Free Web NovelChapter 120: Chapter 118: Horse Armor
"My friend, you’re... I don’t even know how to describe you." Viscount Luke shook his head, looking at the list in his hand.
News from the front lines had yet to reach Robson. Even if it had, it wouldn’t have been so pressing. After all, Devil City was not Robson’s logistical supply point.
The first to worry would be the fortresses that relied on Devil City’s logistics network.
News of Robson’s great victory had now spread along the Western Front. For the first time, the entire front had heard of such a figure.
As soon as Viscount Luke got the news, he rushed to Qimo Fortress.
This time, Robson didn’t have to wait for him. The moment the news got out, he came rushing over.
Robson was truly taking off. As long as he didn’t get reckless, he was guaranteed to get a rich Baron’s Domain at the very least. If he played his cards right, becoming a minor Viscount wasn’t impossible.
At this moment, Viscount Luke felt just like Viscount Leo, regretting his own poor judgment and wishing he had invested more back then.
But just because he’d invested little back then didn’t mean he couldn’t double down on his investment now.
"Sir, this is a membership certificate for the Gutierrez family. In the future, if you go to your domain and want to conduct more trade or what have you, you can seek out the local Gutierrez Commerce Association," Viscount Luke said, producing a document.
Robson raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised, and reached out for the document.
A Gutierrez family membership certificate wasn’t easy to get. Even some smaller Viscount Clans had to wait for review, and there weren’t many members in the entire kingdom.
Robson figured Viscount Luke must have pulled quite a few strings for this certificate.
While Robson was making a big name for himself on the front lines, the truth was that when it came time to develop his own domain, he would be short on everything.
With this Gutierrez family membership certificate, the future task of developing his domain would be much easier. At the very least, he wouldn’t have to worry about being gouged on grain prices, or worse, not being able to buy any grain at all.
"Then I must thank you, Viscount." Robson took the document. He was polite when the situation called for it. When it didn’t, Lord Robson had always been thick-skinned.
"In that case, Sir, you’re thanking the wrong person," Viscount Luke said with a shake of his head and a smile.
It wasn’t that Luke didn’t want to take credit for the favor, but he simply didn’t have the power to arrange for a Gutierrez Commerce Association membership certificate.
The people on the front lines who could arrange this on short notice could be counted on one hand, and Viscount Luke wasn’t in a position to take credit from any of them.
"Oh? Then who is this from?" Robson asked with a frown.
"Ahem. In any case, I’m not the one who arranged it. You should just accept it, Sir. It will be of great use in the future," Viscount Luke said.
"In that case, I’ll gladly accept."
"Sir, what will you be needing this time? After achieving such a great victory, I imagine you’re not lacking for much..." Viscount Luke frowned. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
The membership certificate was someone else’s doing and had nothing to do with Viscount Luke. For him, the most important business was still the Beastmen resources currently in Robson’s hands.
"In that case, I’ll trouble you to prepare more horses for me, Viscount. Riding horses, mules... I need them all.
And... well, you know. This time, Qimo Fortress managed to attract tens of thousands of enemy troops. If they could throw that many at the city this time, who knows how many they’ll use in the future.
So, if it’s possible, I hope you can help me find some troops and grain," Robson said.
’It’s true, though. They threw such a massive number of enemies at us for the second attack. Who knows what kind of monsters we’ll have to face in the future?’
Of course, the main reason was that Robson’s command limit had been raised, and he expected to be short on troops for a long time to come.
He had reported this to Valentino before, but he had no idea if she had made any progress.
’As for the mules, they were, of course, to prepare for a future escape. A brilliant commander must always be farsighted.’
"This... Sir, your requests are certainly a bit unusual. We do have over 300 warhorses, but as for mules...
The Somme River is too wide, and all the large ships are being used to transport grain. There are none to spare, and grain is tight on the front lines as well..." Viscount Luke said, looking troubled.
It wasn’t that Viscount Luke was lying; these were all facts. Although Robson’s logistics were supplied by Sirich, everyone ultimately relied on the Kingdom Government.
The pressure on the Devil City front would inevitably affect Sirich City.
Moreover, Robson was asking for a huge amount of resources this time. The spoils from eliminating ten thousand enemies were significant.
