Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 412 - 97: Sicily Strategy

The Unicorn Nightmare Horse’s size is comparable to the so-called "giant horses" of this era.

Losa flipped onto the horse’s back and waved at Jeanne: "Come, let’s have a riding competition."

Jeanne snorted lightly: "Grape, it’s time for this black-skinned pony to kiss your horse’s ass."

The two chased each other around the manor.

The final test results showed that the endurance of the Unicorn Nightmare Horse was superior, its speed was on par with "Grape," but its defense capabilities and combat power far surpassed that of the Akhal-Teke horse.

"Not bad, little guy."

Jeanne whistled.

The proud Grape looked angrily at this "peer," unwillingly wanting to catch its neck and take a few brutal bites while Losa was not paying attention, but immediately saw the sharp fangs in the Unicorn Nightmare Horse’s open mouth.

Goodness, this freak isn’t even a horse!

Grape scuttled away quickly.

"Let’s give it a name." 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Do you have any good suggestions?"

Jeanne tilted her head in thought for a while and seriously suggested: "Carrot, let’s just call it Carrot."

Losa fell silent.

I haven’t ridden a witch yet, don’t unjustly accuse me of such things.

Jeanne asked puzzledly: "Doesn’t it sound good? It really is troublesome."

She pondered a little longer, clapped her fist: "Let’s call it ’Invincible,’ which implies that in every war it participates, we can achieve victory."

"Old Werner won’t be happy."

Losa raised an eyebrow, "Invincible" was the mount of the notorious father-slaying beast Alsace in memory, and the name is certainly not auspicious: "Your naming skills are really mediocre. Prajna, what do you think it should be called?"

Prajna said without any change in expression: "Let’s call it ’Eclipse.’

Jeanne asked puzzledly: "Is this name great?"

At least it’s better than yours.

"It’s decided then."

Losa patted "Eclipse’s" big head: "Come, spit some fire, let me test its power."

Eclipse hesitantly took a step back, blinked its lashes, showing a human-like puzzled expression.

"Don’t worry, you can’t hurt me."

Losa, who had the King of Volcanoes’ milestone, was nearly completely immune to conventional fire damage. The Unicorn Nightmare Horse, after all, was just a Four-Star Extraordinary Mount, with slim chances of hurting him.

Under Losa’s encouraging gaze, "Eclipse" snorted lightly, exhaling two puffs of white smoke from its nostrils; a small green flame just briefly licked Losa’s palm before extinguishing.

Losa raised his palm somewhat helplessly, showing it to "Eclipse."

"You see, unscathed."

"Eclipse" widened its eyes in surprise, then excitedly stepped back a few steps and took a deep breath.

The green flame leaped out with very stable output power, and seeing "Eclipse’s" appearance, the magic power consumption was evidently not high — this wasn’t necessarily a good thing, as he had a "Winged Cavalry Commander’s Helmet" that could make mounts endlessly energetic.

If "Eclipse" mastered a high-output attack method that could instantly drain all its energy, it would perfectly match with the "Winged Cavalry Commander’s Helmet" and become a trump card in Losa’s hand.

Unfortunately, "Eclipse" was obviously not up to par.

Losa mused while feeling the temperature of "Eclipse’s" spouted green flames.

The power was about the same as his usual Fireball Technique, but its range was not as far as the Fireball Technique. It was enough for dealing with ordinary enemies but would pose problems for slightly formidable opponents.

However, "Eclipse" was just a horse, not a Giant Dragon, and it’s impossible to expect it to stand alone.

By and large, it was satisfactory.

...

Inside the Brahna Palace.

The Empress listened to Anna’s account, feeling somewhat tempted: "Did he really express willingness to help the Empire reclaim parts of Asia Minor territories?"

"Of course, Losa is actually like me, someone who doesn’t like owing favors."

Anna said helplessly: "It’s a pity, the timing is not right."

"Indeed."

A bit of a wry smile appeared on Empress Ragaya’s face.

As the Empire’s horse-breeding land, source of soldiers, and natural barrier against heretics, Asia Minor was of great importance to the Empire, but unfortunately, the Empire lacked the strength to simultaneously deal with the Sicilian Normans and Asia Minor’s Turkic people.

Moreover, horse-breeding land, source of soldiers, natural barrier — none of these could mask the declining interior of Asia Minor, with many Turkicized Greek nomads being so brave and fierce that even the Turkic chieftains couldn’t handle them.

This meant that even if the Empire recaptured Asia Minor now, for a considerable period, it would be a low-return, poor-quality asset for the Empire.

Unlike Sicily, which controlled the Mediterranean trade routes, was economically prosperous, a crucial transit hub on the pilgrimage road, and the island’s fertile lands and abundant resources made it the most dazzling jewel of the Mediterranean.

The main point of negotiation between the two great Empires of the East and West was who could get a larger slice of the pie on Sicily Island?

As for Southern Italy, including Apulia, Capua, Calabria, and other places, they were relatively minor by comparison.

But regardless of which part of the Sicily Kingdom, it was undoubtedly an excellent territory in this era.

Anna snorted lightly: "Indeed it’s a pity, I really can’t understand it, Losa in my opinion, simply cannot be a pious follower; how can he leave the fertile lands of Sicily, always thinking about returning to his desert land?"

"Probably worried about confronting the ambitious Henry Caesar."

Henry Caesar referred to the Emperor of the Germania Empire, the father of Crown Prince Henry.

"True, after all, he is a Germanic, and the Habsburg Family still has to beg for food under the Emperor."

Anna had investigated Losa’s background but always remained skeptical because, in her eyes, Losa seemed more like an ancient relic, several hundred years old, currently in a period of revival, not at all like a young man who rose from nothing.

How could a minor Germanic noble quickly rise to become a local lord possessing extraordinary power?

"Anna, has the association’s affairs been busy lately?"

"Busy, definitely busy!"

Anna snorted coldly: "A few of my apprentices complain every day, saying their job is to listen every day to those fools mention trivial matters unrelated to Extraordinary Power."

"Please, my ugly neighbor witch cursed my cow, so it stopped producing milk."

"My hoe disappeared without a trace, must have been stolen by some greedy wizard."

"Sir, my vile and lecherous neighbor bewitched my wife with an enchanting spell."

Anna mimicked vividly: "I’m not blaming them for being foolish, but these unscreened matters going directly to the association significantly increase the workload for my apprentices."

"They have to organize books, transcribe scriptures, practice alchemy, magic, meditation methods every day, and still manage these trivial issues concurrently, this just won’t do."

Ragaya awkwardly said: "Apologies, it seems Marlos wasn’t thorough with my orders; I’ll instruct him to recruit more literate copyists to screen each reported rumor thoroughly."

"Hmm."

Ragaya asked: "In any case, the Empire’s next focus should be on reclaiming the Sicily military district; do you have any reserve in your magic potion deployments to assemble a new Extraordinary Army?"

Anna pondered for a while: "If it’s just the lowest-tier Wild Bull Potion, there won’t be any issue with reserves."

"Then proceed to do that, as the Sicilian Normans won’t be easy to deal with. If the Empire sends troops again and suffers losses, losing face in front of our ’allies,’ the distribution of the spoils will again negatively impact us."