Chapter 349 [The Destroyed Noble]

By dawn, the carriage had already bypassed a road and crossed a hill. A farm with a small area appeared in front of it.

Chen Daolin, who was sitting in the carriage, yawned and stretched.

The space in the car was quite spacious. The Baron's family sitting opposite Chen Daolin had a complicated expression, especially Baron Pierre. After all, he was old and the old man who had not been sleeping all night could not hide his tiredness. However, the Baron's son, Polomir, was sleepy and had been dozing several times along the way. He opened his eyes and looked around in fear and vigilance.

Chen Daolin had a polite and polite smile on his face and whispered: "It seems that it is coming soon, Lord Baron."

Baron Pierre nodded and looked at Chen Daolin. The old man's eyes were tempted to speak, but then he saw his son's loose sleepiness, and he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

At the front of the team, Montoya had already rode a horse far away. A spear hung on the saddle of the Holy Knight, responsible for guarding and opening the way forward.

At the end of the team, the unlucky Ade was still responsible for the task of shutting down the rear. The priest-born guy was exhausted. He was woken up in the middle of the night, dragged him from the bed, carried his luggage and ran away with everyone. This kind of thing was really depressing. What made Ade most helpless was that Lord Montoya seemed to be in the mood to explain anything to him, so the poor young priest simply appointed him.

The Baron's mistress and girls such as Barossa Shasha were riding in another car. Chen Daolin pulled the Baron and his son to ride together.

What surprised the Baron even more was that the person in charge of chasing the car was actually...

A werewolf!!

...

It seems that the farm in front of me is not very prosperous. Although the land is flat, it is already the season for spring plowing. The yellow thatch still grows tall. The road is a bit muddy. Along the way, only some simple farmhouses are seen, with yellow mud exposed on the walls. Occasionally, you can see a few thin cows and goats in captivity between the farmhouses, but they are obviously insufficient in nutrition.

Chen Daolin could judge that it seemed that the baron's industry did not seem to be as rich as expected, at least this farm looked depressed.

The muddy dirt road made the carriage a little bumpy, and the roosters crowed or the barking of dogs. It was clearly early in the morning, but this farm had a feeling of dusk.

Finally, I walked across a slope and could see a slightly larger house in the distance.

The courtyard wall is made of stones, which looks quite solid and has been around for a while. The blue-brown stone is exposed and no wall is painted. However, there are weeds that are tenaciously breeding between the gaps. The wall is not very high and can barely block an adult.

The gate is made of two iron fences, tall and imposing, but it is obviously not painted for a long time, with rust peeling off, and a black and yellow piece, which is slightly dilapidated.

The house inside is quite large. But it is obvious that it has not been repaired for many years. The ivy on the walls are growing freely, and even the windows are blocked in many places, green and red.

The main building of the house has two floors, a natural large yard in the courtyard wall, and the ground is relatively flat, but probably to save costs, no precious green plants were planted. There was not even a cheap green lawn, with black mud ground exposed.

The porches of the house are very tall... It can be seen that the baron's ancestors are indeed wide. The thick pillars are obviously made of high-quality stone, and the floors on the porch steps are also high-quality stone slabs.

It is commendable that in front of the porch of the house, in the middle of a fountain, is a sculpture of a warrior, wearing imperial military uniform, holding a sharp sword, and showing heroic posture - this is to show that the baron's family ancestors have military achievements. It is also to reflect that the family made this family business with their military achievements.

However, the fountain was dry, there was no drop of water inside, and the stone on the edge was already a little broken.

When the carriage stopped, Chen Daolin opened the window and glanced at the mansion in the Baron's mansion in front of him. The roof and walls were covered with gray, and it seemed that it had not been cleaned for a long time... In short, this seemed to be a standard old house of a country noble.

Obviously, the baron's life was not as good as he thought.

In fact, Chen Daolin knew that this was also the common situation of small nobles in many parts of the Roland Empire.

Fortunately, although the family was broken, the rules were still there. When the baron jumped out of the carriage, a servant was already greeted by the porch of the house quickly. Although he looked old, he was not slow to do things.

Chen Daolin and others got off the carriage, and a servant led the carriage and horses to the side and rear of the house to take care of it.

When he arrived at his home, the Baron Pierre seemed to have recovered some confidence and his waist was straightened a little. He threw the cloak he had taken off to the old servant beside him, made a gesture of invitation to Chen Daolin, and smiled reservedly: "Your Excellency, welcome to the humble house."

