Chapter 17, "The Logger" Willard

Villard is a middle-aged man in his fifties, with a very strong body, a thick beard, and gray sideburns. It seems that because of the quarrel with the Druid, he seemed a little depressed. He saw Ryan He came, and stood up directly: "You are Ryan! I have seen you! 'Bald' Norman really has a good son."

"Thank you, Mr. Willard." Ryan expressed his modesty appropriately, and Willard's eyes quickly shifted to Teresa: "What a charming lady, I am honored to know your name Is it?"

"Teresa, Teresa Trovik, from Garland Council." Ryan introduced casually.

"That's it, hello." As Ryan expected, when he heard the Garland Council, Willard's attitude immediately became much colder. The sorceress' attitude was lukewarm, and she simply replied with a polite sentence: "Good day, Mr. Villard."

"Please sit down, please sit down." Willard motioned for the two to sit down, seeing Ryan made him feel much better: "It's really been a long time since I saw you, Ryan, the last time I saw you was when you When you were made a knight of the kingdom?"

"Yes, Mr. Villard came to see my canonization ceremony at that time, I also remember." Ryan nodded, Villard also upgraded from a knight title to a lord, and he has been active on the front line for 20 or 30 years Come on, Ryan respects such a veteran on the battlefield.

"As time goes by, a few years have passed, and you have grown into a great knight, so what's the point of coming to my place?" Willard asked casually, and the lord took out a bag from his cabinet. A bottle of wine and three glasses, just open it and fill it up for two people: "Try it, this is wine from the south of the empire."

Teresa was slightly uncomfortable. Villard's behavior was a bit too straightforward. Before she said she wanted to drink, the lord had already pulled out the cork.

Seeing this, Ryan patted the sorceress's hand lightly, signaling her to do as the Romans did, and then told Willard about Bert, saying that the two of them came after the fallen hunter.

"That's right." Hearing that a powerful fallen hunter came to his territory, and then took the opportunity to escape to the sea, Villard frowned and explained: "As the lord, in order to protect the safety of the subjects, During this period of time, the sea must be banned. As for the issue of going to sea, Ryan, you understand that the ownership of the ship in the port is in the hands of the owner, but the captain can choose to work, and I can’t control this.”

The implication is that this is none of his business.

"I know this. What I want to ask is, can I ask the relevant defenders and dock sailors in detail? And can you help me contact the owner of the ship that downloaded Belt to sea?" Ryan Of course, he knew that Villard would not be willing to take on this responsibility. What he wanted was to obtain permission from the lord to investigate.

"Is that so...Lauritz? Lauritz?" Willard hesitated for a while, and after seeing Ryan's serious expression, he shouted to the outside.

A soldier wearing a full set of chain mail, a standard long sword, a kite shield, and a conical helmet ran in: "What's the matter, my lord?"

"This is my guard chief, Lauritz, Ryan, whatever you want to investigate, Lauritz will be there to assist you...Lauritz, this is the famous knight of the kingdom, Mr. Ryan, and you need to assist him in the investigation. "Willard ordered.

"Yes!"

"Okay, go down, Ryan, what do you want to investigate, just look for him, and I won't participate." The lord made an opening for Ryan, but he didn't hand over the investigation right to Ryan from the beginning to the end. Teresa spoke directly when she saw this : "Isn't Mr. Willard planning to do something about this matter?"

"Hahaha~ What can I do? Beautiful Miss Trovik, I am old. When I participated in Ryan's canonization ceremony, I could go into the deep mountains alone to hunt big bears.

A few years have passed, and this year I went to hunt bears in the deep mountains again. Before I found a bear, my body couldn't bear it anymore. I came back and rested for several days before I recovered. Therefore, these things still have to be left to you young people to do. . Willard laughed, but looked younger: "Of course, if those beastmen and green-skinned bastards dare to invade my territory, then I will definitely go to battle and blow their butts off." "

"Mr. Villard is in his prime, how can he say he is old? We will handle our affairs by ourselves, and it is very good that you can help." Ryan came out to smooth things over and let this topic stop here. He knew in his heart that Villard was right.

