Come to another world and become a lord

"My Lord, do you judge others by their clothes? But as far as I know, since the founding of the kingdom, including now, your Majesty has always emphasized that what nobles really need to pay attention to is personal conduct and bravery, not clothing. He even advocates frugality in clothing."

Listening to Karl's statement, the count showed a scornful smile on his face:

"Hmph, that's true, but if you are really the newly promoted Baron of Rickburg, then you must have been a well-known noble before. Even if you don't have to dress gorgeously, you should at least wear decent clothes to be more in line with etiquette. And now Rickburg has been surrounded by heavy siege, how did you two escape? No matter how you look at it, it makes people more than suspicious."

Hearing his words, Alia frowned and said:

"Morton, do you mean that even my words cannot be trusted?"

In return, Earl Morton shook his head again:

"I'm sorry, Ms. Alia. I don't mean to offend you, but after all, you are just a mercenary captain, not a noble of the kingdom. You may not even be on the side of the kingdom..."

"What did you say?"

Stimulated by Morton's words, Alia seemed to want to say something more, but was stopped by Carl on the side. Carl's face was calm at this time, he just lightly brushed off the dust on his shoulders, then looked up at the earl again, with a smile on his face:

"You are right, Lord Count. I am just an ordinary serf."

"Huh, is that so? Then stop wasting my time."

Morton waved his hand and turned his horse to leave, but he heard Karl say again:

“So I’ll run away~”

"What?" After hearing this, Morton suddenly pulled the reins and looked back at Carl again.

"Yes, I am a serf. It was because of His Majesty's cowardice that he made me a baron to replace him. I believe that the Earl is well-informed and should have heard about this a long time ago."

"Karl?"

Hearing Carl's speech, Alia hurriedly pulled his sleeve, but he continued to speak without stopping:

"So now that I have finally escaped, I can just find a deep mountain to hide and spend my days. It won't be much worse than my previous life."

"What?" The Earl's eyes widened in shock, and Alia on the side was also surprised.

Then Morton quickly asked:

"You mean, you plan to abandon the city and run away?"

Karl scratched his head with his hand, and then said slowly:

"Well, in the final analysis, I am just a scapegoat who was forced to come here. It doesn't matter to me whether Rickburg can be defended or not. The one who should be afraid is you, Lord Earl. Once Rickburg is lost, the first place the northerners will pass through when they head south is your territory. How will you respond then?"

"Are you threatening me?" Morton's face gradually became gloomy.

"I am just stating the facts. In this matter, I can escape, but you can't. What's more, whether I can continue to guard it depends on your decision." Carl continued to speak calmly. However, although he spoke calmly, he was already sweating profusely because he felt the murderous intent from Morton. The murderous intent could no longer be concealed in his eyes.

The earl's hand was already tightly grasping the sword at his waist. He looked at him gloomily, which made him shudder. Then he laughed and said:

"Anyway, you two have worked so hard to come here, and I'm afraid you're still hungry. How about we go into the city to eat first? Please, Baron Flandor of Rickburg."

They arrived in the town, crossed the streets, entered the castle, and finally, under the guidance of the servants, they came to the earl's hall, a spacious room with luxurious decorations and brilliant lights.

Beautiful maids dressed as maids kept bringing food to the table. The maids were not dressed like people in the Middle Ages, but rather like those in modern anime: wearing maid scarves, ruffled aprons, and black short dresses with bows at the necklines. Although there was nothing special about this kind of dress, it was already very good in this era. It seemed that the earl was living an extremely luxurious life.

Carl was thinking aimlessly, and when he saw a blonde maid with twin ponytails coming to him with a plate of beef, she suddenly stopped and shouted at him in an extremely stern voice:

"What's wrong with you, servant? Why are you sitting with your master? Is this your proper position? You are just a wild boy from the country, you don't know the rules at all."

"Uh……"

When Karl was about to say something, he heard the maid continue to yell like a machine gun, not giving him a chance to speak:

"Listen carefully, when the masters are having a meal, as a servant you should stand quietly by the side. And look at what you are wearing, how shabby are you, how can the masters eat in peace? Really, you are a wild boy from the country, you don't know any manners at all!"

On the main seat, Morton had covered his mouth with a handkerchief, but he still couldn't hide his smile. He then coughed twice and said to the chattering maid:

"Sophia, this is Baron Flandor of Rickburg, you must not be rude."

“Baron?” The maid stared at Carl for a long time with her eyes wide open before saying, “Impossible, a baron dressed like this?”

"This is clearly the appearance of a serf," another maid added.

"He's wearing dirtier clothes than the rest of us. What kind of baron is he?"

Looking at the maids around him constantly commenting, the count did not show any intention of blaming them. Instead, he waved his hand jokingly and said to Karl:

"I'm sorry, I've spoiled these maids, please don't mind."

It was purely a show of force, meant to embarrass him, but in Carl's eyes, these things were nothing.

"Of course not, Count. Perhaps we can stop arguing about clothing and get down to business."

"of course."

When the bright red wine filled half of the glass, Earl Morton waved to the maid who was pouring the wine behind him, signaling her to leave. Then he picked up the glass, took a sip, and said slowly:

"The point is, what do you want?"

"Some cavalry, and most importantly, food. There are about 500 people in Rickburg now, and our food is only enough for half a month. We need enough food and grass to at least last until the prime minister's reinforcements arrive." Carl was not polite at all and spoke bluntly.

