Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

Finally, a grand tournament and banquet are needed to prove that one has the martial prowess and financial resources befitting a knight.

Since a significant number of knightly families simply could not afford such a large amount of land and money, many of the knights' sons who completed their squire training could only remain as squires until they had saved enough money.

As the Dark Ages passed, most knightly families acquired wealth through other means, but this custom persisted. Young men without fiefs or manors but holding knightly status were called "squire knights."

In other words, war was the only way for them to transform from fake knights into true knights.

Otherwise, you'll really have to wait until the old folks in the family die, and even then, it's hard to say whether you'll inherit the land and castle.

After all, in the traditional inheritance law of Kazimierz, the wife and brothers have the right to inherit before the son (this also exists on Earth, due to special reasons). Especially when the eldest son is a minor or has not reached a certain age or standard, it is normal for the brothers to act as guardians and protectors.

However, it is also normal for a poor nephew or niece to die of illness. Both involve the risk of death, and the battlefield is more suitable for these hot-blooded young people than dishonorable murder.

As for the last great noble faction, there is no doubt that they took the lion's share, and those who were defeated or killed on the battlefield were not their sons or nephews. They were more interested in provoking wars to expand their territory and recover from the damage caused by the previous economic storm.

“Panqiao, former… never mind, there’s nothing to say about a countryless man, just an old soldier.” The burly old man stood up and shook hands with Marna. “Ranger, I’ve heard of you. You’ve been to our area. I remember back then, you…”

“Alright, there’s nothing more to say about those digressions…” Marna interrupted the other person, but Lin Guang noticed that his uncle’s emotions were not quite right. Had he done something absurd back then?

It must be said that her experience among the refugees of Kazdel has greatly improved her ability to judge people.

However, there are always some clueless guys on the field who will bring up the most sensitive topics, asking, "What, what happened? What important things has Uncle Marner done?"

"It's nothing major, just a temporary measure..."

"Hmm," the veteran nodded, "I didn't expect that after so many years, you would still be as radiant as ever."

Pan Qiao was naturally not stupid enough to expose the shortcomings of the head of the family in someone else's home. Well, nominally, he was not the head of the family, but looking at the two young girls in this family, it was self-evident who was in charge.

"No need for formalities. I sympathize deeply with the people of Dosoles, but the Lightbringer family has been expelled. What you want, we cannot give you."

Marna sighed. She had only removed him from the list to protect her niece, but now it had become an excellent shield.

“We are not even nobles. Perhaps in some domestic matters, the members of parliament will give us some face because of Silver Spear and Heavenly Horse, but we can no longer interfere in matters of national importance.”

"How is this possible? This is the Nearl family, the Kazimierz family..."

"An outdated hero?" Marna wasn't a little girl like Maria who was well protected by her elders, so she wouldn't fall for this kind of provocation. She retorted with "an outdated hero," leaving the other side speechless.

“You flatter us. In our hearts, you are all heroes of Kazimierz, and everyone looks up to you as role models…”

"Whether it's cheating in the arena or wandering around the lower city aimlessly and accidentally damaging public property, young man, you can't be so reckless."

Marna squinted. Having traveled extensively and worked as a corporate slave for several years, this level of rhetoric was child's play to her.

"No matter what, you will always be..."

"Oh?" Marna looked the young knight up and down. "His appearance is alright, but his face is a bit rough. So, Pancho, what do you think?"

"What?" The veteran didn't react for a moment. It wasn't until a few seconds later that he realized what Marna was talking about. He couldn't help but sigh. The other party had even dug up his dark history. He would rather die than get involved in this mess.

He's really going all out to protect his two nieces. Seriously, is this their father or their uncle? Even a father would at least discuss this with his nieces; otherwise, running away with the manor modules in the dead of night would be the least of his worries.

"What? What are you talking about? Grandpa, what did Uncle do?"

“He used to be a resident singer in a bar. At that time, he had been swindled out of all his money, so he could only sing in the bar I owned.”

"It's nothing special. Uncle can play many musical instruments, write poetry, and sing, so there's probably nothing particularly special about it, right?"

This is also the young knight's confusion and question. Before he became a knight-errant, he was a true nobleman from a prestigious family. Music, poetry, dance, vocal music, and even painting and sculpture were all skills he had to learn. He also had various art appreciation abilities. If he were still a dissolute playboy, he would probably be a regular at bars.

After becoming a wandering knight, earning a little money by temporarily performing in bars was no problem at all; it was even a romantic and interesting thing. Without considering practical factors, he had the same impulse to pick up his lyre, put on a hat decorated with gorgeous feathers, and, as a wandering poet and singer, pursue distant landscapes and exotic adventures.

