Knights, Let’s Smash Them

67 – All in the North (3)

First of all, I had to keep the formality as much as I received the official title, so I separated from the knights and headed to the count’s house with Antonio’s tribune.

Because her knights, including Xianne, had to change into clean knight uniforms.

“Unfortunately, we cannot proceed in front of the public.”

Antonio tribune said with a small smile.

“Oh no! The welcome ceremony at the gateway is enough to overwhelm…….”

Certainly, the title conferment ceremony is held in a place like a city square with a large number of people, but to reach that level, it is not possible to get rid of the dragon.

To say that even the rewards given now are for successful subjugation is an overstatement.

Perhaps the reason I made such an unconventional decision was to compensate for all the effort I had put into the Snow Leopard Knights and the Rupel estate.

‘There were many times when I didn’t even get a bonus, let alone a title, when I solved a serious problem in the Knights of the Black Lion… ….’

I really thought it was a good thing to visit this manor.

I heard that the upper water must be clear so that the lower water is clear, but I didn’t expect to actually experience it.

Moreover, the conferment of the title must have been the will of the count himself, but the consent of the retainers would have been necessary.

With this incident, the check in the vassal will be reduced a bit.

In the first place, he had already clearly grasped each vassal’s personality and likes and dislikes.

There will be no problem with the finance minister, the tribune, and the capital mayor, who have a fairly high affinity.

With the constable who annoyed me the most about the last time, I drank a glass of stout dark beer and relieved the sediment.

In the case of the consul, it seemed that it would be possible to build friendships without difficulty if he treated them reliably while subtly encouraging them.

From now on, since I am definitely a member of the vassal, the way they look at me will be a little different.

The reason why I was able to survive in the Knights of the Black Lion as a person with no roots was not because of other reasons.

You shouldn’t underestimate the savasava and social life skills of modern people.

“Then, please go inside. The Count and the other retainers are waiting.”

“Yes.”

I slowly got off my horse and entered the count’s house.

It’s a place I’ve visited many times since the Knights Headquarters is right in front of me.

Today, I felt a bit new.

***

“Lubern Alroy, do you swear to be Rupell’s shield and to be loyal to the Lord’s orders?”

“I swear by my heart and by my name.”

As I knelt and put my right hand to my heart, Count Rupell came up to me and put the baron’s symbol on my shoulder and head once.

“With this, the oath between the monarch and the vassal has been concluded. Your name will now spread far and wide in my domain, and my name will belong to your life forever.”

Clap clap clap clap clap.

The vassals and knights who attended the ceremony applauded in unison.

I stood up politely holding the hand that Count Rupel gave me, and took the sword he was holding.

Because it is a preliminary sword, it cannot be used in battle, but it is a proof that proves that I am the official ‘Baron’ of Count Rupel.

It is only today that the real Luvern Alroy is called ‘Sir’.

“Thank you very much, Baron Alroy of Luverne.”

“I will do everything in my power to make the count’s estate rich and strong.”

Isn’t it said that there has to be something coming and something going?

In fact, the reason why I was serving as an administrator for the Knights of the Black Lion all the time, even when I was overworked, was because I couldn’t give up on the Knights, which I had been cultivating since the time of the Great Expedition.

Those kids didn’t even know what was important and threw me away.

If you listen to the story you heard briefly from Rateon and the news from Petra periodically, it is said that the position of the Black Lion Knights is getting smaller and smaller.

It’s not because I’m not there. In the first place, the capabilities of the Black Lion Knights were gradually diminishing.

No group can always be golden.

It was a black lion that never came down from the top spot, but it must be slowly collapsing as the years go by.

That was an inevitable phenomenon.

No knights, heroes, or even an empire can reign for a thousand years.

‘If I had been here, it could have been delayed, but there’s no reason to argue about that now.’

Those who don’t know grace should be weeded out.

I hope you can hold out for as long as possible. That way I’ll have a lot to swallow and eat.

Anyway, with this, the reason to leave Count Rupel disappeared even more.

From noble mtl dot com.

For a person who settled down almost impulsively, the treatment was good and the locals were friendly.

I fiddled with the fox-shaped pattern on the sword. It was said to be an animal that symbolizes barons in the Rupel estate.

Unfortunately, it’s a fox again.

At this point, wouldn’t it be irrelevant to think of it as fate?

“Then, let’s wrap up the award ceremony.”

All procedures have been completed.

As Judge Arthur closed the book and stood up, Count Rupel patted me on the shoulder and said,

“I was quite surprised. Even if Princess Lilia of Hebron was present, I would have thought you would fight the worms together. It seems he wasn’t only good at resourcefulness.”

“Actually, I did very little. My good friend Bernard did it all.”

I’m not particularly humble. Because that was a fact. If it wasn’t for Glacier Meteor, Princess Lilia and I would have been a delicious meal for Worm.

“From the great adventurer Pyrhak to the analyst Bernard. I can’t even think of it as an administrator’s network. It is truly surprising that there has been no title before.”

“Ha ha ha… ….”

As I laughed bitterly, Count Rupel added with his characteristic mild expression.

“Still, thanks to you, a nobleman came to our territory. Oh no, I almost forgot this.”

“What do you mean?”

“An official letter has arrived from the Duchy of Hebron. The Duke said he would like to invite you and the Snow Leopard Knights to Marsaret, the capital.”

