When Kennard arrived at Sk Wolf Castle with his more than five thousand men, it was already September 18th.

Three days later than the scheduled date, after all, the movement of the army was somewhat slow, which was inevitable.

Regardless, Puzilio had given a strict order to proceed together.

On the King’s Path, civilians and soldiers formed lines, wagons rolled forward, while donkeys and horses neighed.

It was crowded to the point where shoulders brushed shoulders, even armors clashed, and if someone fell, it would lead to a series of curses carrying the rough dialects of River Island or border areas.

As for the civilians, they wore bitter expressions, eyed the patrolling knights, and calculated the grain in their pockets, feeling resentful and tearful.

Those River Island people only know how to bully us Dawn Island folks.

So the nobles of River Island are Leia people, while our Dawn Island artisans, farmers, and merchants don’t count as Leia people?

If it weren’t for their homes here, at least with a sense of base, they would’ve already fled to Falan or the Holy Alliance.

As they lifted their eyes, around nine in the morning, behind the fields, woods, and low hills, columns of smoke rose.

So dense, like gray ropes tethering the sky to the earth.

Compared to the Thousand River Valley, the crowdedness of Dawn Island is unimaginable.

The population of Dawn Island, similar to the entire Holy Alliance, is over ten million.

Village after village, town after town, ten miles populated.

Yet these Border Knights lifted their eyes only to find few figures.

Especially villages on either side of the King’s Path, if not occupied by vagrants or Robber Knights, are mere ruins with only seven or eight families left.

In truth, before Kennard arrived, there were still several villages around the King’s Path.

But these Leia subjects, seeing the Leia Army’s arrival, mighty and vast in numbers, immediately felt fearful.

Wherever the army reached, the populace fled in terror.

Forcing Kennard to send his knights far out to gather enough grain.

"These rebellious tax resisters," Kennard muttered softly, watching the distant church spire, unsure if it was anger or sorrow.

In the past, although such situations occasionally occurred, as long as arrangements were made with local knights and the church, grain could be quickly gathered.

But the civil war within the Leia Kingdom caused the knightly class on Dawn Island to be incapacitated due to political reasons, while the two battles in the Thousand River Valley and Windmill Fields incapacitated the local priestly class.

As for the local nobility, each harbored their own ulterior motives.

The basic governance of Leia Kingdom in the region, not to say it’s completely detached, could be likened to a comatose state.

Fortunately, Sk Wolf Castle proactively sent supplies later, otherwise, Kennard and his men would’ve been stranded midway, unsure of how long they would be delayed.

As Kennard and his men continued forward, the towering blue-gray city walls became visible behind layers of buildings.

The ramparts shaded, towers standing, judging by the sunlight reflecting off the walls, there should be a fair amount of soldiers patrolling currently.

As a city, similar to Joan of Arc Castle, Sk Wolf Castle is divided into inner and outer cities.

The inner city, surrounded by walls, is a castle serving as the military and noble residence, also an official district.

As for the fort area outside the castle, it’s where the town is located, often forming markets through transactions between stationed soldiers and local peasants.

However, Kennard noticed the streets were not lacking in guards, indicating that this local Sk Wolf Castle was prepared for war.

Thinking he wouldn’t have to exert too much effort, Kennard’s initial apprehension faded somewhat.

Looking at the Count of Sk Wolf Castle arriving on horseback, he displayed a faultless noble smile: "Count Stirleifen, Kennard of the Mabol family from Thorn Garden Mad Roar Castle pays respect to you. My uncle Slip Mabol was once your court colleague in the palace of Duke Dolphin.

I’ve come by the King’s command, following the Regent’s wishes, to suppress the mobs of Wonyu City, residing in your city."

In the Imperial Nobility circle, it was clearly prescribed what should be said upon meeting.

Horn usually referred to it as the three-step process of declaring name, building relations, and stating intentions.

If it were Falan Nobility or River Island Nobility, typically some excerpts of praise poetry or gospel would be interwoven.

However, Kennard from Thorn Garden, being of military stock, spoke more directly.

For those River Island royal envoys, if the greeting lasted less than half an hour, consider them suffering from oral ulcers that day.

Yet compared to Kennard’s directness, this Count was even more straightforward: "When will you enter the city? When will you deploy troops?"

"...Count, we marched hard with our men and horses exhausted," Kennard raised his eyebrow, "besides, we’re just the vanguard, deployment needs to wait until the rear army arrives, right?"

