Chapter 46 Damn Charm
After bringing the private soldiers to Goldsmith Town, Raven finally understood the meaning of Mosingan's words.
These "deployed" citizens are simply the epitome of the oppressed and exploited serfs of this era.
The dirty hair was stuck into the shape of a chicken coop with sweat and dust, the shriveled face was as dirty as the bottom of a pot, and pairs of cloudy eyes were hidden in the deep eye sockets, confused and numb.
The tattered strips of cloth failed to cover the body at all. The thin body covered with dirt, dust and blood stains was exposed to the air one by one. It was impossible to tell the difference between male and female, nor the age. Only by height can one barely distinguish children from adults.
Their bodies were stooped, but they could not hide the eye-catching burn marks on their chests: the outer circle was a ring, and the inner circle was a square F, which represented their status as serfs of the Fox family.
In order to erase this identity, a new X-shaped wound was branded on it.
The most impressive thing is their hands. Rough hemp rope passes through the palms, tying more than ten or twenty of them together. It is covered with dark brown blood, and flies can't rise and fall on it. stop.
The wounds on some people's hands have suppurated and become rancid, with maggots crawling inside.
The center of some people's palms is completely rotten, and the pale and dry metacarpal bones can be seen.
There are also some people whose palms and hemp ropes have grown together, and the fleshy flesh has abnormal blood vessels.
The sound of horse hooves attracted Raven's attention. He turned around and saw a knight urging his war horse to come to him.
Through the Eyes of Truth, Raven could clearly see the blue light flowing in his body. The intensity was similar to that of Donald back then. He was obviously a second-level Blue Wave Knight.
This man looks to be less than thirty years old, with silky eyebrows, walnut eyes, and a hint of arrogance in the corner of his mouth. Although he looks tired, his enchanted plate armor is well maintained and shines. The people on the side were in sharp contrast.
Not only him, but even the three cavalrymen behind him who were not extraordinary were wearing full sets of enchanted plate armor, with enchanted weapons hanging around their waists.
Enchant weapons!
The equipment of these four people combined must have at least 5,000 gold coins.
The Earl family is really wealthy.
Leaven couldn't help but clicked his tongue in his heart.
"Townsend." Although tired, the knight still pounded his left hand on his chest and performed a standard military salute: "It's an honor to meet you, Lord Baron!"
"Raven Ota Griffith." Raven nodded in return and said with a smile: "It's been a hard journey. Would you like to take a rest in Goldshire so that I can do my part as a landlord?"
Townsend’s eyes flickered a few times, obviously moved, but he still shook his head: "The mission is Please allow me to refuse your generous offer."
"Please pay the balance and we will leave now."
"What a pity." After taking a breath, he touched his hand on his belt, and a box appeared in his hand, which was handed to the private soldier on the side.
Taking the box from the private soldier, Townsend asked: "Lord Baron, don't you count the number of goods?"
Raven shook his head and said: "I believe in the credibility of the Fox family."
Townsend nodded, opened the box and counted it carefully. After confirming that the number of gold coins was correct, he raised his eyebrows and said: "Eagle Lord, you are truly a noble baron with integrity!”
Although Townsend’s words were extremely beautiful, it was obvious that this behavior was somewhat disrespectful.
With a smile on his face, Raven said: "You are also a knight with cautious qualities."
Leaven deliberately emphasized the word "cautious".
This kind of behavior of "counting money in person and completely distrusting", Raven must show a trace of "unhappiness".
Otherwise, he is not a "qualified" noble.
Because in the continent of Middles, only untouchables don't care about their dignity being offended.
But Townsend, as the second-level knight in the only count family in the entire Nord province, obviously doesn't care much about Raven's feelings.
Who made the Griffith family famous for being so poor!
After handing the box to the retinue to put away, Townsend said calmly: "Thank you for your understanding. I will take my leave now."
As he said that, he turned his horse's head and led the three cavalrymen in Speeding away in a cloud of dust.
In this short meeting, Townsend was quite surprised by Raven's performance, because Raven's performance was really inconsistent with the rumors.
More importantly, he just noticed a detail - that is, Raven actually has a space belt!
