Imperial Crown

The stabbing sword in Gul'dan's hand brought out green flames, breaking through the atmosphere and approaching Akori's throat.

The two swords in Akori's hands were about to hit Gul'dan's shoulders.

The spectators held their breath and watched the game round after round. They could see without Ingra's explanation that if this continued, there would be only one outcome——

perish together!

The flames burned brightly, and Akori's heart shook violently.

Almost instinctively, he retracted the swords in his hands, jerked his feet to the left, and threw himself to the right.

This time, he got out of the way of the stabbing sword that was about to reach his throat, but he couldn't completely avoid it. The sword edge made a notch on his left breastplate, and then stabbed deeply, penetrating through the cloth without any hindrance. The face is soft and armor is cut open, the skin is penetrated, and the bones are penetrated. Blood spurts out like a spring, and is evaporated in the blink of an eye!

At this time, the exclamations from the sidelines suddenly sounded!

"I won!" Gul'dan said loudly.

Akori pursed his lips and looked at his empty hands in disbelief. Then he raised his head and followed the stabbing sword to Gul'dan's face, but he could only see the cold fox-faced visor.

The sword only penetrated his shoulder, and he was still capable of fighting.

But Akori himself knew that in this confrontation, his avoidance had discouraged him, and even if he continued to fight, the result would be the same.

Gul'dan won this battle.

As soon as he thought about it, the martial soul behind Akori suddenly collapsed.

He relaxed his wrists and let the two long swords fall to the ground, then raised his right hand high to admit defeat.

"Winner - Gul'dan Fox!!!"

Gul'dan drew out his stabbing sword, and his fighting spirit disappeared with his fighting spirit.

Screams, applause, and curses sounded almost at the same time. Some were cheering for Gul'dan's victory, while others were roaring for Akori's defeat.

The chaotic sounds piled upon Akori one after another, making his breathing difficult.

He relied on instinct to fight, and it was this instinct that made him lose now!

You cherish your life too much, so you avoid it based on instinct, because as long as you are alive, you will always have a chance.

It's just a defeat, just a game!

Akori tried to convince himself so, but his mind was wavering.

He is Akori, the son of Duke Ferdinand, a genius knight who awakened his martial spirit at the age of 27!

Now, under the attention of tens of thousands of people, he lost to a 35-year-old dude!

The shame fermented in his heart, almost crushing his heart.

"Raise your head, young master." Gul'dan walked to him and whispered, "You did not lose unjustly."

Thinking this was just a taunt from the winner, Akori sneered and bent down to pick up his weapon: "Save your energy and go show off to those little girls."

Gul'dan chuckled and sheathed his sword: "Of course I will do that, but if you act too embarrassed, it won't make sense for me, the winner, in front of you, right?"

After combining the two long swords into a wave-edged giant sword, Akori said impatiently: "What on earth do you want to say?"

"I just want to tell you that you lost to me not because your skills are inferior to others." Gul'dan looked into his eyes: "It's because I have a reason to win."

"What's this? I..." Akori was about to argue, but stopped suddenly.

Yes, what is the reason why he must win this game?

Seeing him frozen in place, Gul'dan smiled and patted his shoulder, turned around and left the arena, unable to help but smile.

In this game, he defeated Akori, slapped Anthony hard in the face, and boosted the momentum of the Fox family!

He let everyone know that the Fox family is still in full swing!

Of course, the other small gain is that Akori was taught a lesson.

This feeling of being condescending and educating others with reason and evidence is so good!

At the same time, in the box, Montreal had an irrepressible smile on his face:

"Hey! Gul'dan, this kid, is still not stable enough. He is already a father, and yet he fights with others. This needs to be changed. This needs to be changed!"

"Gul'dan is talented and intelligent, but he doesn't usually like martial arts, so he usually doesn't have a good reputation." Archbishop Thomas commented: "With this victory today, it seems that we are not far away from breaking through to the fourth level."

At the age of 35, he is still in the third level, which is not outstanding among the Earl family. But if he is 35 years old and in the fourth level, the situation is completely different.

And it was Thomas who said this.

Everyone present knew that since Thomas dared to say these words, it meant that he would mobilize church resources to support Gul'dan in breaking through to the fourth level.

This is a promise, which means that the connection between the Fox family and the Church of Light will be closer!

Invisibly, another slap hit Marquis Anthony on the face.

Count Jonah also stepped forward to congratulate him: "Brother Montreal, your family is getting more and more prosperous. In comparison, my son is just..."

Snap——

Before he finished speaking, the sound of broken glass was heard. Everyone looked back and saw Marquis Anthony's face as red as fire, veins on his forehead showing, and his stiff hands shaking violently.

At his feet was a broken wine glass.

Sensing everyone's gaze, Anthony stood up and twitched his cheeks a few times, as if he wanted to say something for the occasion, but seeing Montreal's proud eyes, he finally said nothing.

Throw your sleeves and walk away!

