As a newly promoted second-level squad leader, Griffith has an annual salary of 1,200 silver francs, which means he can receive 100 silver francs per month. As an Extraordinary Sequence 9, he can also receive a monthly allowance of 10 silver francs from the government. When he was on the battlefield, most of the monthly salary he received would be used to purchase and maintain his own personal equipment, and the rest could be used to buy expensive food and daily necessities in war zones where supplies were scarce. The severely damaged leather armor and the mail armor that had been repaired many times were his personal property that he had saved for a long time.
This was the main reason why Griffith left the Army with little money in his pocket.
From the day he left the legion, the kingdom stopped paying him any salary. He will receive his salary from Larmore House until the day he completes his studies and returns to serve his country.
If the kingdom needs to recruit him to the battlefield, the Larmore family will still have to pay his salary and provide equipment. However, Griffith himself could receive additional mission perks and rewards from the military.
The earl's butler is a thin, tall, very amiable man, about 50 years old. Wearing a crisp black tuxedo, he looked like a sculpture if he stood still. Beside him was a middle-aged man with a handsome appearance, looking at Griffith with critical eyes.
"Mr. Wood, what do you think of this young man?" The butler handed a single-sided crystal glasses to the middle-aged man, "He is the new cultivator Toral who passed the selection as I told you before."
The moment the middle-aged man put on the crystal lenses, Griffith felt an uncomfortable force begin to interfere with his inspiration. Before he could figure out what was going on, the strange feeling disappeared.
"Without strengthening, the physical strength is 12, the strength is 14, the agility is 12, the perception is 11, the spirit is 10, the ability is balanced, the blood is very heavy, and the resistance to magic is level 4, which is good for a newcomer," Wood took off the crystal lens. , said to the apprentice knight, "I am the Count's captain of the bodyguard and the commander of the Larmore family's army, the Grand Knight Wood Woods. If you continue to work hard and are not killed early on the battlefield, you will take my place in the future. .”
Why can my abilities be described by numbers? Griffith resisted the urge to look at the crystal lens curiously, and solemnly beat his chest in greeting to the Grand Knight: "Yes, Your Excellency, Grand Knight."
"Always remember your duty, apprentice knight," Lord Wood said, nodding to the butler and walking out of the room without looking back.
"Okay, let's get down to business. I am Ashford, the steward of Larmore House. The earl has informed me, Mr. Griffiths," said the black-clad steward, with no trace of elegance on Guard Captain Wood. Di took out a box from the cabinet, "One-fifth each of the gold coins and silver coins, and the rest are the Kingdom's Central Bank bills, what do you think?"
Most of the Goblin bounty obtained by the trainee knights is used to make fine clothes or spent on travel. He was now desperately poor, and did not understand the butler's words: "Bill? I'm sorry, sir, I don't know much about that."
"Money made of paper is equivalent to gold and silver. If you want to order a shirt next and go to decent restaurants and shops, the receipt will save you and the store some trouble," the butler said with a smile, "Bye The gentlemen of Yelland were not in the habit of going out with a big bag of tinkling pieces of metal, that was unseemly. The little green pieces of paper you see now are, well, very important in the life of the city."
Griffith took the bag of money and happily took out a stack of green bills. This kind of circulation certificate is very beautifully printed, with the fragrance of ink, and is printed with the crown and numbers of King Beyelan.
"You can see the anti-counterfeiting mark here if you shine it against the sun, an eagle flag. You should be very familiar with it," Ashford demonstrated to the trainee knight, and then looked at Griffith, who was full of joy and said, "Apprentice Mr. Knight, I suggest you spend this money as soon as possible, so that when everyone asks you why you are so happy, you answer that you just received three months' salary, which will give everyone another topic at dinner."
Griffith, who was holding a bag of money, quickly tightened the corners of his raised lips.
"Okay, follow the valet at the door to take your luggage to your room, and then tidy up yourself." Ashford waved towards the door, "You are a trainee knight and you want to have dinner with the Earl's family. You still have, Half an hour to prepare.”
This is the dinner Galadia asked me to prepare clothes for! Griffith immediately tightened his nerves. Since the elf valued it so much, there must be a reason for it.
…
7 p.m.
When Griffith came to the restaurant, he found that there was only a thin and pale young man sitting there. His short golden hair was neatly combed, and he was holding a cup of black tea in his hand. When he saw the trainee knight coming in, he stood up happily and said hello with a smile:
"Good evening, my name is Nolan de Lamore. You must be the new Xu Toral. Let's talk about the East later. I'm a little curious about the battle reports sent there."
