my pokemon player.

Ryan took the letter and asked with a puzzled look on his face:

"Who? Marquis Cross? Why is he here to inspect my territory?"

The system of the Kingdom of Arad is similar to the aristocratic feudal system of European countries in Ryan's previous life.

There is a strict hierarchy among the nobles, and each lord is relatively independent and is only responsible to his direct feudal lord.

That is what is called "the lord's lord is not my lord" and "the vassal of the vassal is not my vassal."

Although all nobles are loyal to the royal family on the surface, the great nobles can also indirectly command the lesser nobles through their vassals.

But generally speaking, there is no interaction between the great nobles and the lesser nobles.

Take the nobles of the Southeast Province as an example. Over the years, only Marquis Cross has summoned a coalition of nobles to attack Guanhai City together.

Apart from this, the nobles rarely fought together.

A few years ago, when Marquis de Clos responded to the royal call to conquer the three rebellious dukes, he wanted to repeat the same trick and summon the lesser nobles.

However, most of the nobles found excuses to refuse, and Marquis Cross could do nothing about them.

The nobles were not stupid. The reason they obeyed the orders of Marquis Cross was because the Chamber of Commerce had infringed upon their interests.

No one really thinks that they follow Marquis Cross to fight because they are impressed by his personal charm, right?

This is just a polite remark, just listen to it, no one will believe it.

Even Marquis Cross himself didn't believe it. He just talked about it and flattered himself.

The fundamental reason for the nobles' unity was that the rise of the Chamber of Commerce was too strong. If the development of the Chamber of Commerce was not stopped, the merchants would surpass the nobles.

So when Marquis Cross raised his hand and called out, they all followed him happily.

But the Rebellion of the Three Kings had nothing to do with them, and whoever became king would not affect their rule over the territory.

The Marquis of Cross is a direct vassal of the king and will receive generous rewards after quelling the unrest. But they, the small nobles, are not and can only get a few sips of soup at most.

There was no need for them to consume their own troops for this reward and help Marquis Cross gain merit.

By then, Marquis Cross will have gained the trust of the new king, and maybe even be able to obtain the Calamity Beast, thereby increasing his own strength and making a fortune.

However, they suffered heavy losses and could only rely on the Marquis of Close to survive in order to avoid being annexed by him.

In comparison, if the nobles had no problem with their brains, they would know what to choose.

Therefore, except for a small number of nobles who were truly loyal to Marquis Cross, the other nobles pretended to obey and were reluctant to go to Lion City.

At that time, Marquis Cross was so angry that his back teeth were almost broken, but he had no other choice. He couldn't start a civil war in the southeastern province before quelling the unrest.

Therefore, Marquis Cross had no choice but to lead his army to the capital, intending to quell the unrest and then come back to deal with these disobedient little nobles.

As a result, he was credited with quelling the unrest, but the troops he led suffered heavy losses.

In addition, the royal power is controlled by four major families, and they are very hostile to external lords like Cross.

Therefore, the reward that Marquis Cross received was not much. If he had not put aside his pride and bowed to the four major families, he would not even have received the Staff-tailed Scaled Dragon.

There was no way. The four major families had a strong foundation and controlled the Royal Knights. He was no match for the four major families.

Finally, Marquis Cross returned home in disappointment with his injured body and depleted troops. He began to recuperate quietly and select a suitable successor. He no longer thought about dealing with those nobles who disobeyed his orders.

While the nobles in the southeastern provinces breathed a sigh of relief, they continued to maintain their independent aristocratic systems.

Whether it is power or obligation, they are only responsible to their own feudal lord.

For example, when Ryan's father was the lord of Firefly Town, he was supposed to be a vassal of Viscount West of Guanhai City, and he only needed to obey the orders of Viscount West.

But the nobles all knew that the lord of Guanhai City had been sidelined by the Merchants Association. As a noble, how could Nord obey the orders of the merchants?

Therefore, Nord is directly responsible to Count Albert of Yuexi City, and all past taxes were handed over to the Count to be transferred to the royal family on his behalf.

After Ryan took over Firefly Town, he naturally became responsible to Earl Albert and obeyed the orders of the Earl.

