Imperial Crown.

Chapter 253 This is Politics
Many thanks to Qidian Dad [Lord of Devouring Stars] for his 101 reward! (I will make up for it later, 10 chapters are owed)
……

Volav delivered the letter to Eric, who read it and destroyed it, then continued to prepare for the next round as if nothing had happened.

Three days later, the fourth game of the eighth round came to an end.

Following Gul'dan, Akori, and Eric, the third-level knight Sanjif of the Slater family won the last spot in the semi-finals of this competition.

This result is not unexpected. After all, the more you rely on a big family, the more resources you get, and the stronger you will be among the same level.

The only controversial one is Eric. It’s not that the fight was fake, but that it was too real.

After these two games, Eric not only did not show any awkwardness in entering the third level, but he used the third level fighting spirit with ease, and he also had a set of second level enchanted plate armor to assist him, which made some spectators feel that it was unfair.

The Griffith family is really rich.

Some even suspected that, judging from Eric's proficiency in third-level fighting spirit, he might have already mastered a third-level fighting skill, but had just kept it hidden and not used it.

This also attracted widespread approval.

The attention on Eric is not only reflected in his strength, but his past has also been dug up.

When his resume appeared in front of everyone, it immediately aroused the envy of many knights.

If Eric was a genius, like Gul'dan and Akori, everyone would feel more balanced - violets always bloom in winter.

But as early as when Eric started following Donald at the age of 24, he was already a first-level extraordinary person; until Donald's death, he was still a first-level extraordinary person at the age of 40.

This doesn't look like a talent.

But since he followed Baron Raven, Eric actually jumped two levels in three years and became a third-level knight. This cannot be explained by long-term accumulation.

And it's not just Eric. All the extraordinary people in the Eagle Territory were trained by Raven, especially Simon, who has grown from an ordinary person to the second level!

This shows that Eric’s growth is not a coincidence, but Baron Raven is generous enough and willing to train his subordinates!
This made a large number of knights jealous, and they wanted to immediately switch to Raven's side, but due to the nobles' tradition of loyalty, they could only think about it.

The mercenaries had no such restrictions and began to get restless.

It's a pity that the Griffith family has strict requirements and it's not possible to become a knight right after entering the family; those mercenaries with some reputation and family background are unwilling to start as privates.

However, many frustrated mercenaries immediately took action and chose to settle in Eagle Town. The reason was the same - I have no chance, but my children can.

Baron Raven is still young!
For a time, housing prices in Eagle Town and Flash Gold Town skyrocketed. In the past, a two-story cottage with a yard that could accommodate four or five people only cost 3 or 5 gold coins, but now it has risen to 30 gold coins, which is no less than that in Monk's Grace City.

Raven's territory is developing so rapidly that every noble here can see it clearly, and there is no lack of envy in their words.

In addition to envy, there are also some nobles who can share the wealth brought by the competition, mainly the nobles of Xuefeng County, and the one who benefits the most is Viscount Brocka.

All the prominent nobles in the Nord Province came to Eagle Town. Daily social activities were held almost every day. When the nobles got together, in addition to chatting and gossiping, they would of course also talk about business.

In the past three months, Broca has received orders for a total of 74000 gold coins, enough to produce until this time next year.

Broca increasingly felt that what Marquis Anthony said was not an exaggeration, and that Raven could indeed be regarded as a role model for the younger generation of nobles in the entire Nord Province.

Even in his opinion, let alone the younger generation, even in his generation, there are few people who can compare to Raven.

"Genius? Hey, this word can't describe Baron Raven."

After all, even he earned so much. As the organizer of the competition, God knows how much Baron Raven earned.

Not to mention the new orders received, Broca himself could see that the number was not small.

The most intuitive example is the knights who participate in the competition.

The losers don’t count; those who made it to the top 200 and received prize money didn’t have the ability to take all the money away.

Since you have won, you have to spend money to celebrate and show off. This is also a tradition of the nobility.

One has to invite one's own lord, fellow knights, and close nobles, and it is common for the invitees to bring new guests, so a celebratory party would have at least thirty to fifty people.

When entertaining nobles, the location must not be random. Apart from the Crystal Palace, the Wallace Hotel is also a good choice. That costs a lot of money. Angel Tears is the basic wine for celebration, right? Local specialties are also inevitable, right?
This has led to a rather funny reality: the losers get nothing, but the winners not only spend all their prize money, but also have to pay out of their own pocket!
Based on what Broca has observed during this period, this situation is quite common. It is estimated that the more than 20000 gold coins in the prize pool will all return to Baron Raven in the end.

This does not even include the daily expenses of these nobles and the commission from betting on each match in the Colosseum!

Moreover, how much this will drive the industry and how much it will increase the sales and reputation of Angel's Tears is unpredictable benefit.

On the other hand, Eric's strong performance also drew people's attention to Raven's exquisite enchanting skills.

