Chapter 236: Shrewdness Of The King
There was a probing expression on William’s face as he regarded Chen Xiaolian. A clear trace of expectation could be seen within his eyes. Chen Xiaolian was startled before he quickly realized… … this fellow was waiting for him to swear fealty to him.
Sighing inwardly, Chen Xiaolian muttered to himself: So be it, I’ll kneel. This fellow is after all, an ancient old man who is around a thousand years older than me. Kneeling to him is not exactly something unacceptable.
After having made up his mind, Chen Xiaolian recalled the things he had seen before in the ancient European shows and quietly took two steps forward. Then, he knelt down before William with one hand placed on his chest and his head lowered. He said, “I offer my allegiance to you, my King.”
A light shone out from William’s eyes!
He had come to call himself a King and also garnered the support from the Pope. However, before he had managed to defeat his enemy and occupy London, his current title was still the ‘Duke of Normandy’.
Although the people around him addressed him as the King, those were only his own people.
However, before the eyes of everyone present, this unknown kid had knelt down before him, addressed him as the King and swore allegiance to him…
Thinking about this put William in a good mood.
He then pulled out the long sword hanging from his waist and gently placed the flat side of the sword upon Chen Xiaolian’s shoulder.
“By the powers vested in me by God, I, William, the King of England, the Lord of Normandy, devout believer of God hereby accept your allegiance, Garen of Demacia! I will be generous, fair, just and generous in rewarding you for your loyalty!”
Pausing, William then laughed and said, “From this day forth, you are no longer a mercenary, kid! You are now a member of my Norman army! You are both valiant and strong! I like men of such calibre! You will be serving as a team member of my personal guards. Tonight, I will grant you the honour of standing guard by my tent!”
In the eyes of a King from medieval times, granting his men the opportunity to guard his tent was certainly an honour for his men. However, that was certainly not how Chen Xiaolian would view it.
That is merely the duty of a night-shift security guard. Honour my ass.
Naturally, Chen Xiaolian would never speak out those words of discontent. He put on a façade of excitement and regarded William. Then, he suddenly said, “My King, there is something I’d like to say…”
William frowned. However, he quickly put on a pleasant expression and said, “Go ahead.”
“My two brothers.” Chen Xiaolian turned his head back and pointed at both Lun Tai and Bei Tai. He said, “They are both valiant warriors! Their military prowess is even higher than mine! It is my belief that warriors such as them should be allowed to swear their allegiance to my King! My King, please grant them this honour!”
William’s interest was piqued.
More powerful that this kid?
However, after his eyes swept over to rest upon both Lun Tai and Bei Tai, he became doubtful.
Lun Tai was not bad. A mere glance was enough to see that he was a man of strength and courage. Bei Tai however…
With only one hand, no matter how good he was at fighting, his fighting skills would likely be limited.
Naturally, Chen Xiaolian was able to notice the doubts on William’s face. He quickly stepped forward and moved until he was beside Lun Tai and Bei Tai. He said, “My King! Please allow me to introduce these two brothers of mine! Like me, they too hail from the same place as me. Our hometown, Demacia… …”
Lun Tai’s eyes suddenly twitched as a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in his heart.
Sure enough!
Chen Xiaolian pointed at Bei Tai and said, “This is Jarvan.”
Next, he pointed at Lun Tai and said, “This is Zhao Xin. His skill with the spear is exceptionally potent. Even when charging forward with a horse, his spear could stab through the stamen of a daisy! His nickname is ‘Daisy Xin!”
Lun Tai fought back the urge to swear out.
Then, he heard Chen Xiaolian continue, “I believe that brave warriors such as them should swear their allegiance only to the wisest King!”
Bei Tai quietly used the guild channel to communicate with his brother, “Hey, Daisy Xin, see that? Even our Guild Leader had said it in his words of flattery. It is surely not wrong!”
“Shut your trap!”
William felt troubled. He did not mind rewarding Chen Xiaolian – just now, this kid had already displayed his strength.
However, it would be difficult to do the same for others. Especially for the one-armed fellow.
If he were too hasty in awarding others, it would arouse the ire of others.
Chen Xiaolian winked toward Lun Tai and Bei Tai; seeing that, they were quick to understand.
Lun Tai turned to Bei Tai. Bei Tai then gave a light smile and walked out with his head held high.
He surveyed the surroundings. There were several thick wooden poles. Those were used as a place to tie the horses. During battle, it could also be used as a sieging ram.
Each of the wooden poles was as thick as a thigh.
Bei Tai strode toward the wooden poles. When he was about 10 steps away from the wooden pole, he stopped. Then, he borrowed a shield from one of the soldiers – seeing William nod his head, the soldier allowed Bei Tai to take his shield.
Bei Tai held on to the shield with one hand and took a deep breath. Then, he rushed toward the wooden pole.
A “boom” rang out as both Bei Tai and the shield slammed into the thick wooden pole. The impact of the collision caused the pole to break apart and the broken half of the pole to fly into the sky!
It was at that moment that Lun Tai made his move.
Lun Tai roared out as he ran forward and jumped into the air. His body soared through the sky and both his hands shot out to catch the broken wooden pole.
The broken wooden pole still had a length of roughly two meters. Despite its massive frame, Lun Tai casually held onto it in a horizontal position. After that, he descended to the ground. As he was descending, he raised his right knee… … and both his hands swung down!
Kacha!
A clear breaking sound could be heard!
The wooden pole broke apart after being struck by his knee!
