Imperial Crown

Raven continued his speech without paying too much attention to Hoyaz.

The textbooks have been compiled and distributed. In terms of teaching positions, in addition to Simon coming to work part-time, Raven also re-employed veterans who were retired due to injuries. They previously worked in the patrol team of Shining Gold Town and were now poached by Raven at a high price.

This also means that there is considerable guarantee in loyalty education.

So Raven did not boast about himself in this speech, and the theme focused on the future of these orphans.

Since they came to the orphanage, they must obey the arrangements of the orphanage.

They will receive the most basic education, including literacy, arithmetic, common sense, etc., and then the direction will be different depending on gender.

Boys will receive military training, and those who perform well can be selected into the Eagle Army and even have the opportunity to become extraordinary; if they are not suitable for joining the army, they can also learn crafts such as leatherwork, blacksmithing, and masonry.

Girls will receive vocational and technical training, including textiles, embroidery, plant cultivation, animal husbandry, dance, etc.

Regardless of gender, as long as they have achieved success in their studies, they will not worry about finding a job.

Before he said these words, Raven had already laid the groundwork for his actions.

These orphans have a place to live, two sets of clothes to wear, and the meals they eat every day are even better than before they became orphans.

There is no free lunch in the world, and the orphans are all aware of this.

Whether it is Banks or Rhino, as well as the orphans around them, they have deeply experienced the evil of human hearts. They don't know what Raven is trying to do, so they stick together.

Now that Raven has stated his purpose, the orphans are relieved and begin to look forward to their future lives.

At the end of the speech, Raven hinted that he knew about the existence of small gangs in the orphanage, and emphasized his principles: in his territory, the only legal violent organization is the Eagle Army.

This was not only said to the orphans, but also to the orphanage staff.

The day after the speech, the head of the orphanage found Raven and said that the bad organization had been completely banned.

And they confiscated many "weapons", including but not limited to sharpened brushes, hidden forks, polished branches, and the most outrageous one was a baguette full of stones.

Raven was amused and ordered a fire to burn it all, and at the same time rejected the proposal of the person in charge to expel the gang leader from the orphanage.

Being able to have one's own power is a manifestation of strong organizational ability. They are still young, and as long as they are trained, they are excellent officers.

For a period of time afterwards, Raven's energy was mainly focused on taking care of the magic plants.

The first batch of mature red mist fruits were harvested, dried, and stored, and then the magic cores were consumed to provide the corresponding elements for the red mist fruits and pecans.

The magic cores to the magic plants are like fertilizers to crops. The huge consumption makes Raven feel quite painful.

The magic cores eaten by these magic plants are simply more than those he used in his own cultivation!

Moreover, if you don't care about magic cores, it seems that the price is always the same. If you really open up the purchase, you will find that it is still a seller's market. Sometimes you want to buy, but there are not so many on the market, so you can only buy at a premium.

Fortunately, the magic plants are growing well, and Raven is also happy and sad.

Time passed day by day, and the scenery outside the window became more and more bleak.

When the dead leaves on the treetops fell, it was mid-December, and another year was about to pass.

Raven sat by the stove, with a blanket on his knees, a cup of coffee in his hand, flipping through "The Path of the Mage" on the armrest, as leisurely as a retired old man.

Even with the temperature control array, Raven still prefers the fireplace. Whether it is the crackling sound of burning firewood or the faint pine wood fragrance, it is full of life.

The black cat Sikoret was lying on Raven's knees. She had just eaten a whole brown dace, a specialty of the Flowing Crystal River, and was combing her hair with her pink tongue.

When Raven's hand holding the coffee stopped for too long, she would pull Raven's palm twice and let it return to her furry head.

Dongdongdong, there was a knock on the door, and Raven whispered: "Come in."

"Baron!" An iron-gray figure rushed into the room and stood there straight: "Sohei and Boweier asked me to call you, the first batch of equipment forged from misty heavy iron will be completed soon!"

Raven was familiar with this gray dwarf, named Fabin, who liked to brag about his athletic ability in bed.

Closing the book in his hand, Raven asked, "Why don't they do it themselves?"

"Now the forging has reached the most critical process, and they are indispensable!" Fabin looked at the Angel's Tears on the table and swallowed his saliva: "They all agreed that the first batch of weapons should be unveiled by you personally... uh..."

