In the long house, under the warm orange-yellow firelight of the fireplace, Simon was sitting in the backrest chair with his old friend Baron Bruce, drinking beer.

As the war in the north continued, Baron Issel wanted to buy a batch of crossbows from Simon.

The crossbow is a rare and rare weapon among the various principalities on the beach of Waden.

People here are accustomed to hunting with bows and arrows. Precision crossbows and crossbows are complicated for craftsmen, expensive and cost-effective for hunters and archers. Therefore, in these principalities, there are almost no carpenter shops that can make crossbows.

The last time Baron Isel heard from the messenger that many soldiers guarding the castle in Simon's territory were holding crossbows. He was surprised and was reminded of a memory. In a battle a few months ago, he noticed a mercenary from the Mediterranean coast. Although the crossbow in his hand looked inconspicuous, the flying crossbow arrows penetrated the strong chain mail on a knight's chest. This shocked him.

A crossbow with fine workmanship and powerful power is not a small amount in the northern principality. Even the wealthy and powerful nobles will not be too extravagant to buy large quantities for their subordinates to install.

Baron Issel thought that Simon should have mastered the technique of making crossbows so that he could popularize crossbows in his castle guards.

Now, the Duke of East Frisia is becoming increasingly declining in the war, and the army of the Duchy of Flanders has begun to attack cities and fall into the land of East Frisia. This has made the lords in the Duchy so worried.

Although Baron Isel was very confident in the castle walls of his castle, what he was most worried about was that the enemy was fully armed and knights who were ten.

Archers' arrows cannot shoot through the chain mail, and those private soldiers cannot compete with the knights who have been trained since childhood. Only crossbows can effectively penetrate their armor and kill them.

Therefore, Baron Isel personally came to Simon's territory, and by the way he also hid all kinds of troubles in his territory and relaxed for a while.

"My friend, I'll tell you, my personal craftsmen do make crossbows," Simon knew that this matter would definitely not be hidden. It would be better to tell the truth to his allies. Lies will bring a crack in the trust between the two. "I understand your dilemma, and I'm happy to let them stop their work and make a batch of crossbows for you."

"God bless you, thank you so much, my friend," Baron Isel finally showed a relaxed smile. The things that followed were almost crushing him. "I think five crossbows should be enough."

Baron Iser didn't say everything. In fact, his financial situation was too short to be limited, and the budget allocated to the purchase of weapons could only bear five crossbows.

"No problem, my friend, but you may have to wait a while before you receive this batch of crossbows. According to the craftsman's production speed, it will take as fast as three days to make a crossbow."

“In terms of price…”

"If you order crossbows from artisans in Cologne, the price is twelve Denier silver coins per frame. Of course, for our friendship, you only need to produce eight Denier silver coins for each crossbow."

"Thank you so much, Simon. You should know that on the battlefield, the fall of the knights will often cause a huge blow to the morale of the enemy soldiers. If these crossbows are used properly, I think I will definitely be able to laugh until the end of the enemy's siege."

After smiling and bid farewell to Baron Isel, who left twenty silver coins deposits for Denell, the sky began to become dark.

"Master, Sir Julian, the subordinate of Earl Lange, asked for a visit." Little Klein, who had been standing in the corner, said to Simon.

"I know," Simon's face, which had just been filled with smiles, turned cold, "now you can let him in."

In fact, when Julian was still drinking in the tavern in the village of Cooser, the eyeliner he had installed in the tavern came to the long house to inform him of the news.

Now, soldiers and guards in the entire village were scattered around the long house intentionally or unintentionally. If Julian and his group had any abnormal movements, they could take them down as soon as possible.

"You can go in now." The soldier guarding the yard gate said to Julian who had been waiting for a long time.

Julian's anger burned again. He waited outside the door from afternoon until evening. He felt a little like Simon's court clown, and he came and whispered.

He walked into the yard, but Casbet, who was following behind him, was stopped.

"You can't go in," said the young soldier, pulling Casbet's arm, "I've received an order to let Sir Julian in, not to let you in."

"Let me go, you are stupid guy who is not a problem," Casbert was already full of resentment and became more and more irritable at this moment. "I have never heard of any lord who does not allow guests' attendants to enter the house!"

"Casbet," Julian turned around, "waiting for me outside."

"But……"

Although Casbet was extremely reluctant, he glared at the guard's eyes and took two steps back, muttering unpleasant curses.

As soon as Julian entered the door, he saw Simon lying in a comfortable position on the backrest chair next to the fireplace, looking at him with vigilance and suspicion.

"What wind blows you, Julian, or Lord Julian."

"His Excellency Simon, I have sent him his greetings to Earl Lange. He will hold his wedding on the first Sunday of next month. He hopes that you, as his brother, will attend his wedding banquet on that day." Julian's face was not very good. He took out the parchment roll sealed in burnt red paint from his waist bag and handed it to Simon.

"Is that right? Then please send me blessings to him when you go back. At that time, I will personally choose a gift for him, one that is expensive enough to deserve an earl's gift." Simon responded with a smile without a smile, allowing the little Klein, who was standing behind him to take the parchment from Julian.

"Of course, I will convey it to him," Julian nodded, "In addition, I have sent greetings to your vassal Gabriel, who warmly treated me on my itinerary, and I have to say that he is a very good host."

"I get it." Simon's brow frowned slightly.

Is Gabriel privately connected with Lange's people? It shouldn't be, otherwise Julian wouldn't have praised him in front of him so stupidly, which sounds more like a divisive plan.

"Is there anything else?" Simon stretched and asked lazily.

"No more, I wish you and your family good health, respected Baron Simon." Julian keenly realized that Simon was driving the guests, and he did not expect Simon to keep him for dinner. To be honest, this was just as he wished, and now he just wanted to leave here quickly.

Watching Julian leave the longhouse, Simon pulled out the dagger from the scabbard of his belt, picked the varnished wax on the roll, and read Lange's letter.

"Ha, Josephine, the daughter of Count Wolf, is really a match." A sneer appeared on Simon's lips.

Earl Wolf was the second earl to be enthroned in the Duke of Cologne. In fact, in the war with Earl of Loon at that time, the territory of the Dorsten family and Baron Wolf were the territory of the territory.

Not long after the Duke of Cologne conferred Lange as Earl of Dorsten, he also conferred Baron Wolf, who was loyal to him as Earl. Like Lange, the Duke also gave him an enclave under the original Earl of Loon.

Therefore, there are now two earls in the Duke and five barons who are directly under the Duke.

Simon thought that if Lange used his marriage to become an in-law ally with Count Wolf, he would most likely turn the gun in the next step, forge the claim of his territory, and provoke a war.

In addition to developing more tools to improve productivity and more powerful weapons, he also had to unite more nobles to form more alliances, gain strength for himself and defend his territory.

After all, the power of the two earls united is far beyond what he and a baron can bear.

"Sir, what kind of gift do you want to choose for Earl Lange?" Little Klein asked while seeing Simon getting up and going out.
Chapter completed!