Lord Highlander

There is plenty of light in the warehouse, and a neat row of skylights is opened in the center of the dome, making the warehouse not look stuffy.

It's just that there is no heating facility in the warehouse, and Constantinople is still relatively cold in winter. Although there is no cold wind in the warehouse, the dripping water turns into ice.

The whole warehouse was almost filled with all kinds of armor. Surdak was brought to the northernmost area by the employee of the firm. The full-cover armor displayed here seemed to be relatively sophisticated, even with a thin layer on the surface. The black iron plating made the entire set of full armor look black and shiny. Surdak walked to the side and picked up a helmet with a protective face shield from a set of armor.

This set of full-coverage armor is not much different from the standard armor issued by the knights of the Hailansa Guard Battalion, but the details of the seams and riveting of the armor parts are more refined. The knuckles were tapped on the helmet, and the sound was a bit dull. , excellent workmanship.

The employees of the firm stood aside and introduced to Suldak: "This full-coverage armor is the best standard cavalry armor we make here."

Suldak looked at it, and felt that it looked much better than the previous armors, so he asked the employees of the firm: "What is the price of this full-coverage armor?"

The staff of the firm pointed to a polished copper sign in front, and said to Suldak: "This kind of fine full-cover armor with black iron plating costs 20 gold each, and our firm will be responsible for it." For subsequent maintenance and repairs, if you need more sets, I can apply for a certain degree of discount from the manager."

Suldak had discussed this type of full-face armor with Gwendolyn in the guard camp before, so he knew the market price of this type of armor. The full-cover armor here is also coated with black iron metal plating, which looks more upscale than the standard armor of the Hailansa Guard Battalion.

"I'm going to buy five hundred sets of full-coverage armor," Suldak said.

Although this kind of armor can also be bought in Hailansa City, most of the trading houses there also place orders in Constantinople.

The employees of the firm didn't expect Suldak to say this, and they were stunned for a while: "Master Baron, please wait a moment, I will go to our manager of the firm, and our manager will communicate with you directly for large transactions!"

As he spoke, he turned around and quickly walked towards the front hall.

There are some other buyers in this warehouse, but they are all negotiating with the employees of the firm, some have already selected the armor they need, and some employees have started to install the cheap armor on the flatbed trailer.

It didn't take long for the manager of the firm to rush over, and he asked Surdak tactfully: "Listen to my clerk, do you want to buy five hundred sets of full-coverage armor of the exquisite level?"

"That's right, I do need these fine armors, the number is about five hundred sets." Suldak said.

The manager of the firm took out a set of full armor, skillfully disassembled it into pieces, placed them neatly on a wooden table, and began to introduce to Suldak seriously: "The inner layer of this armor is made of fine It is made of steel, only coated with a layer of magic black iron dye to make it look like it is made of black iron, but it has no other effect except to prevent rust. After each battle, the coating that comes off It needs to be repaired in time, after all, this is an excellent full-coverage armor."

There is no magic metal and no magic pattern, so this full-coverage armor does not have any magic attributes except for a layer of protection for the cavalry.

Such a set of full-cover armor can be bought here in Constantinople, and a set needs 20 gold.

(The income of ordinary civilian families needs to be accumulated for at least two years before it is possible to afford such a set of sophisticated armor)

Seeing that Suldak hesitated, the manager of the firm quickly introduced: "The guard battalions in many cities in the northern part of Bena Province purchase this kind of full-coverage armor. The more advanced full-coverage armor contains some magical metals. Those armors We haven’t mass-produced Constantinople yet, and the handcrafted armor in the workshop is at least five times more expensive than the current standard armor.”

"If you really plan to buy 500 sets at once, then you will become a major customer of our firm, and you can get some discounts and discounts, which can reduce the cost by about one-tenth. This is also my maximum authority." The manager of the firm finally said After saying a word, he stopped the topic and gave Suldak some time to think.

"...Okay, prepare five hundred sets for me. I need some other supplies besides this full-face armor!" Suldak finally made up his mind, and said to the manager of the firm that the White Elephant Firm started After Hailansa City disappeared silently, there is no such large comprehensive trading firm in the market of Hailansa City.