"Cough cough!" Pan Qiao looked at Marna's deadpan face, unsure if he could leave alive if he told the rest of the story.

However, there are always those who aren't afraid to speak up, "Which bar is Dosoles?" Nearl asked.

She had never been there, but the problem is that she stayed in Kazdel for a long time, and after the reunification of Kazdel, she stayed there for a period of time again due to censorship.

Dosoles had previously invested in New Kazdel, and the Xia Group had also arranged vacations with Dosoles. Naturally, there were many advertising signs and postcards in Kazdel's hotels and inns, and the female mayor had indeed spent a lot of money on advertising.

“The Old Captain’s Bar…” Nearl recalled the travel guide to Dosoles. She hadn’t looked at it carefully at the time, but she had indeed seen the Old Captain’s Bar on a certain page. When she remembered it, her face turned red.

"Ah...that's not..." The woman on the advertisement cover was extremely hot, and they even hired a real bunny girl to shoot it. It was supposedly a bad idea from some high-ranking official. However, it did indeed make the female workers at Rembiton receive a mysterious surge in popularity.

That's not the point. The point is that it was a bar involved in the sex industry. Although it wasn't a real brothel, it was still a place for people to have fun, and there were live singers there... Lin Guang looked at Marna's face.

With his handsome looks, he must have had many wealthy women in his youth, right?

"That's not the case. His performance photos are still hanging on the wall."

"I told you long ago, you should have thrown that thing away," the ranger said calmly. "It's not a big deal."

"There's nothing I can do. You're very popular among young people. They're all asking when you're going back." Pan Qiao could only try to be as subtle as possible.

However, Terra didn't use Chinese, which means that "he" and "she" are two distinct words.

"Them?" Maria's expression turned horrified in an instant. This uncle was quite old, handsome, and not to mention very wealthy.

But at least he doesn't need to eat, and the Lin Guang family is a prestigious clan; noble ladies who want to marry into the family can line up from the manor gate to the main building. However, this guy is still single; could it be...?

“That’s not how it is…” Marner sighed. “The Old Captain’s Bar only serves sailors on the lake. Sailors are all men, so naturally there’s no need for men to sing on stage, so…”

"What do they look like? Let me see them!" Maria immediately became excited. She hadn't gotten to the point yet and had no idea what the two visitors were there for. She thought they were just her uncle's old friends coming to reminisce and share their embarrassing past.

“Sigh—” Pan Qiao sighed, taking out the tourism brochure he had originally intended to use to persuade Kazimierz. He thought that while nice words about justice and freedom might fool a young girl like Maria, they wouldn’t convince the higher-ups in Kazimierz. He needed to offer tangible benefits.

"This is the page."

"You even put it up in the promotional posters?!" Marna's face turned green.

"We didn't print it. If you want trouble, you can smash the windows of the city hall..." Pan Qiao said nonchalantly.

“Let me see!” Maria craned her neck to look at the photo in the brochure, which was clearly taken in a bar. Then she turned to look at Marna, then back at the photo, then back again, repeating this process more than ten times. “Wow… I never would have guessed!”

Lin Guang also leaned over to take a look. The picture on the screen was of a performer hanging in the lobby of a bar, looking like a normal resident singer.

Her long, pale golden hair reached her ankles, with a crystal butterfly hanging from one side of her hair. Her cheeks were as white as snow, and her almond-shaped eyes were sparkling. Every gesture she made exuded charm, but unfortunately, her figure was a bit lacking.

But her long legs make up for it; even a girl like herself would have to exclaim, "What a beauty!"

Then, turning her head to look at Marna, whose face had completely darkened, she examined her closely. If she applied some makeup, and considering the youthful complexion, and made her dark circles and thin cheeks appear fuller again… well…

"Wow, Uncle Marna, I'm going to send this to Seria!!"

"Damn it!" But it was too late to stop her. Maria had already taken a picture with a tablet similar to a mobile phone and pressed the send button.

At that moment, Riing Life, Saria looked at the picture on the ringing phone, paused for a moment, and sent Maria an emoji: OO?

This beautiful woman looks familiar... Is it a photo of my mother when she was young? But then I think about it and something doesn't seem right. There was no photography technology back then. Or is it some kind of staged, reconstructed photograph?

Next is another picture: Maria is running ahead, and Marner is chasing after her. "This is Uncle Marner!"

"Ah!?" The security chief of Rhine Labs was shocked. The barrier of reason that had remained unshaken by anything in the lab was shaken in an instant.

After this farce, the original topic obviously couldn't be discussed anymore. Maria, the little girl, was completely immersed in the joy of catching her uncle's embarrassing past, while Marna was happy to play along, half-jokingly.

As for Nearl, she has already been stripped of her knighthood, and her value has long since vanished, so there's no point in talking to her.