The physical function of normal human beings begins to decline from the age of thirty, and begins to decline rapidly from the age of forty-five. Advancement must be done as soon as possible. Before the age of thirty is the best time to hit the legendary stage, and generally after the age of forty-five , it is basically impossible to advance to legend.

Villard's strength is at the peak of the elite, so the decline is slower than that of ordinary people. The lord in his fifties has indeed reached the age of getting old, and the feeling that the powerful ability of the past is slowly leaving him Really uncomfortable.

Only like Ryan or Teresa, after entering the legendary level, the lifespan and physical fitness will be greatly improved. The normal lifespan of the legendary strong is more than 150 years old, and they generally do not wait until they are 100 years old. It will begin to age, and it will not enter old age until it is one hundred and thirty years old.

Teresa's mother, Aurora Trovik, was a powerful figure on the mainland fifty or sixty years ago. When Ryan saw her a few days ago, she still looked like a thirty-year-old beautiful woman. That's why.

After finishing the business, Villard obviously wanted to talk to Ryan more: "Ryan, are you twenty-four or five years old this year? Have you not considered getting married? Would you like me to introduce you to a lady from the lord's family? Don't worry, Absolutely beautiful."

Hearing this topic, Teresa also became interested. She pushed her black-rimmed glasses with a purple butterfly pattern, intending to hear Ryan's answer.

"My time is still long. I don't want to do these things now. I think it's better to let nature take its course." Ryan did not agree.

"That's right, Ryan, your advancement speed is too fast, and now you get married rashly, maybe it's harming you." Villard smiled proudly, and looked at the beautiful female sorceress meaningfully, no longer say.

"You two might as well take a stroll around the city. I have already arranged a banquet. Please come here to attend the banquet tonight." After chatting for a while, Villard said that he still had something to do and invited two people to come to the evening banquet.

The two left the longhouse of the lord's house, and Ryan noticed Teresa's hesitation: "What do you want to say?"

"Maybe these local lords are not as bad as I imagined." Teresa chuckled lightly, showing her mature charm: "In my impression, those local nobles are always dreaming and dreaming, and they only get up from the belly of a woman at noon every day. , always hide behind a high wall, they don't know how to do anything except hold banquets and collect taxes, all property is handed over to the steward, and the clever steward can always spend a few years turning the money of the nobles into his own Yes, whenever there is a battle, these nobles are always the first to flee, but when it is beneficial, they are the first to appear."

"Only those nobles who live in the capital and hold important positions will have some abilities."

"But seeing Mr. Villard today, I found that's not the case. Despite his age, he is still an excellent fighter, isn't he?" Teresa walked beside Ryan, wearing black suede high heels The boots made a rattling sound as they stepped on the road.

"You're right, but not quite right, Teresa, your thinking may still be before the establishment of the old empire." Ryan held the warhammer in his hand and motioned for us to go shopping first: "The law of the new empire stipulates that when a superior When a war is needed, all nobles must respond with troops in proportion to the size of their territories, and those who do not respond will be severely punished."

"Moreover, under the new law, if the lord faces the attack of those evil forces but is unable to hold his own territory before the arrival of reinforcements, it means that he has lost the ownership of this territory. Can he continue to own this territory? A piece of territory depends on the meaning of the parliament."

"In the past, the enfeoffment was mainly based on bloodlines. As long as a pampered waste has noble bloodlines, he can inherit a good fief. However, since His Majesty Ludwig's reform, the current enfeoffment is based on military merit. Only military exploits are eligible to confer land, so most of the current lords have been on the battlefield, and those who have been on the battlefield are naturally not so wasteful."

The two were strolling on the street. The weather was fine today, and the residents were all out for activities. A few kids were having a snowball fight, and the adults were taking advantage of the fine weather to work and wash clothes quickly. There were many people dressed as mercenaries in the street. The last time they acted together, Ryan noticed that they all had a black cloth wrapped around their arms, with a black dagger drawn on it.

"That seems to be the mark of the Gray Blade Mercenary Group. Have these people come here too? It seems that there are indeed many caravans stranded here." Ryan said to Teresa: "The head of the Gray Blade Mercenary Group, Birger He is an elite rogue advanced dagger master, and he likes to use a gray dagger the most. It is said that he once successfully assassinated a high elf, but I don’t know if it is true.”