Ah, the count's eldest son! Should I greet him first. Griffith reacted immediately and agreed to his request seriously.
Griffith hadn't introduced much before the owner and guests of the Earl's Palace arrived. The countess is a very beautiful and majestic blond woman. She is tall and elegant. When wearing high heels, she can almost be as tall as a tall apprentice knight. The countess greeted the dinner guests one by one, and just nodded to the new trainee knight.
The guests also included several scholars, parliamentarians and well-known wealthy businessmen. They were guests at tonight's small dinner party, and sat in their respective seats with a natural attitude.
The long dining table is covered with a crisp white tablecloth. The exquisite porcelain and silver candlesticks are illuminated, and in front of each guest are crystal-clear and tempting aperitifs and many different styles of knives and forks.
Trouble... Griffith realized that he had not received similar teaching. He didn't even know which spoon to use to drink soup.
Several servants stood nearby like stone statues. Griffith's inspiration was slightly touched, and he could feel the unnoticeable eyes looking at him from behind, with a bit of criticality and a smile.
What are they looking at me doing...why not serve food?
After everyone was seated, a girl hurriedly walked into the restaurant and came to the seat opposite the trainee knight. Her hair is as beautiful as the morning sun, and her delicate long skirt outlines her soft and slender figure. The girl looked to be only sixteen years old, her eyes sparkling like sapphires, and she looked at the trainee knight wearing a black coat with red stripes in surprise.
A black, slim-fitting coat with no church markings... Is this person planning to capture a random person in my house for a duel? The girl was very curious about this new young man. Griffith's tall figure and fairly upright appearance further encouraged her curiosity.
"Good evening, Miss Sonia." Several guests present greeted the Earl's daughter who was late.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen." Sonia lifted her skirt elegantly and greeted everyone with a delicate smile.
Compared to the familiar guests, Sony was now more concerned about who the strange boy sitting opposite him was. A glance before she sat down was enough to give her a lot of information.
"The clothes are new but not new. The workmanship is good. Well, I probably just bought them for today's dinner. Why is there no family crest on them?
"His movements were a bit stiff and reserved, and his eyes seemed to be looking at the tableware, maybe thinking about which spoon to use to drink the soup! The black hair and the cold temperament go well together.
"The blue ribbon. Father's guests never wear this. It is some kind of low-level medal that I don't recognize. However, it is different from the medals bought by the gentlemen. It should have been obtained by him with genuine merit. This is the only thing about him that shows his identity. Judging from his serious and restrained temperament and skin color, he should be a soldier, huh~
"I know, he is Xiu Toral that dad mentioned a few days ago! The Beyonder candidate who wants to monitor me when I go to school. Then his little blue ribbon should be an Iron Eagle Medal. About him and me Divination... is very subtle!" Sonia was very excited about her observation and really wanted to ask Griffith if his guess was right.
But now was not the time for Miss Sonia de La Mole to satisfy her curiosity. She had something else to say.
"Sorry, I'm late." Miss Sonia quickly reasoned about Griffith's identity and said with two minds.
Griffith hurriedly put on a stiff smile at the girl opposite him, and nodded like a puppet to say hello. Fortunately, no one present noticed his silly look.
The blonde girl's voice was sweet and waxy, as comforting as warm jade. If she asked for something, Griffith felt that he would not be able to refuse.
"Are you obsessed with reading those dangerous books again?" Countess Larmore said slightly reproachfully, "When you go to Homunwards... By the gods, it will be wrong if you get into trouble again. It’s in the newspapers.”
"No, Mom~" Sonia whispered, lowering her head as if to hide her little secret, "I'm just previewing the course."
"This is the second son of Knight Brandon, apprentice knight Griffith Brandon, second-level captain, Shutoral," the earl casually introduced to everyone, "the territory that your majesty rewarded me has nothing but wheat. and minerals, we can finally produce some different specialties this year.”
Hey! I got it right! Can you give me a little applause... Sonia could finally boldly look at the boy opposite her, who was not much older than herself, and tapped the ground twice with her toes excitedly.
Griffith stood up in a hurry and gave a military salute to everyone present.
"After Sonia enters school in September, the trainee knight will enter the school together," the earl continued. "A good friend of mine hopes that he can make achievements in command, law and administration in the future, and bring some new atmosphere to this family. , these are all things he has been exposed to in the non-commissioned officer school and the Eastern battlefield, or will learn in future courses. After all, you know, my territory in the Odessa region can encounter floods and droughts on good days, It’s amazing.”