"Ah~ So much food~" The Earl sighed softly and took another sip of wine. "The harvest in the territory has not been good in the past few years. Winter is coming. Last year's blizzard caused us heavy losses. In order to rescue the farmers, we even used up a whole year's worth of food reserves. You also know the weather in the north. When a blizzard comes, there will definitely be losses..."

"You can keep talking, but this won't change the current situation in Rickburg. If we can't get food, we're bound to fall," Carl replied.

This answer made Morton snort with some disdain, and then put down his glass:

"So you came to me with such brazenness to ask for food and cavalry, but I got nothing?"

"You can think of this as Rickburg borrowing grain from Morgan. I will definitely return it in the future."

After hearing Karl's words, the count sneered:

"A serf who is nothing has suddenly inherited the entire Reikburg and taken the chancellor's most elite personal guards under his command. Now, taking advantage of the critical situation, you want to come to me and get military rations for free. It seems that all the good things in the world have been taken by you alone."

Carl stuffed a small piece of beef into his mouth. The rich gravy and the slight numbness of pepper filled his entire mouth in an instant. He had not eaten meat for two years since he came to this world, let alone this kind of steak that was carefully cooked with spices. Its taste was even better than what he had eaten on Earth. Of course, in fact, he had not eaten too many high-end steaks in his previous life, and his understanding of its taste only stayed at steakhouses like Hao Shanghao. But considering the productivity of this world today, the luxury of the earl in front of him has far exceeded his imagination.

"I was just pushed out to take the blame, if that's a good thing."

The Count snorted again, and then said:

"Humph, opportunities always come with risks. The problem is, in this matter, there are only risks for me, but I don't see any opportunities."

Carl swallowed another piece of beef, then put down his knife and fork and looked at Morton:

"Is being able to survive considered a chance? Let's talk it out. This is about the survival of all of us. You don't have any extra choices."

Karl's words made Morton fall into deep thought again. He tapped the table with his fingers and suddenly looked up and said:

"That may not be the case. For example, what if I cut off your head and offer it to the Great Khan to surrender?"

After these words came out, Karl was suddenly stunned. He looked around. He didn't know when the maids had retreated, and were replaced by armored soldiers standing around the hall. When did this happen? When did these people come in? He was only concerned with eating and talking with the count and didn't pay any attention to the changes around him. With the count's words, the surroundings began to be filled with a solemn atmosphere. He even saw that some soldiers had drawn their weapons, and they only needed the count's order. He wanted to get up, but in a panic he knocked over the wine glass in his hand. The red wine flowed along the edge of the table and flowed onto his pants, instantly staining a piece of red, just like blood.

At this critical moment, when the wine glass was overturned, Alia suddenly jumped up quickly and stepped on the table. She was extremely agile. Before everyone could react, she had jumped in front of the earl, then drew the dagger at her waist and instantly pressed it against the other's throat. Her movements were so fast that almost everyone present was dumbfounded.

This action also shocked the surrounding soldiers, and almost everyone drew their swords at the same time. Morton was even more shocked by this sudden change, and even his voice trembled:

"You, what do you want to do?"

"Instead of asking me what I want to do, I should ask you what you want to do~" Alia's tone was full of coldness at this time, "Are you planning to betray the kingdom, Lord Earl?"

Then she looked up at Karl again:

"It seems you are right. Fortunately, we were prepared."

"Ah?" Carl looked at the girl in confusion.

"Throwing the cup is the signal. I have been waiting for your instructions since just now."

"Oh,...oh~~" However, he just accidentally knocked over the wine glass. Carl nodded and complained in his heart.

"Even if you kill me, you won't be able to leave alive~" Morton was obviously panicked at this time.

"What difference does it make? From the moment you refused reinforcements, we have no chance of survival." Carl replied from the side, "If that's the case, why don't we die together? It'll be good to have company."

"Wait, wait!" Morton suddenly shouted, "Do you think I don't understand the urgency of the situation? Even if I give you the food, how can you guarantee that it can be transported smoothly? Moreover, how many people are willing to go on such a life-threatening mission? And who can guarantee that they will not change their minds halfway?"

The earl was right. No one would be willing to carry out a mission that seemed to have no hope of survival. It was not impossible for them to rob food and become bandits in the mountains. There would also be people who would seize the opportunity and proclaim themselves lords of the next castle. In many cases, the king would acquiesce to those who seized power by force and transformed themselves into new nobles, as long as you continued to be loyal to the kingdom and were willing to pay taxes.

"Do you understand? This won't work at all. It's a dead end either way." Seeing Carl's hesitation, Morton continued.

"This is not a reason for you to betray the kingdom." Arya on the side was unmoved. She tightened the dagger in her hand towards the earl's neck, leaving a faint trace of blood.

At this moment, a loud voice sounded outside the door:

"Lord Morgan was just being eloquent for a moment, and he has absolutely no intention of betraying the kingdom."

Along with the voice, a knight wearing heavy armor and with white hair strode into the hall. He had a deep gaze and a striking scar on his weather-beaten face. He placed his hand on the long sword at his waist, glanced at everyone present, and then shouted loudly:

"Everyone put down your weapons, there are no enemies here!"

"Henry! You're here just in time~" Morton looked at the old knight as if he had seen a savior.

"Ms. Alia, long time no see."

"Baron Henry Great~" Alia looked at the knight with vigilance.

The latter just bowed, then turned to look at Karl:

"The situation in Rickburg is indeed urgent. Don't worry, the food and fodder you requested will be ready within three days, and I will personally lead the escort team."