I heard that many people have contacted Baron Raven recently, hoping to purchase a set of second-level enchanted armor.

"Second-level enchanted armor." Viscount Broca sighed with envy.

The magician his family worshipped was only of the first level. Although he was good at enchanting arrows, he was completely clueless about the craft of enchanting armor. Let alone the second level, he couldn't even make a first level.

"Or, should I also order a custom one?"

The second-level enchanted armor is indeed enough for the Viscount family to pass down through the generations, but the price is enough to make anyone grimace at the sight.

A full set of Misty Iron Armor costs 18000 gold coins. The price of enchantments will probably not be lower than this number. It is normal to be higher. Overall, it should not be less than 40000 gold coins.

Just as Broca was lost in thought, the door suddenly opened and his son Howell rushed in as if his butt was on fire: "Father, this is bad!"

"Calm down." Brocka glanced at him and said, "Could it be that the barbarians from the Insa Empire are passing through here again?"

Howell paused: "That's not the case..."

"If you don't have any, sit down first." Broca poured a glass of water for his son: "Don't be impatient no matter what happens. Think it through first."

Brocka looked at his son with eyes full of love.

Howell was only 17 years old, but he was already taller than Viscount Broca, who was 1 meters tall.

He did not inherit his mother's double eyelids, but his green eyes are bright and lively; his eyebrows are slightly thick like Broca's, his nose bridge is a bit short, but fortunately the nose tip is not big either, his cheekbones are just right, and his chin is quite stylish.

His clothes were also quite good. He wore a brown and yellow narrow-sleeved low-necked Luden brand suit on the upper body, white cotton trousers produced in Vatican City on the lower body, and a pair of custom-made black calfskin boots on his feet. He looked clean, simple, and quite chivalrous.

Overall, he is not very handsome, but with his perfectly trimmed brown short hair, he can be considered above average.

Howell's character is just like his taste in clothes, there is nothing wrong with it. He is not pure, but he is honest and has never done anything out of line or bad.

His only shortcoming may be that he is not very talented in politics and personal martial arts. Although he is 17 years old, he still cannot see the evil in people's hearts, and he speaks and acts impulsively.

But Brocka was the kind of person who had long since let go of everything - there were only a few geniuses like Baron Raven in the entire continent, and most of them were just ordinary people who were confused.

Brocka's father, Viscount Fisher, is the kind of person who has ordinary talents but thinks he is different from others.

What happened in the end? Not only did he die, but he also dragged down many people.

As a son, Broca did not think that his father was right; but as a father, his expectation for his son was to protect the family business and live a peaceful life.

No one is born knowing everything. If there are shortcomings, just teach them slowly.

Howell drank a few sips of water, his breathing slowly stabilized, and then he spoke: "It's like this, father, the 4000 enchanted crossbow arrows we sold to Viscount Titus this time were robbed yesterday." "What?" Viscount Broca immediately asked, "What happened exactly?"

Howell bit his lip, his expression darkening. "The escort team set out by land, and it was relatively peaceful at first, but soon after they left Baron Zeyi's territory, they were attacked by a group of unknown men."

"There are about 30 people in this group, all of them are heavy cavalry with armor on horseback. There are no markings on the armor, but they are well-trained. Although the leader did not use fighting spirit, he is definitely a third-level knight."

"All 37 members of the escort team, including the leader, Mr. Jia Peng, were wiped out. Only one guard was seriously injured. He pretended to be dead among the corpses and escaped and came back to report the news."

The more Howell spoke, the redder his eyes became.

Viscount Broca's brows furrowed deeper and deeper. He could understand his son's sadness.

His father, Viscount Fisher, had burned the family's elite troops to ashes in the previous battle with the Order of the Hand of Death. Japeng was the only remaining second-level knight who had served the family all his life and was also Howell's swordsmanship teacher.

Not to mention Howell, Broca himself felt very sorry.

"Sadness and anger cannot solve the problem. The most urgent task is to find the murderer." Brocka said: "Who do you think did it this time?"

Howell was stunned for a moment: "This... I don't know."

This was the first time he had experienced such an incident since he was a child.

"It's okay, think about it slowly." Brocka persuaded: "With 30 armored cavalry led by a third-level knight, they can easily kill 36 of our soldiers, and even Jia Peng died among them. This in itself can define the scope."

“On this basis, we can think about who has made the most profit.”

Howell nodded slowly and continued to sort out the ideas given by his father.

In the entire Snow Maple County, there are only four families that can afford to support third-level knights and thirty expensive armored cavalrymen. They are the Leighton family, the Wharton family of Judela, the Kovoga family of Wessin, and... the Griffith family of Raven.

Their family would not fight against each other; Judra and Versacene had no old grudges with the Leighton family, nor had any conflicts of interest recently.

