Chapter Thirteen: The War History of Tabriz City

  Twenty years ago, the young and vigorous Count Dallas and a neighboring earl had a fierce argument over an academic issue of whether eggs should be peeled from the big end or the small end. Just as they were about to come to blows, they were restrained by people around them. The two sides then engaged in a duel according to noble etiquette. Count Dallas was superior in skill and eventually placed the tip of his sword at his opponent's throat.

  Soon after, the earl who had lost face led his troops and recruited peasants, a total of 500 people, to besiege the city of Tabriz.

  The Earl of Dallas saw the other side so arrogant, with a meaning to destroy this dynasty, and launched a general mobilization in his territory, leading a team of 700 people out of the city to fight.

  Cries of despair and rallying calls intertwined above the battlefield, the clanging sound of metal on metal lingering in the air for a long time, still echoing to this day - as described by some mediocre traveling poet.

  The two sides left 234 corpses under the city of Tabriz, countless wounded, and no one counted. In the end, the earl's army was defeated and fled in disarray. As for the earl himself, he was captured by Earl Darius and released only after a large ransom was paid.

  This sum of money was spent on the blade, including the city wall, castle, and the lord's guard... were all established with the support of this fund. It can be seen how objective this ransom is, and it can also be seen how stingy that earl is towards his own territory.

  This is the only war that Johnny has heard of since he was a child. In Johnny's eyes, this battle was really too suffocating, with a total of only 1,200 people, and in the end, only more than 200 people died. Thinking back to the old country of Shenzhou, there was Bai Qi killing 400,000 Zhao soldiers, Cao Cao leading an army of 800,000 defeated at Red Cliff, even Li Ling who was outnumbered, also brought 3,000 people with him.

  One thousand two hundred is such a paltry number.

  But this humble victory was enough to shock and awe the other Earls. Earl Darius's actions of recruiting high-handed mercenaries as his personal bodyguards, building new walls and castles, and arming a well-equipped army intimidated the neighboring Earls. They had already been able to win before, so what would happen after such reorganization? So they came one after another to visit Tabrie Castle. Earl Darius was not a warlike person, promising himself that he would never be the first to start a war. A long peace descended upon Tabrie Castle after the great war.

  The war was far away, but as for becoming a commando, Joanie still felt chilled.

  The lord's guard is not just for fighting against humans.

  Those monsters that threaten the trade routes and need to be cleared by the city lord's guard are of uncertain species and strength. Sometimes they are just a group of goblins who have come to the edge of the forest, robbed a few merchant teams, eaten a few bites of human flesh, and were easily killed by the city lord's guard. Sometimes it is a lone two-headed giant, although it did not rob anything, its size alone scared away the merchant team, and for the city lord's guard, that was also a piece of cake. And sometimes... That time no one saw what the monster looked like, Joanie only heard that the nine people brought fifty soldiers to go with great momentum, when they came back half were injured, behind them there were only thirty people supporting each other, looking disheveled and embarrassed.

  Assault team, what if it's that terrifying monster? Wouldn't I have to charge forward too?! Joanie really regretted it. When mercenaries went on adventures, they could still choose their missions, but once they were on the battlefield, there was no room for choice!

  With a dazed expression, Johnny followed Odara up to the fourth floor in a trance. Odara kept talking about something, but Johnny had long since spaced out and didn't hear a word.

  "Hey, what's on your mind?" Odala slapped Joni heavily on the back, making him stumble. "What did I just say? Repeat it!"

  "Wait? We're a commando team?"

  Bang.

  The force wasn't as strong as just now, but this time it was on my head.

  Jonah finally returned to reality, just a bit dizzy.

  "What's with the vanguard?! Ah?! Did I just waste my breath on all those words?! Follow me, learn from me properly! Are you still afraid of those insignificant enemies?! Show some courage like War God Odin! Have some pride! Don't embarrass Odin, don't shame me, and don't disappoint Astrid!"

  Don't let Astrid down? What's that supposed to mean? Johnny thought dazedly.

