Imperial Crown.

Chapter 510 The Kind and Generous Lord Raven
At this moment, the hall of Bloodstone Castle was packed with people.

Among them were the leading figures of the first echelon of light infantry formations of the central army—Heve, Lamb, Pindt, and Pip.

The leaders of the second echelon of mercenaries in the central army are Moas, Beta, Sollingi, and their confidants.

The leading figures of the heavy infantry formation of the third echelon of the Central Army, the Black Blade Team, are Donkey Face, Freckles, and Bobby.

……

The leading figures of the first echelon of the left-wing crossbowmen formation were Thor and Hoaz.

The leading figures of the second echelon of archer cavalry on the left wing were Severin and Grand.

……

Savannah, the leader of the Holy Knights, the first echelon of the right wing, and her adjutant, Hume.

The leading figures of the second echelon of heavy cavalry on the right wing were Turo, Baido, and Jacobi.

The leading figures of the third echelon of light cavalry on the right wing were Magd and Henchdon.

……

In addition, there are Eric; Banks and Lennon from the Wind King's squad; the civil servant Hu Sha; and Raven's bodyguard Link, among others.

These were all officers qualified to enter Bloodstone Castle to meet Raven. As for lower-ranking officers such as ten-man commanders, centurions, and chiliarchs, they were not qualified to enter the hall.

Others, such as Simon and William, were placed in the basement by Raven, as they were not suitable for public appearances.

Despite Raven's numerous surprise attacks in this decisive battle, it was still a bloody affair, with many veterans of the Eagle Army falling in battle, some even leaving no trace. Among them were Otto, a veteran of the left-wing crossbowmen; Boris, a veteran of the right-wing heavy cavalry; and Vader, a veteran of the center heavy infantry…

Most importantly, the escape of the sixth-tier Silvermane is tantamount to "letting a tiger return to the mountain" in the truest sense! This has become a huge hidden danger!

"Hu Xia".

Since departing from Eagle City, Raven has rarely shown his face. To ensure his makeup remained flawless, he had Lux ​​reapply it. Combined with his exquisite and elaborate count's robes, and his brooding, withered, and serious face, he looked like a nobleman straight out of a medieval painting, exuding innate aristocratic air!
Raven glanced around, and only after everyone subconsciously held their breath did he speak softly.

"Yes, my lord."

Hu Xia immediately sat down to the side. "There is only one spot for the title of nobility this time when merit points are exchanged." After arranging the ink, notebook, and quill pen in their respective positions, Hu Xia cleared his throat and said in a clear voice.

boom--

This statement is like throwing a huge rock into a calm lake, instantly creating thousands of waves and ripples!

Everyone present, except for Savannah and others from the Church of Light, paled in shock! Members of the Church of Light were naturally forbidden from being granted titles, so joining almost certainly blocked their path to becoming a lord or noble! But in this era of starvation, joining the Church of Light wasn't easy! Unless one was an exceptionally talented hero or mage, joining required paying a hefty sum of gold coins! Most were only the surplus offspring or illegitimate children of nobles who could afford it! After all, joining the Church of Light meant not only a life of abundance but also a powerful backer and background, and even a chance to obtain cultivation resources after completing missions! It was like a golden rice bowl in Raven's previous life! Who wouldn't want such a network? Who wouldn't want to have it?! If Raven remembered correctly, Eric, before being recruited by Donald after becoming a transcendent, had also tried to join the Church of Light, but lacking connections, he was rejected several times! If joining the Church of Light were that easy, there wouldn't be so many mercenaries and adventurers on the continent of Middlesbrough!

Aside from them, the other people in the hall had various expressions on their faces: some were confused, some were surprised, some were disappointed, and some were angry... well, their expressions were vague... After all, no one dared to show their anger so obviously in front of Mr. Raven.

A feeling of being tricked welled up in everyone's hearts! The most disappointed were undoubtedly these second-generation superhumans. Their faces couldn't hide their anxiety, unease, and disappointment.

Yes! It's true that merit points can be exchanged for titles, but there's no guarantee of unlimited supply! It's like life essence; what's the use of having more merit points or gold if you run out of stock? You can't exchange them. The same logic applies to titles. And this can't be considered Raven breaking his promise, since he did indeed offer title exchanges. So if anyone dares to be disloyal to Raven because of this, they're practically courting death!

As for his dissatisfaction... haha, would a lion care about the dissatisfaction of an ant?!

