The sentries were frightened, especially when they thought about how they almost took action just now, and cold sweat broke out on their foreheads. Attacking Downton would result in beheading.
"That's right. Look, this is a magic lake bead, worth millions of gold coins. It can allow magic users below the dragon-slaying level to directly advance to the first level!"
The captain of the sentry was extremely excited and stared at the lake bead in his hand. He had always regretted that he could not become a magic user. With this treasure, he could try to condense soul seeds.
"Goddess above? Is it so expensive?"
"If you sell it, won't you become a millionaire? How many lifetimes will you have to eat and drink?"
"Come on, this is a reward from the Duke. It is obviously for the superior to use. If you sell it, you will definitely be in big trouble!"
The sentries looked at the commander with envy on their faces and swallowed their saliva.
The captain of the sentry did not speak, and held the lake beads tightly, as if he was holding on to hope and the future.
Downton didn't know that because of his momentary admiration, the Sentinel Commander became a magician, and allowed his family's descendants to serve the dynasty he established for many generations. The most outstanding descendant even sat on the position of Grand Marshal, commanding dozens of people.
Thousands of soldiers and horses, fighting to the death against foreign enemies.
Morning fog is in sight.
With the development of trade, not only the main roads were widened, but also several small towns on the border became prosperous, becoming larger in size and increasing in population.
As the last supply station leading to Sunset Prairie, Morning Mist Town is five times larger than when Downton left, and has many more residents.
Once upon a time, an ogre or bugbear appearing outside a small town would cause huge panic, but now, there are so many natives on the streets that even the security team is staffed by a team of ogres.
Downton and Elaine led the war horses into the town.
Even though it was winter, there was still a lot of people. Normally at this time of year, the caravans would be returning, but this year, instead, they were all going to the orc tribe.
"You don't know. The orc tribe suffered a disaster and all their sons and daughters were sold. The previously precious Fox Fox girls were priceless but now they are in circulation."
"Hey, women don't matter. Those potions they have accumulated for hundreds of years and packed in the bottom of the box are the big deal. I heard that someone found a lot of good treasures."
"Come on, it is said that the orcs are going south to plunder for food. If you go to the orc tribe now, you will have lambs delivered to your door!"
"Didn't you just come back from the prairie? I think you are worried that we will buy out all the goods and plan to deceive us so that you can run away again!"
The streets were in a mess, with everything.
Although the situation between the countries is too bad, the war did not happen after all. Driven by huge profits, these businessmen were blinded and did not care about their lives. Besides, now is an opportunity to make a lot of money from the war.
, whoever doesn’t take the opportunity to get some weapons will be charged a sky-high price.
"Opportunities and risks coexist. If you want to get rich, you can't be afraid of death!"
A big businessman roared, which immediately resonated with everyone and cheered loudly.
"Let's go!"
Downton smiled and continued moving forward. Part of the income of these merchants would become his taxes. So he wished they could carry out trading activities throughout the year.
When he arrived home, Downton frowned because he found that although his house remained intact, all the houses within fifty meters of it had been demolished.
"Brother, look!"
Elaine pointed to a wooden sign in front of the house, which said that the residence of the King's Hand was forbidden to visit, and offenders would be hanged.
"A dilapidated house, what's there to see?"
Downton was speechless, this was obviously the mayor's flattery.
"Go in and have a look!"
Elaine couldn't hold back her excitement, stepped on the steps, took out the key, and prepared to open the door.
Little Walnut has been pressed against the window, looking inside.
"Hey, what are you doing? That house is forbidden to enter!"
From a house across the street, an aunt with a bucket waist ran out, carrying a spatula and roaring domineeringly.
When the neighbors heard the sound, they all rushed out and stared at Downton and Elaine angrily. The mayor said that the house must be taken care of. If it is stolen or damaged, all the surrounding residents will be killed.
They were demoted to slaves, so they were particularly considerate.
"Go away, you are not allowed to visit here, Downton?"
A middle-aged man shouted, but the next moment he bit his tongue, as if he had seen the undead, and jumped back in fright.
"What? Downton!"
"Ah? Your Majesty the Duke, and Elaine!"
"What Duke, you want to be called the Hand of the King, why don't you kneel down quickly!"
The group of people chatted all over the place, and then they all knelt down. There were other pedestrians on the street who looked astonished and didn't know what was going on. However, when they heard that Downton had arrived, they quickly knelt down.
"elder brother!"
When Elaine saw the aunt and uncle she knew, she was about to say hello, but he knelt on the ground. She didn't know what to do and couldn't help but tugged Downton's arm.
"Everyone, get up, there is no King's Hand today, only your neighbor Downton!"
Downton walked up to an aunt and stretched out his hand to help her.
The aunt's legs were trembling and she was about to stand up, but when she heard the person next to her coughing, she quickly knelt down again.
