There was a flash of surprise in Laurist's eyes. He did not expect this scrawny clown-like man to recover so quickly from his mental attack. He was even able to calmly carry out his duties as an emissary after being humiliated. It seemed like this Baron's willpower was very strong. This person was not simple.
Putting away his frivolous smile, Lorist straightened his body and said solemnly, "Welcome. As the head of the Norton Family, I, Norton Lorist, await your orders on behalf of the Norton Family, Duke."
Baron Camelot scrutinized Lollister cautiously. He did not dare to underestimate this young man in front of him anymore. Unlike all the other nobles he had come into contact with, this new head of the Norton Family was very polite, but he did not seem to be respectful to the Duke. On the contrary, be it his tone or demeanor, it was as if he treated the Duke as a noble of equal status. What he exuded was not that annoying arrogance, but a kind of confidence …
"Lord Norton, as the grand duke of the north, Duke Lujens wishes to ask why the second prince has placed all the nobles in the north under the jurisdiction of the grand duke for almost three years, but the Norton Family has not gone to see him. Is this against the morals of the nobles? Even after Baron Norton passed away, the new lord did not report to the grand duke or ask for permission. The duke has waited patiently for three years. He could not bear this humiliation, so he wishes to know if the Norton Family sees him as an enemy. " Baron Camora did not recognize Lorist as the lord. Without the duke's permission, he addressed Lorist as "Lord" instead of "Lord."
Lorist smiled calmly. "The Norton Family has never seen Duke Lujens and his family as enemies, and we also recognize the duke's jurisdiction over the north. Otherwise, the Norton Family would not have paid the taxes on time. However, the Norton Family does not see the duke as our superior lord. As everyone knows, the Norton Family has always been under the direct control of the royal family. May I ask, Lord Baron, when did Duke Lujens become a member of the royal family? "
"Didn't the second prince transfer the jurisdiction of all the lords in the north to the duke?" Baron Camora asked.
"Lord Baron, may I ask if the second prince can represent the royal family of the Crimson Empire? All the nobles knew that the Third Prince of the Andinac Kingdom was the rightful heir of the Crisen Empire. What right does the second prince have to transfer the ownership of the Norton Family to the Duke? It's as funny as your neighbor trying to sell your house. Of course, if Duke Lujins obtains the approval of the Third Prince and officially transfers the ownership of the Norton Family to the Duke, then I will immediately meet with the Duke. As for now, as you said, I am the new lord and am very busy, so I can only visit the Duke when I have time. "Lollister said.
"Uh …" Baron Camelot did not expect Laurist's reply to be like this. Furthermore, it was reasonable. "So, the Norton Family is determined to go against the duke?"
"Whether we go against the Duke or not is up to the Duke to decide for himself. If he thinks that what I said is reasonable, he should discuss with the third prince about the ownership of the Norton family. If he thinks that the Norton Family is going against him, then he can do whatever he wants. He can even send his Northland Army to attack us. Although the Norton Family is weak compared to the Duke's army, we are the roaring bears of the Northland Army. We can still knock out a few of the Duke's teeth and cause both sides to suffer. "Lollister did not care about Baron Camelot's threat.
It seemed that there was going to be some wrangling over the ownership of the Norton Family. The Norton Family was different from other nobles. They really did not care about the threat of the Duke's powerful Northland Army. Baron Camelot could not think of anything else and decided to skip this topic. The purpose of this trip was not whether the Norton Family would meet with the Duke or not, but the 100,000 gold coins.
"Lord Norton, I think we should put aside this dispute for now. I will report the Norton Family's reply to the Duke. As for the Duke's decision, we can only wait and see," Baron Camelot said. "Can we discuss the other two matters?"
"Of course. Please sit. I am listening." Since it was a discussion, there was no need to be so formal. Lollister warmly invited Baron Camelot to take a seat.
After the short exchange of words, Laurist couldn't help but look at this skinny man in a different light. Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, and that he couldn't use threats to force the Norton Family to lower their heads, this skinny man was able to immediately change the topic without any hesitation. He was really decisive.
