Imperial Crown

After leaving the gate of Ironforge, Raven thought that after a long battle, the nobles should have left. Unexpectedly, when he looked up, the carriages were still full, even more chaotic than when they came.

Eric and Visdon saluted from a distance.

Denise lifted the curtain of the carriage and was relieved to see that Raven had returned safely. Then she looked at Raven carefully from head to toe and made sure that he was not injured. Then she breathed a sigh of relief.

Walking back to the side of the carriage, Raven looked at the chaotic scene in front of him and asked, "What's going on?"

"A group of frightened quails." Visdon showed disdain: "I thought they would be more stable after experiencing the chaos of the Death Hand Cult, but the result... tsk!"

Raven smiled. Visdon, who had been tempered by the Bloody Highlands, was indeed qualified to look down on this group of nobles.

Compared with Visdon, Eric was much more stable and began to explain the cause and effect of the matter to Raven.

The battle at the funeral broke out too suddenly. Many of the nobles' grooms were still eating in the servants' room of the castle. Fear and panic were contagious, which led to many nobles who could not drive at all trying to drive away in a panic.

Everyone wanted to get ahead, and with poor control and an urgent mentality, they crashed into each other; some nobles wanted to go around the sides of the road, but forgot that the carriage was wider than the horse itself, so they blocked the entire road.

After listening to Eric's story, Raven shook his head and smiled bitterly. Just as he was about to step forward to relieve the congestion, he heard Denise ask: "Raven, why did you insist on staying in the castle before?"

"President Denise can't figure it out?" Raven teased, and then said: "Actually, I went to copy the bottom."

As he said, Raven showed the signed contract in his hand.

Denise took it in her hand, her eyes showing surprise: "Eagle's Beak Mountain, Thousand Needles Jungle, and Gray Mountain Mine, Raven, you really did it!?"

Hearing this, Weisdong also came over. Eric was not convenient to get close, but he also looked at the content with his peripheral vision. For a moment, the three of them showed excited expressions on their faces, but for different reasons.

Denise's focus was on Eagle's Beak Mountain, where granite was produced.

Granite is a high-end building material, and only Eagle's Beak Mountain can produce it in the entire Nord Province. However, the market for high-end buildings in Nord Province was close to saturation before, so the income was not outstanding.

But now it is different. Nord Province has just experienced a turmoil, and the three counties have been swept away. The nobles who fill these vacancies will not hesitate to spend a lot of money to build castles-after all, that is the face of the nobles.

Denise predicts that for at least five years, Eagle's Beak Mountain can bring at least tens of thousands of gold coins of net income to the Griffith family every year!

Eric paid more attention to military use. What made him happiest was the Gray Mountain Mine, which was the largest iron mine in the five northwest counties of the province. Now there were gray dwarves proficient in forging in the workshop, and the armor and weapons could basically be freed from dependence on the outside world.

And Weisdong tried to look at this issue from the perspective of a lord. What he valued most was the Thousand Needles Jungle. The recovery of this land made Eagle Castle farther away from the border of Eagle Territory, which could better ensure the safety of Eagle Castle.

At this time, Viscount John's voice sounded: "Baron Raven, what are you talking about? You are so happy?"

Denise put away the contract, and Weisdong and Eric saluted Viscount John.

Raven said: "Nothing, just chatting about family affairs. What did Viscount John do just now?"

"Helped to deal with some chores." Viscount John turned his head: "Yes."

Following his gaze, Raven found that the road had been cleared and the nobles left in an orderly manner. It seemed that this was the result of Viscount John's busy work.

"I can't interfere in the private affairs of the Wharton family. You seem to have been in it all the time." Viscount John talked about business: "How is the situation?"

Raven sighed and told the truth in detail, but he only concealed the part about Judra signing the contract.

Viscount John was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "Alas!!"

In the Keynes Empire, it is not the first time that nobles fight for inheritance rights and cause bloody tragedies, but Viscount John is still a little touched when he really sees it.

He and Angel are not close friends, and this sigh is mostly for the grief of the rabbit and the fox, and the grief of the same kind. Angel's death means that there is one less old guy in his era.

At the same time, Viscount John is somewhat fortunate. He used to be distressed that he only had one son, but now he has let it go a lot - at least his family will not have a tragedy like the Wharton family, and he will not even be unable to preserve his body after death.

Viscount John would not say such words, but sighed: "Mark is really favored too much. He dared to use force at the funeral. It was really unwise. Even if he could succeed, wouldn't he be afraid of the review of the Noble Council?"

Raven said with disdain: "The guys in the Noble Council are a group of money-hungry dogs. As long as the gold coins for succession are handed over, they don't care who inherits the title."

