Imperial Crown

"Is there anything that must be done now?" Raven asked.

"Um..." Old Gordon pushed the monocle: "Yes."

"At the end of last month, the Slater family sent a transfer order, requiring you to give a reply."

"Also, the head of the Griffith family has to pay homage to his ancestors every New Year. It's not even a month away, so it's still not too late."

"The transfer order at the end of last month, isn't it already a month? It doesn't matter if you delay it for another day." After taking off the armor with Petty's help, Raven said: "As for the ancestor worship, let the ancestors wait for two days. , I don’t think they want to meet me down there in advance!”

"Yes, Lord Baron." Originally, Old Gordon didn't really want Raven to handle these matters immediately, but as a butler, he had the obligation to let the master understand clearly.

Now Raven is simply more exhausted than sitting on a hard seat on the green leather train for three consecutive days, and the bones in his body are about to fall apart.

Although I rested at the Bilgewater Oasis along the way, it was not home after all.

Now in Eagle Castle, Raven could truly relax and take a comfortable bath under Petty's service.

"Lord Baron, do you really not want to shave your beard?"

"Keep it for now, at least it looks more mature and stable." Raven yawned: "Don't you look good?"

Petty blushed: "Sir, you look good no matter what."

"Ha, the little mouth is still so sweet." After pecking Petty on the lips, Raven turned around and fell on the bed: "The one named Margaret, you arrange a separate room for her."

"If you don't have lunch, you don't have to wait for me for dinner. Unless the sky falls, don't come and call me!"

"Yes..." Petty touched her lips, with a hint of resentment on her face.

However, Raven didn't notice this. In fact, when his head hit the pillow, he immediately lost consciousness.

From about two o'clock in the afternoon, he slept until eight o'clock the next morning, when Raven got up at the urging of his growling stomach.

During this period, most matters in Eagle Territory were handled in an orderly manner by Old Gordon and Denise, but Raven also needed to understand the changes in Eagle Town, so while eating breakfast, he listened to Old Gordon Report.

Because the weather is getting colder and the ground is frozen, construction is difficult, so the construction and maintenance of roads have been suspended, and only the warehouses with previously laid foundations have been built.

Just a month ago, the special envoy of the Slater family, the second-level Storm Knight "Eberron", sent a transfer order.

Along with him came a swarm of refugees. These refugees came from all over the Nord province and numbered in the thousands. They brought huge pressure to the Eagle Leader and also brought a lot of news.

Some people say that the Nord Province has completely become a land abandoned by the gods, and there are undead everywhere; some people say that the nobles are colluding with the Order of the Hand of Death, intending to establish a country in the Nord Province; others say that the people stationed at the entrance to the Bloody Highlands The Iron Legion has rebelled...

It is difficult to tell whether the news is true or false, but one thing is certain: the city of Monn has been surrounded by the Order of the Hand of Death. The Slater family has no time to take care of themselves and can only defend the city; most of the Nord province has been trapped. turmoil.

Due to insufficient intelligence, Viscount John and Baron Angel also chose to wait and see, hoping to sort out the context of the incident from the complicated news.

The final result is unknown, but just a dozen days ago, these two families couldn't stand Eberron's urging and gathered their troops and headed for Meng'en City.

"Lord Baron, now that you are back, are you going to invite the Eberron envoy immediately?" Old Gordon put forward his own opinion.

"Okay, immediately send an invitation to the special envoy in my name." Raven slowly took a sip of Angel Tears and said, "In three days, oh no, five days later, please come to Eagle Castle to meet him."

Old Gordon's face suddenly became a little tangled: "Sir, the situation outside is very turbulent. If it drags on for too long, I'm afraid..."

"Don't worry, I understand why the lips die and the teeth become cold." Raven stretched and stood up: "But the lips have to die first, right?"

Old Gordon was stunned.

Looking at Old Gordon's appearance, Raven chuckled: "Okay, let's talk about sacrificing ancestors."

Old Gordon quickly corrected his demeanor: "According to family rules, you must first fast and abstain from sex for three days, and then ride a horse around the eagle collar..."

Before Old Gordon finished speaking, Raven started to have a headache: "It's too troublesome. Can the process be simpler?"

"Okay." Old Gordon said, "It can be done tonight."

"Ah?" Raven was stunned for a moment: "I just asked casually, is it really okay?"

Old Gordon nodded awkwardly: "Actually, including you, three generations of family heads don't like this ritual, but as a housekeeper, I have an obligation to inform you of the correct process."

Raven suddenly didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

There are no two Griffiths in one sentence. It seems that no one likes this process, especially when the status is as stable as Mount Tai and no such ritual is needed to stabilize authority.

"I'll leave this to you." Raven ordered, "Tell Fili to come see me immediately."

The refugees are mainly concentrated in Goldshire, and Fili is now the political officer of Goldshire.

Old Gordon said: "Fili has arrived at Eagle Castle this morning and is waiting for your summons at any time."

"Then let him come in." Raven said.

Gordon leaves and Fili enters the house.

The new GoldShine Town government official changed his previous timid appearance and walked steadily. He actually looked a bit like an official. When he smiled, his golden teeth were exposed. The feeling of the past returned.

