Chapter 5: Respond

The noble subordinates and knights present all waited for Christine to speak. The young noble ladies could be mocked, but the identity of a mage of the first order had to be given sufficient attention. Every mage was a representative of knowledge and power.

Lord Pierre, in this situation every fighting ability is needed. We can talk about going to the capital later. First, go to the city of Rennes and send a succession request to the Noble Assembly of the capital through the transmission array of the Mage Guild.'

Okay.

On the eve of a major battle, it was of course impossible to send Knight Abel on other business. Sending a message to the noble council of the capital was an urgent matter. It was expedient to ask Christine for official confirmation of Baron Stewart's territory, so that things could proceed more smoothly.

After all, no matter who won or lost, Christine would need a legitimate identity to sign the treaty.

'Uncle Liam, gather the soldiers.

'Yes, sir.'

'Knight Albert, open the armoury and distribute the equipment.

'Yes, sir.

Knight Eric, take some men and scout Baron Lorient's army.

'Yes, sir.

'Lord Etienne, Lord Pierre, gather your men and come to the castle.'

'Yes, sir.

As vassals, the two lords were obliged to send troops to assist their liege in battle, but as they were not knights themselves, they did not need to go to the front themselves, just send someone close to them to lead the troops.

The same goes for the rest of you. Gather your men.'

Several squires replied.

In the age of cold weapons, battles were fought at a very slow pace, and it was not uncommon for battles between two nobles to last a month or even several months.

The reason Baron Lorient sent his knights to deliver the declaration of war in the morning, despite the long journey, was to buy himself an extra day.

Before the declaration of war, Baron Lorient's soldiers were not allowed to enter Baron Stewart's territory. If the declaration of war was made at night, Baron Lorient's soldiers could not march at night, giving the other side a night to prepare. Now, as long as the declaration of war was made in the morning, it would be in accordance with the rules of the nobility for Baron Lorient's soldiers to enter Baron Stewart's territory half an hour later.

According to Christine's arrangements, everyone set to work immediately.

Ordinary knights and lords had only about ten permanent soldiers each, while barons had about thirty, so-called full-time soldiers. The rest were members of the militia who had to be called up on a temporary basis. The Barony of Stewart was relatively wealthy and could afford to maintain forty permanent soldiers.

Knight Abel ordered the soldiers to open the armoury and remove the weapons and armour for packing. The squire sent by Knight Liam Stewart had already ridden out to gather the militia from the various villages.

By the end of the evening, all the soldiers had arrived at the castle.

Baron Stewart, who ruled over five villages in one town, had gathered twenty cavalry and two hundred militia. The three knights and two lords had brought their squires, twenty-five regulars and a hundred militia. Several retainers had provided fifty militia, making a total of twenty-eight cavalry, seventy-five regulars and three hundred and fifty militia.

Baron Lorient might have a few more men, but not by much. This was a 'war' between two barons in this world, and it would not even be considered a skirmish on the scale of the old Blue Star.

As for mobilising all the adult males in the fief to go to war with a spear in their hand, there was no such thing on this continent. War had nothing to do with civilians, and the true gods would not allow their followers to go to war on a large scale.

Thanks to the wealth of Baron Stewart's domain, every regular soldier had a helmet, chain mail and a long sword, and 30 of them were also equipped with bows and arrows. The militia were equipped with helmets, leather armour and spears, and 30 of them were equipped with small round shields.

The soldiers' dinner consisted of black bread, vegetable soup and meat and potatoes, and since ordinary people could only eat meat once a week, everyone was very happy.

After dinner, although it was already dark, torches were lit in the castle square and the three knights organised all the soldiers into a formation. It was the most ordinary square formation. Because of their small numbers and their training, it didn't take long for them to master marching, retreating and turning.

As mentioned earlier, Stewart Castle was built to the standards of a count, so it was no problem to house several hundred soldiers in the barracks.

Once the soldiers were settled, the three knights followed Christine to the castle vault, where of course they had to arm themselves with their high-end combat power before the battle.

She took out three knightly swords and handed them to the three knights. These were all forged with the addition of refined gold, which is equivalent to a +1 attribute. They are sharper and stronger than standard knightly swords. Each long sword costs 500 gold coins.

As legal professions are rare, magical equipment is particularly expensive in this world. A ring that can cast the first level spell 'Mage Armour' costs 500 coins, a second level spell costs 2,000 coins and a third level spell costs 6,000 coins. From the third level, it cannot be replenished automatically and must be replenished by a caster of the appropriate level. Even if ordinary magical equipment is not used, it will reach the end of its life in about a hundred years, so it is simply not affordable for ordinary nobles.

Christine herself was equipped with a magnificent knight's sword. This ancestral long sword was forged with the addition of rare metals such as mithril, and its use by a member of the legal profession will not affect spellcasting. It is also engraved with a 'sturdy' magical array, equivalent to a +2 attribute weapon. The sword is said to cost 2,000 gold coins.

There are also a few spell scrolls that can be brought along to make up for the lack of spells.

In this world, spell scrolls and magic circles require at least a legal apprentice to use them. There is no such thing as a knight or ordinary person using a scroll to blast an opponent to death just because they are rich. And even if the caster can only use spells of a higher level, for example, a second-level mage can cast first-level spells on his own, but he can only use second-level spell scrolls at most.

Also, spell scrolls are not cheap. A first level spell scroll costs around 50 coins, a second level spell scroll costs around 200 coins, and a third level spell scroll costs around 300 coins.

As a fifth-level mage, Baron Lorient can use a third-level spell once a day. A single third-level fireball has the power of a mortar shell, and in the age of cold weapons, it can kill or injure 40 to 50 people in dense formations. If he had another Fireball Scroll, he could kill a fifth of Baron Stewart's soldiers.

That was why he had the confidence to go to war, and it also explained why the legal profession was so highly regarded. Even first-level wizards were treated with courtesy by the nobility, and fifth-level wizards who joined a noble were given the title of Lord and a village as their fiefdom.

The next morning, after everyone had eaten breakfast, the soldiers, led by the knights, made their way to the border between Baron Stewart's and Baron Lorient's territories.