Imperial Crown.

Chapter 109 Refugee Tide and Gray Bread

"Is there anything that must be done now?" Raven asked.

"Uh..." Old Gordon pushed the monocle: "Yes."

"At the end of last month, the Slater family sent us a transfer order, and we need you to give us a response."

"Also, the head of the Griffith family has to worship their ancestors every New Year. It's not too late, so it's not too late now."

"The transfer order came at the end of last month, isn't it already a month? It won't matter if I delay it for another day." Raven took off his armor with the help of Petty and said, "As for the ancestor worship, let the ancestors wait for two days. I don't think they want to see me down there in advance!"

"Yes, my lord Baron." Originally, Old Gordon didn't really want Raven to deal with these matters immediately, but as a butler, he had the obligation to let his master understand clearly.

Raven is now more tired than sitting on a hard seat on a green train for three consecutive days. His bones seem to be falling apart.

Although we rested at the Rustwater Oasis along the way, it was not home after all.

Now that he was in Eagle Castle, Raven could truly relax and take a comfortable bath with Patty's help.

"Baron, are you really not going to shave your beard?"

"Keep it for now. At least it looks more mature and stable." Raven yawned. "Doesn't it look good?"

Patty blushed, "You look good no matter what, sir."

"Oh, your little mouth is still as sweet as ever." After pecking Patty's lips, Raven turned around and fell on the bed: "That girl named Margaret, give her a separate room."

"Don't eat lunch, don't wait for me for dinner, and don't call me unless the sky falls!"

"Yes..." Patty touched her lips with a hint of resentment on her face.

But Raven didn't notice these things. In fact, he lost consciousness as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Raven slept from about two in the afternoon until eight the next morning, when he finally got up at the urging of his growling stomach.

During this period, most of the affairs in Eagle Territory were handled in an orderly manner by Old Gordon and Denise, but Raven also needed to understand the changes in Eagle Town, so he listened to Old Gordon's report while eating breakfast.

As the weather got colder and the ground froze, construction became difficult, so the construction and maintenance of the road were suspended. Only the warehouses with foundations laid previously were built.

And just a month ago, the Slater family's special envoy, the second-level Storm Knight "Eberron" sent a transfer order.

Along with him came a large influx of refugees, who came from all over the Nord province, numbering several thousand. While they brought tremendous pressure to the Eagle Territory, they also brought a lot of news.

Some people said that Nord Province had completely become a God-forsaken land, with undeads everywhere; some people said that the nobles had colluded with the Death Hand Cult and intended to establish a country in Nord Province; others said that the Iron Legion stationed at the entrance of Bloody Highlands had rebelled...

It is difficult to tell whether the news is true or false, but one thing is certain: the city of Mon'en has been surrounded by the Cult of the Hand of Death, and the Slater family is unable to take care of themselves and can only defend the city; most of the Nord province has fallen into chaos.

Due to insufficient intelligence, Viscount John and Baron Angel naturally chose to wait and see, hoping to sort out the context of events from the complex information.

The final result is unknown, but just over ten days ago, the two families could not bear Eberron's urging and gathered their troops and headed for the city of Mon'en.

"My Lord Baron, now that you are back, should you immediately invite the Eberron envoy?" Old Gordon offered his opinion.

"Okay, send the invitation to the special envoy in my name immediately." Raven drank a mouthful of Angel's Tear slowly and said, "In three days, no, five days later, ask him to come to Eagle Castle for a meeting."

Old Gordon's face suddenly became a little tangled: "Sir, the situation outside is very turbulent. If it takes too long, I'm afraid..."

"Don't worry, I understand the principle of the lips and teeth dying together." Raven stretched and stood up: "But the lips have to die first, right?"

Old Gordon was stunned.

Looking at Old Gordon's expression, Raven chuckled, "Okay, let's talk about ancestor worship."

Old Gordon quickly straightened his posture: "According to the family rules, you must first fast and abstain from sex for three days, and then ride your horse around the Eagle Collar..."

Before Old Gordon finished speaking, Raven began to have a headache: "This is too troublesome. Can the process be simplified?"

"Yes," said Old Gordon, "we can do it tonight."

"Ah?" Raven was stunned for a moment: "I just asked casually, is it really okay?"

Old Gordon nodded awkwardly. "In fact, including you, three consecutive generations of family heads don't like this ceremony, but as the butler, I have the obligation to tell you the correct procedure."

Raven was suddenly at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

You can't write two Griffiths with one stroke. It seems that no one likes this kind of process, especially when one's position is as stable as a rock and there is no need for such rituals to consolidate authority.

"I'll leave this to you." Raven ordered, "Tell Fili to come see me immediately."

The refugees are mainly concentrated in Goldshire, and Fili is now the political officer of Goldshire.

Old Gordon said: "Philip has arrived at Eagle Castle this morning and is waiting for your summons at any time."

"Then let him in," Raven said.

Gordon leaves and Fili enters the house.

The new government official of Shining Gold Town has changed his previous timid appearance. He walks steadily and actually looks a bit like an official. When he smiles, his gold teeth are exposed, and the feeling of the past is back.

When Philip saw Raven, he bowed and then took out a box containing more than thirty magic cores.

