Unknown Knight

At night, the hall of the royal palace in the city of Paraven was magnificent, with the aroma of wine and meat. The wide floor was covered with lamb wool carpets from the Sarand Emirate, the candlesticks were lit with spiced smokeless lamps, and the tables were filled with all kinds of delicacies and fine wines of the era.

The standard of today's banquet was very high, no less than the celebration banquet held by King Harlaus a few days ago. Except for the few people in the palace during the day, all the other participants in the banquet were very curious about who this merchant from Suno City was. They didn't know his specific origins, but the standard of the banquet made them realize that no matter who this Suno merchant was before, he must be a favorite of King Harlaus and would be valued for a long time in the future.

The whole banquet was lively and joyful. Everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time. It was not like the ancient movies and TV dramas with so many rules. People did not come to eat and drink, let alone have fun. Instead, they came to put on airs and observe people’s words and expressions. After the banquet, they would go back and say proudly: I’m not full.

The court banquets of this era were for entertaining guests, and the guests who came to attend all considered themselves to be of the same class. Those who were not from the same class would not eat at the same table. Everyone could eat and drink to their heart's content, toast each other and chat, and those who were familiar with each other could even make harmless jokes. It was common for energetic young male and female nobles to sneak around and touch each other in private.

During the meal, Axe was harassed by two ladies with big breasts and big buttocks sitting across from him. They shamelessly used their feet to hook his thighs under the tablecloth. When everyone was standing and toasting each other, he was touched on the buttocks several times, and the key point was that once it felt like it was a man's hand, which was really embarrassing.

What shocked Axe even more was that when the waiter led him to the bathroom, he ran into a couple in the dim corner of the corridor. They were lifting up their skirts and engaging in a physical fight. When they saw Axe, they just smiled and had no intention of stopping. Axe knew these two people, as they were both there with their significant others.

Late at night, in King Harlaus' study, across the desk, King Harlaus looked meaningfully at Aix across from him. In his eyes, this man should not have adapted to the change of identity yet. He sat upright in the chair across from him, not daring to relax at all.

The reason why King Harlaus kept him, including the banquet tonight, was for the current conversation. Seeing Aix's current attitude, he was very satisfied. He first asked a few irrelevant questions, such as how was the wine, whether the dishes were to his taste, etc. After Aix answered them one by one, he didn't say anything more and went straight to the point:

"My Lord, I heard that your olive oil business is doing well?"

"I'm ashamed, Your Majesty. There have been some problems with the business this year. You should know that, Your Majesty."

Before coming, Aix had a meeting with Old John, Bandak, Fatis and others. They all agreed that at least for now, King Harlaus would not stand on the side of the Dilinard family.

"I heard that this war was caused by the greedy Dilinard. Not only did it damage the kingdom's national strength, but it also nearly cost the kingdom its most important territory. Damn it. If it weren't for the great contributions their ancestors made to the kingdom, he should have been executed!"

King Harlaus slammed the desk with his fist and angrily denounced Dilinard, without mentioning at all that Dilinard had deprived others of their territory under any pretext.

"Fortunately, Your Highness was so brave and heroic. He led the troops to fight hard and repelled the invasion of the Rhodok Kingdom outside the city of Uxhall and recaptured the city. Your Highness is truly the patron saint of all the subjects of my Kingdom of Swadia."

Aix flattered King Harlaus at the right time, hoping to calm his anger. He had watched too many costume dramas and knew the power of a king. He was afraid that the king's remaining anger would burn him.

After hearing what Aix said, King Harlaus became more satisfied with him, and said to him with a smile:

"You have made a great contribution here. If it weren't for your contribution, I wouldn't have won so easily."

Seeing that Aix seemed to be about to say something modest again, King Harlaus waved his hand and continued:

"Nobles like Dilinard only know how to exploit the people for their own benefit, without caring about the safety of the kingdom. The kingdom will only prosper if there are more people like you, my lord!"

