Imperial Crown.

Chapter 196 Sheriff Raven
Without paying too much attention to Hoyaz, Raven continued with his speech.

The textbooks have been compiled and distributed. As for teaching positions, in addition to Simon coming to work part-time, Raven also re-hired veterans who had retired due to injuries. They had previously worked in the patrol team in Shining Gold Town and were now poached back by Raven at a high price.

This also means that there is considerable protection in loyalty education.

So Raven did not boast about himself in this speech, and the theme focused on the future of these orphans.

Since you have come to the orphanage, you must obey the orphanage's arrangements.

They will receive the most basic education, including literacy, arithmetic, common sense, etc., and the direction will be different depending on their gender.

Boys will receive military training, and those who perform well will be selected into the Eagle Army and even have the opportunity to become extraordinary; if they are not suitable for joining the army, they can also learn crafts such as leatherwork, blacksmithing, and bricklaying.

Girls will receive vocational and technical training, including weaving, embroidery, plant cultivation, animal husbandry, dance, etc.

No matter whether you are a man or a woman, as long as you have achieved academic success, you will have no trouble finding a job.

Long before he said these words, Raven had already laid the groundwork for action.

These orphans have a place to live, two sets of clothes to wear, and the meals they eat every day are even better than before they became orphans.

There is no free lunch in the world, and the orphans all know this.

Both Banks and Rhino, as well as the orphans around them, have deeply experienced the wickedness of human nature. They don't know what Raven is trying to do, so they huddle together.

Now that Raven has stated his purpose, the orphans feel relieved and begin to look forward to their future life.

At the end of his speech, Raven hinted that he knew about the existence of small gangs in the orphanage and emphasized his principles: in his territory, the only legal violent organization is the Eagle Army.

These words were not only spoken to the orphans, but also to the staff of the orphanage.

The day after the speech, the director of the orphanage found Raven and said that the bad organization had been completely banned.

Many "weapons" were confiscated, including but not limited to sharpened brushes, hidden forks, polished branches, and the most outrageous thing was a baguette studded with stones.

Raven was at a loss for words and ordered the orphanage to be burned down. He also rejected the suggestion of the person in charge to expel the gang leader from the orphanage.

Being able to have one's own power is a manifestation of strong organizational ability. They are still young, and as long as they are trained, they will be excellent seeds for officers.

For a period of time afterwards, Raven focused his energy on taking care of the magic plant.

The first batch of ripe red mist fruits are harvested, dried and stored, and then the magic cores are consumed to provide corresponding elements for the red mist fruits and pecan peaches.

Magic cores are to magic plants as fertilizers are to crops. The huge amount of consumption makes Raven feel quite painful.

The magic cores eaten by these magic plants are simply more than what he used up in his own cultivation!
Moreover, if you don't care about things like magic cores, it seems that the price will always be the same. If you really open up the purchase, you will find that it is still a seller's market. Sometimes when you want to buy, there are simply not that many on the market, and you can only buy them at a premium.

Fortunately, the magic plant is growing well, and Raven is both happy and sad.

Time passed day by day, and the scenery outside the window became more and more bleak.

When all the dead leaves fell from the treetops, it was mid-December and another year was about to pass.

Raven sat next to the stove, a blanket on his knees, a cup of coffee in his hand, flipping through "The Path of the Mage" on the armrest, as leisurely as a retired old man.

Even with the temperature control array, Raven still prefers the fireplace. Whether it is the crackling sound of burning wood or the faint pine scent that permeates the air, it is very interesting to live.

The black cat Sikoret was lying on Raven's knees. She had just eaten a whole brown dace, a specialty of the Flowing Crystal River, and was combing her hair with her pink tongue.

When Raven's hand holding the coffee stopped for too long, she would pull Raven's palm twice and let it return to her furry head.

Knock, knock, knock on the door. Raven whispered, "Come in."

"My Lord Baron!" An iron-gray figure rushed into the room and stood there straight. "Sohei and Bowell asked me to call you. The first batch of equipment forged from misty heavy iron will be completed soon!"

This gray dwarf was familiar to Raven. His name was Fabin, and he loved to brag about his prowess in bed.

Closing the book in his hand, Raven asked, "Why don't the two of them do it themselves?"

"Now the forging has reached the most critical step, and we can't do without them!" Fabin looked at the Angel's Tears on the table and swallowed his saliva: "They all agree that this first batch of weapons should be unveiled by you personally... uh..."

