Chapter 10: Chapter 9: The Second Draw

“Alright, madam, you better not draw pies for me. If your connections were really so effective, you wouldn’t need to form an alliance with my family.”

Starting with an Earl’s Domain sounds tempting.

But there are quite a few problems to face, and the first might be being cuckolded.

In this era, quite a number of noblewomen have chaotic private lives, depending on the balance of power in the marriage. If the husband is strong and the wife weak, the woman naturally won’t dare to be too wanton.

Of course, there are also harmonious marriages, but they are just in the minority.

For many people in this era, being cuckolded is nothing; everyone plays their own way.

You play with your lover, I’ll find my mistress; after all, it’s a political marriage.

As long as the child is Losa’s, the title of Augsburg County will fall to the Habsburg Family.

If Count Werner were to negotiate with this Countess, she would likely be very willing to agree.

Don’t mention cuckolding for now.

In the territory, whether subordinate vassals or soldiers, their loyalty is directed toward the Countess, which might provoke a real power Count backed by Lion Henry.

This will greatly limit his development.

Moreover, in the traditional Catholic world, attempts to expand easily bring about fear among neighbors.

Historically, Lion Henry gained both the Duke’s Domains of Saxony and Bavaria in succession and attempted to grasp the throne, leading to a “Anti-Lion Henry Alliance” formed by several lords, resulting in a two-year war. Despite his victory, Lion Henry was later exiled by the Emperor, ultimately losing in the power game.

Losa never underestimated the world’s big players because of his card-drawing system; let’s not forget witches exist in this world controlling extraordinary powers.

With witches come counterbalances of other extraordinary powers; he just doesn’t know them.

Upon understanding that, Losa immediately steeled his resolve: “Madam, forgive me, but I cannot agree to your request.”

The Countess snorted coldly: “Knight, are you doubting the Karlff Family’s foundation?”

Losa shook his head: “Sorry, madam. I mean no offense, I just think, a chosen Emperor, without his own strength, might not hold his position steadily.”

“Moreover, the Welf Family’s Lion Henry, as the Empire’s strongest lord, is the true throne contender.”

Lion Henry holds vast influence in Bavaria and Saxony, and in the Empire, his power can definitely rival the Emperor.

The Countess smiled slightly: “But don’t you think, precisely because of that, he’s even less likely to ascend the throne?”

“Young Knight of the Habsburg Family, no one desires a strong-willed superior.”

Losa fell silent; the Countess’s words were indeed reasonable, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt staying within the Great Germania Empire constrained his growth.

Even if after immense effort, he obtained a hollow throne, he still had to face numerous domestic opposition forces, which was truly vexing.

Might as well develop in the Holy Land first, and return one day with a thousand troops, which seemed more reliable.

“Sorry madam, your allure is like stars in the sky, but I bear the grand mission of defending the Holy Land. My lifelong pursuit is for the Heavenly Father’s glory, battling with heretics, so I must decline your kindness.”

“Alright.”

The Countess was somewhat disenchanted; she naturally knew Losa’s words were mere courtesy, so her attitude immediately turned cold.

“Then speak, how should I reward your heroic assistance, Knight Losa.”

Losa replied without hesitation: “Two warhorses, some coins will do, as you know, Algo County is a barren place, my father’s support is limited.”

“It’s a great cause, I’m willing to sponsor you.”

The Countess nodded slightly.

“You may choose from those Magyar riders’ leftover mounts, which should rightfully be your spoils. In addition to that, I will give you one hundred decent quality Suludes gold coins.”

The price of an average warhorse roughly equates to ten Suludes gold coins.

Suludes gold coins were minted by the Eastern Empire with strong purchasing power historically, but as the Eastern Empire declined, the coin’s quality increasingly deteriorated.

However, the recently issued batch has a solid gold content, reportedly reaching over ninety percent.

Not only gold coins face declining quality, but Dinar silver coins also face increasingly worse minting.

A hundred decent quality Suludes gold coins is indeed quite a fortune.

But it’s just fairly standard; after all, merely the Magyar riders’ leftover mounts exceed this value.

Not to mention if Losa hadn’t appeared, the convoy might have suffered losses.

However, saying it was a rip-off to Losa might be an exaggeration.

In the end, Losa only killed six Magyar cavalry, and selling all the spoils wouldn’t reach a hundred Suludes gold coins in value.

“Thank you for your generosity, madam.”

Losa bowed to the Countess, not showing any dissatisfaction on his face.

The Countess snorted coldly: “Leave now, you ingrate savage.”

With that, she left with a flick of her sleeve.

