Leyton was his father's personal guard. Of course, Grand Duke Andrei had fought countless battles, big and small. If he donned his armor and mounted his warhorse, Leyton might not even be able to defeat him. So, after Kayal's birth, Leyton was honorably demoted from Captain of the Duke's Royal Guard to Captain of the Duke's Son's Royal Guard, a guard unit with only one person...
Of course, Leyton was able to take on this arduous task because of his extraordinary abilities; he was a formidable Knight capable of directly confronting Magical Beasts.
However, no one dared to approach Nottingham Forest except for the old hunters, as it was teeming with Magical Beasts. While Leyton himself would have no problem—riding a fast horse and wearing armor, he could charge through a thousand soldiers—Kayal was just a child. If he were to encounter any Magical Beasts, the mere aftermath of a battle could tear his tender body to shreds.
However, the Duke's son, Kayal, happened to fall in love with Nottingham Forest at the age of two and greatly enjoyed sneaking off to play there without the Grand Duke's knowledge. While he was in high spirits, Leyton, following behind, was constantly on edge, his face so strained it looked like he could wring out a bucket of bitter water.
Two large horses, both purebred English horses. As England had not yet undergone a 'national integration' with Ireland, their horses were still purebred. Paired with a tall and majestic English Knight, they presented an excellent image.
As Captain of the Duke's Royal Guard, Leyton was naturally no mere figurehead. His meticulously combed-back brown hair, firm nose, and bright, large eyes, combined with a tall, chestnut-colored horse with four white hooves that looked as if it were treading on snow, made Leyal move with ease. The large horse, carrying Leyton, his heavy armor, and its own armor, showed no signs of strain, its expression quite relaxed, which surprised Kayal for a long time.
Leyton's full set of equipment weighed around sixty kilograms, and adding a Knight's spear and Claymore, it was essentially an adult's body weight on him—about one hundred and fifty jin! Plus the heavy defensive armor the horse itself wore, the total weight, including Leyton, was estimated to be around three hundred and twenty jin. Yet, even with all that, the horse showed no signs of effort, even giving the impression that it would be absolutely fierce if it were to burst into a gallop.
Based on the animals Kayal knew, besides camels and elephants, there really wasn't any animal on Earth that could carry such heavy things.
How incredibly unscientific!
After walking for half a day, he finally asked the question that had been bothering him for three years: "Leyton, why can your horse carry such heavy things so easily? Your entire body weight adds up to over three hundred jin, doesn't it?!"
Leyton was stunned. Seeing the little Lord, who was usually calm and wore a composed smile, with such an expression, he couldn't help but purse his lips slightly and smile. However, he was also an open-minded person and didn't want to embarrass the little Lord, so he could only pat his beloved horse's neck: "Lord Kayal, you may not know this, but my Buffett is a horse crossbred with a Magical Beast. It can barely be considered a type of Magical Beast, so its carrying capacity, burst speed, and endurance are all top-tier among horses."
"Magical Beast? A mutated Magical Horse from a wild horse?" Kayal, quickly grasping the key point, fell into thought on his horse.
"Can they be raised in groups and are they highly productive?" To the west of Red Leaf Fortress was an endless grassland. If the public could be encouraged to raise them on farms, by the time he grew up, there would be a sufficient number of powerful horses for his use, not only for farming but also for warfare.
In this era without gas power, horses were important sources of power and labor!
"Haha, the little Lord is truly amazing! This idea has been proposed before, but although Magical Horses are equivalent to a ***, their breeding success rate is too low. So far, only the elite can ride these mixed-breed horses. If you, little Lord, can find a way to get more Magical Horses, then it might be possible to form a large scale."
Elite here does not refer to Knights. In fact, every Knight capable of going to war prepared their own horses, armor, and weapons, which had a similar effect to the Han Dynasty's noble sons serving in the military. The advantage of this was that all Knights were from the aristocratic class and were all elite.
Commoners who wished to join the war were certainly welcome, but they were only provided with ordinary leather armor and helmets, and a standard Claymore. Of course, the weapons weren't that crude; you could exchange the Claymore for a spear or a bow and arrows—one bow and two quivers of arrows!
It's important to know that in this era dominated by Knights, if you could even hit a charging Knight with an ordinary bow, you should be thankful. But to shoot through a Knight's thick armor, which was like a tin can? Don't be ridiculous! They were wrapped in chainmail, and even if you gave them a can opener and ten minutes to smash it, you wouldn't get through, let alone with a small arrow?!
You should be thankful if it even got stuck in the gaps of their armor. Want to kill a Knight with arrows? Don't be ridiculous!
From this, it seems archers were not well-liked. Often, thousands of Knights and tens of thousands of infantry couldn't even gather five hundred archers.
Elite Knights referred to the personal guards of those with titles!
For example, Kayal's father, Grand Duke Andrei's personal guard corps, received first-class salaries for easy work. They only fought desperately at the very last moment. As for what they had to do, there was only one thing: become the strongest! Become the highest armed force of the ruling power!
There weren't many of these people. Even Grand Duke Andrei, Kayal's father, only had around two hundred. As for the Viscounts, Barons, and Lords under his father, the most had no more than fifty, and the fewest no more than fifteen. They were truly the elite of the elite.
Such a small number made Kayal hum in disappointment and lower his head in silence.
In their silence, the two rode into Nottingham Forest. In the tallest tree of Nottingham Forest, Kayal's cabin was waiting for him...