The words may be a bit rough, but the principle is the same! In this era of "rigid class divisions, survival of the fittest, and winner-takes-all" jungle law, this approach actually highlights Earl Raven's admirable qualities. After all, promotion to a higher rank, leaping across social classes in one step, is never an easy feat!

Excessive bestowal of rewards, leading to widespread corruption and rendering titles worthless, is a minor issue. The real problem lies in having too many powerful and disorganized factions, which, once they become uncontrollable, are practically a death knell! From the Church of Light to the Keynesian Empire, and even the former Viscount John… all have used their own experiences to illustrate this bloody truth. However, Raven still holds the trump card of the "Decree of Grace," so he isn't too worried about this aspect.

"I'll go!" Thor stood up impatiently. "I'll go first!" He ignored his father Eric's constant winks.

How could Thor not be anxious? Merit points were incredibly difficult to accumulate. Take the Goblin Battle, for example. That battle wiped out at least 7-8 goblins, but only yielded 9600 merit points! And in these collective battles, everyone had to share the spoils equally, because it was impossible for someone to keep track of who killed how many goblins. Therefore, for fairness, all major battles used a collective distribution system. Afterwards, Raven, in his haste to conduct a "blitzkrieg," didn't have time to clean up the battlefield or tally the merit points. So, he generously awarded every soldier a full 3 merit points!

Mr. Raven's benevolence and righteousness are truly beyond reproach!
In the battle where they ambushed the eagle-men on the banks of the Tallinn River, the magic crystal cannons were the ones that made the difference. However, after deducting the wear and tear on the magic crystal cannons, the high-level magic crystals and high-level magic cores consumed, Thor and the others were completely dumbfounded. Not only did the eight extraordinary beings not earn a single merit, but they also owed Raven tens of thousands of gold coins.

It was Raven's mercy again. Not only did he forgive Thor and the others' debts, but he also gave each of them a whopping 80 merit points. This was all thanks to the capture of Igni. Otherwise, they wouldn't have even been able to keep those 80 merit points.

Since the introduction of merit points, all kinds of healing potions, cultivation supplies, etc., need to be exchanged by spending merit points, so it is really difficult for these people to accumulate merit points.

The great battle has just ended, and the battlefield is still being cleaned up. The merit points have not yet been tallied. Even if they are tallied, each person will probably receive no more than 100 merit points on average.

Now that they have finally accumulated enough merits, but there is only one spot for a noble title, who wouldn't be anxious?
Therefore, it wasn't just Thor who was anxious; Grand, who was secretly competing with Severin from the outside world, and Beta, who was determined to make a name for himself, were even more anxious, their faces contorted with worry.

"Nonsense!"

Raven's soft shout silenced the hall once more. "Young people should learn to be modest, understand? Let the mercenary friends exchange their items first."

Raven didn't know Solinxi's name, but he gestured to Solinxi with his eyes.

"Boss, boss!" Tim shouted excitedly from the side, his voice barely suppressed.

Sollingx was equally excited. He knew that being the first to jump out and pledge his loyalty had paid off! Just as Thor stood up, he was worried that the title would be snatched away by Raven's men. After all, no matter how you looked at it, they mercenaries were "outsiders" in the entire hall. So when Thor roared and stood up, Sollingx's head was buzzing, and he didn't come to his senses for a moment.

"Thank you so much, Earl!" Reminded by his confidant, Solingxi finally snapped out of his daze, quickly standing up and bowing deeply in gratitude. Then, amidst the envious and jealous gazes of the crowd, he walked step by step towards Hu Xia's long table. Solingxi possessed a full 1127 merit points, which came neither from his battle achievements nor from purchasing them, but from his own persuasion!
That's right, it was persuasion! During the two weeks of waiting for the Silvermane army to arrive, Sollingx told every mercenary the same thing: to test whether Raven's claim of "merit points for titles" was true! This was a question in almost everyone's mind, let alone the mercenaries. So these mercenaries transferred their merit points to Sollingx, giving him a full 1127 merit points.

The sturdy combat boots clattered heavily on the Bloodstone Castle floor. Solinxi stopped in front of the long table, took a deep breath, trying to appear calm, and said in a deep voice, "I... I am Solinxi, and I wish to exchange for a title! A fief knight!"

A trainee knight has 500 merit points, only the title of knight, and no fiefdom.

A fief knight with 1000 merit points has 1000 acres of land, but cannot build a castle; they can only build a small manor.

A castle knight with 1500 merit points can build his own castle on 2-5000 acres of land!