Even though most of them were Kobolds, the remaining spoils would still fetch a considerable number of Gold Coins.
Of course, Robson would have to give a portion to his men as a reward. He’d be left with around 3,500 Gold Coins. After all, he didn’t have his own Extraordinary Team yet and still needed to ask for favors in that department.
This was not a small sum. A prosperous Baron’s Domain had an annual revenue of only 500 Gold Coins—and that was revenue, not profit. That money would be reinvested into the domain’s operations.
The last time the entire Western Front made such a big move, even without his superiors skimming off the top, Robson had only ended up with 2,000 Gold Coins. And that two thousand wasn’t even his alone; it belonged to all the officers and men of Qimo Fortress. He couldn’t have kept it all for himself even if he wanted to.
Based on pre-war prices, a warhorse cost about 5 Gold Coins, and a suit of armor went for around 8 Gold Coins.
This was no small sum of money.
"Alas, Viscount, I’ve recently been studying the notes of a few families and have cobbled together my own training method. I’ve had some interesting results.
If we strengthen our cooperation, there’s nothing we can’t acquire. We can always find a way for things in the future," Robson said with a smile, looking at Viscount Luke.
"The previous batch of soldiers is ready for delivery now. Would the Viscount care to take a look?" Robson asked.
"Really?" Viscount Luke’s eyes lit up.
"Well, it’s just that... supplies are tight on the front right now, and we in the Gutierrez family truly don’t have much grain in reserve."
"How about this... we do have some sets of matching cavalry armor. If you’re interested..." Viscount Luke said.
"Cavalry armor? How many sets?" Robson’s eyes lit up as he looked at Viscount Luke. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
After the last battle, Robson’s cavalry unit had progressed by leaps and bounds, producing over twenty Tier Six Cavalry, the Frank Border Knights.
Many Tier Four Cavalry had fully advanced to Tier Five status. The number of Tier Five Cavalry had broken the hundred-man mark, Tier Four remained around two hundred, and Tier Three had all but disappeared.
If Robson could get his hands on a batch of horse armor now, he could form his own Heavy Cavalry Corps in the future.
According to Robson’s tests, although these Tier Six Cavalry couldn’t compare to true Extraordinaries, they weren’t far off.
Against ordinary mounted archer units, it was a complete slaughter.
Seeing Robson so interested, Viscount Luke breathed a long sigh of relief and held up five fingers.
"Fifty sets, 14 Gold Coins per set. This price is non-negotiable. As you know, these are the rules from above.
This horse armor wasn’t easy to come by.
But, fair warning, this armor definitely can’t compare to what actual Knights wear. It’s not even close," Viscount Luke said.
’Fifty sets!’ Robson was inwardly stunned. ’That’s enough to arm my Cavalry Team. I might even be able to form a small Knight Order. A lot of Viscount Clans do the same thing, it’s just that the war hasn’t progressed to the point where everyone is putting all their chips on the table yet.’
"That’s secondary. I just want to ask, what about the newly purchased warhorses?" Robson asked.
Heavy Cavalry weren’t created just by having armor. They were a huge test for both the mount and the Knight.
"Rest assured, Sir. These warhorses are fresh from the stud farm. Genuine ’right-hand warhorses.’ Otherwise, they wouldn’t sell for 8 Gold Coins a piece," Viscount Luke said.
Robson nodded.
The so-called "right-hand warhorse" wasn’t a comment on the horse itself. Its origin dated back to the Knight King’s expedition, when one of his great nobles had his left hand severed by the Beast Emperor of that era—an injury that could not be healed.
This great noble was later enfeoffed in the north, where he owned vast pastures. The horses produced there were mostly white and came to be known as right-hand warhorses.
It was worth mentioning that this great noble’s wife was from the Fengman Clan.
At that time, the Fengman Clan had not yet been cursed. The entire clan was at its zenith, even making a bid for the rank of Marquis, hoping to enter the kingdom’s highest echelon. Among the Northern Nobles, the inland faction held the leading position.
That great noble family subsequently declined along with the inland faction. When the inland faction split, the Fengman Clan sided with Marquis Oscillate’s southern noble faction, while the great noble’s family followed the father of Marquis George.
