Simon changed into a very cleanly starched blue embellished tunic and put on a pair of red and white color-blocked leggings.
When Simon walked out of the lord's bedroom on the second floor, through the hollow wooden handrails in the corridor, he could see that the banquet hall on the first floor had already set up long trestle tables covered with white linen tablecloths.
Some of the servants that Simon brought from Verde Village were busy buying tableware. It could be seen that they were still a little unfamiliar with the new environment.
To be honest, Simon didn't dare to keep any of the servants left by the old lord - no matter how kind and honest they seemed and how much they needed this job to support their family.
It's not that Simon is ruthless, but no one can guarantee whether among these old servants there are spies left by the former lord to inform them, or assassins who want to take Simon's life at any time. Simon doesn't want to risk his life for this.
Simon walked steadily down the wooden stairs that creaked with every step. The floor of the hall on the first floor was now covered with fresh hay, and Simon had people clear away the feces accumulated on the wall, and then sprinkled them with flowers picked by the girls in the village on the back mountain to cover up the lingering odor that had been there for a long time. Get rid of the rancid smell.
"Sir Simon, Father James and the others are here!" The call from the guard at the door made Simon's eyes light up.
"Let them in quickly!" Simon smiled, clapped his hands, and sat on the fur-backed chair on the front step of the trestle table.
When Father James and his entourage entered the hall, the slightly deserted banquet hall suddenly became lively with only servants preparing tables, chairs and tableware.
"My dear Lord Simon, may God bless you," Father James walked up quickly and asked hurriedly, "I heard that you are now a baron?"
"That's right," Simon felt a sense of accomplishment arise in his heart, "Every inch of land you just walked through belongs to me."
"It's incredible," Father James said with emotion. "In my hometown in England, if a knight wants to become a princess or a squire, he basically has no chance unless he inherits it from his father. I Really proud of you, Your Excellency!”
Simon laughed heartily: "I met the opportunity and seized it. It's that simple."
“Wishing you continued good luck and God be with you!”
"Thank you for your blessing, Father. By the way, the priest of Esbai Parish is in the wooden church in the village. If you are interested, you can meet him."
"certainly."
After speaking, Father James exchanged greetings with Simon for a few more words, and then walked towards the door of the tower. Little Klein walked up, and Simon rubbed his fluffy golden curly hair: "Little Klein, how are you doing with your riding skills?"
"I practiced very well, my lord. I can already hit a target the size of a cabbage while riding a spur with a spear under my arm," said little Klein proudly. "Father James taught me some Latin, and the village chief taught me How I kept accounts, Uncle Bill taught me how to improve my archery accuracy...I’m sure there’s more I can learn.”
"Really?" Simon stood up, met the eyes of the village chief and Bill, and smiled, "I'm sorry to bother you."
"He is a smart child, and the priest, Bill, and I are very happy to teach him something." The village chief's eyes were full of smiles, and his plump apple muscles were bulging high.
"In the next period of time, maybe you can be Bill's assistant and follow him to exercise in the Deheis Forest for a period of time." Simon squeezed Klein's shoulder. He was no longer as skinny as last year.
"Dhis Forest?" Bill heard this name for the first time and couldn't help scratching his head in confusion.
"You'll know later." Simon smiled mysteriously.
…………………………
The dinner began.
Although there are currently no bards passing by in the territory, and the clown who lives near the village is ill and has not come, the banquet is still very lively.
In the center of the castle grounds, several large oak tables were pushed together, and wooden plates on the tables contained brown bread, turnips, cabbage, onion and pea puree, and some cheese.
() () The most popular dish - grilled offal - is placed in the center of the table. The villagers, who had rarely eaten meat in the past year, went crazy. Without any grace, they grabbed pieces of roasted animal livers and stuffed them into their mouths, chewing them with big mouthfuls.
In fact, two farmers who usually didn't deal with each other were fighting over a larger piece of pork liver. They fought from the table to the stable, covered in mud and horse manure, and danced on the side. The carnival villagers were amused and laughed loudly to cheer them on.
In the tower hall at this time, the canonization ceremony that made everyone excited had just begun.
Simon stood on the steps with an unsheathed sword in his hand, and the fat man knelt on one knee in front of him. Beside Simon, Father James and Father Hannes of Esbay Parish watched all this, while the village chief and little Klein held their breath nervously as the audience.
"In the name of bravery," Simon placed the sword on the fat man's right shoulder, "I order you to stand side by side with bravery."
The fat man's body was shaking slightly. This was a scene he had dreamed of countless times in his dreams. Finally, the day came. He was soon no longer an unknown knight's attendant, and half of his feet had already stepped into the threshold of the knight class.
"In the name of God," Simon raised his hand and put the sword over the fat man's head and placed it on his left shoulder, "I order you to defend justice to the death."
The fat man's eyes were filled with tears of excitement. His crystal blue eyes and the tears at the corners of his eyes reflected the light of the torches on the two walls.
"In the name of the Holy Mother," Simon put the sword on the fat man's right shoulder again, "It is no wonder that I order you to protect the weak."
Then Simon removed the sword from the fat man's shoulder. The fat man raised his head, his face full of excitement and anticipation.
Simon paused for a moment, thinking back to what his father Keother had done.
"Snapped!"
A crisp sound resounded through the entire banquet hall. Little Klein burst out laughing, but quickly covered his mouth again - the fat man was caught off guard and slapped by Simon.
