Unknown Knight

In Suno City, in front of the caravan's warehouse, Aix carefully scraped the last bit of wheat porridge in the big pot with a big spoon, and then served the spoonful of porridge, which was visibly mixed with pebbles and weeds, to a grandfather and grandson. The grandfather and grandson stared at the life-saving bowl of wheat porridge eagerly, without any disgust. The old man even used his fingers like dead branches to gather a few grains of wheat on the edge of the wooden bowl into the bowl, and finally licked his fingers with his mouth, then smiled at Aix innocently, and bowed deeply to Aix before leaving. Aix didn't dare to accept it, so he hurried over to help the old man up, and handed over a small bag of food he had prepared, which made the grandfather and grandson nod and bow again.

Aix was familiar with this grandfather and grandson. They could not squeeze through the other strong victims and were always the last in line to get porridge. The caravan members felt sorry for them and always left more for them. They were also grateful and would come to the porridge stall to help clean up the mess after eating. After a while, everyone became familiar with each other. Everyone then realized that they were not grandfather and grandson, but the last survivors from two big families. Their relatives either died in the looting of the rebels or died on the way to escape. Finally, the old man saw that the child alone on the side of the road felt sorry for him, so the two supported each other and came to Suno City, and finally survived tenaciously.

Watching them go away, Aix's eyes moistened, and he could not help but sigh in his heart: War! War! In addition to death, hunger, separation, plague, evil, fear, and other bad things that people don't need, the only useful thing you can bring is that it is like a mirror, reflecting the only trace of true love in this world. It is this trace of true love that allows people to survive tenaciously no matter how much suffering they encounter or how much trauma they suffer.

Today is the last day of distributing porridge. The war in Uxhall has ended for more than half a month. However, unlike the nobles in the city, Aix did not stop distributing porridge on the day of the armistice. Instead, he continued to do so for half a month, because he knew that the wounds of war were not so easy to heal. If he stopped distributing porridge, the empty and cold wilderness would be the final graveyard for these victims. Now the weather has warmed up, the grass is growing and the birds are flying. The new sprouts and wild animals that have been dormant for a winter can prevent the victims from starving to death on their way home. Aix also divided the remaining grain into small bags and distributed them to each of the victims who came to get porridge today to use on their way home, which was considered to be a full stop for this two-month-long porridge distribution.

Originally, Aix only foresaw the disaster with his vision and did what he could without thinking of the consequences or expecting any reward. His mentality was just like the saying: do good things and don't worry about the future. But no matter what you do, there will be consequences, whether good or bad, fate will always bring it to you.

The hall of the royal palace in Paraven City was filled with a strange smell after nearly half a month of continuous banquets. This smell was a mixture of alcohol, the sour smell of vomit, and the fishy smell of fish and meat. The whole hall was in a mess, with overturned tables and chairs, empty wine bottles, broken plates and cups, and silk with foreign objects stuck in the corners.

King Harlaus glanced around and couldn't help frowning. The maid next to him swept up the dust, choking him so much that he had to take out a handkerchief to cover his mouth and nose. He glared at the bitch in his eyes with disgust, turned around and went straight to the window of the study on the second floor.

King Harlaus couldn't help but raise his eyebrows when he took the letter handed over by the secretary who came with him. The name of our protagonist was clearly written on the envelope: Aix.

After the battle of Uxhall, King Harlaus, who returned to Paraven, held a banquet to win over the dignitaries in the country to prove his intention to swallow up Uxhall. Although he was overly excited after getting rid of the long-term depression, he still maintained the most basic sobriety of a king. The overwhelming praise and flattery did not make him forget himself, and the fine wine and beautiful women he could collect did not mess up his mind. He knew clearly that half of the reason for this victory was due to the incompetence of the enemy, and the other half was due to the merchant named Aix. It was this merchant who helped him stabilize the situation in the country. As for his role, it can be said to be negligible. It is not an exaggeration to say that he picked up a city for nothing.

So he deliberately downplayed this matter these days, and even did not personally confer the honorary lordship on Aix. However, this matter had already been written on the bulletins of various towns, and he could not take it back. At the same time, he sent spies to investigate this Aix, a person who suddenly appeared out of nowhere and had such a great influence. This was his Kingdom of Swadia, and he would not allow such a powerful person to exist in his kingdom, let alone tolerate this person being out of his control.

After reading the letter sent by the spy, the King of Harlaus raised his lips and showed a playful smile. This merchant named Aix originally belonged to the royal caravan of Marquis Craggs, but the idiot Dilinard wanted to monopolize the olive oil business, and actually allowed the steward he sent to Suno City to persecute the caravan and broke the leg of the original leader of the caravan. Aix took over as the leader of the caravan, and he was very capable and smart. Under his leadership, the business of the caravan grew bigger and bigger. Not only was it not suppressed by the steward, but the steward disappeared inexplicably some time ago.

As for the porridge distribution this time, in the eyes of King Harlaus, it should be that this Aix had to do it in order to expand his influence, so that the current actual ruler of Suno City, Mrs. Anna, would not dare to touch him easily. And it is rumored that this Aix's identity is mysterious, and he is probably a noble who fled from a country in the East. The members of the caravan respectfully call him "sir".

"Interesting, interesting, this is an interesting person."