Chen Daolin smiled slightly, grabbed Barossa's little hand, and followed the Baron's family into the mansion.

From the inside, the house is indeed very large and spacious, but the taste of dilapidated is becoming more and more obvious.

There weren't many servants in the huge house - maybe they couldn't afford to support so many people.

The carpet in the hall was very old, with an old smell that seemed to be unventilated all year round. The curtains seemed to have faded, and the edges and corners of tables, chairs and other furniture had been polished off.

Although there are some decorations hanging on the walls, the oil paintings are shoddy at first glance, and there is no work of famous artists - the only one is pretty good, and they are just some freshly picked flowers in some vases. This is probably the few styles that this baron's house can demonstrate his noble status.

However, with Chen Daolin's sharp eyes, he could tell at a glance that the flowers were the same as those common flowers on the roadside that he had walked along the way, and obviously they didn't have to spend money.

When I looked up, there was a huge copper chandelier above my head, but the magician's vision was extraordinary and he could see the thick dust falling on it at a glance.

Perhaps because he noticed Chen Daolin's eyes watching everywhere, the baron's face turned red. He pondered slightly before pretending to be calm and smiled: "I've worked hard all the way, please go in and rest. Please allow me to change my clothes first, and then..."

Chen Daolin smiled faintly: "You don't have to be polite, Baron. I only need a lounge where I can wash my face and drink water."

The baron took his woman away after a noble manner. Before leaving, he seemed to leave Polomir to greet the guests, but when he looked at his son's confused and panic, he sighed slightly. He simply gave up.

A servant led Chen Daolin and his party through the hall to a lounge.

The clean water for washing was quickly brought up, and some edible snacks - just ordinary pastries, nothing more than adding a little honey and cream. Chen Daolin took only one bite and put it down.

It was not until this moment that he had a personal feeling of "leaving the imperial capital".

In the imperial capital, the luxurious life of those rich and powerful families. It seems that at this moment, they are truly far away from themselves. Those ladies with exquisite makeup, exquisite utensils, expensive wines, gorgeous decorations, luxurious mansions, and even servants are wearing silk robes from the south...

"It seems that this baron's life is not very good." Chen Daolin sighed softly.

After entering the door, Montoya remained silent. Perhaps it was Chen Daolin's order to slaughter severely injured prisoners of war. He still did not let the Holy Knight recover from the attack.

However, Ade glanced at Chen Daolin and said lightly: "Do you think it's strange?"

"Hmm?" Chen Daolin glanced at the young priest.

Adr shook his head: "In fact, most local aristocrats live not as good as ordinary people imagine. Especially for Baron Pierre, although he has a title, he has no official position. A country aristocrat without real power can only rely on his ancestors' property. At most, he has to do some business and maintain the dignity and pomp of the aristocrat's life. The daily shortage is conceivable."

After pausing, Ade whispered: "Maybe, this time the baron lost a lot of income because of your affairs."

"What do you mean?" Chen Daolin was a little surprised.

"It's very simple... The gifts and gifts given by the guests at this birthday party of the Baron." Ade's answer made Chen Daolin realize it suddenly.

Not to mention that the other yard was burned by oneself, it would be enough to cause this country noble to lose its vitality. The gifts and money given by those well-known figures in the local area should be a long-established income in the Baron family - but most of the gifts had been burned by oneself.

When I left the courtyard, I didn’t have time to deal with the bodies. The two or three tables placed in the courtyard were burned out of recognition. The only thing that was well preserved was the set of knight armor I gave me.

I have to say that the quality of the Pompeii Chamber of Commerce is quite good. The knight's armor was not burned, but it was covered with a layer of burnt black color, just wipe it off. The armor was brought back, but there is no need to mention anything else.

Chen Daolin felt a little embarrassed.

Speaking of which, the baron has suffered a terrible disaster. If he had not gone to his banquet, Anthony and others would not have come here.

"If I remember correctly, the Pierre family should have been passed down for more than 450 years. It was when the Augustine Dynasty was established. The ancestor of this baron followed His Majesty of the Augustinian Empire to fight with the army, made military achievements, and then won the title of such a baron and this territory. However, in the past few hundred years, there seems to be no outstanding figures in the descendants of this family." Ade thought for a while and said slowly: "It is not easy for them to maintain such an air without breaking the family."

Chen Daolin then showed a hint of curiosity and stared at Ade: "Do you actually understand this?"