Judging from the skillful way of using it, he has probably become extraordinary silently.
This is a very important message!
God-given potions are not cheap, and space equipment is priceless and cannot be afforded by a small baron family in a border town.
Could it be that... Griffith has turned to the Slater family?
Townsend was filled with doubts.
This information must be reported to the Count of Montreal as soon as possible.
Raven did not pay attention to Townsend. After he left, he immediately turned around and ordered: "Send someone to bring the prepared food and water over, and give these serfs something to eat first."
"Understood. "My lord." Mosingan turned and left, greeting the new soldiers he was leading.
Eric on the side was a little unhappy. Seeing this, Raven joked: "What are you thinking about?"
Eric came back to his senses and said seriously: "Baron, this Townsend is so rude to you!”
“It’s okay if you don’t dismount and salute, but I’m actually worried that you will default on your debt!”
He was not as angry as Eric. In two lifetimes, Raven had already taken this kind of thing lightly.
It’s nothing more than watching people order dishes. There’s no right or wrong.
If he were a viscount, or had a strength of level three or above, then Townsend would definitely dismount and bow in a dignified manner.
But who made him just a little baron?
Leaven first sighed, then shook his head: "Eric, remember, if you want to become a qualified noble, the first lesson is to learn 'tolerance'!"
"As long as I am still a baron, encounters like this will be inevitable."
Eric felt excited in his heart: "Baron is just the beginning, sooner or later you will become a viscount."
>After hearing this, Lei Wen glanced at his retainer in surprise. It seemed that this period of time together had made Eric change his mind a lot.
"You have quite a lot of confidence in me." Raven smiled, "How can it be so easy to become a Viscount?"
While the two were talking, the food It's already been shipped.
These transferred citizens ate like hungry wolves. In just a few minutes, they gnawed away every bit of the black bread they were given. Their eyes, which were originally like dead fish, became a little more alive.
After gathering his mood, Raven got off his horse and stood on the temporary high platform. He coughed a few times and attracted everyone's attention.
If you want to become a Viscount, you still have to be down-to-earth and start from the front.
Clearing his throat, he said loudly: "This is the first time we meet. My name is Raven, Raven Otta Griffith. From today on, I will be your lord."
< br>“I know that you have endured a lot of suffering along the way, but I want to congratulate you for finally escaping from the sea of suffering and coming to my territory.”
"Being able to survive until now means that you are tough and endurance enough and have not given up on your children. It means that you still retain expectations for the future."
At this point, Raven paused for a moment.
He saw some subtle emotions in the eyes of these serfs, disgust, disdain, and hostility.
Anyone who has experienced something like them would not have the slightest expectation for the nobles.
But Raven doesn't care. As long as these people react, it means they can still listen to what he said:
"Welcome to the Eagle Territory."
"There are many job opportunities here. As long as you can move, you can get paid, food, clothing, and the most precious dignity."
"This winter, you can help me build roads, build houses, Get ice, I hope you can make yourselves fat and healthy during this period, because the beginning of next spring is the time when you really need to contribute."
He glanced to the side, and Volaf hurried. He walked up and handed a wooden board with parchment nailed to it into Raven's hands.
Putting the board upright on his chest, Lei Wen said loudly: "This is the decree I am preparing to issue."
"Starting from January next year, I will distribute the 500 acres of cultivated land in the Eagle Territory and the 3,000 acres of abandoned and uncultivated farmland."
"Including you, every man will distribute the land 2 acres, women are given 1 acres, children and the elderly are granted Half."
"As a lord, I only need 40% of the harvest as a land tax, and the rest is yours."
Serfs, look at me and I look at you. Although there was interest in it, more people still looked at it with disgust and suspicion.
The words of nobles are always full of traps. How can something that is really beneficial fall on them?
As if he didn't realize this, Raven continued: "What is a human being?"
"There is food in the belly, clothes on the body, and preferably a few silver coins and copper coins in the pocket."
"In the Eagle Territory, as long as you work hard, you can become such a person and live the life you have always had. A wonderful life that I have never imagined."
