Imperial Crown.

Chapter 32: One Thousand Gold Coins and One Condition

Looking at the face in front of him, Raven was surprised at first, then he smiled softly: "What a coincidence, we meet again."

Because the candidate maid in front of him was none other than the bartender, Patty, whom he met during his night visit to Shining Gold Town.

Her chestnut hair was no longer tied up like a whip, but was scattered on her shoulders. With a confused and panicked look in her eyes, she began to explain anxiously: "Baron, I didn't know it was you. That day I..."

"Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong." Raven said with a smile, "But why are you applying for a maid? Where is the tavern?"

Petty lowered his head, a trace of sadness in his eyes: "After you left that day, my father had a big fight with Pompey and others, and destroyed most of the tavern."

"After closing, he started to insult me, saying that I was the same as my mother, both..." She bit her lip lightly and spoke out the rest with difficulty: "both were very indecent women. He even beat me and kicked me out."

"He told me that if I couldn't make back the losses from the pub, I would not be allowed to go home. He even gave me a very... very revealing outfit and told me to do a job that suited me and to be with the women standing on the street."

"I didn't want to do that, so I spent the night in a hotel with the change I had. The next day, I saw your notice for recruiting maids."

Raven nodded slowly. He guessed that a face-conscious guy like old Jones would get angry.

Well, actually all men will get angry when they encounter that kind of thing. Being short is a man’s constant pain, and there are very few men as short as old Jones. After all, he is a “pacifier”.

But taking out your anger on people close to you, or even on your innocent daughter, without considering either your own interests or family affection, and in an attempt to make up for your pitiful self-esteem is a bit too pathetic.

"I want a personal maid." Raven said slowly, "You should know what kind of responsibilities this requires."

"Yes, Lord Baron." A blush rose on Petty's face. She raised her head and looked directly into Raven's eyes. "The head maid told me that I fully understand my responsibilities."

"Really?" Raven smiled playfully, "You know, once you agree, from today on, you will belong to me completely."

"I am willing..." Petty's voice trembled slightly, with shyness and nervousness: "I am willing to give everything I have to the Baron."

As a lord, Raven is majestic and wealthy enough; as a man, Raven is not only humorous, but also gentlemanly and reliable.

Petty already had some favorable impression of Raven because of his performance in the tavern that night. Now that he knew that the baron he was going to serve was him, he was even more willing.

"Very good." Raven said, "From today on, you will be my personal maid."

He glanced at the other three maids and said, "As for you, each of you will go to the head maid to receive a reward. If you are willing to stay, you can stay as an ordinary maid. If you are not willing, you can leave on your own."

The three girls could not hide their disappointment, but they did not dare to question the Baron's decision and said in unison: "Yes, Baron!"

After the three of them left, Raven waved to Patty with a smile on his face: "Come here, let me see."

Patty stepped forward and stood timidly in front of Raven.

She really suits the maid outfit. Her tall figure and plump body are made even more attractive by the tight and seductive clothes.

Ever since tasting Freira, Raven has been hungry for more than two months.

Grabbing her soft palm, Raven could clearly feel her body temperature rising due to nervousness. He gently kneaded her fingers, and with a slight pull, he pulled the soft body into his arms and buried his head in that softness.

Patty said with a hint of panic: "My lord, it's still...it's still daytime!"

"Then why can't I see anything?" Raven joked, and picked up Patty by the waist as she exclaimed, "Today is a rare day off. As a personal maid, you must understand your master's habits."

With a swoop, Raven kicked open the door, threw the soft and hot body in his arms onto the bed, and pounced on her.

"Sir... this is my first time..."

"Sir, the curtains...!"

After a thrilling battle, Raven sat at the head of the bed, feeling refreshed, and gently tasted the Angel's Tears.

He turned his head and his eyes fell on Patty lying on the bed.

The new personal maid had just finished her duties and could not stand the beating and fell into a deep sleep. Her hair was disheveled and stuck to her face, her lips were slightly red and swollen, and her brows were still slightly wrinkled.

She lay on her side, half of her body hidden under the thin summer quilt, her shoulders were round and sexy, and her flexible curves from her ribs to her waist, and from her waist to her calves were fully revealed.

Maybe she was not slim, but regular labor made her body very strong, especially her plump and powerful thighs, which gave Raven a rare enjoyment.

Gently getting up from the bed, the shaking of the bed woke up the maid, and Petty opened her eyes: "My lord, let me help you change your clothes."

