Chapter 244 Territory Affairs and the Four Rangers

Azerien, who has been planning major events in his life, knows more about the marriage form of the nobles of Orland than Leon, and has already prepared a marriage contract with Raya.

After discussing the process of the celebration held in advance with Leon, he planned to hold a wedding that combines the traditions of Orland and Serrian. While the process conforms to local rules, he and Raya are both Serrians after all, and both are believers of the Holy Sun who grew up in the Holy Land City of Rolandar. They still don't want to miss the process of the Holy Sun witnessing the wedding.

The only problem is that there are no priests of the Holy Sun Church nearby.

"Why not ask Miss Sally to preside over the wedding ceremony as a witness?" Leon suggested.

"Okay, I'll go back and discuss it with Raya." Azerien nodded. Now there is no time to find clergy of the Holy Sun Church in Orland, but Miss Sally is familiar with etiquette and church rituals. She is also a devout believer of the Holy Sun and a close friend of Raya. It is indeed appropriate for her to preside over the wedding.

Leon thought about it and couldn't help laughing: "If you want to get the blessing of the Holy Prophet, you two might as well hold the ceremony outdoors in the fountain square."

"Why?" Azerien was puzzled. He originally planned to hold it in the main hall of the main castle.

Leon couldn't tell him that he could ask the prophet himself to witness their marriage on the balcony of the tower, so he had to laugh it off.

"We don't have priests or church temples, but the sun is in the sky. Under the sunshine, isn't it also witnessed by the Holy Sun?"

"Well, your idea is not bad."

Azerien also felt that it made sense. To some extent, directly bathing in the glory of the Holy Sun might be closer to the great god than the witness of the priest.

After discussing the preparations for the brothers' wedding, Leon took the stack of design drawings beside him while he was still there.

"These drawings for making magic lanterns and lighthouses, I need Miss Raya to organize painters and secretaries to make several copies of them. Be sure to check and verify the copies carefully, and there can't be too many mistakes."

Azerian picked it up and looked at it, wondering: "What is it used for?"

"It is a weapon against the disaster of the undead, called..."

Leon paused, remembering that Laura really didn't name it. It can be called a soul-fixing device in terms of function, but it's not very loud.

"This is called the 'Sacred Lamp for the Soul'. After the caster activates it, it can protect the people around and fight against magic that hurts the soul."

He casually gave this magic device a decent name.

When Azerian heard that it was such an important thing, he didn't dare to delay, and immediately picked up the manuscript paper: "Okay, I'll find Raya to do it now."

Seeing him leave in a hurry, Leon turned back and saw that Olivia had written their marriage contract, so he took the leather tube and rolled it up for storage.

Seeing that Leon didn't notice, the girl quickly and unnoticeably put the mushy version into the lower layer of the drawer and hid it, intending to read it privately later.

After dealing with the marriage, Leon sat back at the desk and began to read the books, checking the territory affairs with Olivia, who was managing the government for him during this period.

After reading the market report submitted by Ms. Martha, he then checked the security situation in the territory during the expedition.

The entire barony had a population of more than 10,000 before the war, and the social environment was relatively simple. Logically, there might not be one or two major criminal incidents in a year.

Of course, petty theft, drunken trouble, fighting over water, and other disputes do happen from time to time.

In the archived case records, Olivia and Ms. Elena made various investigations and judgments on security cases in the territory, and Leon did not find anything inappropriate.

However, I unexpectedly saw that during his expedition, Olivia recruited new soldiers from the Selva Camp and went to the villages and towns in the southern Glade County to wipe out a group of bandits.

During the last southern tour, I didn't encounter any bandits along the way. It was probably because I saw the lord's army parading and patrolling. Even if there were bandits, they would definitely hide far away and dare not show up.

".It was a group of bandits consisting of more than a dozen deserters. Most of them were killed in the battle. No one escaped. Only four surrendered and were captured. They are now imprisoned in the dungeon of Avalon.

After interrogation, they came from Mamor County. The bandit leader discovered that our Avalon army was on the expedition a while ago. He felt that the territory was not prepared, so he robbed a village in the south, killing three local villagers and injuring several people."

Leon listened to Olivia's story and saw the death sentence of the four people, waiting for his approval.

After confirming that there were enough villagers and the women who were abducted and rescued in time to survive as witnesses to identify the four criminals, Leon immediately stamped his seal and approved the hanging.

The reason why Olivia still sentenced them to death after they surrendered was not only because of robbery and injury.

Although the culprit who directly killed the villagers was indeed killed by the girl knight and the soldiers in the battle.

But the remaining four people still participated in the process of "insulting" the abducted woman.

Although the woman was rescued in time and survived by the soldiers of the Knights.