To put it more bluntly, a castle knight is someone whose fiefdom's economy is capable of both internal circulation and external profitability!
Despite having prepared himself mentally, Solling's voice still trembled noticeably when he spoke.

"Okay." Hu Xia nodded. "The total merit points are 1127. After deducting 1000 points, there are 127 points left."

"Wait a moment"

Just as Hu Xia was about to take notes, Lei Wen interrupted the process, which immediately made Suo Lingxi so nervous that his toes gripped the ground and his mouth went dry.

"The mercenary phalanx has achieved remarkable feats in battle, fighting bravely against the enemy. The brave Sollings has demonstrated excellent leadership, and is hereby awarded the Castle Knight title as an exceptional honor!" Raven said calmly.

what? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
For a moment, everyone was stunned. Solling's head started buzzing again, and he couldn't even speak. Thor and the others had even more interesting expressions, staring at Raven in disbelief. Even Hu Xia was dumbfounded, silently thinking, "My lord, are you kidding me? I escaped death and I'm just a fief knight!"

"The Earl's benevolence will forever be etched in the blood of the Gallagher family! It will become an immortal rose! Its song will resound throughout the entire continent of Middlesbrough!"

"Sorinzee Gallagher swears allegiance to the Griffith family! He swears allegiance to Earl Raven, a man of wisdom, nobility, elegance, and benevolence!"

Solingxi collapsed to his knees with a crash, like a mountain of gold collapsing and a jade pillar crumbling, and roared like thunder.

"Hahaha"

It felt so good! I felt so good to be praised so highly by someone, from the last strand of hair to the last fingernail. It felt so good that I couldn't help but burst into laughter.

After deducting 1000 merit points, Hu Xia returned the token to Suolingxi.

Sollingx approached Raven and knelt down on one knee.

Raven raised the heavy, unparalleled sword and slammed it down on Solling's shoulder. "Today, I, Raven Griffith, in the name of the Earl, hereby confer upon you the title of Castle Knight! You are permitted to build your own castle, to name your own knighthood, and to design your own family crest!"

Every word Raven spoke sounded like beautiful music to Sollingx, making him tremble with excitement! Finally, Sollingx had risen from a wandering mercenary to a nobleman with actual fiefdoms! Sollingx believed that what had happened to him would create a massive upheaval in the mercenary world, and all mercenaries would remember this incredible, epic moment! But gradually, Sollingx sensed something was amiss. Raven's voice continued: "Allow you to convert all the mercenaries into your subjects!"

"You are granted a fiefdom of 5000 acres in the Nightthroat Province of the Orcish Empire!"

"From this day forward, you are a nobleman of the Keynes Empire, and are granted the title of knight! I hope you will uphold the honor and responsibility of the nobility!"

Raven finally finished speaking.

"Hmm?" "Huh?" "Eh?"

Soling was a little confused. In just half an hour, his brain was buzzing for the third time. No, no, something was wrong! Shouldn't his fiefdom be in the Nord Province of the Keynes Empire? How did it inexplicably end up in the Nightthroat Province of the Orc Empire?

Is this some kind of fiefdom?
Wouldn't this make them the ones left behind in the Orc Empire to suffer the consequences?!
Solingxi's head was buzzing, and he couldn't quite process what was happening for a moment.

"I, Lux, as a priestess of the Holy See of Eagle Territory, witness this glorious moment!"

Seeing that Sollings remained silent, the atmosphere in the hall became somewhat awkward. Lux spoke up in a solemn voice from the side.

Thor, Hoaz, and the others looked like they wanted to laugh but dared not. Only now did Thor understand why his father had been frantically giving him meaningful glances earlier!
Otherwise, he would have to stay in this orc empire for the rest of his life!

"Don't worry, I'll be staying here permanently, I won't leave you alone," Raven said in a low voice.

Solling pursed his lips, his voice bitter as he said, "I swear to be loyal to the Griffith family to the death!"

With this, Raven completed his third coronation!

The first investiture was 11 years ago, in 1195, when Raven was still just a baron. Only four people were investitured: Simon, Link, Eric, and Gordon the Elder.

Gordon has been gone for many years now.

The second investiture took place two years earlier, in 1204, when Raven had become an earl, and this time the number of people investitured was much larger.

They are Hyena, Bobby, Wade, Otto, Boris, Jacobi, and Husha, all of whom are fief knights.

Link and Simon were promoted to castle knights.

Eric was promoted to Baron Coronation.

Aunt Denise was promoted directly to Viscount.

Therefore, in this decisive battle, three noble knights under Raven's command died in battle!
……

(End of this chapter)