This scene caused everyone to be shocked.
A wooden pole of such thickness… even a strong man would need to exert quite the effort to chop it with an axe.
This fellow had simply used his knee to break it!
This divine strength nearly caused William’s eyes to bulge out!
The surrounding men exclaimed in astonishment. Even the faces of the aristocratic generals beside William revealed shock.
“Long live the King!”
Tayloff truly deserved to be William’s favoured knight in attendance. Seeing that the others had yet to react, he quickly shouted out loudly.
“Long live the King! My King is blessed by God Himself! Even these warriors with divine strength would swear their allegiance to my King!”
There were some who were secretly angered by the fact that Tayloff had snatched away this opportunity. However, they could only follow suit and shout out.
The expression on William’s face grew increasingly joyful. He laughed out several times and said, “Good! Very good! Jarvan… … and, err, Daisy… Xin? Come over!”
Next, William repeated what he had done earlier. He had both Lun Tai and Bei Tai kneel before him, placed the flat side of his long sword upon their shoulders and accepted their allegiance. Then, he had them serve as part of his personal guards.
“Each of you will be awarded with a lamb leg! Tonight, you will all have a good meal! The best warriors should be allowed to eat their fill and not go hungry!”
William possessed quite the Kingly magnanimity.
Next, he turned to Tayloff and said, “You’ll make the necessary arrangements.”
After saying that, William led his group of generals back into his tent amid the loud cheering of the crowd.
Tayloff chuckled and regarded Chen Xiaolian’s team of three. There was a certain pride on his face as he said, “You have quite the good luck, Ha ha ha ha! Garen, is that right? Demacia… why have I never heard of that place before? Still, that is of no importance now. All of you are now members of the Norman army. I will assign someone to take you to get your equipment. Remember, perform well and the King will award you generously. Perhaps, after the battle is over, you will all be granted the title of knights.”
…
Within the big tent, after William and his several generals were done discussing about military affairs, he had them leave the tent.
William sat alone inside, lost in thought. At that moment, there was no atmosphere of a King within his expression. Rather, there was seemingly a trace of heaviness and coldness.
The curtains of the tent were pulled aside and a tall and thin figure walked inside.
It was a middle-aged man with partially long hair. He wore a cloak and sported a beard as well. His face was fairly good-looking and his pair of eyes were alert.
After entering, he bowed toward William.
“Did you check it?” William maintained his seated position; it appeared he did not even raise his head.
“Mm, the moment you awarded them, I had immediately sent some men to the mercenary camp to inquire about them.”
“And?”
“There does not appear to be any problems with their background,” the middle-aged man said coolly. “These three mercenaries have been with us since our Normandy army began its recruitment. They had been recruited into our army and many in the mercenary camp know them. From the perspective of the time, there is no problem… … it is impossible for them to be spies sent by Harold. Back then, Harold was still fighting against the Norwegians. He could not have planted any people within our side back then.”
“Then… … that is surprising news.” William stood up and quietly regarded the middle-aged man standing before him. “According to your investigation, they have been in my army for more than half a year. But why… … considering how good their skills are, why were they not discovered by anyone?
“Warriors of such calibres would certainly be able to distinguish themselves after just one battle. Why did they only reveal themselves today after Tayloff went to gather men?”
“That is also what I am curious about,” said the middle-aged man. He maintained a calm look on his face as he said, “According to those who are acquainted with them, the three of them had average skills. Be it their character, strength, ability, all their aspects are very mediocre. Not a single one of them are outstanding. Men like them are pretty much everywhere within the mercenary camp. In the last few battles, they did not display any dazzling merits. Yet, today…”
“And then, there is their place of origin, the so-called Demacia… … I’ve never even heard of that place. What of you? Among my men, you have the most knowledge. Have you heard of that place before?”
“No.”
The middle-aged man shook his head, but was quick to speak up, “This world is a very big place filled with wonders. In the Far East there may be many place that we do not even know of. Even Alexander the Great from back then could not succeed in conquering the East. Perhaps… … there may truly be such a place in the East.
“Besides… … from what I know of these mercenaries, the thing that mercenaries like to do the most is to brag.
“They have this tendency of exaggerating the details of their own background. Some would even make up lies to increase their fame.
“If I am not mistaken, there was even this fellow who claimed to have descended from Mount Olympus and is supposingly the descendant of the God of War…
“In the end? In the battle of Nantes, the fellow was struck by stray arrows and became a hedgehog.
“Therefore, their so-called hometown of Demacia is something you need not concern yourself with. Even if he claims to be from Athens or Mount Olympus, there is no need to worry about it.”
“In that case, what do you suggest?”
“I suggest… … considering their abilities, their time of recruitment that makes them unlikely to be spies planted by Harold, we can use them.” The middle-aged man shrugged his shoulders and said coolly, “War is looming ahead of us. Men of such calibre would help us significantly. As for their intentions… … what they want is nothing more than to make a name for themselves.”
After a moment of silence, William’s eyes shone with a burst of stunning brilliance.
“That is correct!”
William laughed loudly and shouted, “Since they are men of ability, why should I hesitate using them? You have ruled out the possibility that they are Harold’s spies. But so what if they are? All I need to do is offer them a higher bid than Harold’s! Then, would I not be able to have them truly work for me?
“These mercenaries, what they fight for is wealth and power!
“Whatever Harold can afford to give them, I too can afford it!
“Whatever Harold cannot afford to give them, I CAN!”