Viscount John smiled bitterly and nodded: "Hey, I don't know when the empire has become like this."

As he spoke, the road was cleared and the carriages of the nobles had almost left. Seeing this, Viscount John turned around and said goodbye.

Raven also wanted to invite Viscount John to sit at Eagle Castle, but Viscount John declined. Raven did not force him to stay, and the two carriages left Ironforge one after another.

Back in Ironforge, Denise went back to her room to rest, Eric continued to supervise the training of the army, and Vesdon chose to train martial arts.

Only Raven stayed in the hall, flipping through a blank card in his hand that exuded a faint blue color and had a metallic texture.

The card appeared in his carriage, and Raven knew that this was a warning of Anno's arrival.

Not long after, Annuo's figure appeared in the hall. Raven stood up and bowed slightly: "We meet again, Ms. Annuo."

Annuo nodded slightly in return: "Baron Raven, do you have a clearer understanding of your destiny?"

"How can you see clearly when you are in the long river of destiny? It's just a matter of taking one step at a time." Lei Wen said: "Do you want to divine for me again?"

"You have already seen a part of your destiny. Any more divination will be harmful and useless." Annuo looked into Raven's eyes calmly: "I am here to make a deal with you."

As she spoke, she lightly tapped the silver scepter on the ground, and Xiao Mo's huge body appeared next to her.

There was a trace of surprise in Raven's eyes. He had seen this kind of monster in the book before, called "Deep Rock Dragon Lizard Beast", and it contained about two and a half percent of the dragon's blood.

Considering Annuo's strength, having this kind of magic pet does not surprise Raven, but it is really...a bit fat. Instead of calling it "Deep Rock Dragon Lizard Beast", it would be better to call it "Deep Rock Dragon Pig Beast".

"Xiao Mo." Annuo said softly.

Xiao Mo opened his mouth and spat Mark to the ground with a pop.

After seeing the light of day again, Mark gasped for air and slowly regained his energy. The moment he saw Raven, his eyes suddenly widened.

Just as he was about to shout loudly, Annuo flicked his fingers, and a ball of purple light immediately sealed his mouth, then turned into a rattan, tying him up tightly.

Glancing at Mark on the ground, Raven's eyes moved back to Annuo's face: "This is indeed a good bargaining chip. I don't know, what do you want?"

Annuo said quietly: "I need a knight's collar."

A knight's territory is about two to ten square kilometers, which is not a burden to Raven now, but he still instinctively felt it was inappropriate: "To be more specific, what are you going to do with it?"

Annuo's expression became a little complicated, but he did not hesitate: "I need to build a college, a college specifically for recruiting witches."

Raven was still wondering before. With Annuo's strength, no matter what he wanted, he could cooperate with the nobles and even the royal family. No one would refuse a divine blood witch.

Now he understands.

The status of witches on the mainland is basically equivalent to that of undead creatures, closely linked to words such as evil, cruelty, and insidiousness. The nobles are afraid to avoid them, and the Church of Light's attitude towards them is that they would rather kill them by mistake than let them go, "hunting" Witchcraft incidents are common in history.

In this context, Annuo's desire to establish a witch college is simply a whim. No big noble will accept it, not to mention offending the Church of Light. It is simply making fun of his own future and the future of his family. .

Raven rubbed his chin and shook his head slowly: "Witch Academy... no."

The look in Annuo's eyes dimmed slightly.

She knew that her request was unreasonable, so she didn't have high expectations beforehand, but now that the reality was approaching, she still felt a little depressed and had to say goodbye and leave.

"Oh, oh, oh, don't worry." Raven raised a smile at the corner of her mouth: "I mean that the witch academy is not good, but that doesn't mean that other things are not good, such as - orphanage?"

Annuo was stunned for a moment: "What does this mean?"

Raven explained: "It means that I can give you a piece of knighthood. But I can't use it as a witch academy. As long as it's justified in name, you can encircle it with a wall. It's up to you to decide what to do." ”

Annuo has never thought about the problem from this perspective, but Raven's proposal is indeed feasible.

Annuo himself is a witch. When he was a child, he was regarded as a freak because of his extraordinary performance and was kicked out of the house early.

As far as she knew, she was far from the only witch who had the same experience, and those who could survive, go on adventures, and grow up safely like her were quite rare.

That's why Annuo wants to build a witch academy to take in those homeless people of his kind, and also hopes to use this as an opportunity to integrate them into normal society.

"Then it's settled." A clear smile appeared on Annuo's face and he nodded seriously:

"……Thank you!"

Raven smiled back: "It's just a fair deal."