"First, I hope that you will not spread the news. The Duke does not want the second prince to find out about this. Because the second prince has been trying to stop the Duke from building the Northland Army, he has set up many obstacles. Therefore, the Duke secretly gathered a sum of money and entrusted it to the Kenneth Family to buy a batch of military supplies for him. However, he did not expect Viscount Kenneth to store the money in the Red River Valley Manor Castle. In the end, because of the war between the Norton Family and the Kenneth Family, you burned the Red River Valley Manor Castle, and the money fell into your hands. The Duke hopes that you can return the money to him and express your sincere gratitude to the Norton Family. "
"The money is a hundred thousand gold coins, and it is stored in five large metal boxes." Baron Camelot very sincerely told the lie he had made up. The Norton Family's strength seemed to be beyond the Duke's and his expectations. It seemed that the direct methods of coercion and coercion were useless. He could only try to take a roundabout route.
Lollister really wanted to cheer for Baron Camelot. What a talent, to be able to weave a lie so smoothly that people who did not know the truth would easily believe it. He even knew that the hundred thousand gold coins were stored in five metal boxes. Didn't that mean that the money belonged to the Duke? Unfortunately, the Duke did not expect Butler Boris to side with him. He knew everyone in the Red River Valley Manor Castle. The trusted aide of Viscount Kenneth Kenneth, who had been guarding the money in the Red River Valley Manor Castle, had already been identified. Fifty lashes was enough to make him confess where the money came from.
Duke Lujens had gotten this information from somewhere. It seemed that the hundred thousand gold coins had made the Duke's eyes red, and he had immediately extended his greedy claws. He had even sent such a strong armed force. It seemed that he was planning to use force instead of diplomacy. Unfortunately, he had underestimated the Norton Family's strength. Now he was in a difficult position.
Lollister looked at Baron Camelot with a smile that was not a smile. His expression was one of making up lies for me to hear.
Baron Camelot blushed a little unnaturally as he was stared at. He asked carefully, "Sir Norton, what do you think about this …"
Lollister hummed a few times. "Let's put this matter aside for now. What is the other matter? What does the Duke want to discuss with us? "
"Oh, it's like this. Due to the effects of the war a few years ago, the Duke's Mansion is very run-down. In addition, the defenses of the capital, Gildusk City, have not been repaired for many years, and cracks have appeared on the city walls. The Duke is limited by the lack of funds, and is unable to repair and tidy it up. I heard that the Norton Family won the war against the Kenneth Family, and obtained a large amount of construction materials from the Kenneth Family. So the Duke hopes to get half of the construction materials for the Duke's Mansion and the reconstruction project … "Baron Camelot took it upon himself to reduce the amount from two-thirds to half.
"That's it?"
"That's it." Baron Camelot nodded.
"Haha, just these two requests?" Lollister asked with a smile.
Baron Camelot nodded again. "Yes, just these two requests."
"I haven't said yet, I also have a request …" Beside him, Tabick was very angry that Lollister had ignored his existence, and deliberately interrupted the conversation between Baron Camelot and Lollister.
Lollister looked at this Gold-ranked knight in surprise. "Then, esteemed Sir Knight, what request do you have? Please tell me …"
"I see that you have a lot of metal armor in your family. Even the ordinary soldiers are wearing metal armor. Our Northland Army has more than 20,000 people, but we don't even have a hundred sets. So I request that you take off your armor and let me bring it back … "
Tabick had always looked down on Baron Camelot. He could not understand why the Duke would confer the title of baron to this clown, even if he was just a baron of the palace and had no land. This time, Tabick was very unwilling to go to the Norton Family as an envoy. Firstly, he felt that it was very shameful to accompany this clown baron. Didn't this clown just embarrass himself? He even pretended that nothing had happened and chatted with the head of the Norton Family. Secondly, he thought that any random person in the Norton Family would have to listen to his orders. With the Northland Army around, Tabick did not believe that there would be any lord in the North who would dare to disobey the Duke's orders.
It was only when the lightning-fast green arrow nailed his mount to the ground in front of the Rock Castle that he realized that there was a Gold-ranked sharpshooter in the Norton Family that he could not afford to offend. So he restrained his temper and was very well-behaved. Even when he was flirting with the female Silver-ranked knight of the Norton Family, he had been paying attention to the movements of the Gold-ranked sharpshooter. When he heard that soft snort, he stopped.