The guests laughed together, and one of the guests smiled and asked Griffith: "Tell me, Mr. Trainee Knight, when you were fighting on the Eastern battlefield, did you ever think about what it would be like to return to a peaceful life in the future?"
"This is Mr. Justice Atherathon of the Supreme Court," the earl's eldest son, the kind and handsome Nolan, introduced Griffith.
Hiss, the Supreme Court!
There were all famous people sitting at the table, and the time left for me to answer questions was counted by the second. If I don't answer well, everyone will think I'm a fool, and if I think about it for too long, everyone will think I'm a fool too... Griffith felt cold sweat dripping from his neck.
It would be foolish of me to praise this sumptuous dinner as our hope for peace.
"Dear Judge, many of the auxiliary soldiers of our legion come from the Eastern Province. When the war was severe, the province imposed a heavy tax burden on the farmers," Griffith thought for a moment, and after everyone patiently endured it, The scope stated as briefly as possible, "In order to obtain the blessing and protection of the church, the auxiliary soldiers in the Eastern Province tried to hand over their land to the church. The laws of the kingdom did not allow such an action. The auxiliary soldiers donated the land to friends, asking them to give the greater part of the produce of the land to the church.”
"Well, church land is tax-free, and the royal government has expressly stipulated that no transfer or gift of real estate to the church is allowed," Judge Atherathon said with some surprise. "The citizens of the Eastern Province are trying to circumvent the king's statutory law."
"I noticed that there is a slight difference between the situation described by the trainee knight and the transfer, your honor," Count Larmore was interested in this topic and said quickly, "After the citizens of the East handed over their land to their friends, they Well, the proceeds go to the church. In this case, it is still considered a transfer and does it require a charter?”
"This issue is worthy of study." The justice did not ask more in-depth questions for the trainee knight, but nodded approvingly to Griffith, "I think the Supreme Court will soon receive an appeal on the relevant case."
Several of the guests present looked surprised. This new bumpkin is at least a very sharp bumpkin. It seemed that the earl was also interested in this topic, so Judge Atherathon asked more questions, and the dinner became lively.
Is this interesting topic a coincidence? Or is this trainee knight from the border prepared in advance to leave a good impression in front of everyone?
Sonia raised her eyes and looked at Griffith's face, and then at the Iron Eagle ribbon on his chest. She originally thought that after entering Homemonworth, her family would no longer be able to control her. But the conversation just now made the blonde girl suddenly realize that her father might have deliberately placed such a powerful person beside her.
She tried hard to control herself from puffing up her cheeks, "When my friends and I were letting ourselves go in Homemonworth, would this smart soldier follow the instructions given by Dad to monitor and then report and take credit? Divination shows that our compatibility should be It’s okay~ Otherwise I wouldn’t have selected him, ah! What is he doing!?”
This fried veal is so delicious!
Griffith completely ignored the girl's gaze and concentrated on eating the food in front of him. Before he could finish his meal, the waiters had already brought the next meal and removed only two bites of food from the other guests.
Griffith hurriedly forked the remaining pieces of meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and watched happily as the waiter brought him a plate of salmon. Across the long table, Sonia looked at his clean plate with wide eyes.
The dinner at the Earl's Palace lasted for a full hour and a half. The guests at the dinner seemed to have endless things to talk about, ranging from the visits of the diplomatic corps to the newly discovered plants in the southern provinces, and the count would make a few comments before the end of each topic.
I can't eat anymore...
At first, Griffith counted how many dishes were served and mentally commented on which one was the best. He ate every dish, and it didn't take long for him to be full. The trainee knight, who was full of food, tilted his body to see if he could move some more space in his stomach. He had nothing to talk about with his noble guests, and he was terribly uncomfortable.
Miss Sonia, who was sitting in front of Griffith, raised her crystal clear wine glass with a smile and took a sip of the fragrant fruit wine.
"Everyone, I'm sorry," Count Larmore nodded to the guests who were still eating desserts, turned and left the restaurant. The guests who had been sitting for more than an hour chatted for a while, and then they all said goodbye to the Countess.
Griffith, whose throat was already filled with food, stood up stiffly, trying not to hold on to the edge of the table and the wall. Under Sonia's smiling eyes, he slowly walked out at the back of the crowd.
