Imperial Crown.

Chapter 69 Simon Returns
when--

A cluster of fire suddenly burst out, and the scimitar in Eric's hand rose slightly, and the light wrapped around Gore's half sword was dispersed by the collision.

If it were any other first-level transcendent, his hands would definitely become numb from the shock, or even his knuckles would be cracked.

But as a user of earth fighting spirit, Goyle poured most of the force he endured onto the ground beneath his feet. Suddenly, two floor tiles exploded behind him, and smoke billowed!
At the same time, Link rushed up with a burning hand and a half-sword, the tip of the sword pointing directly at Eric's throat.

The latter took a half step back to avoid the sword, took off the steel shield behind him with his left hand and was about to smash Link's weapon, but Volaf seized the opportunity and stabbed the shield in the middle with his sword.

Since it was not an enchanted weapon, although this attack was wrapped in fighting spirit, it could not leave the slightest mark on the enchanted steel shield. However, the biting icy fighting spirit covered the surface of the shield with a layer of frost, which slowed down Eric's movements by three points and allowed Link to retract his weapon.

Mosing Gan finally found the opportunity, roared, and chopped down on the head with the sword in both hands. Eric also roared, and the scimitar in his hand was soaked in fighting spirit, and the silver and blood colors reflected each other, creating a burst of starlight and crashed into it.

Mosingan took three steps back and hit the wall with a thud. However, Eric had no time to chase him and had to deal with Link's subsequent attacks.

The first confrontation, four against one, evenly matched!
"Okay, let's stop here." Raven clapped his hands, attracting everyone's attention: "We will set off in ten days, so don't hurt yourselves. Continue training and strengthen your fighting spirit!"

Although they were still a little unsatisfied, they would not disobey Raven's order: "Yes, Baron!"

What Raven wanted to know was their fighting ability, not that he really wanted to let them fight to the death.

From this fight just now, Lei Wen could see that the four people cooperated well with each other, but they did not fully understand the characteristics of their respective fighting spirits. Moreover, since they had just condensed the seeds of fighting spirit, their control and total amount of fighting spirit were not satisfactory.

Although they could fight Eric to a draw at first, if the fight continued, these four people would definitely lose due to Eric's stronger endurance, richer extraordinary combat experience, and more powerful fighting spirit.

Raven didn't want to dampen their morale before they even set out.

"You have all become extraordinary, so I have to work harder too!" Raven shook his shoulders and held the staff in his hand.

The God-given potion and iron core had been delivered and used successfully. Lei Ben thought that nothing serious would happen before setting off.

But on the next day, he encountered a little "surprise".

In the study, Raven remained silent as he looked at the documents Fiona had sorted out. He looked at her, then at the documents, and for a moment he felt quite uncomfortable.

The handwriting was indeed very beautiful and clear, much better than his, but why was this plan so...

Fuck!

"Did you do this yourself?" Raven asked, suppressing his anger.

Fiona showed a hint of pride in her eyes, nodded, and looked at Raven expectantly, as if waiting for praise.

But what greeted her was not praise, but sarcastic scolding: "I said you are a talent? Talented, how dare you hand this thing to my desk?"

"......!" Fiona's breathing stagnated and her eyes widened. She didn't know why she was being scolded.

"You don't know, right? Then I'll tell you what's wrong." Raven sneered and picked up the document to read: "Look at what you wrote, 'Plan to purchase 50,000 kilograms of sawdust and mix it with coarse wheat flour at the raw material stage. This can not only extend the shelf life of coarse wheat flour, but also save a large amount of food!'"

"Is this something a human could write? Huh? You handed it to me and you expect me to praise you, right?"

Fiona's head drooped even lower, tears streaming down her eyes, and her breathing became irregular, until she choked.

"Cry, you really have the nerve to cry!" Seeing this, Raven became even angrier: "You really have read too much and your brain is broken. I am very busy now and have no time to teach you. Take this garbage you wrote back and think carefully about what is wrong with it!"

"I hope to have an answer when I return from Bloody Heights!"

As he spoke, the parchment document fell on Fiona's head with a "pop", and the airflow blew up a piece of her hair.

Fiona shrank her neck, curled her lips, and tried hard not to cry. She lowered her head to pick up the parchment, and left Raven's study feeling aggrieved.

"Alas...you're just causing trouble for me!" Raven sighed, lowered his head and continued to study the Elvish language.

On the other side, Fiona wiped her tears and returned to old Gordon's office. She came to her desk, threw the documents on the table, and then lay on it and cried.

Old Gordon was startled when he saw this: "Fiona, what's going on? Did anyone bully you?"

Fiona didn't respond.

Old Gordon did not ask any more questions. Instead, he stood up and walked to her side. He picked up the document and read it carefully from beginning to end. A smile that could not be suppressed appeared on his old face:

"You took this to show the Baron, so you got scolded, right?"

