"Drive, drive!"
The messenger wearing the robe of the ducal family quickly moved northward in the forest. His destination was the village of Esbai on the northeastern border of the earldom of Loon.
"Stop, who are you and what do you want to do?"
When the messenger arrived at the entrance of Esbai Village, a horse blocked his way. Next to the horse stood two Foldburg soldiers holding torches and holding Viking swords. Their faces were full of words. alert.
"Move the horse away quickly, I have a letter from the Duke to Sir Simon." The messenger pointed to one of the soldiers impatiently and said.
"What Duke, the Duke of Flanders or the Duke of East Frisia?" One of the soldiers scratched his head in confusion. He didn't know which Duke Sir Simon was related to.
"Amadeus, Duke of Cologne."
"What, Count Berg has become the Duke of Cologne now!?" The two soldiers were surprised and quickly pulled away from their horses, looking at each other in confusion as the messengers left.
"Da da, da da, da da..."
Listening to the sound of horse hooves getting closer and closer outside the door, Simon stopped talking with the fat man, hung the sword beside the chair on his waist with some doubts, held the hilt of the sword and looked towards the main entrance of the tower.
"Sir Simon, the messenger of the Duke of Cologne has arrived!"
There was a loud call from a soldier standing guard outside the door, which made Simon confused for a moment. Who is the Duke of Cologne? Why have I never heard of him? Why did he send people to find him?
However, when the messenger entered the door and saw the coat of arms of the Earl of Berg on the chest of this dusty guy, Simon suddenly understood.
"Hello, distinguished Lord Simon, I bring you greetings on behalf of Lord Amadeus, Duke of Cologne." The messenger bowed slightly and took out a roll of letters sealed with fire paint from an old cowhide bag. , "In the meantime, I would like to forward this letter to you."
"Thank you, are you calling?" Simon said, letting go of the hilt of the sword and winking at the fat man next to him.
"My name is Tommy, Sir." After the messenger finished speaking, he handed the letter to the fat man who stepped forward.
"Thank you Tommy, and please bring my regards to the Duke of Cologne when you see him again." Simon took the letter from the fat man and sat up straight, "Fat man, take Tommy to rest."
"Okay, Master." The fat man nodded and led Tommy towards the tower door. Tonight he would sleep with the grooms.
Simon's eyes returned to the letter. He checked the coat of arms on the paint, then he confidently picked up the knife on the table and opened the seal, then spread the letter on the table and smoothed it out.
"It's uncomfortable." Seeing the familiar letters combined into unfamiliar words, Simon once again became determined to learn Latin well.
Latin was still obscure to Simon.
Fortunately, under Ryan's guidance a while ago, Simon studied Latin for a period of time and memorized some common words that appeared more frequently in letters.
"Simon, this is my name. The long list of words in front of it should be modifiers such as dear and loyal."
Simon's fingers traced down the first line of the letter, and he seemed to have found the feeling he had when doing difficult English reading as a student in his previous life.
"I...give...to...you...the title of Baron of Foldburg...to...you...the village of Esbai...your lord...Amadeus, Duke of Cologne."
After reading the letter piecemeal, Simon stood up from his seat, his face full of joy.
Now that he has become a baron, he will never have to look at Lange again. Now just thinking about Lange's sinister eyes from time to time makes Simon feel uncomfortable.
In addition, the letter was signed by the Duke of Cologne instead of Lange, which meant that his monarch had changed. Lange can no longer dictate to himself. Even if he comes to the point of using force, he has to think carefully.
"I will send people across the river tomorrow to invite Ryan, Arthur, and Matilda to Esbai Village. I will hold a grand banquet and declare my legal rule over Esbai Village."
………………………
When Simon was immersed in joy, in the quiet night, the tavern in Esbai Village was still lit with lights.
Under the light of the wall-mounted torches, three men were sitting on a bench outside the tavern, drinking from wooden cups.
If what they drank was wine, Miller, who had a drink in the pub this afternoon, was definitely the first to disagree. According to his original words: the wine here is over-fermented and is almost more sour than vinegar.
But people here seem to like it.
"Tila, come here quickly and give me another glass of wine!"
The village chief Duden raised the wooden cup in his hand, slapped the table and shouted towards the tavern. His green fur-edged tunic, which was still clean during the day, was now soaked with wine, and he drank without thinking about anything else.
The woman called Tiela came out of the tavern in a dirty apron and holding a wine can.
She looked to be forty years old, but the villagers knew she had been beautiful before. Since she married the tavern owner Herta, her figure has begun to gain weight, and her face, which was originally cute with freckles, has become more powerful.
"Dudden, sooner or later you will drink yourself to death, but as long as you give me money, I will still be happy to provide you with delicious drinks." Tila frowned and slapped the wine can on the wood. on the table. There was a sound of wine shaking from the jar that stirred Duden's heartstrings.