"What else do you need?" The manager of the firm asked curiously.

In addition to 500 sets of full-coverage armor, Suldak also bought a complete set of standard saddles, marching tents, iron pots and other supplies from the trading firm in Constantinople, all of which are necessary for a private army. For supplies, Suldak even prepared a receipt for this. After asking the manager of the trading firm, he found that the trading firm had almost everything in it, but the price was indeed much cheaper than that of Hailanza.

So Suldak decisively decided to buy everything in one stop at this trading firm.

Suldak did not expect that the cost of building a private army would be so high. 500 sets of full armor, standard saddles, marching tents, and iron pots cost nearly 13,000 gold coins in total. The current exchange rate between magic crystals and gold coins It is 1:7, if converted into magic crystals, that is to say, this single transaction consumes more than 1,700 magic crystals in Suldak's pocket.

If you buy another war horse, you need to prepare at least two thousand more magic crystals.

Even so, weapons, magic scrolls, and marching rations have not been included in Suldak's military expenses for the time being.

As for the weapons of the cavalry battalion, Suldak decided to wait until he returned to the barren land and recruited the cavalry before making a decision.

The blacksmith workshop in Bena City is good at forging sword weapons. The excellent weapons of the cavalry battalion are usually shipped from other provinces, and they can only be bought in the trading houses of Bena City. The price of weapons also fluctuates the most. There is a big difference between a little weapon and a bad weapon.

In addition, the lord's private army has to pay a salary.

That's right, recruiting veterans to join the army requires a hiring fee. Of course, if recruiting new troops, Suldak does not need to pay this fee.

Suldak's cavalry battalion has an official army number, so it can recruit local new troops. According to the national recruitment system, Suldak's cavalry battalion can absorb some young people from the empire and let them serve in the cavalry battalion for free for 4 years .

But Suldak didn't want to do this. Instead of recruiting recruits to die on the battlefield, it's better to find some veterans, even if you spend some money.

Therefore, he is more inclined to recruit some veterans with combat experience.

In the Green Empire, as long as they have served in the military for four years, they are considered to be formal imperial citizens. These citizens have the right to refuse the re-enlistment orders issued by the lords. Of course, the lords can use a sum of money and some land to hire these veterans. Get them back on the battlefield.

Marquis Luther's suggestion to Suldak is to recruit some new troops with basic skills from the Knight Academy.

These graduates have a four-year military service period, which can save part of the military expenses, and they graduated from the Knight Academy. Although they lack actual combat experience, they are more obedient. The graduates of the War Academy also have certain combat qualities, which is very convenient for management. Erdak has also been hesitating recently.

Marquis Luther fully considered that the task this time was to change defenses on the Bailin plane.

And there is a great chance that this time the defense will not be involved in the plane war. Suldak can directly train the army in the defense zone of the Bailin plane, or lead the cavalry battalion to the unexplored area to train the army and expand the empire. territory.

Small lords like Suldak will use the 'four-three-three' land distribution method after the war, 40% of the land will go to the pioneers, 30% will go to the lord of the plane, and 30% will go to the Grimm Empire. After Dak became a nobleman, had his own private army and became a small lord, he could enjoy this law and open up new territories on the plane.

...

The manager of the firm originally planned to introduce a carriage firm to help Suerdak transport these materials back to Hailansa City.

But Suldak didn't intend to hire a carriage dealer. He borrowed a small warehouse from him and promised to transport all the supplies before noon tomorrow.

Faced with such a potential big customer, the manager of the firm readily agreed, and quickly ordered people to move the materials to a small independent warehouse behind the firm, and handed over a warehouse key to Suldak.

The succubus Aphrodite wanted to take a good look around Constantinople. She leaned against the door of the small warehouse, looked at the five hundred sets of full armor in the warehouse, and glared at Suldak.

This forest city in winter is extremely beautiful. The streets and alleys in the city are piled up neatly with logs. These logs will allow the citizens to survive the cold winter. Constantinople in the evening, the glass windows of some buildings There is soft and warm light in the house, and the aroma of dinner is wafting everywhere in the street.