"Unveil?"

Fabin immediately said: "Oh yes, unveil, my Lord Baron, you are so smart!"

Shaking his head with a smile, Raven stood up: "Let's go, I'll go with you."

Raven knew that it was true that the factory could not do without people, but it was impossible to do without Boweier and Sohei at the same time. Neither of them wanted the other to come alone, for fear of being robbed of the limelight.

Sure enough, when Raven came to the workshop, Sohei and Boweier were still staring at each other, guarding the furnace.

When they saw Raven coming, the two gray dwarves came alive.

"Lord Baron, you are finally here. I made all the designs this time, and I will definitely satisfy you!"

"Lord Baron, this time I used the unique craftsmanship of the gray dwarves, which is guaranteed to be an excellent enchanted weapon blank that can withstand the fighting spirit impact of the third and fourth level knights!"

Raven raised his hand, suppressed the voices of the two, and asked in confusion: "Didn't you say that it has reached the final stage? Where is the weapon?"

"Common sense says that the last process should be quenching, right?"

After saying this, Sohei slapped his forehead, and Bowell looked at Fabin: "Hey, you guy, didn't you tell Lord Baron?"

"Ah? What!? Didn't I say it?" Fabin stared and pretended to be stupid.

Previously in Raven's study, his attention was all drawn to the Angel's Tears, and he forgot to say everything he should say.

After Sohei's explanation, Raven realized that the smelting and forging of magic ore are very different from ordinary ore, and each has its own unique forging method.

Take the misty iron as an example. It contains abundant water elements. The initial smelting and forging process is similar to that of ordinary iron ore, but it requires higher temperature and longer time, and it needs to be smelted repeatedly from ore to ingot.

After casting it into a weapon, the temperature cannot be too high to destroy its original characteristics, so the strength and technical requirements of the forger are quite strict.

After casting, conventional weapons need to be quenched, but the weapons of misty iron have an additional process - smoldering.

The water element is firmly locked inside the weapon with high temperature, and it will not attract water vapor when used. Except for the fire element, it can be enchanted normally. If the water enchantment is performed, it can also obtain a considerable degree of amplification.

Raven grabbed the hinge with one hand and pulled it slowly, and the fireproof bricks covering the furnace rose.

The first thing that came out of it was boiling steam, with a constant sizzling sound, like the residual water on the iron pot that was constantly burned dry, and it seemed like a steamer that was opened.

The steam soon dissipated, revealing a row of nine long swords. Their hilts were wide and thick, and the hilts were made into the shape of an eagle with spread wings. They were not only beautiful, but also protected the wrists, similar to the flower-shaped hilts of the rapier.

Sohei took out one with a hook. The sword body was originally burning red, but after leaving the furnace, the red color faded in less than half a minute, revealing the original azure color.

Bowell took over the hinge, and Raven held the sword in his hand. He was a little surprised to find that it didn't feel hot at all. It was obviously very resistant to flames. If it was made into protective gear, it should be able to greatly reduce the damage caused by flames.

If you look closely, you can also find that the sword seems to be coated with a tough film. When you flick your fingers, the sword body will emit a humming sound like a dragon's roar. Its center of gravity design is very good, and it will not waste the user's energy.

The dwarf craftsmanship is indeed extraordinary.

At Sohei's signal, a gray dwarf soon brought a dummy for testing the sword.

With just a little force, the straw dummy was cut into two pieces; the dummy covered with leather armor suffered the same fate.

Until the dummy wearing plate armor, Raven slashed with a sword. Although he used a little force, he still easily cut off the arm of the plate armor, and pierced the entire plate armor with another sword.

Although he felt some resistance during the process, when he put the sword back and looked back, there were only a few slight scratches on the sword body, and there was no gap at all on the blade.

It's like cutting iron like mud.

If it really needs to be taken out, this sword alone will be enough to sell for a high price of more than 500 gold coins!

"Baron, please name this long sword!" Bowell rubbed his hands.

Raven gently weighed the sword in his hand: "This sword is produced in the Eagle Territory, and it is shaped like a flying eagle, so let's call it 'Eagle Feather'."

After saying this, Bowell was a little disappointed.

"Is this a bad name?" Raven asked.

"No! Actually, I've already thought of a name beforehand..."

"What are you going to call it?"

