Before the war

Each of the three pillars of Shalor had their own strengths. As strong as Clark Gable was, he was already a Ritter and was invincible in the whole of Shalor. Campbell, on the other hand, was a famous strategist. Most of the deployment tasks and external strategies of the kingdom were handled by him.

Finally, Felippe was the last. Felippe was just a businessman after all. It was just that he was too rich, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was as rich as a country. In Shalor, he was given the reputation of the 'god of wealth'. Compared to the other two, the 'god of war' and the 'god of war', he was far inferior.

Unfortunately, that was the past. The three pillars of Shalor no longer existed, and the only one left in the present was a terrible old man. Felippe walked out of the palace and slowly walked to his carriage. The coachman and guards next to the carriage looked at their patriarch respectfully.

With the help of the guards, Felippe got into the back seat of the luxurious carriage. With the coachman's shout, the convoy moved towards the margrave's mansion.

Felippe was not a middle-aged man as he looked. In fact, he was already a 50-year-old man with many grandchildren. The reason why he could look so young was that money could make the devil turn millstones for him. Whether it was life-prolonging medicines or sacred items that could preserve one's youthful looks, Felippe usually ate them as if they were his meals.

In terms of luxury, Felippe might not be as luxurious as the king of Shalor, but in terms of food and other aspects, he could be said to be the best in Shalor.

When he returned to his margrave's mansion, he refused the help of the guards and walked slowly to the hall. The margrave's mansion looked like an ordinary courtyard from the outside, but in fact, there was something more to it than meets the eye. Felippe estimated that all the houses on the street were the margrave's property.

All the houses were connected, and the space inside was unusually spacious. If one looked down from top to bottom, they would find that the margrave's mansion was almost a quarter of the size of the palace.

The size of the mansion also meant that the margrave had a long way to go. Felippe was not in a hurry at all. He still refused the help of the guards and walked at a moderate pace.

When he finally arrived at the main hall of the Marquis's mansion, there were already many people gathered there. They were all the family members of the Marquis. The hall was large enough to accommodate nearly a hundred people. That's right, these people were all Marquis Felippe's family members.

Walking into the hall, Marquis Philip ignored the greetings of his children and grandchildren and went straight to the main seat. Seeing this, the family members also made way for the marquis.

Very quickly, everyone watched as Marquis Felippe sat on the main seat.

Marquis Felippe, who was sitting in the main seat, looked down. The 50-year-old Marquis Felippe didn't feel the slightest joy of having a house full of children and grandchildren. His calm eyes and serious face made it impossible for anyone to guess what he was thinking.

All the nobles of Shalor thought that Felippe led the army back to the royal capital at the last moment because he loved his motherland. But who knew that all the family members of the margrave had been under house arrest in Audis half a year ago?

Businessmen valued profit. How could Felippe, who had been doing business all his life, give up his life in one fell swoop when he was old?

When Marquis Philip was young, he was a playboy, especially when he was in his twenties. The other two heirs of the marquis' family had already shown their talents, but only Marquis Philip was reluctant to leave the brothel and various noble ladies, and was infected with countless ill-fated relationships. Most of the children and grandchildren here were the result of his fickleness at that time.

The children and grandchildren in the hall quietly looked at their father and grandfather, Marquis Felippe. Although the marquis was fickleness, he was still very good to his bloodline. Regardless of whether they were legitimate or illegitimate, he had arranged a way out for them.

"The Faustian army will attack the city in eight days." Felippe revealed an earth-shattering piece of news that none of the nobles, including the king, knew about.

Everyone had a shocked expression on their faces. Just when there were signs of a quarrel in the hall, Felippe suppressed it and the noise quieted down again.

"Pack up and get ready. When the time comes, we will go our separate ways." After Felippe finished speaking, it was as if all the strength in his body had been drained. Ignoring the various expressions of the people below, Felippe left the hall.

Why did he know such secret information and why did he know that Campbell was actually the illegitimate son of the king? It was because he was Shalor's god of fortune! Because he had an intelligence network that spanned across all industries and regions of Shalor.

Perhaps it was because he had too many children that the love he gave to each of them was diluted a lot. Most of his children didn't actually have much affection for him, but more of a reverence. Only a few of them knew that every time they greeted him, it was from the bottom of their hearts.

"Glace and Kristin should have arrived in Karaman by now." Felippe lay on the rocking chair in the study, squinting at the horizon. His daughter, Grace, and granddaughter, Kristin, were the few children that the old man loved the most. Therefore, a few months ago, Marquis Felippe had spent a lot of effort to secretly send the two of them out without attracting the attention of the royal family.

