Chapter 16, Mr. Plant’s Request

Kil followed the team. He approached behind Knight Crow and let others present know Kil's identity.

The armored metal boots made a clicking sound when walking on the ground in the central area of ​​the manor. Kil thought that he should add some cushioning soles to the bottom of the boots to prevent the sound from being too conspicuous when walking.

"Young man, what do you call me?"

Next to him, a middle-aged man who should be the son of Knight Gulov approached Kiel and started a friendly conversation.

Kil quickly bowed to the other party: "Sir, I am the knight squire of Knight Crow, Joe Kil. I am from Kendall City."

"Squire Knight, you are so young. Looking at you reminds me of my elder brother when he was young."

The middle-aged man said.

"Have you not asked your name yet?"

"Don't call me an adult. I'm not an adult. Anyway, it's never my turn to take my father's place. Oh, look at my brain. I'm Pland Gulov, my father's younger brother. son."

After speaking, he shrugged.

Knight Crow, who was walking in front, glanced at Keir and ignored him. At this time, they had walked along the stone road to the tall house in the center of the manor. This large house made of stone and pine wood was a usable Come as a place for banquets.

At this time, a fire has been set up in the center, with metal grills for grilling food set up around it. Many servants are busy under the command of the chef.

Not only that, outside the fire in the center are long dining tables made of wooden tables. Outside, there is an open kitchen that has been moved. At this time, more people are busy here preparing a large amount of exquisite food.

In a corner of the spacious room, there was even a group of troupe musicians playing music, and a bard invited from Pine Needles Town was making final preparations for singing.

The baron and the owner of the manor sat down at the upper seats of the dining table, and then the others did not follow so many rules and just sat down according to their own preferences.

The two knights were greeted by men who were curious and envious of them, while the old knight's daughters sat closer to where the music was playing. A woman seemed to be familiar with the bard. After saying hello, I personally poured some red wine and sent it over.

Purender-Gulov, who was talking to Kiel, curled his lips in disgust at his sister: "Look, even though his husband and children are still there, that guy doesn't care about anything, and is talking to everyone in the town. The charming bard is so close. Kil, look carefully to see which woman here is not gritting her teeth about this."

Kil glanced around casually and found that it was indeed the case. Although some people were sitting down and waiting for their meals, they all stared with burning eyes at the old knight's daughter who was having a passionate fight with the bard.

He was not interested in this. After he and Mr. Pland found a place to sit down casually, he boasted about his deeds of 'slaying demons and slaying demons'.

"I led people directly through the Goblin settlement and blocked the remaining stubborn Goblins in one of their weird sacrificial sites. You don't know how weird that place is!"

Kil took off his helmet, placed it on the dining table in front of him, and then gestured with his hands to illustrate the story he was saying.

"How weird is that?"

Mr. Purrender's eyes gleamed when he heard this. Although he was born in a knight family, it was obvious that as the youngest son, he had never personally participated in the adventures that Keel mentioned since he was a child.

Keir lowered his voice and pointed at his head with his finger: "In that monster's sacrificial site, there are piles of various skulls like a hill! All of them are white bones with only the head left!"

Not only Mr. Plant, but also several other people nearby who were attracted by curiosity were frightened by what Kiel said.

"All of them?"

"Pile into a hill?"

Keir chuckled: "Of course the hill is an analogy, but."

He looked around: "The heads there can at least fill the ground here, well, up to the calves!"

Several people swallowed in fear. Several grandchildren from the Gurov family, who were about the same age as Kiel, looked at the figure of Baron Kendall. Unexpectedly, Baron Kendall, who looked rich and powerful, would be behind him. In that border development county, there was such a terrifying monster settlement.

But the middle-aged Mr. Plant was quite calm: "Since you are still here at this time, it means that that place must have been defeated and destroyed by you, right?"

"Yes, I and the militia leader of another village led people to defeat the weird goblins guarding there, and then set fire to the place. But it also involved me defeating the weird creations sacrificed by the goblins on my own. "

I was about to ask Kil what kind of strange sacrificial creature he defeated and how he defeated it, but before Mr. Plant opened his mouth, in the center of the dining table, the old knight Gurov used a silver spoon to look at the exquisite workmanship made of pure silver. The crisp sound of the dinner plates made the restaurant quiet.

"Let us welcome a group of guests from Kendall County, Baron Kendall, Knight Crow, and Knight Rumi." The old knight Gurov said loudly with a majestic voice.

"The reason they are visiting my manor is because they want to lead the army to the southern part of the kingdom to support the arduous resistance there to the neighboring countries' infringement of our interests! Let us be proud of them!"

Baron Kendall took the crystal cup filled with red wine from the attendant who followed behind him, and gestured to the old knight's family.

He didn't say much. After all, the old Knight Gulov was old. Since he became an adult, he no longer manages many things, let alone the distant things in the southern part of the kingdom.

As the two people at the head table began to eat the specially prepared meals, the butler who had been waiting next to them waved his hand and asked the servants to quickly deliver the food to everyone at the table.

