The Duke of Kayneth-Ireland's banquet was extremely luxurious. Although he only invited Aaron, there were sixteen kinds of desserts before the meal. His Excellency the Duke even deigned to wait for him near the door. It can be said that
It gave Aaron enough face.
Aaron thought that Duke Kayneth, as the actual duke and the commander-in-chief of the eastern part of the kingdom, should naturally be very wealthy, but the Dragon Knight Club is the activity center of the big nobles here in Susar. They eat and drink here.
The consumption is estimated to be quite staggering.
"Your Highness the Duke." After the two of them sat down, Aaron took out an envelope from his body, pressed it on the table with his hand and handed it over: "Your Highness has spent money. This is a little bit of my gratitude. Please accept it."
"Ah? It's good if you can remember it." Duke Kayneth smiled. He took the envelope and opened it. There were five golden tickets stamped with the Holy Emblem of Lady Joy. He couldn't help but grinned with joy:
"You brat, where did you get it?"
"I gave you one thousand at the beginning, now you give me five thousand, right?" The Duke put the envelope away, put it on the table, and handed it back to Aaron: "Be careful, the Queen's Blade will be at your door soon...
Oh, I remembered, you are now the Black Rod Ceremony Officer, and the Queen's Blade has no right to arrest you."
"These are the stolen money of the orcs, found from the orc camp."
"Well, I know you have your heart." Duke Kayneth still confiscated it and shook his head: "But does the orc's money just fall from the sky? Aaron, I accept your intention. As for this money
, you’d better use it elsewhere.”
After speaking, Duke Kayneth refused to discuss this topic any more. He raised his glass: "Don't talk about it anymore, drink, drink."
"Cheers." Aaron also tacitly agreed not to mention this matter again.
The two parties raised their glasses. The exquisite goblet in the Dragon Knight Club contained square ice cubes, tempered with wine from Tessel. It was soft and dense in the mouth, and it was indeed very refreshing.
After a few glasses of wine, the atmosphere between the two parties became more heated. Duke Kaynes took the initiative and said: "Let's talk about Arabelle first. There has been news in the palace that Ms. Raul will continue to be the Countess of Arabelle, but the north
The lost land of Tifanton has not been recovered yet. You are a close person of Her Royal Highness. What does she think about this matter? What about you? Is it possible for the north to continue the war? "
Aaron thought to himself that Duke Kayneth was indeed concerned about national affairs. Although the battle of Arabelle had recaptured the important town in the north of the kingdom, the gateway to the north, Tifantun City, where his parents died, was still not recovered. Kayneth
The Duke is interested in this matter, probably because he wants to know whether the kingdom's national policy will be adjusted and whether military expenditures in the east will be reduced.
Sure enough, the free ones are the most expensive. Duke Kayneth doesn’t want money, but more important inside information.
Aaron felt that it was necessary to give him some information. First of all, the Duke had given him help early, and then because Duke Marelli and Duke Caspar were very close, he also needed to reach some consensus with Duke Kayneth.
.
"Your Highness, I am young and do not have much experience. Although I am already a hero in the palace and a minister in the bodyguard, there is actually no place for me to speak in terms of national policies. However, since your highness asked, I naturally know everything."
"Okay, tell me."
"The battle of Arabelle was really hard. It lasted from noon to late at night. More than 8,000 warriors died and nearly 3,000 were killed. They all relied on one breath to keep from collapsing. In the end, Turgeon and his army were finally defeated.
When the One-Eyed Legion broke out, even I felt deeply scared. The situation at that time was that even if the orcs could hold on for a while, we might fail."
"So, what does Ms. Raul think?"
"Your Highness, to put it nicely, the Arabelle Liberation Army has allowed us to see the diversity, depth and breadth of the country. It has made me understand the unity of people under the banner of 'righteousness', to put it nicely, but to put it harshly, everyone who joins
The people of the Liberation Army all have various purposes. They can be united because of Arabelle, or they can fall apart because of the successful liberation."
Duke Kayneth's eyes flashed: "You mean, there won't be another war in the north in the near future?"
"The rabbits in the forest have been hunted, and the hounds can be hunted. The season of migratory birds has passed, and the longbows have been temporarily stored." Aaron laughed: "Ms. Raul almost spent all her money on Sousa for this battle.
