Prepare, Counterattack (Part 1)
Murphy's action of sweeping up his sleeves and leaving caused an embarrassed expression to appear on Lady Elizabeth's face, along with a slight hint of anger and hatred.
As first heir to a territory of 3,600 square kilometers to the north of the southern plains, even her husband had been careful when speaking to her. Needless to say, he was wary of putting her in an embarrassing and awkward situation such as this. She felt like a little kitten being teased with a string, and her noble pride was hurt. All the fine hair on her body rose, and as she grimaced in pain, she wished she could pounce on Murphy and bite him.
After all, she was the lady with the title of [Purple Thistle].
The more angry she felt, the more she had to tell herself to calm down. Right now, she had to borrow the young Lord's forces, because if they were expelled into the wilderness, she was afraid that she would be surrounded by the gnolls in no time at all.
At the current moment, escape would be impossible.
The middle-aged knight, who had been dead silent up to that point, suddenly said: "Lady, if there is a boat, perhaps we could still…"
"Judging by the gnolls' ability, they couldn't possibly block off the water route," Lady Elizabeth said, revealing a confused expression as she glanced at the Governor's Mansion's guards. Whispering, she continued: "But I want to escape to the rear of the human forces. Do you think those greedy nobles within the noble council would leave us with something after defeating the gnolls?"
That was obviously impossible!
After defeating the gnolls, the fallen soldiers would require pensions, and the brave warriors needed rewards.
What rewards?
In this era, the best reward was simply land!
And what the soldiers wished for was land! Because having land meant everything!
People without land were in a sorry state because they never had a place to call home. They were just like fallen leaves, wandering aimlessly. Even when they died, they wouldn't have a place to return to…
The southern plains land had already been divvied up during the noble council meeting, so where would the land come from to reward those soldiers who had achieved military achievements?
Undoubtedly, the land that the noble generals had been unable to defend from the gnolls' attack would be part of the big cake that was the post-war spoils. It was for certain that after attacking the gnolls, the noble council would use the lost land as a reward, and they would use all kinds of methods to claim part of it for themselves.
Perhaps you could keep your noble title after the war, but all your past glory would be lost!
Once you lose your land, how long will your family line be able to continue?
Once you lose your land, how will you be any different from those ornamental pretty noble ladies?
As the first heir to a territory of 3,600 square kilometers to the north of the southern plains, Lady Elizabeth had always been the focus of many young noble suitors in the entire southern plains. Once someone married her, it was the same as obtaining the noble title Hereditary Marquis and marrying the entire vast 3,600 square kilometers of land!
But Lady Elizabeth surprised everyone when she had eventually chosen a knight of unknown title for her husband. Whichever guy who was able to earn the approval of [Purple Thistle] was undoubtedly a toad, regardless of his looks, bravery, courage, or even his family lineage.
Hence, rumors had spread across the southern plains for some time.
Some people claimed that Lady Elizabeth actually liked women and that her marriage to that knight was nothing more than a cover-up. Others said that Lady Elizabeth's desire for power wasn't any less than that of a man's. They also said that she wanted her family and its territory in her grasp, which was why she married a cowardly husband with a humble background.
Because according to the rules of the noble council, noble knighthood could only be inherited by males.
And within the noble class of the southern plains, a female inheriting knighthood was unprecedented.
Amidst the gossip, the delicate and beautiful [Purple Thistle] eventually ended up marrying. Thereafter, she continued governing the territory under the name of Lady Elizabeth.
Lady Elizabeth's amazing beauty and commendable diplomatic skills earned her high prestige! More than anything, everyone was amazed by her business management skills! But the number of her suitors didn't diminish just because she was married. Instead, even more people looked at her with appreciation because of her outstanding abilities. As for her husband, he had long been forgotten by the people.
But just as she was gradually receiving recognition from the noble circle, and was preparing a huge bribe to buy off the noble council and become the first-ever female Marquis...
Everything came to a screeching halt!
Under the ferocious attack of the gnolls, all her plans seemed like an impossible fantasy.
Her husband-in-name, who was once a brave knight, had unexpectedly become weak from living in luxury for years, and shivered when he saw the gnolls!
This man, who she had once admired, was now this detestable and cast-aside man who didn't even wait for the war to start before fleeing for his life!
Living a life of luxury can dull a brave warrior's edge. Under Lady Elizabeth's strong brilliance, even her husband in-name had lost all of his boldness!
He brought along his trusted aide and a year's worth of collected taxes before fleeing the territory.
This was definitely a huge blow to the morale of the soldiers within the territory!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
Thinking on memories of her past, a bitter smile appeared on Lady Elizabeth's face. She remained silent for a moment before whispering, "What a failed transaction!"
A failed marriage…
Lady Elizabeth silently lamented.
The sunlight shone in the hall, and this woman, who had as much wisdom as she did beauty, pushed away her sadness and started to think about how to bridge the gap between herself and Murphy. She was strategizing how to win his trust, and also how she would convince him to move to the rear of the human forces.
If she could get this young Lord's support, then in addition to the family wealth she had accumulated, perhaps she would be able to start a new army of soldiers and reclaim the lost land!
Even if that wasn't possible, as long as there was military at hand, she wouldn't be a lamb to the slaughter before the council!
The main problem now was how she would gain the young Lord's trust.
Lady Elizabeth hesitated for a moment, but eventually raised her greasy fingers to gently remove her veil…
. . . . . . . . . . . .
The new recruits had made considerable progress in their training in the town barracks. When Murphy was patrolling for the second time, the new recruits had already begun learning how to block with a shield. The training being personally coached by a general definitely made a difference. As long as the new recruits focused on training in the Greek formation, then they would at least have basic combat effectiveness.
On the strategy map, the gnolls seemed to be gathering more rapidly than before. Obviously, there was a powerful leader among the gnolls who was gathering these scattered wild gnoll tribes.
After thinking about it, Murphy decided that after these new recruits completed their basic training and took over defense, he would initiate an attack to wipe out all the scattered gnolls' at their gathering grounds!
The first to strike would win!
Once the gnolls all gathered together, there would no longer be the chance to counterattack.
At the moment, General Hamilton's General Guards were in the process of organizing, and the organization would be complete by at least the next day. Although the combat power wasn't high, the three newly-trained Greek infantries and a half-organized group of General Guards would be more than enough to keep Athens safe and secure.
As for Murphy, he would lead his own General Guards, Spartan infantry, as well as the half-organized Greek infantry to encircle and clean out the scattered gathering grounds of the gnolls. He would make sure that before the gnolls had a chance to gather, he would destroy at least 40% of their military strength.
But for today, what he needed to do was perform a large ceremony and make a sacrifice to the Gods.
The auxiliary system made it clear that if he increased the number of Athena's believers, he would be able to upgrade the temple. At the same time, when the temple upgraded into a shrine, the priest presiding there would be able to create a medicine called [Holy Water] that could treat wounds and simple diseases.
Murphy's objective for presiding over the large-scale ceremony was to increase the number of believers in the goddess of wisdom, Athena.
Humans are blindly obedient, and under the intense religious atmosphere of a ceremony, the likelihood of converting a town resident into a believer would increase immensely!
As long as the number of believers increased to the required number, then Murphy would do this next.
He would test the healing effects of the holy water. Then, he would determine the combat intensity of their attack according to the holy water's healing effects.
His aim was to weaken the enemy's combat strength. Hence, the bottle's only purpose was to keep Murphy's losses to a minimum.