Imperial Crown

Count Jonah's letter was spread out on the table. The rough paper made of yak hide had a roughness unique to the plateau, but the content on it made everyone unable to show their faces.

In the letter, Earl Jonah first exchanged greetings, thanked Raven for his charity work in raising food at low prices last year, and asked about the health of Raven and Nancy.

Afterwards, the conversation changed and he mentioned that the drought situation in Molinier Province has not improved since last winter, and a large number of locust eggs have been found along the rivers in many places, making it difficult to destroy them all.

In other words, a locust plague is likely to break out this year.

The locust plague is never limited to one place. If it breaks out in the Molinier Province, it will definitely affect the Nord Province.

Raven tapped his fingers on the table: "The locust plague should not be taken lightly. I called you here because I wanted to ask if there is any way to deal with it."

After all, he was the one who sent away three generations of family heads. Old Gordon pushed up his monocle and said: "Since the Griffith family took root in the Eagle Territory, they have encountered locust plagues more than once, and there are actually many methods. "

Raven's eyes lit up: "Oh? Tell me in detail."

Old Gordon coughed lightly, and after sorting out his thoughts, he began to talk, which also opened the eyes of Raven and Bucky next to him.

Even in this era, over thousands of years, people have accumulated a lot of experience in killing locusts and summed up a set of rules.

Locust plagues usually break out after severe droughts, so in order to contain them, experienced lords would organize their people to set fire to wasteland and burn the eggs in the grass; then they would organize manpower to search for locust eggs in the lowlands by the river and remove them in advance. Kill to minimize the number and size of future locusts.

But as Old Gordon spoke and Raven listened, his expressions began to become a little solemn.

What Old Gordon said is an empirical summary. Since the Griffith family knows something, Earl Jonah must also know it.

The fact that this letter will be delivered shows that preventive measures are no longer effective. Even if we try our best to kill them, we cannot eliminate the possibility of a locust plague.

"You are talking about prevention, but what about countermeasures?" Raven asked.

"...It's difficult, it can be said to be almost impossible." Old Gordon swallowed.

Raven frowned and said, "Isn't it possible? After thousands of years, there is no way at all?"

"There is a stupid way." Old Gordon looked a little weird: "That is..."

After listening to Old Gordon's description, Raven was a little dumbfounded.

Because this way of coping is indeed unreliable - raising birds.

The reason for this method is that the nobles discovered that locust plagues rarely break out in places with dense forests and numerous birds.

Raven thought for a moment and understood the logic.

Birds are the natural enemies of insects. Some eat eggs, some eat larvae, and some eat locusts directly. They can indeed kill the locust plague at the root.

But the problem is that this method is not suitable for areas with forests, and it is not suitable for areas with few forests.

The locust plague breaks out in a hurry. You can't destroy all the farmland and plant trees to attract birds.

In that case, when the saplings grow up, they may not be able to attract birds, but they will be able to provide tender food for the locusts.

"What about Bucky? Is there anything you can do?" Raven scratched his eyebrows and asked, "For example, make a medicine against locusts. You can drive them away from the territory without killing them."

Bucky rubbed his hands and said, "Lord Baron, you think too highly of my alchemy."

"If you say to kill some cockroaches and rats, I can still find some way to deal with locusts... I'm afraid you have to go find the legendary Baggins."

Baggins, the teacher of all alchemists, was the only alchemist to reach the fifth level in history. It was he who formulated the specifications of alchemy and pioneered alchemy.

Raven rubbed his temples helplessly, knowing that he was overthinking.

That's right, after all, the locust plague is extremely destructive. If it can be prevented and cured through alchemy, then in thousands of years, there should be a mature way to deal with it.

After sorting out his thoughts, Lei Wen said: "We can't prevent the locust plague. We can only minimize the losses."

"In this way, Gordon, start organizing people from today to build wooden fences and fences along the border of the territory. They don't need to be too high and ordinary people can't climb over them."

"Then we purchase poultry on a large scale through the Tianying platform. Although we can't raise birds, we can still raise chickens and ducks."

"Finally, draft three letters for me; one of them is a reply to Count Jonah. I remember that Countess Jonah is still alive and has two daughters, so I will send you three bottles of Angel's Kiss."

"There are two remaining letters. Copy Earl Jonah's warning intact and send them to Men'en City and Hovey City respectively via the Mercenary Guild's route."

Old Gordon nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

Bucky suddenly said: "Wait a minute, since we know that a locust plague is about to break out, why not purchase a batch of grain in advance before notifying them?"

After these words came out, Raven and Old Gordon looked at him at the same time, with an inexplicable smile in their eyes.

