Chapter 11 Cunning is a virtue
Apart from this exquisite statue of the goddess, the House of Nobles does look no different from the noble private residence next to it...
There wasn't even a stable outside the door.
Leon tied Alice to the stone horse post at the door himself and stepped onto the steps. A young servant guarding the door with a sword across his body glanced at Leon, walked up slowly, and gave him a polite but unenthusiastic smile: "Sir, this is the House of Nobles."
Generally speaking, those who come to a place like the House of Nobles alone are either poor nobles or those who come to seek favors from their relatives. So that smile seems quite perfunctory.
"Leon Griffin, I'm here to register my fiefdom."
Leon pulled out a wax-sealed scroll from his dirty saddle bag, thought about it, put it back, and took out a crumpled parchment and handed it over.
The servant seemed a little surprised. He raised his eyebrows and took the parchment. While reading the parchment, he glanced at Leon again.
"Please follow me, Lord Leon."
After returning the parchment to Leon, the servant's smile seemed a little more sincere, but there was clearly a hint of doubt in his eyes.
Those who can serve as attendants at the gate of the House of Nobles are usually well-trained knight attendants who are qualified to carry swallowtail flags.
In fact, they are all young masters of noble families - most of them are illegitimate sons or side branches who cannot inherit the family business, and they are here to learn a course called "humility".
So, in most cases, they would only have that faint polite smile on their faces.
However, this kind of humility is only directed towards other nobles.
Of course, it also includes pioneer lords - those who dare to register as pioneer lords are either the nephews of great nobles, or tycoons with strong armies , and they are usually very powerful guys.
But it is very rare to see a guy like Leon who comes alone, looks neither rich nor noble, but intends to register as a pioneer lord - either he is an arrogant person who is tired of living and plans to die in the wilderness, or he comes from a powerful family but pretends to be low-key.
No matter which one, in the eyes of these guards, they are people who should be "don't offend and have as little contact with as possible".
The servant led Leon to the second floor of the House of Nobles and knocked on a wooden door carved with intricate patterns.
A calm voice came from inside the door, "Come in!"
The attendant pushed open the door, leaned forward politely, and gestured with his hand, "Sir, please come in."
This is a simple room. Apart from the tall bookshelf against the wall, there is only a mahogany desk and two armchairs placed facing each other.
Sitting on the chair facing the door was a thin old man with gray hair.
"Please take a seat, Your Excellency."
The old man didn't even raise his head, he was concentrating on pouring sealing wax on the seal of a parchment scroll.
Leon sat down quietly, placed the certificate with the Fierce Lion emblem on the table and waited.
I watched the old man take off the ring and use the ring face to print a double lion shield emblem on the sealing wax.
Seeing this, the guard outside the door also came in and took the parchment scroll with both hands: "Is this a reply, Lord Earl?"
"right."
The old man waved his hand to let the guard leave, put on the ring again, fiddled with the pioneer baron certificate on the table, but did not open it, and looked at Li Ang with interest.
"I am Oden. Young man, are you planning to become a pioneer lord?"
Li Ang was stunned.
Oden...
He had heard of this name - in fact, it was one of the few noble names that Leon could clearly remember.
Earl Oden Fletcher rose to prominence as a pioneer lord thirty years ago from the Jatu Grasslands in the northeast of the kingdom.
He built the steep Brave Shield Castle on the edge of the Jatu Grassland, using it as a foundation to expand the territory of the Fierce Lion Kingdom by hundreds of miles, and blocked many attacks from the Jatu army and the Misty Mountain barbarians.
On one occasion, he even held off the siege of thousands of Jatu's troops with a solitary force of less than 500 people, achieving brilliant results.
It is precisely because of the existence of Brave Shield that the grassland people of Jatu are unable to enter the Kingdom of Sarleon on a large scale to plunder.
This has been the benchmark for all pioneering lords over the past thirty years.
His name is well-known even in the Mist City, thousands of miles away.
Li Ang originally thought that such a general should be fierce and strong, but he did not expect that he was so thin and had a kind face, even a bit benevolent.
But why would such a famous general become an administrator of the House of Lords?
"Young man, I was once an ambitious warrior like you, but opening up a new territory is actually very difficult... very difficult."
As if he saw the doubt in Leon's eyes, Oden smiled slightly: "I have experienced it and know the difficulties - of course, I have also received the due rewards. However, when a person gets old, there will always be some things that become different..."
"what do you mean……?"
Li Ang became even more confused, and he felt that something was not right.
Oden's smile deepened, and he crossed his hands on the table, staring at Li Ang with sharp eyes, and spoke directly: "The reply letter I just sent was to my son-in-law Leiman."
Lion Knight Rayman? The opponent in the Firdsvain final! He is Oden's son-in-law?!
Li Ang stood up in surprise.
"Please sit down, young man, and don't be so impatient...Lehman wrote to me about the unexpected situation you encountered. In fact, he admires your martial arts very much."
What does that mean? Li Ang felt even more uneasy.
"I wanted to establish a good relationship between Lehman and Duke Alma. This is related to his future. I think you understand. But Lehman and I are people who respect the rules. Since the result is like this, we will congratulate you. However..."
A "but"... made Li Ang's heart, which had just settled down, hang in the air again.
Oden gave a strange, mocking smile and continued, "But considering the Alma family's vengeful character, I think you might need a little extra help?"
As an excellent swordsman, Leon's observation skills are very good and are by no means inferior to the veteran in front of him.
He saw a hint of complicated emotions in Oden's strange smile just now.
"Do you have a conflict with the Duke of Alma?" Leon keenly sensed the hidden message in Oden's words.
Oden was stunned and stared at Leon.
After several seconds, he shook his head and sighed, "No wonder Leiman said you were a cunning guy... Yes! Alma and I have some disagreements. I'm sure you can see that I don't like staying here with the clerks... But Alma recommended me to the king, and it's hard for me to refuse the king's trust and invitation."
That's right. Unless the purpose is to scare people and recruit them to work for him, there is no need for Oden to say so much nonsense.
It seems that Oden, the famous general who was supposed to lead the army in battle, was hindered by Alma's administrative affairs in the House of Nobles.
"Thank you for your compliment. For a pioneer lord, cunning is a virtue. What can I do for you?"
Li Ang got straight to the point.
Oden also nodded, looking at Leon and exclaimed: "Cunning is indeed a virtue..."
"You have two choices... Become a pioneer lord and establish your own territory on the border, but it must be near the Changhe Forest. Or, become a knight under my command and garrison my Brave Shield Castle. In return, I will give you a village as a knight's territory."
Becoming a pioneer lord may have a brighter future, but everything has to start from scratch. Moreover, the Long River Forest is not far from the Brave Shield Castle, and the surrounding area is very dangerous... Oden probably wants to register his fief as the Long River Forest - no matter how he expands his territory outside the registered fief, it will not be recognized.
Becoming a knight under Oden was the lowest level of formal noble status, but it depended on how far Oden Fletcher's family could go. However, this would allow him to obtain the protection of Earl Oden and directly own a knighthood.
It's really a difficult option to choose.