Lei Wen glanced at the audience and raised his right index finger: "1 gold coin." "This is the price I paid for you, and who among you can. Give me 1 gold coin, and I will return his freedom.”
"The children in the future will not have to be branded as slaves as soon as they are born!"
"Work hard to make money, even if it is for your own children."
Soon, Raven ended After hearing his speech, there was no applause, no cheers, just a pair of doubtful and empty eyes.
Leaven didn’t even look at them, turned around, mounted the blood-eyed war horse, and rode away.
Shortly after he left, private soldiers came up and gave these serfs sets of clean old clothes, and told them that each piece of clothing cost 50 copper coins.
They looked at the clothes in their hands and looked in the direction where Raven left with some disbelief.
The clothes for which the money was collected just dispelled the doubts of these serfs.
But it made them feel the dignity of "being human" for the first time.
He... seems to be a little different from other lords!
Seeing this scene, a trace of surprise flashed in Lux's eyes, and she felt a little more appreciative when she looked in the direction where Raven was going.
There was no doctor in Eagle Town, so Raven asked her to provide simple diagnosis and treatment for these serfs. The main job was to prepare some herbal decoctions and clean the wounds to prevent them from becoming infected.
I never thought that I would hear Raven’s words just after arriving here.
How to describe Raven’s speech just now?
It can be called a successful "speech"!
There are many famous speeches in history, including the accession speech of Keynes I, the pre-war mobilization of Keynes VI, and the speech of the "Mad King" Frederick of the Insa Empire before executing the Orc King.
Like those ancient nobles, Raven's speech was simple, clear, and straight to the point.
There is no excessive promotion, and there is no redundant and fancy rhetoric that is common among today's aristocrats... and no brainless flattery of oneself!
A few simple sentences, explaining his policies clearly in simple and profound terms, also planted a seed called "stability" in the hearts of these panicked serfs.
"He is indeed an outlier among the nobility today." Lux thought so.
At the same time, there was another woman talking about Raven.
"This damn bastard!" Nancy sat down heavily on the bed, punching the soft bed with her pink fist, and a sharp-edged crystal slipped from her hand and fell to the ground.
It is called [Image Crystal]. Although it is only a first-level magic prop, it is valuable. It usually costs more than two hundred gold coins each. It can store images and sounds for a period of no more than 30 minutes.
Nancy brought it with her to catch Raven.
The serfs transported this time were all half dead, struggling to breathe, and unable to do any work at first glance.
Since Raven dared to do something so extreme to her last time, he will never accept those serfs honestly this time.
Once he had a conflict with the knight responsible for escorting him, Nancy could just record the scene as evidence.
But to Nancy's expectation, Raven actually acted so calmly!
Damn it!
Why has he suddenly become so tolerant now? !
"Miss, don't be angry." Jenny picked up the crystal from the ground and put it on the dressing table: "It's just a little baron, not worth your trouble."
"It would be great if that were the case. Have you ever seen any baron who dared to..." Nancy said, her face turning red.
"Spank, spank you?" Jenny prompted.
“It’s not like I forgot!” Nancy shouted in shame and anger: “If you mention this word one more time, I’ll, I’ll spank your ass until it’s more swollen than mine!”< br>
Tucking the scattered hair back with her white fingers, Nancy pouted, puffed up her cheeks, and twisted her eyebrows together in grievance: "Raven, You stupid pig that deserves to be plagued, a groundhog in the manure pit, a slug in the mud, why can’t I catch you?”
When Jenny saw this, in order to redeem herself in the heart of the hostess? The image echoed: "Yes, he is a scumbag, a gangster, a cheap bastard, dried cow dung..."
"Who allowed you to scold him?" Nancy's voice interrupted Jenny.
The latter was stunned and stood there helplessly, not knowing what mistake he had made.
"Eh...why did I choose such a stupid guy like you." Nancy sighed: "What he said today simply trampled the face of our Fox family into the mud. ."
"What happened to our Fox family if you talk about it so badly?"
Jenny was shocked when she heard this, "Why didn't I hear it? Didn’t mention the words “Fox Family”
This is what makes Nancy most angry.