  Does she like me?

  Jonah stared at her with still somewhat dazed eyes, Odara grabbed his collar and shook him back and forth: "Snap out of it!"

  This finally woke him up thoroughly.

  "Wait... a... minute... I'm... fine..." Johnny stammered, indicating that he was now clear-headed.

  "A man should bravely face all challenges, if you're afraid of this and that, then go back to being a blacksmith for the rest of your life!" Odara scolded, releasing his hand. At the same time, he thought to himself: It's still great to be from my hometown, everyone is a brave warrior.

  "Yes, I remember." Joanie bowed her head and immediately raised a question, "What did you mean by not letting Astry disappoint earlier?"

  "Little one." Odara's emphasis was long, "This is the first time Aisling has recommended someone to us, her uncles, you can see how much hope she has placed in you."

  Jiang Yi snorted inwardly: This girl was clearly apologizing for almost shooting him to death.

  "So, if you behave badly, won't it make her very embarrassed?"

  That's right. Joanie nodded and felt a bit embarrassed at the same time.

  I've been dead once before! He thought.

  Joni seems to be perking up, Odara's stiff face gradually relaxing, finally revealing a delighted smile: "This is more like it, haha, come on, I'll introduce you. Where was I just now... never mind, not hearing it is your loss. Say, this floor is the residence and office of Lord Darius, the lord of the city."

  As he spoke, Odara came up to a beautifully decorated wooden door and knocked on it.

  A magnetic voice came from inside: "Please enter."

  Audrey pushed the door open with Johnny. Johnny quickly scanned the room, and directly opposite the door was a desk that looked very delicate, behind which sat a middle-aged man. Next to the desk against the wall was a bookcase, which seemed to be filled with all sorts of books. The whole room was clean and tidy, without too much decoration, but exuded a simple beauty.

  "Earl." Odara bowed, hand on chest, to the middle-aged man behind the desk, "This is my newly recruited attendant, the son of a blacksmith in town, named Joni Smith."

  Jiao Ni withdrew his gaze and learned from Oudala's example, making a chest salute to the middle-aged man. After finishing the courtesy, he lowered his head, looking very respectful.

  Earl Dallas nodded and glanced at Johnny, saying: "Is this the young man? Not bad, looks quite spirited."

  After finishing, he pulled open the drawer of his desk, took out a piece of parchment, and wrote with a quill pen for a while. Then he sprinkled fine sand on it, waited for a moment, picked up the parchment and carefully shook off the sand onto the desk. Only then did he speak: "Here, this is your identity certificate, from now on you must present this to enter or leave the castle."

  How did Astrid get in here? Johnny muttered under his breath.

  He looked up and saw the face of Count Darius. A head of golden hair had darkened somewhat, and his face was no longer young, but this made the count look even more handsome. "This is what they call a late bloomer," Johnny thought.

  He took over the sheepskin scroll with both hands, glanced at it, didn't recognize what was written on it, carefully rolled it up, bowed his head and slowly retreated to his original position.

  "Haha, Odara, you seem to have a well-mannered attendant here. Is this your doing?" Earl Delas asked with a smile as he saw Jony's demeanor.

  "Is it? That's not what I taught him. He must have learned that from his family." Odara shook her head.

  "Perhaps," said Count Darius, nodding at the two of them before turning back to his work.

  Audrey and Johnny bowed out and left through the door.

  The fifth floor was the residence of that wind user, and it was agreed not to go up. With this, the castle tour came to an end. A wave of fatigue broke through the suppressed excitement, sweeping over Johnny's brain, reminding him:

  Kid, you didn't sleep all night, did you?

  Fortunately, Odara spoke up and announced some good news: "Alright, now I'll take you to where you'll be staying. Rest for today, and we'll start training tomorrow morning."

  ...was saved...

  Forcing back his drowsiness, Joni made an effort to open his eyes wide and followed Ondara downstairs.

  It really feels like going back to the dorm after an all-nighter in college.