"Has the commission you received been resolved?" Priul asked on the way.
"Well, I asked Blitz when you were chatting with Yon. I think a person who has the courage to stand up and take the blame will never swallow the money of the villagers."
"Since Jon chose that guy to help, it means that at least his character is trustworthy." Priul nodded, and then the two of them fell into silence.
When they returned to the place where their horses were stationed, Priul and Brutus were busy making camp.
"I think you should be a little curious about my relationship with Yon." Puliure coughed twice and said proactively, "He and I are classmates, and -"
"The best friend ever."
Brutus looked at Priul and chose to continue his work while listening to what he continued.
"That was when we were in the knight academy." Puliul's hands and mouth were busy, "At that time, every preliminary knight had to go to the academy to practice for several years."
"Yon and I, as well as MacMillan, were in the same batch of preparatory knights who entered the academy. When we first entered school, Yon and I were assigned to the same dormitory, which is also where we first got acquainted."
There was a hint of nostalgia for the past in Priul's eyes: "He and I can be said to have the same goals, and we inspire each other on the road to knighthood..."
"So why didn't Jon become a knight? And what's the deal between you and MacMillan?" Brutus looked at the guy opposite, as if he wanted to slowly recall all the trivial things in the past.
Quickly bring the topic to the point.
"In the Knight Academy, every class of students must participate in a fighting competition. This competition is very important to the students." Priul realized that he had gone too far and coughed a few more times.
"The top three winners can be directly promoted to fourth-class knights without having to waste another year in the academy."
"You must know that for the nobles, this year is enough to change many things. Not to mention that the winner can also get sophisticated weapons. The short bow is the trophy of the second place."
"And the bad relationship between me, John and Macmillan can also be traced back to that game." Puliul signaled Brutus to light up the fire in the fire, and he started to strengthen the tent.
"According to the results of previous assessments before the competition, John and I firmly occupy the top two positions. Macmillan is usually ranked third. That guy has always been narrow-minded and can always gather people around him by relying on his family's power.
To help the fox friend, when he tried all legal methods and failed to grab the first position, he used his crooked brains."
"It was the Saturday of the week before the competition. Students usually have the opportunity to move around freely on weekends. I spent the whole day in the weapons shop that day. It was precisely because of this that I was not able to help Yorn in time."
Prioul hammered hard on the wooden bolts holding the tent together with a small hammer.
"Jon was attacked?" Brutus guessed.
"Yes, the gangsters in Sissoko City did it." Puliure replied, "Yon's left leg was broken by those guys, so that he lost the chance to participate in the game. According to our subsequent investigation
, those are the people Macmillan hired."
"So why didn't Jon fail to - well, how should I say, graduate from the academy and become an official knight?" Brutus now roughly understood the cause, and began to understand the consequences.
"The bottom three will be expelled." Puliure sighed, "Those who failed to participate will naturally occupy a position."
Brutus was a little surprised by this system. It didn't sound reasonable, but it didn't matter if he thought about it carefully: "Then the status of a noble can be taken away so easily?"
"Reserve knights are not nobles. Fourth-class knights are the real threshold. People who can easily inherit the status of nobles will not go to school in the academy." Priuld paused and seemed to see that Brutus
He didn't know much about the aristocratic system of the Loma Kingdom, so he explained it to him.
"There are three main types of nobles in the kingdom. One is the permanent military nobles in the border provinces. They rely on the output of their territories to support their own armies to fight against the enemies of the kingdom. The other is the Luoma who are wealthy enough.
Citizens, they must be able to afford the cost of becoming a cavalry. This is the first threshold and the reason why we are often called the knight class."
"Don't underestimate this amount of money. A qualified knight needs at least two war horses, as well as horses for his attendants. Counting weapons, armor and necessary items, it costs three to four hundred gold a year.
This is a normal phenomenon.”
"And the fastest way to become a knight is to have a wealth of at least 40,000 gold lattice. There are naturally ways to deal with poor people like us, such as military exploits, recommendation, and marriage. As long as you can meet the minimum requirements for entering the knight academy, you can't do anything after entering.
If you are expelled, you can get the status of a fourth-class knight."
"After accumulating enough qualifications, knights will have the opportunity to participate in the politics of the kingdom and obtain powers commensurate with their status. The power of taxation is just an appetizer among those powers."
"And the third type is a bunch of old antiques." Puliure's tone was full of sarcasm, "Those old guys control the Senate by relying on the power accumulated by their families over the years."
He looked at Brutus sitting by the fire and sat down: "So you should understand why John failed to become a knight."
Brutus nodded.
"According to Jon's habit, he is probably just like us tonight, so he is camping in the wild." Priul looked up at the dark sky, and then looked at Brutus, "What time is it now?"
Brutus pulled out his pocket watch: "Ten o'clock."
Priul took out a map from the bag hanging on his belt and read it for a while by the firelight: "That means we have to leave before 7 o'clock tomorrow morning."
Brutus followed Priul's gaze and looked over, but he could not see anything on this rudimentary map.
"What's the reason?"
"There will really be a large group of bandits around here tomorrow." Puliure put away the map, "Even I didn't know that John would appear here, and Macmillan certainly wouldn't have thought of it."
"And Jon is also an unscrupulous person..." Priul looked at Brutus again, as if he didn't intend to continue explaining, "You can rest first, I will wake you up in two hours
you."
Brutus looked at Priul, but there was no expression on his face, so he had to temporarily put aside his doubts and get into the tent to start a short sleep.
Priul looked at the fire in front of him in a daze. After a long time, he showed a helpless smile, shook his head and scanned the surroundings warily.