The atmosphere in the box became awkward for a while, and finally it was Raven, the organizer, who spoke up: "Marquis Anthony may have something urgent to do. I'll go and ask him."

But Raven didn't get any information because Marquis Anthony closed the door and refused to see anyone.

It was just that when cleaning in the early morning, many broken porcelain pieces and furniture appeared in the trash can, and several soft bodies were quietly thrown into the cemetery.

The next morning, Anthony left Eagle Town with his guards, announcing that the time was up and he would return to the capital to report.

On this day, there was also a match between Eric and Sankifu. With the tacit understanding between Raven and the Slater family, although the battle was inextricable and fierce, Eric won with a "slight advantage" in the end.

It's not that no one speculated that this result was manipulated by someone, but at least the two knights performed flawlessly on the court, so there was no wave.

The offseason is still 3 days as usual, and after 3 days, the final will begin.

The voices calling for Gul'dan to win the championship were rising, but they were not the only voices.

Some people thought that as Eric was the representative of the Griffith family, and this was also Raven's wedding celebration, it was reasonable for the Fox family as in-laws to give way.

But some people refuted this.

Since they were in-laws, and Fox was the earl family, wouldn't it be more reasonable and more pleasing for Gul'dan to win the championship?

For a while, there were many different opinions, and no one could convince anyone.

September 1, the first day of the offseason.

Raven didn't have time to rest, but stood at the gate of Eagle Castle with Nancy, leading a group of servants, waiting quietly.

The red carpet was laid from the castle gate to the hall, without a trace of dust, and the servants knelt respectfully on both sides.

The sun was shining in the sky, but it was a bit unbearable for Nancy.

She had been standing here for almost an hour!

Sweat began to seep out of her forehead, and she could only keep moving her ankles to relieve the pain from standing for a long time.

"It's just an earl, why wait so long?" Nancy grumbled a little dissatisfiedly: "And Jonah doesn't look like the kind of person who cares about every penny. Even if we don't come to greet him, he shouldn't be angry."

"Okay, we've been waiting for so long, so we don't mind waiting a little longer, right?" Raven smiled and comforted Nancy: "This is etiquette after all."

Etiquette, seemingly useless, but cannot be ignored.

Jonah is an earl, and Raven is just a baron. He sent an invitation 5 days in advance, and now he is waiting at the door in full dress. This is a respect for both parties.

Nancy sighed, waved a round fan to fan the wind, and nodded gloomily.

As a lady of the earl's family, she has always had others lining up to welcome her, but today she has to wait here to welcome others.

Fortunately, not long after, in just over 10 minutes, a heavy carriage slowly galloped over.

The carriage had a distinct style of the Midwestern provinces of the Empire. It was made of the valuable second-level material "Black Rhino Wood", which was heavy and solid, and had a hidden sense of luxury.

The horse pulling the carriage was obviously of Warcraft descent, with distinct muscles, tall and strong, and well-trained. Even if the driver did not scold, it still stopped steadily at the end of the red carpet.

Count Jonah got off the carriage, and at this time he had changed into a graceful dress, with silver lines outlined on the black background, which was very majestic, and his slightly protruding belly was also set off with a bit of majesty.

"Oh, this is really grand." Jonah said, "I am a guest from afar, and I don't deserve such courtesy!"

Raven took off his hat and bowed, while Nancy beside him lifted her skirt, lowered her head and nodded, performing the kneeling ceremony exclusively for female nobles; the surrounding servants knelt down together and called him "Lord Earl".

Although he was humble, Jonah waited until everyone had finished the formalities before he stepped forward to help Raven up. He glanced at Nancy again: "Not only does Montreal have an excellent son, but his daughter is also beautiful and generous."

"Otherwise, how could she be worthy of Baron Raven's talent!"

After praising three people in one sentence, Nancy's long-awaited unhappiness subsided a little: "Uncle Jonah, you are too kind. I heard that your daughter is known as the Pearl of the West!"

"It's just a compliment from an outsider." Jonah said.

After a few more pleasantries, Raven said: "I heard that you are not used to local food recently, so I specially ordered someone to prepare a table of Molinier Province specialties. I don't know if it is authentic. Can you help taste it?"

Jonah acted surprised: "That's great!"

Several people walked along the red carpet back to the hall and sat down at the long table. Soon, a maid brought wine and food and set up everything for everyone.

The dishes were mainly roasted meat, all cooked to medium rare, some with blood streaks; the real feature was the wine, brewed with Warcraft milk, which tasted like thick rice soup after being poured into the bowl, with a faint smell of wine and mutton.

Earl Jonah didn't have high expectations at first, after all, he knew with more experience that it was difficult for outsiders to make the taste of their hometown. Even in the same province, the taste of food was different, not to mention in the Eagle Territory?

But after taking a bite, his eyes lit up, and after drinking another glass of wine, he squinted his eyes and nodded continuously: "Baron Raven, you've taken the trouble!"

Raven laughed: "As long as you like it."

