area51novel Page 137
Page 137
“Uncle Lubo, these two are distinguished guests of my Fengpu territory. The one in the lead is none other than Lord Arthur Field, the Lord of Blackrock, who borders us.”
Therefore, please don't let trivial matters ruin your harmony.
Waveguide sound transmission?
After confirming that the voice belonged to Tristan, the Lord of Wind and Clouds whom he had first met at the residence of the alchemist Merlin, Arthur couldn't help but marvel at Tristan's methods.
Waveguide transmission is a method used by knights to control wind waveguides.
As far as he knew, ordinary silver-rank knights who practiced wind wave manipulation could not achieve sound transmission through waveguides, because it required extremely precise control.
This made Arthur even more curious about the young Lord of Windpull.
"So it's Lord Arthur, the Lord of Blackrock, who has come from afar. My apologies for my rudeness!"
Upon learning Arthur's identity from the message carried by the wind, Lord Lubo of Fengpu immediately lowered his guard and ordered the silver-armored knight beside him to put away his weapon.
Having received a noble education since childhood, when he learned that Arthur was not a wandering knight but a hereditary viscount, he naturally put away his previous arrogant attitude and forced a respectful smile on his face for the viscount's status.
He smiled ingratiatingly as he spoke:
“Lord Arthur has brought such a generous gift to visit my Fengpu territory. We are truly sorry for not welcoming you properly.”
"Since Mr. Rubo knows why we've come, we won't stay any longer."
Seeing through the other party's feigned enthusiasm, Arthur neither gave this "chameleon" a kind look nor a bad one, simply turning the page on the matter indifferently.
Then, without looking back, he led the black-haired horse Yeying away from this place of trouble with Gao Wen.
Next.
Their destination was the tall and magnificent lord's castle not far in their field of vision.
Chapter 131 The Reason for Wielding the Sword
Arrive at the lord's castle in front of Muyang Town.
As soon as Arthur and Gawain stood before the castle gate, the heavy door opened at just the right moment.
A middle-aged man dressed in a dark blue robe appeared from behind the door.
Judging from the other person's indifferent expression and the way his arm was placed in front of his abdomen, Arthur figured that the other person was probably the castle's steward.
However, unlike his butler Leon, this middle-aged man did not show an overly strong life force and seemed to be just an ordinary Black Iron Knight.
Nevertheless, Arthur did not fail to observe the proper etiquette expected of a visitor.
He took the initiative to walk up to this person and introduce himself:
"Hello, I am Arthur Field, the lord of Blackrock Territory. I have come to Muyang Town to pay my respects to Lord Tristan, the lord of Windpull."
"Your Excellency Viscount Arthur is very kind. My master has been mentioning you quite often lately."
The other person nodded in return, a calm smile appearing on their slightly weathered face.
“My name is Rad, and I am the steward of Muyang Fortress. I am here on the orders of my master, Tristan, to receive these two distinguished guests.”
After saying this, Butler Rad clapped his hands, and two rows of bowing servants suddenly appeared behind him and walked out silently.
"This is a small gift I brought with me on my trip to visit Lord Tristan of Windpu. Please accept it, Mr. Butler Rad."
Seeing that the other party showed enough respect, Arthur's slight displeasure from the farce dissipated considerably, so he raised his hand to signal Gawain behind him to put down the sack of gold coins hanging on the horse.
The heavy suede money bag was stretched into a sharply defined shape, and one could tell from the bulging curve of the bag that the gold coins piled inside were no small amount.
This was exactly half of the five thousand gold coins that Arthur received as a reward from Countess Oriana of the Ice Dragon—a full two thousand five hundred gold coins.
"On behalf of my master, Rad thanks Viscount Arthur for his generous gift."
The butler, Rad, took it from Gawain and then passed it to the servants behind him.
After saying that, he led Arthur and Gawain to settle their horses in two clean and warm stables, and then took them to Muyang Fortress, where Lord Fengpu lived.
After climbing several flights of stairs and walking through a long corridor.
Arthur and Gawain followed the butler Rad to the door of a hall.
Just as the butler, Rad, was about to knock on the door, a familiar voice came from inside:
“Rade, there’s no need for such formalities. Please let our two distinguished guests come in.”
Undoubtedly, the voice belonged to Tristan, Lord of Windpud.
After receiving instructions, Butler Rad respectfully turned around, bowed to Arthur and Gawain, and then stepped aside.
“Distinguished guests, Rad will see you off here for now. I will go and instruct my men to prepare a grand feast for your arrival.”
Arthur nodded after hearing this.
Then, he led Gao Wen and pushed open the main entrance to the hall in front of them.
After stepping into the hall, he briefly surveyed its layout.
Compared to his own office hall, the office hall of the Wind Lord, who seemed to be a few years older than him, appeared far too simple.
Apart from a thick oak table and a few scattered chairs, only some animal hides or a family crest flag with an eagle's head hanging on the wall remained.
Not to mention the vast map of the North, there isn't even a decent map of the territory on the walls. At first glance, it's hard to imagine that this is the hall of a lord who controls the territory.
As Arthur thought this, he shifted his gaze and soon spotted the familiar male figure with shoulder-length hair.
At this moment, Lord Tristan of Windpud stood by an open, tall window.
A gentle breeze blowing in from the window was softly brushing the hair by his ears, adding to his melancholy air.
"Lord Arthur, how have you been?"
