Lord Saren: I have a proficiency panel

Chapter 2 Saren Family
  Luo Di rode his horse all the way west and soon returned to Xilin Village.

This is an ordinary village in the barony. Apart from convenient transportation, it has no other advantages. The village is not big, with only one main road and two auxiliary roads. It is no different from the countryside in the previous life, or even smaller.

The main road of the village is also a market. At this time, the vendors and pedestrians hawking along the way, when they saw Lodi riding a horse passing by, they all bowed their heads and saluted Lodi, calling them 'Sir Lodi'.

As the head of Xilin Village, he accepted the salutes of these people very calmly. However, he knew that the reason why these people were respectful to him was because of his status as the Saren family and because of his status as the village chief. It has nothing to do with your own abilities.

These residents of Xilin Village are almost all subordinates of Zemo Saren, the owner of the barony, and only a very small number of them are free citizens. And these free people all have more or less blood relations with the Saren family.

According to the laws of the Kingdom of Lost, all the power of life and death of these villagers is in the hands of Baron Saren. At least in name only.

The bloodline between Lodi and Lord Baron is not actually close. According to the genealogy, Lodi's grandfather and the Baron's father were half-brothers. By the time it reached Lodi's generation, the relationship was actually very distant.

If such a blood relationship is passed down, many members of the Saren family will gradually become guards or free people. But Luo Di was still able to get a position as village chief through his father's influence.

The reason why he received such preferential treatment was mainly because Lodi's father had been the Baron's playmate since childhood and they had a close relationship with him. However, now that his father has passed away from illness, the past feelings have disappeared. Roddy estimated that it would be difficult for the Baron to remember a person like himself again.

It was already dusk, and people from other villages had already left. There were not many people in the market. Only some vendors selling fruits and vegetables were still shouting loudly. Except for frost magic, nothing could save their rotten apples. Not broken the next day.

Luo Di walked silently, and when he was about to walk out of the market, a voice suddenly came from the roof: "Boy Luo Di, do you know how to hunt? Don't let the sparrows peck you out of your eyes."

Luo Di turned his head and looked around, only to see a muscular man sitting on the balcony of a short house facing the street, looking at him with a playful expression.

He was wearing a mink velvet sweater, and a thick scarf covered half of his face. A servant was grilling meat for him next to him, a maid was pouring wine for him, and another maid was kneeling at his feet. Give him a gentle tap on his leg.

Lodi recognized this as his third uncle, Jack Saren, who was also the actual controller of the village.

Last year, Jack forcibly took over the taxation and administration of Xilin Village on the grounds that Lodi was still young, turning Lodi into a decoration with no title of village chief.

He kept the village's tax revenue in his own hands and had not handed it over to the Baron's Palace for half a year.

However, this almost disobedient behavior was not punished in any way. In fact, this kind of thing has happened frequently in the barony in the past two years.

Due to poor health in the past two years, Lord Baron Zemo has been bedridden. Therefore, the power of the barony has become less concentrated. The taxation and security of some villages and towns in the territory are not actually in the hands of Zemo, but in the hands of other members of the Saren family.

You know, the last Baron Saren gave birth to five sons, not counting his countless illegitimate children. In addition to the descendants of other branches, there are also knights' territories that are divided among the knights under their command. The bloated and huge group of nobles made the ownership of rights in the entire barony seem chaotic.

Fortunately, the Barony of Saren is large enough, with ten towns and twenty-eight villages, plus the knight territory. There are more than 100,000 acres of land, which is almost equivalent to the area of ​​two townships in the previous life.

This kind of area, looking at the thirteen baronies in the entire northern province, is also at the level of the central and upper reaches. Enough of these uncles and brothers messing around.

The reason why these Salen family brothers, including Jack, dare to confront the Baron like this is because they have a big backer behind them. That was the Baron's half-brother, George Salen.

George Saren is the old baron's first son and Zemo's eldest brother.

For Lodi, these are inconsequential matters. Since he came through time travel, he has been focusing on cultivating himself. His goal is to explore the mysteries of breathing and pursue the truth of magic. No matter how they fight for power, as long as they are strong enough, they will not be afraid.

Besides, what these guys are fighting over is just that you got a few more carts of cabbage, and I missed a few frames of giant catfish - what kind of treasure can a barony of the size of a township have? Luo Di was really not interested in these trivial fights.

Although he can't get the town's tax revenue and administrative benefits, he can still starve to death with the village chief's salary.

But having said that, Lodi was still very dissatisfied with Jack taking away the power of his village chief.