Ade glanced at Chen Daolin and said lightly: "In the church's academy, we will also learn some imperial emblems. There are their family emblems on the pillars at the door of this house. I remember I saw them in the emblems."

Chen Daolin sighed and exclaimed: "What are you doing with badges? I have read them when I was bored in the Magic Academy. There are at least 2,400 families recorded in the badges of the Roland Empire, and there are more than 900 that are still inherited and not extinct. It's hard for you to remember them."

He said this, but his heart was awe-inspiring: these church clergymen, in the cultivation of the younger generation, all paid so much attention to the study of the imperial aristocratic class, which shows that the ambition of seizing power in the hands of the church and the imperial aristocrats did not really disappear!

Thinking in his heart, Chen Daolin deliberately smiled and said, "That's how these nobles live a life of these nobles. I really don't know how so many nobles in the Roland Empire live."

"What else can it be..." Ade seemed a little disdainful: "In the imperial capital, there are more than 40 families qualified to establish a foothold in the imperial capital, have prominent public offices, and have imperial capital industry, of which only a small part of them can be considered first-class wealthy families. However, those who live in the imperial capital and have titles of nobles above the Lord, including hereditary and lifelong reputations. The number of people exceeds 300! Most of these have no public offices, and even their territory and ancestral property were defeated, and they were hang out in the imperial capital with the title of a noble. These destructive nobles all come from various places in the empire, some have a little bit of territorial property in their hometowns, and some are completely paupers. If these people want to survive, they have to give up some of their own dignity.

Some people can only join some wealthy families. They join those real great nobles, serve as followers, tutors, or even find a career in the chamber of commerce industries of some wealthy families, and some rely on their noble titles to be intermediaries or brokers, some of which are true and false. Some rely on their noble titles to find some ways to find ways. Help some small businessmen who work in foreign imperial capitals to run around, earn some hard money that sells face, and some... they simply cheat.

I also heard that in the mercenary guilds and several other guilds, several deacons with noble titles were hired to support the store.

There are many nobles like this, most of them go to the imperial capital to make a living from the local area. But of course there are many nobles who are reluctant to leave their faces behind. They are unwilling to put down their aristocratic airs and refuse to do such things. I think this Baron Pierre is probably of this type. He lives a very shabby life, but he still stays in this small place and does not go to the imperial capital."

As the two were talking, Chen Daolin suddenly looked moved, and he waved his hand to Ade, signaling him not to speak. He had already felt footsteps coming from a distance outside the door.

In a short while, the door of the lounge was opened, and the old baron, who had already changed into a clean dress, walked in strode.

The Baron seemed to have washed up and his face had a little bloody color. After entering the door, he bowed to Chen Daolin with a smile, and then tentatively said: "You are resting well? If you need anything else..."

"No more." Chen Daolin immediately shook his head: "For the hospitality, we have a good rest."

The Baron nodded, but a complex hint of embarrassment flashed across his face.

Chen Daolin immediately understood, smiled, and continued, "I was about to say something to the Baron, I don't know..."

The baron immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "There is a backyard behind my house, which is quite quiet. If you don't dislike it, please go and visit it with me."

...

This backyard is indeed quiet, but it is too quiet.

The crude vegetation was obviously not well maintained, and it was lazy and scattered. Chen Daolin knew that it would cost a lot to hire a professional gardener.

But even so, a baron's life was so shabby, which surprised him a little.

There were only two people in the backyard, Chen Daolin and Baron. Putting aside his concerns, Chen Daolin decided to speak out simply.

"Baron." He pondered for a moment, and after he had a brief remark, he spoke: "I am really sorry for what happened last night, which has caused you such a big trouble... But don't worry, I will compensate you for all the losses you suffered."

The baron's expression did not stretch much. He stared at Chen Daolin quietly, and then whispered: "...This... Your Excellency, your name should not be Alan? Yeager..."

Chen Daolin smiled: "Sorry, this is just a pseudonym. In order to hide your identity and avoid some unnecessary troubles. I think you should have guessed a little... I have some troubles on my back, so..."

The Baron's face looked even more ugly.

However, Chen Daolin smiled and said, "To be honest, my name is Daling? Chen, my real identity is a magician. Well, I still have several titles, court wizards, court jazz, court scholars... Well. But these court titles should have been dismissed now. But the title of professor in the Magic Academy should still be there."

The Baron's eyes lit up, and then he showed a little awe: "Are you... really a magician?"

Chen Daolin spread his hands: "When you were in the other courtyard, you should have seen it with your own eyes."