When Philip met Raven, he saluted and then took out a box containing more than 30 magic cores.

Then he immediately confessed to Raven, saying that due to the recent serious unrest in the outside world, the speed of collecting magic cores has dropped a lot.

Raven was not surprised by this. He accepted the magic core and asked about the recent situation in GoldShine Town.

In this era dominated by aristocrats, everyone who grew up from a commoner to a businessman, regardless of their character, personal ability is above the average, and Philip is no exception.

As the GoldShine Town government official, he took the initiative to resign from the position of president of the GoldShine Town Chamber of Commerce, and asked the GoldShine Town Chamber of Commerce to take out 3% of its monthly income to maintain the public security of GoldShine Town.

Therefore, before the turmoil, Goldshine Town had a patrol team of more than 50 people, although they were poorly equipped and of average quality, and they also invited veterans who had retired due to injuries to serve as instructors.

Thanks to this, even though Goldshine Town suffered the impact of the first wave of refugees due to geographical factors, the overall public security was still well maintained.

In addition, Philip also applied to Old Gordon to call for a batch of food that Raven had stockpiled before the turmoil to appease most of the refugees.

Philip's handling won Raven's approval.

For the nearby Iron Furnace Ridge and Snow Maple Territory, the additional population is a considerable burden, but for the Eagle Territory, which has just stockpiled a huge amount of food, this group of refugees is not only not a burden, but a good human resource.

Most of those who can escape are young and strong, and they are good at farming or serving in the army.

"Baron, you really have a lot of talents under your command." Philip suddenly said this.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Raven was surprised.

"It's Miss Fiona, Mr. Gordon's granddaughter." Philip praised sincerely: "The gray bread she invented has saved the refugees nearly one-third of their food consumption, and it doesn't make the refugees feel dissatisfied. It's simply genius!"

Gray bread? What is that?

Raven was confused, but he didn't show it immediately.

After learning about and instructing Philip on the treatment of the refugees in detail, Raven asked Philip to have lunch and called Fiona.

If you don't ask, you won't know. Once you ask, Raven will be a little uncomfortable.

It turned out that after Raven scolded the "food saving" plan, Fiona, a scholar-type girl, started an experiment with a few cooks.

See how much sawdust, bran, and grass seeds can make the bread both filling and not too tasteless.

After more than 20 days of hard work, Fiona finally made a bread that looks solid, doesn't hurt the throat when chewed, and can fill the stomach when eaten, but it looks gray.

At first, Fiona wanted to name it "Raven Bread" or "Eagle Bread", but was rejected by Old Gordon. In the end, the name "Gray Bread" was decided, and it was strictly forbidden to provide this kind of bread to the people.

Soon, the refugee wave came, and the gray bread suddenly came in handy.

This thing can feed the refugees, prevent them from starving to death, and also make them have less energy to make trouble. It has to be said that it is "professional counterpart".

"Why do you have to fight with bread?" Raven was a little curious.

"This, this is all men, men..." Fiona bit her lips and finally spit out the word: "Baron, your test!"

"My test?" Raven was a little confused.

"You sent my plan back because you wanted to tell me two facts." Fiona lowered her head, but her tone was full of confidence: "First, you are not a stingy lord and you will not treat your subjects harshly.

Second, the plan I submitted is just a direction, but there is no practical method to implement it!"

"So, you just want me to find a way to save food without affecting your reputation! And you already know the answer."

Raven raised his eyebrows and lowered his eyes: "...I, do you know?"

Why does this sound like scolding me?

But Fiona's next sentence let Raven know that he was overthinking.

"Yeah!" Fiona nodded vigorously: "The bowl of noodles you treated me to was a hint to me!"

"Noodles need to be boiled in water to be cooked, and wood chips, sawdust, and bran will soften after adding caustic soda and boiling. Then, if they are mixed with coarse wheat flour, kneaded into a ball and baked, the taste will not be affected at all."

"I ate two in one meal!"

"So, I said that this kind of bread should be called 'Raven bread'!"

Fiona looked at Raven with hope, like a puppy waiting for the master's praise.

Raven didn't know what expression to make now.

Lord of Light, he didn't have so many thoughts at that time!

What hint? He is not a monk, how can he think about these things all day long?

But no matter what the motive is, Fiona's action did save a lot of food for the Eagle Territory, and it should be praised.

"Ahem!" Raven cleared his throat: "Fiona, you did a good job this time. Go to your grandfather and get five gold coins as a reward for you."

Fiona's eyes suddenly lit up, and she nodded heavily. After saluting, she left with a smile, her long silver-gray hair swaying behind her head.

Raven sighed with a wry smile.

It seems that I still need to be careful when speaking in the future.

Mainly, I need to be careful with Fiona, whose understanding ability is really a bit...

weird.

After handling some more affairs, the sky gradually darkened, and Petty came into the room and said: "Baron, Mr. Gordon said that the preparations for the sacrifice have been completed."

"Then let's go." Raven stood up and followed Petty out of the room.

As soon as he turned a corner, he ran into Simon head-on.

The young warrior saluted respectfully:

"Baron, I have a confidential matter to report to you."

...