Villard was a middle-aged man in his fifties. His body was very strong and he had a thick beard. His hair was already white, and he seemed a little dispirited because of the argument with the druid. When he saw Laing, he stood up and said, "You must be Laing! I've seen you before! Baldy Norman really has a good son. "
"You flatter me, Mr. Villard." Laing expressed his modesty. Villard's gaze quickly turned to Teresa. "What a charming lady. May I know your name?"
"Teresa, Teresa Trovic, from the Garland Council," Laing introduced.
"I see. Nice to meet you." As Laing expected, Villard's attitude became a lot colder when he heard about the Garland Council. The sorceress' attitude was neither cold nor warm. She simply replied with a polite greeting, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Villard."
"Please, sit down." Villard gestured for the two to sit down. Seeing Laing made him feel a lot better. "It's been a long time, Laing. The last time I saw you was when you were made a knight of the kingdom, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Villard came to see my coronation ceremony. I remember that." Laing nodded. Villard was also a knight who was promoted to a lord. He had been active on the frontlines for twenty or thirty years. Laing respected a veteran like him.
"Time flies. A few years have passed, and you've grown into a great knight. So, what business do you have with me?" Villard asked casually. The lord took out a bottle of wine and three glasses from his cabinet. He opened them and filled them up. "Have a taste. This is wine from the south of the Empire."
Teresa was not used to it. Villard's behavior was a little too direct. She hadn't even said that she wanted to drink, and the Lord had already pulled out the cork.
Seeing this, Laing gently patted the sorceress's hand, indicating that when in Rome, do as the Romans do. Then, he told Villard about Bernt and told him that they were chasing after the Fallen Hunter.
"I see." Hearing that a powerful Fallen Hunter had come to his territory and took the opportunity to escape, Laing furrowed his brows and explained, "As the lord, in order to protect the safety of my people, I have to ban the sea for a period of time. As for the issue of going out to sea, I'm sure you understand, Laing. The ownership of the ships in the port is in the hands of the ship owner, but the captain can choose to work. I can't control this."
In other words, it was none of his business.
"I know that. What I want to ask is, can you allow me to interrogate the guards and dock sailors in detail? Also, can you help me contact the owner of the ship that took Bernt out to sea? " Of course, Laing knew that Villard would not be willing to take this responsibility. What he wanted was to get permission from the Lord to investigate.
"Is that so … Lauritz? Lauritz? " Villard hesitated for a moment. After seeing Laing's serious look, he shouted to the outside.
A soldier wearing a full set of mail armor, a standard longsword, a kite shield, and a conical helmet ran in. "Sir, what's the matter?"
"This is my guard officer, Lauritz. Laing, whatever you want to investigate, Lauritz will assist you. Lauritz, this is the famous kingdom knight, Mr. Laing. You have to assist him in the investigation." Villard ordered.
"Yes!"
"Good, you're dismissed. Laing, whatever you want to investigate, just look for him. I won't be participating." Dungeon Lord Sherlock made an exception for Laing, but he didn't give Laing the authority to investigate. Teresa said, "Mr. Villard, don't you intend to do something about this matter?"
"Hahaha, what can I do? Beautiful Miss Trovic, I'm old. When I attended Laing's knighthood ceremony, I could hunt bears in the deep mountains alone. A few years have passed. This year, I went to hunt bears in the deep mountains again, but I didn't find any bears. My body couldn't take it anymore. I came back to rest for a few days before I recovered. So, I'll leave this matter to you young people. " Villard laughed heartily and looked younger. "Of course, if those Orcs and green-skinned scums dare to invade my territory, I'll personally beat their butts."
"Mr. Villard, you're in the prime of your life. How can you say that you're old? We'll settle our own matters. It's good that you're helping us. " Laing came out to mediate and put an end to the topic. He knew that Villard was right.
A normal human's body started to deteriorate at the age of 30 and at the age of 45. Advancement had to be done as early as possible. It was the best time to advance to the Legendary Stage before the age of 30. After 45, it was impossible to advance to the Legendary Stage.
Villard's strength was at the peak of Elite, so his decline was slower than that of ordinary people. A Lord in his fifties was indeed at an age where he was gradually getting old. The feeling of his powerful strength slowly leaving him was really uncomfortable.
Only those like Laing or Teresa who advanced to the Legendary Stage would have their lifespan and physique greatly improved. A normal Legendary Stage expert had a lifespan of more than 150 years. They would only start to deteriorate after 100 years and enter old age after 130 years.
Teresa's mother, Aurora Trovic, had dominated the continent 50 to 60 years ago. When Laing saw her a few days ago, she still looked like a beautiful woman in her thirties.
Villard obviously wanted to chat with Laing more. "Laing, you're 24 or 25 years old this year, right? Haven't you considered marriage? Do you want me to introduce you to a Dungeon Lord's daughter? Don't worry, she'll definitely be beautiful. "
Hearing this topic, Teresa's interest was piqued. She pushed her black-rimmed glasses with purple butterfly patterns and wanted to hear Laing's answer.
"I still have a long time. I don't want to think about these things now. I think it's better to let nature take its course." Laing didn't agree.
"That's true. Laing, your advancement speed is too fast. If you rashly get married now, it might be harmful to you." Villard smiled proudly and looked at the beautiful sorceress meaningfully. He didn't say anything else.
"Why don't you two walk around the city? I've already arranged a banquet. Please come here tonight." After chatting for a while, Villard said that he still had things to do and invited the two to the banquet.
The two left the Dungeon Lord's longhouse. Laing noticed Teresa's hesitant look. "What do you want to say?"
