Warhammer Divine Throne

I indeed have already...

”Oh right, there’s one more thing to tell you.” Mogiana remembered something, she motioned to wait: ”After Lorne’s failure, I sent people to scout Musillon again, and the Lake God Prophet Clement brought back a piece of valuable information for me.”

”Valuable information?” Laine became serious at this point. Any information important enough to be valued by Mogiana must be significant, especially if it concerns Musillon.

The merits and rewards for Laine killing Egil have been under discussion by the Knight King, his royal court, and various dukes. It’s tricky to reward such an achievement because Laine is already a Count, has received a first-class medal, and is the Divine Chosen Champion of the Lake Fairy. Richard didn’t know what else he could offer him, and after much discussion, they kept revolving around three options: grant him a dukedom, add a title, or reward him with resources.

Both Richard and the royal court first rejected granting a dukedom. Firstly, Laine’s experience was too shallow; secondly, although Brittania’s laws allow the King to create unlimited dukedom titles, Laine couldn’t be a ”landless Duke,” as a Duke must have a corresponding fief, and there was no land left to grant in Brittania.

Adding a title was useless too—what title in this kingdom could surpass that of the Divine Chosen Champion of the Lake Fairy?

In the end, Knight King Richard awarded Laine four thousand Gold Crowns, two Pure-blooded Elf Warhorses, fifty sets of knight armor, and ten carts of grain to make it somewhat satisfactory, and ordered this achievement to be recorded in the archives.

The underlying message was: we acknowledge your achievement for now, please accept these rewards first.

This reward hasn’t reached Laine yet.

Laine, however, had bigger plans; he set his eyes on the land of Musillon and the title of Duke of Musillon. To claim the title of Duke of Musillon, he first needed to reclaim Musillon, which required careful planning.

”Clement found through investigation that after the Blood Red Duke’s death, both the Witch Demon King Akhan and Vampire Count Manfred left, leaving Mathew Bade in charge, the traitor we analyzed last time! He nearly stole the title of champion from the knight tournament, and I even encouraged him personally!” Mogiana gritted her teeth with anger as she recounted, if not for Laine, she almost became a sacrifice for the Master of the Undead Nagash: ”He declared himself Duke of Musillon, becoming the ruler of Musillon.”

”Hmm, I know, what has changed? Mathew Bade, at that time, was only at the Legendary Initial Tier. Even if he progressed quickly in two or three years, he should be at most at Legendary Middle-tier, how could he command the vampires of Musillon?” Laine immediately noticed something amiss.

Vampires are inherently traitorous, only following the strong. The Blood Red Duke ruled Musillon for years, his Legendary High-Tier power barely held things together; how then does Mathew Bade, a mere Legendary Initial Tier knight and not even a vampire, rule Musillon?

”Mathew Bade’s power has skyrocketed to the Legendary High-Tier.” Mogiana recalled being betrayed, captured, and almost converted into a vampire. Her voice was icy and trembling. Since recovering, the Lake God Witch often awoke from nightmares, each time dreaming of herself bound to a sacrificial altar, facing Manfred’s reflective bald head and pale pupils—only when with Laine did she sleep peacefully, free from nightmares: ”Do you know what happened?”

”What happened?” Laine’s eyes widened.

”The power of the Black Chalice Knight killed by Duke Lorne during the campaign against Musillon did not dissipate or scatter, instead, it all returned to Mathew Bade.” Mogiana revealed the findings from her divination to Laine: ”Mathew Bade absorbed all the power, combat skill, and experience of the deceased Black Chalice Knight, successfully breaking through to Legendary High-Tier. And this was just one Black Chalice Knight; it’s unimaginable if all were defeated... If circumstances allowed, I would certainly call upon the dukes to assemble a Knight Army.”

”The kingdom no longer has the capacity to attack Musillon.” Laine nodded with a wry smile: ”It will take at least five years to restore the kingdom’s military and knight numbers. Fortunately, Musillon is also severely depleted, and the vampires can hardly act. Lord Lorne has already dispatched reinforcements for outposts and quarantine lines, inflicting significant losses on Musillon. What we need to do now is seize the time to recuperate... Mogiana, what’s wrong?”

Mogiana turned pale, recalling her capture due to carelessness. Every time she thought about it, the Lake God Witch felt fear: ”Uh... Laine, lately, the nightmares have started again.”

”Indeed, that is a problem.” Laine gently caressed Mogiana’s slender and soft back: ”You need to overcome it, Mogiana, I’m here.”

”You’re here? You’ll be gone soon!” Mogiana retorted sourly: ”Even after you’re married, our agreement remains valid, right?”

”Yes, I will keep my word.” Having made a promise, Laine would honor it, this is one of the Eight Virtues of Chivalry.

Holy Grail Knights speak with conviction, pledging action, bearing the symbols of honor of the Knight Kingdom. Such knights rarely make promises, but when they do, they are willing to give everything. Many ”wise ones” like to mock knights as ”fools” for their foolish deaths, yet they fail to realize that if everyone were ”wise,” the world might have long fallen to chaos.