Following Pat into the big tent was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was wearing an ill-fitting gray-black fur coat and a pair of brown breeches. This fur coat is the warm clothes issued to him by the team. Although the middle-aged man tried his best to show his aristocratic status, his eyes turned straight and his uneasy expression still revealed the tension in his heart.
Lorist didn't have a good impression of this middle-aged man at first glance. He looked very shrewd, and he didn't have the arrogance of an aristocrat who was naturally superior. It was those eyes that kept rolling, as if they were thinking about something in their hearts.
"Tuberley Tim, the heir of Viscount Taberley, pays tribute to Your Excellency, wishing you a great victory." The middle-aged man bowed deeply to Lorist who was sitting upright.
Lorist laughed. None of the children of nobles would call themselves that. They would introduce themselves as someone from a certain family, instead of staring at the title and emphasizing that they are the heir. This is to deceive the ignorant citizens Yes, no aristocratic child who has been educated in orthodox aristocratic etiquette since childhood would say that. The identity of the middle-aged man in front of him is very problematic.
"I'm Norton Lorist of the Norton family in the Northland, and I'm also the person in charge of this team. Excuse me, sir, who are you?" Lorist's words showed his doubts about the identity of this middle-aged man.
"I, I'm really the eldest son of Viscount Taberley. If you don't believe me, you can ask those people you rescued. Many of them knew me and grew up with me, otherwise they wouldn't listen to me. Come with me..." The middle-aged man's face flushed instantly, as if Lorist's suspicion hit his most sensitive heart.
"Really?" Lorist was noncommittal.
The middle-aged man froze like a punctured ball: "Yes, my lord. I am indeed the eldest son of Viscount Taberley. It's just that now my brothers, sisters, and my relatives are gone, and I am the only one." The only remaining descendant of Viscount Taberley. Therefore, I am also his only legal heir."
Lorist understood that this middle-aged man was the illegitimate son of Viscount Trebury, and that Viscount's family might have been wiped out by Earl Cobili, so this illegitimate son claimed to be the heir of Viscount Trebury.
"What did Viscount Taberley put you in charge of?" Lorist asked.
"The viscount asked me to manage the three farms in the territory and the foreign production transactions. Because I have more contacts with the farmers in the territory, I don't have much contact with the nobles." answer.
"Let's put it this way, Mr. Tim, I'm not interested in whether you are the heir to the Viscount Taberley. I heard that you asked my family knights to equip your people with free weapons and equipment, so may I ask? Why do you Making such a rude request?" Lorist stood up and stared at the middle-aged man in front of him.
"My lord, my lord, didn't you say that nobles have an obligation to help each other? And I, I also want my people to be armed so that my lord can deal with Count Cobili's army..." In this middle-aged man named Tim In his eyes, Lorist's aggressive demeanor overwhelmed him, making him feel that the excuses he had thought up in his mind before and the prepared manuscripts were so pale and useless. In a hurry, I could only find a more orthodox statement.
"Haha, Mr. Tim, first of all, you are not an aristocrat. It doesn't mean that you become an aristocrat because you think you are the heir of the Viscount Taberley. You must be recognized by at least three nearby nobles in order to be qualified to say that you are an aristocrat." The legal heir of the Viscount Burleigh. Then you can go to the capital to get your blood certificate, and then get the qualifications for the succession of the territory and the title certificate from the upper lord of the Viscount Burleigh. This is a more orthodox way to inherit the title. Secondly, there is another way to master a powerful family armed forces, resulting in the de facto reality of territorial inheritance, forcing the upper lord to admit that you inherit the title and territory. I think Mr. Tim should have this idea."
"Perhaps, Viscount Tubley didn't register the name of your eldest son in the family register, which made it very difficult for Mr. Tim to follow the orthodox way of succession to the title. It's just that Mr. Tim shouldn't forget Your current status, to be correct, you are just a prisoner of war, the prisoner of Earl Cobili. And our Norton family defeated Earl Cobili’s army and accepted everything from this army, so you should also be counted as our spoils of war. Theory In fact, we have the right to kill you as a slave, and even selling it to a slave trader is a reasonable behavior. Unless you will pay a suitable price for your redemption like other nobles."
"Speaking of mutual help between nobles, Mr. Tim, do you really understand this agreement? This is only valid when the nobles in the same area are invaded by a common foreign enemy or human beings are invaded by monsters and aliens. And we, Now it belongs to two countries. Even if you are a nobleman, I have no obligation to you at all. I can even cut off your head and hang you to death because you are an enemy nobleman and get a reward after returning. As for Said to help us fight, hehe, Mr. Tim, this is a terrible excuse."
The middle-aged man's face was pale, his forehead was sweating, and he was trembling all over. In the past, as long as he pretended that he was the heir of the Viscount Taberley among those people, those people would respect him and dare not disobey him in the slightest. Even after he was captured, he could still persuade a large group of people to listen to him. Serve him as Lord. Unexpectedly, in front of the real nobleman, he, the self-proclaimed heir, seemed to be stripped of his gorgeous disguise, revealing his true colors at once.
Lorist walked around the middle-aged man slowly, looking him up and down with interest: "Mr. Tim, in fact, I don't mind if you are pretending to be a nobleman, or if you are the heir to Viscount Taberley?" It is a good thing for a person to have ambition, which will motivate him to work hard. If you can pay the corresponding price for our generosity, then I can forgive you for making unreasonable demands this time. If you want to get empty hands from us If it's Bai Lang, then I have to think about it, how should I deal with you, a liar, hang or behead? You can choose a punishment method yourself."