"Maybe the nobles in these places aren't as bad as I thought." Teresa chuckled, showing her mature charm. "In my impression, the nobles in those places are always drunk. They only get up at noon every day and hide behind the high walls. They don't know how to do anything other than holding banquets and collecting taxes. All their wealth is handed over to their stewards. The smart stewards can always spend a few years turning the nobles' money into their own. Whenever there's a battle, these nobles are always the first to run away. But when there's benefits, they're the first to appear."
"Only the nobles who live in the capital and hold important positions would have some ability," Sui Xiong said.
"But after seeing Mister Villard today, I realized that's not the case. Even though he's old, he's still an excellent warrior, isn't he?" Teresa walked next to Laing, her black suede high-heeled boots making clicking sounds as she walked.
"You're right, but not completely right, Teresa. Your thoughts might still be stuck in the old Empire." Laing gestured for us to walk around while holding his warhammer. "The new Empire's laws state that when their superiors need to fight, all nobles must respond with troops according to the size of their territory. Those who don't respond will be severely punished."
"Moreover, under the new laws, if a lord is unable to defend his territory before reinforcements arrive, it means that he has lost the right to own his territory. Whether or not he can continue to own his territory depends on the decision of the parliament."
"In the past, the feudal system mainly depended on bloodline. As long as a spoiled piece of trash had a noble bloodline, he or she could inherit a decent piece of land. But after His Majesty Ludwig's reforms, the feudal system now depends on military merits. Only those who have achieved military merits on the battlefield are qualified to be given a piece of land. That's why most lords have been on the battlefield, and those who have are naturally not considered trash."
The two of them strolled along the streets. The weather was good today, and the residents came out to play. A few naughty children were having a snowball fight, while the adults took advantage of the sunny weather to do their jobs and wash their clothes. There were quite a few people dressed as mercenaries on the streets. Laing noticed that they had a black dagger drawn on a piece of black cloth wrapped around their arms.
"That looks like the symbol of the Grey Blade Mercenaries. Are they here as well? It seems that there are quite a few caravans here. " Laing said to Teresa. "The leader of the Grey Blade Mercenaries, Bill, is an elite rogue who has advanced to become a dagger master. He likes to use a gray dagger. It's said that he once successfully assassinated a high elf, but I don't know if it's true."
Teresa frowned but didn't say anything. From a mage's point of view, she naturally hated rogues who liked to ambush people. Many strong people didn't die in a direct confrontation, but rather a simple backstab.
A group of people gathered together, and I don't know what they were doing. Laing's interest was piqued. "Shall we go and take a look?"
"Not interested." The female sorceress didn't like to join in the fun. She hated to be crowded with a group of stinky men.
"Okay." Laing saw that Teresa didn't want to go, so he took her to avoid the group of people. It seemed that the group of mercenaries had a dispute with the merchant's guards because of the payment. This kind of thing was common. The crowd blocked the road. Laing reached out and held Teresa's hand. The two squeezed through the crowd. After crossing two streets, they found a small shop and sat down. It was a small restaurant that sold some food. Laing ordered a roasted pork chop, two bowls of rice porridge, and a pot of stew. They bought a simple lunch for about ten copper coins.
The female sorceress picked up her bowl and looked at the stew in it. She hesitated for a long time and then put down the bowl. "Why did we choose to have lunch here? Isn't it better to go back to the Butter Beer Inn? "
"We're not out to play, Teresa." Laing said in a low voice, "We still don't know what happened to Bernt. We can't be sure if he really went to Marlin Castle. What if it's a trick? What if Bale was just making a feint, and then found a place to hide, waiting for us to recklessly go out to sea? You know, there aren't many legendary masters in the Kingdom of Nords. Without you and me, and without considering Skydome Castle, there are only twenty or thirty legendary masters in Nords. Many of them can't be moved, especially when the northern barbarians are gathering on a large scale. "
Teresa also became serious when talking about the Fallen Hunters. "You mean, Bernt might not have left Nords?"
"It seems that we don't know yet. Maybe he left, maybe he didn't. But this is not a reason for us to relax. If we can confirm that he has left and can't go out to sea for a short time, I can cook a feast for you. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Oh? So you're giving me an order? I don't need you to tell me what to do, my dear Laing. I know my priorities. " The sorceress raised her head, her eyes full of provocation. "Or do you think you're my superior?"
"You want to see who's better? I'm always up for it. "Laing looked at the sorceress's defiant face in amusement.
"Tsk, let's compete … Ugh! Let me go! " As soon as she finished speaking, the sorceress's wrists were pressed to the table by the knight's hands. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free from the shackles that were as hard as steel. After five minutes of struggle, her whole face turned red. The sorceress murmured, "Don't you know how to be gentler to a lady? You call yourself a gentleman. "
"Of course I'm a gentleman. Please, beautiful lady. After lunch, let's go to the docks and have a look." Laing finally let her go.
Sometimes it's quite fun to bully mature ladies like her, Laing thought with a wicked sense of humor.
Lunch was only a small interlude. At the end of the interlude, an uninvited guest suddenly appeared in front of them.
This uninvited guest was very handsome, with long, silky hair and slightly pointed ears. In the eyes of Humans, he looked like an Elf. However, Laing had seen a real Elf, so he knew that in the eyes of an Elf, he looked like a Human.
This was a Half-Elf.
It was the Half-Elf that they met at the city gate.
"You're 'Big Hammer' Laing? Hello, let me introduce myself. I'm Astaire from St. Lorenzo Forest. Do you remember five years ago, you participated in the encirclement of the Orc War Gang by the Ovle River? " The Half-Elf noticed that Laing's hand was on his War Hammer, so he expressed that he meant no harm. However, his tone was arrogant.
Leon rolled his eyes and remembered that he had indeed participated in that battle. "Yes, I do remember that a group of half-elven rangers joined Nord's team and contributed a lot in that battle. May I know what business you have with us?"
"Can we talk outside?"
"Let's talk here."
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