Chapter 139: The Legend of the Big Brother

In this world, there's a famous saying, "Even though the brother is not present, his legend is everywhere."

Duke couldn't make it back to Stormwind City in time, but his heroic deeds were already spreading far and wide, thanks to the accounts of those who participated in the assault, as well as the official Stormwind City bulletin.

Of course, the official version was embellished—the gist of it was that Guardian Medivh was ambushed by the Demon King Sargeras and trapped. Then, Kingdom's Knights Captain Anduin Lothar and Duke Marcus launched a surprise attack on the demon-occupied Karazhan.

Together with the rescued Medivh, they managed to force the Demon King into the bottomless abyss, with Duke delivering the final blow. In the process of killing the Demon King, the great Guardian and Chief Court Magister Medivh unfortunately perished.

With the approval of King Llane Wrynn, the lands of Karazhan were awarded to Duke Marcus for his outstanding contributions in the attack, and he was promoted to Viscount.

"Hey, have you heard? That Sea King Duke Marcus killed the head honcho of demons, Sargeras, at such a young age!"

"Yeah, I've heard! He's truly impressive! I always thought he was amazing, building such a great career at a young age all by himself. Never expected him to be not only skilled in business but also in the field of magic!"

"It's more than just amazing! He even predicted this war. Haven't you seen how the spear-wielders he trained have become the kingdom's regular army, enjoying top-notch soldier treatment? My god, I recognize that Goritza kid, he was just a punk fisherman's boy. Now, he's got eight orc kill medals under his belt."

"Yeah, I heard that the most kills aren't by the regular army but by these spear-wielders."

"All led by Viscount Marcus."

People are simple, and their impression of Duke gradually deviated. In the eyes of the transmigrators, this was a typical misunderstanding. However, people were more focused on the immediate matters at hand, like the orcs.

People would only understand Duke from the things they encountered daily, not the exaggerated stories spun in the taverns.

All they knew was that the kingdom's sole lifeline—the maritime lifeline was maintained by Duke's fleet.

Now, the ones with the most enemy kills were the spear-wielders trained by Duke. Yup, people selectively ignored the shield-and-sword soldiers taking the brunt of the orc assault and forgot that the spear-wielders made their kills from the safety of various fortresses.

And those small fortresses were also Duke's invention.

Then, risking their lives to enter the river with small boats to evacuate refugees back to Stormwind City were Duke's fleet and his Naga warriors.

People were curious about these large but relatively friendly male Naga warriors. Even though the Naga were not particularly kind to humans, the fact remained that they had saved their lives. No matter how fierce the Naga were, it couldn't change this fact.

Once in the water, even the strongest orc wouldn't dare claim they could defeat a Naga. The Horde had encountered this situation multiple times: valiant orc warriors charging into knee-deep shallow waters to pursue humans. The Naga, however, wouldn't fight the orcs directly, instead whipping their long serpentine tails to coil around the orcs' legs, dragging them into deep waters and drowning them alive.

This would be met with cheers from the refugees aboard the ships and grim expressions from the orc commanders.

No matter the case, the name Duke Marcus permeated every aspect of people's lives.

For a time, Duke even became more famous than King Llane Wrynn himself.

"Another proposal from Viscount Duke Marcus – he hopes to organize a Javelin Cavalry unit in the Westfall. It doesn't require too much equipment, just a horse and some javelin-throwing training. Even farmers who can only ride horses can complete the initial training within 10 days."

King Llane looked at the report handed in by Marco, who had become Duke's almost full-fledged proxy when Duke was away, and suddenly smiled. It was unclear whether it was a smile of admiration or a bitter smile at Duke's overwhelming talent.

"In terms of warfare, Viscount Duke Marcus seems to have an amazing foresight," said Duke Bolvar Fordragon, with a phrasing that wouldn't stimulate the nobles in the hall. "We must face a problem, which is the loss of food. Although we can get food supplies from Alterac and Stromgarde, the humid seawater and various losses add up, and one pound of wheat is lost on the road for every two pounds. This is already the result of our sailors doing everything they can to save."

"Is that so..." A low murmur rose among the nobles.

The high and mighty nobles had never cared about such things until they lost their territories and sought refuge under Llane's protection. Only then did they start to care about these matters.

Bolvar's voice grew louder: "But, after someone spent a fortune last year to organize mercenaries to clear most of the monsters in Westfall, it has become the largest production area in the kingdom after losing 70% of the Elwynn Forest territories. After the summer harvest ended, it was confirmed that this year's summer crop from Westfall was enough for the 500,000 refugees in Stormwind City to survive the upcoming winter. And for the food transported from Westfall by sea, there's only a loss of five to six pounds for every 100 pounds."

"Wow!" This time, the nobles exaggeratedly exclaimed.

At this point, Llane stood up: "Alright, this proposal doesn't need a vote; I agree."

"Why is it always Viscount Marcus's proposal that gets approved?" muttered a former border count among the nobles, not too loudly but not too quietly either.

Llane's eyes narrowed: "Because it's right, because it's beneficial to the kingdom and the people, that's why I listen. If anyone has any objections, you can present a more reasonable and effective suggestion, and I'll listen here too. If someone has a hundred correct suggestions, I won't mind taking all of them into consideration at once."

The noble's grumbling was actually based on their loss of power.

King Llane used his imposing presence to suppress it all.

Llane's eyes were so clear, his face so determined. To Lothar, history seemed to merge with the present, and a slightly blurred vision outlined a historical painting filled with a sense of antiquity.

In the painting, the last descendant of Emperor Thoradin was abandoned in the desolate Stromgarde and then, with his last supporters, he led the people through thorns and hardships all the way to the southern part of the continent, to the present-day Stormwind City, where they established the Kingdom of Stormwind from scratch.

A thousand years had passed, and many nobles had become corrupt. Lothar felt extremely fortunate that just when the brilliant impression of his late Majesty was about to fade away forever, a young king's towering figure merged with his late Majesty's shadow in the face of national crisis.

Llane Wrynn, a wise and great king. It is precisely because of him that the Kingdom of Stormwind still stands tall.

Lost in thought, the voices in the council chamber suddenly seemed to vanish.

For some inexplicable reason, Garona, who was reporting the strength of the Horde to the nobles and King Llane based on the reports of her scouts, suddenly pulled out her dagger...