A meteor streaked across the sky, and Felippe closed his eyes tightly.

"What! They're attacking the city on the fourth day after the new year? "Locke looked at Angelina in front of him in surprise.

Angelina didn't say anything and just nodded calmly.

Since the last time she looked for Locke, she found another opportunity to look for him this time. The young princess enjoyed their time together very much. The reason for her visit this time was to invite Locke to the 'new year party' held by the nobles in the barracks.

As the princess' savior ', under Angelina's recommendation, Locke, a commoner, also had the opportunity to participate in the party that only belonged to the upper nobles.

Of course, Locke probably wouldn't be with the real big shots, such as Kenzir, Marmen, and the others. He would most likely be with a group of viscounts and counts. Angelina had just given him a heads-up.

Locke didn't really care. He didn't even want to go to the noble party. There was nothing he could do except eat some good food and listen to some gossip. He would rather be with Suzanne, Glace, and the others on New Year's Day, barbecuing, chatting, and watching the moon.

However, Locke couldn't bear to refuse Angelina's kindness. Moreover, he was just a first-class soldier in the barracks. How could he refuse a division jarl like Angelina? Of course, this was a joke. Just like when they first met, Angelina never showed the arrogance of a noble in front of Locke.

There were only three days left until the new year, and the soldiers still hadn't received any combat missions. The higher-ups only told the divisions to step up their training. This year, ordinary soldiers would probably spend the new year in training. For veterans, this was nothing. It had been like this for the past few years.

Cleaning his longsword, Locke was both looking forward to the upcoming war, but he also resisted it. Although Locke was belligerent, he didn't want to kill. He was belligerent because he had been in the army for four consecutive years. He had dedicated a large part of his youth to the battlefield, and he felt a little uncomfortable after not fighting for so long.

The longsword in his hand was exchanged for a large sum of contribution points, and there was also a set of exquisite full-body armour.

The raw materials of the longsword and armour were said to be made of brightore, which was as hard as steel. The most important thing was that it was light. Although Locke had impetus, he wasn't as strong as Hans, after all. The light equipment could reduce the burden on him.

The blessing of the two powerful equipment had increased Locke's strength by more than a level.

Angelina still felt that it was not enough. According to her original idea, she wanted to give Locke a full set, including boots and a cloak. Locke was speechless when he heard this. Cloak... If he didn't want to die fast enough, he could wear something so flashy.

Locke, who had lived on the battlefield for four years, knew that the more high-profile he was, the faster he would die. He only changed his weapon and armour, which was already very special compared to other platoon jarls. If he changed again, the Shalorian soldiers would have to treat him like a division jarl or something.

The thought of a group of Shalorian soldiers rushing towards him made Locke's scalp go numb. He was only a low-rank Knecht, unlike the other division jarls, who had at least the strength of a high-rank Knecht. Moreover, every division jarl had at least one bodyguard around them.

Although Angelina was a little disappointed, she didn't intend to interfere too much with Locke's decision.

"Do you still have enough merit?" Angelina seemed to have thought of something and said to Locke, "If not, I can give you more."

After hearing this, Locke felt dizzy. He had ten thousand merit points, but he only spent three thousand on the two pieces of equipment, which left him with a huge sum of seven thousand. One had to know that the exchange of a knighthood only required five thousand merit points. In other words, even without Kenzir's promise, Locke could still use his merit to exchange for a noble title after the war ended.

The two pieces of equipment were actually worth half a noble title, which also reflected the extraordinary nature of these two pieces of equipment. The war hadn't started yet, so Locke couldn't feel it, but he believed that when the war started, these two pieces of equipment would not let him down.

Angelina's merit was limited every month. Recently, as soon as the next month's merit had arrived, she couldn't wait to share it with Locke. Of course, this time it wasn't as much as the last time. Angelina could only distribute two to three thousand merit points per month.

The reason why she could give it to Locke so casually was, of course, because Angelina was the princess of Faustian, Kenzir's sister, and the apple of the king's eye. She didn't lack any equipment at all. It was almost to the extent that he could get whatever he wanted.

Locke also learned from Angelina that she now had a magic treasure that could withstand a full blow from a peak Knecht or a high-rank spell. It could be considered a treasure in the palace's treasury. The king of Faustian had sent someone to deliver it a few days ago.

It was evident how much the king cared for Angelina.

"Come the day after tomorrow!" Angelina waved goodbye to Locke. The time she could stay with Locke was limited, so she would leave after a while to not arouse suspicion.

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I've been suffering from a slight cold recently. Dear readers, please take note of this. Spring covers, autumn freezes.