"I originally thought you would hug me and cry bitterly, thanking me for how much I value our friendship. But the reality really disappoints me, but that's okay, Mr. Kulahan, at least we can put aside other things. , make a calm and fair 'deal' regarding Gloria."
Baron Baring had a half-smile on his face. He just sat on the sofa chair, turned the wooden pipe in his hand and knocked it a few times, and poured out a small pile of white ash.
"Deal? You talk to me about a 'deal'! Bahrain, you bastard, have you forgotten how I..."
"That's right! This is a deal, Mr. Kulahan. I advise you not to bring up those old memories in an attempt to humiliate and anger me. To tell you the truth, it is precisely because I have not forgotten those tatters that should have been forgotten long ago. That's why I generously sent you an invitation letter after going through all the troubles to find Gloria. You should have seen the scene just now. With the appearance of this child, there is a lot of interest in him. Someone is here. Moreover, this is before his true gender is revealed. You have also seen his appearance. Don’t say you don’t know, this child is at least 70% imaginary with the big shot we can’t reach. , if coupled with the same gender and younger age, at least those old Mentu, Oga, and Barsolon have this hobby, the old guys who are interested in child molestation will definitely win over him. The lowest is a Marquis of Glory with an ancient bloodline. Do you think you will still be able to get this child after they know the existence of Gloria? "
Kula Khan's face turned red from holding back, but he couldn't say a word. He obviously couldn't refute this.
Balin saw his appearance. He also smiled coldly in his heart. In fact, he also had a big headache on how to deal with Gloria. After much thought, I came up with the idea of holding a cocktail party to let him reveal his secrets. There is certainly a reason why this is so troublesome. Actually from the beginning. He had no intention of transferring Gloria, that is, Goron to anyone else except Kula Khan. The reason was of course not because of the hypocritical and ridiculous friendship between them, but because he knew that Kula Khan already valued Gloria. To the point of almost madness, so he will do whatever it takes to get this beautiful boy from his hands.
Of course, Bahrain also thought about introducing Gloria directly to those high-level figures. As he just said, although the old guys like Lao Mentu, Oga, and Basilon are not as powerful over Gloria as Kula Khan, He must win it, and he will not hesitate to lose everything, but the net worth of those old guys is not comparable to that of the little baron Kula Khan. Even if they casually rummaged through their pockets, the few changes they threw out would be as much as the entire belongings of ordinary people like them, or in other words, the entire possessions of lower-class nobles.
Introducing Gloria to these people, or even holding a small auction is undoubtedly a way to maximize profits, but there is a hidden danger, that is, Goron's appearance resembles Count Amanda. Not only is it one of Gloria's biggest selling points, it is also a super bomb that can blow Bahrain to pieces.
Countless nobles in Montenegro have been sent to the guillotine in the square because of this emperor's favorite, because of Lord Amanda. Among them are many glorious marquises who hold real power, or ancient noble families whose families have been passed down for hundreds of years. Some of the causes of death of these people were simply because they made some remarks in public that Earl Amanda did not like, or they had some inappropriate thoughts about Earl Amanda. What's worse is that these ideas were discovered by the jealous Emperor Durotar. As for the ordinary nobles whose status is not high enough to show off, sometimes a rude look is enough to turn their entire family into slaves.
In short, as long as he has something to do with the Earl, a lower-class noble like Bahrain. Death may occur anytime, anywhere, and the entire family may be implicated. Weigh again and again. Baron Bahrain finally came up with the idea of holding a cocktail party, which could put a little pressure on Kula Khan. You can more easily and completely extract benefits from him. On the other hand, Gloria's existence can be properly revealed in advance. Bahrain knew what Kula Khan thought about Gloria, and knew that after he obtained this "beauty", he would try every means to hide it, and would not make a fuss about it and eventually get into trouble. This was one of the important reasons why he chose Kula Khan. . Even if something happens later, Bahrain will have an excuse to get rid of the charges of "hiding important people secretly" and "concealing the truth" because of this cocktail party. After publicly transferring Gloria to Baron Kulahan, Bahrain will basically have nothing to do with this matter anymore. This is the safest method that Bahrain can think of.
"What exactly do you want from me?" Although Kula Khan has aristocratic shortcomings, he is not a complete fool after all. Even if he cannot completely guess what Bahrain is thinking, at least he knows his true purpose.
"Your manor on the banks of the Agate River, as well as all the taxes in your territory for three years, and by the way, there are also a hundred sets of mithril heavy armors. Don't fool me with junk. I only want the ones with the lion mark on them. ”
Kula Khan took a deep breath. When his anger reached its peak, he calmed down again. In any other situation, Bahrain's three demands were enough for him to invite this bastard to a death duel, at least Will also apply to the Imperial Council of Elders for a noble civil war.
The manor on the banks of the Agate River is the private property of Baron Kulahan. Although it does not occupy a large area, it has a small vineyard that is considered one of the best in the entire empire, plus a complete set of magic equipment unique to the manor. , able to produce a royal exclusive wine. Due to the limited production of this kind of wine, there is very little left after meeting the needs of the royal family. Although it cannot be sold, as the best gift, it has always been an important weapon for Baron Kulahan to unblock the upper-class nobles and cling to the powerful.