Aphrodite originally wanted to find a good high-end restaurant and enjoy the delicacies of Constantinople. Unexpectedly, Suldak planned to make her a hard porter. He was a succubus extreme contempt.

"I won't do it. Summoning is not used in this way. You know how much mental energy a summoning will consume..."

Aphrodite resolutely protested to Suldak. His posture of squeezing the last drop of blood and sweat from the laborers was like an evil capitalist, no matter how much work he did, he would not feel that he was doing too much.

"Just stick to it for one night, maybe it won't take a few times, I will try to fill up all the magic pockets, and then return to the treasure chamber after crossing the void gate." Suldak said his plan.

He wanted to make full use of the time of night to transport the materials in the firm's warehouse through the gate of summoning, and transport them back to the secret treasure room in Pustules Mountain.

This is much safer than hiring a team of horse-drawn carriages to transport these materials to Hailansa City by land.

You must know that every winter, the bandit gangs in the mountains will be extremely rampant, and it is still quite risky to hire a horse-drawn carriage to transport such a large amount of supplies back.

Ignoring Aphrodite's protest, Suldak ran directly to the warehouse, took out the spare magic pocket, quickly put the materials in the warehouse into the magic pocket, and then stood with a smile on his face, standing in front of Aphrodite. Waiting silently by my side...

Seeing Suldak's rascal appearance, Aphrodite was a little dumbfounded. She couldn't hold on until the end, but opened the void door for Suldak, and then Suldak quickly stepped into the void.

After returning to the treasure chamber, Suldak took out almost everything in his magic pocket in an attempt to make room for a larger space, so he returned to Constantinople before the Void Gate disappeared there.

Aphrodite didn't know how many times Suldak had to go in and out of the void gate to finish moving the goods in the warehouse, but she didn't call repeatedly, and she kept the void gate open. .

Suldak was worried that Aphrodite wouldn't be able to last too long, so no matter what he did, he would trot all the way.

He couldn't even remember how many times he ran back and forth that night, until he ran out of the void gate with three empty magic pockets, and saw that the warehouse was empty, except for Aphrodite, the warehouse was empty. There was nothing else in there, and it was only then that he realized that he had transported all the materials in the entire warehouse back.

It was already late at night when we left the material warehouse.

The streets of Constantinople were deserted, only the night watchmen with lanterns walking around the empty streets.

"All the shops are closed!" Aphrodite said angrily, probably because she had consumed a huge amount of mental power, her face was a little pale.

Suldak shook his sore arm and felt very hungry at this moment, so he asked the succubus with concern: "Are you hungry, do you want to eat something?"

Aphrodite said reluctantly: "At this time, where can I get food? I'm afraid the hotel can't provide dinner, after all, it's so late!"

Surdak looked over, and the shops on the whole street were closed.

"I know where I can find some food, do you want to sit down?" He asked Aphrodite.

"Of course!" Aphrodite replied.

Although Suldak is not very familiar with Constantinople, he still found a tavern that was not closed so late, opened the door and walked in. There are at least seven or eight tables of drinkers in the tavern, and they are also drunk now. , but had no intention of leaving.

The tavern was very warm, and the room was filled with the smell of alcohol. The succubus who walked in behind Suldak frowned.

Suldak went straight to the front of the bar, ordered two glasses of ale and a small dish of nuts from the bartender, and asked what there was in the tavern to fill his stomach.

"Smoked fish and sausage, or?" the bartender asked as he placed two glasses of ale in front of Suldak.

"I want some!" Suldak sat on the high chair, glanced at the succubus Aphrodite, and replied.

The bartender recognized Suerdak's foreign accent and asked with a smile, "Are you foreigners?"

"Hmm!" Surdak didn't think it was a big deal, and replied.

The bartender glanced at Aphrodite, gave him a look that any man could understand, and asked him, "Do you want a room? We also provide accommodation here."

Suldak waved his hand and said, "No, we have a place to live!"

"Okay!" said the bartender, and put the plate of smoked fish in front of Suldak.