But it did not prevent them from being sentenced to death for robbery and rape, and the felony was punished together.

In this era, the concept of protecting victims from escalating crimes is not popular, and the judgment and sentencing standards of each territory are all different, extremely chaotic, and completely inconsistent. Other places are strict. If a certain area is loosely managed and self-indulgently tolerant of criminals, it will not only fail to protect victims, but will condone the increase of criminals in the territory.

The modern legal spirit is obviously not suitable for all use in an era that does not match it. Leon can only combine the current era and try to explore laws that are in line with the social environment and as fair as possible to the people.

However, the laws governing the barony are still relatively simple, because the difficulty of the rule of law is not only in making rules, but also in popularizing the law.

Punishing without teaching is called cruelty, and not warning is called violence. The common people have a low level of education and cannot understand too complicated laws, so how can they impose sentences arbitrarily?

At present, there are very few people in the territory who really have the ability to understand legal provisions, let alone talents who can go out alone and popularize the law to the grassroots people.

Whenever he came here, Leon couldn't help but remember the church clergy that the original owner had seen in the countryside of Serian in the past.

They read religious laws to the people, can read and write, and have mastered medical skills and knowledge of guiding farming and gathering. They not only master the people's beliefs, but are also equivalent to the grassroots officials spread by the church.

However, he did not have as many talents as the church. Before the children of Avalon College graduated and started working, he could not make drastic changes to the traditional laws that were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people in the current era.

After all, the customary laws that were deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, such as the death penalty for killing, the crime of wounding and theft, were so simple that even illiterate civilians could understand them, and they were more than enough to manage a population of 10,000 or 20,000.

However, he did not change everything. Some obviously absurd customary laws, Leon would not condone them to continue to maintain the status quo.

For example, in some villages and towns in the territory, especially in the southern part of Kantadar, civilian families, if the husband violently beat his wife to death, as long as he showed repentance and regret for the "impulse", he would not even be sentenced to a heavy punishment. In common domestic violence, if one beats his own child to death, the punishment is so light that it is almost negligible. Even more absurd, such as some ghost fathers, almost no substantial intervention and punishment will be received. Leon knew that there must be more crimes under the water than he had heard.

There are practical reasons. For the lowest-level civilians, clothing and housing conditions are luxuries. There are many poor families who are not well-dressed. In many poor people's huts, the whole family has only one bed. Such a simple environment is also a hidden danger for the occurrence of such crimes.

There are also spiritual reasons. The North and South Kingdoms obviously do not have the secular Confucian consensus of the ancient motherland in the previous life. The country controlled by the church like Serian at least has the spiritual constraints of the Holy Sun belief as the bottom line, but Orland and Cantadar only have folk traditional morality. How effective the latter is depends on personal morality, and the external constraints of the environment are almost equal to nothing.

If personal morality is reliable, there will be no need for laws and rules in this world. Not all obvious injustices and crimes have to conform to the times. On this point, there is no room for negotiation for Leon.

Of course, filling the loopholes in the rules that should not be ignored is still only a temporary solution. If you really want to put an end to such things, it is obvious that the only way to solve the root cause is to let the people have enough food and clothing and have a better shelter from the wind and rain.

When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, people know honor and disgrace. There is still a long way to go to govern the land and people under our feet.

In addition to these obvious injustices that need to be corrected, many absurd folk customary laws must also be strictly abolished.

For example, soaking suspects in hot water as if they were idols, and the innocent floated up and the guilty sank. Such nonsense, Leon didn't think it was necessary to keep it at all.

He confirmed with Laura again and again that the gods traditionally believed in by the Feru people were all non-existent false gods, but only the primitive beliefs of the mountain people. It would be a miracle if such rural divine judgments could be useful.

After finally reviewing the major and minor events and government affairs in the territory during this period, Leon looked at the time.

It was close to noon, and it seemed that he could go to see those knights-errant at lunch time.

After leaving the office, Leon did not ask anyone to summon them, but took the initiative to go to their residence.

The main castle of Avalon is large enough to accommodate the army under Garron's command. There are enough guest rooms and restaurants in the fortress, and many areas for entertaining guests can be easily divided.

The original text can be read in Liu # 9 x-on:Shu/Bar!

Led by the maid, Leon walked through the corridor and arrived at the northeast corner of the main castle, where he saw several strange warriors who were having dinner.

An old knight with a beard, three middle-aged knights, and three young knights.

Larian was also among them. Seeing the lord coming, he put down his tableware and stood up to greet: "Good day, Lord Leon."

The other people heard his address and immediately stood up to salute.

Leon hurriedly returned the greeting and asked the maid to add another portion of food for him. He wanted to have lunch with the rangers who came from afar.