She tried to get up, but as soon as her legs moved, she frowned and let out a low cry.

"Just lie still." Raven turned around and looked at her with a smile: "You will have time to serve me later."

Patty lay back down on the bed and covered herself with the thin blanket.

After putting on his clothes, Raven walked out the door. As soon as he reached the door, he heard Patty shyly and nervously ask, "My lord, have I...done my duty?"

Raven chuckled and turned back to say, "I am satisfied."

After saying that, he walked out of the door.

Patty immediately covered herself with the quilt. Although that sentence was taught to her by the head maid, she could actually ask it just now. It was really, really embarrassing!
休息的时间总是短暂的。

Two days later, that is, on the eighth day after Raven arrived in Shanjin Town, the first batch of goods, 120 sets of leather armor, arrived, and the conscription work that had been prepared long ago also began.

The test items were still the three designed by Raven before: stone lifting, balance beam, and archery.

However, in order to select the best, a long-distance run around the town of Shining Gold was added. In the end, all 105 people were complete. Simon, Link and Goyle were appointed as platoon leaders, and Raven now had three teams of 36 people.

Unlike Xiongying Town, the people of Shanjin Town have no worries about food and clothing, so simply distributing food cannot inspire such great enthusiasm.

Lei Wen took advantage of the situation and implemented the military salary plan that had been brewing for a long time - ordinary soldiers would receive a salary of one silver coin plus twenty copper coins per month, his own personal soldiers would receive three silver coins plus sixty copper coins per month, and the salaries of the three platoon leaders would be doubled on this basis.

In order to win the hearts of the people, Raven handed the first two months' salary to his personal soldiers in front of all the recruits.

A total of only 180 silver coins, or 1.8 gold coins, were spent, but it aroused the enthusiasm of all the new recruits and veterans, and let them know who was the one who gave them the money.

Being a lord does not require personal involvement in everything. Eric and the three new platoon leaders are capable of doing the training work. However, in order to strengthen his authority in the army, Raven still accompanied the team for supervision in the first few days, and personally ordered the handling of several undisciplined guys.

Therefore, Raven was particularly tired these days and needed the "warm service" of his personal maid every morning.

On the morning of the twelfth day in Goldshire, Raven woke up to enthusiastic service again. He reached out and touched the soft body, a smile in his eyes.

Just then, there was a knock on the door: "Baron, Priest Lacus is here to visit."

"Why is she here?" Raven was stunned and patted the girl's shoulder: "Petit, stop."

"Okay, Baron." Patty stood up timidly, blushing and began to change Raven's clothes.

Raven liked this about her, not only that she was obedient, but also that she still maintained her girlish shyness even though he had seen her whole body.

Seeing the dress in the mirror, Raven said, "I don't want this one, it's still lined with cotton."

"Sir, do you still need to wear armor today?" Petty asked in surprise, "You have been in the training ground for three consecutive days."

Having said that, she still took out the ugly cotton coat and helped Raven put it on bit by bit.

"Yes, the soldiers in Shanjin Town are physically better and smarter, but they also have more ideas of their own and are somewhat undisciplined." Raven said helplessly: "Now I finally understand why General Qi said that he didn't want any town soldiers at all."

Of course, Patty didn't understand this sentence. In fact, she didn't try to understand it, and never asked. She fulfilled her duties as a personal maid very well.

After putting on the enchanted chain armor and pushing open the door, Raven was stunned because Lux was waiting at the door of his room.

What she wore today was not the priest robe she usually wore, but the goose yellow long skirt commonly seen on ordinary girls. It set off her fair and delicate skin, making her look as if she was soaked in light. Combined with the pigtails hanging on her shoulders, a youthful and sweet breath came to her face.

Standing at the door, Lux smelled the hormonal smell that had not yet completely dissipated in the room. Seeing Petty's somewhat ruddy face, she immediately understood what had just happened in the room. She slightly turned her eyes away and saluted: "Baron Raven."

As she spoke, her eyes fell on Patty's face: "Who is this...?"

"My personal maid, Petty." Raven introduced: "Petty, this is Priest Lacus from the Eagle Town Church."

Petty saluted respectfully: "Priest Lux."

Lux nodded in return and asked, "Baron Raven, you are wearing a suit of armor. Is there anything important?"

"I'm just going to train the newly recruited private soldiers." Raven said, "What business do you have here?"

