Chapter 155 Fortress of Thorns 1

Chapter 155 – Fortress of Thorns 1
The attendant knocked on the door of the room, and after a “come in” was heard, he pushed the door open.

“Good morning, Sir!”

The squire respectfully bowed to the person standing in the room, which was none other than the master he served, Viscount Austenkline.

The young brown-haired Viscount smiled and responded, “Good morning, Bowman.”

He had been up for a long time, judging by his complexion and his meticulously groomed clothes.

The valet said in a slightly “reproachful” tone, “You could have slept more, after all, you were up late at the meeting yesterday, and there’s no need for you to be on duty at the city walls now.”

Viscount Klein shook his head, “As a knight, even if there are no external constraints, you can’t relax your self requirements.”

Bowman’s heart welled up with infinite admiration, truly thought a lord who strictly disciplined himself.

Squire Bowman was the eldest son of a low ranked knight family near the Thorn Fortress, he had just turned 16 this year, in order to be able to make his son a knight as well, his father sent him to the Dodge family that he was loyal to when he was 8 years old to receive training, Bowman and a dozen or so other young companions had spent 8 years of their boarding life in the Dodge family, the old duke would often personally tutor these knight saplings when he had nothing else to do, teaching them combat, horsemanship, and other skills, while their education in literature, etiquette, and other knowledge is taught by the Duchess.

In this year, the south in Giles driven by the Grand Duke set off a rebellion, Dodge family territory within the Thorns Fortress immediately became the first line of defense to block the rebels to the north, has grown up strong and powerful Bowman also accompanied the Duke of Dodge to the Thorns Fortress garrison.

The rebels in the south are busy cleaning up their side of those who are still loyal to the royal lords, temporarily did not attack the thorns fortress, and the Dodge family’s strength is not enough to take the initiative to attack, is cleaning up the barbarians harassment of the eastern highlands of the Grand Princess Catherine immediately sent a cavalry quickly arrived to help them guard the fortress.

After a period of high tension, they waited for a bad news, because the grain silo of Jingyao was on fire and the loss was huge, the main force of the kingdom army could not go south for the time being, and they could only send an advance troop led by Viscount Klein to help them to strengthen the defending force of Thorns Fortress.

It was at that time that Bowman was recommended by Duke Dodge to Viscount Klein to become a squire, opening the second stage of his path to knighthood.

Viscount Klein extended both arms, “Trouble you, Bowman.”

Bowman immediately said, “Where, this is what I should do.”

He then went to the armor stand in one corner of the room, removed a part hanging from it, and put it on for the Viscount.

In fact, this armor on top of the stand was just a piece of plain armor, Klein could handle it by himself, but helping the master put on the armor was a knight squire’s obligation, and it could also be used to make the squires more familiar with all kinds of defensive equipment, so in the first year of becoming a squire, this job was something they had to do.

Bowman helped Kraven put on his armor with great ease, he was already very familiar with the steps.

“This damn war really makes it impossible to relax in the slightest.”

Kline grumbled inwardly, he actually didn’t like the feeling of walking around in his armor all day, but after all, being on the frontline, there was no way around it.

“Let’s go, follow me to the Duke-sama’s place to enjoy breakfast.”

The duo walked out of the room one after the other.

They had just arrived at the corridor when they ran into Viscount Lester who had turned around the corner, the cavalry commander who had first been tasked by the princess to come and gallop over to Thorn Fortress.

Viscount Klein was the first to greet, “Good morning, Lester. It’s been a hard night’s duty.”

Squire Bowman also immediately bagged him.

“Uh-huh.”

Lester merely gave a faint hmmm, while his face remained devoid of any expression.

Once again, Bowman inwardly couldn’t help but spit out, “This lord couldn’t have been born with a face paralyzed.”

He hadn’t seen Lester smile on weekdays, to his subordinates, to his colleagues, and even to the Duke, always with a cold face.

Klein, who had worked with Lester for many years, was accustomed to it, and he had long since figured out the habits of this colleague.

The three of them walked together towards the hall of the fortress castle, where the old Duke Dodge had invited them to have breakfast yesterday.

While walking, Klein asked, “Nothing happened last night, right?” Just as he was expecting a “no” answer, he was disappointed.

“There was.”

Surprised, Klein asked, “What happened?”

The troops in the fortress couldn’t hold back the full force of the rebels at this hour.

Lester said, “A blood-covered scout escaped back, but there were six other people who set out with him to scout the enemy at that time.”

“Did he scout anything?”

Lester shook his head, “He fainted just after he came back, he already had the healer treat his wounds, luckily he recovered his life, he just hasn’t woken up until now.”

Klein revealed a sympathetic look, “May the Father in heaven have mercy on him. This is the first time we’ve encountered such a large loss of scouts, isn’t it? It is estimated that they ran headlong into an enemy whose numbers far exceeded their own.”

But he then said strangely, “As a scout, shouldn’t the ability to recognize and judge the enemy’s strength in time be a basic skill? Even if you run into a superior enemy, as long as you retreat in time, you won’t be almost completely wiped out. Are the people released this time all novices?”

Lester shook his head again, “No, they are all veterans, so this time it was a big loss.”

“It looks like the specifics can only be asked when he wakes up.”

“Yes.”

The duo soon arrived in the castle hall and found Duke Dodge already sitting inside waiting for them.

“I’ve kept you waiting, Lord Duke.”

“My apologies.”

The two hurriedly greeted the Duke.

Duke Dodge waved his hand and said, “It’s fine, I’ve just gotten here as well, besides it’s still early for our appointment na, come over and sit down quickly.”

The duo thanked him and went to the table to find a seat, while their attendants stood behind each of them in order to be ready for their master’s call, and only after the person they served had finished eating could the attendants begin to enjoy their own breakfast.

While waiting for breakfast, Lester reported to the Duke about the scouts.

“Well …… that’s a huge loss, this isn’t one of those farmers who just put down their hoes and picked up their spears, it’s still a lot of work to train a qualified scout.”

The Duke was obviously a little heartbroken.

“My lord, what I’m worried about is that the opposite side may have strengthened its anti-scouting efforts, by searching and eliminating enemy scouts in order to cover up its own large scale mobilization and true deployment, so …… this is likely to be a prelude to a large scale attack.”

Klein voiced his judgment, and Lester, who was sitting next to him, nodded in agreement.

Duke Dodge frowned tightly, “Your worries are not unreasonable, the fortress must always be prepared. I will issue an order after breakfast to inform the officers of the troops of this situation.”

Klein further suggests, “The fact that the rebels have been stationed across from us for so long without attacking has caused some of the generals within the fortress to slack off a bit, and I think you should call the officers of the various units to speak face-to-face to let them know the seriousness of the situation.”

Duke Dodge stroked his beard, secretly praising the young man in front of him in his heart.

He was about to speak when suddenly a guard ran into the hall.

“The scout who came back last night woke up and said that he has an important situation to report.”

(End of chapter)