Losa asked, "Hans, how much do you know about my current situation?"
Hans looked apologetic: "Sorry, my lord, I don't know much. Is this world the Middle Ages of history?"
"Yes, but not entirely."
Losa nodded and briefly summarized his current situation and the background of the era he was in, and explained it to Hans.
The Crusades were also a critical juncture for the Teutonic Order.
Hans, being from the Teutonic Order, would naturally have some understanding of this period in history.
Hans realized, "So that's how it is... Does this world also have the Teutonic Order?"
"Certainly, but they don't have much influence yet."
"I am a Knight of the Habsburg Family; you should have heard of this renowned name. But that was in later generations. The Habsburg Family has not yet risen; one of the two heirs is tucked away in the poor mountains of Switzerland, and the other is me, preparing to go to the Holy Land."
Hans respectfully said: "With you here, I have no doubt the Habsburg Family will rise as recorded in our world."
"Heh, with your good words. Hans, from today, you will be my attendant. I will promote you to a true knight once you establish sufficient meritorious service."
"By then, you can use either the black eagle on a white background or the black cross on a white background as your personal emblem."
Losa placed the Armed Sword on his shoulder: "Now, swear your allegiance to me."
"Hans, are you willing to swear allegiance to me, devoting your life to being my loyal knight, using your courage, strength, and wisdom to serve me?"
Hans immediately knelt on one knee and respectfully said: "With Heavenly Father above, I swear to offer my loyalty to my lord Losa, uphold the virtues of a knight, and remain steadfastly loyal, never leaving your side."
The system prompted: Your intimacy with Attendant "Hans" has increased to friendliness.
"It's really... simple."
Losa was a bit helpless. Compared to Prajna, Hans's intimacy increase was too easy.
However, even a low-star attendant is equivalent to a good combat power, definitely stronger than the two "attendants" he brought from Eagle Castle.
But still, they are merely ordinary individuals and cannot compare to high-star attendants who are almost superhuman.
Hopefully, the next card draw will give him a high-star attendant of offensive type.
Losa introduced Hans to Laine and Model, then left.
He didn't intend for Hans to live in the same room with him either.
Laine looked at Hans's exquisite equipment with some disbelief: "Hans, are you really the new attendant taken by the lord, and not some high-ranking lord's illegitimate child?"
Model was full of envy: "Such equipment, even formal knights can hardly afford it, right?"
"Are those Viking horns on your helmet? So imposing!"
Hans's face showed a bit of embarrassment and he smiled: "It's just decoration; I come with my own equipment to serve the lord. I once trained at a monastery but never received an official knight title."
…
Night deepens.
Prajna's brown eyes reflected the flickering candlelight; her waterfall-like black hair hung between her snow-white arms.
She was like a sculpture, not speaking much even in leisure, and having no little actions to relieve boredom.
Sometimes seeming quite dull.
But beautiful people themselves, akin to art pieces, need do nothing to be pleasing to the eye.
At this point, a trace of surprise suddenly flashed in her cool eyes.
She turned to Losa and inquired, "What did you do?"
Losa raised his head and pointed to the table, where a pile of gold coins had lost their golden sheen and turned dull, the gold inside having been completely extracted.
"I just researched the premium system, leveled you up by ten levels. Didn't expect it to be so expensive."
The first battle was won, and his own level bar moved up, almost reaching level 2.
But his level-up effects were limited; a six-star attendant's power lay not only in their strong skills but also in gaining six attribute points per level-up.
As a lord, he could only gain three attribute points per level-up.
However, fortunately, if the intimacy between lord and attendants is high enough, he could also use the attendants' skills; perhaps he couldn't beat a six-star attendant in the future, but his combat power would by no means be low.
"Your finances are limited, don't spend it on me for now. My current power is temporarily sufficient; if we encounter a strong enemy, we can improve at that moment."
Prajna frowned.
Throughout history, achieving success has been impossible without wealth.
Recruiting soldiers, purchasing equipment...
Fully armored armored knights, if used properly on the battlefield, can easily crush several times, even tens of times the Magyar Light Cavalry encountered before.
But equipping a knight costs such a fortune that even for a king, it wouldn't be a small sum.
Losa's face was full of smiles, and if it weren't for the system prompt of "intimacy" increase, he might have truly believed it.
He smoothly said: "Alright, then for now let's leave it at this. When we conquer a territory in Jerusalem and make a fortune, I'll definitely level you up to the maximum."
Prajna nodded slightly: "Thank you."
Losa said: "It's getting late; we have to continue our journey tomorrow. Rest early."
"Good night."
"Mm."
In the dead of night.
The street suddenly became extremely quiet; the chirping of insects, the croaking of frogs, all vanished as if something terrifying had been witnessed, scared into complete silence.
Losa, sleeping soundly, suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis welling up within, making his hair stand on end.
He opened his eyes to find Prajna standing by the window, gazing outside.
He had a look of inquiry.
Prajna shook her head, gesturing for Losa to come closer to look.
Losa approached the window, and upon seeing, broke into a cold sweat.
Outside the window in the street, a gigantic serpent as large as a train, covered in black scales, was slithering slowly through the muddy road in the center of town.
A deep trench was left in the mud behind it.
At this moment, it seemed to sense their gaze; its head, which was about to move away, suddenly rose high, stretching towards them on the inn's second floor.
Clang—
Prajna placed the black Ghost Face Shield in front of her; a terrifying aura of death rose, her black hair dancing wildly, moving without being blown by the wind; the terrifying momentum akin to a storm swept everything in the room into the air.
Losa, witnessing Prajna wielding such terrifying power for the first time, couldn't quite believe that such awe and majesty resided within her frail-looking body.
The serpent's emotionless eyes were like two large lanterns, facing Prajna.
Though it seemed devoid of emotion, it had actually recognized Prajna as a formidable threat, and its scales began to undulate rhythmically.
After a long while.
The serpent lowered its head and slithered away into the distance.
Losa breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is it gone?"
Prajna nodded: "Mm, it didn't confidently think it could defeat me, or rather, even if it could, it feared it would sustain severe injuries."
"Prajna, you're amazing!"
Prajna shook her head: "Not really, this serpent is very strong, beyond my current capability to counter. The reason it was scared away is because it was intimidated by my aura."
Losa nodded: "I see."
In the settings, max level is the true state of a six-star attendant, and leveling up through recharging is merely to unlock the seals on an attendant.
Even if the power doesn't meet the mark, the "person" quality remains.
"What kind of creature is this?"
"I don't know."
Prajna shook her head, her tone unusually solemn: "It seems this world is indeed not simple."