The magic caravan that Surdak was riding in slowly drove into the front courtyard of the manor and stopped steadily by the fountain filled with people.
As members of the Ludweide family, almost everyone stood by the fountain of the manor to greet him.
Around the courtyard in front of the manor, a group of nobles from Ruit City were also standing on both sides of the steps. The nobles wore gorgeous dresses to greet the consul of Ruit City.
Two elders of the Ludweide family stood at the front. One of them was Senator Macmillan's father, Aneurin Ludweide, and the other was his uncle, Llewellyn Ludweide.
Senator Millan is only standing in third place. It can be seen that Senator Macmillan is the second in line of succession of the family.
"Welcome, Lord Archon Suldak, I am Aneurin Ludwig!"
Suldak strode forward, took the initiative to shake hands with the old count, who was already gray-haired but full of energy, and said: "Thank you to the Ludweid family for the invitation, Count Anellin."
"Please, Lord Consul!" Anellin Ludwig smiled slightly and said very respectfully.
Suldak held hands with Hathaway and Beatrice and walked up the steps to the hall. They were both wearing exquisite low-cut evening gowns, revealing a large area of snow-white and delicate skin on their chests, setting off the delicate collarbones and
The thin white necks make the two of them look noble and elegant.
The guests in the manor focused their attention on the three of them. The men cast their eyes on Hathaway's delicate face and Beatrice's plump chest.
The ladies looked at Surdak, who was wearing fiery red leather armor and looked very heroic, with expressions of admiration on their faces.
"I heard that Lord Surdak is a great knight. He is really strong."
In the corner behind the crowd, among a group of female relatives huddled together, someone was holding a small folding fan, covering her lips and murmuring praise in a low voice.
Another rather bold voice said: "Kerry, what do you think it would feel like to lie in his arms?"
The companion quickly and carefully reminded and joked: "Hey, you are already married, why don't you have sex here? Do you know that you look like Anyashi's Persian cat in heat now?"
That bold voice said with a tone of conquistador: "Kerry, do you think Sir Suldak will like my type? Relationships are like going to a shoe store. How do you know if the shoes fit if you don't try them on?"
Doesn’t fit?”
"Hello……"
In the noisy dance hall, no one seemed to notice the conversation in the corner.
There were many more women attending the ball than men. They wore beautiful dance dresses and gathered in several groups in the hall.
It seems that only this kind of occasion can show their youth and vitality. When chatting, they always show exquisite smiles from time to time. Some people are bold and hot, while others are reserved and shy. Everyone on the scene is immersed in the cheerful music.
.
At the invitation of Count Anellin, Suldak and Hathaway danced an opening dance with Count Anellin and his wife, and the ball officially began.
Surdak danced with Beatrice again, then went to a rest area in the corner of the dance and sat down. Count Aneurin quickly introduced several nobles around him to Surdak.
This nobleman is also quite prestigious in Ruit City. Everyone is talking about some major events that happened in the Tarapagan area. Surdak easily joined the conversation of several people.
Hathaway and Beatrice also sat down among a group of ladies.
It's just that the ladies around them are almost all middle-aged ladies who can't retain their youth, and the rouge on their faces always falls from their wrinkles every time they laugh. They work hard to create topics and cater to Hathaway and
Beatrice asked them if they were used to the climate in Ruit City, which was much behind the prosperous Bena City...
In fact, the two of them wanted to chat about young people's topics with the young noble ladies around them.
Siya, who was wearing a shark pattern dress, walked away from Suldak angrily, seeming a little unhappy that he didn't invite her to dance.
She sat by the fountain and gently fiddled with the water with her hands. Several goldfish in the pool always circled around Siya's fingers in the water.
Several young nobles were attracted by Siya's beautiful blue eyes and came over to invite her to dance. Siya turned her head and refused to talk to them at all. The young nobles thought this was very interesting and stood around with playful smiles to pester her.
This move of the young nobles immediately frightened the officials in the city hall, and someone immediately ran over to drive those young people away...