Bucky was a little hairy at the sight, and felt even more uncomfortable.

Originally, his status as an alchemist was unique in Raven's territory. He had always been regarded as Raven's personal alchemist. His status was very high. Although he did not have a title, even knights had to respect him.

But since Petty became an alchemist, his position has become increasingly unstable.

Especially after moving to Eagle City, apart from Raven inviting him on the day of moving, the only time he was invited to meet him was today.

Suddenly making a suggestion was due to a sense of crisis, hoping that he could gain Raven's attention.

Feeling uncomfortable being looked at by the two, Bucky asked, "What, did I say something wrong?"

"It seems that people really can't be isolated from the world for too long." Raven shook his head and sighed.

"Mr. Bucky, do you know what day and month it is today?" asked Old Gordon.

Bucky was stunned: "Uh... April 1st?"

"Yes, April 1st, spring has just arrived." Seeing that he still didn't react, old Gordon had to explain patiently: "At this time, it is exactly the time when last year's food was eaten up and there is no harvest this year. Except for a few production areas, everyone is buying food. Even if we increase the price, we can't get much."

Raven continued: "And Earl Jonah's letter seems to be a private letter to me, but in fact he wants to pass the news through me. And the locust plague cannot be concealed. You don't think that in the entire Nord Province, only I and the noble Molinier have some personal relationship, right?"

"So, why should I offend the nobles of the entire province for the little food I can get?"

Bucky was stunned, blinked, and nodded as if he suddenly realized something.

Raven chuckled: "Okay, this is not your specialty after all, it's normal that you don't understand."

"Once the locust plague arrives, it is estimated that there will be either famine or plague. You should make some preparations in advance. I don't want my territory to lose too many people."

Baki, who was a little discouraged, suddenly brightened up when he heard this: "Understood, Baron!"

As Gordon and Bucky left, Raven looked out the window and sighed.

The Empire started a war, the Fox family was destroyed, and the locust plague was imminent. The Nord Province really ushered in a turbulent time.

No matter how much things happened this year, Raven had a lot of things to do today.

Not long after Gordon and Bucky left, an old friend came to Eagle City.

In the reception room, Hyde took off his cloak and handed it to the maid, then sat on a chair and took a glass of Angel's Tears and drank it: "...Huh, I've worked so hard on this journey."

"I don't know if I'm born to be incompatible with you. Why do I have to come every time around the rainy season?"

Raven shrugged: "How should I know? I didn't ask you to come. Can't you pick a better time?"

"Besides, it hasn't rained in Nord Province for more than 20 days, right?"

Hyde was choked and rolled his eyes and put down the glass: "You have a nickname of 'Little Bee', why do you choke people like 'Little Stone' when you speak?"

"If you were Earl Tyrone's little daughter, you would definitely understand my ability as a little bee. Unfortunately, I'm not interested in men." Raven spread his hands.

"Okay, I can't beat you in a quarrel, so I give up." Hyde raised his right hand and rested his hands on his knees: "How is Nancy doing recently?"

If it was someone else asking, Raven would definitely think it was a provocation, but this was Hyde, and he didn't think so much.

Although the relationship between the two was not very close, Hyde was one of the few people in the Nord Province who could be considered Raven's "friend".

"I cried for a while at the beginning, and I've been much better recently, but I'm still a little depressed." Raven sighed.

Hyde restrained his expression, nodded, and suddenly lowered his body and asked in a low voice: "Gul'dan is here with you, right?"

Raven's expression suddenly became extremely wonderful. He didn't know whether Hyde was stupid or smart, and he could ask such a sensitive question so naturally.

Unable to figure out Hyde's train of thought for a moment, Raven coughed and said, "I only heard that Gul'dan was missing."

Hyde looked at Raven suspiciously, shook his head, and did not ask further: "Well, I came here for two things this time."

As he said, he stretched out his hand and hooked his four fingers side by side.

Raven was a little confused: "What?"

"Playing dumb is not one of the virtues of a noble." Hyde said: "Last time we agreed that you would help me enchant the misty iron armor. Now it's been half a year, it should be done, right?"

"Oh, this matter." Raven picked up the wine glass to hide his embarrassment: "This will have to wait."

It's not that Raven deliberately delayed, but after the competition, Raven was a little busy. He finally moved into Eagle City, but he was attacked by Impir before he settled down for a long time.

After that, Raven spent a lot of energy on meditation and increasing magic power, and the matter of enchanting the armor was delayed. At present, the progress is only about 50%.