"No, I haven't." Lux shook her head and said, "I just came to Shimmering Gold to buy some daily necessities and came to see you on the way."

"In that case, you might as well stay a little longer and make a list of the things you want to buy and let my men do it." Raven said with a smile, "Also, we have Angel's Tears prepared here, you can use them at any time."

Hearing about Angel's Tears, Lux's eyes lit up: "That's great... But I have another request."

"There's no need to be so polite between us." Raven said, "Whatever you want, anything is fine." Lux said, "Then please call me Lux. It's tiring to always use honorifics."

"Of course, but that's not fair." Raven said easily, "Then please call me Raven, Miss Lacus."

"Okay." Lux's sapphire eyes showed a smile. "Raven, if possible, can you let me see how you train your soldiers? I'm actually very curious about what a baron does every day."

“It might be hard, Lacus…” Raven swallowed the priest’s gift that was about to come out of his mouth and said, “It’s not an easy job.”

Lux smiled brightly: "I am also a second-level divine magician. Don't treat me as a weak little girl."

"Okay, then come with me."

Raven and Lux ​​walked out of the government hall side by side and headed northeast of Shimmering Gold Town.

"Baron Raven, you are still single. Isn't it... a little too early to hire a personal maid now?" Lux asked casually.

"But I am a man." Raven patted his shoulder with a smile on his face. "And I am strong and healthy. As far as I know, the Church does not overly advocate abstinence."

"But you are also a lord after all. You shouldn't waste your energy on other things." Lux said with her big eyes flashing, "Besides, you will have a wife in the future."

After saying this, Raven suddenly stopped and a three-dimensional face came in front of Lux.

“Ah!” Lux was startled: “Raven, what are you doing?”

"I'm thinking about what my future wife should look like." Raven said in a long voice, "Will she be as beautiful as Miss Lux?"

“S-Stop talking nonsense…” Lacus lowered her head, her lips opening and closing shyly: “I’m a priest!”

She felt her heartbeat had never been so fast.

"Hehe, I was just teasing you." After teasing Lux, Raven was in a good mood: "I hope the Lord of Light won't blame me."

"Raven!" A trace of shame and anger flashed across Lux's face. When she looked up, she found that Raven had already walked ahead, so she quickly followed him.

The day passed quickly.

That night, Lux and Raven returned to the Government Hall.

The latter went to the bedroom to take off his armor and change his clothes, while the former sat at the dining table, supporting his chin with one hand, quietly thinking about everything that happened today.

They went to the northwest of Shanjin Town, where a temporary training ground was located, with two rows of temporary dormitories next to it. It was heard that real barracks had already been built in Xiongying Town.

As soon as he entered the training ground, Raven seemed like a different person. The smile on his face disappeared, and a sense of majesty and murderous aura spread, making every private soldier who saw him silent.

That is the aura that only a few superiors possess, such as Marquis Anthony Edwards of the royal capital.

Unlike many nobles, Raven did not go out to cool off alone in the barracks with his maid and fruits. Like all the soldiers, he stood under the scorching sun, but considerately let Lux stand in the shade.

The training process was boring, nothing more than standing straight, lining up, turning left, turning right, etc., but Lux watched it with fascination. She found that the eyes of the soldiers who had undergone training were changing.

She even saw a few guys who had whistled at her before, but now they just kept their eyes straight and followed orders.

She soon discovered the reason, or one of the reasons, for this change.

A brown-haired guy whispered a joke about Eric's appearance, and then Eric whipped him ten times on the back in front of everyone, with no breath coming out.
Then Raven took out a potion and fed it to him in public. After the wound on his back healed, he immediately returned to the team for training. The man immediately became obedient. He looked at Eric with some resentment, but looked at Raven with gratitude.

Lux was stunned. That was a bottle of healing potion that cost five gold coins. Raven was so generous to his soldiers!

She certainly didn't know that the potion came from the automatically replenished healing potion that Raven got from Donald.

Raven had also experimented with this potion, and found that one bottle could be automatically generated approximately every five days. However, once the potion left the bottle, no matter how it was preserved, its effect would be lost within six hours. The idea of ​​storing and selling it would go out of hand, and it could only be used for occasional emergencies.

At noon, Raven ate the same lunch as his private soldiers - black bread as hard as a rock, with an unlimited pot of vegetable stew.

Moreover, Raven also took Lux into consideration and arranged special treatment for her, but she refused. This move also won her the favor of many private soldiers.