"Your Highness, you are too kind. No matter how brave a lion group is, without the leadership of a lion king, it will be nothing but a pile of loose sand. Our kingdom can only prosper under the wise leadership of you, the lion king. No matter how great the contributions of others are, compared to you, they are just the stars next to the bright moon."

King Harlaus, who had heard such high-level flattery, felt as if he had found a confidant. He only regretted not having met Aix earlier. He excitedly walked over from his seat, patted his shoulders vigorously with both hands and said:

"I wonder if the Lord is willing to become my lion?"

"I am at your service at any time, Your Majesty the Lion King!"

When someone reaches out their thighs, Axe must hug them tightly. Now he can't believe himself. Is he going to be successful just by parroting a few flattering words from movies and TV dramas? My lion? Am I going to become a real noble?

"Hahaha, okay, okay."

King Harlaus patted Aix on the shoulder to show encouragement, then returned to his seat and sighed with a hint of regret:

"Alas, the kingdom was caught in a war some time ago, and I don't have any good territory to grant you. Now that Uxhall City has just been recovered, there are many places to spend money, especially a large amount of military expenses for Uxhall City. I know that your caravan is mainly responsible for the olive oil business. Can you take charge of the olive oil business in Uxhall City? My requirements are not high, just enough to reach the profit submitted in previous years. What do you think..."

Only then did Aix suddenly realize that the trap was set here. It seemed that there was really no free benefit in the world, even if it was an empty benefit, no matter how well the flattery was done.

Not to mention that Uxhall had just been ravaged by war and would take several years to recover, and the nobles of the Dilinard family also controlled the villages near Uxhall. Whether he could collect the olive oil was another matter, and how would he turn in the profits? It seemed that this king was the kind of person who would just sit back and wait to collect the money after he had put pressure on him.

Seeing Aix bowing his head and thinking, King Harlaus knew that this matter was also difficult, so he added:

"I know this is a difficult task. How about this? In the first three years, your caravans hand over 80% or 70% of the money they paid in previous years. I will also make you the only olive oil licensee in the country and grant you a real territory. What do you think?"

After saying that, he looked at Aix eagerly.

The reason why Aix kept his head down and said nothing was that he was actually calculating in his mind. He learned from Old John that the caravan needed to hand over 1200 to 1500 silver coins in profit to Marquis Craggs of Suno City every year. He was not very clear about the accounts of Uxhall City, but estimated that it was only about 1500 silver coins at most. His main business now was not olive oil, but snow salt, so it would not hurt to hand over all the profits of olive oil from Uxhall City.

Hearing that he could receive a title and actually receive a title, he felt that he had made a profit. Compared to the title of a noble, he really didn't care about this little profit. After all, with this title, he could trade under the banner of a noble, and when he went to other towns to trade, he would not be extorted by local tax officials. Bandits generally did not dare to easily rob caravans with noble banners. It can be said that there were many benefits. Thinking of this, he said to King Harlaus:

"Your Highness, can you tell me how much profit the olive oil business in Uxhall City needs to pay in a year? I don't know if our caravan can reach that goal."

"The average profit they handed over in previous years was 1500 silver coins. Your caravan handed over 1200 silver coins in the first year. What do you think?"

King Harlaus spoke in a negotiating tone, fearing that Aix would not take on this hot potato.

"Your Highness, you are wrong. There is no such thing as our caravan. There is only your caravan. We are all just people working for your Highness."

King Harlaus was stunned by what Aix said, and after he understood, he laughed:

"Hahahaha, well, Count Aix really did not disappoint me. Let's take a look at your actual territory."

As he said this, he walked over, put his arm around Aix's shoulders and came to the map.