However, this does not mean they have given up; they just need to find another incense stick to light.

Moreover, the Ranger's evasion and resistance were almost obvious to the naked eye. Pan Qiao did not think he would help at all. However, he firmly believed that the Lightbringer family was just a potential trigger. As long as Kazimierz wanted more land and benefits, they would definitely help him.

He didn't care that such behavior was tantamount to treason. He believed that by relying on Casimir to drive out the Colombians, half of the country could still be saved. That was why he sought help from Casimir instead of Victoria.

Even if Casimir takes advantage of the situation and drives out Colombia, he will hardly have the strength to occupy the entire territory of Glassvar. Dosoles, which borders both countries, is just a bone to be fought to the death by two hungry dogs. The remaining land can become Glassvar's independent territory.

The choice between half the country and being slaves of a conquered nation is easy, but being a slave now is not as difficult as it used to be. Faced with the scraps thrown at them by Colombia, not all Bolivar people are willing to resist.

After all, the mayor was right. In the past and present, there was no country called Glassval, nor was there a unified nation. The fragmented countries and diverse ethnic groups were exactly like Kazdel—

The only difference is that the latter has a demon king and a tyrant who can unify the country by force, while Glassval can't even find someone who can be that tyrant.

"They're gone..."

"Hmm!" Marna didn't let go of her little niece. "Stop hitting her, stop hitting her, I know I was wrong!"

No need to watch anymore, the stills from the Rogue Knight have already spread to every member of the Nearl family through various means in just over ten minutes, and even some veterans of the Silver Spear Pegasus Knights know about them.

The aunt, utterly shocked, promptly forwarded the information to her friends and colleagues, who in turn forwarded it to their mutual friends, and then... nothing happened.

Chapter Fifteen: The Troublemaker

Chapter 15

"Why are we going to Kazdel at this time?" Maria, having been beaten up, didn't dare to argue much. "They're recruiting engineers and equipment designers there. I think you could give it a try. Don't you like mechanical engineering?" Nearl said.

The real reason is that if this silly roe deer stays in Kazimierz, she'll squander all the family's wealth even before the war breaks out. When she comes back, she finds that there are two fewer people in the house to eat.

They became even poorer because Maria was studying the power armor that the Red Pine team had used before.

Whether it's the Originium skeleton or any other equipment, they're all incredibly expensive, and the Nearl family doesn't have much money to begin with.

This only made matters worse. However, because they had spent all their valuables and money, they, like Sargon, escaped the effects of the economic storm.

A fully self-sufficient economy with sufficient reserves of food and drink can remain unmoved by any external economic crisis, regardless of its size.

Complete self-sufficiency here refers to the entire industry operating within its own borders, without importing or exporting any goods, purchasing debt, or even holding foreign currency.

If we consider the Lin Guang family's manor as an economic entity, then this is the situation: they don't import goods because they've already spent all their money, and they don't export goods because they've already sold everything they could, leaving only enough for their own livelihood.

Therefore, as an economy that has severed almost all economic ties, it is minimally affected by any external economic crisis.

"Since you enjoy studying Kazdel's armor so much, wouldn't it be better to just send you there to study it?"

Marner said that taking the silly roe deer out was a last resort. If he stayed in Kazimir, he would either be used as a pawn or, in that fanatical state, go to the battlefield to die.

This is not what he wanted to see happen. As for the other young people in Kazimierz, there's nothing he can do. They have made their choices, so they have to bear the consequences. As for persuasion, it's not the ranger's specialty.

Moreover, for Kazimierz at present, there are indeed two options: either civil war, which would divide up the wealth of the nobles and merchants to make up for the losses that evaporated in the economic storm, or external war, which would shift the crisis and satisfy the appetite by plundering wealth, leaving the lower classes with only scraps.

Since war is inevitable, there's no point in struggling or persuading him. He doesn't have the ability to wage a civil war. The reputation of the Nearl family and the Rangers is just that—reputation. He doesn't have as many people and connections as Rhodes Island has hidden, nor does he have the vast financial and human resources of the Xia Group.

Even places like Kazdel have been embroiled in civil wars for years. In a place like Qazimir, a world war would probably break out before the dust even settles, and then no one would be able to stay out of it.

Therefore, the only option is to leave this dangerous situation, and the best place to go is Da Yan.

After all, the Great Yan seems to have been largely unaffected, and Kazdel is in dire need of rebuilding and will not join the war immediately or for the time being.

Of course, there are two special options: the closed-off Shelag and the wild Sargon. As for other countries, they are either involved in war or have already been involved in war.

But what about the family?

"With your aunt and her friends, the power of life in Rhine should be enough to protect an empty manor."

"Speaking of which, why did you go to the old captain's... Waaah—"