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A few hundred people in the escort team could be considered a standard guard for the Duke’s wife when returning to the territory. Usually, the escort team for the Duke’s wife consisted of around a hundred people, including servants.
However, according to the captain of this escort team, Duru, all three hundred members were currently present. They were organized into three groups of a hundred people each.
Furthermore, they were all riding various types of flying magical beasts, such as Gryphons, and Winged Horses. Their levels ranged from the fourth to fifth grade. With the combat capabilities of their mounts, the overall strength of this team was equivalent to that of a thousand-person unit.
This level of formation would make anyone tremble with fear if they encountered bandits or faced robbery and murder.
The only exception was Amos, who was carrying a young Gryphon cub.
Even though the Duchess had prepared a guard to accompany her, she found this scale to be too excessive.
Duru explained solemnly, “The Duke has instructed us to escort Miss Aresia back to the territory and also inspect the safety of the territory.”
Both mother and daughter understood the underlying meaning of his words.
In this world where the population was scarce, Holy Lotean was no exception. The territories of each noble were extremely vast, and the duke’s territory was even more so. Its total area exceeded two million square kilometers, with a population of around five hundred thousand people, divided among the five cities within the duchy and the surrounding villages. The remaining land was occupied by mountains, forests, grasslands, and a large number of magical beasts.
Although the population in the duke’s territory was small, the resources within the territory were abundant. Apart from the magical plants that grew in the wild and powerful magical beasts, there were also numerous precious magical mineral veins. These mineral veins belonged to the Rogest family, and even though they didn’t actively exploit the territory, they were still extremely wealthy thanks to these resources.
However, the presence of magical beasts in the vicinity caused a lot of trouble for the inhabitants. Besides regularly dispatching adventurers from the Adventurer’s Guild to accept missions, the administrators of the five cities would occasionally organize people to hunt down the nearby magical beasts in the territory.
Although hunting magical beasts could bring in income, the casualties and expenses involved were quite high. Those who hunted magical beasts were essentially risking their lives for money.
However, ever since the advent of beast contracts and the acquisition of beast companions, their own strength had greatly increased. With the assistance of their beast companions, their safety during beast hunting was better guaranteed. Moreover, if they captured a high-level magical beast, the rewards would be even greater.
In addition to protecting Aresia, the Duke had assigned them another task: to capture a high-level magical beast.
News of the beast companion contracts would inevitably spread sooner or later. When that time came, others would not be as fortunate to catch one. Therefore, the Duke wanted to ensure the safety of his territory by capturing a few magical beasts to make the lives of the inhabitants safer.
This plan had been carefully considered. Once Aresia returned to the territory, more people would be organized to hunt magical beasts. The captured magical beasts of lower levels would be sold, providing the inhabitants with an extra layer of protection. The higher-level magical beasts would be given to the legion, while another portion would be left for the soldiers in the five cities, increasing the fighting power of the territory and ensuring its safety.
This was a way to enhance the reputation of the Duke. After much consideration, the Duke had sent Amos to lead this operation. Although Duru was the leader of the guard, the identity of Amos as the Duke’s heir suppressed any objections from the city administrators.
Considering that Amos didn’t have a mount yet, he could temporarily ride with another warrior.
This time, in addition to the few servants accompanying Aresia, there were also several knights specially assigned by the Duke.
Nobles held knights in high regard and did not allow their children to become common soldiers, but knighthood is a hard profession. They needed to wear armor weighing tens of kilograms and relied on mounts for assistance. It was also an expensive profession that required a certain level of economic strength for a family to raise a qualified knight. Thus, when children considered their career options, being a knight was rarely taken into consideration.
This resulted in a scarcity of knights among the nobility. However, it was different among non-noble professionals and ordinary people. They didn’t have such restrictions, especially warriors. They didn’t mind sending their children in that direction. In fact, it was often the only way for them to change their social status.
However, there were very few knights in the Gryphon Legion, not because they didn’t recruit, but because the knight profession itself leaned more towards heavy armor knights.
Furthermore, some warrior professions leaned towards the Rose Legion, which held the position of primary warriors. The Gryphon Legion didn’t have an advantage in recruiting knights.
Responsible for Amos riding alongside Aresia was a knight named Kelly, whose name implied a warrior’s spirit. She was quite tall, estimated to be around 1.8 meters. Her features were not particularly outstanding, but she exuded a sense of gallantry. In this world, it was rare for girls to keep long hair, but she had a beautiful long braid that even fell below her ears. Her skin had gained a healthy tan from constant training under the sun, and her body proportions were exceptionally well-balanced. Even when wearing armor, the details accentuated her powerful yet feminine figure, full of wild charm.
Kelly’s flying mount was quite unique, a type of bird beast, a giant hornbill measuring over three meters in length. Its feathers were black, gray, and white, making it stand out. What caught attention the most was its long, curved beak, which made it appear somewhat clumsy. However, in reality, this magical beast was renowned for its agility and was a fifth-grade creature.
Aresia was aware that Holy Lotean’s imperial territory had no habitat for these giant hornbill. They preferred much hotter climates, so seeing one here was quite surprising.
This shouldn’t be a magical beast captured by the legion.
With these thoughts in mind, Aresia bid farewell to her mother and, with Kelly’s assistance, mounted the back of the giant Hornbill. Its cooperation was better than that of the other magical beasts in the group. When Kelly helped her up, the giant Hornbill remained still, making it easy for them to mount. Kelly’s gaze was filled with trust and intimacy.
After Kelly adjusted the safety harness-like device, Aresia thanked her and then leaned back. She found the sensation of her head against the back quite comfortable. The wind in the air was strong, but Kelly had positioned them in a way that minimized its impact. While Aresia’s face felt a bit tingling from the wind, she didn’t experience much of it on her body.
Aresia withdrew her head and hid behind Kelly’s back. The knights wore armor, and once they put on their helmets, the wind no longer bothered them. However, Aresia, who was not prepared, felt quite uncomfortable.
As she turned her head to the side, watching them fly farther and farther, she caught a glimpse of her mother, who was watching them leave from below.
The knights maintained a flight altitude of around one hundred meters, the same altitude that flying magical beasts used. This height allowed them to observe everything clearly. Moreover, if someone accidentally fell, the well-trained knights wouldn’t suffer serious injuries.
Aresia was already accustomed to heights. The floors in the High Magic World were higher than this, and even the flying spells of mages could reach this height or even higher. In the High Magic World, there were various types of flying vessels, such as airships, which could fly at altitudes of one thousand meters or more. Thus, this level of height was quite common. Aresia had even seen the entire Holy Lotean City from above—flying a bit higher, and they would have left the city behind.
Luna and the other servants followed suit. This was not only their first close encounter with magical beasts but also their first time flying at high altitudes. At the moment of ascent, someone couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise, while others closed their eyes in fear and didn’t dare to open them.
However, since these servants were selected, they had been asked in advance if they had acrophobia. Those who were prepared for the journey believed that they would soon adapt.