Teresa frowned and didn't speak. From the perspective of a spellcaster, of course she hated these rogues who liked to attack sneakily. Many strong men didn't die in a direct confrontation but died from a simple backstab.

A group of people got together and didn't know what they were doing. Ryan became interested: "Go and see?"

"Not interested." The sorceress doesn't like to join in the fun, she hates being crowded with a group of smelly men.

"Okay." Ryan saw Teresa didn't want to go, so he led him away from the group of people. It can be seen that the group of mercenaries seemed to have disputes with the merchant's guards because of the payment issue. This kind of thing is commonplace Now, the crowd blocked the road, Ryan simply stretched out his hand to hold Teresa, the two squeezed through the crowd, and after crossing two streets, they found a small shop and sat down. This is a small restaurant that sells some For food, Ryan ordered a grilled pork chop, two bowls of rice porridge and a pot of stew, and a simple lunch was settled for a dozen or so copper coins.

The sorceress picked up her bowl and looked at the stew that was a mess of unknown ingredients. After hesitating for a long time, she put down the bowl: "Why did you choose this place for lunch? Wouldn't it be better to go back to the Butterbeer Hotel?" Okay?"

"We didn't come out to play, Teresa." Ryan said in a deep voice: "We haven't figured out what happened to Belt, and we can't be sure if he really went to Marienburg by sea, so what if it's a hoax? What if Belter just feigned a shot, then found a place to hide himself, and waited for us to go to sea rashly? You know, there are not many legendary powerhouses in the Kingdom of Nord, without you and me, no more Considering Sky Dome, there are no more than 20 or 30 legendary powerhouses in Nord, and many of them cannot move, especially when the northern barbarians gather on a large scale."

Talking about the fallen hunter, Teresa also became serious: "You mean, Belter may not have left Nord?"

"It seems that we don't know yet. Maybe he left, maybe he didn't, but this is not a reason for us to relax. If it is confirmed that he has left and cannot go to sea for a short time, I will cook you a big meal. It's okay, do you understand what I mean?"

"Oh? So you are ordering me? I don't need you to tell me what to do, dear Ryan, I understand the priorities." The sorceress raised her head, her eyes full of provocation: "Or do you think you Is it my boss?"

"Do you want to compete? I will accompany you at any time." Ryan looked at the sorceress' dissatisfied expression with a smile.

"Tsk, bi... um! Let me go!" As soon as the words fell, the two bright wrists of the sorceress were firmly pressed on the table by the knight of the kingdom. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't break free from the steel The shackles that are generally strong, after five minutes of hard work, the whole face turned red, the sorceress murmured: "Don't you know how to be gentle with ladies? It's a pity that you still call yourself a gentleman."

"Of course I'm a gentleman. Please, beautiful lady. After lunch, let's go to the pier." Ryan let her go.

Sometimes it's fun to bully this mature sister Yu, Ryan thought with a wicked taste in his heart.

Lunch was just an episode. At the end of the episode, an unexpected guest suddenly appeared in front of the two of them.

This uninvited guest has a very handsome appearance, smooth long hair, and slightly pointed ears. In the eyes of humans, he looks like an elf, but Ryan has seen real elves, and he knows that if he looks like an elf in the eyes of elves Humanity.

It's a half-elf.

It was the half-elf I met at the gate of the city before.

"You are 'Sledgehammer' Ryan? Hello, let me introduce myself, my name is Estelle, I come from the San Lorenzo Forest, I still remember the battle against the Beastmen you participated in at the Oblie River five years ago The siege of the war gang?" The half-elf noticed that Ryan's hand was on the hammer, so he said that he had no malicious intentions, but his tone was quite arrogant.

Ryan rolled his eyes, and he remembered that he had indeed participated in that battle: "Yes, I do remember that a team of half-elf rangers joined Nord's team and made a lot of contributions to that battle. What's your opinion? What are you doing?"

"Can you move on and talk about it in detail?"

"Let's just say it here."