Chapter 15, Knight Gulov’s Retirement Estate

Keir walked through the camp, which was growing quiet.

Because he was wearing thick iron armor and had his helmet visor opened. So the patrols he met on the road did not stop him from crossing the camp. The previous 'boxing match' at least gave Kiel some reputation in the team.

People who do good deeds gave Keir the nickname "River Pearl Stone". It seemed strange. After asking the Crow Knight, Keir found out that the small pebbles washed out of the river by the Kendal people were called river beads. It means a small, slippery and hard stone core.

The general meaning is that Kiel is young and capable of hitting, just like the smallest stone in the river. It may look like nothing, but it is actually much stronger than ordinary pebbles.

However, some people who hated Kiel gave him another nickname: "Top Grass", mocking the fact that Kiel was knocked to the ground with one hand by the same young priest. It's just that only a few people use this nickname in private.

I don't dare to talk nonsense outside, after all, Kiel is a popular man under Knight Crow. Everyone was neither stupid nor blind, and they could all see that Knight Crow valued the young man Kiel very highly.

Some people spread rumors that several fake businessmen who were caught outside Bingshuan Pass and wanted to assassinate them were all executed by Keel later on the Kendall River.

This news was not confirmed, so it was not widely circulated.

At the gate of the camp, two knights were already waiting here. Of course, the knight could not be waiting for Kiel. Kiel also knew himself. After walking over, he silently saluted the two knights, and then stood silently behind Knight Crow.

However, while waiting for Baron Kendall to change his clothes, the two knights turned around and looked at the new armor that Kil had recently put on for the first time.

"It doesn't look like the work of any armor master from Organ Castle?" Knight Rumi looked at the armor model on Kil's body and compared it with the many armors used by ordinary people in his memory, but they were all different.

Knight Crow touched his neatly trimmed beard and said cheerfully: "Haha, you won't guess. This armor is the latest work of our armor craftsmen in Kendall City!"

Knight Rumi opened his eyes wide. After all, there had never been a master craftsman in Kendall City who could make iron armor before, and looking at what Kil was wearing, it was wrapped tightly. It was obviously not something that an average craftsman could make. .

"You know? Tell me in detail."

As a knight, Knight Rumi is naturally more interested in this kind of topic.

So Knight Crowe talked about how Baron Kendall saved a master armor craftsman who was in trouble and placed him in the craftsman area of ​​​​the city. Then he talked about how the baron asked the church priests in the craftsman area to select a young and promising apprentice to learn from that apprentice.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for the apprentice named Ganner to show off his leather armor work at last year's Harvest Festival celebration and officially became an armor craftsman.

Unexpectedly, it didn't stop there. After a winter of preparation, the other party actually built such a full-coverage armor for Kil with complicated parts and good defense.

"Speaking of which, although that young man Ganner can also make ordinary leather armor, he seems to be better at full-coverage ones."

Knight Crow was a little confused.

"Is it the one that Kil often wore before?" Knight Rumi guessed.

"Ah, yes, that's the one. Kil, you are familiar with that Ganner, right?"

Knight Crow asked Kil.

Kil couldn't help but rub his nose: "Hey, to be honest with you two knights, the idea of ​​full-coverage armor was mainly proposed by me."

"oh?"

"oh?"

Both of them uttered confused questions in unison.

Kiel explained: "The main reason is that when I hunted monsters before, I was alone without anyone else around me to look after me, so I wanted to think of ways to improve the defense in various details to prevent myself from being injured in the battle. It was a small accident, but it was taken care of by the monster. So when I asked the Gana craftsman to make me armor, I specially designed the armor to cover the whole body. I didn't expect that he could really make it."

The two nodded: "It can definitely be made. After all, there is not much difference between ordinary leather armor and tightly covered armor. It is just that more various body parts are needed to cover the body."

Knight Crow continued: "When I ordered the leather armor worn by the guards in the provincial capital, I specifically asked the large workshops that made the armor to learn a lot."

