The thumping sound resounded in the baron's castle, spreading in all directions in the quiet and empty environment at night.
Prince Brant woke up from his bed and lifted his quilt. The constant ringing of the bell made it impossible for him to sleep peacefully.
Baron Andager's official residence in the village of Andager was filled with noise. To outsiders, the castle, which still had a clear outline in the darkness, suddenly burst into flames.
"Assemble soldiers, prepare for battle, and prevent enemy attacks."
Prince Brant said loudly. As a knight's squire and heir to the territory, he instinctively issued his own orders. The fire light increased from less to more. In an instant, the sleeping town was awakened by the boiling castle fire.
"Captain Klein, what happened?"
Prince Brant got up from the warm bed. Before he could put on his clothes, the cold air from outside poured in directly. He was shivering with cold, but he did not dare to get into the warm bed. Instead, he started to pick up his equipment. .
Captain Klein held a sword in his hand and wore leather armor, and came to the prince's dormitory. Compared with the cold castle built on the mountain in Andaqi, the baron's official residence in Andaqi village was undoubtedly more comfortable and superior in terms of living conditions.
The baron's castle built near Andachi Mountain is built on a high mountain. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack militarily. The thick bricks and stones are piled into walls. As long as enough food is stored, it is enough to hold on in the castle and resist the siege of an army of thousands of people. , Politically, the castle is also a symbol of the Baron family's rule and the seat of authority.
"Why are the castle bells ringing?"
Prince Brant couldn't figure out who dared to attack his family's castle. There were two real knights in the Andague territory, as well as a dozen cavalrymen and hundreds of militiamen. This was a force directly under the control of the baron, and Andague territory The two knights of Ge, Knight Ryan and Knight Raymond, each have their own knight attendants. Except that they do not have the holy seal, they have received long-term training and are almost the same as knights.
"Your Highness, it is not the bells of the baron's castle that are ringing, but the bells of the Andacian monastery are ringing, so the bells of the baron's castle are also ringing."
Klein said calmly, watching Prince Brant put on his armor in a hurry, and the militiamen in the village began to gather.
"Why are the monastery bells ringing at this hour?"
After Prince Brant was fully dressed, he said inexplicably that whether it was a church or a monastery, there were corresponding people responsible for ringing the bells, which was not surprising to the entire Christian world.
Ringing bells in churches or monasteries reminds believers that it's time to go to mass, and reminds monks and priests that they should work normally. For people in the village, the church bells also serve as a time teller.
The monastery knocks once in the morning, once at noon and once in the evening.
It is said that in big cities, church bells are ringed eight times a day, so that city residents have to arrange their day's work according to the church bells.
The bells of the Baron's Castle rang only a few times a year. Unlike the bells of the monastery, once the bells rang it meant an emergency.
Emergency situations generally refer to wars. Knights and militiamen in the territory must come to the baron's castle to prepare for battle.
Maybe there are bandits roaming nearby, or the army of the lord next door has come over, or in a more serious situation, armies from other countries are attacking.
In this era where all transportation relies on walking and communication relies on shouting, the Baron's ringing of bells to summon his own men is already considered a high-tech method.
Klein pointed outside. Prince Brant looked at where the Andachi Monastery was. In the dark night, there was no moonlight or starlight. The monastery castle that originally looked like a monster silent in the darkness suddenly came to life. The darkness The sky was red, and the flames were burning in the sky, like a flame. A huge red dragon was breathing flames and flying in the sky. The forest also suffered and began to burn.
"This, this, this, the evil dragon is coming."
Prince Brandt pointed at the evil dragon in the sky and said tremblingly. Klein looked at the frightened prince and nodded, and said calmly, "The king has an order. According to the obligations of our secular lords, Andachi Monastery suffered from the evil dragon. We must defend the monastery from attack."
"But none of us is a match for the evil dragon, Captain Klein." Prince Brant said hesitantly.
"This is the king's order, please carry it out, Your Highness the Prince." Klein said calmly, with an unquestionable tone in his voice, "If the monastery is over, the country of Andag is also over, and you are no longer a prince. More Besides, don’t you have a sister? Your sister is very beautiful, a noble and beautiful princess.”
"This!" Prince Brant looked ugly.
"Your mother was also a beautiful and noble princess in the past." Klein said expressionlessly.
"..." Brandt responded in silence, and after a moment he drew his sword, "For my father, my sister and my mother, the evil dragon and I swear to be incompatible."
————-
In the baron's castle, the fire was lit. Two knights led a dozen knights and attendants to gather under the castle. The barking of dogs was endless. It seemed that such a large battle scared the hounds.
"Oh my god, the king actually rang the bell. Do you think the French are calling?"