Although there are some things you don’t need, you can’t take them away if I don’t give them to you.

However, in this era where strength is king, incompetence and rage are of no use. Only strength can win the right to speak.

Jack himself is not a ruthless character. The key is that the backer behind him, George, is very difficult to mess with. That is a senior official knight!

Therefore, facing Jack's rude and ill-intentioned greeting, Roddy did not have any angry look on his face.

He casually took off a pheasant hanging on his horse and threw it towards the balcony of the short house, landing right at Jack's feet.

"The sparrow wants to peck my eyes, so why don't I just hide away? Take this pheasant and try it, it's much bigger than the sparrow." Luo Di said with a slight smile.

Jack picked up the pheasant subconsciously, with a slight startle on his face. He originally wanted to ridicule his nephew in front of the villagers to show his authority in the family and the village.

Unexpectedly, Luo Di not only didn't get angry, but also gave himself enough face. This made him unable to say any of the unpleasant words that followed.

Luo Di patted the remaining wild animals on his horse and said with a hearty smile: "I have gained a lot today. Come to my manor for a drink when you have time."

With that, he waved goodbye to Jack.

Seeing the infectious smile on Roddy's face, Jack grinned involuntarily and waved goodbye to his nephew.

Luo Di continued to walk forward, the expression on his face returned to calm, as if nothing had happened just now. A sincere smile and a relaxed atmosphere are powerful tools to bring people closer, this is something Lodi firmly believes in.

If you want to be friends with someone, of course you have to keep a friendly smile.

And if you want to kill someone, the best way is to keep smiling and then stab him again inadvertently.

When he first traveled through time, an apprentice knight from the Saren family often came to his house to steal things in the name of helping, and even tried to tease the maid at home. Luo Di didn't know this at first and was friendly to him. Later, he finally found an opportunity to kill him quietly and then threw him into the stream north of the manor. That man didn't know who stabbed him in the back until he died.

In this chaotic world, Lodi doesn't want to look dignified in front of others, nor does he want to dress to impress. He just wants to be kind to others and then practice with peace of mind.

After passing the market, Lodi did not choose to go home, but went straight out of the village and headed to the Baron's Castle. I plan to pay a visit to Lord Zemo while it’s still dark.

Although he has now lost the ability to control the territory, he is still a baron and the heir of the Saren family. The breathing method passed down in the family for hundreds of years was in his hands.

According to the rules of the Saren family, if you want to be qualified to practice breathing techniques, you must either be a core member of the family; have amazing talents; or join the territorial knights, guard team, or serve as a local administrator.

Although the village chief can meet the application requirements, his position is too low after all. It depends on whether the Baron will take into account his late father's feelings.

Considering that the Baron has been bedridden and in a bad mood for the past two years, Lodi is quite worried about this.

He walked westward along the Salen River, the main river in the territory. On the hillside, a simple and majestic castle stands quietly by the river upstream.

This castle is Salen Castle. It was built in 3706 of the New Calendar and has a history of ninety years. The brick walls of the castle were already very mottled and looked gloomy in the setting sun.

As a member of the family, Lodi said hello to the guards and was allowed to dismount and enter on foot.

As soon as he walked into the door, he saw a bearded and burly man walking out of the castle.

The man looked fierce, glanced at Lodi with disdain, and left without even saying hello.

Without looking at this man's face, just by looking at his arrogant pace and belly that looked like a ten-month pregnancy, Rody could recognize his identity: George Salen.

He has a violent and ruthless personality, and he kills his subordinates at every turn, and the people in his territory fear him like a dragon.

If his mother, Lady Catherine, had not been deposed by the previous baron because of his dissolute behavior, perhaps the baronetship would have been his.

George was originally dissatisfied with his father's choice of Zemo to seize the title. In the past few years, Zemo has been bedridden, and he has begun to jump up and down, enclosing land and connecting the knights in the territory. His ambition is written directly on his face.

Seeing him leaving with such a bad look on his face, no need to think about it, he must have had another conflict with Zemo.

Roddy glanced at George's leaving figure and shook his head slightly, thinking that this big family was really in a mess.

He walked to the gate of the castle, informed the guards, and asked to see the baron.

While waiting, Lodi vaguely heard Zemo's voice floating over:
  "Damn it, George the bastard! You idiot! His mother is a slutty whore, a whore! He is a son of a bitch! A stinky piece of shit raised by a whore! Damn bastard! Stinky piece of shit!"

