Unknown Knight

The next morning, Axe woke up in Miss Gand's boudoir.

Smelling the intoxicating aroma in the bedding and thinking about the excitement of sneaking in last night, Aix really wanted to sleep here for another day. However, the shrewd Miss Gangde had already gone out to cover for him. It would be a great disrespect to be caught by the people in the mansion. There were still a lot of things in the caravan outside that needed his attention, so he could not continue to be lazy.

He quickly put on his clothes and found that there was no one around through the crack of the door. He straightened his clothes and walked towards the front hall to have breakfast as if nothing had happened.

After breakfast, Aix did not stay in the City Lord's Mansion for too long. Today was the last day for the caravan in Wocheze City, and they would set off for Kulau City tomorrow. The merchants who heard the letter lined up at the door of the warehouse, hoping to trade their goods as soon as possible.

Now Manide is the only person in the entire caravan who can do the accounting. If he encounters a nobleman bringing several carts of goods, he needs to count them one by one and then add them up to settle the payment. He will have to use abacus for most of the day and his efficiency can be imagined.

There was no other way, so Axe had to let him be mainly responsible for receiving and settling small amounts of goods. He also asked him to issue specific invoices for large amounts and bring them to him for unified calculation. He was busy like this until it was almost dark before he basically settled all the accounts.

This gave rise to Aix's decision to open a math literacy class. Only with a sufficient reserve of business talent could he quickly expand his business territory. Otherwise, given the current situation, he would not be able to expand and develop further, and it would be difficult to gain momentum quickly.

After the banquet at the City Lord's Mansion ended in the evening, City Lord Iaya tried his best to keep Aix for a few more days. He probably wanted him to strengthen his relationship with his precious daughter and pave the way for a deeper bond in the next step.

Aix had important things to do, so how could he be willing to do so? After repeatedly declining, seeing that the Lord of Iaya was looking annoyed, he had no choice but to show Rodelaboye's letter to his future father-in-law and tell him about the secret plan he had discussed with the Kingdom of Ragnar. This made the Lord and his wife of Iaya look at their future son-in-law in a different light. They had never expected that he had done such a big thing in private. They felt that their daughter had vision and deserved the title of the wisest woman of the Nords.

The Lord of Iaya, who is entrenched in the Wochem Peninsula, is the second largest force in the entire Nordic Kingdom. His family, relatives' families and dependent nobles firmly control the territory near the city of Wochem. His son Borbayar also controls Helusburg near the city of Tiha. Due to the geographical location, their family's power has always been outside the core of the kingdom and is considered a neutral faction in the kingdom. But it does not mean that he is a nobleman without ideas. Take his support for his daughter to form the Shieldmaiden Corps, a civilian armed force, as an example. He is also not satisfied with the status quo.

Speaking of the Shield Maidens, I would like to give a detailed introduction here. This organization was established by Miss Tsuna a few years ago.

Since the Nords had just emerged from the clan and tribal era, women not only had to do housework, but also had to work in the fields, fish, hunt, and even fight in battles like men. Men were sailing and doing business all year round, while women undertook most of the work in the country.

Therefore, the atmosphere here is that the relationship between men and women is relatively equal, which also makes the opposition between men and women exist in fact. Once a couple has a conflict, they often engage in physical violence. The woman who wins the fight often angers her husband away and becomes a de facto female bachelor. The woman who loses the fight is likely to become the target of long-term domestic violence by her husband. Many who can't stand it flee their original families and become wandering female bachelors.

In addition, there were frequent wars in those days, and the men here were proud of dying in battle. When they met, they would say: I wish you a speedy journey to Valhalla (Hall of Valor)! Translated, it means: I wish you a speedy return to the west. Don't think it's an insult, it's a beautiful blessing here. So the Nords were not afraid of death in battle, so there were relatively more deaths in battle, and as a result, there were also more widows. The entire Nord Kingdom was unbalanced in terms of gender, and it goes without saying how hard it was for widows and single women who lost the protection of their husbands to survive.

Miss Tsuna saw this and felt pity for these women who had a difficult time surviving. After they turned 16 and became adults and had their own territory, she organized these people, provided them with protection, and allowed them to live on their own territory. In order to prevent harassment from men, she also formed the Shield Maiden Corps. The corps was composed entirely of women with outstanding fighting skills. They were famous for their skills in using shields and forming powerful shield formations in battle, so they simply named the Shield Maiden Corps.

The core members of the Shieldmaiden Corps are more than 150 people, including many "Shieldmaiden" with nationally renowned military power, such as Nia. They usually help the poor and the needy, and can also take up shields to defend their homes when foreign enemies invade. Each of them is as powerful as a Nord warrior. They are a force that cannot be underestimated in the Nord Kingdom, and are also a major support for the Lord of Iaia to remain standing.

Therefore, Lord Iaia loved his precious daughter very much. Old Deng felt that any man was not worthy of his daughter. Now seeing that his future son-in-law could be at ease in the core circle of the kingdom and influence the direction of the country, he was naturally happy from the bottom of his heart. At the same time, it also aroused his gradually cooling ambition. He patted Aix's shoulder encouragingly and said:

"Okay, okay, that's good. Just go for it boldly. We will be your solid backup. If you need anything, please let us know in time."