Roasted wild beast meat, big fish from the river, soft raised chicken, good meat from livestock. These things were processed in various ways by the chefs and served by the servants in turn.

There’s not a lot of anything, but there’s obviously a lot of variety.

A kind of ingredient can be transformed into many ways in the hands of a chef. If Keir hadn't been a flower grower in his previous life, he would probably have been confused when he came into contact with these dazzling array of foods for the first time.

"Please don't be polite. There are just a lot of variety in these things, and there's not much else. My father traveled all over the country when he was young and visited many places. He actually wrote down many of the things he ate at that time. When he settled down, He also gave the preparation methods of those foods to many cooks who served him.”

Mr. Plant shook his head and said indifferently.

"He is always like this, sleeping in the memories of the past. If Baron Kendall hadn't been there, I'm sure he would have been talking endlessly about the origins of various foods."

Hearing what Mr. Plant said, some of the grandchildren nearby laughed secretly.

Keir also smiled politely, took off his gloves, and ate the food with the tableware brought by the servants. Compared to Kiel, Baron Kendall was much more particular. His servant took out pieces of the baron's special tableware from the satchel carried on his side. When the baron needed something, he immediately handed it to the baron.

Knight Crow was not particular about it and asked the chef to bring him and Knight Rumi each a whole lamb roasted on the central fire.

Knight Rumi also ordered a whole large grilled fish.

The people in the Gulov knight family are not surprised by this. After all, their father or grandfather would occasionally eat so much food after exercising at the training ground, and the knights were all so good at eating.

They've known it since they were kids.

In comparison, Kiel's appetite was at the level of an ordinary person, so he could only eat a little more. This was because he had gone through a long march during the day, and even riding on horseback would have consumed more energy than usual.

But it couldn't compare to the guards and militiamen who had been walking all day.

-

While eating, Gere talked to Mr. Plant again.

From the conversation, we learned that Mr. Plant, as the youngest son of the old knight, was responsible for the management of some of the family's passing business trips in Pine Needle Town.

Pine Needle Town is next to the river and on a commercial road, so there are many business travelers coming and going.

These business trips brought a lot of wealth to the town, and allowed the Gurov family to rely on this wealth to establish such a manor specifically to serve the old knights.

"Actually, most of the family members live in the town or work as village managers in various villages. They all live a good life."

Mr. Plant said casually, and he glanced at Keir.

"But you know, my father is old. Although he is still unrivaled around the town, he has not walked out of this 'cocoon' that he personally created for himself for a long time."

Kil blinked and wiped his mouth stained with meat sauce with a soft cloth placed on the dining table: "Did something happen?"

After a chuckle, Mr. Plant then said: "Although the merchants on the trade road have brought us wealth, they are also outsiders, unlike the nobles and knights who are all locals."

"Although those people are generally polite in doing things, some people are very rude."

A young man next to him asked: "Is it about the Ska Chamber of Commerce from the east?"

Mr. Plant pushed the young man's head away and continued: "It's a matter called the Ska Chamber of Commerce."

Keir ate and listened to the explanation from the man next to him.

"That chamber of commerce comes from the east, and I heard that it has a good background. As soon as it came to Pine Needle Town, it made a lot of people unhappy. They were too domineering. They occupied a residential house in the town, and even though they gave money, they still forcefully took over the house. They were driven away immediately.”

"Then what?" Kil asked.

"More than that, they have a lot of manpower, and they have a lot of thugs who followed them to help them work. After occupying a residential house as their stronghold in the town, they also used a village within the town as their base. General stronghold.”

"It doesn't sound like he's doing business." Kil was a little confused.

"Business is still going on, and they want to get involved in every business. They use their financial resources to confuse many guys who are foraging in the fields. Some people do the same business as them, but they are quickly beaten by their thugs and forced to quit."

Keir chuckled lightly: "They have thugs. Do the businessmen in the town just rely on their words to 'persuade' the bandits who rob the business roads? Perhaps when they do local business, they also rely on reason to fight for business. ?"

Mr. Plant drank a little drink: "Of course not. But generally everything in the town is managed by our family. They do business in Pine Needles Town, so they naturally show favor to our family."

"Then how do you deal with this tough foreign chamber of commerce? And why did they come to Pine Needles Town? I guess they and you all know the reason, right?"

Keir thought for a moment and said something that made Mr. Plant unhappy.

"Hey, I know. But actually you don't need to do anything. You just need to bring some people, not many, dozens of people. Just bring dozens of people over and let those people take a look. I will take a look when I return to the manor from the town in the evening. The soldiers who have been to you are very elite. There is no need to fight, just show them off, scare them, and let them know that there is such a reinforcement in the town. Those people will naturally live in peace."

Keir felt that the middle-aged man in front of him was really naive.

It is said that a strong dragon cannot suppress local snakes. The Ska Chamber of Commerce realized that the old knight was now old and unable to cope with it. They led their forces to forcefully enter the Pine Needle Town area in order to seize the good place of Pine Needle Town that relies on trade roads and rivers.