He called a guard standing guard at the entrance of the camp, then pointed to the armor the guard was wearing at this time and explained: "Every part of the armor worn by the guards has been calculated. After all, there are dozens of sets of armor, and every time more armor is added, Although one component will increase the defense power of the guards, the overall price will increase by a large amount."

"And with every additional component, the possibility of subsequent repair damage will increase, and the repair cost after damage will also increase a lot. When we did not have professional armor craftsmen in Kendall City, the baron would go to the province after winter every year. I brought it with me when I was working at the Capital Organ Castle, went there to find someone to repair it, and then asked the caravan to bring it back."

Knight Rumi nodded aside: "Yes, the guards wear armor all day long. Due to training and daily wear and tear, the armor will always wear out."

The guard who was used as an example scratched his head in embarrassment, and added a little cautiously: "Everyone cherishes the armor they wear."

Knight Crow rolled his eyes: "Yes, yes, you cherish it very much. I still remember when I first distributed the armor to you, there was a guy who slept with his armor at night, driving his wife out of bed at home."

"It's not me. I didn't do that. I asked someone to make an armor stand at home. I take off my armor and put it on the armor stand when I go home every day. I also spent my own money to buy some grease and put it on the armor stand every day. I’m going to brush my armor!”

This guard was very convincing, and everyone looked at his armor carefully. Sure enough, it was shiny with oil, and it was better maintained than other guards' armor.

Knight Crow encouraged the guard and asked him to return to his post, and then told Knight Rumi how he had argued with the master armor craftsmen who made the armor over the guard's armor.

Kil then learned something about armor.

It turns out that the armor worn by the knights in battle was made by master craftsmen in the provincial capital of Organ Castle.

Although he has never seen those people, Kil guessed that those master craftsmen were either big and thick, strong enough to lift a person with one hand, or like the craftsman priest who reforged his long sword to hunt, he could use the power given by the gods. Divine power assists in making weapons and equipment.

As he spoke, Baron Kendall walked over surrounded by his attendants and personal guards.

"Ah, you two have been waiting for a long time. When I came out, my wife persuaded me to bring some clothes besides my military uniform. It really came in handy this time!" The baron was in high spirits. After all, he had been marching from Kendall City for many days. He was tired of the same old uniformity in the army.

Today, a familiar local knight lord happened to invite him as a guest. He couldn't wait to put on the dress that he didn't want to bring, and followed his friends to the appointment in high spirits.

Logically speaking, he and the two knights should not have left the camp to attend the appointment. After all, if something happens in the camp and no one is in control of the army, it will be easily defeated at night.

But Knight Crow was brave and careful, and knew that the place where the army was stationed was very close to the manor of the knight who invited them, and it was a place that could be seen with the naked eye. If something really happened, he or Knight Rumi would be able to get over it in a very short time just by running and jumping hard.

So tonight is no problem.

Moreover, Baron Kendall and the local knight lord who invited them, Knight Gulov, were very familiar with each other. Even Baron Kendall's father had known the elderly knight for more than ten years.

So now the three of them were invited to the manor for a banquet.

It was said that it was a banquet, but in fact it was just an overnight stay. After all, their army would not be repairing locally and would set off tomorrow morning.

-

Because the camp was very close to the manor, no one was riding horses. The baron brought all his attendants with him, and also brought three personal guards to guard him as the basic appearance of a nobleman.

As for the two knights, Knight Rumi was alone, wearing a 'thin' armor that would not be used on the battlefield for their knights. He did not wear the proper metal helmet on his head. Instead, he had a helmet that he didn't know where to find. The brown wide-brimmed wool felt hat I came here is also decorated with the tail feathers of a blue-tailed bird, which is quite playful.

Knight Crow is much more old-fashioned. Although he also wears a 'light' armor, he still wears a helmet, just hanging on the belt around his waist.

Kil looked at it, took off his helmet, and hung it on his waist.

He followed the knight, who in turn followed the baron.

After they were a little far away from the camp, the lighting at the entrance of the camp no longer bothered them.

Although there is a dry dirt road underfoot, there are open wheat fields on both sides.

The baron looked at the darkness around him and rubbed a ring on his finger.