He could also see that Earl Jonah was really happy with the food, because he didn't even say much, just buried his head in eating, and although he still maintained aristocratic etiquette, his eating manners were really not elegant.

At the end of the meal, he patted his stomach and burped: "Haha, I haven't eaten so comfortably since leaving Molinier."

"I thought that Baron Raven, who was successful at a young age, would be a little arrogant, but I didn't expect that you would be so thoughtful. If I'm not mistaken, Mrs. Nancy has put a lot of thought into this, right?"

Nancy's pretty face blushed slightly, feeling that she had failed in her duty - this table of food was really arranged by Raven.

It seems that I really need to learn how to be a housekeeper.

Raven said, "Nancy really helped me a lot."

"By the way, you are the first noble from Molinier Province that I have met. Can you tell me about the situation there?"

Count Jonah did not refuse: "It's nothing strange. Our two provinces are adjacent, and the cultural gap is really not big. If there is any difference, it is the terrain."

"Our side is generally higher than Nord Province, with shorter summers and longer winters."

"If there is anything worth boasting about, it is the snow scene. Every winter, standing on the castle and looking out, the silver-white snow all over the mountains is like looking at clouds in the sky."

"Baron Raven, the hot pot you invented is really a good thing. If it comes to winter, eating this and looking at the snow scene must be very beautiful!"

Snow is not rare. Nord Province has no shortage of it, but it lacks plains. When thinking of the endless silver plains, both Raven and Nancy are a little fascinated.

Suddenly, Count Jonah sighed: "It's a pity that I can't invite you two to enjoy the snow this year."

Raven asked jokingly: "Why is that? Can't Count Jonah afford to treat us two to food and drinks?"

"It was no problem in previous years, but I'm afraid I really can't afford it this year." Jonah sighed: "In fact, something was wrong last winter. There was too little snow, the soil moisture was poor, and there were many insects."

"It just so happens that there was not enough rain in the summer, and the drought was particularly serious. There are many places with reduced production and no harvest. Not to mention others, just in my territory, this year's autumn grain is expected to be 80-90% less than in previous years. I can't even support the serfs in my territory."

Raven suddenly realized.

No wonder the earl came all the way to Eagle Town. It seems that he came not only to watch the game, but the most important reason is probably to buy grain.

But then, a trace of doubt came to Raven's mind: "Count Jonah, it's not that I'm suspicious, but the southern province of Cartier has always been an important grain-producing area in the empire. Since you have a good relationship with Count Duna there, why don't you go to him to borrow grain?"

Jonah didn't expect that Raven, a small baron, could have a vision that could radiate the whole country. He was stunned for a moment, and then lowered his voice: "I only say this to you, don't leak it out."

"Since the year before last, His Majesty the King has secretly transferred grain from the grain-producing provinces in the south, basically leaving only their daily expenses. Even if I want to borrow, I can't borrow it."

Nancy was a little puzzled: "Your Majesty...what is the grain transfer for?"

Raven fell into deep thought. He had heard from Denise before that the grain from the south has indeed become less and less in the past two years, and the price has become higher and higher, which can indirectly confirm what Count Jonah said.

Large-scale grain transfers are either for disaster relief or war.

And in the past two years, there have been no large-scale natural disasters in the empire.

...Is there going to be a war?

Raven had always heard that the current king was ambitious and wanted to expand the territory, which was not new.

Where was the war? If grain was transferred from the south, the battle line should be in the north; and the Nord Province had not received any news in the past two years, and Anthony did not seem to want to integrate the troops in the province.

If you can't figure it out, don't think about it for the time being. Anyway, it seems that this fire will not burn you.

Raven didn't think for long: "I wonder how much food you want? I will try my best to cooperate."

"Frank! You are worthy of being a man from the north!" Earl Jonah rubbed his chest: "You don't need too much, 8 million pounds, settled at 1.3 times the market price, how about it?"

"This..." Raven frowned.

Earl Jonah was a little nervous: "Why, is there any difficulty?"

In fact, he was a little worried when he heard Earl Tyrone say that the rainfall in the Nord Province this year was not very good. If he couldn't get enough food back this time, I'm afraid that many people in his territory would really starve to death!

That's all his family wealth.

"8 million pounds is still too little for your territory. How about this? I will give you 12 million pounds of grain at a 90% discount on the market price. How about that?"

Earl Jonah was overjoyed and said, "This is not a small amount. Baron Raven, are you really going to sell it to me like this?"

"You are a distinguished guest. Since you have come from afar, I must do my best to entertain you." Raven smiled and said, "Besides, this amount of grain is not a big problem for me."

Earl Jonah was secretly a little shocked. Although he had heard about Raven's achievements in business during this period, he did not expect that he could mobilize such a large batch of grain!

12 million pounds of grain, according to the market price, is worth about 10,000 gold coins, which is not a lot of money for the earl.

The problem lies in the quantity.

You know, even he can't raise 12 million pounds of grain in a short time in a good year.

After calming down, Earl Jonah asked the last question:

"Then, Baron Raven, what do you need?"

...