"Maybe, it's also possible that bandits are coming."
"The bandits can be solved as long as Knight Ryan and his attendants are here. It must be the King of France leading his knights to attack them. Who doesn't know that the King of France wants to be our emperor?"
The militiamen and cavalry were communicating with each other below the castle, and then looked enviously at Knight Lane, who already had white temples on his hair.
In the past, the Lion Knights rose to prominence in the fight against the French King's army, and were directly canonized as Imperial Knights by the Emperor. Their status was not even much lower than that of the King of Andag.
Knighthood is a combination of status, privilege, and honor. To become a knight is the lifelong goal and dream of the militiamen and cavalry. However, for young people from poor backgrounds, it is not that simple to become a knight. , it can even be said to be very difficult. Of course, even if a person is of noble birth, not all can become a knight if they do not meet the limited conditions.
The militiamen and knights were whispering under the castle, talking about returning from the battlefield. Little William, who would be canonized by chance, became the object of envy and jealousy of everyone, even the tabula rasa knight who could not obtain the fief without the title of king. That is also an out-and-out knight.
The knights are a very conservative group. If you want to be named a knight, you must be recognized and canonized by a real knight. Hans, the youngest son of Knight Lane, has been a knight's attendant for so many years, but he has not been canonized by his father. for knights.
Because of the Holy Seal, no real knight is usually willing to hold a canonization ceremony for those who behave badly and have notorious misdeeds, but prefer to canonize loyal, brave, and noble knights as attendants.
Therefore, little William is neither a knight's attendant nor his father a knight. It is already very rare to be canonized as a knight.
"Warriors, everyone standing here today, as the lord of Andager, Baron Conrad now canonizes you knights and cavalry as official knights. Militiamen, you will enjoy the treatment of cavalry from now on. If you return victoriously, I will also canonize you. For knights.”
Baron Andager, King Conrad shouted loudly with the holy sword Dawn in his hand, and said to the cavalry, knight attendants and militiamen.
There are only two real knights in the Kingdom of Andager, but that does not mean that the king can only canonize two knights. Canonizing a knight means permanently dividing a part of his territory, even if he does not use the territory as a fief. It is also necessary to come up with employment gold and silver worthy of the knight's status, and to bear the knight's expensive equipment.
The soldiers who were whispering suddenly fell silent. First they were happy that they had become knights, and then their faces turned pale.
"King, shall we fight the French king's army or the emperor?" asked a knight's attendant.
"Neither the King of France nor the Emperor." The Baron shook his head and replied, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"Is it an army of thousands, or tens of thousands?" a militiaman asked timidly, holding his own spear.
"Not thousands, not tens of thousands, there is only one enemy." The baron replied again.
"Great, there is only one enemy, we will definitely win."
The cavalry, knights' attendants and militiamen cheered. Although it is obligatory to fight for the knights, in the face of invincible situations, the cavalry and knights' attendants need to sacrifice for it, such as breaking out of the rear, such as breaking through, and many times they need to be promoted to knights by surprise. Boost morale.
The baron's sudden large-scale canonization of knights is undoubtedly following the past practice. If you survive on the battlefield, you are a knight, and if you die, you will die as a knight.
This time, there is only one enemy, even if it is a giant, for the identity of this knight. They are also fearless.
"This enemy is a dragon!"
After the baron finished speaking, he seemed to hear a symphony-like sound, and various weapons fell to the ground.
It's actually an evil dragon, it's actually an evil dragon!
The king actually wants to lead everyone to fight the dragon. This is not any different from committing suicide.
The brave Francis led the elite mercenary dragon-slaying mercenary group to slay the dragon, but all the troops were annihilated. They went to fight the evil dragon, which was simply asking for death.
We are not little William, but we can actually escape from the clutches of the evil dragon.
"Shut up, don't make any noise. The evil dragon is already attacking the monastery. If the sacred monastery is destroyed, Andag will also be destroyed. If you don't want your mother, your elder sister, your younger sister, and your daughters to be defiled by the evil dragon, If your property is taken away by an evil dragon and your hometown is destroyed by the evil dragon's breath, then there is only one way to drive away the evil dragon."
Knight Ryan pulled out his knight's sword and rode on the horse. He looked at the timid militiamen and said loudly, "Only by letting the evil dragon know that we are not easy to deal with, can we drive him away and protect our family and property."
The evil dragon is only interested in beautiful and noble princesses. Who would be interested in the aged and weather-beaten old mothers of the militiamen?
But the soldiers don't know about this kind of thing, and even if they know, they don't know whether the other party is good at it.
One cannot generalize between people, and the same applies between dragons. According to Mr. Green, the bard in the village, the lord of the neighboring country also levies the right of first night.
Who knows what dragons like?