Fortunately, Count Albert has always been a peaceful person and doesn't like to cause any trouble.

Since Ryan became the lord, his only contact with Earl Albert was to send someone to inform him that Firefly Town had a new lord.

Count Albert expressed his regret for the disappearance of Ryan's father, and then suggested that Ryan should not default on his taxes.

As for other things, he didn't want to care about anything.

Even though Ryan made a big fuss in a short period of time and took over Rose Town and Ironthorn Town in one fell swoop, Earl Albert only reminded Ryan not to forget to pay the taxes of these two towns.

It was not until Ryan defeated the coalition of three towns and expanded his territory again that Earl Albert felt threatened.

Not only did he not send anyone to supervise tax collection, he was also contacting nearby nobles, most likely to discuss how to deal with Ryan.

In short, Ryan is just a baron and it is impossible for him to have any connection with Marquis Cross.

Even if a great noble wanted to inspect the town, it should be Count Albert who came to inspect.

Of course, the Earl didn't have the courage to do so.

But what about this Marquis Clos? He and I have nothing to do with each other!
"I remember that President Morgan of the Chamber of Commerce once mentioned that Marquis Cross was seriously injured while suppressing the Rebellion of the Three Kings."

"Although he received prompt medical treatment, his health is not very good. He has recently fallen ill again. We are currently selecting a suitable successor."

"He is so anxious to choose a successor, but he still has to take time out and drag his sick body to inspect my town?"

Ryan asked this question while opening the letter in his hand.

White replied: "According to the messenger who delivered the letter, it was not the Marquis de Clos himself who came to inspect, but his daughter."

"Daughter? What on earth does he want to do?"

Ryan opened the letter with a puzzled look on his face and began to read its contents.

After a while, he put down the letter in his hand, frowned and said:

"The general meaning of the letter is that His Majesty the King was very happy after receiving my report and gave me a generous reward."

"The Marquis feels proud and is ready to give me some rewards. He will also inspect the territory to search for the remnants of the Shadow Church."

"In order to show his respect for me, the Marquis originally planned to come in person, but due to his poor health, he could only send his most beloved daughter."

"According to the time on the letter, Marquis Cross's daughter will come to our Firefly Town with the royal envoy in five days."

When White heard Ryan say this, he said excitedly: "This is a good thing! I didn't expect that His Majesty the King thinks so highly of you!"

Ryan tapped the table with his fingers: "I can't say I value it, I just gave it some rewards."

"But the fact that His Majesty the King would reward me is beyond my expectation."

"I reported the situation to the capital just because I wanted to occupy Ironthorn Town legitimately. I didn't expect His Majesty the King to reward me."

"After all, you know that the power of the royal family is controlled by the four major families. They are all too arrogant and don't bother to pay attention to us, the little nobles."

"As a result, the situation I reported really caught the King's eye. There must be some hidden secret here."

Ryan didn't think that His Majesty the King would value a petty baron.

If the king really valued him, he would have summoned him to the capital long ago.

But it's better this way, as I don't have to get involved in the mess in the royal capital and become a pawn in the struggle between the king and the four major families, and I can get the royal reward for free.

Come to think of it, this new king is pretty good.

Wait! Could this be the king's plan?
He knew that he was being sidelined by the four major families and could not build up his own power under their noses.

So he turned his attention to the outer feudal lords, hoping to gain their favor and break the blockade of the four major families from the outside to the inside.

But this idea is too naive. Does he think that he can gain the loyalty of the foreign lords just by relying on some rewards?

Or does the young king have other plans?
"What's the secret? It is said that His Majesty the King has hardly handled government affairs since he took office."

"It's really strange that he is handling your report in a way that is out of character and even praising you highly," White pondered.

When Ryan heard this, he suddenly had a strong sense of déjà vu.

He muttered to himself, "He ignores state affairs and is sidelined by powerful officials. Could it be that our king is King Zhuang of Chu?"

"What did you say?" White didn't hear clearly what Ryan said.

Ryan shook his head and changed the subject:
"Nothing. No matter what the new king's purpose is, he is too far away from us to plot against us in the short term."