Here I have to explain the title system of this world. It is not divided according to the traditional five levels of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron in the West. As long as you are a noble with a real title (starting from a village), there is only one level, which is just based on the amount of territory. It is a bit like the Japanese daimyo system. Those with more territories are called daimyo, and those with less are called daimyo. (In fact, the classification of duke, marquis, earl, viscount, and baron is probably copied from us. Their local classification should be similar to the Japanese way)

The names of nobles also vary according to nationalities. The Kingdom of Swadia calls them Earls, the Kingdom of Nords calls them Yars, the Kingdom of Vaegirs calls them Boyers, the Khergit Khanate calls them Nayan, the Kingdom of Rhodok calls them Lords, and the Sarand Emirate calls them Chieftains. The only difference is that the Kingdom of Swadia also has the titles of Marquis and Lord. Marquis is not a noble title, but more like an official position, similar to a city lord. Lord is generally awarded to civilians who have made great contributions and children of nobles without territories. It can be understood as quasi-nobles and preparatory nobles. So when King Harlaus was about to grant Aix the territory, he changed his name to Earl.

King Harlaus pointed to a village called Talboliya in front of the map and said:

"This village is near the Nord Kingdom where you often do business. You can build a manor here for your caravan to rest. The village is located on the south side of the mountain, so it is relatively warm in winter. There are also large tracts of wasteland nearby that can be reclaimed. What do you think?"

King Harlaus looked at him eagerly, fearing that he would find a reason to refuse. This village was actually located in a remote area with barren land, and bandits often appeared nearby. The previous lord belonged to the Dilinard line, and it was said that no taxes had been collected for many years.

Another key point is that during the war last winter, this village was looted twice by the Nord Kingdom and the Rhodok Kingdom, the houses were burned down, and the residents either fled or were enslaved. It was truly a deserted village, otherwise how could it be afforded to a honorary lord like X who had no background.

Aix had only heard of the village of Tarbolia. He heard that it was a well-known poor place. As King Harlaus said, the only thing that attracted him was the location of the village. It was remote and close to the Kingdom of Nord, which was just right for him to stay and develop slowly. The most important thing was that he really needed a title of a real noble. As for the territory, it was really not that important. So he said to King Harlaus with a slightly exaggerated excitement:

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. Although this village is a little remote, it is good enough for me. I will definitely build it for Your Majesty."

King Harlaus patted Aix's shoulder happily, feeling relieved. In his opinion, he had gotten a great bargain, exchanging a deserted village that could not collect taxes for an annual income of 1200 silver coins. It was simply too cost-effective. Moreover, this territory was confiscated from others for free, which meant that the matter was done without spending a single penny. The excited King Harlaus felt good about himself.

Seeing that King Harlaus was in high spirits, Aix pointed at the map and said:

"Your Highness, you know that I am under a lot of pressure right now. Can you give me these ownerless lands next to me?"

Aix was referring to the large uninhabited area from the village of Talboliya to the Black Forest in the south. This was where the bandits were active. It was meaningless to King Harlaus, so he waved his hand and said:

"No problem. As long as you don't cross the center line of the Black Forest, everything north of the center line is your territory."

After hearing this, Aix hurriedly thanked him. This actually expanded the territory several times, and this did not include the incalculable Black Forest. He was so happy that he went on to say a bunch of good things. In this way, the two of them got what they needed and ended the meeting that night happily.

The next day, in the hall of the royal palace of Paraven City, Aix knelt before the throne of King Harlaus in the presence of several nobles of the royal city. This was the first time he knelt since he came to this world. After being patted on the shoulders by Wang Jian and reading the oath, Aix was promoted from an honorary lord of the kingdom to a formal noble earl.

Seeing that the nobles who witnessed the incident looked at him like a fool, Aix knew that they all thought that he was fooled by King Harlaus. "You can think so, but sooner or later I will slap you in the face with facts," Aix thought.

At the same time, the country's only olive oil franchise was also granted. This unique franchise was very valuable. Aix even saw jealousy on the faces of several nobles. He despised these nobles in his heart. They could only watch with envy, and had no intention of accepting the annual profit of 1500 silver coins.