Chapter 22: Patrolling the Territory

"Yes, sir! When we rushed to the front yard last night, we found that the gate of the castle had been secretly opened by Benny, and he also rode away a horse from the stable. I immediately took two guards to the stable and rode in pursuit of him." Audrey kept his head down and spoke in a low tone.

"When we rushed out of the castle, Benny had already run west along the road at the foot of the mountain. We chased him all the way. Finally, Benny found that he could not get rid of us, so he gave up the horse and went into the woods by the road. After Benny went into the woods, we lost his trace. After I asked a guard to guard the horse, I went into the woods with another guard to search, but we found nothing. We searched until dawn and then came back!"

After saying that, Audrey saw that Gervis had no emotional fluctuations, and continued: "Sir, it was my incompetence that I failed to catch Benny. Please punish me!"

"This is not your fault. Benny even secretly opened the castle gate. No one could have imagined that!" Gervis finished the last bite of food and looked at Audrey.

When Benny was on duty in the middle of the night, he even opened the castle gate in advance, which means that he had planned to escape using the horses in the castle. As long as he rode out of the castle on horseback, it would be basically difficult to catch him at night.

If the castle gates were closed, Benny would be trapped in a jar, and he would not be able to escape. It would be useless to climb over the wall, and he could not run far on his own. There were horses in the castle, and they would catch up with him in a moment.

Gervis felt a little regretful. He wondered why he had delayed solving the problem today even though he knew there was something wrong with Benny yesterday.

If we had acted decisively yesterday afternoon and interrogated each guard one by one, we would have definitely found clues about Benny, and the incident in the middle of the night would not have happened. Not only did we have to toss and turn for half the night, but Ike was also seriously injured. It would take another two days to observe whether he could survive. The most hateful thing was that Benny, the main culprit, escaped.

As human beings on Earth, procrastination is a very common phenomenon. From students doing homework to adults working, most people procrastinate. However, on Earth, the consequences of procrastination are very mild.

But in this world, Gervis was clearly free yesterday afternoon, but he thought of scheduling things to do today, and he didn't expect something to happen in the middle of the night.

Procrastination is really not suitable for this world. As a lord, you need to be more diligent. Gervis secretly warned himself.

…

After learning from last night's lesson, Gervis began to act more vigorously and vigorously today.

He was about to start inspecting the territory. Thomas didn't need to go with him today because Gervis asked Thomas to go to the town to recruit male and female servants.

There were too few people in the castle. If there had been a butler on duty last night, I believe Benny would not have dared to take the risk of sneaking in. Moreover, candles were supposed to be lit in every corridor on the castle, but because there was no one to replace them, only the third floor where Gervis was located kept the candles lit all the time, and that was because they were replaced when Ik and the other three were on duty.

When Gervis came to the vestibule, Thomas was already waiting with Gervis's horses. There were four horses in total. Behind one horse was a flatbed carriage with a cross-shaped wooden frame erected on it. At this moment, a man was tied up on the frame.

This man was none other than Benny's subordinate who was captured alive by Gervis last night. Gervis was going to take him with him to inspect his territory today. As for the man who was chopped down by Ike the moment they met last night, he had just been ordered by Gervis to be hung on a wooden pole in the town square.

It's not that Gervis is cruel, but Benny and his two subordinates have been doing whatever they want in this territory. Although the serfs dare not speak out, they must hate these guards very much. If Benny is still alive and well after Gervis arrives, then these resentments will soon be transferred to Gervis.

If Gervis punishes the three evildoers, he will quickly gain prestige and the goodwill of the serfs, although most nobles think that the goodwill of the serfs is worthless.

But Gervis, who traveled through time, had a different opinion. In Gervis' mind, only by gaining the recognition of the serfs with the largest population base, can a territory truly develop. When the serfs think that Gervis is a good lord and a good master, they will work hard for Gervis and will not procrastinate in paying taxes.

Without rushing to get on the horse, Gervase rewarded Johnny in public at the door. Although the servant sneaked out of his room in the middle of the night, his merits outweighed his faults. Gervase asked Thomas to reward him with 20 copper coins and a large piece of white bread that Gervase did not eat in the morning.