"Damn it, do I look like such a stingy person? Here, take it quickly and pour me a drink!" Duden understood what Tina meant. He patted the withered money bag around his waist, but suddenly reached out his hand. From his waist, nephew Adam took out a copper coin from his money bag and slapped it on the table.
"As you wish," Tila grabbed the copper coin with her fleshy hand, put it in the pocket of her apron, filled Duden's glass of wine, and then turned back to the tavern, "Stingy little one."
"Adam, don't look like this. As your uncle, haven't I made enough money with you over the years?" Duden noticed Adam's helpless expression next to him, so as he spoke, he stretched out his oil Zizi's hand rubbed Adam's hair.
"Duden," the silent man sitting opposite Duden interrupted Duden's movements and tapped the table with his knuckles, "can we almost talk about business?"
"Of course, Cliff," Duden let go of Adam's hair and sat up straight, "Actually, you can speak at any time, I'm listening."
"Fart, if I hadn't bought you the first glass of wine to cheer you up, you would have just salivated over the drink and kept trying to deal with me." Cliff thought to himself. Everyone knows that if you want to ask Duden to help with something, you must first open his mouth with a glass of wine from the Stump Tavern.
Cliff is the miller of the village of Esbay. His mill is on the Rhine River, a bit far from the village, but it is a good place to hide dirt and evil.
He wore an off-white turban and a relatively clean white tunic, but this did not mean that he was pure and flawless. On the contrary, the villagers thought that his heart was worse than that of a bakery oven. The furnace wall is even darker.
"So what do you want to see me for?" Village Chief Duden looked very satisfied as he took another sip of wine, and his face began to turn red.
"I need the pasture next to my mill, no matter what." Miller Cliff leaned closer to Duden and whispered.
"If I remember correctly, that land belongs to the sheepherder Theodore. Tell me what I can get from it." Duden burped, but he clearly realized that what he said next should not be louder, so He also lowered his voice and replied.
"Two Denier silver coins." Cliff said, looking around. After making sure there was no one else around, he sneakily put his hand into his bag and took it out. After a crisp crackling sound, , Duden felt two cold, hard coins being stuffed into his hand.
Cliff liked Duden, a straightforward person who never asked too many questions. He never asks you what you want something to be used for, he only cares about what he can get, which is good, everyone has their own secrets.
In fact, the seemingly confused Duden avoided a lot of trouble and even death because of this habit.
"Well..." Duden pursed his lips, lowered his head, and saw the two coins clearly under the moonlight and the flickering firelight next to him. They were two silver coins. "This matter is a bit tricky. Maybe next year You must give me two more lambs."
Cliff deliberately lowered his head and remained silent for a while, then replied with a pained look on his face: "No problem."
He knew that answering Duden too quickly would only arouse his greed, and the final result would be that he would be forced to continue to put chips on the table to satisfy him.
"Well, I will help you. But you have to know that the sheep and cattle raised by Theodore belong to the lord."
"Of course I know. Isn't there a lord in the village now? This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me!" Cliff opened his eyes and said excitedly.
"Okay, I'll figure it out. When I have an idea, I'll ask Adam to find you." Duden, who seemed to be drunk, suddenly had a shrewd and cruel look in his eyes, but after drinking, he became The dull Cliff didn't notice anything.
"Thank you very much." Cliff drank all the wine in the wooden cup in one gulp, stood up like a proud champion and walked towards the mill outside the village in the moonlight.
Duden also drank all the wine, put the wooden cup on the corner of the table, and lay on the table to think.
He thought that now that spring was coming, Theodore had begun to drive the cattle and sheep from the family pen to the barn in the pasture. Maybe he could create an accident and kill a few sheep and cattle belonging to the lord, so that Theodore would lose the qualification to help the lord raise livestock, and then let the miller Coliff take over the position, and by the way, he could also eat "death to death" Unexpected” beef and lamb.
This really killed two birds with one stone, and Duden could hardly help but praise himself.
"Dudden, do you want another drink?"
The sudden female voice startled Duden, who was immersed in his own calculations. When his mind returned to reality, he quickly turned his head, and it turned out to be Tina. The fat woman was leaning against the door frame of the tavern, holding a wine can, looking at him questioningly.
Duden glanced at Adam. The big man actually protected his wallet like a little girl and took a step back, staring into Duden's eyes and shaking his head. Duden grinned angrily and cursed: "Why do I have such a stingy nephew like you?"
"So, do you want it or not?" Tina shook the wine can.
"No, I won't drink with my own money, never." Duden stood up from the bench and patted Adam on the shoulder, "Let's go, Adam, let's go visit poor widow Su Stop it."
"With pleasure, my uncle." Adam smiled intriguingly and rolled up his sleeves.
