"Good morning, Griffith~"
Sonia appeared in the halo of magic holding thick textbooks and handouts, and happily said hello to the knight outside the teleportation circle.
"Griffith, even if you don't go back to class, the final exam will not disappear~"
It’s already May, and Sonia has carefully prepared notes for each class, so she doesn’t have to worry about missing them! After Griffith, Lana and their gang won the battle, they were still stranded in Verona. They didn't know what they were doing in Ravenel. She asked for leave and came here anyway.
Fiona arrived two hours earlier than she did.
You need to make up for your knight's homework, and then ask how you spend Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Tuesday, April and Saturday.
"Thank you, Sonia~ I was worried about what to do with my homework~"
Griffith nodded slightly to the countess. He was wearing a military uniform, but no armor. The open collar of his light cavalry uniform revealed the silver oak leaf knight's eagle badge with double swords and a broad chest like bronze. When he greeted the lovely lady, his sword-shaped eyebrows and black hair were like battleships piercing the waves. The proudest bull in the arena would feel ashamed.
He has been waiting on the mage tower for a long time. The moist morning fog has not yet dispersed, and there is a strange and long muffled sound outside the window. The knight looked sideways, and the outline of his face was reminiscent of the head of the conquering King Julius on the Beyeland gold coin. Every line was resolute and clear.
Sonia looked up in a daze for a while. Until the knight turned back, the hot breath burned her pink mouth, and the indescribable taste almost made her suffocate, fearing that his strong and powerful jaws would eat her up in one bite.
The Countess took a small step back, lowered her head, and held the book in her arms a little higher.
"Sorry, the steam engines broke down again," Griffith smiled awkwardly, "We shouldn't let them run at full capacity."
Sonia ignored her, hugged the textbook tightly and took a breath.
I mean, what's going on? I'm sorry I made her angry by not studying hard... Griffith felt that he had made a mistake. He looked at the handout thicker than a shield in the girl's arms and quickly reached out:
"I fling myself upon books as a hungry man flings himself upon bread—"
Sonia jumped back like a little rabbit.
Griffith was extremely embarrassed: "Okay, I'm not particularly hungry, I can wait a while..."
As he said this, he raised his arms and turned towards the stairs. A moment later, there was the rustle of the skirt behind him, and soft white hands took his arm obediently. There was a vague sense of oppression, which made the mood of the whole day fly.
"Show me your manor~"
Griffith's Verona estate is an estate surrounded by fields.
Everyone thought that it was a few cold, dry and simple stone houses, messy fields, swamps and woods. They ate radishes and picked chestnuts for dinner every day, at least that was what Griffith told Sonia before.
In fact, the manor house is surrounded by a creek with a small stone bridge. Within the stone walls are the ancient hall, kitchen, laundry, bakery and wine cellar. There are swans and herons in the creek outside the wall, pigeons fly around the dovecote, and geese, chickens and partridges are raised in the yard. Various farmhouses, barns, windmills, stables and stables are scattered across the plains and villages outside the estate.
This is an old place that was once dilapidated due to disrepair.
Not long after Roland's people took over, farmers, carpenters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, traveling merchants, militiamen and administrators kept the place in order. Immigrants constantly coming from all over the country made farms, mines and markets lively. They formed several villages, surrounding the lord's estate in the center.
There's even an abandoned mage tower here. After reinforcement and repair, it can now provide convenience for wizards and extraordinary people coming and going.
"What are you doing?"
Sonia put down her textbook and asked the knight to take her around. A banquet will be held at the manor tonight to entertain the allies who helped Griffith fight and manage the territory.
At this time, it would be impossible without a gentle and beautiful lady to entertain everyone... Sonia felt that she had a bounden duty. To do this job well, she needs an in-depth knowledge of the territory.
In addition, she was particularly worried about Griffith's safety.
Bad news spreads in Beyeland, and the mysterious world is full of legends. A god's hand has been defeated, and the final miracle is one step closer.
Just offer enough sacrifices!
"There were originally a lot of swamps here, and the land was divided into small pieces. It was difficult to cultivate and transport, and it also breeds diseases."
Griffith was very relaxed, without any pressure from the impending war. He took the countess to the outside of the manor wall, pointed to the plain in the distance and said:
“In the past, several wizards from the Ravenel family tried to transform this place, but with little success.
"We, um, mainly the people supported by Roland, selected some ponds, built dams and sluices, and then used steam engines to pump out the swamp water and drain it into the pre-selected pools."
Sonia followed curiously and saw stretches of newly reclaimed wasteland, wooden bridges built over ditches and rivers, and flat-bottomed boats coming and going under the bridges.