The Leighton family is a viscount family and is eligible to compete for the position of county governor. Moreover, its vitality has recovered rapidly in the past two years, which is enough to make Raven feel threatened, so...

"I understand!" Howell's eyes lit up: "The mastermind behind this incident is Lei——"

"It's Wesassin." Viscount Broca interrupted his son decisively.

"Ah?" Howell's eyes were full of confusion: "But father..."

"It's Versacine, there's no other possibility." Bloka said expressionlessly, "He has been running an escort business recently. We transport the goods ourselves instead of using his channels, so he will naturally hate us."

"Using our family's freight unit as a threat is a threat to other families. Don't even think about shipping the goods without going through them!"

The confusion in Howell's eyes became even stronger. In his opinion, Viscount Broca's words were completely untenable. Not to mention that the motive itself was ridiculous. Even if it was true, how could Vissasim know his family's freight routes so specifically?

Only Raven, who has mastered the Sky Eagle platform, can do this.

"Father, what are you talking about?" Howell stood up and said, "With your wisdom, can't you see the problem?"

"This is Raven causing trouble!"

"Shut up!" Broca gave Howell a deep look and said, "Baron Raven would never do such a thing. There is no possibility."

"This could only have been done by Versacine."

Howell was so angry that he almost laughed. He hesitated for two steps and frowned, "Father, I don't know what you are afraid of. He is just a Raven. He may be rich, but we are also a viscount family!"

"Father, when did you become so cowardly?!"

"Alas..." Viscount Broca leaned back in his chair and sighed, "This is not cowardice, child."

“This is politics.”

"Baron Raven is not someone we can fight against."

"You don't dare, but I do!" Howell rushed out the door: "I'm going to find Raven and ask him to give me an explanation! I don't believe that he can kill me?!"

Looking at the shaking door, Brocka sighed heavily.

The housekeeper walked in and said, "Master, do you want me to bring the young master back?"

"Let him be." Bloka lowered his eyelids: "You must immediately send a letter back to the Xiecha Territory in my name and order the army to prepare for war."

"Uh...ah?" The butler blinked: "I don't quite understand, who are you going to fight with?"

"...Deploy to the east. I will write a letter to Baron Zeyi and pass through his territory when the time comes."

The butler was startled. The east of Baron Zeyi's Minai Territory was the territory of Baron Wessassin.

On the other side, Howell easily found out where Raven was and came to the auditorium.

The decoration of the auditorium was still elegant and noble, but in Howell's eyes it was indescribably abominable.

As soon as he entered the door, a maid brought wine. Howell waved his hand impatiently for her to leave, and walked inside with a hesitant look, and finally saw Raven.

At this time, Raven was holding a glass of Angel's Tears and chatting and laughing with two nobles, Baron Kate from Merle and Baron Seleva from Teda.

"Speaking of which, I've been busy with the competition these past few months and neglected to communicate with you all. This is my fault." Raven raised his glass slightly: "We are from the same county, so we should get closer in the future."

Kate nodded quickly and clinked glasses with Raven. "Of course, but although Baron Raven is busy, your hospitality is impeccable."

Although he and Raven had a long-standing grudge, Baron Seleva still did not dare to express his dissatisfaction in front of Raven, and exclaimed: "Yes, the scale of your wedding this time can be said to be unprecedented in our Xuefeng County. I think even in my old age, I will still talk about this grand wedding with my grandchildren."

"Haha, you two are too kind. I'm glad you're not dissatisfied." Raven drank a sip of Angel's Tears. "I thought that the wedding reception was not good enough, so you two wanted to get married and hold a grand wedding to overshadow me!"

The originally harmonious scene suddenly became cold.

Kate and Seleva did intend to become related by marriage. Their children were already grown up, and their territories were adjacent, so marrying together would bring greater benefits.

"Oh, I was just joking." Raven asked naturally, "Isn't it funny?"

"Haha, no, no, you're really humorous." Kate laughed dryly: "Actually, Seleva and I are just...discussing it, we haven't really confirmed it yet."

Seleva also smiled and said, "We just chatted for a while because we saw that the two kids were getting along well. It doesn't count!"

"Oh, it seems I misunderstood." Raven looked at Kate and said, "I was saying that, given our friendship, even if you want to marry me, you should consider my brother."

Baron Kate's Merle Territory and Baron Seleva's Teda Territory together constitute the eastern border of Xuefeng County. If the two families unite, they will be able to block the eastern exit of Xuefeng County, which is something Raven does not want to see.

Howell, who was standing aside and listening to the whole thing, raised his eyebrows.

Even when his grandfather, Viscount Fisher, was still alive, he had never interfered so rudely in the marriages of the county nobles. Raven actually dared to do this. Did he really think he had the final say in Xuefeng County?
Separating the crowd, Howell stood in front of Raven:
"Raven, you're really going too far!"

……

(End of this chapter)