"Unveiling?"

Fabin immediately said, "Ah, yes, unveiling, my God, Baron, you are so smart!"

Smiling and shaking his head, Raven stood up and said, "Come on, I'll go with you."

Raven knew that it was true that the factory could not do without people, but it could not do without both Bowell and Sohei at the same time. Neither of them probably wanted the other to come alone, for fear of being overshadowed.

Sure enough, when Raven arrived at the workshop, Sohei and Bowell were still there staring at each other, guarding the furnace.

When they saw Raven coming, the two gray dwarves came back to life.

"My Lord Baron, you are finally here. I made all the designs this time. I am sure you will be very satisfied!"

"My Lord Baron, this time I used the unique craftsmanship of the Gray Dwarves. I guarantee that this is an excellent enchanted weapon blank that can withstand the fighting spirit impact of a third or fourth level knight!"

Raven raised his hand, suppressed the two people's voices, and asked in confusion: "Didn't you say that we have reached the final stage? Where are the weapons?"

"Generally speaking, the last step should be quenching, right?"

After saying this, Sohei slapped his forehead. Bowell looked at Fabin and said, "Hey, you didn't tell the Baron?"

"Ah? What!? Didn't I say that?" Fabin stared and pretended to be dumb.

Earlier in Raven's study, his attention was completely drawn to the Angel's Tears, and he forgot to say everything he should have said.

With Sohei's explanation, Raven realized that the smelting and forging of magic ore was very different from that of ordinary ore, and each type had its own unique forging method.

Take misty iron as an example. It contains abundant water elements. The initial smelting and forging process is similar to that of ordinary iron ore, except that it requires higher temperature and longer time. Moreover, it needs to be smelted repeatedly several times just from ore to ingot.

When it is subsequently cast into a weapon, the temperature cannot be too high to avoid destroying its original properties. Therefore, the strength and technical requirements for the forger are quite stringent.

After being cast, conventional weapons need to be quenched, but weapons made of misty iron have an extra process - smoldering.

Use high temperature to lock the water element firmly inside the weapon, so it will not attract water vapor when used. Normal enchantment can be performed on all elements except fire element. If water enchantment is performed, a considerable degree of enhancement can be obtained.

Raven grabbed the hinge with one hand and pulled slowly, causing the firebricks covering the furnace to rise.

The first thing that came out was boiling steam, with a constant sizzling sound, like the remaining water in an iron pot being boiled away, or like a steamer being opened.

The steam soon dissipated, revealing a row of nine long swords. Their hilts were broad and thick, and the tsubasa were shaped like an eagle with spread wings. Not only were they beautiful, they also served as a protection for the wrists, similar in nature to the flower-shaped tsubasa of a rapier.

Sohei used a hook to take out a sword. The sword was originally burning red, but after leaving the furnace, the red color faded in less than half a minute, revealing its original azure color.

Bowell took the hinge, and Raven held the sword in his hand. He was somewhat surprised to find that it did not feel hot at all. It was obvious that it had excellent tolerance to fire. If it could be made into protective gear, it should be able to greatly reduce the damage caused by fire.

If you look closely, you can see that the sword seems to be coated with a tough film. When you flick it with your fingers, the sword will emit a humming sound like a dragon's roar. Its center of gravity is designed very well, and it will not waste any extra effort from the user. The dwarven craftsmanship is indeed extraordinary.

Following Sohei's eye signal, a gray dwarf soon brought a dummy for testing the sword.

With just a slight effort, the straw dummy was cut into two pieces; the dummy covered with leather armor suffered the same fate.

Until the dummy wearing plate armor, Raven slashed with his sword. Although he used a little strength, he still easily cut off the arm of the plate armor, and then pierced through the entire plate armor with another sword.

Although he felt some resistance during the process, when he put away the sword and looked back, he found that there were only some slight scratches on the sword and there was not a single chip on the blade.

It's like cutting iron into mud.

If you really want to take it out, this sword alone is enough to sell for more than 500 gold coins!
"My Lord Baron, please give this sword a name!" Bowell rubbed his hands.

Raven weighed the sword in his hand gently. "This sword was produced in the Eagle Territory, and it is shaped like a flying eagle, so let's call it Eagle Feather."

After saying this, Bowell felt a little disappointed.

"Isn't this a good name?" Raven asked.

"No! In fact, I've already thought of a name beforehand..."

