"As of the end of last month, the number of clashes along the border between Blackstone Plain and Yellow Earth Land had risen to 101."
Inside the meeting hall of Lakeheart Town, Paul and a group of military and political officials were listening to the latest situation from the orcs opposite them.
"The number of refugees fleeing across the border is increasing. To date, we have taken in more than 13,000 people, and in the foreseeable future..."
An intelligence officer returning from Blackstone Plain is reading a report.
"Young man, please allow me to say a word!" A sudden voice interrupted him.
"Yes, General. What are your instructions?" The young intelligence officer stiffened and sat up straight, waiting for the speaker to say something.
An old knight nearing fifty said solemnly, " The boundary between Blackstone Plain and Yellow Earth Land has never been our border; our border is at Watchers Fortress."
The knight's facial features were as if carved from granite with a battle axe, the sunlight gilding them with a flowing golden edge. In the shadow cast by his brow, his gray-blue pupils resembled the surface of a frozen lake. Three parallel scars ran diagonally across his nose from his right forehead, and his steel-gray stubble extended neatly along his hairline, like snow lines tracing a mountain ridge.
He is Earl of Hal, and the deputy commander of the Sentinel Legion.
This army did not perish.
After the orcs launched their invasion of Aldor, the Sentinel Legion was quickly caught in a pincer movement due to the betrayal of the Bradley Family. The Legion's commander, Duke Morton, died a heroic death, and Duke took over command. However, the fortress was eventually overwhelmed by the orcs' offensive. In the final moments, Duke ordered a breakout.
With enemies to the east, west, and north, he had no choice but to lead his remaining army south into the Algin Plateau.
From Crystal Radiance's perspective, the Alda Plateau is located to its east, hence it is also known as the Eastern Highlands. The inhabitants of the highlands are all humans, but their productivity is low, and their social structure is still composed of tribes. Their level of civilization is not much higher than that of the orcs on the plateau.
These tribes nominally submitted to the Kingdom of Aldor, but in reality, they rebelled and surrendered at different times.
The kingdom had few solutions to this problem, as the Aldor soldiers, who lived on the plains, suffered from severe acclimatization issues when they entered the Algin Plateau. These symptoms included, but were not limited to, headaches, dizziness, insomnia, fatigue, difficulty breathing, nausea, and vomiting, which greatly affected the army's combat effectiveness, and military operations on the plateau often could not be sustained for long.
Before Giles launched his rebellion, many highland tribes had sent armies down from the plateau to plunder, forcing the previous king Rodney XVII to send Catherine with an army to quell them.
The cunning highlanders employed their usual tactic—luring the Kingdom Army into the highlands and exploiting the soldiers ' unfamiliarity with the environment to weaken the Kingdom Army's fighting capacity.
Catherine saw through their intentions and, after achieving several tactical victories, secretly recruited a chieftain named Jerov with the title of count.
She had originally planned to reveal this hidden piece only after making further progress, but Giles's rebellion disrupted her plans, forcing her to launch the operation ahead of schedule.
With Jerov's cooperation, the Kingdom Army achieved a major victory, hastily declared it a success, and immediately turned south to deal with Giles.
However, the Royal Army's victory was not complete. Jerov was less cooperating with the kingdom and more using it to eliminate the tribal forces that were at odds with him. Moreover, he also longed to obtain a formal earldom title—in the eyes of many backward peoples, although Crystal Radiance was militarily weak, it was a spiritual and culturally revered high ground, and an earldom title from there was extremely valuable.
After the Kingdom Army left Algin Plateau, Jerov became the de facto ruler there.
Subsequent intelligence gathering almost confirmed that the Highlanders' rebellion was instigated by someone in the shadows, most likely Giles — the vulnerability of Crystal Radiance created favorable conditions for his rebellion. However, it could also be other forces, such as the wizards.
In their most desperate moment, the remnants of the Sentinel Legion headed south into the Algin Plateau, hoping to bypass the area and return to the lands under royal control.
But Jerov detained them under the pretext of "hospitality," as this nominal vassal of the Kingdom of Aldor hoped to use the army to make a deal with the royal family.
For example, elevate his title by another level, or provide him with a large amount of gold and silver treasures; in short, don't let the Kingdom Army pass through his land for nothing.
Upon receiving Jerov's letter, Crystal Radiance was delighted that this loyal royal legion had not been annihilated, and sent envoys to Algin Plateau to begin negotiations.
The negotiations were difficult. Count Jerov's appetite was far too great, which was beyond the financial means of the Kingdom Government. As for the title of Duke, that was absolutely out of the question. Paul Greiman was only granted the title of Marquis after defeating the Orcs. If he were to be given the title of Duke by Jerov's coercion, the prestige of the royal family would suffer a heavy blow.
As the two sides reached a stalemate, Paul intervened, paying a sufficient ransom to Jerov to hand over Duke and his men.
The Sentinel Legion was built to defend against the orcs, and fighting the orcs had become the legion's belief. Duke went to Crystal Radiance to meet the king and obtained Rodney XVIII's permission. He immediately set off north with his men, heading to the Black Earth without stopping, hoping to avenge himself in the future war against the orcs.
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Duke first went to Lakeheart Town to request an audience with Paul Greiman, who was now a marquess.
Many years ago, he had come to Northwest Bay to procure supplies for the legion. At that time, Northwest Bay had just ended the Usurper War, and Paul Greiman and his allies had just captured the last city of Kent. Duke met Paul in that city.
In the eyes of Sentinel Legion's deputy commander, Paul Greiman at that time was just a child. Although he had the vigor typical of that age, he was still just a child. The young Paul did not leave much of an impression on Duke.
But when Duke saw Paul again, although the man was still young, he had become remarkably composed and mature. The Marquis of Glaeman, much like the lands under his rule, astonished Duke.
Alda, and indeed the entire Northwest Bay, is completely different from what Duke once remembered. The town has become larger than ever before, and many things he has never seen before have appeared.
He met Paul in Lakeheart Town and thanked him in person for paying the ransom for himself and his men.
Paul asked them what their plans were for the future, and Duke answered without hesitation that he wanted to fight the orcs to the death.
"Join us!" Paul Greiman invited him.