Now that he has made this plan, he is of course ready to break up with the local forces.

Maybe the Chamber of Commerce can't deal with the old knight who lives in the manor, but it's okay if they don't come here to cause trouble at all. Elsewhere, eroding the power of the Gulov family.

The big and small business travelers who come and go don't care who is running Pine Needle Town. They will do business with whoever wins.

Now the Ska Chamber of Commerce only occupies a village and does not dare to confront the Gulov family in the town, but Kil believes that in a few years, the other party will take over the Gulov family's properties and follow them one by one in the town. The forces of the Gurov family were defeated one by one.

The chambers of commerce in this different world basically coexist with business and force. After all, public security relies on the independent efforts of each place. As long as you go to the wild, it is basically a 'free' environment where force is supreme.

Free business, free robbery, free counterattack, free killing, free revenge, free reward.

Out of doubt, Keir still asked: "Isn't there a town militia controlled by your family in Pine Needles?"

"Militia?" Mr. Plant was stunned for a moment.

"They are all immigrants. If they are allowed to organize their own militia, it will be difficult. You understand, right?" Mr. Plant stammered.

Kil rolled his eyes, understanding all at once.

In this Gurov family, except for the old knight Gulov and the eldest son of the knight who will never come back, everyone else is a softie.

In order to prevent the relocated people from gaining power that they could not handle, each village and Pine Needle Town were not allowed to establish their own defense militia organizations.

Maybe their life is too comfortable.

"Without the militia, wouldn't you worry about attacks from monsters or wild beasts here?"

Mr. Plant smiled and said: "Don't be ridiculous, when my father was still active, all the monsters and beasts in the entire territory were killed countless times. When I was young, I ate beast meat every day. , and some weird stuff.”

"That's it." Kil was stunned for a moment, then looked up and saw a map of the territory of Pine Needle Town spelled out on the wall with colored stones in the corner of the room used for dining and banquets.

Seeing Keel looking at the thing, Mr. Plant explained it to Keel.

As expected by Kiel, the entire territory of Pine Needle Town is a vast area, basically distributed along part of the lower tributaries of the Kendall River and trade routes.

They are all good places.

The bad and dangerous mountains and forests are actually in the territory of other nobles.

Old Knight Gulov is really good at picking places!

But wouldn't this make the entire territory appear both rich and harmless?

It was fine when the knight was strong and active, and he could just work more hard. But now that Knight Gurov is old, those places are no longer under his control.

The Ska Chamber of Commerce may just be the first one who dares to test it out. The other large chambers of commerce are just waiting to see if the Gulov family in Pine Needle Town has the power to protect this place.

-

After finishing the meal, the music in the corner of the room gradually became louder. The bard who had already prepared for the performance officially took the stage and sang an ancient poem with a very magnetic voice.

Many young people and women gathered around. After all, to be honest, this bard is really capable. Those guys in the same profession in Kendall City can only lift his shoes and carry a urinal. What.

But Kil had no intention of listening to this unknown poem. Instead, he spoke to Mr. Plant. After learning about the Ska Chamber of Commerce, he walked to Knight Crowe and whispered this poem. The request was forwarded to the knight.

Of course he knew why people came to him.

From a knight's squire who can be brought to the table to set up a line with the knights who really make the decision, after making such an embarrassing and excessive request, their family will not cause publicity and embarrassment regardless of whether it is rejected.

If possible, connect the line from Kiel so it won't appear too abrupt.

If it doesn't work, then going from Kiel to the Cavaliers is rejected. The Barons are also better looking.

Knight Crowe listened carefully to Kil's explanation. Then he thought for a while and stared at Kil.

Keir felt a little strange.

But Knight Crow then quietly discussed something with Knight Rumi.

Knight Rumi showed no concern, and even gave Knight Crow a smile on his shoulder.

Later, Knight Crow found the Baron who was chatting with the old knight after finishing the meal.

Several people said something at the top, and the old knight Gurov was obviously not happy, but he looked helpless. Baron Kendall looked surprised and asked the old knight something.

The old knight reluctantly said something, which made Baron Kendall hold the other person's hand and pat it gently a few times.

Then the baron told Knight Crow something. After the knight accepted the order, he received something from the old knight, and then walked towards Mr. Keir and Mr. Plant.

"There are quite a lot of people here, let's find a quieter place to talk?"

Knight Crow said to Mr. Plant.

"Of course, of course!" What happened just now, Plant also saw what Knight Crow received from the old Gulov, and naturally knew what it meant.

He looked around, and then called his other brother and one of his sister's husbands. The three of them took Knight Crow and Kil under the leadership of the servants and walked out of here, in the center of the lush manor. Chu Xiao walked for a while and came to another tall house.

"This is actually the place where we usually eat at home. There is no one in there now, and it is relatively empty, so it is suitable for talking."

Knight Crow nodded and walked in.

Keir followed suit.