20demayo Page 23
Page 23
Arthur's gentle voice pulled Lancelot back to the present moment and struck a chord deep within his heart.
“That’s right! Commander.”
Lancelot nodded and raised one of his hands:
"I do not want to let you down, and I do not want my soldiers to sacrifice themselves in vain because of my abilities and command!"
So, I want to become stronger, please help me become stronger!
After saying that, Lancelot tilted his head slightly and stared at Arthur, who was half a head taller than him.
"Don't worry! I don't want you to die fighting alongside me in the future."
Arthur responds to Lancelot's expectations:
"The militia soldiers have been practicing the Knight's Breathing Technique for over a month."
After their leave ends, I will begin more rigorous training for them, including the introduction of a combat skill.
Especially you, Lancelot.
I will unlock the unique potential of your Knight's Breathing Technique!
Chapter 26 Arthur's Desire for Recognition
The next day, afternoon.
Northern region within Blackrock Territory.
On a snow-covered avenue, there was a convoy of nearly twenty horse-drawn wagons.
The leader was a handsome young man with blond hair. He wore a flexible light armor and a long wolfskin cloak, and rode a tall warhorse with jet-black fur.
Parallel to him was an elderly man with gray hair and a weathered face, riding a rather ordinary adult gray horse.
"Little Lion, Grandpa Lawson, how much longer until we reach Rinfeng Village? My butt is getting numb from sitting so long."
In the first carriage behind them, a young girl in a long dress, also wrapped in a fur coat, poked her head out and complained to the two leaders of the caravan.
Judging from her title, it is not difficult to tell that the people on this trip are the forging guild caravan led by Lord Arthur of Blackrock and Lawson, a second-level runesmith.
Lawson, seated on horseback, glanced back at his granddaughter and reminded her:
"Lani, you are a lady, so you should be careful about your manners when speaking in front of the lord."
And look at Arthur.
He, however, was unfazed and responded to Lani's question:
"Miss Lani, it's still a quarter of an hour's journey."
Having said that, Arthur gazed into the distance, where he could see the majestic and magnificent Frostridge Mountains in the North through the drifting white mist.
Soon, Arthur's thoughts returned to their normal state.
He also glanced back at the beautiful young woman, about his age, inside the carriage behind him.
Arthur was amazed by Lani's exceptional efficiency, which exceeded his expectations. She completed the establishment and relocation preparations for the Blacksmiths' Guild in less than three days.
Now, the nearly twenty wagons behind them are moving at a slow pace.
This is because the carriages not only contained a large number of adult wind wolf carcasses of extremely high value, but also valuable means of production for developing the forging industry in the two villages—the necessary forging equipment to house the forging workshops.
Before this trip.
Arthur temporarily entrusted Lancelot, who was eager to become stronger, to Leon, the butler stationed at Blackrock Castle.
As a Silver-rank knight, Leon, the butler, was more than capable of guiding and training this promising intermediate apprentice knight.
In addition, before Arthur set off from Frostraven Town, he used the Frostraven, a magical beast kept by his family, to send a message.
He relayed a message to the patrol officer in charge of the Northern Wilderness region, instructing him to gather the villagers of Linfeng Village and Hanwu Village, and briefly revealed the two major tasks they were about to undertake.
—The plan to process the meat and fur from the carcasses of a large number of adult wind wolves, and to develop a forging industry in two villages.
Thanks to a prescient act of kindness, he granted leave to two militia soldiers from Rinfeng Village and Hanwu Village, and allowed them to take two adult wind wolf carcasses to improve the food in the two villages.
After the patrol team in the Northern Wilderness notified the villagers of the upcoming arrival of the new lord, the villagers of the two villages readily obeyed the order and gathered together.
Back to the present, after half an hour has passed.
Arthur's vision came into view of low wooden houses characteristic of a village, and a scene of bustling people:
Villagers from Rinfeng Village and Hanwu Village lined both sides of the main road in front of the village, all wearing warm clothes made of animal hides and coarse cloth.
Although the clothing materials are ordinary and rough, the meticulous stitching details reveal the weaving skills honed by these villagers during the cold winter.
Although their faces were all slightly thin, they all had expressions of anticipation and curiosity.
Especially when they saw Arthur's convoy arrive, cheers erupted from the crowd as they lined the streets to welcome him.
They waved excitedly at Arthur, expressing their gratitude in the simplest way for the meat their new lord had previously provided.
soon.
Arthur and the carriage caravan behind him then proceeded into the crowd.
At this time.
Two strong and fit young men rushed out from the crowd that was lining the street to welcome them.
They were two soldiers from Arthur's militia who had been granted leave.
With the guidance and assistance of these two soldiers, Arthur and the others successfully entered the village of Linfeng before them.
We arrived at a plaza in Rinfeng Village.