The dukedom’s response was much faster than expected.

Since I had just broken up with Lilia Hebron, I thought maybe I had sent her a letter before she left.

Apart from Jerome, the eastern regional governor, the fact of the subjugation must have been delivered to Lilia’s side.

It seems that he was having a headache about the Toryonggun, to the extent that he invited him to the capital right away.

“Since it happened like this, how about going on vacation for a while? There were many things to do these days in many ways.”

“I don’t think that’s bad.”

As expected, Count Rupel.

Those who knew Dori didn’t have to say it first.

Since she asked Xianne to officially go on vacation after this job was done, it would be good for her to rest for a few days at the Hebron Manor while going to the exchange of friendship and the reward for subjugating the dragon.

“The Iron Road completion project is steadily being prepared. There is still a little time left before the plan can be discussed in earnest, so a week or so should be enough.”

“It couldn’t be better.”

I answered with a smile.

Although the Hebron territory is basically barren, if you go to the east, there is an inland sea with a fairly mild climate, so it is optimal for a summer vacation.

However, there are still a few things left to do personally before that, so if you finish it quickly today, you can start tomorrow.

“We will discuss the exact date with the knights within today and tell you.”

“Okay. As for the vacation, the rest of the vassals have already agreed to it, so please rest well and return.”

Even if it’s a vacation, the opportunity to get involved with the Hebron duke, the third duke of the empire, is not common.

Besides, it’s right next to Rupel’s manor, so it’s perfect for sticking a straw with a dragon subjugation gun.

“Then, congratulations again. Baron Luberne.”

“Thank you so much, Count.”

Afterwards, I talked for a while with Judge Arthur and some other retainers, then returned to the Knights Headquarters.

The problem was that since the Toryong subjugation itself proceeded abruptly, follow-up measures were not properly taken after the cooking contest.

That is.

It means that the work is f*cking piled up.

Just because you’ve been granted a vacation permit, you can’t just leave your job and go.

As this matter is closely related to the ‘business’ in the Hebron Territory afterwards, I intend to deal with it as quickly as possible.

As I entered the administrative officer’s office, there was Vice-captain Emain with a crumbly face.

He hasn’t even changed the clothes he was wearing during the conferment ceremony.

In that state, he frantically scribbled his signature on the documents scattered on the desk.

It’s a pitiful look that inadvertently reminds me of myself in my days as a black lion.

‘We should take this opportunity to recruit officers and aides on a large scale. While recruiting knights.’

I clicked my tongue and thought.

The achievements made by grinding normal people are not sustainable. Because we can’t continue to suffer from the same ills as the Black Lion Knights.

“Vice-captain Emain, what is the most urgent matter right now?”

“You say it for granted. Needless to say, this is a follow-up to the cooking contest.”

In response to my question, Emen put down some papers in a dry voice.

Even if you were given the title of baron today, it is still a matter of status.

In terms of her rank, I was still lower than her vice-captain, so we had agreed to respect each other.

I skimmed through the documents Emain gave me.

First of all, the opening of the head office from the newly launched ‘Luchihyup’. As this was discussed from the planning stage, there were no major problems.

The budget has been allotted, and an empty commercial building in a pretty decent location has been found.

The rest is for the members of Luchihyeop to take care of themselves. Those people were noblemen well versed in restaurant management, so there was no need to worry too much.

In the end, what I have to do is…….

“There are a total of 22 top companies that have expressed their desire to sign a direct contract with Luchihyup. Among them, there are seven imperial-certified large corps.”

It was related to the supply of raw materials, including chicken and spices.

In the first place, cooking recipes are protected under the Rupell Act, and there was no intention of opening additional restaurants outside of Rupell’s vicinity.

However, if you look at the fact that they want to secure the right to trade raw materials for just one restaurant, not for ‘Luchihyup’…….

Perhaps these merchants were sure that I would keep this food from rotting inside the loopel.

Since the plan for the franchise has not been told to anyone except the practitioners, it was purely a trader’s feeling.

It’s incredibly twisted when it comes to business that could make real money.

“Since we will have to talk about beer anyway, how many trade unions are there in total, including those related to beer exports as well as simple raw material imports?”

“Including beer, it’s a total of 30.”

“That’s a lot.”

“When shall we meet all of this? Even ten bodies would not be enough…….”

In the first place, chicken-related, so Luchihyeop is a business run by the knights themselves, not the retainers.

It’s not like you can’t get help from the vassals, but since it’s an early business, it’d be better to develop it purely with the guild’s own capabilities.

As a result, vice-captain Emain was on the verge of mental collapse.

Because transaction was something that had to be ‘meticulously’ examined.

But that’s not my way.

There is one way that the more merchants gather like this, the easier it is to deal with.

Besides, now we have the overwhelming ‘A’.

No matter what we ask for, the other side has no choice but to accept it by crying and eating mustard.

“Vice-captain Emain, that…… Isn’t there a reception room on the 3rd floor of our Knights?”

“Yes. I cleaned it once last time.”

“Please gather all the 30 guild representatives you mentioned earlier.”

“Yes?”

I firmly nailed Emain’s bewildered eyes.

“We will hold an open bid there.”

Breath type 1 of the Lubernian trade.

Open Bidding.

Now, let’s kill each other.