After Leon sat down, Larian took the initiative to introduce him to the fellows who came to respond to the oath: "This sir is Greenthorn from 'Upper Beso'. He once defeated the giant water monster that plagued the banks of the 'Bissia River' and is a famous hero in the 'Ostania Territory'."

Leon looked at the bearded old knight and raised his glass in surprise: "I salute your bravery. Forgive me for my youth and ignorance, and for not knowing your reputation earlier."

The old knight picked up the glass and smiled heartily: "It's just a false reputation. It was not entirely my credit to kill that monster back then. However, I, an old man, have heard of the great name of Sir Leon for a long time.

But you are much taller than I thought. Forgive my previous speculation. I thought you were a child."

"Child?" Leon was puzzled.

"Don't blame Greenthorne. I thought so before. Who told you to be described as a young man in Master Goliad's poems? Who knew you had such a majestic physique? No wonder you can kill a basilisk." A middle-aged knight interjected. smiled.

He spoke quickly and had a strange accent, but it sounded slightly familiar to Leon. It seemed that Aolad, who came from the East, had a similar accent.

"This is Mr. Derek from Hijix. He once single-handedly destroyed a group of wolf-riding bandits entrenched on the border of Loman Territory. The locals respectfully call him 'Wolf Hunter'." Larian immediately introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Wolf Hunter." Leon saluted.

Derek waved his hand with a wry smile: "Lord Baron, please just call me Derek. The so-called 'wolf hunting' is just a misinformation. Those who killed back then were all robbers riding dire wolves. I love those loyal 'big dogs' very much, and I How can you hunt them when you have a dire wolf that has been with you for many years?”

Soon, while everyone was talking and laughing, Larian introduced several other rangers at the table to Leon.

After going around, Leon became more and more happy as he listened.

None of the knights errant in this table in the Kingdom of Orland are vegetarians, and all of them have extraordinary deeds to become famous. Either they have defeated vicious monsters, or they have a reputation as a chivalrous and righteous person.

Leon suddenly understood. No wonder General Trossa praised himself for saving the village of Selva and said that he had the style of "chivalrous knight" of Orland. It turned out that it was a substantive analogy and not a lie.

Now it seems that when Larian and Corvis went out for a walk, they not only attracted a few knights, but also a bunch of "hero units".

That's right, these days, one can go out alone to fight for justice without dying in the wilderness. Without real skills, who can do this ancient idealistic profession?

It seems to be a kind of survivor bias. Those who are unable to survive and become famous after facing the disasters of powerful enemies have already unfortunately died in a corner of the world, and they can't see them now.

After getting to know the rangers, Leon once again expressed his gratitude to everyone for coming to help, and then asked the questions that arose just now.

"Have you all heard of Galliard's poems? Has the story spread so far?"

Upper Beso County is relatively close, and the roads are relatively convenient, but Hijix County is located on the eastern border of the Kingdom of Orland, and the road from Kossos County is quite far and difficult to travel.

Leon suddenly remembered that even Count Yassen in the south had heard his story.

What does that giant dragon poet want, to help spread his reputation all over the world?

Just because they met in Dragon Throat City, and he stopped Mr. Rody's men from dealing with him?

In hindsight, as a real dragon, wasn't this guy just role-playing and fishing? It doesn't matter whether he intervenes or not. How can a few gangsters scratch his scales?

Is it really just because of the promise he made when he was imprisoned that he would make a name for himself?

"Don't underestimate the talent of Master Goliad. The story is very exciting. It is now one of the must-read poems in taverns across the north. Many people are impatiently waiting for the third part and are looking for Master Goliad everywhere. Well, it’s a pity that the great poet’s whereabouts have always been elusive.” Greenthorne put down his wine glass and said with emotion. There is not much entertainment these days, and even a ranger needs to rely on the stories told by bards to relieve the boredom of the journey.

Wolfhunter Derek said: "I am different from Greenthorne. Not long ago, I met Master Galliad himself in a tavern on the border and sang the story of Lord Leon in person. Over there at Loman, there are poems about you. It hasn’t spread yet.”

"Your Majesty, have you seen Gailiad?" Leon's heart moved, and he quickly asked: "Do you have any news about him now?"

No matter what the purpose of the dragon poet was, at least he did good deeds along the way and did not unleash any ill will on himself. If this undead disaster could ask for help, it would undoubtedly be more effective than a huge army.

Leon already knew about the power of the real dragon from Laura.

Derek shook his head: "Unfortunately, I only met the poet once. He has long since traveled east. At that time, I heard that he was going to pass through the Hectora Wasteland. I proposed to escort him, but unfortunately he was declined. kindness."