At this time, there were huge crowds of people here.
Arthur was surrounded as he arrived at the center of the square, with Lawson and Lani on his left and right sides, respectively.
"People of Rinwind Village and Frostmist Village, I am now the Lord of Blackrock, Arthur Field!"
Under the gaze of countless eyes, Arthur showed no sign of panic. Instead, he straightened his back, displaying the solemnity of a lord, and declared:
"I came here for only one thing!"
That would bring prosperity and wealth to Linfeng Village and Hanwu Village, freeing them from poverty and hunger!
......
The presentation ended half a day later.
The long September nights of the harsh winter in the North have arrived.
The cold wind howled, and the snow fell heavily.
A campfire was lit inside the low wooden house.
Arthur and Lawson sat by the campfire.
"As expected of the lord who has royal blood flowing through his veins, his eloquence is truly admirable!"
Lawson held a cup of hot tea, slightly raised it above his head, and saluted Arthur.
At this moment, Arthur turned his head to observe a scene outside the house:
Twenty soldiers from the militia are assisting villagers from two villages in moving the carcasses of adult wind wolves into a storage ice cellar.
But upon hearing the praise from Lawson, the esteemed second-tier runesmith, he turned around, slightly flustered:
"Mr. Lawson, you flatter me. I am Arthur of the Field family, not Arthur of the Grey royal family."
I preach those words only because I genuinely want the people of my territory to accept me as their lord.
"Recognition? There are many kinds of recognition between people in this world."
Lawson narrowed his eyes slightly and replied meaningfully:
"Is recognition of a subject's status by a lord, recognition of a knight's honor in battle, or recognition of skillful ability? I wonder which kind of recognition Your Lordship desires?"
"The recognition I want is not in it."
Arthur shook his head and replied:
"My people's ability to live happily is my recognition."
After hearing this, Lawson silently took a sip of tea and said nothing more.
He couldn't immediately understand Arthur's need for recognition.
In Lawson's view, even though Arthur came from a fallen noble family, he was still a high-ranking nobleman compared to the commoners.
Lawson was nearing the end of his life, and everything he had experienced had taught him that the gap between classes was profound and insurmountable.
But he saw in Arthur a noble quality that was indescribable yet dazzlingly radiant.
Judging solely from the content of the presentation that just ended half a day ago.
At first, he thought Arthur wanted to exploit the labor force of Windwind Village and Mist Village, using his lordly power to force them to work for him for free.
But Arthur truly cared about the people of both villages.
First, there's the processing of meat and fur from a large number of wolf carcasses.
Arthur promised to pay them for their labor with a certain amount of gold coins plus a portion of the meat they produced, after they had finished processing the meat and weaving warm clothes for the winter.
The second thing was to set up a forging workshop.
Arthur implemented a work-study strategy, training villagers in two villages and creating jobs by having them work as assistants in exchange for learning forging skills.
From this, Lawson could tell that the new lord was genuinely pushing these two impoverished and backward villages toward a better future.
Thoughts turn.
Lawson looked at Arthur again, changed the subject, and spoke again:
"The corpse of a third-tier one-eyed wolf is priceless; it is far superior to the corpse of an ordinary adult wind wolf."
Have you figured out how to handle this?
Chapter 27 The Alchemist's Trail
Arthur humbly asked for advice:
"Mr. Lawson, could you explain to me what's special about the corpse of the Tier 3 One-Eyed Wolf?"
"You should have heard Leon say that when a second-tier magical beast advances to a third-tier magical beast, the magical power within its body undergoes a qualitative change."
Lawson, standing in the line of sight of a Silver-rank knight, explained to Arthur:
"Therefore, their magic does not dissipate with death; instead, it takes the opportunity of death to condense into an extremely precious and extraordinary material—elemental essence."
Lawson paused at this point.
He took a simple-looking stone dagger from his coat pocket and handed it to Arthur.
Arthur took the stone dagger and quickly noticed a dull gem embedded in the hilt.
Despite the gem's dull luster, Arthur clearly sensed a strange energy fluctuation emanating from it the moment he touched it.
This energy fluctuation gave Arthur the illusion of being pulled and devoured, a sensation that did not belong to any of the four elements.
Atherton was taken aback when he realized this:
"This is?"
"This gem is the refined essence of the elements."
Lawson seemed pleased with Arthur's bewildered expression. He first took the stone dagger back from Arthur's hand, and then continued:
"However, it is a rather special elemental essence, containing dark elements, and possesses the extraordinary characteristic of devouring other elements."
Arthur quickly calmed himself down, readily accepting this new thing and memorizing the existence of the dark element.
Then, still puzzled by the elemental essence, he continued to ask:
"Will the existence of this exquisite gem enhance the dagger itself?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
The knight can unleash the power of the gem essence by releasing aura power.
Lawson nodded: