Reputation is something that cannot be seen or touched, but it can be felt.

The most prestigious family in the entire Prussian Kingdom is of course the Prussian royal family, although the royal family's reputation plummeted after the great incident.

But a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Looking across the country, no family can match the royal family's reputation.

And which one has the highest reputation in Orange?

Marquis Parker?

A certain Grand Duke?

Neither. The most prestigious person in Orange is the Count of Libya.

Because the title of Earl of Libya is the oldest, the title of Earl comes from one of the eight knights under the first king, Michel.

Among the nobility, antiquity is equivalent to prestige.

Of course, there is another important factor, that is, the Libyan family is powerful and is the most powerful family in the entire Orange.

Antiquity, bloodline, and strength, these three combined equal aristocratic prestige.

Compared with the reputation of the Earl of Libya, Baron Barton's reputation in the whole of Orange is in the middle and lower reaches.

Antiquity and bloodline are not something that can be achieved overnight. As a newly emerging noble, or a rising noble, the best way to increase your reputation is to demonstrate your strength.

Although in the eyes of the awkward nobles, compared with the two factors of antiquity and bloodline, strength is the least important.

But the awkward nobles would occasionally bow their heads because of their strength.

In short, in the absence of antiquity and bloodline, strength is visible reputation.

Strength can be divided into financial strength and military strength.

Financial resources can recruit knights to expand military force, and military force can bring wealth.

The two complement each other.

To show off one's strength is to display one's financial resources and military force. It would be even better if there is something worth boasting about.

Marquis Parker's territory, main city, Sparta City!

This is a large city with a population of over 100,000, and it is also the most important city in the whole of Orange.

At the beginning, Knight Stone used this city as his base camp and recruited many farmers from the Marquis Parker's territory to enter Pompeii and become new Pompeians.

The Marquis of Parker's title was "The Executioner".

He attacked the farmers with land in his territory, seized the land through forced purchase, killing, and various dirty means, and introduced serfs to cultivate the land, ultimately achieving the goal of accumulating wealth.

This also had a certain impact on the city of Sparta, because although the peasants were the direct victims, the reputation of the executioner was like a dark cloud, weighing on the hearts of the residents in the city.

In the entire territory, the actual nobles are equivalent to the king.

If the king attacks the peasants today, there is no guarantee that he will not attack the residents tomorrow.

Credit is like a bird's nest, pieced together bit by bit, but it only takes a strong wind to collapse it.

Apparently the executioner Marquis Parker's credit is negative.

Therefore, the people in Sparta were in panic, and even some middle-class people had begun to move out of Sparta and live in other aristocratic territories.

However, although the Marquis Parker's ship had a hole in it, it did not sink, so the entire city of Sparta was still bustling with people and was quite prosperous.

In the civilian area east of Sparta, there is a tavern called the "Knight and Gun Tavern".

A very cliché name.

The taverns in this world are very unique, and often have pimping businesses as well.

It was the early hours of the night, around eight o'clock, when the pub was at its busiest.

The Knight and Gun Tavern was bustling with people. Men of all kinds were drinking happily, and there were also some beautiful women getting drunk.

There were also waiters wearing revealing clothes and with very hot bodies walking by with wine trays. These waiters twisted their buttocks from time to time, looking very sexy.

This is the pimping business in the pub. If you like someone, it is not a problem to do it in the toilet of the pub as long as you can afford it.

The smell of alcohol, sweat, and women.

This is a typical common people's tavern.

The owner of the pub was a man in his forties, tall and strong, dressed very elegantly, and wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. He looked like an elegant gentleman.

He is not only the boss, but also one of the bartenders in the bar.

At this moment, the boss was wiping his wine glass and chatting with a regular customer. At this time, the door of the tavern was opened again, but the boss didn't care, as there were many people coming and going in the tavern at this time.

"Give me a glass of dark blue wine." A man in his forties came to the bar, sat down, placed a gold coin on the bar, and said to the boss.

This man is very handsome. If he dresses up, he will definitely be a hottie in bed for some noble ladies.

The man was indeed a canary raised by a noble lady.

The man's name is John, and he is a bard.

The profession of bard has had a bad reputation recently, as noble ladies often keep young and handsome bards as their mistresses, and there have even been scandals of them having children with bards.

But there is a reason why this profession exists.

Because it’s a supply and demand thing.

When bards were young, they were often very free and easy, living in a luxurious villa with maids serving them. If they had inspiration, they would write down poems to please the ladies.

Of course, their greater asset is themselves, and they know this, so they work hard to improve their abilities in bed and become a stunner.

When they get older, they are old and lose their looks, and their energy is weak, so they are often kicked out by the noble ladies and become destitute bards.

A smart bard would save money when he is young so that he can spend it when he is old.

The stupid ones will just live a day-to-day life when they are young, and will be penniless when they are old.

John is the latter.

He now relies on his still charming face and superb skills to take on some orders and satisfy the urgent needs of some women.

And the sad thing is, they are often very old women.

But not many people laughed at John, after all, there were many such examples around.

"This old guy is so extravagant that he wants to drink "dark blue wine." The boss was a little surprised, but he took the gold coins readily and checked them quietly. It was true.

So the boss poured John a glass of "dark blue wine."

This wine is a mid-to-high-end Orange wine. The price of a bottle is often more than a dozen gold coins. A good vintage can even be worth fifty gold coins.

The boss doesn't have much stock here and few people drink.

And although it was called one cup, it was actually only half a cup. "John, are you rich?" Compared to the boss's calmness, a regular customer next to him was very uneasy and asked in surprise.

(End of this chapter)