This middle-aged man named Tim collapsed immediately. He had seen how his father, Viscount Taberley, casually summoned the guards to end the lives of several servants who disobeyed his orders. How did his brothers who had the right to inherit flog some of the leaders who frightened their mounts to death. From an early age, his mother, a former maid of the Viscount of Taberley, taught him how to live humble and humble as an illegitimate child, won the trust of his father, became a steward of the Viscount, and used The status of the illegitimate son of the viscount gained extra benefits for himself from the ignorant and ignorant citizens.
It wasn't until his father and his brothers were completely killed by Earl Cobili's army that he realized that he was the only surviving blood descendant of Viscount Turbury. Not educated by orthodox nobles, the viscount's care for his illegitimate son was to allow him to learn writing. But none of this prevents him from establishing the concept that he is the sole heir to the viscount among the people he knows, and using the shrewdness and eloquent mouth he learned from dealing with peddlers for a long time to recruit a large number of wandering people in the west Standing alone in the mountainous area, a cottage was built, until this time it was breached by the mopping up troops, and he himself became a prisoner.
Originally thought that he was doomed this time, but he did not expect that such a powerful sweeping force would be annihilated by the escort of a convoy, and he was rescued. After eating and dressing in the camp, he went to inquire about the details of the convoy. After he knew that it was a northbound armed convoy of a family named Norton in the Northland, he suddenly realized that this was an opportunity. Maybe he could Get something out of this passing convoy. In his mind, as long as he mentions that he is the heir to the Viscount, then the owner of the team should treat him like a guest, and he can get whatever he wants. At that time, he still had several plans in his mind, such as one, two, three, four, etc. He could even use this convoy to defeat Count Cobili, and return to the Viscountdom with a powerful armed force by himself, becoming a territorial noble that everyone envied.
When he heard Lorist asking him to choose a way to die with a smile on his face, the reverence for the nobles and the inferiority complex towards himself as an illegitimate child surged into his heart. This is the real nobleman. , Talking and laughing freely and ruthlessly, does not need to rely on coercion and temptation to make subordinates behave obediently like myself. In his eyes, Lorist was like the viscount he feared most before, who could easily decide his life or death.
Tim prostrated on the ground and burst into tears: "My lord, please spare me. I shouldn't be delusional, I shouldn't intend to get involved in the title, please spare my humble life! In your eyes, I am just a An ant that doesn't deserve your attention..."
Lorist took a step back: "Please stand up, Mr. Tim. If you want to be a nobleman, at least please maintain your demeanor. No nobleman would commit such a shameful act like you. A true nobleman , Even in the face of death, you should be calm and calm. Maybe you misunderstood me. As I said, I don’t mind whether you are the heir of the viscount or a nobleman. What I want to know is , In what capacity did you make such a rude request to me?"
Looking at the dazed and ignorant eyes of Mr. Tim kneeling on the ground, Lorist smiled bitterly and explained to him in detail: "Mr. Tim, if you think that you can get everything you want from me for free with your status as the heir to the viscount , then I will behead or hang you as a liar, because you have offended the dignity of the Norton family, and you should understand that rudeness and deceit are what a territorial noble hates the most."
Mr. Tim shivered, and he thought of the viscount again, and the scene where the viscount ordered the guards to hang a fisherman, just because the poor fisherman wanted to hide his catch, because there was an extra fish, that said The fisherman who lies loses his life. He remembered what Lord Viscount said at the beginning: "I don't care about a few more fish, I only care that he deceived me."
Mr. Tim nodded, indicating that he agreed with Lorist's words.
"Mr. Tim, if you don't want to get something from me as a liar, then as a nobleman, when you ask me for my help, then as a nobleman, I should also extend to you A helping hand. It's just Mr. Tim, the help between nobles is not free, have you thought about the price you are prepared to pay?" Lorist asked.
"We can arm an army for you, help you regain your territory, and arrange for you to receive orthodox noble etiquette training, so that your every move will be more like a nobleman, so that you won't make trouble in front of other nobles in the future A joke. But none of this is free, you have to pay the corresponding price, Mr. Tim." Lorist said.
"I, I have money, I'm willing to pay for your help..." Mr. Tim finally understood what Lorist meant, especially when Lorist mentioned that he could be arranged to receive etiquette training for nobles. I was pleasantly surprised.
"That's right, Mr. Tim, you are so sensible and make our communication more smooth and friendly, but can you tell us, where are your money and food now?"
Mr. Tim honestly explained the source of the money and food, that is, when the Viscounty was invaded by the army of Earl Cobili's family, Viscount Taberley took Tim to bury a batch of gold coins overnight in a secret place in order to make a comeback . He also told Tim not to go back to the castle, but to go directly to several farms in the territory that were not affected by the war, and pull all the grain in the warehouse to a cave under a mountain on the edge of the territory, which was discovered by the Viscount when he was hunting. The abandoned bear cave, known only to Tim who was with him at the time.
Mr. Tim faithfully fulfilled the entrustment of the Viscount. When he went back to report to the Viscount, he found that the castle had been breached. The Viscount and his children, that is, Tim's brothers and sisters, had all died. Mr. Tim estimates that the hidden wealth should be tens of thousands of imperial gold coins, and the food in the bear cave is enough to feed 3,000 people for half a year.
Looking at the map, Lorist found that the Viscount Terbury's territory was not far from here, only about a day's journey away. So he ordered Reddy to find El, and asked Mr. Tim to take El and Pat to lead a group of people with a carriage to move the gold coins and food to the barracks.
Before leaving, Pat looked at Lorist, and El made a gesture of wiping his neck. Lorist shook his head. He smiled and wished the three of them a smooth trip, and promised to arrange for them when Mr. Tim came back. Train him in noble etiquette.
Not long after returning to the big tent, Reddy came in and reported: "My lord, the Josk knight has come, and he brought a group of people to ask to meet you at the gate of the barracks."