Baron Pierre's face turned red, his breathing was a little rapid, and after taking a few deep breaths, he said in a deep voice: "Then..."

"I... should be wanted now. Oh. But please rest assured that this kind of wanted is not public, but in private. Because my identity as a magician has not been deprived, according to the law of the empire, even His Majesty the Emperor has no right to openly want a magician - but I did offend the current emperor His Majesty Hilo. So..."

Beyond Chen Daolin's expectations, when Baron Pierre heard this, he actually showed a relaxed smile on his face, and he breathed a sigh of relief: "It's not a public wanted... that's good!"

"Oh?" Chen Daolin was a little curious.

"I am the Baron of the Empire." Baron Pierre said seriously: "According to the Imperial Law, as a noble, I have the obligation to maintain the Imperial Law. If you are a fugitive who is openly wanted by the law of the country, then I have the obligation to arrest you and bring him to justice... Although I do not have such ability, I cannot watch you indifferently before me."

After a pause, he smiled and said, "Since you are not wanted by the national law and are just a personal grudge with the emperor...then it will be easy."

"Huh?" Chen Daolin became more and more curious: "Even if it is a personal grudge, I offended the Emperor of the Empire. Could it be... Lord Baron, aren't you worried that I will implicate you?"

Baron Pierre, the old man actually showed a cunning smile on his face:

"I am an imperial nobleman. As long as I have not violated the national law, the emperor cannot do anything to me. At most, I am hated by the emperor and removed from my public office - I have not held public office now. As for my noble title and territory, it is protected by the sacred imperial code. Even the emperor has no power to deprive him of it, otherwise he will stand on the opposite side of all the aristocratic classes in the world. What should I be afraid of?"

Speaking of this, the old man actually narrowed his eyes: "The sky is high and the emperor is far away... How about His Majesty Hilo? He can't take care of this place anyway, but you, a noble magician with powerful magic power, stands alive in front of me - Lord Darling Chen. If you can make friends with a magician within the borders of the Roland Empire, it will be something that any nobleman can't ask for!"

This old man was able to say such a thing, which made Chen Daolingao look at him a few times.

Then Chen Daolin pondered for a moment and smiled, "I don't want to hide it from you. In fact, I came to attend your birthday party last night for some special reasons. I had to leave the imperial capital for my own reasons and was chased by the emperor privately. Although I was not afraid of this kind of pursuit... it made me unable to contact the Magic Academy for the time being. And I happened to be inadvertently in the town yesterday. Baron, you have a younger brother, who is also a magician, and he was once a student who graduated from the Magic Academy. This made me think. I came to your banquet, but I actually wanted to take the opportunity to see your magician brother, and to see if he was someone I knew, or... to see if he could get some contact with the Magic Academy through your younger brother, so..."

When Chen Daolin said this, he saw that the Baron's face turned red and his eyes flashed, as if he was a little ashamed and shy.

"This... Master Darling, I think there may be some misunderstanding in this matter." Baron Pierre's smile was a little bitter and embarrassed, and he stammered: "Indeed, my brother Quinn is a mage with a registered identity in the Magic Union, but... he is not a student from the Magic Academy. That... the legend in the town is actually... well..."

Next, Baron Pierre's words made Chen Daolin realize it.

...

This Pierre family is indeed an aristocratic family on the verge of dilapidation. After hundreds of years of inheritance, the industries left by their ancestors have been lost, and later generations do not know how to manage them. No outstanding talents appeared in the family for several generations. They did not hold any public office with real power.

By the generation of Baron Pierre, it was already difficult to maintain the dignity of a Baron House.

But where is the real power position of the empire so easy to obtain? Baron Pierre was also known for his bravery when he was young, but the problem is... the empire has been tolerant of no war for a hundred years!

If Baron Pierre had been born a hundred years ago, he might have been able to catch up with the era of the first Duke of Tulip and the era of war with the orcs. Baron Pierre had the strength of a low-level warrior, although not very good. But with the title of Baron, if he devoted himself to the military, he might be able to get a job with half a position.

But the empire has been peaceful for too long in the past few decades, and there is no war, so there is no chance to make a comeback.

So Baron Pierre took a different approach and thought of an alternative way. He wanted to revitalize the family: he had a younger brother named Quinn, who seemed to be somewhat intelligent since childhood.

Since both civil and military paths cannot be understood, then just try the magic path!