Her temple also emptied all her property. Those soldiers of the Liberation Army either received large commissions and were going to squander it in the tavern, or they were awarded titles, won land, and became knights. Who wants to fight? Tiffanyton
?What does it have to do with them?”
"I guess, Ms. Raul must have laid off all the soldiers in the north except the Falcon Legion and the Phoenix Legion, and Her Highness Alice Serre has accepted this result. She was forced to lose Arabelle before.
She did not punish Ms. Raul, and now that she has recaptured Arabelle, she will not reward Ms. Raul. This confused account will be over, and His Highness will probably send some people to support Ms. Raul’s reconstruction, and that’s pretty much it.”
"Okay!" After saying this, Duke Kayneth looked at Aaron deeply, with admiration in his eyes: "It seems that the revival of the Salian family is just around the corner. It is very rare for you to read so much.
"
It has only been more than a year since this kid debuted! Duke Kayneth found that he could no longer look down on Aaron.
Since there will be no more wars in the north in a short period of time, and the Liberation Army will also be disbanded on a large scale, Duke Kayneth is much more relaxed. The two then talked about Aaron's actual title of baron, and heard that Aaron planned to choose Hurek.
In the Sunset Territory including the forest, Duke Kayneth laughed loudly and slapped his thigh: "Okay! Young people have to face challenges! Those evil monsters in the Hurek Forest heard your Aaron Salian
Name, wouldn’t everyone be shocked to see the leader of the Five Heroes of Arabelle coming?”
"You can feel free to go and ask if you need anything. If I can help you, you don't have to be polite. You don't have to call me Your Highness all the time. I am the same generation as your father. You can also call me Uncle Kayneth."
of."
The two of them then talked about some things about territory construction. Aaron's insights were extremely profound. He revealed a lot about his plans, about the dwarf blacksmith guild, about the snow elf camp, and even about the wonders of Slaanesh and Su
Aaron said more or less about the Lun Mama Grand Temple.
Feilong Water Lake will be renamed Meteor Lake in the future and will become Su Lun Mama’s highest holy land in the country!
Duke Kayneth's eyes lit up when he heard this. If Aaron once said that these were castles in the air, then the success of the Silver Chamber of Commerce has shown that Aaron has such potential!
"It's really yours! Aaron!" Duke Kayneth was elated by Aaron's words. He laughed arrogantly, stretched out his hand across the table and slapped Aaron: "I have long felt that Cormyr's future must be with you.
belongs!"
"Your Highness is ridiculous." Aaron said humbly.
"So, when do you plan to go to the fief? For a spellcaster like you, do you plan to build a teleportation array in the fief, or resign from the position of Black Staff Ceremony Officer?" Duke Kayneth said with emotion.
"The order to establish the title of baron will probably be issued during Midsummer Festival." Aaron said solemnly: "But before that, I need to help Her Highness Alice Serre deal with the trouble that has been accumulated for a long time."
This sentence came out of Aaron's mouth without warning, and Duke Kayneth was stunned for a moment. He lowered his head, his eyes flashed, his fists were clenched, and his face was uncertain.
"You... are the hero of the kingdom, Aaron."
"Yes, but I was promoted by Her Majesty Alice Serre. I..."
Duke Kayneth frowned, and he immediately raised his hand to say stop talking!
"Quiet, Aaron, quiet!"
"This meal is finished, we should go." The Duke reached out and grabbed Aaron's arm.
"Let's talk somewhere else."
…………
After the secret conversation with Duke Kayneth, Aaron patted his head.
If the Duke hadn't reminded him, he would have almost forgotten something very important.
As soon as Aaron returned home, he found Eleanor, took out a fortune of about ten thousand gold lion coins, and distributed it as soon as possible.
Aaron's father's old friends, colleagues in the Purple Dragon Knights, colleagues in the court, and nobles from the Kingdom Council, one by one, Aaron bought gifts according to the instructions of Duke Kayneth and presented them to them.
The most important one is the Purple Dragon Knights. Among these people, Aaron can rely on his father's relationship to deliver the gifts personally.
Then there are the second-tier Queen's Blade and Kingdom Council.
In Queen's Blade, Aaron followed the path of Captain Hendry. The two parties were already familiar with each other. When the two golden tickets were handed over, both parties had a tacit understanding of how to distribute them. Who has more and who has less? Hendry said that you can rest assured.
I'll arrange it.
On the Kingdom Council side, Duke Kaynes helped him make a list, and with his relationship with Ms. Raul, there is no need to worry about this aspect.