The ring was inlaid with milky white crystal gems. After rubbing it with his fingers a little, a white light group the size of a grape shot directly from the ring.

Although the light group was a little small, its brightness was far brighter than ten grease candles. In an instant, the ground around ten meters was illuminated.

Kil's eyes widened as he stared at the bright ball of light floating above the Baron's head. He couldn't stand it after just staring for a while, so he had to blink hard and look elsewhere.

I didn't expect the baron to be able to do this, but I didn't know whether it was a priest's method that believed in gods, or a legendary magician's method.

After walking for a while, several male servants hurried over from the direction of the manor.

They glanced at the glowing white ball above the baron's head in fear, then put the torch aside and gave the baron a very formal salute, and then gave the two knights a more formal salute.

Then they whispered to the baron's attendant, who then informed the baron of their intention.

"Lead the way? Then let's go."

After the baron finished speaking, he walked towards the manor getting closer and closer under the guidance of the local knight's servants.

-

Gradually approaching the manor, the baron had obviously been here before, and he spoke to the two knights behind him about the situation here.

"The manor is old Gulov's retirement residence. He usually doesn't live in the town. It's too noisy for him. Even if he lives there for half his life."

said the baron.

"I have been here twice before. Once when I was young, my father took me to visit here. At that time, the ground was just broken, and our family provided the architectural design of the manor for Knight Gulov!"

Having said this, the Baron was obviously proud.

"Then I came here again with my son. At that time, Gurov was called Old Gulov. He handed over the affairs of the town to his sons and daughters to rule, and he has been here ever since. Waiting for his eldest son, who is so much expected, to come back from his long journey."

The two knights looked at each other: "Then his son is back?"

The baron opened his hands: "Oh, no. Because his eldest son found another noble in the east of the kingdom to take refuge. Now he is also a knight lord. Moreover, there are more people and the territory is more prosperous. Haha."

All three laughed.

Listening to these people talking about their master, the servants leading the way took a few steps away in embarrassment, pretending not to hear.

They all knew that the old master had lost his temper countless times because of this. I heard that the old master wrote many times to beg the young master to return home and inherit the territory and responsibilities, but every time the young master responded to the letter, the old master became furious.

A chamberlain who took personal care of the old knight once whispered that the young master actually asked the old master in his letter to come and retire at his place.

The territory of Pine Needle Town was handed over to the local baron, and other wandering knights were chosen to manage it.

The old master's other children were furious about this.

Later, on the way, Baron Kendall talked about a local delicacy in Pine Needle Town. He heard that it was made from minced pine nuts near the town and stuffed into the bellies of poultry. It tasted very delicious.

There may be similar practices in other places, but the production here uses pine needles as flame fuel. The food produced in this way has the fragrance of pine from the inside out, and the poultry is full of the smell of pine oil.

Very unique.

The manor soon arrived.

At the gate of the manor, the old Knight Gulov, as people said, was not as old as people said. He stood upright, and after the baron walked in, he walked quickly to the baron and saluted him.

The baron also personally returned a courtesy that was reserved for old nobles.

This kind of etiquette is generally a unique courtesy that upper-ranking nobles give back to lower-ranking nobles who are much younger than themselves.

From behind, Kil also used the martial etiquette taught by Knight Crow on the old knight. Especially suitable for this kind of performance when wearing armor.

After a while of greetings, the old knight's children who stayed with him also saluted the three of them. The baron just nodded, then stepped forward and took the old knight's hand, and the two walked into the manor while talking.

The two knights simply returned the salute, and Kil formally saluted the sons and daughters of the old knight behind the two knights.

It seems troublesome, but Kil is actually the simplest. When someone gestures to him, he just returns the gesture and that's it.

It doesn’t take much thinking.

"Mr. Ken, look, these trees in the manor are taller than the houses!"

The baron talked to the old knight, and then talked about the changes in the manor. For the Baron, he has been here a few times, and it has changed a lot every time. But for Knight Ken Gulov, although there have been many changes here, he has lived here for many years and has never seen anyone. Talk to him about changes.