Under the envious gaze of another servant, Thomas handed 20 copper coins and a whole loaf of white bread to Johnny.

After rewarding Johnny, Gervis did not delay any longer, mounted his horse and prepared to set off.

Following Gervis' instructions last night, the horses were fed with enough food and grass this morning. Gervis took Laurie, Audrey and two local guards out of the castle gate.

The other guards needed to be stationed in the castle, so there were only four followers and a prisoner who was tied to a carriage with his mouth covered with a rag who followed Gervis to patrol the territory today.

…

Viscount Lanny's territory, Blackstone Castle.

In a luxurious hall, Lanny was sitting on a soft sofa, holding a charming woman in his arms. The woman was scantily clad, and her slender body was like a water snake, completely hanging on Viscount Lanny's bloated body.

From time to time, the charming woman took fruits from the fruit plate held by the maid beside her and fed them to Viscount Lanny.

Bang bang bang~

At this moment, there was a knock on the door of the hall, and Viscount Lanny pushed the charming woman open and said loudly: "Come in!"

After Viscount Lanny finished speaking, a man who looked like a butler slowly pushed open the two large doors and walked in carefully.

"Your Lord Viscount, there is urgent news from Earl Jones." The man was Viscount Lanny's butler. As a butler, he knew best that Viscount Lanny hated others coming to the hall at this time to disturb his enjoyment.

However, because the matter was urgent, the butler did not dare to delay. As soon as he received the urgent news, he hurried to report to Viscount Lanny. The butler walked quickly to Viscount Lanny with the letter and handed him the envelope.

When Viscount Lanny read the urgent report handed over by the butler, his face was as gloomy as water and his teeth were clenched.

Bang!

Finally, in a rage, Viscount Lanny lifted the fruit plate in the maid's hand and smashed it in the center of the hall. In an instant, the exquisite disk was smashed to pieces, and the broken porcelain pieces scattered all over the floor.

In the hall, both the butler and the enchanting woman who was like a water snake just now had a look of fear on their faces and dared not breathe.

"The territory was actually conferred, it was actually conferred, that bitch, the territory that has been unattended for more than 30 years actually has a lord now! Ah...ah..." Viscount Lanny was a little crazy. Alice conferred a small baronship, but it might disrupt his important plans.

When Viscount Lanny cursed loudly, the butler and others trembled, but no one dared to persuade him.

The butler was Viscount Lanny's confidant. He had read the contents of the urgent report and fully understood why Viscount Lanny was so angry.

Although Lanny is a viscount, he is greedy and stingy, and is well-known in the aristocratic circle.

Recently, Viscount Lanny has been paying attention to a place, which is the buffer zone between Viscount Lanny and Earl Jones. Viscount Lanny discovered an extraordinary mineral by chance a long time ago, but most of the mineral is located within the buffer zone of the Jones family.

Originally, because the old earl was a golden peak knight, Viscount Lanny did not dare to make any unusual movements, but he did not expect that the old earl disappeared not long ago.

This made Viscount Lanny eager to take action, thinking that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a gift from God to him.

So, Viscount Lanny risked breaking the unspoken rules and spent a huge amount of money to build a camp in the buffer zone, preparing to start collecting the precious minerals.

To be on the safe side, Viscount Lanny personally wrote a letter and gave five gold coins to bribe Benny, the captain of the guard stationed in Viscount Major's territory.

Unexpectedly, just over a month later, and just a few days after the camp was built, the territory already had a new owner.

This meant that the five gold coins he had bribed Benny with were wasted, and most importantly, his camp would be at great risk of being discovered by the new lord.

"Tabby, you go to the camp yourself now. If the camp is really discovered by the lord named Gervis, they must not be allowed to get close to the camp under any circumstances. If necessary, as long as the baron is not hurt, everyone else can be killed without mercy!" After venting his anger, the exasperated Viscount Lanny gradually calmed down. After thinking for a long time, he gave instructions to the butler in front of him.