"Eh..." Hyde sighed and smacked his lips: "Then you have to hurry up. Next, let's talk about the second thing."

"My father asked me to inform... no, to be exact, he asked me to bring you two words."

He cleared his throat and imitated the tone of Earl Tyrone: "'The governor's orders cannot be disobeyed, but you don't have to get too close to Marquis Anthony.'"

Raven nodded slowly, tasting some flavor from it.

These two sentences are very concise, but the meaning they express is very rich.

"The governor's orders cannot be disobeyed" means that the governor is an extension of the king's power, and his orders must be obeyed and carried out well, but this is only limited to the "governor's" orders.

"Don't get too close to Marquis Anthony", combined with the first half of the sentence, it implicitly expresses two meanings.

First, it is impossible for Anthony to stay as governor of Nord province forever. If he gets too close to him, he will inevitably be liquidated and excluded when the new governor takes office in the future.

Second, Anthony cannot be trusted, and it is not worth charging into battle for him, thus losing his aristocratic identity and principles.

In addition to these two sentences, Earl Tyrone was expressing a kind of kindness to Raven, and he vaguely regarded Raven as one of his own.

This is the shrewdness of Earl Tyrone, he always knows how to balance the forces in the province.

"No, you figured it out so quickly?" Hyde sighed deeply, glanced at Raven and said, "Thanks to me, I thought about it for a long time along the way before I figured out what these two sentences mean."

"You guys, do you look at everyone as if they are idiots?"

Raven smiled slightly: "Not really, for example, you are not an idiot."

In his opinion, Hyde is the kind of person who has been well protected and well-educated since childhood. Although he also has some bad habits common to nobles, he essentially lacks the psychological foundation to do bad things.

When you get along with Hyde, you don't have to worry about him plotting against you, because he has neither such a brain nor such a mind.

Sure enough, after hearing Raven's words, Hyde immediately smiled: "Really? In your opinion, what kind of person is my father?"

Raven pondered for a moment: "Among the nobles of Nord Province, I only admire two and a half people, and Count Tyrone is one of them."

"He can be said to be a conscientious, intelligent and wise lord. Even when my father-in-law was still alive, he was far inferior to him."

Hearing that Raven praised his father so much, Hyde's smile grew stronger and he became more and more curious: "You said 'two and a half people', then besides my father, who are those one and a half?"

"There is another one, Marquis Anthony." Raven said: "He knows where his authority comes from and what he is pursuing, so he can act decisively, quickly and resolutely."

Hearing this, Hyde felt a little bored. He originally thought that Raven was sincerely admiring him, but now it seems that he is just like other nobles, holding a bowl of water and saying nice words that are neither salty nor bland: "Then I understand. , the remaining half is Archbishop Thomas."

"The reason why you only admire him half way is because he is from the Church of Light. As an imperial noble, you need to have some boundaries with him, right?"

Hyde was full of confidence, but after Raven heard this sentence, he shook his head: "You guessed wrong."

"It's not him?" Hyde was puzzled: "You didn't say it deliberately to make me feel at ease. Then who do you think this last half of the person is?"

Raven said: "It's Viscount John."

"Viscount John?" Hyde was stunned for a moment, and then slowly remembered this person.

He only remembered that Viscount John had exchanged territories with Raven. He was just an old nobleman. He didn't seem to have done any earth-shattering things. How could he be respected by Raven?

"Viscount John is the only nobleman I have ever seen who still follows the ancient spirit." Raven said seriously: "No matter what happens in the outside world, no matter how others treat him, he adheres to the ancient theories and traditions out of time. , the key is that he is strict with himself, lenient with others, and is a kind-hearted elder. "

Hyde also fell silent. Although in this era, nobles are rushing towards new pursuits and laughing at the old-fashioned conservativeness of the older generation, a person who adheres to principles can always be respected.

"In that case, why is he only half? Because he is only a viscount?"

"No." Raven shook his head and said, "That's because I can never be like him."

Hyde was silent for a moment, then suddenly startled in his heart, and couldn't help staring into Raven's eyes.

Raven said that he couldn't be someone like Viscount John, so he only admired half of him. Doesn't that mean...

But Hyde couldn't say anything to refute, because in his heart, Raven was indeed on the same level as his father.

This time, Hyde didn't stay too long. He only stayed in Eagle Town for 3 days before saying goodbye and leaving. When he left, he still didn't get the second-level enchanted plate armor that he wanted so much.

He also told Raven sourly that he would also build a castle like Eagle City in the future.

And just when Hyde left the Eagle Territory, Raven's letter was also brought to Hovey City by the mercenaries.

…