Seeing that the future old Taishan was so righteous, Aix was also encouraged and said firmly to the Lord of Iaya:

"I will do my best to facilitate this peace talk and live up to the King's entrustment and the expectations of you, the City Lord."

That night, Aix stayed at the city lord's mansion, and it was a romantic, tender and lingering night.

The next day, it was not until the caravan came to urge him that Aix reluctantly said goodbye to Miss Tandé. The family also attached great importance to him and sent him out of the city with great fanfare before returning.

Not long after leaving the city, Bandak, Fatis, Manide and others rode their horses to Aix and stared at him side by side, suggesting that he would be lenient if he confessed or severe if he resisted.

Aix chuckled and said embarrassedly:

"Oh, it's all because of drinking. I didn't mean to do that. I got into trouble without knowing it. Manide, please remind me in the future. I can't drink too much and make mistakes again."

Seeing his unrepentant cowardly look, everyone was furious. Bandak couldn't help but said:

"Sir, have you ever thought about what to do with Miss Yamila?"

Before this, the people of the entire territory had already regarded Yamila as the future mistress, but recently there were a lot of things going on, so no one cared to mention their marriage. They only thought about building the territory well and then holding a decent wedding for the lord. But now Miss Tsunde appeared, which made everyone feel troubled. Several core members present came to test his bottom line and see what Aix was thinking now that he was lying on the ground.

What can Axe think now? He originally wanted to wait and see how the situation develops. Maybe Miss Tsuna, who is worth a lot of money, is just a temporary novelty for him, and the feelings will gradually fade after a while, and this matter will be over.

Then he thought that this daughter was also a worry. Not only was she loyal and resolute, but she was also extremely wise. She even thought of the way to make the official announcement. Isn't this putting him on the fire? What else can he do now? Seeing Bandak looking at him with a hint of reproach, he could only bow his head in shame and remain silent.

After a while, Fatis finally rescued him. He hesitated for a moment and then said to the others:

"Personally, I still hope that you will marry Miss Yamila, but from the overall situation of the territory, I think it is best for you to marry Miss Tsandr."

"Fatis! Explain it to me clearly. If you can't explain it clearly, our brotherhood will be over!"

Bandak was furious and yelled at Fatis.

Fortunately, there was Manila among them, otherwise they might have started to fight.

Seeing Bandak so angry, Fatis also shrank his neck and hurriedly explained:

"Don't be anxious. I have a reason for saying this. First of all, Wocheze has coarse salt. Everyone saw it when we went to Tiha City a few days ago. Lord Iden might cut off our supply of coarse salt in the future. If we offend Lord Iaya again and cut off all coarse salt supply, we will all be left with nothing. If we have this reliable relationship after the marriage, we won't have to worry about the supply of coarse salt in the future.

Secondly, your Excellency has just been granted the territory, and he has no reliable allies among the nobles. He can be said to be alone and powerless. It doesn't seem so bad now, but if he encounters any problems in the future, he will definitely be excluded by other nobles. If he can marry the family of Lord Iaya, it will be equivalent to gaining a strong ally. According to the information I have learned, their family occupies one-third of the strength of the entire Nord Kingdom. After the marriage, I believe that no one will dare to underestimate our lord not only in the Nord Kingdom and the Swadia Kingdom, but also in other countries.

Furthermore, you may not know that the greatest benefit of our marriage is brought by Miss Tundra. She is the leader of the Nord Kingdom's Shieldmaiden. You have all heard of shieldmaiden, but you don't know how strong they are. I know that I have seen them fight on the battlefield before. Their martial arts are no weaker than Nord warriors, and some are even comparable to the legendary Nord Royal Guards. Miss Tundra has about 150 such shieldmaiden. When Miss Tundra marries us in the future, she must bring at least 50 shieldmaiden to our territory, so that the armed forces of our territory can be doubled.

I heard that there are still hundreds of single Nord women in Miss Tundra's territory. The population of our territory exploded some time ago. I heard from Amanti that most of these people are refugees and bandits. There are more men than women among them, which leads to an imbalance between men and women in our territory. It doesn't seem like a big deal now, but it will definitely cause trouble over time. If we get married, the master and the lady will come forward to mediate. Wouldn't this problem be easily solved?

Don't be angry, old class. I am speaking from the actual situation. I still say that I personally hope that you will marry Miss Yamila, but you are not alone now. Our territory will soon exceed 1000 people, which is equivalent to more than two forts. You have to take many things into consideration!"

Bandak lost his temper after hearing these words and kept silent.

Aix also had a new understanding of Fatis. After all, he came from a noble family, and his vision and knowledge were extraordinary. In the past, he only thought that he had outstanding martial arts and military capabilities, but he didn't expect that he also had political acumen. He still underestimated others.

Seeing that no one was talking anymore, Aix decided to stop talking and said:

"I haven't thought this through. Let's finish the work at hand first. Let's stop discussing it. We can talk about it after we return to the territory. Okay."