It reminded him of how many years had flown by, and how many years he had spent talking to Baron Kendall.

The others followed behind the two, and there were not many topics of conversation. Only a younger son of the old knight told the two knights about their trip to lead the army.

The old knight's manor is very large. Not including the surrounding fields and woods and ponds, the manor itself is almost the same size as Kendall.

Not only does the old knight's family live here, there are also related servant families and ordinary people who depend on this place.

Basically, it is no different from a small village with complete facilities.

It's just that here it is more about serving the old knight family.

The entire manor is oval in shape, surrounded by a two-meter-high earth wall. Inside, ordinary residents live in a full circle around the wall, followed by servants. In the center is the old knight's house and his children. independent house.

Although his children all live more in Pine Needles.

Compared to the town, this place was like an old guy like their father, stubborn and unchanging.

The manor that Baron Kendall's father designed for the old knight has been well preserved after so many years.

The ellipsoid-shaped manor has a circle of trees for shade and shade, which prevents the old knight who lives in the center of the manor from seeing the fields and houses outside the manor. The perimeter of the entire manor is a hard ground reinforced with rammed earth. Some of the places that maintain the manor's facilities are arranged in the outermost circle. Once the servants live under the shade of trees, the place becomes interesting.

There are ponds for viewing and a small racecourse for raising horses, and there is also a training ground surrounded by tall earth walls.

Unfortunately, when passing by the training ground, Kiel saw that no one had used it for a long time. Even though the training ground was cleaned by the servants, he could still tell the difference between someone using it and someone not using it.

Thinking about it this way, the old knight did not wear the armor or weapons that showed the identity of the knight during this formal meeting, but wore a dress. Sure enough, Knight Gurov was indeed old.

Even if he is physically strong, he may no longer be able to afford the heavy armor worn by knights, and the old man can't stand the armor worn by ordinary people at all. So even if he only wears a dress uniform, he will not wear the armor of an ordinary cavalryman.

The old man's persistence is always in these places.

Kil had seen Knight Lanissa wearing some better-looking cavalry armor. After all, compared to the particularly thick knight-specific armor, the armor of the cavalry, who are similar to ordinary people, is much more normal.

It is also more suitable for ordinary people's aesthetics.

It's just that the old knight has been a knight all his life, and it is probably impossible for him to wear ordinary people's armor.

-

The old knight had many children, plus the adult children's partners and children. Even if not all of them were here at this time, Keir felt that this family was quite large.

The old knight and the baron were in a lively conversation, and the two deliberately walked around the worth-seeing places in the entire manor to watch them at night.

Don’t worry about not being able to view this manor at night, the glowing white ball on Baron Kendall’s head never dissipates. This thing provided far more illumination than the oil lamps in the servants' hands, making the night as bright as day.

Some of the children of the old knights were curious about the origin of this thing, and Baron Kendall generously told others.

He showed one of the rings on his finger and told everyone that with the resources at the Noble Council, he could get the production possibility of the relevant magician.

Similar to this lighting ring, a rudimentary product can be made by a magician with only dozens of gold coins.

The baron then prayed and strengthened the magic ring at the Church of the Sun God. Because it involves the concept of illumination, which is directly managed by the Sun God priesthood, after spending some resources from the church, his lighting ring changed from a magical creation that required magic energy to a permanent creation that is half magic and half divine. .

Magic shines, divine power powers.

Although there is a limit on the daily duration, as long as the thing is not broken, this thing can be used for a long, long, long time.

"Maybe it can be used as a family heirloom."

Baron Kendall spread his hands and smiled.

But then he said: "But compared to these things, I prefer this manor that has been used for decades. These exquisite designs are full of my father's ideas and ingenuity."

The old knight Gulov touched his gray beard: "Haha, not bad. The longer you live here, the more comfortable you will feel here."

His children curled their lips. They had lived here since childhood, but they did not like this retirement manor designed for their father.

Then everyone passed through the servant area, and after walking across a wooden bridge passing through dense shrubs, entered the central area of ​​the manor.