"You have at least five thousand men, and this is the vanguard?" Count Stirleifen glared with a circle of blisters around his mouth, "Don’t kid me, you should be the frontline army, right?"

"Count Stelefen, what has happened?"

The Count of Sk Wolf Castle knew that outside was not the place to speak, so he led the group to the military camp south of the city.

Once there, the Count poured Kennard a glass of local red grape wine from Dawn Island, then sat down to explain.

Starting three days ago, the Count’s tax stations and kiosks on the outskirts of the city were attacked by cavalry.

These cavalrymen wielded sabers, and many were equipped with spring-loaded guns, recklessly attacking the outlying stations.

The Count dispatched knights several times, but they were either ambushed and completely annihilated or lost track of the riders.

According to the spies he sent out, it should be elite cavalry from Wonyu City, aiming to sabotage the economy.

Count Stelefen is a new count in the area, considered a member of the Oslar Nobility Alliance.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken on the task of hosting the army camp, as no lord would want their own land to suffer such destruction.

At the same time, Count Stelefen intended to use the army to suppress the local nobility in his territory.

These tax stations and kiosks were his eyes for monitoring and controlling the local nobility.

Now, with the cavalry from Wonyu City shutting down those posts and repeatedly ambushing the soldiers from Sk Wolf Castle on patrol, the Count felt utterly blindsided.

News from outside the city was almost completely cut off, leaving him reliant on unreliable rumors.

Without this network, if the local nobility were to unite and reach any agreement, he’d be left powerless.

Even if things were restored in the future, the Count’s control would greatly diminish.

No wonder Count Stelefen was so anxious, but what made him even more anxious was Kennard’s next remark.

"I understand your difficulties, but I refuse," Kennard said, seated firmly on the bench. "It’s not my decision to deploy troops; it’s up to Lord Puzilio."

"You have five thousand men; the cavalry outside from Wonyu City only consists of a few hundred," Count Stelefen said, his jaw tight with evident displeasure at this arrangement.

"I’ve said it, no action. It’s Lord Puzilio’s order."

After saying this, Kennard, who was after all nobility and not lacking in social tact, offered reassurance: "But my Rangers will patrol daily. With the Kingdom Army here, those small-time nobles won’t dare to act recklessly."

Kennard had pulled out the banner of Puzilio, and naturally, no one dared to disobey.

However, not only Count Stelefen but even the commanders of the Kingdom Army were a bit dubious.

Was it necessary for Lord Puzilio to be this cautious?

Based on the current intelligence, as long as the Holy Alliance does not dispatch troops, taking on the Five City Alliance should still be quite easy for them.

Even if the Holy Alliance provided the Five City Alliance with material support, and Falan provided intelligence support...

But losing is losing, and Leia people have repeatedly tested this against Falan Kingdom and the Holy Alliance.

The only truly daunting force is the Defensive Army of Longbow Castle, the only one among the five cities that has successfully taken offensive actions outside.

Puzilio and Kennard have always suspected that the Defensive Army of Longbow Castle might actually be a secret force sent by the Holy Alliance.

To be on the safe side, Puzilio simply bypassed to pressure the weak Wonyu City instead.

According to the current intelligence, Joan, the commissioner, has ceremoniously expelled Drum, engaged in an anti-espionage investigation in Longbow Castle, and is training new troops, never having entered the battle.

The only possibility might be that Wonyu City itself summoned elite mercenaries from various towns.

Another possibility is that quite a few local knights have joined the ranks of Wonyu City.

Essentially, they are local opposition.

In this case, going out of the city to wipe out a cavalry unit seems insignificant.

However, since Lord Puzilio has given such orders, aside from the Rangers, the main army still honestly remains stationed inside the city.

Perhaps sensing the "cowardice" of Kennard’s army, the cavalry outside grew more brazen. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Not only did they attack the stations, but they also intercepted food supply convoys from Leia, and even set fires to the military camp at night.

In the past few days, news of manors being harassed and knights being slain became frequent.

The owners of the lands, burdened with heavy feudal taxes, were being persistently cut down by this cavalry and turned to external leasing.

This attracted many vagabonds and impoverished citizens, which only made Count Stelefen inside the city more anxious.

Especially because the cavalry outside even attacked the tax stations outside Sk Wolf Castle, accompanied by infantry during assaults on Knight Manors.

From their attire, they were clearly not scrap mercenaries, yet Kennard was unwilling to engage and insisted on waiting for reinforcements, which was truly exasperating!

Finally, five days later, Duke Stelefen couldn’t bear it any longer and personally visited Kennard.