Then there is the battle mage side. Not to mention how to distribute Aaron’s relationship with the eldest lady. The relationship between the major temple churches and Aaron is also pretty good. With Su Lun Mama protecting him, Aaron doesn’t have to worry too much about the gods.
hostility and worry.
There are only two places where you need to pay special attention.
The first is the temple of the Three Gods of Justice. The paladins are strong-willed and upright. They can’t rub their eyes with anyone. If they don’t deal with anyone, it is not impossible for the three gods of justice to kill Aaron “Justice”. The paladins are serious about their work and do bad things.
Seriously, if you really have to follow their standards, you won't be able to do many things in this world, but you can't do justice without them.
But on the other hand, the three gods of justice are also a sharp weapon. The paladins are often double-edged swords, and they can use them to attack the enemy. The paladins are not unaware that they are being used as knives, but they are also willing to do so.
Fortunately, Leonard is a glorious paladin and has many partners. The three gods of justice and Aaron also cooperate. The only one who has some objections to Aaron is the God of Suffering, Irmat, who came to visit Aaron and said that he would be free for the next five years.
In order to provide 100,000 relief meals to the Ilmat church and build a large relief shelter, the pastor of Ilmat reluctantly accepted Aaron's donation.
Although Ilmat still warned Aaron through the priest's mouth to "use his power in the right place," the conflict between the two parties probably disappeared.
The second is the temple of Ogma, the God of Knowledge. Most of these scholars are not very wealthy, but they are very valuable. The so-called knowledge is power. They are often not strong or powerful, but they firmly control knowledge and power.
Public discussion.
I also want to give it here, but I want to talk about some methods.
In this matter, Varro, a good friend of cousin Robert's, helped a lot.
Varro is very familiar with the group of book scholars from the Church of the Namer. During this period, he even hung out with that group of people and wrote the bards of "Five Heroes of Arabelle" together!
Aaron found Varro through Robert. The bard laughed after hearing this and said it was easy, leave it to me.
Varro did what he said. He approached the scholars from the Church of the Namer and expressed his hope that Aaron would elaborate on his story and receive a generous remuneration for polishing it.
Scholars are also human beings, and they need money to do things and live a life.
This method took care of the scholars' face and allowed them to get a lot of extra money. Soon, Aaron's reputation reached a new level in Cormyr.
Finally, there is the Harpers Alliance. Through Samir's relationship, Aaron asked the Harpers Alliance to spread his glorious deeds as the "Arabelle Five" throughout the country as soon as possible, and Samir naturally followed suit.
There is no need to spend any special money on this matter. Samir is already his, and the two patron goddesses of the Harpers Alliance are the Silver Virgin Suellen and the Lucky Lady Taimora.
I continued to do things one by one, and the ten thousand gold lion coins went out like water.
The pastor lady had some objections to Aaron's spending. She couldn't help but said: "Those people have done nothing, why should you give them so many gifts?"
"It's precisely because they didn't do anything but got a share, so they did it too." Aaron held Eleanor in his arms and smiled: "When the time comes, they won't dare not come to our wedding!
"
"Hate it, I haven't agreed to marry you yet!" As expected, Eleanor was diverted by Aaron. Miss Pastor waved her fist to express that I am not a casual woman. If you say such nonsense, I will beat you! But she also
I can't help but think about the wonderful married life.
"What? Do you also want a gift of 300,000 gold coins, a title and a fief? And the title also needs half of your name?" Aaron joked: "Greedy Eleanor!"
"Aaron, what are you talking about? What do I need so much money for?" Eleanor gave Aaron a coquettish eye roll and couldn't help but tap his head: "I don't want a title either.
I just want you to be well and for us to be well, that’s all.”
Miss Pastor's opinion was easily resolved by Aaron. In the Anaheim Manor outside the city, God Son Ben almost vomited blood when he saw the series of news in front of him. His brain was dizzy and he slumped in his chair.
Aaron Salian is a bastard!
He actually did everything I wanted to do!
Is this guy hiding a traitor next to me? Otherwise, how could he be so consistent with my thoughts?
He is so young and innocent, and has only been a member of the Purple Dragon Knights for a year, so it is impossible for him to think in such detail.
Someone must be guiding him behind his back.
Who is it?
Humph~ No matter who it is, your ambition is about to end.
Everything will be revealed at the celebration banquet at La Villette Manor three days later!