"What are you going to call it?"

"Eagle's Fang!"

It is said that everything is afraid of comparison. Lei Wen originally had no confidence in the name he gave, but after hearing what Bowell said, he felt proud of his aesthetic taste.

Sohei also began to praise: "The name given by the Baron is still the best!"

"Hey! Don't be like this, I put a lot of thought into it!" Bowell jumped up and shouted.

"It's good that you are enthusiastic." Raven coughed: "But, Bowell, have you ever thought about..."

"An eagle has no teeth?"

Then Raven asked other questions.

Since Sohei and others also have to take care of the production of ordinary equipment, the production capacity of Eagle Feather Swords is difficult to increase. Currently, the furnace can only be opened twice a month, which means eighteen swords can be produced.

These Ravens were not intended to be sold to the outside world, but to be equipped from his own personal soldiers to officers at the level of centurion.

These swords still need some detailed follow-up processing, such as wrapping the hilts and matching them with suitable scabbards. Raven did not wait, but returned to Eagle Castle.

Two days later, the first batch of Eagle Feather Swords arrived, and Raven equipped his own soldiers with them first.

Volaf exclaimed: "It has this strength without enchantment, what will it be like after enchantment!?"

This also resonated with Raven.

It would be a waste if weapons made of second-level ore were not enchanted.

But if you want to make two second-level enchantments, the market price is more than 700 gold coins!

Now the Eagle Army has expanded to a legion, with more than seventy officers above the rank of centurion. If all of them were to be handed over to outsiders for enchantment, the price would be at least more than 50,000 gold coins!

I am also a mage, how can I let others make this money?
But Raven also knew that if he did everything himself, he would be exhausted.

"It looks like we need to speed up the preparation of the raw materials for the magic potion."

"Train a few more reliable magicians to share my pressure."

It is worth mentioning that when Link and others who escorted Denise came back, most of the personal soldiers were separated by Raven and assigned to the Eagle Army as officers. Currently, only eight people headed by Volaf remain by his side.

So in the next few days, when the personal soldiers changed shifts, they would always hang out in the military camp, making Eric, Link and others a little jealous.

The time came to December 16th. From that day on, Lei Wen received many congratulatory invitations for three consecutive days to celebrate his "promotion".

There were nobles from the surrounding areas, Viscount John, and many nobles whom he had only met once. Of course, the Fox and Slater families were also present.

Regardless of their true intentions, everyone spoke enthusiastically and seemed very happy for Raven.

On the fourth day, December 19th, Raven had just finished his hot breakfast when old Gordon knocked on the door of his study.

"Baron, we're here!" Old Gordon held a document in both hands and placed it in front of Raven.

The document was covered with sturdy beast leather, with a ball of sealing wax in the center and a golden "H&M&K" symbol printed on it, indicating that it was issued by His Majesty the King himself.

After cutting off the sealing wax, a letter of appointment was revealed inside, with long passages of complicated and formal words written in it.

There is only one useful sentence:

"Hereby, Baron Raven Ota Griffith is appointed as the governor of Snow Maple County in the Nord Province of the Keynes Empire, effective immediately."

This is why the nobles sent congratulatory invitations.

"This is truly an incredible achievement!" Old Gordon said, wiping his red eyes.

He was so excited not only because Raven had obtained the position of county governor, which gave him the power to collect taxes on behalf of the empire and make laws in the county.

The key point is that the county governor must be a viscount. This has been an unwritten rule in the empire for thousands of years and there has never been an exception.

This letter of appointment was a political statement, meaning that it was only a matter of time before Raven became Viscount.

"Huh..." Raven held the document in his hand, a pleased smile on his face: "Gordon, I remember that according to convention, after taking office as the county governor, you need to hold a cocktail party, right?"

"Help me draft the invitations and send them to the nobles in Xuefeng County. Remember to give one to Viscount John as well. Don't let him feel forgotten."

"The date is set for January 1st of next year. Let's start the preparations now."

Old Gordon immediately agreed: "Yes, Baron!"

Nobles hardly need a reason to hold cocktail parties. Even the more old-fashioned Viscount John holds more than a dozen a year, but Raven has hardly held any since he took office.

Even old Gordon sometimes complained that the Baron was being too frugal.

Now that we have received the order, we must naturally organize it well - this is the county governor's first cocktail party!
Raven sealed the document and stood up:

"It's time to meet an old friend."

……

(End of this chapter)