Knight and Wand

Chapter 63 Preparations before departure
A few days passed in a flash.

The candlelight flickered. In the dim cellar, Olivia held her breath, covered her mouth and nose, and stood quietly behind Mamer with a sword in her hand.

The knight prisoner, whose feet were bound by heavy iron chains and shackles, could only lie on the ground and write. At this moment, only his hands were free.

With the help of the candle held by Lohak and the light projected from the entrance of the cellar, Mamer, with a haggard face and dirty body, picked up a feather pen and wrote in his own handwriting on the letter paper to tell his family about his current situation of being defeated and imprisoned.

Soon, three letters with exactly the same content were written.

Azerien held his nose and picked it up, examining each one carefully.

After repeated confirmation, it was found that in addition to simply reporting safety to the family and urging them to raise the ransom, the letter also clearly stated the time, place and transaction method of ransom delivery as required.

In fact, in the conflicts and wars between the northern and southern kingdoms over the years, there were countless examples of ransom transactions for prisoners of war, and there were already complete procedures and practices.

As long as they did not die on the battlefield, the victorious side would not execute valuable noble captives in most cases. And if the noble who died in battle was of high enough status, his family would even try to pay a certain amount of money in exchange for the body for burial.

When it comes to whether she can return to her hometown again, Mamer will not play any tricks.

"How is it?" Leon asked, enduring the extremely smelly environment.

".No.problem." After reading the letter, Azerien translated the contents into Feru language and quickly read it to his companions.

Leon confirmed it again and again. Before leaving, he frowned and looked at the prisoner for the last time: "Is this all you know about the Fercon family?"

"How much do you expect me, a knight from Shannan, to know about the western coastal areas?" Mamuel answered hoarsely, and he licked his dry lips speechlessly.

"I am a warrior, not a nerd. If I hadn't followed the Baron to the Northern Heraldry Office these years, I wouldn't have been introduced to the Falcon family emblem."

Leon listened to his weak answer and put away the letter helplessly.

Mamuel could recognize that the white bird emblem belonged to the great nobles who ruled the western port of Kantardar.

But unfortunately, his understanding of him was limited to knowing that Count Falcon was a great nobleman with close ties with King Avilt, and that the city under his rule, called Westport, was extremely wealthy.

He knew nothing about anything else.

According to Mamer's confession, Baron Dawson had no dealings with the nobles of the west, and how could he, a mere knight of the inner court who was only responsible for charging and killing the enemies, know about the family affairs of the nobles thousands of miles away?

Unable to get any more information, Leon put away the letter. Lohak walked to Mamru and roughly handcuffed his hands again.

Everyone quickly climbed up the wooden ladder one by one and left the smelly cellar.

After walking out of the warehouse where the prisoners of war were held, Leon and the other two immediately leaned against the wall and spat repeatedly. At this time, they were too lazy to pay attention to the knightly etiquette that Lord Balfe mentioned.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to go down to help." Leon breathed in the fresh air and looked apologetically at the girl who also had a bitter face.

"It's okay."

Olivia said reluctantly with a pale expression: "I come to deliver food and water every now and then, and I am mentally prepared."

But obviously, the smell you smell from standing on it and hanging things down in a basket is completely different from that from going down into the stinking cellar yourself.

It took everyone a long time to recover from the nausea.

There was no other way. Right now, the only safe option was the prisoner in the cellar. Otherwise, with his martial arts, he would still be dangerous even in a weakened state. And it was impossible for Olivia to just watch him day and night and do nothing.

After returning home, Leon went upstairs and sealed the three letters written by the captives one by one, dripped sealing wax on them, and then used Mamer's seal ring seized from her bag to stamp her personal coat of arms on the seals.

The reason why the prisoners of war were asked to write three letters was also Azerien's suggestion for multiple insurance.

In this day and age, it is easy to have accidents when delivering letters over long distances, and there is no guarantee that they will reach their destination 100%. Important letters should be written on multiple occasions and delivered via different routes to ensure that at least one letter will reach its destination.

Sitting quietly by the side watching Leon busy at the table, Olivia took the wooden cup brought by little Lina.

"Thank you." She turned and smiled gently at Lina.

However, the temperature coming from the wooden cup in her hand surprised Olivia again.

She looked down at the rim of the cup. The clear and transparent color was obviously water, not beer.

Picking up the cup, the girl took a small sip with her lips.

The still warm hot water tasted strange to her.

Very unaccustomed.

Lina looked at Sister Olivia's weird expression, so she leaned over to her ear and whispered, "Brother Leon taught us to boil water in a pot before drinking it. It's weird, isn't it~"

Olivia thought about it and guessed quietly: "Maybe, it's to teach you how to make tea in the future."

She had heard from her father that some wealthy nobles liked a high-class drink called tea, which was a thin leaf-like plant produced in distant Seralil and needed to be brewed with hot water.

"Not really." Leon put the envelope away and looked up to explain.

“In our Serian, the Holy Sun Church advocates boiling water. The priests say that water purified by fire is cleaner and will cause less illness if you drink it.

Although ordinary people, except for wealthy families, cannot afford to burn fuel like this every day, we will try to boil water for drinking on festival days.”

This was not his excuse, but the true situation of Serian in the original owner's memory.

The Holy Sun Church does believe that fire can purify ordinary water. This may be related to their worship of the sun and fire.

"You can try it too. I think drinking hot water can really prevent you from getting sick. If you think burning coal is too expensive, you can come to my place every day to get some boiled water to drink at home."

Leon picked up the hot water that Lina placed on the table and moistened his throat comfortably.

In any case, if he is wealthy like now, Leon still likes this ancient custom of Serrian.

It would be fine if he had to drink raw water during his escape, but now that he is a lord, he can afford the coal to boil some water.

Health and safety are not trivial matters. In this era, life must be done with care. Leon doesn't want to die from an inexplicable plague disease instead of dying at the hands of the enemy.

"Well, it sounds like it makes sense. I'll boil some more water and try it later." After learning about this interesting exotic custom, Olivia nodded, not quite understanding it.

Although she had never been sick since she was a child.

"Are you going to the western port of Kantadar in the next few days?" The girl picked up the wooden cup and took another sip of hot water.

She didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but after hearing Leon talk about the purification of fire, she became more accustomed to the texture and taste of the drink.

It's easy to understand, just like food needs to be cooked with fire, maybe the same is true for water. Olivia couldn't help thinking. In the past, the villagers, regardless of gender, age or status, would avoid drinking water as much as possible if they could drink beer, perhaps because it was not "cooked" with fire.

"Azerien's injury is almost healed. If we don't leave for Western Port as soon as possible, I'm afraid there will be more trouble."

Leon put down the wooden cup and sighed, "It's just that I feel a little sorry for asking him to continue to accompany me and Lohak and take risks."

He had received favors from that kind lady, and now that he was capable, it would be unreasonable for him to sit idly by and watch her go missing. However, Azerien actually had nothing to do with that lady.

"I think he has such a close relationship with you that he won't feel that the safety of Lohak's sister has nothing to do with him." Olivia spun the cup.

"Yeah, that kid will definitely say proudly that the descendants of the Flarel family will never ignore their friends." Leon smiled and nodded unconsciously.

Although it was full of hardships to travel to this world, he was able to gain friends like Azerien and Lohak who were willing to go through thick and thin for each other, which was something he would never have in his previous life.

"I'm afraid it will be very dangerous to go there?"

"After all, it is within the territory of Kantadar. Although your father said that there may still be trade in the west, no one can be sure of the specific situation." Leon nodded.

“How about that.” The girl tapped the wooden cup with her fingertips, looked at Leon expectantly and suggested, “Take me with you. You see, I’m such a good fighter, I can definitely help you a lot on the way.”

Leon raised his eyes and looked into the girl's eyes which were suddenly shining, and he seemed to be able to see the faint excitement in them.

The offer was tempting.

Considering Olivia's martial arts skills, which allow her to handle the siege of two powerful and fully armed Knights of the Order of Arms with ease, if she were to come along, wouldn't the safety of the trip be greatly increased?
Leon shook his head helplessly at her: "Have you forgotten the Baron Kantadar who coveted you?

You, don't you really think that your little face is unattractive to other men? What if I bring you with me and you are favored by the nobles of Kantadar again?"

Hearing such a straightforward statement, Olivia lowered her head in embarrassment.

Judging from the enthusiastic reactions of the boys in the village to her since they were young, the girl was not unaware of her appearance.

But later, after picking up a wooden stick and showing her violent side in front of that group of increasingly excessive bastards, she has adapted to the attitude of the boys in the village who fear her rather than pursue her in the past few years. Although the nickname of Golden Lion is unpleasant, it has saved her from a lot of trouble.

However, this martial art can scare the young men in the village, but it certainly cannot scare away the nobles from the outside world.