"Anyway, there is no problem with the reward. We earned it through our merits, and no one can deny it."

"The most important thing right now is how to deal with the inspection of the Marquis' daughter."

"We in Firefly Town have never had any dealings with Lion City. Even if we have made contributions, it should be Earl Albert who rewards us."

"But the Marquis of Clos wants to reward us with great fanfare. There must be something fishy going on. Maybe he has other intentions."

Upon hearing this, White nodded in agreement, then asked in confusion:
"What does Marquis Cross want? We are very far away from Lion City, and there are many other noble territories in between."

"Neither alliance nor trade is appropriate. Does he want to marry you?"

As soon as these words came out, Ryan immediately rolled his eyes.

He said unhappily, “Uncle White, you have become a bad person. You always tease me. In the future, you should have less contact with those visitors from the divine world.”

White chuckled and said, "As the secretary of Firefly Town, how can I not contact them?"

"And I'm not kidding you. The visitor from the divine world once said, if you eliminate all the impossible, then whatever remains, no matter how impossible it is, is the truth."

Was that said by a visitor from the divine realm? It was clearly said by Conan Doyle!
Ryan suppressed his desire to complain and said:
"The problem is that you are talking about the most unlikely scenario. She is the daughter of a marquis, and I am just a small baron."

"Even if I am personally awarded by His Majesty the King, I can only be a Viscount at most. How can I marry the daughter of a Marquis?"

"Uncle White, you have also received aristocratic education, so you should know that the hierarchy between nobles is difficult to cross."

"The daughter of a marquis falls in love with a poor boy. This only happens in vernacular novels."

White responded: "But you are not a poor boy, nor a wandering knight with nothing."

"You are a new noble lord who owns seven towns and has unlimited potential."

"If I were the Marquis of Clos, I would definitely marry my daughter to you and gamble on your future."

Ryan shrugged: "But you are not, you are just my most trusted Uncle White."

"The class consciousness in the hearts of those great nobles is like a mountain, which cannot be easily broken."

"So let's stop talking about these trivial things and talk about how to welcome them first. Do you know anything about the Marquis's daughter?"

White shook his head. "I don't know much about her. I only know that her name is Freya, and she is the youngest daughter of Marquis Cross. She is deeply loved by the Marquis and is known as the flower of the mountains in Lion City."

"The most beautiful girl in Gaoling?" Ryan raised his eyebrows. "It seems that she has many suitors."

Gaoling flowers refer to beautiful flowers that bloom on the top of steep mountains and are difficult to reach.

Miss Freya is called the most beautiful lady on earth because she must have rejected many suitors and is difficult to approach.

White said: "Of course, she is the youngest daughter of Marquis Cross. Even if she cannot inherit the territory in the future, she can still establish a relationship with the Flame Lion Family."

"Not to mention that Marquis Cross will definitely prepare a very generous dowry for her. How could those young nobles not be tempted?"

Ryan heard the inducement in White's words. White knew that he would never do anything without a profit, so he wanted to persuade Ryan in another way.

I have to admit that this method is quite effective.

When Ryan heard that the dowry was generous, he was indeed tempted for a moment, but he quickly adjusted his mindset.

What a joke! After all, I am the destined person chosen by Arceus, how could I be a gigolo?

Besides, he doesn’t even know what Freya looks like. What if the opponent is a T0 fairy tank?

Anyway, Ryan had no idea about marriage. Women are not as good as Pokémon.

Is Gardevoir not gentle, or is Mewtwo unreliable?

Even if he is destined to be a gigolo, he would rather be a gigolo of his own Pokémon!
So Ryan said seriously: "Well, since we don't know the Marquis's daughter, we can only adapt to the situation."

"No matter what they think, we can only fight back if the enemy comes with our troops and block the water with earth."

"We now have enough confidence to face any challenge!"

A confident expression appeared on Ryan's face. He now had Mewtwo on his left, Celebi on his right, and the Dragonite following behind him.

Not to mention the Marquis's daughter, even if the Marquis Cross himself came, he would not feel the slightest fear.

On the contrary, it is time to let these high and mighty nobles feel fear! (End of this chapter)