A little further away, you can see the shrubs that have just been cleared. The waist-deep plants have been cut down and piled together with the dug-out tree roots, extending towards the open wilderness.
Farther away, some dark and bulky machines were set up by the river, and workers around them were constantly adding coal to them. The steam engine roared loudly, spewed thick smoke, and pumped water out of the semi-dry swamp into the river.
Sonia understood after looking at it for a while, "You use steam engines to drain the swamps and level the land. As long as there is enough fuel, this work can be done day and night. The wizard will not last long!"
"This is also one of the biggest uses of Roland's steam engine," Griffith said. "We have just arrived, but we can also help. The landscape is changing every week because of our work. This is much more interesting than the magic calculation. "
"But it's hard work!"
"That's natural. The most troublesome thing about cleaning up swamps is a small insect that chases people and bites them. The skin they bite will quickly develop a red rash and make it uncomfortable. Every day at noon, swarms of gadflies appear again. Then they harassed everyone until evening. At night, there were countless mosquitoes, not to mention the blood-sucking insects in the water.
“Everyone came up with an idea and covered their heads with cloth, digging only a few holes for the eyes, nostrils, and mouth.
"When you get up in the morning, wash your face first, and then cover your face, neck, and arms with mud, otherwise you will have to fight mosquitoes all day long."
Sonia asked worriedly: "What should we do?"
"You can only persevere and persevere. All greatness requires sacrifice," Griffith said. "The swamps are receding, and we have killed off the habitats of the bugs. Their numbers and the diseases they spread are all decreasing."
"Awesome!" Sonia grabbed the knight's arm excitedly, "I knew Griffith you would become a good lord!"
Griffith grinned and shook his head:
“I’ve only been here for a few days and I just did some minor work.
“What’s amazing are the hard-working and brave locals and immigrants.
"The weather is much warmer now. In order to catch up with the progress in winter, they did not stop and rest. On cold days, it would not take long for the accumulated water on the ground to form a thin layer of ice. After a day's work, they would be covered in mud. The shoes were also covered with ice. When sleeping at night, no one dared to take off their shoes, because the next day after taking off the shoes, they would be as frozen as ice and impossible to wear.
"Many people's fingernails were frozen. Some people's shoes and feet were frozen together. They couldn't take off their shoes, so they went to the fire to warm them. After they were heated, they took them off, and all ten toenails fell off."
"Oops~" Sonia's whole body trembled.
The narrow roads look crowded with people and goods coming and going. Sonia didn't care. She touched here and there out of curiosity, and occasionally avoided passing carts and puddles on the ground.
The fluttering skirt and the girl's slender waist filled the air with a seductive fragrance, and pedestrians passing by could hardly walk.
As far as the eye can see are cultivated fields or swamps being cultivated. Finally, a huge camp came into view.
The camp consists of densely packed gray tents and wooden huts, extending to the foot of the mountain in the distance.
"There is?"
"A temporary settlement for immigrants," said Griffith. "As more immigrants arrive, the rate of reclamation will increase. We also placed many prisoners of war here and absorbed them. This is what we all have been doing recently. main job.”
"Do they have anything to eat? There are tens of thousands of people here!"
"Don't worry, the money from Weifu Vouchers allows us to buy machinery, farm tools, seeds, and initial rations. The new farmland will be harvested in a few months, and our harvest this year will be at least ten times higher than last year." ."
"Will there be so many?!"
“Of course, in other places that were pioneered earlier, it took more than a month to harvest the newly cultivated land.
“After the river channel is renovated, canal steam ships can pass through, and the transportation efficiency of grain, minerals and other bulk goods has increased several times.
“We are just short of manpower.
"As long as we have enough labor, we can dye the world."
Griffith looked into the distance. Whenever he looked at this prosperous scene, he would feel an uncontrollable passion.
If the mysterious world still clings to the ancient rubble and fears and resists the new civilization, the wheels of the times will roll over them.
Griffith reached out and grabbed the bouncing countess, asking her to stop and look into those blue eyes:
"Sonia, I have something very important to tell you."
Sonia's face suddenly turned pale. She was still very excited and trembling slightly, and people could hear her heartbeat from half a meter away.
"Sonia, the final battle for the Hand of God is approaching. Aaron and Commodus both go deep into the mysterious forbidden land and ask for the key to victory from the unspeakable existence.
"Before I face my fate, I want you to know...I..."
I have found the key to victory. This new world will create for me an army to fight against the apostles of the gods. However, I also want to unite all forces that can be united...
I needed Sonia, I needed to win her and her friends in the living room to support me.
