Chapter 342 (1/2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The troublesome things on the Baron Keane Hill, which had happened because of the harvest, had finally ended.

About a month later, another messenger of the Grand Duke of Thunder came to Keane City from the capital. The strength of this high-level knight was powerful, so naturally, Crick and his men couldn’t strike a heavy blow at him secretly. He also had a high-level mage with him. However, no matter how strong they were, Crick always replied with the same words. “As a reward for receiving protection, I sold the crops to the Church of Void Mask.”

The messenger did not believe this reply at first, but they couldn’t find the large number of crops that should be piled up after searching for it again and again. And the results of lie-detecting spells also proved that the crops were no longer at Keane Hill. So they had to give up and sneak away.

As for the option of “grabbing crops from the Church of Void Mask,” those who would do such a thing were basically unlikely to die before becoming a high-level strongman. It was like the question on earth that asked, “Why aren’t American middle-class people killed when fighting against the police?” The reason was very simple. These kinds of people were either in the bottom layer of society or among the rich second generation. In short, it was unlikely for them to enter the middle class…

Before he left, the knight from the capital solemnly warned Crick. He mainly told him about the knight’s virtues, such as being patriotic and loyal to the throne, being dedicated and diligent, and being selfless and contributing. Crick seemed to listen carefully to his speech, nodding again and again, but refused to promise anything.

Seeing that he was pretending to not understand his implication, the knight who had a high status was somewhat annoyed.

“Baron Keane, you are also a knight of the Grand Duke, so don’t forget the rules of the knights!” he shouted in a strict voice.

“A knight?” Crick asked, smiling. “When I was fighting a bloody battle in the battlefield of Sun’s Death Day with the Groundbreaking Knight (the God of Knights), I didn’t remember seeing you. Could you tell me where you were fighting? What was your achievement?”

The knight’s face suddenly became dark, and he couldn’t say a word.

He suddenly realized that the former baron, who was sick in front of him, was a fierce person who had survived the bloody battle in which legendary strongman had only been soldiers. Moreover, he was also a hero who had fought alongside the God of Knights. In the aspect of “Knight’s Virtues” and “Knight’s Rules,” the baron could be called a model.

One was just asking to be insulted if they talked about that with Keane!

After wrinkling his eyebrows for a long time, the knight said again, “Even if you don’t think about the problem from the perspective of a knight, you should consider the problem from the perspective of a lord.”

This was an implied threat, but it still couldn’t make Crick change his mind.

“How do you see my territory?” Crick asked with a smile.

After being silent for a while, the knight said, “Good. Although the place is not big, it operates very well. The life of the people is stable, and the army is also trained well. According to the condition of the territory, it’s hard to imagine that just two years before, the territory sent troops to participate in the war. In the past two years, I have seen several territories which sent troops to participate in the war at that time. They were unable to recover from the heavy losses. Some of them focused on the people’s livelihood, so the army was full of rookies and cellars, complete rubbish; some paid attention to the army, so they levied so many taxes that the life of the people was unbearably hard. But those two problems don’t appear at Keane Hill. The big battle seems to have had no influence on here at all. It is incredible!”

“Actually, we also suffered heavy losses at the beginning.” Crick sighed. “Even I, the lord, was seriously injured. My best friend, Spencer, died on the battlefield. You can imagine the situation.”

The knight nodded with respect.

“But, I still led my people to quickly climb out of the trough and re-develop,” Crick said, smiling. “I think I am kind of a good lord, right?”

The knight nodded.

“So, do you think that I’m a person who has no sense of importance and who courts death?”

The knight was silent and then smiled.

“You are right; I was worried overly.”

Crick said, sighing, “But there is something I’ve been wondering, our grand duke… What is he thinking about?”

The knight stunned. Crick said again, “I have asked myself this, and I think I’m loyal to his majesty. He wanted to support the Kingdom of Eagle, so I brought all the properties of my territory to the battlefield, and I almost died there. As a result, I came back with injuries and wounds, and all of my subordinates almost died. He did not give me a single word of condolence, nor did he give me a little bit of comfort. Now he turns around to ask me to support others?!”

The knight sighed deeply, looking very sad. “Sir, don’t you think this is a bit inappropriate? Maybe some bad character is around his majesty encouraging him to make mistakes?”

The knight was silent for a long time and finally sighed deeply again.