Chapter 943 - 124: Deer Blood Wine and the Expansion of the Territory’s Monster Cavalry (Part 3)
The purest girl, huh?
Doesn’t seem like there’s much juicy gossip. But Su Li remembered that the principles of these Giant Shepherd Deer weren’t that strong. In those days, they were quite resistant to Luna Dachan, the pure priestess, and more inclined towards Hilude, who carried Su Li’s aura.
But anyway, the Tal Church seems to be thriving.
Su Li curiously asked, "How many people do Luna Dachan and their church have now?"
Vandar shook his head regrettably, "Only Lady Luna Dachan knows the specifics. I just know that under your intelligence guidance, the Tal Church now has three Giant Shepherd Deer. In an emergency, they can deploy three Giant Shepherd Deer Knights."
"As you know, seeing a Giant Shepherd Deer is not just seeing a wild beast; it represents the heart of the forest given form, vividly presented before people. A Knight riding a Giant Shepherd Deer wields extraordinary power on the battlefield of the forest. Even on the plains, they can easily ram through a dozen goblins."
"Another creature similar to the Giant Shepherd Deer is the Giant Eagle. Our territory currently has two War Eagles and four Giant Eagles. These flying mounts can carry Archers or Druids, providing significant support on the battlefield."
"The most numerous flying knights undoubtedly are the Gray Swan Riders. Currently, thanks to the prosperity of our territory, the Half-Elves have made considerable wealth. It’s said that in their territory, there are over 40 Gray Swans, but no one can confirm this information. As agreed, there are still 24 Gray Swan Riders serving us."
These beasts are still mounts of other races and churches, so the top priority for the territory is Griffins and Flying Horses!
Vandar reported in detail, "Currently, the territory has a total of five Griffins, namely Death’s Claw, Tiger Soul Mark of Calamity, Tearing Blood Mark, Storm Wings, Yan Zong, and Jin Ting."
Griffins carry such prestige. Within the Empire, every Tiger-striped Griffin is unique, with its own name, distinctly different from its kind.
These five Griffins have high status in the Hesse Territory, serving as mounts for commanding generals, whose masters are at least Champion Knights.
Including Jin Ting, whose master, Olein, is a Corona Knight highly skilled at combating the Undead. With him as the mentor of the Corona Knight Order, the order’s capabilities against the Undead in attack, defense, and technique are significantly enhanced.
"Next is the Half Griffin. After being tamed in the Griffin Forest and collecting Half Griffin eggs, the territory now has as many as 36 Half Griffins."
"Still over 30?" It seems the growth rate of the Half Griffins is not fast. Last time he remembered this number being close to 30. And now it’s still just 36, equivalent to one and a half warbands. The growth rate is a bit slow."
Vandar immediately replied, "Mainly because the Knights have focused their efforts on the Festival of the Radiant Sun Goddess and the Holy Great Expedition, so fewer have gone to Griffin Forest."
"But even so, we have seen some growth because the Griffin Forest we built in the Greenfield Hills is gradually taking shape. It now holds nearly 20 Griffins, and after spring, some became pregnant and successfully produced new Griffins."
This indeed is good news.
Su Li excitedly asked, "Have Griffins produced offspring this quickly? That’s much faster than I anticipated."
Vandar smiled and said, "That relates to the gestation period of Griffins, a combination of lion and eagle, so its gestation period lies between these two animals. But a lion’s gestation is just about 110 days."
days, less than four months, that’s indeed quick.
Vandar continued, "This year, only one Half Griffin was successfully conceived. Perhaps there will be more next year. But my Lord, don’t expect a large output, because Half Griffins are difficult to tame. The fact this Griffin conceived is entirely due to the Griffin Forest still being akin to a wild environment."
"Once the scale expands and it becomes a pasture, the Half Griffins will lose their ability to reproduce."
Su Li remembered this very clearly. Vandar had introduced many times before that there is no such thing as a tamed Griffin. No human-bred Griffin has been successful.
So, even strong Knight Orders must send Knights to challenge the Griffin Forest rather than breed their Griffin offspring. Perhaps such noble creatures lose their proud nature and reproductive abilities once sent to pastures.
So Su Li pondered for a moment and said, "We can solve this by building more Griffin Forests. Anyway, the northern Green Hills won’t be developed and will maintain its natural ecology. We can set up more forests in the Greenfield, so even if each Griffin Forest has only one Griffin capable of reproduction, our Griffin numbers can grow steadily."
Vandar furrowed his brows slightly and said, "This is not easy, my Lord. Maintaining one Griffin Forest requires at least one Druid, two Dawn Church nuns. They have to constantly plant trees and communicate with the Griffins. Even with the ability to pacify, a nun died in the Griffin Forest last year."
"If you want to build more Griffin Forests, the consumption of both manpower and resources will be considerable."