Obviously, the conflict that just broke out between George and Zemo made Zemo lose his dignity and elegance as a baron, and it can be said that he has become a little hysterical.

Seeing the baron being so furious, Lodi suddenly regretted choosing this time to come.

After a while, the cursing sounds disappeared, and the guards walked out of the castle and motioned for Lodi to enter.

Rody had no choice but to walk into the castle bravely, and under the guidance of the guards, he came to an outer room on the third floor of the castle.

The door to the inner room was covered by a semi-permeable gauze curtain, and through the sound of his breathing, Luo Di could feel that Zemo was lying weakly inside.

"Lodi Saren, son of Harley, offers my sincerest greetings to the Baron."

Luo Di bowed and saluted, then placed the white-fronted goose, hare and other game on the ground and said: "I caught some game in the sycamore forest and invited my uncle and aunt to enjoy it."

He met his nephew in a standard manner, and both his tone and actions seemed very polite and sincere.

"Son of Harley..." Zemo's deep voice came from the room. Compared with the scolding tone just now, it was much gentler: "Lodi, in my impression you are still a little kid, how can you be able to hunt in a blink of an eye."

Luo Di suddenly felt at ease and said softly: "I shot some hares and white-fronted geese, they are not big animals. The white-fronted geese stew is very nourishing."

"The Harley children... are already so old."

Zemo was not interested in Lodi's prey. He spoke sadly and talked to himself, as if Lodi's arrival brought back memories of his past.

"Child, come in and let me take a good look at you." Zemo softly called to Lodi.

When Luo Di heard this, he straightened his clothes, opened the gauze curtain, and walked in slowly.

Zemo was seen half lying on the bed. The room had a strong fire and was as warm as spring, but it was still covered with a thick silk quilt. His face looked slightly red, but his lips were very pale. He was breathing very hard, as if he would be out of breath at any time.

The Baron's wife, Lady Melanie, sat on the stool next to her husband, looking at herself with a smile.

This dignified lady came from a noble family in the southern provinces. Even though she was middle-aged, she still looked graceful and beautiful.

Because she had been personally taking care of Zemo who was bedridden in the past few years, her round oval face had already been eroded by years, and her three-dimensional and deep sea-blue eyes had a few bloodshot eyes, making her look a little haggard.

Luo Di couldn't bear to look at the two of them too much and bowed again.

Zemo leaned back and looked at Rody, with a little light shining in his cloudy eyes, and smiled: "A good kid, very similar to Harley. Tell me, what do you want to do when you come today?"

"I would like to apply to you to learn the family's breathing method." Lodi said bluntly. He had already seen that the Baron had not forgotten his friendship with his father, so it would be more frank to simply ask directly.

When Zemo heard this, he was a little surprised and said, "You want to learn breathing techniques?"

"Yes, sir. I should be able to learn it, right?" Luo Di asked cautiously.

"Of course you are qualified to learn it." Zemo nodded and said, "However, I remember that you have been weak since you were a child. The road to breathing is dangerous and difficult. Can you really endure this hardship?"

"Don't worry, Lord Zemo, I am prepared for this!" Luo Di nodded firmly and confidently.

"Good! Better than your father." Zemo said with a smile: "He was scared to death back then, he looked so worthless, hahaha..."

Zemo laughed heartily for a while, then stopped smiling, with a slightly lonely look on his face. He waved to the servant, ordered him to open a drawer of the bedside cabinet, took out a badge, motioned Lodi to come forward, handed it to his hand and said: "Take my badge, you can go to the library and choose what you want. Any breathing technique you learn.”

He was overjoyed, took the badge, and said sincerely: "Thank you, Lord Baron."

Zemo then warned: "However, it is forbidden to circulate or copy the breathing method to others. Otherwise, you will be punished by the ancestors of Saren. Although the descendants of the Saren family do not follow the rules very much now, as Harley's Son, you can’t be like them.”

"I understand this. I swear in the name of my father that I will never leak the breathing method to anyone."

"That's good." Zemo nodded, and then said: "During the training process, if there is anything you don't know, you can go to the knight old Barron, and I will send someone to say hello to him. His relationship with your father Not bad, I’ll be happy to answer your questions.”

When Luo Di heard this, he couldn't help being surprised and happy. When he came on this trip, Zemo not only gave him breathing techniques, but even arranged a teacher for him.

This was the first time he had dealt with the Baron since time travel. He didn't expect that he would miss his old relationship so much. It seemed that the Salen family were not all bastards like Jack and George.

It's not bad to have such relatives.

(End of this chapter)