If the Agate River Manor is still the private property of Baron Kula Khan, then selling all the tax revenue from the family territory for three years is enough to make Kula Khan lose everything, whether it is his identity or status within the family. But this is still not the most ruthless of Bahrain's three conditions. One hundred sets of lion mithril heavy armor is the most speechless condition of Baron Bahrain.
The real name of the mithril armor with the lion mark is actually the "Dynasty Base Armor". This is not the kind of historical out-of-print equipment with collectible value or the collector's edition equipment produced by famous masters. But it is the top military product that can be bought on the market, and it is the standard equipment of the Emperor's personal guard. In terms of defense, flexibility and lightness, it is even better than some epic equipment passed down from generation to generation by ordinary noble families. The entire empire's military industry system could not produce more than a few units a year, after being divided up by wealthy families. There are very few of them that can end up in the hands of middle and low-level nobles. They are simply valuable and have no market.
In fact, Bahrain's family also belongs to the declining aristocracy. A few generations ago, they were hereditary earls of the empire, so they have the savings that are the foundation of the dynasty. And this batch of equipment that can form the most elite heavy cavalry regiment is the only hope for the Bahrain family to revive. Bahrain's conditions are undoubtedly to completely cut off this hope in the hands of Kula Khan.
After putting forward these three items, Bahrain was actually very nervous. He knew that the "friend game" between himself and Kula Khan was completely over, and he was even more prepared to bargain with Kula Khan. The first two are actually just setup. The Agate River Manor is of no use other than providing some free gifts, and whoever takes it over will have to pay tribute to the royal family. As for territorial taxation, it is not something that can be given to anyone who wants it. It is the foundation of a family. Only the Imperial Base Heavy Armor is what Bahrain really wants. Of course, he is very clear about how harsh this condition is. If it were him, he would reject it completely without even thinking about it, and then would put forward this condition to him. The bastard kicked out the door.
"If one hundred sets is really difficult, then fifty sets will do. Hum, the situation on the mainland is in chaos now. Temporary peace is just a facade, and sooner or later there will be a full-scale war. At that time, except for the army, except for weapons, everything It's free. Fifty sets of dynasty base armor... As long as I have these weapons and equipment, and all my savings, I can form a private army that is completely loyal to me, huh."
"I agreed."
"...Huh? What did you just say?" Baron Bahrain, who had just been deep in thought, didn't react for a while and asked Kula Khan blankly.
Kula Khan's face turned dark. It was as if he was squeezing out words one by one through his teeth: "You don't have to talk nonsense anymore, I know what you really think. Don't think about the territorial taxes. I can't hide this agreement from those old guys at home." Once it is achieved, they will immediately take away everything from me, and you will have nothing to gain by then. I will not give you what you really want until I submit it to the royal family at least this year. Things, aren't they just those hundred sets of armor? They are indeed family property under my management. I can still secretly transfer them to you if I think of a way. As long as you don't take them out to show off, at least when I The chance of being discovered by those old ghosts before handing over power and family property is very low. "
Kula Khan has no ambitions and is a playboy and prodigal. Although he guessed Bahrain's true purpose, he would rather give up the mithril armor that may cut off the family's hope of revival, and choose to retain the interests he currently has in his hands as much as possible. Although this was within Bahrain's expectations, it was far better than what he had expected at the beginning, so he decisively gave up the other two conditions and only strictly limited Kula Khan's delivery date.
This shameful transaction of treating himself as a commodity happened in front of Gron. The two nobles did not avoid him at all. This may be because in the subconscious mind of these nobles, Gron, who is currently only a slave, is simply a commodity. A piece of craftsmanship is an air that you don’t need to care about. But just when the two were about to stamp their family crests and signatures on the magic contract, Goron suddenly interrupted and said: "I want to be with the one-eyed ogre. Without him, I will not go anywhere." ”
The two were stunned. Kulahan didn't know what Goron was talking about, but Bahrain just remembered that besides Goron, he accidentally picked up a precious ogre. Baron Bahrain frowned and hesitated for a while, but in the end he readily agreed to give it to the other party for free as part of the deal. It is true that selling this one-eyed ogre to the Colosseum will bring a very considerable fortune, but it is worth at most two to three sets of dynasty base heavy armor. There is no need to spend more on this extremely important transaction for it. Add variables.
Just like that, an hour later, the radiant and neatly dressed Kula Khan and the satisfied Baron Bahrain half-consciously and half-unconsciously announced at the reception that Baron Bahrain would transfer an unexpected slave to Baron Kula Khan. Both parties were very happy. . There were no further troubles after that, except that a few nobles who were worried left the reception venue early. Balin saw this in his eyes but just smiled coldly, because it had nothing to do with him. But Kula Khan, who was ecstatic in his heart, didn't notice this at all.
Another half hour passed, and Kula Khan finally couldn't wait for the cocktail party to end, so he left the Bahrain mansion with the young man dressed as a woman and a sleeping ogre... At this time, he had secretly sworn in his heart that he would never do anything in this life. I won't step foot here again.
At the same moment, Goron also looked at the starry sky through the carriage window. His eyes were confused and moving, and also revealed a little helplessness and bleakness. Seeing these, Kula Khan only felt that his own His soul was trembling, his heart was filled with infinite love, and he was completely crazy for a moment.
Of course, he didn't notice that in the deepest part of the cross-dressing boy's eyes, there was the rage and bloodlust that seemed to come from his soul, as well as the urge to die that tried to destroy everything... (To be continued...)