Chapter 410: Countess Windrunner

Another scene depicted the once beautiful Silverpine Forest.

All the trees were either burned to the ground or completely felled.

Between the two massive camps, there was a dead zone of over five kilometers. The land was thoroughly scorched, as were the bodies. Rarely were there any bodies on the battlefield that were not black.

Fire had almost consumed everything. Any bodies not retrieved on the same day would be charred by the flames in the next day's battle.

Alleria couldn't bear to watch anymore: "You just let your comrades' bodies lie exposed in the wilderness?"

Duke shook his head: "It's not that we don't want to retrieve the bodies. The key issue is that the Horde refuses to communicate. Moreover, there have been multiple instances of the Horde attacking the civilians trying to retrieve the bodies, even cases of ogres capturing civilians and eating them alive."

Alleria felt nauseous.

"Right now, except for Dalaran and Alterac, almost all Alliance nations have been affected by the war. Each nation has suffered great losses, and due to conscription, a large amount of farmland is left untended. It's not hard to imagine that the coming winter will be harsh."

The elf's long eyebrows drooped: "Then, what about our people?"

Duke was pleased with the beautiful elf's use of the word 'our'. He beckoned her over: "Come here, let's talk slowly."

"First things first, you're not allowed to freeze the roads again." Alleria added her request, seemingly still traumatized.

Duke was a bit embarrassed: "Just don't run away."

Ever since that night at the state guesthouse, Alleria seemed to have a bit of a psychological shadow, refusing Duke to be behind her, and any slight movement on Duke's part would make her flee quickly.

"You promise first!" Alleria emphasized.

"Alright, alright, I won't force you." Duke surrendered with his hands up.

Only then did Alleria come over.

Duke whispered: "Actually, the situation in Stormwind is better than most kingdoms."

"Hmm?" Alleria was puzzled.

Duke pointed at the map: "Hillsbrad Foothills is one of the few areas that have not been affected by the war so far. Although we have over 600,000 refugees here, after converting all the grasslands into arable land, we can basically have 80% of the people self-sufficient."

Alleria was about to ask what about the remaining 20%, when she suddenly noticed Duke's finger pointing to Westfall, the old territory of Stormwind.

"Here?"

"Yes, right here." Duke smiled mysteriously: "Orcs are a nomadic hunting race, they prefer meat. On their planet, there are plenty of large game, often one kill is enough for hundreds of people to eat for several days. So, in their eyes, only land with plenty of wild game is good territory. Westfall is too barren for them."

When Duke said this, Alleria couldn't help but laugh. She had been to Westfall, and apart from a relatively large number of small creatures like gnolls and wolves, the open plains were absolutely the best place for human farming.

"The Horde prefers Elwynn Forest, so when I had my subordinate Edwin VanCleef establish a base behind enemy lines, I forbade everyone from farming near Elwynn Forest. A hundred kilometers away from the forest, we set up numerous sentries and alarm systems, and the area from two hundred kilometers away to the sea is the planting area."

Duke took out a report: "This is the harvest list for the summer crops, quite a good achievement, enough for 600,000 people to eat for a year."

Alleria's eyes sparkled.

Farming under the noses of the orcs, only Duke could think of it, and actually do it.

"To prevent the grain from getting damp during sea transport, I also invented a method of transporting the grain in rubber bags after drying it, which can reduce most of the losses on the sea route. Originally, for every bag of wheat transported, one bag would spoil on the way. Now, only one bag spoils for every ten bags."

Sitting in front of Duke, Alleria supported her knees with her elbows, her hands holding her face, gazing at Duke: "I really don't know where you get so many ideas. Sigh, it's because you're so outstanding that I thought you were capable of anything."

"Cough, cough!" Duke coughed: "I'm not a god."

"Alright, in your estimation, can we wipe out the Horde?"

Duke spread his hands, admitting: "We can win, but we can't wipe them out. I've calculated that even if you kill every orc in Azeroth, there are at least two million Horde scattered across every corner of the planet Draenor on the other side of the Dark Portal."

Alleria's expression dimmed a bit.

"However, I will make sure that the Alliance's flag is planted in every possible corner of Azeroth."

At this point, a slender figure appeared at the stairway entrance, unnoticed until now.

Alleria frowned: "Sylvanas, how many times have I told you, our status is different now, you need to knock when you come to see Duke."

"I'd love to knock, but what if I miss some good show by knocking?" Sylvanas had a mischievous smile on her face.

Alleria's face turned red, she bit her lip lightly: "Sister, enough!"

Duke laughed and asked: "Sylvanas, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to confirm whether the rangers of our Windrunner family are your free mercenaries, or truly your vassals?"

"Sister, don't make trouble for Duke." Alleria was a bit anxious, she thought Duke was just helping her out that day. After all, in human kingdoms, ennobling a high elf as a hereditary noble was unprecedented.

Sylvanas shrugged: "We have over two hundred more people joining than originally planned, many of them just hoping for something. It's not me who wants to ask, I'm fine with a piece of forest."

"Oh, in that case, let's just include you all." Duke, well-prepared, took out a document: "Could one of you please call Vereesa and Lirath over?"

The Windrunner sisters were dumbfounded.

This was a letter of ennoblement signed by King Llane Wrynn himself. As a nearly independent duke, Duke had the right to directly ennoble barons and below, but for viscounts and counts, the king's approval was required.

The rule of nobility in this era was that the vassals of a king's vassal were not the king's vassals. Duke could have no more than three counts as direct vassals, and Duke's vassals were not required to obey the king's orders.

The Windrunner sisters hadn't expected Duke to act so quickly and actually get the approval.

Alleria was the Countess of East Elwynn Forest.

Sylvanas was the Viscountess of East Duskwood.

Vereesa's territory was the original Stone Cairn Lake, now Windrunner Lake, so she was the Viscountess of Windrunner Lake.

Lirath's territory was the Blackwell Pumpkin Farm, so she was the Baroness of Blackwell.

All were hereditary titles.