Suldak chatted with Count Aneurin for a few words. When he saw Hathaway and Beatrice surrounded by a group of ladies, the smiles on their faces were so forced, he started fighting with everyone.
After saying hello, he gracefully left the rest area, walked to the group of ladies, and pulled them out from the crowd.
"Look, I knew Dak would definitely find a way to rescue us." The round-faced Beatrice was always so optimistic.
Hathaway also glanced at Suldak gratefully.
This is a dance for nobles. If you don't have the idea of dancing with other noble ladies to communicate with each other, in fact, this kind of dance is quite boring.
And everyone likes to talk in circles, and every word is so careful. Not only are they worried about what traps others have made in their previous sentence, but they also think that the words they say must be appropriate...
Surdak actually gained nothing from participating in this dance except getting to know more nobles of Ruit City.
It was the first time for everyone to meet, and they were all cautiously testing each other, so there was no real content in the conversation, which made him a little disappointed.
Suldak was about to find two pieces of pastry to eat when he saw Senator Macmillan and his wife coming over with wine glasses. Senator Macmillan said with a smile:
"Lord Consul, if you feel a little tired, please go to the VIP lounge upstairs to take a rest..."
Suldak glanced at Hathaway and Beatrice, saw their interested expressions, and said, "I'm really tired and want to take a short rest."
"Please come with me..."
From the lobby to the upper floors, the stairs are designed like huge shells spread out. Even the handrails of the stairs are iron wood inlaid with gold patterns, which is very luxurious.
When you walk up to the second floor and pass through a corridor, you can see landscape oil paintings hanging on the walls.
The guest rooms on the second floor are suites. The semi-open living room can see the dance floor in the lobby on the first floor, and you can clearly hear the melodious music. There is a dessert shelf at the door of the bedroom.
Earl Macmillan invited everyone to sit down, and the waiter brought drinks and exquisite snacks.
A cheerful rhythm happened to be heard downstairs.
"The Silver Moon elves always compose the most moving melodies. Lord Suldak, do you like the music of the elves?" MacMillan said with squinted eyes. He seemed to like this style of music very much...
"Oh, I don't usually have the opportunity to come into contact with elves, and I don't know how to appreciate music. However, I was lucky enough to hear the songs of the Naga Banshee twice..." Surdak said.
This reminded him of Samira, a half-elf archer who seemed to have no musical talent at all, and then he thought of Siya's singing, which sounded really deadly.
Councilor Macmillan thought that what Suldak said was a joke, so he smiled in agreement and said:
"The family has been trying to expand its territory in recent years, but there are only a few mountains around Ruit City, and there is no suitable land at all, so they plan to expand to the plane and seek some resource-rich areas.
territory……"
Surdak pondered for a moment before saying:
"Do you want to develop on the plane? But in those open planes, the rich lands are basically occupied by lords, and such rich territories are rarely sold to outsiders. The rest are ordinary lands and barren lands.
.”
"Let's just talk about the Ganbu plane. There are still a lot of barren mountainous areas left, but the rich lands are basically invisible. Moreover, the Ganbu plane is a completely occupied plane and there is no room for development..."
"If you only want rich lands, you will probably have to form a private army to occupy unknown areas in other undeveloped planes."
Councilor Macmillan asked Suldak: "Isn't there any rich land that can be purchased directly with magic crystals?"
"It should be possible, but this requires patience..." Surdak said.
Surdak's words were a little vague, because the lords who were willing to sell the rich land should be nobles who were extremely embarrassed.
They will not sell this type of territory unless they have to, unless they are defeated in the plane war and continue to receive a high pension...
Councilor Macmillan originally wanted to ask Surdak if he was willing to sell some of the rich land on the dry cloth plane. Now it seems that Surdak has no intention of selling the territory at all, so he can only ask:
"Lord Archon, do you have any good recommendations?"
Suldak thought carefully before saying:
"I haven't come into contact with many planes. As for the planes that haven't been fully developed, I've only come into contact with the Bai Lin and Maca planes. I personally think these two planes are very good. Bai Lin has a lot of
Pastures and Maca have large forests and large unexplored areas.”