Then he immediately confessed his crime to Raven, saying that due to the recent serious unrest in the outside world, the speed of collecting magic cores had dropped a lot.

Raven was not surprised by this. He took the magic core and asked about the recent situation in Shining Gold Town.

In this era dominated by the nobility, everyone who grew up from a commoner to a businessman was above average in character and ability, and Fili was no exception. As the political official of the town of Shining Gold, he took the initiative to resign from the position of president of the Shining Gold Chamber of Commerce and asked the Shining Gold Chamber of Commerce to take out 3% of its monthly income to maintain the law and order of the town.

Therefore, before the turmoil, Shanjin Town had a patrol team of more than 50 people, although they were poorly equipped and of average quality, and they also invited veterans who had retired due to injuries to serve as instructors.

Thanks to this, even though Shanjin Town bore the brunt of the first wave of refugees due to geographical factors, the overall public security was still maintained fairly well.

In addition, Philip also applied to old Gordon to use a batch of food that Raven had stockpiled before the unrest, which appeased most of the refugees.

Philip's handling of the matter won Raven's approval.

For the neighboring Tieluling and Xuefeng Territory, the extra population is a considerable burden, but for the Eagle Territory, which has just stockpiled a huge amount of food, these refugees are not only not a burden, but a good human resource.

Most of those who were able to escape were young and strong, and were good at farming or serving in the military.

"My Lord Baron, you have a lot of talented people under your command." Philip suddenly said this.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Raven was surprised.

"It's Miss Fiona, Mr. Gordon's granddaughter." Philip praised sincerely: "The gray bread she invented has saved the refugees nearly one-third of their food consumption without making them feel dissatisfied. She is simply a genius!"

Grey bread? What is that?
Raven was confused, but he didn't show it right away.

After discussing with Philip in detail and giving him instructions on how to deal with the refugees, Raven asked Philip to have lunch with him and called Fiona over.

You don’t know until you ask. Once you ask, Raven suddenly feels a little uncomfortable.

It turned out that after Raven severely criticized the "food saving" plan, Fiona, the scholarly girl, started the experiment with a few cooks.

See how much sawdust, bran, and grass seeds to add to make the bread filling without sacrificing taste.

After more than twenty days of hard work, Fiona finally made a bread that looks solid, does not irritate the throat when chewed, and is filling when eaten, but it looks gray.

At first, Fiona wanted to name it "Raven Bread" or "Eagle Bread", but old Gordon sternly rejected it. In the end, the name "Gray Bread" was decided, and it was strictly forbidden to provide this kind of bread to the people.

Soon, a wave of refugees arrived, and gray bread suddenly came in handy.

This thing can feed the refugees and prevent them from starving to death, and it can also leave them with less energy to cause trouble. It has to be said to be a "professional match".

"Why do you have to fight so hard with bread?" Raven was a little curious.

"These are all men..." Fiona bit her lip and finally uttered the word: "This is your test, Lord Baron!"

"My test?" Raven was a little confused.

"You returned my plan to me because you wanted to tell me two facts." Fiona lowered her head, but her tone was full of confidence: "First, you are not a stingy lord and you will not treat your subjects harshly.

Second, the proposal I submitted was just a direction, but there was no practical method to implement it! "

"So, you just want me to find a way to save food without affecting your reputation! And you already know the answer."

Raven's eyebrows and eyes rose and fell: "...I, do you know?"

Why does this sound like you are scolding me?
But Fiona's next words let Raven know that he was overthinking.

"Yeah!" Fiona nodded vigorously: "The bowl of noodles you treated me to was a hint to me!"

"Noodles need to be boiled in water to be cooked, and wood chips, sawdust, and bran will soften after being boiled with caustic soda. Then, when mixed with coarse wheat flour, kneaded into a ball and baked, it will not affect the taste at all."

“I ate two in one meal!”

"That's why I said this kind of bread should be called 'Raven Bread'!"

As she spoke, Fiona looked at Raven with hope, like a puppy waiting for praise from its owner.

Raven didn't know what expression to make now.

Lord of Light, he didn’t have so many thoughts at that time!

What kind of hint is this? He is not a monk, how could he have so much time to think about these things all day long?
But no matter what the motive was, Fiona's action did save a lot of food for Eagle Territory, and she should indeed be praised.

"Ahem!" Raven cleared his throat. "Fiona, you did a good job this time. Go to your grandfather and get five gold coins as a reward for you."

Fiona's eyes suddenly lit up and she nodded heavily. After bowing, she left with a smile, her long silver-gray hair swaying behind her head so lively.

Raven clicked his tongue, then sighed with a wry smile.

It seems I have to be more careful when speaking in the future.

The main thing is to be careful with Fiona, her ability to understand is a bit...

Weird.

After dealing with some more matters, it was getting dark. Petty came into the room and said, "My Lord Baron, Mr. Gordon said that the preparations for the sacrifice have been completed."

"Let's go then." Raven stood up and followed Patty out of the room.

As soon as I turned a corner, I ran into Simon head-on.

The young warrior saluted respectfully:
"My Lord Baron, I have something confidential to report to you."

……

(End of this chapter)