If the Eagle Territory was within the Nord Province, Raven would definitely not agree to such a request, but the Nord Province was on the border of the Cairns Empire, and the Eagle Territory was on the border of the Nord Province. The sky was high and the Emperor was far away, so no one would pay attention. Arrived.

What's more, it can be exchanged for such a powerful helper as Annuo.

Having solved his biggest worry, Annuo felt much more relaxed: "It's just a mark, but the value is not quite equal. You can make another request."

Raven thought for a moment and said: "Since you want to establish a college, you won't just put your treasure on me. You must have traveled to many places. No information is available in Nord Province. I wonder if you can tell me about the situation outside?"

Annuo happily agreed. He raised his finger lightly, and a dark blue stream of light flew out from his fingertips, drawing an irregular outline in the air: "This is the map of Middles Continent that I saw when I visited the Mages Guild. Now that it has been reproduced, it should be eighty-nine percent accurate.”

There was a trace of wonder in Raven's eyes. This was the first time he could clearly see the situation in the entire Middles continent.

Judging from the shape, the entire continent is like a piece of sesame seed cake that has been bitten into. The whole continent is oval-shaped, long from east to west, short from north to south, and the southeast corner is missing as if it has collapsed.

The Cairns Empire is located in the central and western part of the continent. Its northwest and northern borders are bordered by the city-states of Fitton, and its northeastern border is bordered by the Insa Empire. It is bordered by the Papal States and the Kingdom of Lozeron in the east, the Kingdom of Podomich in the southeast, and the Miracle in the south. Mountains, opposite the mountains is the Orc Empire; to the southwest is the ancient forest, in which the Elf Empire is located.

Generally speaking, the five major forces of the human race firmly occupy the most fertile central part of the continent. The elves have shrunk to the southwest corner of the continent, the orc empire has been squeezed to the far south, and the dwarf kingdom has been compressed into the millions of mountains in the northeast corner of the continent. .

"Speaking of which, what's going on with the Death Hand Order now?" Raven asked, "I heard before that they were causing trouble in multiple countries at the same time, with quite a lot of momentum."

"It has basically been extinguished." Annuo said: "However, the losses caused in different places are different. According to my personal observation, both the Insa Empire and the Feton city-states dealt with the Death Hand Order very promptly. Luo The Kingdom of Zelen is close to the Papal State, so it was destroyed the fastest.”

"Among the five major human forces, only your Cairns Empire and the Podomich Kingdom in the southeast have suffered the most losses and have been delayed the longest."

Raven's brows raised slightly, this was not good news.

To put it nicely, the Keynes Empire is in the center of the continent; to put it harshly, it is the place where the four wars took place. Now that it is showing this "fatigue", it is likely to attract the covetousness of surrounding forces.

But this is not a headache that Raven should have. If the sky falls, it is the king and the nobles who should bear it.

Suddenly, a clear "Gululu" sound sounded in the hall. Raven turned around and saw that it was coming from the belly of the deep rock dragon lizard named "Xiao Mo".

Raven couldn't help laughing, and said: "It seems that I did talk for too long and wasted a lot of your time. I'll stop here for today? It just so happens that I also have something to say to Mr. Mark."

An Nuo nodded: "Please do so."

Mark on the ground twitched when he heard this.

After clapping his hands, some soldiers came in. After Raven gave a few instructions, two soldiers took Mark into the dungeon, while others went to prepare food for Xiao Mo.

"Then I'll excuse you now."

With that said, Raven turned and left.

Soon, several soldiers carried two freshly slaughtered pigs and placed them in front of Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo's fat tongue licked his lips in a very humane manner and started biting the meat on the ground.

Surprise, Xiao Mo has meat to eat today (star eyes, eat, eat, eat)...but a piece of raw meat (eating while crying)...

Looking at Xiao Mo's eating posture, An Nuo gently stroked its head.

Although he is powerful, Annuo is only eighteen years old after all. After traveling on the mainland these years, he can rarely talk to people.

Even if she could, as long as she showed a little bit of power, the attitudes of those people would change dramatically.

Only when Raven spoke to her, there was neither forced arrogance nor condescending flattery. It was like... a friend?

She seemed to like the feeling of communicating with Raven.

But Mark didn't like it. His heart twitched when he saw Raven's expressionless face.

However, the aristocratic demeanor cannot be lost. Although he was locked in a cage and had shackles on his wrists, he still sat leaning against the wall, raising his head and saying in a somewhat condescending tone: "Raven, you I’m really lucky to be able to make friends with a powerful being like Annuo, and he still has me in his grasp.”

"There is no personal enmity between you and me. You chose to interfere in my family affairs just for profit. Let's make it clear. If you let me go, I can bring you greater benefits!"

These words were conceived from the moment Mark saw Raven. He must constantly emphasize his own value, so that he can survive in Raven's hands.

