Chapter 161: Chapter 147: Battling the Harpies for 10 Days and 10 Nights (Part 2)

The Lord effortlessly planted the banner in the dirt beside him, a proud look on his face.

"Ahem. Lord, I personally feel it’s too complicated, and its meaning is unclear," Si Kai said tactfully, afraid of wounding a certain someone’s pride.

Banners representing a legion or a family were usually required to be clear at a glance, conveying their meaning while also being imposing.

For example, the Griffin Banner of the Debei Royal Court and the Eagle Sword Banner of the Martel Family.

The former’s meaning couldn’t be simpler, as the Debei Kingdom was founded thanks to its powerful Griffin Knight Order.

As for the latter, its meaning was also clear. The sword represented dauntless courage, while the eagle symbolized both advancing bravely and innate nobility.

And then there was this Lord’s banner: a black mountain like a piece of coal, fiery red flames, and... a sun?

’If it were just the sun, I could have spun it into a symbol of hope and vitality, representing High Cliff Castle’s current vigorous development and brimming vitality.’

’But the combination of all three was truly baffling.’

"Don’t worry about all that. Just tell me if it’s imposing or not—that’s all that matters." The Lord was never one to take advice on certain matters.

’This banner was meant to include everyone in High Cliff Castle, from top to bottom. As if I care about the symbolism.’

’The flames represent the warriors of the Burning Corps, the mountain represents all the people of High Cliff Castle, and the sun is, naturally, me—the head of High Cliff Castle.’

’You’d never find another lord in this world who’d bring fame to everyone in High Cliff Castle along with himself.’

"By the way, who’s that guy? He looks pretty impressive."

Levi didn’t want to dwell on the topic, instead asking in a quiet whisper. His gaze shifted to a person sitting in the front, on the left-hand side below the main seat.

While everyone else was chattering, this man sat with his eyes closed, seemingly resting his mind. He stood out like a small red flower in a pile of dog shit.

He was a middle-aged man in Light Leather Armor with striking, short green hair. Probably between thirty and forty, he was in the prime of his life for a soldier.

Men of his age were also more composed and experienced than those in their twenties.

However, compared to the other captains, most of whom wore beards, this middle-aged man was clean-shaven, and his hair was meticulously groomed. He looked less like a soldier and more like a knowledgeable, refined scholar.

"Funnily enough, you actually have a small connection to him." Si Kai smiled, not keeping the curious Lord in suspense.

"He’s the Legion Commander of the Thorn Corps. If Lady Fulina hadn’t come, he would have been in full command of this war."

"As for why I said you have a connection to him, Lord, it has to do with his name."

Si Kai paused before saying, "Our Legion Commander’s full name is Fujero Kovic."

"What’s his relationship to Lorina?"

The Lord was slightly surprised. He’d had his suspicions upon seeing the man’s striking green hair, but now he was certain.

"He’s Lorina’s brother."

Lorina, the Legendary merchant, was very famous in Bailiu City, which is why Si Kai was familiar with her story and could recount it with ease.

"Small world," the Lord muttered before asking curiously, "Since Lorina has a brother, why is she the Clan Leader of the Kovic Family?"

In this world, inheritance rights always favored men over women. If there was a direct male heir, it was virtually impossible for the position to fall to a woman.

"That has to do with the Kovic Family’s history."

"The Kovic Family was originally just an ordinary merchant family in Bailiu City. Then, from a young age, Lorina Kovic showed an outstanding talent for business, and their family’s enterprise grew step by step under her guidance."

"But as you know, Lord, in this world, having wealth without a powerful backer just means you’re earning money for someone else," Si Kai added as an aside before continuing.

"The Kovic Family realized this, too, as they were already feeling pressure from all sides, both overt and covert."

"Just when things were getting difficult for them, our current Legion Commander revealed his impressive talent for Combat Qi. He was eventually noticed by the old commander and taken in as an Apprentice."

"After that, things went very smoothly. Our Legion Commander’s rise within the Thorn Corps provided support for the Kovic Family on the outside, and in turn, the Kovic Family gave the position of Clan Leader to Lorina, giving the young merchant full authority to lead the family’s development."

"To this day, the Kovic Family has become one of the undisputed top five merchant families in Bailiu City. The value of the goods they trade each year is an amount we can scarcely imagine. And our Legion Commander, of course, successfully took over the old commander’s position."

"However, both the Kovic Family’s business and our Legion Commander’s career have now hit a bottleneck. There’s only one way to break through it: they must become nobles."

"Unfortunately, the requirements for becoming a noble have always been strict. Although the Kovic Family doesn’t lack money, it’s nearly impossible for a commoner family to buy its way into the nobility of the Northern Territory. Thus, the task naturally fell to our Legion Commander."

"Given his current position, if he wants to become a noble, he just needs to achieve a merit so great that no one can object. Then, Lady Fulina can grant him the title of Baron."

"He was the one who personally requested this assignment to quell the Minotaurs’ southern advance." Here, Si Kai expressed some of his worries. "And you know how it is with people—whenever they’re too desperate, they’re bound to make mistakes."

After speaking, he smiled. "I was worried at first when I heard he was leading the force to deal with the Minotaurs, but thankfully, Lady Fulina is here now."

"I didn’t realize you had so little faith in your own Legion Commander." The Lord shifted in his seat.

"It’s not that I don’t have faith, exactly," Si Kai said quietly. "It’s just that no one wants to serve under a man who is desperate to prove himself. It often means he’s willing to sacrifice anything to achieve his goal." 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Levi shrugged, offering a different perspective. "In this restless era, everyone is desperately looking for a chance to prove themselves."

"Perhaps," Si Kai sighed.

"Lady Fulina has arrived."

All conversation in the noisy room came to an abrupt halt. It suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Dressed in military attire with her hair tied back, Fulina strode in through the door, her hand resting on the Treasure Sword at her waist. With a valiant and heroic air, she unceremoniously took the head seat.

"Good day, Captains. And Baron Levi, Knight Si Kai."

After sitting down, Fulina welcomed the two new units that had joined the Thorn Corps.

’To be honest, Fulina’s impression of the Lord of High Cliff Castle was actually quite good, aside from his complete lack of noble bearing at times.’

’But it was precisely this trait that gave Fulina—a native of the Northern Lands, whose people were known throughout Debei for their ruggedness—an excellent impression of him.’

’In her view, if a grown man was all shy and hesitant, what was the difference between him and a woman?’

’A man should dare to think and dare to act, and this Lord was clearly a prime example.’

’He had dared to take a group of Beastman Gladiators from her right after arriving in the Northern Territory. When offered the "Lion Hunter Knight" title that others could only dream of, he had actually haggled and set conditions with a Duke.’

’Recently, thanks to round after round of promotion by Fujero’s sister, the Baron’s fame had grown. The common folk had even begun to see him as a hero for resisting the Wilderness Alien Races.’

’Now, all that was needed was a war destined for victory. They could bestow upon him the honor of launching a military campaign against the Southern Territory, publicize the war, and the resulting boost to the morale and public sentiment of the Northern Army and its people would be unimaginable.’

’Although, in Fulina’s opinion, many of this Lord’s supposed deeds were still questionable, she wasn’t some historian obsessed with the truth.’

’This propaganda was actually extremely useful to her. When this war was over, she would have to take a page from the Kovic Clan Leader’s book and properly build up this Lord’s image.’

"Before we discuss the war, let’s first have Knight Si Kai report the intelligence he has gathered."

Fulina’s gaze fell upon Si Kai.

"My lords..."