Losa smiled indifferently.

Beside him, his attendant, with a gaze of looking at a fool, handed the heavy money bag to Losa.

He joyfully turned away, his mood not affected, rather increasingly cheerful. Firstly, he amassed a substantial fortune today and achieved a milestone.

Secondly, he finally validated his strength.

Indeed, very powerful!

He decided to use the card-draw opportunity obtained from his milestone at his next lodging location!

…

That night.

They entered a small town within Tyrol and stayed at an inn.

As usual, Losa and Prajna were in the same room.

As soon as he walked in, Losa impatiently said, “Prajna, today I’m planning to summon a new ally for you… perhaps even an old acquaintance.”

In the background setting, although Prajna is a solitary character, there are quite a few familiar attendants in the “Hell” faction. If enough attendants from the same faction can be summoned,

They can form bonds, providing comprehensive attribute boosts to the attendants.

Prajna said nothing, just looked at Losa faintly, as if looking at a fool.

Losa chuckled, drew a cross in front of him, and prayed, “Heavenly Father above, please bless me with Five-Star and Six-Star.”

Then he chose to draw.

The system’s crisp notification sounded: Congratulations, you have obtained a One-Star defense-type attendant: Reserve Knight.

Losa’s face instantly turned black.

In the game, One-Star attendants are something nobody would specifically train aside from the novice stage. Even without the resources to assemble an all Five-Star and Six-Star Galaxy Battleship, players would at least make do with a Three-Star and Four-Star lineup.

The only purpose of One-Star attendants is to pollute the card pool.

So not only are their attributes poor, but even their artwork is hasty, often not even showing a face, hidden by hair or a helmet, without a formal name, truly the epitome of cutting corners.

This was a probability he set himself, no one else to blame.

He gritted his teeth for a while, but could only choose to accept reality.

Come forth, Reserve Knight.

A man dressed in iron armor and wearing a mask slowly appeared in the room, far less imposing than when Prajna first appeared, glowing like a divine descent.

Quality: Normal (One-Star)

Level: 1

Intimacy: Cold

Power: 10

Agility: 7

Physical Strength: 10

Endurance: 8

Spiritual Power: 5

Skills: None.

Description: These are Reserve Knights trained by the Teutonic Order Country, existing since the late Middle Ages in Prussia. They have undergone strict knight training from childhood and are excellent warriors on the battlefield.

With a flash of white light, the Reserve Knight was summoned by Losa.

Losa scrutinized the other.

The Reserve Knight appeared far more imposing than shown in the artwork.

He wore a white cloak adorned with a black cross badge, with full-chain armor beneath.

Holding a kite shield painted with a white base, yellow cross, and single-headed eagle badge in one hand, and tightly gripping his Knight’s Sword in the other, he wore a wing helmet like bull horns.

Losa knew, according to facts, Reserve Knights couldn’t wear wing helmets; they were decorative and honorary, serving as commander markings.

Yet the game he designed never considered historical accuracy.

This point made Losa quite comforted.

No matter how bad the Reserve Knight’s quality was, at least his armor was real, worth trading for a village fiefdom—a far sight better than Prajna’s black tight-fitting biker outfit.

Judging solely from attributes, this One-Star attendant is comparable to himself… meaning, he’s just a One-Star attendant too, no wonder Prajna doesn’t think much of him.

“Are you my Master?”

The man’s voice was surprisingly magnetic, he removed his helmet, revealing long golden hair and quite an attractive young Germanic face.

“That’s right.”

Prajna frowned, “Is this the companion you said you’d summon for me? I’ve never worked with such a weak mortal.”

Losa awkwardly replied, “Heh, a little deviation from the estimate.”

“General Prajna?”

The One-Star attendant’s face showed a hint of joy, “It’s truly unbelievable, to think I can fight alongside you?”

Prajna glanced at him coldly, expressionless, “Not following me, but following the Lord.”

Losa inquired, “What’s your name, Reserve Knight?”

Hans heard and immediately kneeled on one knee, saluting, “My name is Hans from the Teutonic Order Country of East Prussia, honored to be your attendant.”

Hans…

How pitiful, even the name is so perfunctory.

Losa felt some regret, as for Hans’ claim of “from the Teutonic Order”… it was actually fabricated in the game background, borrowing from the historical Teutonic Knight’s shield badge.

After all, it’s just a One-Star attendant, saving on design costs is best.

Of course, the world also includes the Teutonic Order, currently in the Holy Land, formally named “German Mary Hospital Knight Order of Jerusalem,” but cannot compare with the Holy Hall and Hospital Knight Orders.

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