King Harlaus turned to the clerk beside him and said with a look of joy as if he had picked up a large sum of money. He did see a large sum of money from Aix. Now he has annexed the city of Uxhall in Dilinard, and he has become hostile to the nobles of his line, including his daughter, Lady Anna.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Moreover, Aix's caravan started out by selling olive oil. The city of Uxhall, which he now controls, is also an important producer of olive oil. This Aix is ​​exactly the talent he needs. He can also control the olive oil business in Suno City through him, and then weaken the strength of the two families of Craggs and Dilinard. It seems that this Aix is ​​an important figure that he must win over. Thinking of this, he said to the secretary beside him:

"Summon the merchant Aix from Suno City, oh no, Lord Aix, and ask him to come to Paraven City to meet you as soon as he receives this letter."

When he received the king's order, Aix was not in Suno City. He was in the valley, preparing to go to the Nord Kingdom to do business and sell the snow salt and leather products produced in the valley during this period. Although the porridge distribution he had done some time ago earned him considerable reputation, it also consumed most of his capital, and he had to make several more trips to the Nord Kingdom to make up for his investment.

By the way, there are two profitable industries in the valley now, one is snow salt and the other is leather products. The surrounding area is all Black Forest, which produces animal skins. He has negotiated a cooperation with the village chief of the nearby Repollet Village, asking him to purchase animal skins and accumulate a certain amount. Then the caravan will secretly transport them to the valley to make leather products. The leatherworker bought from Ramon is now very popular in the valley. Aix not only brought his family to the valley, but also allocated a house for him like the old blacksmith John.

Seeing the man from Suno City coming over to deliver the king's order, and touching the lion emblem of the King of Swadia on the wax seal of the envelope, Aix was at a loss for a moment. Was he so popular now? Those who wanted to see him were all king-level figures? That's right, King Ragnar of Sagos City also sent a letter to Suno City yesterday, saying that he missed him very much after the last time they parted, and hoped to meet him in Sagos City soon.

After a meeting with Old John, Fatis, Bandak, Amanti and others, everyone came to the conclusion that Aix should go to Paraven City to meet King Harlaus first. After all, he still nominally held the title of honorary lord. In addition, the letter sent by King Harlaus was a royal edict, which was more formal and urgent, while the letter from King Ragnar was a private letter sent because of their private friendship. So everyone thought that Aix should go to Paraven City to meet him first.

So Aix decided to let Bandak lead the caravan to the Nord Kingdom with Manid and Desevi, and attached a letter to King Ragnar, saying that when he received his letter, he was already on the way to Paraven City, because he had received the order from King Harlaus and needed to deal with some official business. As soon as the matters here were settled, he would immediately rush to Sagos City for an audience. His tone was very polite, and he could not afford to offend either of them.

After giving the instructions, Aix, fully armed, rode on horseback with Fatis and Cress to the city of Paraven.

Three days later, Aix and his party arrived at the royal city of Paraven. They did not need to make an appointment in advance, nor did they have to queue up. After reporting at the palace gate, they were quickly allowed to see the emperor. There were guards at the gate shouting out numbers:

"The good man of Suno, the glorious lord of the kingdom, Lord Aix comes to see you!"

Hearing this announcement, Aix felt relieved, knowing that King Harlaus's call for him must not be a bad thing, so he walked to the greeting area in front of the throne with an increasingly respectful expression and said:

"Suno merchant Aix has been summoned to meet our king. I wish that our king will be like the sun in the sky, shining and warming every one of our subjects. Congratulations to our king on recovering the city of Uxhall. Your great achievements will be recorded in history and admired by all people! May our king be healthy, have many offspring, and have a long and prosperous Kingdom of Swadia."

The greeting was so eloquent that Bigger covered his head with his hat, which stunned King Harlaus and the nobles standing on both sides. None of them had ever tasted artistic bacteria, and had never heard such a greeting that sounded like poetry. Usually, even respectful people would just say: "Greetings to my respected king." That was all. After Aix finished his greeting, the whole hall remained silent for nearly 10 seconds, and suddenly King Harlaus laughed:

"Hahahaha, great! What a great Suno merchant. Lord Aix, you don't have to be so modest. Didn't I confer the title of lord of the kingdom on you some time ago?"

Hearing Harlaus' words, Aix felt amused and thought, "Look how happy you are. If I were to make up 'Long live the emperor, long live the emperor', you would be so happy that you would faint." But he became more humble and said respectfully:

"I dare not, I dare not. I have made no contribution to the country, and I dare not accept your love and reward."

"My Lord, there is no need to be modest. Your heroic deeds in Sunuo City some time ago have made great contributions. They not only stabilized the country, but also ensured victory on the front line. Even I should thank you here!"

In a moment of excitement, King Harlaus spoke the truth: he now liked Aix more and more.

"Your Highness is serious. Helping the King solve his problems is the duty and honor of every one of us subjects. Where is the merit? Your Highness is serious. Serious."

After hearing this, King Harlaus, who had been frustrated for many years, trembled inwardly, as if an old writer who had been unsuccessful for ten years had met a loyal reader who gave him three links and gave him rewards, subscriptions, urged him to update, and commented on him. He looked left and right at the nobles standing on both sides of the hall, as if to say: Listen, listen, now you know how to be a qualified minister, right? Learn from me! Learn from me!

After being excited in vain for a while, King Harlaus slapped his thigh and said:

"Hahaha, all right, Lord Aix, you've traveled such a long distance on horseback, you must be tired, go down and rest first. I will host a banquet for you tonight and introduce you to the nobles of the royal city."