"Hmm..." Fiona said in a muffled voice.

"From the look of you, it seems like you still don't know why this is happening?" Old Gordon asked again.

"The Baron also told me to think about it carefully." Fiona sat up, pulled her hair away from her red face, and said with dissatisfaction: "But, there is nothing wrong with this document!"

"If you ask me, you deserve it. If you had shown it to me beforehand, I would have scolded you even more harshly!" said old Gordon.

"But why?" Fiona's voice was filled with confusion and grievance: "I clearly proposed this plan when we met last time, and the Baron praised me. Why is it that when it comes to implementing it, he scolds me instead?"

"Hey... you, you really use all your talent on numbers, and you know nothing about the ways of the world." Old Gordon sighed: "Who do you think the Baron is? A useless person who has nothing but noble birth in your stereotype? Or a miser who doesn't care how many people die as long as he can get some gold coins?" "If that were the case, why would he keep you and give you a salary of five gold coins a year?"

Fiona's brows gradually relaxed, and she seemed to accept old Gordon's explanation, but she had not completely let it go.

Seeing this, Old Gordon continued to explain, "The last time the Baron praised you, it was because you showed the intelligence he wanted and dared to propose solutions when encountering problems, rather than agreeing with the solution itself."

"Otherwise, with the Baron's intelligence, could it be that he hasn't thought of the solution you've come up with? It's just that he doesn't bother to do so!"

Fiona suddenly uttered two words: "Hypocrisy!"

"Kid, why don't you understand what people are saying?" Old Gordon's anger rose: "This is not hypocrisy, this is wisdom!"

"Besides, you only criticize others, but you yourself are not hypocritical?"

"Me?" Fiona looked at Old Gordon: "Grandpa, how could I be hypocritical?"

"What did you say to Baron Raven that day?" Old Gordon's voice became more and more serious. "You said that the construction of Eagle Town should start with schools, which can provide a large number of excellent talents."

"But can this proposal you have planned make Eagle Town prosperous? Do you expect a group of hungry serfs to go to school? Or do you expect them to build Eagle Town well?"

"This...I..." Fiona was stunned by the question and her eyes began to turn red again.

"So next time you make a plan, think about it more!" Seeing that she still couldn't figure out the key, Old Gordon said, "From today on, you don't have to help me with the accounts. Your only task is to think about what mistakes you made and why you made them! When you figure it out, come back and help me!"

Hearing these words, Fiona panicked. She stood up and pleaded, "Grandpa, I..."

This time old Gordon hardened his heart: "It's settled."

Fiona lowered her head and whispered weakly, "I understand..."

In the next few days, large quantities of war supplies were packed in packages and piled up in the courtyard of Eagle Castle, making everyone realize that a war was imminent.

The operation of Eagle Castle became increasingly militarized, and everyone was busy like cogs in a war machine.

This also shrouded the entire Eagle Castle in a tense, orderly and depressing atmosphere.

At noon on the fourth day before departure, Raven had just finished a meditation and was about to ask Petty to bring lunch when he suddenly heard a loud noise.

He was feeling a little annoyed. Why was there such a mess before we even set out?
Raven got up from the bed and was about to see what was going on when Patty knocked on the door.

When he opened the door, he saw Petty face to face. The latter was slightly surprised and quickly saluted: "Baron!"

"What happened?" Raven asked.

"...Simon is back, and some servants don't recognize him, so there was a little confusion." Petty explained, "But the problem has been solved!"

"I don't know him?" Raven was stunned for a moment: "After Simon left, it seems that we didn't recruit any new servants?"

"Forget it, never mind all that. Where's Simon? Let him come to see me!"

Patty hesitated for a moment: "Mr. Simon is not in a position to move now..."

The words were vague, but Raven understood the meaning behind them. After walking for so long over several hundred kilometers, they must have encountered a lot of troubles. "Then take me to see him!"

But when Raven saw Simon, he was still shocked by his miserable condition.

Raven now understood why the servants had been unable to recognize him, and even he himself had been unable to connect this man with Simon at first sight.

At this time, Simon was lying on the bed in the medical room. He was originally a handsome young man, but now he was completely thin.

His blond hair was dry and messy, mixed with dust. His once fair face was dirty, with several cracks from frostbite, like dry land. The flesh on his cheeks was so thin that it was sunken, and his exposed hands were covered with chilblains.

The leather armor on his body became tattered, with at least six or seven arrow holes and scratches, and blood stains almost soaked it.

Lying on a bed next to him was another scout named Barry, who was from Goldshire.

"Where are the others?" Raven asked.

"...Only the two of them came back, Baron," said Petty.

"So, did they take anything with them?"

"No……"

"...I understand." Raven's eyes twitched and he ordered, "Find a few maids to take care of them, and immediately ask Priest Lacus to come and help treat them."

"Volaf! Call Eric and the others over immediately and tell them that Simon is back."

……

(End of this chapter)