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!"
To be continued...