No one was a fool. Otherwise, Tabick would not have been promoted to Gold-ranked. However, when the head of the Norton Family entered, he realized that the situation had taken a turn for the better. First, the Gold-ranked sharpshooter had actually let go of his guard against him. He was completely relaxed and looked up at the ceiling in a daze. Secondly, the head of the Norton Family was sitting right in front of him, within arm's reach. Tabick carefully observed and sensed that the kid in front of him was not even a Silver-ranked. Otherwise, the combat energy circulating in his blood would not be enough to fill a Gold-ranked knight's. At most, this kid would be an Iron-ranked.
Tabick had long become impatient with Baron Camorra and Laurist's friendly discussion. Since when did the duke's messenger speak to someone on equal footing? Didn't they always use a commanding tone? Even if the Norton Family had a Gold-ranked sharpshooter, what could he do against the Northland Army? Even a mouthful of phlegm from each of them would be enough to drown him.
Previously, Tabick had been well-behaved because he was afraid that he would be unlucky. If the sharpshooter challenged him to a duel, he would be in deep trouble. Not to mention that he knew that he was no match for the sharpshooter, even if the sharpshooter did not hurt him, it would still be very embarrassing if he were to beat him up. Tabick did not want to become a joke with that clown when he returned to the Northland Army …
However, this was a heaven-sent opportunity. That kid from the Norton Family did not know his place and was sitting right in front of him. As long as he could take him down, the Norton Family would have no choice but to surrender. Even the Gold-ranked sharpshooter would not be able to do anything to him, unless he did not want his lord anymore. But was that even possible? There were also twenty Silver-tier Knights that he had brought with him. When the time came, he would be able to control the people in charge of the Norton Family. Then, he would open the gates of the castle and let the two hundred soldiers of the Northland Army in.
As long as he could take down the young man in charge of the Norton Family, all of the duke's requests would be fulfilled. The biggest contributor to this mission would be him, and the clown beside him would become a big joke. Perhaps the duke would strip him of his title in a fit of anger, and turn him back into a lowly commoner. And perhaps, because of his contribution this time, the duke would confer him a land and a title. Then, he would become a noble of a territory …
Tabick's imagination was very optimistic, but he was a cautious person. He had been observing the movements around him. However, he soon relaxed. The Gold-ranked sharpshooter seemed to have fallen asleep. He could not understand how he could sleep so peacefully in such a situation. The two guards of the kid in front of him were obviously not thinking about this either. They were whispering to each other. Now, all he needed was an excuse to attack.
It was not that Tabick did not think of launching a sudden attack, but it would be too ungentlemanly. After all, he was a Gold-ranked knight. If he were to rely on a sneak attack to deal with a Steel-ranked knight, even if he succeeded, he would be criticized by the nobles for not having a sense of honor as a knight, and this shame would follow him for the rest of his life. The best outcome would be for the kid in front of him to fall out with him. Then, he would attack first, and then take him down. That would be perfect.
That was what Tabick thought and did. So, he made a request that was absolutely unacceptable to Lollister.
When Baron Camorra heard Tabick's request, his heart sank. It was as if a bowstring had broken. He knew that he was in trouble, and that he would not be able to achieve his goal this time.
As expected, Lollister laughed coldly, and the more he laughed, the colder his voice became …
"What are you laughing at?" Tabick asked, annoyed.
"Do you see that door?" Lollister said, pointing at the entrance of the dining hall.
"What are you doing?"
"Turn right out of the door, and you will reach the castle gate …"
"What do you mean?"
"Are you stupid? Don't you understand that I'm telling you to get lost? I really don't understand how such a pig brain could be promoted to a Gold-ranked knight. Maybe this is what they call a fool's luck, "Lollister said.
Even though Tabick had the intention to cause trouble, he almost fainted because of Lollister. This kid's words were too sharp and unkind. Were these even human words? As a Gold-ranked knight, no one had ever humiliated him so rudely.
"You have to pay the price for what you said …" Tabick said eerily. He slammed his palm on the long table, splitting it in half. The bowls, bowls, cups, and wine barrels on the table flew everywhere. Tabick opened his arms wide and pounced at Lollister …
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