Shawshank Territory.
As the feudal lord of this territory, Baron Shawshank had a castle that was handed down from his ancestors.
It was constructed on top of a massif and completely built with granite. There was even a moat on the outside, with a watchtower and crossfire point. It would be a nightmare for anyone trying to attack it.
"With such a castle, as long as there's sufficient food, would hundreds of people be enough to defend against the siege of an army of thousands?"
Fang Yuan lifted his head and looked toward the black outline of the tall building.
Unquestionably, it represented the authority that the past Baron Shawshanks had on this land, and was more a guarantee of status.
"Even each baron may not necessarily be able to build a castle. This is the difference between the old nobility and the nouveau rich…"
From this, Fang Yuan thought of the strength of this Baron Shawshank.
Under his command were five knights. Inside the castle, there was even a squad of more than a hundred guards maintained throughout the year.
"A hundred person guard squad is the direct force under a baron. When faced with war, he could still enlist knights and squires, definitely adding up to more than two hundred. These are
professional soldiers! If we include those slightly trained militia, it can easily reach a thousand.
"Furthermore, this Baron Shawshank is definitely a member of the royalist party with deep connections to Grand Duke Stan."
…
As he was thinking, the castle's suspension bridge lowered slowly, and a middle-aged nobleman came out to welcome him, "Welcome, my knight!"
Fang Yuan carefully looked over and saw that this nobleman coming out was around forty years old. He was wearing a noble robe with light green and golden linings, had on a white-haired wig, and was currently opening up both of his arms toward him. "And thank you for everything you'br done for Haier Village."
"This is my required obligation."
Fang Yuan bowed a knight's bow and let the squire present the gift.
"Ah… such beautiful pearls. I quite like them."
The baron was obviously very pleased as the gloominess on his forehead completely dissipated. "Come, my knight. I've already prepared a feast for you inside the castle. Everything is very safe here!" He stressed the words spoken toward the end. Evidently, he had obtained the hints of Sorcerer Heim.
"It'd be disrespectful to reject your offer."
Fang Yuan bowed and followed Baron Shawshank into the castle.
The feast in the castle was naturally very grand. Among the five knights belonging to Baron Shawshank, three of them had also brought their families along.
Fang Yuan wore an impeccably cut long robe without additional accessories and naturally portrayed an elegant aura that greatly attracted a few noble ladies' gaze.
With the corruption in the current life of the nobility, as long as he showed slight interest toward some of the beautiful women swinging their fans at him, he would promptly have a splendid night.
However, he held his wine glass and instead politely rejected the many invitations while watching silently from the side, seemingly very antisocial.
"Knight Luhn, you seem to have saddened many ladies…"
At this moment, a tall man dressed as a knight in half body armor walked over. "I'm afraid that from tonight onward, gossip and rumors of Knight Luhn being unromantic will soon spread across the land."
"I am just… erm… not used to it," Fang Yuan replied smilingly. "Knight Gray, what's the matter?"
This knight was also one of the five knights of Baron Shawshank. However, what was different from Fang Yuan was that he directly served the baron, becoming the baron's commander as a knight and commanding all the guards, and definitely the most trusted subordinate.
In the Monger World, it was not embarrassing for a lower noble to serve a superior noble and collect compensation.
"I'm sorry for disturbing your party. However, Lord Baron wants to meet you in his study," Knight Gray said with his usual flat voice.
"Okay."
Fang Yuan nodded his head and left this uninteresting party, following Gray to the baron's study.
"Is it Luhn? Come in! Gray, you stand guard outside and do not permit anyone to enter, not even my wife," Baron Shawshank said seriously, then instantly grinned at Fang Yuan. "Luhn, you must have many doubts."
"Not a lot, but I have a general speculation that the situation doesn't seem to be good."
Fang Yuan nodded and sat across the baron. The baron even conveniently poured a glass of black tea for him.
"Truthfully speaking, after receiving the message from Sorcerer Heim, I was still very surprised…"
Baron Shawshank seemed to be organizing his excuses. "Sorry. Although I believed that you'd achieve the standard of a high-level professional, I didn't expect it to be this quick. Furthermore, you've already become a Disaster Knight?"
"That's right." Fang Yuan nodded.
In reality, this was merely his superficial achievements. His actual hand would not be showcased that easily to others.
"That's great!" Baron Shawshank clenched his fist tightly, completely not able to conceal his anger. "That Earl Floren actually dispatched bandits to bring chaos to my land. I've already ordered a death sentence for those Mad Wolf Bandits and secret envoys, the crime being banditry!"
"This is your power and authority." Fang Yuan shrugged.
"Although I don't know how much you'll understand, look at this."