If, as Leon said, such an embarrassing pursuit really happened after leaving the village, it would undoubtedly be a big trouble that would be difficult to deal with.

"I appreciate your kindness, but if you follow us, I don't know how much trouble we will cause just by chasing away flies for you on the road." Leon politely declined the girl's kindness.

Olivia thought about it, raised her arm, and used her other hand to lift her sleeve to cover her face: "How about this? Cover your face and put your hair in a hat. I can put on a robe and pretend to be a boy."

"Have you heard too many strange stories?"

Leon couldn't help but laugh when he heard her suggestion.

Disguising as a man and wearing a mask to play the role of a teenager is one possible solution.

However, the above reasons were not the real reasons why he rejected the girl.

Leon knew without a doubt that Brian the Blacksmith would never allow Olivia to go with him to Kantardar for adventure.

Folding his arms, he could only persuade the girl, "Olivia, you are different. The three of us are now alone and have no ties. We can go through fire and water freely. Even if we die unexpectedly, no one will cry for it.

If you are alone, I will definitely not refuse you to join me.

But you still have your father to take care of. Your martial arts may be able to protect the three of us, but the three of us cannot promise Uncle Brian that we can protect you.

Do you understand me? "

After hearing this, the girl's expression became visibly disappointed.

But Olivia also understood the difficulty in Leon's words, so she had to let go of this sudden impulse.

Leon stood up, stepped forward, patted the girl on the shoulder, and comforted her: "I know you want to help us, and you also want to go out of Selva to see the outside world. Believe me, this will definitely happen in the future, but it's too early now.

Why don't you train us in martial arts in the next two days before we set off? I heard that Luohak wants to practice with you whenever he is free these days?"

Hearing Leon change the subject, Olivia perked up and nodded and replied, "Lohak said that he always has nightmares and insomnia, so he has to practice martial arts until he is exhausted every day before he can sleep. However, he seems to have become stronger recently, and his fighting skills have improved a lot compared to before."

“He is more hardworking than me.”

Leon sat back at his desk and picked up the rough papers on the desk.

It records the rough data on the cultivated land, pasture, residential land, forest land, public land, population, livestock, craftsmen, etc. of the three places of Selva, Lonca and Pleton that he had personally measured and investigated these days.

It is not accurate, but it can calculate the territory output relatively intuitively.

Excluding daily food storage, seed storage, and grain and taxation before the war, the three territories will only be able to barely make ends meet next year and will not be able to save any income. If they want to develop, they will have to wait until the war is over.

It just so happened that the young and strong people in the other two places could not return home from the border fortresses in a short period of time, and Selva had just suffered a disaster. Before this batch of winter crops was harvested, he was unable to do more things that required manpower and financial resources to develop the territory.

In other words, during this period of time, the situation in the territory is the same whether there are three of them in it or not.

Leon put down his documents and looked at Olivia who was sitting on a chair with a sword on her waist: "Got it, we really need your help."

Hearing that she could help her friend, the girl perked up again and asked curiously, "What do you need me to do?"

“After we leave, although I have entrusted your father to help manage the affairs of Selva, if any unexpected situation occurs in Lonka and Pleton, you will also help me keep an eye on it. We will go back and inform the village officials of the two places before we leave.

In addition, I will keep some of the money in the box under your bed for emergency use in the territory, as well as the weapons and armor in the warehouse. If there is an accident, you have the right to deploy these resources. Remember, you have the right to deploy these things, not Uncle Brian."

Leon touched his chin and reminded the girl worriedly: "Now many men have lost their wives and children, and some women have lost their husbands. If someone wants to reorganize a family in the village in the future, you must pay attention to whether they are willing. I will not allow any coercion to happen.

If you find a conflict in the village, you have the ability and authority to intervene on my behalf to stop it. In the worst case, you can forcibly take down the thugs on our behalf.

It will take at least a month, or more, I don’t know, so consider it my commission.”

As Leon spoke, he took a piece of paper and wrote down the actual appointment documents.

It's not just Selva who has written about it, but also Lonka and Pletton.

Opening the drawer, he found the small seal of the sword-wing emblem from the seal that Knight Balf had sent over the past two days, and stamped it on his signature.

All that's left is for Lohak and Azerien to sign and stamp the document themselves tomorrow.

Standing up, Leon said solemnly to the surprised Olivia: "Olivia, now officially appoint you as our agent. You have the right to use our seal. You must maintain order in the territory before we return."

(End of this chapter)