"I see." Laine understood.

The undead don't have to worry about human resources or materials. These tireless creatures can indefinitely reinforce the castle. The knights are inherently poor at siege tactics, and Brittania, being a country with mediocre relations with the dwarves and lacking artillery, faces such a fortress where the knights can only return with nothing achieved.

"Speaking of which, when did the Blood Red Duke appear, and why did he earn such a title? Why does he claim to be one of Brittania's royal heirs?" Laine had every right to ask, given his status.

Lake God Witch Mogiana turned her head to glance at Laine, a flash crossing her emerald eyes: "The true name of the Blood Red Duke has been sealed by the Lady, but regardless, he is a genuine duke — Duke of Aquitaine."

Francois and Bodric, the two dukes, remained silent. Clearly, they knew the story, but the Lake God Witch was more suited as the storyteller.

"Duke of Aquitaine? I haven't heard of this title." Laine asked curiously.

"The title of Duke of Aquitaine existed at Brittania's founding, the first Duke of Aquitaine was Arthur's close companion, the Holy Grail Knight Fredermond." Mogiana nodded and continued: "The story dates back approximately five hundred years ago. Have you heard of the Red Flame Grand Expedition?"

"Of course!" Laine nodded.

The Red Flame Grand Expedition is a story familiar to knights.

Approximately five hundred years ago, Brittania and the Empire faced aggression from a nation across the sea to the southwest called Arabi. The cavalry from the Arabi Desert slaughtered civilians all the way, sparking outrage across the entire Old World.

(To avoid internal conflict and preserve strength, human wars have the tacit agreement of never massacring civilians and seldom killing nobles, generally imprisoning them for ransom.)

The Empire and Brittania assembled a knight army that swept through the Arabi invading army, and under the call of the Knight King and the Emperor of the Empire, launched a magnificent grand expedition with tens of knight corps over ten thousand knights participating.

The knights fought across the sea, the desert civilization was completely destroyed, the expeditionary army returned home with endless gold and trophies, as well as the head of Arabi's King Jafar and infinite glory.

"The Blood Red Duke was indeed the last Duke of Aquitaine, he responded to the Lady's call to participate in this war." Mogiana, seeing Laine knew about the Red Flame Expedition, directly skipped part: "But on the way back, the Duke fell ill."

"The Duke was injured in the desert, then fell severely ill, his fever unabated, plunging into a deep coma, yet he stubbornly held on until he returned to Brittania before passing away in his bedroom."

"A grand funeral marked the Duke's departure, but it didn't end there. A mysterious undead knight appeared across his territory."

"On a rainy night three days later, the Blood Red Duke resurrected, he was no longer the noble knight fighting for the Lady, but a hideous undead. Within hours, he slaughtered his family and clan knights, resurrected them, forming his undead army, declaring the Aquitaine Duchy as the realm of the undead. The peasantry, based on his entirely crimson appearance, dubbed him the Blood Red Duke."

"I see." Laine expressed understanding and signaled Mogiana to continue, while Francois and Bodric both sighed slightly.

"The warned Knight King led an army that defeated the Blood Red Duke, the undead crumbled, and under the guidance of the Lady and the then-Lake God Witch, the Blood Red Duke was sealed. Aquitaine Castle was razed, and the surrounding soil was completely plowed with salt blessed by the Holy Grail Knights. Due to the Aquitaine family's downfall and extermination, the Duke's title was revoked, and the land of Aquitaine was divided among Boldro Duchy, Borelion Duchy, and Bastogne Duchy."

"Everything should have ended long ago, but in the Dor Tower incident 280 years ago, the Lake God Witch of that generation was imprisoned, and during the chaos, an evil wizard released the sealed Blood Red Duke... though he was defeated again, the knights failed to capture him this time, and the situation persists today." Mogiana slowly shook her head: "Even now, the Blood Red Duke still claims to be the Duke of Aquitaine, asserting he has a legitimate claim to the throne of the Knight King."

"The existence of the Blood Red Duke is like a malignant tumor within the kingdom. We are compelled to deploy Rangers and establish outposts near the Duchy of Connaught, which ties up a significant portion of the kingdom's military strength." Francois nodded: "Each year, a large number of peasants who cannot survive flee to Connaught Territory, where any runaway peasant can find shelter and a livelihood. As a result, Musillon's economy and population have ironically thrived in recent years."

Laine understood, thoroughly understood.

It seems the knights of Brittania cannot conquer Musillon Castle, but in truth, the root cause of the Blood Red Duke's chaos is the gradual collapse of the peasant system.

The Knight Kingdom is in decline, a greater crisis looms, and Laine must not become complacent because of a minor victory; there is much he still needs to accomplish.

......

Meanwhile, the World's Roof Mountain Range, Celestial Vault Castle, Jialan Council Headquarters.

Another dull winter night, Celestial Vault Castle situated at a thousand meters altitude, mostly snow-covered. Speaker Margarita reportedly chose this site for the Jialan Council's headquarters due to the cold climate's benefits in suppressing the volatile magic elements within the female spellcasters.

This marks Teresa Trovik's twenty-eighth year at Celestial Vault Castle.

After completing a rather cumbersome but not overly difficult task of inspecting the seals throughout the castle, the Female Member Jialan finally returned to the Wizard Tower she owned with her mother. The female sorcerer felt somewhat fatigued. She opened her room, threw the leather boots casually at the door, hung her coat on the rack, and lazily collapsed onto the sofa in her room.

"Knock knock~" Just minutes later, her room door was knocked: "Miss?"

"What's going on?" The female sorcerer felt a surge of annoyance; since traveling with Laine, her temper had slightly improved, at least she wouldn't vent at apprentices and attendants randomly.

"There's a letter for you." The witch apprentice, aware of her mentor's bad temper, or rather, aware that few Female Members Jialan had good tempers: "May I come in?"

"Mm!"

So the door was opened.

"I don't want to look at it now; just leave it on the table!" Teresa waved, indicating the apprentice should leave the item and depart.

"But... this is an express confidential letter from Brittania, marked as urgent by Holy Grail Knight Baron Laine Macado." The witch apprentice first cautiously placed the letter on the table and upon noticing the female member's indifference, timidly added.

Hearing Laine's name, Teresa abruptly sat up from the sofa.

"Give it to me! Now!"

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