Simon put his sword back into its scabbard with an understatement and said, "This is your oath, remember it firmly."
The fat man was a little confused and couldn't help but touch his red cheek. But he reacted immediately - Simon was also slapped by the Baron during the canonization ceremony, which was tradition. This slap in the face means that the knight must always remember his oath even under brutal blows.
Simon took a strong and high-quality armed sword from the servant's hands, and the fat man quickly stretched out his hands and took it carefully.
"You are knighted and given the Burningham Manor in the northern part of the barony. Get up."
"Huh!" Everyone clapped and cheered and congratulated the fat man.
Miller stepped forward and patted Fatty on the shoulder with a happy face: "Congratulations, Fatty, now you are Sir Hoffman! Hahaha!"
"Then why don't you show the respect you deserve for the Lord!" The fat man said with a deliberately straight face, and then he couldn't help it anymore, he laughed loudly along with him, and patted Miller on the shoulder.
"Sir Hoffman, there are three free peasant families and ten serf families in Burningham Manor." Village Chief Duden, who had ignored the fat man two days ago, greeted him flatteringly, "That is a wealthy land. ,you can……"
"I know." The fat man had never had a good impression of Chief Duden of Esbai Village, and he waved his hand, "You don't need to tell me, I know everything."
"Okay." Duden's hot face touched Leng's butt, feeling a little embarrassed and he retreated to the audience. He felt several mocking looks on him at once.
"The canonization ceremony is not over yet," Simon said loudly when he saw that little Klein could not wait to take his seat, "Next, Gabriel. Kneel down on one knee."
Gabriel was a little surprised.
As an illegitimate son with half aristocratic blood, he was once so destitute that he joined a mercenary group and fought across the European continent.
They are like sharks that smell blood. Wherever there is a war, they are there. In Gabriel's opinion, although his riding skills are superb, he will never have the chance to be a real knight in his life.
() () However, in view of the outstanding performance of the Verde cavalry under his command in this battle, Simon decided to give him this opportunity.
Gabriel was granted the meadow of Meiringen in the southern part of the barony.
There lived six families of serfs, four families of free farmers, and an old horse breeder. Pastor Hanns said that the pastures there have lush pastures and are very suitable for the development of livestock.
Simon asked Gabriel to train more excellent cavalry for him, and then handed him a beautiful knight's sword.
"Next, Bill. Get down on one knee."
"What? Me!?" Bill was stunned, his mouth opened wide.
If Fatty and Gabriel had just been knighted because they had noble blood, then now that he, who came from a humble background, could be knighted as a hunter and archer, this made him almost suffocated with excitement.
Bill tensed. In his opinion, his heart was beating faster than hunting an extremely dangerous wild boar in the forest that could lead to death if not careful.
Throughout the ceremony, Simon could feel Bill's trembling from the sword on his shoulder. This was not like the usual calm and calm Bill.
It seems that entering the aristocratic class is something that people like Simon who are born aristocrats have little feeling about, but for any ordinary civilian, it is the most important and significant turning point in their lives.
In fact, among the so-called aristocrats today, if we look back on their ancestors for several generations, who is not a commoner?
Bill was granted the title of Dihes Village, a small village located in the Dihes Forest. There is a small logging farm there, and Bill has to guard the forest for Simon, maintain the operation of the logging farm, supervise the revenue of the logging farm, and train more hunters and archers for Simon.
"I have a carpenter here from Brittany named Krieg. He can make longbows. When he has made the first batch of longbows, I will send someone to the village of Dihays."
"Thank you, sir," Bill licked his chapped lips and put the armed sword Simon gave him into his scabbard. "I promise that there will be no robbers or poachers inhabiting the Dehes Forest in the future. , your lumberyard will also continuously deliver wood to you.”
"Very good," Simon patted Bill's shoulder hard, "However, as a knight, you must practice riding skills well in the future. A knight who can't ride a horse will be laughed at!"
"Aha," Bill laughed amidst everyone's congratulations, "I will definitely become an outstanding knight."
After canonizing Bill, Simon's eyes scanned everyone's face. Some were really happy for their friend, some had jealousy in their eyes, and some were hiding a hint of loss. Finally, Simon's eyes were fixed on Miller.
"Miller, get down on one knee."
Miller, who had just been applauding and celebrating for Bill, seemed to be stared at by Medusa, frozen like a stone.
Simon thought that Miller had followed him since the founding of the militia and had become its captain through his courage. Based on his military exploits in several battles of Simon's Rise, despite his humble origins, he was canonized as a knight, and Simon believed that he was well-deserved.
"Kneel down on one knee." Simon's second reminder made Miller recover. He walked out of the audience's queue, came to the steps, and knelt down on one knee in front of Simon.
Unlike Bill, Miller's body was actually as motionless as a stone statue. In fact, Miller's mind is now blank.
In this way, Miller was granted the title of Monzerland in the southwest of the barony. According to the priest Hannes, there were six families of free farmers, eight families of serfs, and a large area of land that had been cultivated in the early spring.
I believe that Miller's canonization can inspire the soldiers of the militia and make them more brave in battle. After all, the last person who was so brave has now become a knight.
"Now, let's start the dinner and enjoy the delicious food!" Simon walked down the steps, picked up a silver wine glass containing red wine from the trestle table, and said to everyone, holding it high.