Therefore, Baron Pierre sent his younger brother to the imperial capital many years ago and allowed him to participate in several magical talent assessments. He tried to enter the Magic Academy to become a student.

However, the facts are very frustrating.

Although his younger brother is quite smart, his magical talent is not enough to enter the Magic Academy.

But the Baron did not give up: he learned that even if he could not become a real magician, if he could learn a magic apprentice, it would be a promising profession! If he was lucky enough to be an apprentice with a magician in the future, he might be able to be rich and prosperous for the rest of his life. However, if he could rely on this younger brother to have some relationship with the nobles in the magic world...

So, after gritting his teeth and making a decision, Baron Pierre bet on his younger brother.

His younger brother Quinn did enter the Magic Academy, but he was not a formal student, but... an auditor.

The auditors are a special group in the Magic Academy.

Each of the formal students is a treasure of the Magic Academy, and they all study in the academy for free. Not only that, they also enjoy superior free food, accommodation and free training, and are even carefully cared for and protected by the Magic Academy.

But the audience is different. The audience is all determined to follow the magic path, but they are not talented enough to become formal students. They have to spend money to enter the college to listen. These people can only attend courses in the magic academy, but do not have other powers and treatments like formal students. For example, they cannot enter some special magic labs in the college, and cannot read some real magic books collected in the college. There are also some special courses that cannot be learned.

But the audience has one thing in common: the tuition is expensive!

Lucius, the son of Governor Fritz, was unable to become a magician because of his stuttering problem. However, he refused to give up his ideal of magic, so he had to spend a huge amount of money to enter the Magic Academy and found someone to get a quota for attending students - Governor Fritz was an important minister of the Empire and the Governor of the East China Sea! His wealthy family could naturally bear such expensive tuition fees.

But for the tuition fees of the attendees like Baron Pierre, the amount of money for the almost ruined nobleman is a heavy burden!

In order to obtain a quota for the audience, Baron Pierre has spent almost half of the family's savings to go on the road, and in order to pay the tuition, he even sold several pieces of treasure jewelry from the family's ancestral family.

Then he finally sent his younger brother Quinn to the Magic Academy to be a listener.

Moreover, in recent years, in order to maintain his younger brother's magical path, the family has been providing full support. The Baron has devoted all his efforts to devote almost all his financial resources to his younger brother.

So now, as a dignified baron, life is so difficult and poor.

Baron Pierre was not shy about it. His birthday party yesterday, according to his plan, was expected to receive a considerable amount of gifts and gifts for this birthday party, which could just ease his financial tensions recently.

Although his younger brother is an auditor in the Magic Academy, he is considered a "student in the Magic Academy". Moreover, in this small town far away from the imperial capital, how can the people here know the difference between formal students and auditors in the Magic Academy?

Just hearing the title of "Magic Academy Student" is enough to shock people, and they bow down to their heads!

Because of some subtle vanity and face, the Baron family did not deliberately say it out, and deliberately maintained this situation and statements vaguely.

This also made Baron Pierre stand out in this small local area, respected by prominent figures in the local area, and dared not offend him.

However, at this moment, a true professor from the Magic Academy stood in front of him, Baron Pierre naturally did not dare to brag about this kind of shame anymore.

"...So that's it." Chen Daolin frowned, feeling a little disappointed: "Then... your brother is just an attendant student, so he should be a magic apprentice now?"

Based on Chen Daolin's understanding of the Magic Academy, the selection of the academy is very reasonable and strict. Since the selection was lost at the beginning, I think this baron's younger brother should really not have enough magical talent and probably cannot become a magician. Now he is probably just a magic apprentice.

The baron was excited and a little proud appeared on his face: "My younger brother Quinn, after listening to the magic academy for five years, left the academy. However, later, he had another adventure, which could be regarded as the protection of the goddess. He actually became a real magician! Just last year, he had passed the magician assessment of the Magic Union! Now he is a real magician. There is also a mage in my Pierre family, hahahaha!"

Chen Daolin's heart moved: he had been selected by the Magic Academy, but in the end he became a magician... This matter is a bit strange, is it...

Just when he had guessed something in his heart...

Outside the yard, the Baron's son Polomir suddenly ran in. The Baron's son looked panicked: "Father!! Not good!! A team of local garrison cavalry came over, surrounded the house and blocked the gate! Say yes, say yes..."

Chen Daolin smiled slightly, but his expression remained unchanged, and he said lightly: "Polomir, don't hesitate to avoid it. These people should be coming to me, right?"
Chapter completed!