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"Yes, Your Excellency!" The butler named Tabby quickly agreed.

…

"Where does the road ahead lead to?" After walking out of the castle gate, Gervis stopped his horse, pointed to a winding dirt road, and asked the guards around him.

"Baron, that is the road leading to the seaside village." A guard behind him answered immediately. Because they were both local guards, they were familiar with every place in the territory. In order to get to the red dot as quickly as possible, Gervis planned not to go to the town as the first stop, but to go directly outside the town and walk along the road facing the red dot.

"Then let's go to the seaside village for inspection first!" Gervis nodded, then he squeezed his legs together, pulled the reins, and urged the horse forward.

"Yes, sir!" After hearing Gervis's order, the guards hurriedly urged their horses and followed closely behind Gervis.

Although there were not many pedestrians along the way, he could still occasionally meet one or two, all of whom came out of the fields on both sides of the road. It was probably because it was lunchtime and the serfs were preparing to go home for lunch, so Gervis was able to meet a few people.

The clothes worn by the serfs were similar, linen short shirts, and many of them were barefoot, with only one or two wearing straw sandals.

When they saw Gervis and his group, they all hid far away on the side of the road and dared not move.

When Gervis approached them, the serfs looked secretly and trembled when they saw the guards behind Gervis and the people who were tied up and tied to the carriage.

"Lord Gervis is inspecting the territory! Why don't you hurry up and salute?"

When Gervis and his group passed by these serfs, the guards behind them immediately shouted.

"Did you see this man? He followed Benny to bully you in the territory. Now Lord Gervis has become the lord here and knows about Benny's evil deeds. He has already brought justice to you."

"But Benny was too cunning. He had already fled before the Baron reached the castle. We only caught two of his men. This is one of them. The other one was dropped in the town square by Lord Gervis. You can take a look when you go back!"

"God's grace has enveloped you! With the arrival of Lord Gervis, you will have someone to protect you!"

The guard's lines were of course given by Thomas, otherwise how could the local guard who couldn't even read speak so fluently.

Gervis and his men stopped their horses, and the serfs knelt on the ground without hesitation. When they heard that the people tied to the carriage were Benny's men, the brave serfs raised their heads slightly and took a few peeks at the people tied to the carriage.

Seeing the serfs kneeling trembling on the roadside, although Gervis was not very used to it, he understood that serfs had to kneel down and salute when seeing nobles. This was a rule that must be followed in this world, and he had no ability to change it.

Suppressing the discomfort in his heart, Gervis thought of Benny who was still at large, so he ordered the guard who shouted: "Tell them that although Benny escaped, I must catch him and make him answer for his crimes. If anyone finds or catches Benny, they can go to the castle to claim a reward of 1 silver coin."

…

Because they encountered serfs passing by along the way, Gervis and his companions moved very slowly. It took them nearly an hour to reach the place where Gervis's red dot was.

"Take a rest here. I drank too much water this morning! I'm going to the front to relieve myself. You don't have to follow me." At the foot of a small hill, Gervis saw that the flashing red dot was very close, just a little behind the hill. He immediately ordered everyone to rest on the spot, and he took the opportunity to go to the front to explore.

"Yes, sir!"

Gervis was very glad that the red dot was located on the side of the road instead of in the jungle. If it was in the jungle, he would have to find other reasons to go in and look for it, but now it was near the road, which made it convenient for him to act.

Slowly adjusting the direction, Gervis walked step by step towards the side of the hill. There were not many weeds here, but there were a few small trees. He deliberately found a small tree with dense branches and leaves to block his figure, and then Gervis began to look around and search.

The radar on the panel is very useful. As the distance gets closer, it will continue to magnify, so Gervis does not need to search in a large range. He can directly lock the error within one or two meters. At this moment, the red dot and the green dot have been completely merged, and the magnification function has reached its limit.

"What could it be?" Gervis was a little expectant, but after looking around for a while, he found nothing unusual. Gervis scratched his head, not knowing what to do. After all, it was his first time using the cheating function, and he didn't know what the red dot specifically represented, so he couldn't find a point of entry.

(End of this chapter)