At the end of the day, Lux had a more three-dimensional and profound impression of Raven, and she also had a deep understanding of Raven's hard work.

The summer sun was fierce. The soil in the training ground was baked dry and hard. The air close to the ground was distorted. The private soldiers were sweating profusely.

Even Lux felt exhausted after a day, let alone Raven who was wearing heavy chain armor.

But he never complained of being tired, nor did he show any signs of fatigue. His iron will was truly impressive.

Lux looked up when she heard light footsteps. She saw Raven had changed into loose, casual clothes and sat opposite her. "Sorry for the wait. I just wiped myself off because I smelled so much sweat."

As he spoke, he picked up the bottle of Angel's Tears and poured a glass of wine for Lux.

"Let me do it." Lux's white fingers touched the wine bottle and touched Raven's fingers. She retracted her fingers slightly but did not let go of the bottle.

"Okay." Raven withdrew his hand and looked at the beautiful woman in front of him as she poured him a glass of wine. "How do you feel after today?"

"It's so tiring." Lux sighed, "If it were me, I might not be able to hold on for a day. It's so tiring, I really need someone to take care of me."

"So, you don't mind if I have a personal maid?" Raven raised his eyebrows.

"This..." Lux lowered her head: "You have a few maids, what does it have to do with me?"

Looking at her shy look, Raven laughed.

Hearing this laughter, Lux knew that Raven was teasing her again and couldn't help but pout: "I wanted to help you, but now... forget it!"

Raven was stunned for a moment: "Any news about the mage potion?"

The Church of Light has always been a major seller of divine potions - of course, in their words, it is "a worthy return for the generous donations of devout believers."

Before leaving Goldshire, Raven asked Lux ​​and got the exact price of the second-level wizard potion from her. He also knew that it could not be bought with just money.

Lux pursed her lips: "Humph, not anymore."

"Alas..." Raven suddenly sighed: "If that's the case, then fate has not connected my path with that of a mage."

Lux didn't respond and turned her eyes away angrily.

"The Griffith family is cursed by their bloodline. For hundreds of years, no one has lived past the age of forty. I originally thought that if I embarked on the path of a mage, I could unlock the secret of this curse and remove the lingering shackles that weighed on our people."

At this point, Raven sighed: "Now it seems that I am destined to not be able to cross this barrier. I don't know whether my cursed bloodline should be passed on."

Hearing what Raven said, Lux's heart softened immediately, and she twisted her braid with her fingers: "Actually... there is a solution."

"Really?" Raven's eyes lit up.

"I knew you were just kidding me again!" Lux pouted, but she also knew that what Raven said was true, so she told him the truth: "I received a reply from Bishop Thomas. He said that he could give me a quota of second-level magician's divine potion, but the donation amount of 2,000 gold coins cannot be less, and it can only be left until the end of the month at the latest."

The Holy See has the right to use the Empire's post system, and they use the best quality ones. It takes only ten days to travel from Eagle Town to Mon'en City and back. It is estimated that they have to gallop to shorten the journey of one month to one third.

"This..." Raven frowned.

"What's the problem?" Lux asked.

"I don't have that much gold coins on hand for now." Raven said helplessly, "Although I received a sum of money before, a considerable part of it was used for the construction of Eagle Town. Now I can only use 1000 gold coins at most. Can you give me another month? By then, the next payment will be in my account and it should be enough."

"I'm afraid it's difficult." Lux shook her head, and the flowing golden hair on her forehead became messy. "Bishop Thomas and I don't have any personal relationship. Even this time, he agreed only for my teacher's sake."

Raven frowned deeply. If he missed this opportunity, it would be difficult to get this potion before the Nord Province became chaotic.

Seeing his worried look, Lux said, "Actually... I can lend you 1000 gold coins first."

"What?" Raven suspected he had heard wrongly: "1000 gold coins, that's not a small amount, Lux, you must not do anything that violates the rules of the church!"

"What are you thinking?" Lux said angrily, "I won't embezzle the tithe. Besides, even if I did, it wouldn't be as much as 1000 gold coins."

Raven touched his nose awkwardly: "I think too much, but where did you get so much money?"

"You don't need to worry about this, Baron." Lux said with a hint of pride and mystery that only a young girl can have: "Anyway, this money comes from a legitimate source."

There was a mischievous gleam in her eyes:

"But if you want these 1000 gold coins, you need to agree to one condition of mine."

……

(End of this chapter)