Downton glanced around and found that no one stood up. Every one of his former neighbors had their heads lowered, not even daring to look at him.
Yes, who is Downton? The person in charge of Delankfurt has a more noble status than those big businessmen and nobles. One sentence will make countless people fall to the ground. The mayor of Chenwu is the existence they need to look up to.
, but the mayor, not to mention kneeling down and licking Downton, didn't even have the chance to kneel down and lick the maid next to him.
Abagong's publicity was very good, so these neighbors knew how unattainable the boy next door was.
When uncles and aunts teach children, they all like to say, look at whose child is so promising, but they never mention Downton's name, because he is so outstanding, they feel in their hearts that even if they struggle for a hundred lives
, cannot achieve that level, that is the height of despair...
"Aunt Noah, what are you doing? You're too foreign. I'm Elaine. I still remember that I borrowed your eggs to replenish my brother's health!"
Elaine originally wanted to lighten the atmosphere, but who knew that as soon as the words came out of her mouth, Aunt Noah was sweating profusely and kowtowed vigorously.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have borrowed your eggs and not returned them. Yes, there are cheese, ham and a pot. I'll give them to you now!"
Aunt Noah likes to take advantage. She once saw the brother and sister without adult care, so she borrowed things but never exchanged them.
Bang! Bang!
Aunt Noah was really scared. After just a few blows, blood started to appear on her forehead. Then she burped and suddenly fainted and fell to the ground.
"I didn't mean that, you misunderstood!"
Elaine was anxious and quickly spread a healing halo.
"Elaine, that's enough!"
Looking at these fearful neighbors, Downton suddenly lost interest. He came back to enjoy the scenery of his hometown, not to show off.
"elder brother!"
Elaine, whose hand was held by Downton, turned back and originally wanted to say something. But after seeing his eyes, she understood what he meant.
"I still remember everyone's kindness back then. In the next three years, Chenwu Town will be exempted from taxes for three years, while the residents on this street will be exempted from taxes for five years!"
After Downton finished speaking, he got on his horse. After taking a glance at the house where he had lived for more than ten years, he turned and left.
Xiao Hutao and Elaine quickly followed.
"That's great. I can save a lot of money on taxes for five years, and my life will be easier in the future."
The neighbors were smiling.
"Life is not difficult now. Since Downton, no, since the Duke came to power, our income has increased."
"Yeah, who would have thought that the young postman would become the Hand of the King? Fortunately, I didn't bully him back then, otherwise I would be scared just thinking about it!"
"Come on, the Duke is not a grudge-bearing person. Look over there, otherwise she would have been hanged long ago."
When the neighbors looked at Aunt Noah, they all knew that she was pretending to be dead. They were all kind-hearted people. Although they hated this woman who loved to take advantage of others, they had not thought about letting her die.
"Hey, how much better would it be if I had married my daughter to him?"
Some people regret it.
"Hey, let's not even look at your daughter's appearance. The Duke's girlfriend is a Bavarian Rose, the dream girl of men all over the continent."
The return of Downton just adds some more topics to the neighbors' dinner table. After all, there is a huge gap between the two sides and there is no intersection.
Passing by the post office where he once worked, Downton didn't go in. Instead, he went straight out of Chenwu Town and went straight to the Free Trade Zone.
Since Downton became the Duke of the West, the road construction project has not stopped. It can not only strengthen the infrastructure, but also resettle the refugees, give them a meal and avoid unrest.
A perfect road system naturally makes it easier for caravans to move and makes logistics faster.
The continent is very wide, and the only thing that makes it unsightly is the wooden piles stuck on both sides, with heads poking out of them that are determined to die.
These were all bandits who were plundering the surrounding areas, including natives, orcs, and humans. They were all chopped up by the border guards and planted on the roadside.
In the past, whole corpses were used as specimens. Later, more and more people were killed, and there was a possibility of breeding plague, so only the heads were left.
The people of the Westerlands did not find them scary, but rather thought they were talismans, because they represented the powerful combat effectiveness of the Frankfort Army.
After the killings till now, all that are left on the border are several bandit groups with outstanding reputations. Those countless bandits have all gone to harm the surrounding neighboring countries. There is no way to offend the people of Delankfurt!
Downton went to the Garni Free Trade Zone, which was also the first one to be established. It has now become a huge town. Before he arrived, he could see the city wall in the shape of "Hui".
For the safety of the business group, the district mayor mobilized the natives to build the city wall on his own initiative. However, he did not expect that before it was completed, the scale of the free trade zone expanded rapidly day by day, turning the outer city into an inner city, so the work had to be stopped.
Of course, the district mayor is also a business genius recommended by Abagong. He has stationed the inner city with better location and better security as a business and trade center. Almost all the big business groups have set up offices here. The annual commission is one