Raven seemed to be interested: "What benefit?"

Seeing that Raven took the bait, Mark breathed a sigh of relief, but on the surface he showed an even more arrogant attitude: "Nobles who become monks halfway are short-sighted. Since you don't understand, I will tell you about it!"

"You and Judra colluded together for nothing more than Eagle Beak Mountain and Thousand Needles Jungle, but you were so unwise that you actually participated in the murder of my father. Do you know that this is quite Yu put the handle into Judra's hand? "

"That's just stupid!"

"Fortunately, you found me, and I can show you a clear path."

Raven smiled: "What clear path?"

Mark sat up straight and raised his fingers at Raven: "I'm not used to looking up at others. Sit down and listen to me speak slowly."

With a smile, Raven walked into the iron cage, and Mark patted the straw in front of him.

Raven raised his right foot, but instead of sitting down, he kicked Mark's left knee hard!

Click——

The clear sound of bone cracking echoed in the dungeon. Mark's face instantly turned pale. He twitched and took a breath of cold air. He hugged his knees with his hands and wailed like a pig: "Ah, my legs, my legs - —!

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead, he gritted his teeth and looked at the culprit with trembling eyes:

"Raven!"

"Do you think your design is perfect? ​​If there is even the slightest rumor about the Witch Academy, you will be dead!!! The Slater family, the Fox family, and the Church of Light will not let you go!"

"Judra can even kill our father, do you think he will obey you?! Once my death is confirmed, he will be the first to stab you!"

"You are asking for death!!!"

Raven nodded slowly: "Oh, so that's it."

Then he raised his foot again, stepped on Mark's right leg, and crushed it hard.

Mark felt his knees explode directly, and the broken bones pierced into the flesh and blood. The pain made him roll his eyes, his neck twitched and shook, and tears poured out uncontrollably.

At this moment, Mark finally understood that he was not qualified to talk to Raven on an equal footing. The status of both parties had long been reversed. Now, he was just an inconspicuous ant!

For a moment, the desire to survive overwhelmed dignity and pride, leaving Mark just wanting to live:

"Spare my life, Raven, Baron Raven, Lord Raven!!!"

"I'm still useful, I'm really useful! If Judra dares to have any different intentions, you can replace me. I promise, I will be ten times, a hundred times more obedient than him!!"

Raven looked at Mark condescendingly: "You are really a young master from a noble family. Do you still want to be a baron now?"

Mark swallowed: "No, of course I don't dare. I will listen to you!"

Seeing his ugly appearance, Raven sneered: "Don't worry, I won't kill you."

"However, I won't let you go. You can live here slowly."

After saying that, Raven turned around, closed the iron cage, and walked out of the dungeon.

Mark endured the pain and rushed to the edge of the iron cage, holding the bars with both hands: "Baron Raven, wait a minute!"

Raven turned back: "What else do you want to say?"

"I'm sorry...my attitude before was too rude." Mark said in a low voice: "But my suggestion is serious!"

"Judra is unreliable, and his son is already dead! If he can't give birth to a son in the future, then I will be the only bloodline left in the Wharton family!"

"You give me a manor, put me under house arrest, and I promise to do nothing but give birth to children. Then my son can inherit the title of the Wharton family, and you can also gain the allegiance of the Wharton family!"

"This does no harm to you, only good!"

Raven's expression softened a little: "You have some brains, this is indeed a method, but the problem is, I don't want to wait that long."

"Now I hold the complete Eagle Territory, and Xuefeng County is also in my hands. My power is far above that of the Wharton family."

"If Judra remains loyal to me, he can live; if he wants to betray me, I will flatten his territory and completely take over the Ironforge collar!"

Mark said: "But... this is against the rules. According to the laws of the empire, nobles are not allowed to attack each other!"

Raven sneered: "Do you know what I hate most about you nobles?"

"Everything you do is done by the rules. You follow the rules for one thing and the law for the other. You are procrastinating, have no opinion, and have no achievements!"

"Either he is a follower of the great nobles, or he is a yes-man of the royal family!"

Mark looked at Raven in horror. He knew that Raven was arrogant, but he didn't expect that he would be so arrogant.

These words are simply a complete contempt for the royal family and do not take all nobles into consideration.

"Raven, what do you want to do!?"

"It's very simple." Raven grinned and said:

"I want this world to run according to my ideas. My words are the rules. Only what I make can be called law!"

"My goal is the king!"

"Madman..." Fear, surprise, shock and many indescribable emotions came to his heart. Mark's hand holding the railing trembled uncontrollably, causing the entire iron cage to make clanging and clanging sounds:

"madman--!!!"

…

(Volume 1, end)