When talking about this, Surdak was reminded of the city of Vozhmara that was covered with Tyro trees.
Mrs. Macmillan was sitting next to Hathaway and chatting secretly. She didn’t know what topic was discussed. Hathaway and Beatrice actually listened attentively.
Senator Macmillan asked again: "Lord Suldak, I would like to take the liberty to ask you, where did you buy the armor weapons and war horses in your army?"
Suldak said directly without thinking: "There is a large trading house in Constantinople that sells armor products in large quantities. As for weapons, I found a random weapons store in Bena City. If you want
To buy war horses, I personally recommend that you go to the Bailin plane, where there are a large number of ancient Bos who buy war horses."
After I finished speaking, I remembered one thing. I also have a large pasture in the Ganbu plane, and I have abundant war horse resources.
"Where's the scaled horse?" Senator Macmillan asked in a low voice.
Surdak laughed dumbly and replied: "Scale horse? I guess you have to go to the western provinces to have a look."
Hearing what Suldak said, Senator Macmillan couldn't help but show a trace of disappointment in his eyes.
"Lord Archon Suldak, do you have any channels to purchase the magic pattern structure? Even if it is purchased at a premium, we can sit down and talk." Councilor Macmillan asked Suldak again.
"I have..." Surdak said calmly.
Congressman Macmillan's eyes lit up, he couldn't wait to interrupt Suldak, and asked hastily: "Can you..."
Surdak waved his hand and said: "That trading market is very special. The currency circulating in the market is unidentified black magic crystals, unless you have enough unidentified magic crystals."
Congressman Macmillan sighed again, and then said: "The family's business has been doing pretty well in the past few years. They have accumulated some capital, and they want to use the accumulated resources to purchase some territories or form a private army.
, go to a certain plane to open up a new territory. I heard that you have a garrison stationed in the Bailin plane, and you have also opened up a territory in the Bailin plane."
"Invercargill Forest in the White Forest plane." Surdak answered.
Councilor Macmillan leaned forward and said eagerly: "If possible, our Ludweide family hopes to form an army of lords to enter the Bailin plane and follow you to open up the Bailin plane.
The purpose is to expand territory..."
Surdak did not expect that Senator Macmillan not only wanted to learn from him about his experience in forming a lord's private army, but also set his sights on the Bailin plane.
Thinking about the territory occupied in the northern part of Bailin plane, it would be better to have an ally next to it than to have some ghost-striped red ants and roc birds as neighbors.
When he thought about it, he said:
"There is nothing wrong with this, but since it is a coalition of lords, each of them is responsible for their weapons, equipment, logistics supplies, including post-war pensions. Moreover, when opening up new territories, it also depends on combat merit. The newly formed new army is not
It will be a great harvest. If you have sufficient funds, I suggest you recruit some mercenary groups to increase your combat power."
"Now that we are entering the Bailin Plane, the beast tide that occurs once every ten years has just ended. The northern region of the Bailin Plane has ushered in a new round of ten-year development period."
"There is a vast Three Rivers Plain to the east of the Thorny Mountains. Even if it is an area for development, the Anya Swamp to the west is also good land. If you want to develop in the White Forest Plane, now is indeed the best time."
Councilor Macmillan hesitated for a moment, then asked: "I would also like to ask you, Mr. Archon, is Bai Lin the next plane you plan to explore?"
"I do have such a plan. When things here come to an end, I will prepare to continue exploring northward along the Invercargill Forest." Suldak admitted frankly, but did not go into too much detail.
Congressman Macmillan obviously got a satisfactory answer, so he was ready to end the conversation.
He waved to the butler guarding the door. The butler immediately understood and led two waiters to place a magic-sealing box in front of everyone.
Senator Macmillan took the initiative to open the magic box. Inside was a piece of cloth glowing with blue magic luster. Then he said very sincerely: "These two pieces of moon cloth are for Mrs. Hathaway and Beatrice."
Madam’s gift, I hope you will accept it, Lord Consul..."