Baron Shawshank felt a slight headache. He has seen many talented youths, even many young knights, and had the confidence in controlling their ideas and mentality.
However, this Knight Luhn gave him a very unique feeling and was extremely difficult to control.
At this point, he pushed over a set of documents while he raised the ceramic teacup, sipping the black tea as he waited.
For a time, the sounds within the study instantly vanished. In the silence, only the rustling sounds of Fang Yuan flipping could be heard.
"I see…"
Fang Yuan's reading speed was very fast and quickly grasped the information. "The situation… has already worsened to this extent?"
The Stan Duchy… The first generation Grand Duke Stan had led the Legend Knight Group and opened up the uncivilized regions.
Since then, three hundred years had already passed. That was twenty generations!
Such a long period of time was sufficient to corrupt many rules and families.
The most classic one was the Legend Knight Group. Their descendants were not necessarily aligned with the mindset of Grand Duke Stan.
Not only this. The most important one is still the infiltration of the inland powers, a thought flashed in Fang Yuan's heart. The original Stan Duchy was just an uncivilized land that only a few people had interest in. However, after reclaiming it for three hundred years, it is sufficient to become a hospitable place. Furthermore, the population has greatly increased, bringing great appeal to the inland nations and churches.
In face, the infiltration of the churches already began long ago. That is because, although the first generation Grand Duke Stan proclaimed to believe in the Sun God, he always had the intention of suppressing the power of the churches.
The conflict between theocracy and royalty was the eternal issue of the nations on this continent.
But at this time, looking at the degree of the expansion of the Church of the Death, the other churches wouldn't be any worse… If the current Grand Duke Stan still wants to reclaim his power, it will definitely cause a conflict with the theocracy.
This generation's Grand Duke Stan was neither a mediocre and unambitious sovereign, nor was he a wise hero. At best, he was a qualified noble.
However, even such a person would not be willing to see the diminishing control their office had towards the various nobles, or even the land under their jurisdiction being infiltrated by religion.
After Grand Duke Stan succeeded the throne, he made many changes and preventive measures.
Obviously, this sparked a little resistance from the nobility, with the religions adding fuel to the fire in the dark.
"The first generation Grand Duke Stan was actually also a noble of the Noether Kingdom and reaped benefits from the 'Reclamation Law' back then. Currently, it's also a huge problem for the Noether Kingdom to exercise their suzerainty."
Baron Shawshank rubbed his eyebrows.
In reality, examples of vassals rebelling against their lords were not considered rare in this world. There was also a considerable number of successes; they simply needed to achieve victory.
"If a war really starts, I'm afraid it'll be difficult to fight…"
Fang Yuan deeply pondered and directly made a judgement. "Who are our allies, and who are our enemies?"
"Good question!"
Baron Shawshank almost believed that the person sitting in front of him was not a newly promoted knight, but an experienced old fox. "Within the Noether kingdom, the royal family cannot invoke all of the powers. Some of the dukes even have good relations with Grand Duke Stan, which originated from their ancestors.
"As for the churches, we decided to rope in one batch and suppress another."
There were many Gods in this world, and many conflicts between them.
Between the churches, there were many dirty incidents happening in a bid to contend for 'Gods' Lamb'.
Although it had not escalated to a full-blown battle, there had been countless battles between their agents.
"So, the incumbent grand duke desperately requires power?" Fang Yuan nodded. "Such as… the previous Legend Knight Group."
"That was an accident!" Mentioning this, Baron Shawshank's facial expression slightly dimmed. "Before something happened to Jorah, I didn't even know that he was actually the safekeeper of Death Hands' inheritance."
"Alright!" Fang Yuan shrugged his shoulders and was too lazy to once more mention the inside stories. "With the current state of things, I've probably become a well-qualified royalist in the eyes of others. Should I count myself lucky to have not boarded a broken boat?"
"Of course!" Baron Shawshank unhestitantly nodded. "You will see our power. Furthermore, your growth is also completely beyond our imagination! If the grand duke knows about it, he'll definitely be elated.
"Since you've come, you can stay for a while. Next month, we're going to start a mission," Baron Shawshank said. "The grand duke is preparing to clean up a batch of tumors within the Duchy. I am in charge of this territory."
There was unconsciously already a biting cold tone in his words.
Fang Yuan nodded and directly agreed, "No problem."
During this time, sitting on the fence and being swayed by others was not a popular position at all. One had to stand on a side.
Both parties' attitudes and his beginning encounter had early on caused him to make his decision.
So, even though he knew that this mission was a proof of allegiance, he had to go.
"That's great!" Indeed, Baron Shawshank released a joyful smile. "With the addition of a high-level professional, I'm more confident with this mission."