights who held these two villages as fiefs had abandoned their duties and taken their squires to join the King's crusade. If the proper Knights who already had territories were like this, it went without saying for the Questing Knights who were in need of establishing merit!

It could be said that not a single Questing Knight could be found in the wild of the entire Basituonie Gongguo. If one were encountered on the road, the possibility that they were a Blood Dragon Vampire was perhaps higher.

These two villages were both managed by the stewards or village elders of the Knights, and relying only on the slightly trained infantry and temporarily conscripted peasants under them, whether they could hold the villages, only the Goddess of Mercy knew.

After spending a few silver coins to replenish the water for the convoy from the village well, Sinuoli and his subordinates had a simple meal and then set off again. By the time of Twilight, they finally arrived at a larger town.

The human settlements of Bretonnia were very simply divided into three tiers: the lowest level was the village; they usually only had simple walls, and the only two decent buildings were the residence of its master—a Kingdom Knight—and a small chapel to the Lady. The lord's subordinates were just a few Knight squires and a small squad of infantry.

The second tier was the town; the one before their eyes and the previously passed Sanlak Castle were both in this category. They usually had relatively sturdy stone walls. These towns were generally located on major traffic arteries or border lines, and their lord would be a noble with a title.

Compared to the Kingdom Knights under them, these nobles had better-trained infantry and the right to mobilize the Kingdom Knights and Questing Knights within their territory.

The highest tier was, of course, the Duke's castle. In addition to commanding the low-level nobles under his banner, the Dukes, depending on the situation, would have some higher-level troops with local characteristics, and at the same time, there would be Prophetesses and Damsels serving the Lady of the Lake to provide magical support.

"Count Kairu, the master of Chevin Castle, is a Grail Knight; we must all restrain ourselves in front of him!" Kangsitanting reminded Sinuoli at the city gate.

"Good fellow!" Sinuoli praised. He had long ago learned about Grail Knights, and this might also be the most popular troop type in the games of his past life. However, here, these Living Saints could not be recruited at will in squads like in the games.

In fact, no one knew exactly how many Grail Knights there were in the entire Knight Kingdom; the Empire of Man across the mountains had always tried to figure this out.

But what was certain was that even counting those who directly took orders from the spokesperson of the Lady of the Lake in the Mortal World on the "Isle of Lilies" where the Fay Enchantress was said to reside, as well as those guarding the Goddess's sanctuaries in hidden places, the total would not exceed two hundred.

"Compared to other duchies, the number of Grail Knights among the nobles of Bastonne is abnormally high; perhaps this is a manifestation of their Knightly Virtue!" Kangsitanting saw Sinuoli in a daze and sighed as well.

The castle before them looked nothing special, and even appeared somewhat desolate. Because they had notified them in advance, the Count's subordinates led the leaders of the troops into the city at the gate and marked out an area for the large army to camp outside the city.

Sinuoli and his party passed through the gate and headed straight for the Count's residence inside. This was a small city, and they soon arrived in front of the door of the inner tower.