"Eagle's Teeth!"

Raven was afraid of comparisons. He was not confident about the name he had chosen, but after hearing what Bowell said, he became proud of his aesthetic taste.

Sohei also began to praise: "The Baron's name is still good!"

"Hey! Don't be like that, I spent a lot of time thinking about it!" Bowell jumped up and shouted.

"It's good that you have enthusiasm." Raven coughed: "But, Bowell, have you ever thought about..."

"Eagles don't have teeth?"

Raven then asked other questions.

Because Sohei and others also have to take care of the production of ordinary equipment, it is difficult to increase the production capacity of Eagle Feather Swords. At present, it can only be maintained twice a month, that is, 18 swords.

Raven is not going to sell these to the outside world, but to start with his own soldiers and equip them to officers at the level of centurion.

These long swords still need some detailed follow-up processing, such as wrapping the hilt and matching the appropriate scabbard. Raven did not wait, but returned to Eagle Castle.

Two days later, the first batch of Eagle Feather Swords arrived, and Raven equipped his personal soldiers first.

Volaf exclaimed: "It has such strength without enchantment, what will it be like after enchantment!?"

This also resonated with Raven.

Weapons made of second-level ore would be a waste if they were not enchanted.

But if you want to make two second-level enchantments, the market price is more than 700 gold coins!

Now the Eagle Army has expanded to a legion, with more than 70 officers above the rank of centurion. If all of them are given to outsiders for enchantment, the price will be at least more than 50,000 gold coins!

I am also a magician. How can I let others make this money?

However, Raven also knew that if he had to do everything himself, he would be exhausted.

"It seems that the preparation of the raw materials for the magic potion should be stepped up."

"Training a few more reliable magicians can also share my pressure."

It is worth mentioning that when Link and others who escorted Denise came back, most of the personal soldiers were split by Raven to serve as officers in the Eagle Army. Currently, only eight people headed by Volaf stayed with him.

So in the next few days, when the personal soldiers changed shifts, they would always hang around the barracks, which made Eric, Link and others a little jealous.

The time came to December 16th. From this day on, Raven received many congratulatory invitations for three consecutive days to celebrate Raven's "promotion".

There were surrounding nobles, Viscount John, and many nobles who had only met once. Of course, Fox and Slater were also indispensable.

Regardless of their intentions, everyone's words were very enthusiastic and seemed very happy for Raven.

On the fourth day, December 19th, Raven had just finished a hot breakfast when Old Gordon knocked on the door of his study.

"Baron, we're here!" Old Gordon held a document in both hands and placed it in front of Raven.

This document was covered with sturdy Warcraft leather, with a ball of wax in the center and a golden "H\u0026M\u0026K" symbol printed on it, indicating that it was signed by His Majesty the King himself.

Cut off the wax, and inside was a letter of appointment, with long paragraphs of complicated and formal words.

There was only one useful sentence:

"Hereby, Baron Raven Ota Griffith, serves as the governor of Snow Maple County, Nord Province, Keynes Empire, effective immediately."

This is the reason why the nobles sent congratulatory cards.

"This is really an amazing achievement!" Old Gordon said, wiping the red corners of his eyes.

He was so excited not only because Raven got the position of county governor, from then on he had the power to collect taxes on behalf of the empire and make laws in the county.

The key point is that the county governor must be a viscount. This is an unwritten rule in the empire for thousands of years, and there has been no exception.

This appointment letter is a political statement, which means that it is only a matter of time before Raven becomes a viscount.

"Huh..." Raven held the document with a happy smile on his face: "Gordon, I remember that according to convention, after taking office as the county governor, you need to hold a cocktail party, right?"

"Help me prepare the invitations and send them to the nobles of Xuefeng County. Remember to give one to Viscount John as well, so that he doesn't feel that he has left the party."

"The date is set on January 1st of next year, and the preparations should be made now."

Old Gordon immediately agreed: "Yes, Baron!"

Nobles hardly need a reason to hold a cocktail party. Even the more old-fashioned Viscount John holds more than a dozen times a year, but Raven has hardly held one since he took office.

Even old Gordon sometimes complains that the Baron is too frugal.

Now that he has received the order, he must organize it well - this is the county governor's first cocktail party!

Raven sealed the document and stood up:

"It's time to meet an old friend."

...