Lord Tristan of Windpull quickly noticed Arthur's gaze. He put his hands behind his back, turned around, and looked at Arthur:
"It's been a month since we parted ways at the rift between the underworld and the mortal realm, hasn't it?"
His face, more stunning than any woman's, still revealed a quiet melancholy.
"um, yes."
Arthur walked toward Tristan and continued the conversation:
"It took a month for Blackrock Territory to recuperate and recover, and it has now successfully returned to its previous stable order."
After some pleasantries.
Tristan walked to the head seat at the long table in the center of the sparsely decorated hall and sat down. He then gestured for Arthur and Gawain to sit as well, and continued speaking:
"Gentlemen, you have arrived in Muyang Town with lavish gifts, and it seems you have had some conflict with the guards of my territory?"
"Did Your Excellency Tristan bring this up because you wanted to seek justice for them?"
Arthur, sitting in the secondary seat next to Tristan, responded with interest.
Tristan shook his head after hearing this:
"They were driven by their own greed, deliberately provoking Lord Arthur. What justice do they need now that they've suffered?"
After receiving this answer, Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly.
After that conflict with Fengpuling.
Now, he had a general idea of the situation in this territory—this Lord of Fengpu probably didn't have much real power over Fengpu.
"Viscount Arthur, shall we first discuss the purpose of your visit?"
After concluding the previous topic, Tristan immediately got to the point:
"Yesterday I saw a legendary frost dragon churning in the clouds, passing through my Windpull Territory, and heading straight towards Blackrock Territory."
And today, Viscount Arthur suddenly came to visit me.
That frost dragon must be connected to the Alcott family, who control the Frostwhisper County.
"um, yes."
Arthur snapped out of his reverie and nodded:
"Yesterday, Countess Orianna of the Ice Dragon personally visited Blackrock Territory. After inspecting the corpse of the demon bandit scourge, who was on a bounty of level three, she bestowed upon me the promised rewards."
The victory in the defense of Blackrock Territory that day was largely due to Lord Tristan's three arrows.
Therefore, upon receiving this generous bounty, I immediately brought Lord Tristan's share.
At this point, Arthur took a clay pot from his baggage and placed it on the long table:
“Previously, I brought two thousand five hundred gold coins, which I have already entrusted to your steward for safekeeping.”
Now, there is also a Silver-tier extraordinary artifact as a reward, which I intend to personally deliver to Lord Tristan.
Having said that, he pushed the earthenware pot he had taken out toward Tristan, who was sitting at the head of the long table.
Tristan, after sensing the concentrated essence of wind elemental energy within the ceramic jar, raised an eyebrow, a rare occurrence for him.
"A silver-tier transcendent artifact perfectly suited to my attributes; Lord Arthur has truly put in a lot of effort."
He did not refuse and reached out to pick up the pottery jar that sealed the silver-tier extraordinary object with wind attribute.
"I'm glad you're satisfied, Lord Tristan."
Arthur smiled knowingly:
"However, there is one more thing I would like to discuss with you."
After hearing this, Tristan gently put down the clay pot and looked at Arthur again:
"Please speak freely, Your Excellency Arthur."
"You should know that Countess Orianna of the Ice Dragon issued a warrant for the capture of this 'Level 3 Bounty' demon bandit scourge, which shows how much she values them."
Arthur began to speak at length:
"Therefore, after my Blackrock Territory annihilated them, I unexpectedly received a fiefdom as a reward."
"A fiefdom? Could it be the Blackwater Territory that was wiped out by this band of bandits?"
Tristan guessed the fiefdom Arthur had received, and pondered:
"It has been more than a month since the Blackwater Territory extermination incident."
That area, now unclaimed by the dead, must have become a chaotic breeding ground for other bandits or refugees.
"I think so too."
Arthur gave a bitter smile, nodded in confirmation of Tristan's guess, and then continued:
"Therefore, I have an idea regarding this dilapidated but potentially huge fiefdom that I would like to discuss with Lord Tristan."
"What Lord Arthur wouldn't be saying is..."
Tristan guessed what Arthur was about to say from his expression, but he hesitated to speak.
"That's right! It's about cooperating with Fengpuling to jointly take over this fiefdom with excellent development conditions."
Arthur voiced his suspicions.
After hearing this, Tristan frowned in confusion and asked:
"Although Blackwater Territory is currently dilapidated and chaotic, its development potential is actually safer and more favorable than that of the borderland you possess."
Given the military strength that Lord Arthur demonstrated in the defense of Blackrock Territory, I think you should be able to easily take this 'cake'.
Why would you still want to cooperate with Feng Puling?
Arthur wasn't surprised by Tristan's question; he smiled knowingly and answered frankly:
"Because I don't want to give up the steadily developing Blackrock Territory and its people, I can't spare enough manpower and resources to take a bite out of this 'cake'."
Tristan's eyes flashed with surprise upon hearing the answer, but he quickly regained his composure.
Then, he slowly began to speak:
"Lord Arthur, as your neighbor, I have heard about your development philosophy and actions in Blackrock Territory over the past few months since you took over as Lord of Blackrock.
You seem to advocate for development down to the grassroots level, and you're very considerate of the feelings of ordinary people.
"Yes."
Arthur did not deny it.
"The Blackrock Territory controlled by Lord Arthur is quite special. Apart from the Field family, to which Your Excellency belongs, there are no other traditional noble families within its borders."