She suspected that Raven was doing something bad, but she had no evidence.
This guy Raven is really a born noble.
The unique aristocratic style, the subtle yin and yang aura, and the hypocritical and cunning character are vividly reflected in him.
When speaking, every sentence clearly insinuated that the Fox family was too harsh on the people, but there was no solid evidence, leaving no one with the slightest clue.
You can’t say he’s too nice to these serfs, right? !
If you really make a fuss about this, it will only make people think that the Fox family is too sensitive.
Looking at the younger generation in Nord province, few have this level.
Nancy's three brothers are all second-generation ancestors who only know how to spend the day, drink, and hang around women all day long. Although they can surpass her in terms of personal strength, they can't compare with Raven in terms of human behavior.
The other earl family, the Slater family, is not much better, with many heirs, but only one Minsk can be considered accomplished, but he is already 33 years old.
As for Hyde, whom his father allowed him to come into contact with this time - he was just as good-looking as Raven.
If he could really fight him, Hyde wouldn't run away in despair.
Nancy's pink toes pushed away the soft down on the carpet, and said to herself in confusion and depression: "This guy is really, really..."
Jenny was thinking about today. Raven on the high platform, memories Looking at that handsome face and magnetic voice, she blurted out: "It's... so charming?"
"Yes, charming!" Nancy slapped her right hand on the palm of her left hand, biting her lip and said:< br>
"That's the damn charm!"
Raven is like a succubus in human skin, making people around him believe his lies wherever he goes.
Although I may not necessarily approve or like it in my heart, but...at least I can't hate it.
He is always so confident!
The residents of Eagle Town, the Chamber of Commerce in Goldsmith Town, and this time the serfs of the Fox family all verified this.
Especially the serfs, who were originally like walking zombies, but Raven's "talk" seemed to bring their souls back to life, and there was even a little light of "hope" in their eyes.
The Fox family has raised them all their lives and has never seen them behave like this.
“Don’t be stunned, help me come up with ideas.” Nancy became angrier as she thought about it, and said angrily: “Last time you asked me to sneak into the workshop, but it turned out that the wall was full of Five meters high, three more than me, it’s not even that I can’t get in.”
“I’ve been raising you all day just to get you to give me these bad ideas?”
Jenny is so wronged, the matter of climbing over the wall is obviously Nan. Akane mentioned it herself.
And she is just a maid. A maid is not responsible for making suggestions.
Miss Nancy will definitely not listen to excuses, but I can make her realize this.
Thinking of this, she rolled her eyes: "You are a second-level mage. There is no stronger person in the entire Eagle Town. Otherwise, you will kill yourself in it...?"
This is undoubtedly a stupid idea. Jenny has already thought of taking this opportunity to let Miss Nancy scold her. In this way, she will definitely not let her come up with ideas again!
But Nancy’s eyes suddenly lit up: “Yes, there is another way!”
"I am the daughter of the Fox family. I can visit him in the name of my family and live in Eagle Castle. In this way, no matter what secrets he has, he can't hide them from me!"
Jenny was confused.
Is that what I meant?
But since Nancy is happy, that’s fine. Anyway, it’s much safer to live in directly than to climb over the wall of the workshop.
She doesn’t have to act as Nancy’s ladder every day when practicing climbing over the wall...
"It was decided happily!" Nancy shook her head proudly: "Jenny, you still have some brains. When this matter is completed, you will be rewarded!"
Jenny's look was a little strange, there was something strange about it. I want to say something but dare not say it.
Miss Nancy, you originally wanted to catch Raven because you were worried about your reputation being damaged.
But if you live in Eagle Castle...
“Since we are going, the ostentation must be grand, and we must not lose the face of our Fox family! Jenny, go prepare, I I want eight...oh no, ten carriages!”
"I want to kill this bastard's majesty!"
"Let him understand from the bottom of his heart! The majesty of the earl family cannot be offended by a small baron family!"
Seeing her young lady's excitement, Jenny didn't dare to disturb her interest anymore, so she could only answer bravely:
"Yes, Miss Nancy!"
...
(End of this chapter)