The next battle will inevitably involve a confrontation with the wizard class and a battle with some senators and nobles. However, as long as he explains his strategies and principles clearly and makes it clear that some spellcasters can also become his allies, the considerate Sonia will definitely...
The girl was staring at him with starry eyes. She even swayed a bit and felt like she was going to fall. The blush of excitement has climbed onto her pretty fair face. No matter how much attention she paid to the Countess's manners and etiquette, Sonia was always so considerate and understanding when they were alone.
Sonia can be trusted at any time, without a doubt!
Griffith took a deep breath, sincerely and seriously preparing to reveal all his thoughts during this period.
"Griffith!"
The countess suddenly took a step forward, almost leaning against the knight's chest. There seemed to be a hazy golden light between his eyes, making the world brighter.
"Well, what, what?" Griffith, who was making a big plan to change the world, was a little flustered for a moment. A strange, sweet and tender premonition vaguely emerged, making him inexplicably aware of what was going to happen next.
"I like you!"
Sonia grabbed Griffith's hand, trembling and moving along the soft and delicate touch on her fingers, and took a small bite on the racing heart. Her voice was soft, but it was heard clearly by the whole world.
Then, she repeated it in her loudest voice:
"I like you!"
…
Local officials and servants had been planning the banquet since the day before.
The dining table had been covered with a freshly laundered tablecloth, and silver goblets, salt dishes and spoons were placed in place. The kitchen uses herbs, spices and dried fruits to accompany grilled meats and freshly baked bread from the morning.
The servants took the luggage, led the horses to the stables, combed their hair, fed them, and put wooden boards on the ground to prevent the mud on the ground from soiling their shoes. Freshly picked flowers decorated the manor.
The noble ladies were invited to sit in the best seats, wash their hands in the basin brought by the servant, and then pray and eat. Lannes, Ophelia, Medienmeier, Murat, Russell, Warren Haydn and other officers who participated in the war and local administrators filled the banquet hall, drinking wine and ale from large glasses.
Griffith sat in the master's seat at the end of the long table. Everyone was densely packed on both sides, looking at Galadia and Sonia sitting next to him with smiles on their faces.
"hmmm..."
Griffith was surrounded by the pleasant fragrance, and he felt a stomachache when he thought that Sidious and the Earl would appear at the gate of the manor to talk to him at any time, or that the girls themselves would say something later.
All this happened too suddenly.
"Griffith, what's wrong with you?" Miss Elf saw that his face was pale and his forehead was sweating in the cool hall. She wondered if he would faint like that time in Odessa, so she quickly put a handkerchief on his forehead. Wipe away the sweat.
Sonia has already picked up a cup of herbal tea and handed it over...
"Let's toast Commander Griffith with a glass of wine!" Rana hurriedly raised his glass to the chief of the long table.
"Okay——!" everyone shouted together.
"Long live Miss Sonia's victory, she is... Ouch!" Ophelia stepped on Midianmaiya just as he took the words. He quickly changed his words, "Long live Galadia's victory, alas... What’s wrong!”
Griffith refrained from covering his face.
He pretended not to hear and diverted his attention to estimate the cost.
On this day, a 36-course dinner is served at Ravenel Manor, and evening snacks are also prepared for overnight guests. In fact, the local officials appointed by Roland summoned local people who worked in various jobs to help, so that Griffith, who was short of manpower, could carry out the banquet. Such a good meal is of course indispensable for them.
The supper was splendid, with fried and grilled swans, geese, herons, rabbits, pheasants, capons, partridges, pigeons, deer, cattle, and wild boars, as well as sole, haddock, plaice, mackerel, Oysters, crabs, lobsters, mussels and shrimp. Various desserts made with milk, eggs and vanilla are served like water...
"Griffith~" The countess looked at her knight and found that his face was whiter than the tablecloth, "Don't you know which one to eat?!"
"This time I finally understand why Larmore Territory can suffer from floods and droughts even on good days..."
Griffith said sadly.
Such a dinner is very expensive, and the expenses are recorded in the "household book" by the steward and accountant for inspection by the lord and master. If there is no lord's wife, it can only be checked by the lord himself.
"I understand~" The considerate countess has a good memory. Of course she remembers the joke the earl made when Griffith first came to Larmore's house. "I will help you check the family books later. Mom taught me I!"
"Crack!" Galadia, who was eating crab, swallowed the shell in one gulp. She jumped up and tapped the crystal glass like a hostess:
"I'm here to announce some good news!"
Everyone who was busy eating turned their heads and heard Miss Elf say:
"Griffith will be promoted to flag captain soon and serve as deputy general of the 10th Light Infantry Regiment of Verona!"
"..."
Griffith himself took a few seconds to react.
What? Is this happening? I do not even know!
