Chapter 267 - 214: The Lord Becomes a Prized Catch for Noble Ladies

Seeing the Lord of High Cliff Castle in person made this group of Follow-up Knights very excited, but they found it hard to reconcile the legendary Lion Hunter Knight—a man of extreme methods and extraordinary valor—with the impossibly handsome young man standing before them.

The ceaseless, tide-like praise from the Follow-up Knights made the Lord grin from ear to ear, but their performance on the training grounds made his expression instantly collapse, his disappointment difficult to hide.

To put it simply: in foot combat, they were beaten black and blue by the Beastman Barbarians. In mounted combat, they were run ragged by the Jackal Wolfman Cavalry and the Centaurs. And in archery, they were utterly crushed by the Feder Archers.

In less time than it takes to eat a meal, their initial high morale evaporated into dejection, completely stripping them of their pride.

"Brother-in-law, these noble bastards from the big cities think too highly of themselves. They can’t handle big tasks and won’t stoop to small ones. Their heads are full of fantasies, thinking their own valor would be enough to earn them a place in High Cliff Castle, but in the end, they can’t even handle our reserves one-on-one."

Mier shook his head as he looked at the dejected apprentice knights.

This small display gave Mier a sudden, worrying glimpse into the state of Debei’s lower-ranking troops.

"They’ve received a proper noble’s education, so it’s normal for them to have a bit of pride. Talent is forged through experience, after all."

The Lord didn’t seem to mind much. He was extremely lenient with his admirers, and he went around patting them on the shoulder and offering a few words of encouragement.

Unfortunately, a common trait of such youngsters is being thin-skinned. Realizing they had made big boasts only to be proven completely inadequate, they were too embarrassed to stay. After bidding the Lord a hasty farewell, they departed, covering their faces in shame.

No doubt, upon returning to Bailiu City, these apprentice knights would use their personal experience to proclaim the strength of High Cliff Castle.

Soon after, High Cliff Castle held a grand memorial service.

On a high slope a few miles from High Cliff Castle, where the view was open and endless, rows of tombstones were erected. Engraved upon them were the names, deeds, and eras of the deceased.

In this world, earth burial was actually a custom of the Holy Light Church, whereas the Ice and Snow Church practiced ice burial.

The Holy Light Church’s doctrine on this was: Death is not the end; being forgotten is.

A tombstone was never mere formalism; it was a form of historical inheritance.

Since there were no Clergy from the Holy Light Church present, the Lord, as a Holy Knight with a tenuous connection to the Holy Light, had to preside over the memorial service himself.

Fortunately, in his previous life, Levi had watched plenty of videos of memorial services for martyrs, so he had a rough idea of the procedure. He ended up combining that with the customs of this world.

This resulted in a ceremony that was neither ancient nor modern. Luckily, the people of High Cliff Castle were largely unsophisticated, so there was no one strictly adhering to dogma to reprimand the Lord.

"Lord, we are leaving."

Gus arrived with a few Centaur Warriors and dozens of Vassals driving horse-drawn carriages to bid Levi farewell.

His Tribe was located deep in the Wilderness. When he had first joined the Wilderness Alliance Army, he had only brought his clan’s Warriors with him.

This time, he planned to move his entire Tribe to High Cliff Castle.

Having decided to join High Cliff Castle, Gus naturally had no ulterior motives.

"Go and return quickly." Levi glanced at the tall Centaur Leader before him and gave him a fist bump.

High Cliff Castle was a new Pioneer Territory. It couldn’t compare to established noble domains in terms of population or production, but the addition of the Centaur Race would allow High Cliff Castle to improve rapidly in all aspects.

As for the population ratio of humans to Alien Races?

Levi wasn’t too worried about that.

Currently, not counting the slaves, High Cliff Castle had about five thousand true subjects.

Among them, there were nearly three thousand Feder Commoners and one thousand from the Evil Fang Tribe.

The Alien Race subjects consisted only of Jackal Wolfmen and Beastmen, who numbered just over one thousand combined.

Even if Gus brought all his people over, humans would still form the majority in High Cliff Castle.

Compared to its population, High Cliff Castle’s military force was currently stretched a bit thin.

For a population of over five thousand, the number of active soldiers in the legion was only around seven hundred, give or take.

Among the Centaur Race, nearly all able-bodied adults were Bow Control Warriors, which could greatly supplement High Cliff Castle’s military strength.

This would bring the number of permanent Warriors to around one thousand, barely meeting the standard ratio for a small Debei legion.

If Gus’s journey went smoothly, he could be back in half a month at most, bringing with him nearly a thousand Centaur women and children.

This matter, however, made Levi think of the wilderness savages in the Kas Mountain Range.

It was indeed difficult to coax commoners from Debei to come to High Cliff Castle, but these savages, struggling on the brink of starvation, could probably be persuaded to come and become subjects.

However, with no telling how long the current harsh winter would last, High Cliff Castle’s current supplies were barely sufficient. It wasn’t a good time to increase the population.

This matter would have to wait until after next year’s harvest.

High Cliff Castle began to enter a state of orderly development.

The wall on the hill was complete, and the Lord began planning to build another thick wall at the base of the hill.

High Cliff Castle’s population was growing, and its structure would become more formalized in the future. He intended to make the hill area the Inner Castle of High Cliff Castle, a military stronghold.

Meanwhile, the area below the hill would gradually be planned into a city, divided into a Settler Area.

It was a massive undertaking. He had only discussed some issues with the blueprints with the Feder Craftsmen; the actual construction wouldn’t begin until next year.

However, in this regard, the Lord felt that the Wilderness was not without its advantages. It was a land of endless plains, which naturally made building walls much simpler than within Debei’s borders.