There was a trace of anger on Thales' face. When he and White Hat found the gang, dozens of people had died in the small village, while the population of the entire village was no more than a hundred. This showed how brutal the bandits were.

Count Nero took a deep breath. He had no doubt that a marquisate had the power to wipe out this gang of bandits. However, it might not be done quickly, and the casualties of some innocent people were inevitable.

After all, Rhett's rise was too fast and his accumulation time was too short. In his opinion, if he didn't take action personally, he might not be able to easily deal with the mid-level and above gangs.

But from Thales' tone just now, it took only a little over a week from receiving the intelligence to dispatching, solving the problem and returning. This efficiency is amazing. At the same time, it also indirectly reflects that the strength of Marquis Rhett's men is actually quite terrifying! He was even more fortunate in his heart. Requesting a marriage is definitely a wise move.

"Well done, Thales. I believe this training will be helpful to your actual combat." Rhett stood up, walked over and patted his youngest son on the shoulder.

"Father is right. Those bandits are ruthless and have rich combat experience. Fortunately, Mr. White Hat is here to help me. I have a great opportunity to practice. Thank you very much!" Thales said with emotion. Then he said, "I have been away for so long. I miss my Mina and Abel. Does father know where they are?"

"Rylai's room. Mina should be telling a story at this time."

Taylor's eyes lit up and he said, "Then I'll go up first, you guys chat slowly."

"Well, go ahead."

Watching Taylors going upstairs, Rhett shrugged and looked at Count Nero: "Since we just mentioned the engagement, do you want to meet Dick? He is a noisy little guy. I even suspect that you will cancel the idea of ​​marriage after meeting him."

"No, no, no, how could that be? Being lively is a child's nature. The more lively he is, the more it shows that Dick has a natural personality!" Count Nero didn't care about these things. Even if there were many shortcomings, he would agree without hesitation. What's more, being lively is not a shortcoming at all.

On the fourth floor, Riley's room.

"Dick, what's that thing with horns on its head, a minotaur?"

"Of course, what else can a thing with horns be but a minotaur!"

"Goats also have horns, as do rhinos, sika deer, and golden-eyed deer..." Jaina clapped her hands on a window in the room and saw two orcs practicing hard in the training ground, their eyes shining with joy! "Well, well, I didn't expect it, but there are no goatmen or rhinomen among the orcs." Dick scratched his head and said.

At this moment, the two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder on a small bench, looking towards the direction of the training ground together, completely uninvolved by the story Mina was telling.

Creak The door opened. Dick, who was naturally active, turned his head and glanced at it. But the next moment, his face was horrified and he shouted in panic: "Ahhh, the big bad wolf is coming!"

Jaina also turned around to look when she heard the sound. Since she had never heard the story of Little Red Riding Hood, she did not find it too scary. It was just that the image of a werewolf wrapped in a ball of dark elements looked a little scary.

"Awooo~ Dick, I'm going to eat you." Thales bared his teeth and claws, jumped up, pretending to pounce on Dick.

The other children in the room were so frightened that they ran away in panic, and the scene was in chaos for a while.

But suddenly, when Thales jumped up, Dick showed a cunning look, took out a small stone from his trouser pocket and threw it quickly.

With a whoosh, the stone drew a long line and hit Thales.

"Snap"

Looking at the smug Dick, Thales was stunned for a moment. As a second-level magician, he certainly would not be successfully attacked by a child, so he reached out and grabbed the pebble.

Then, he dispersed the dark elements that surrounded him, looked Dick up and down, and said in amazement:

"Haha, Dick, you're really good. You're not afraid of the big bad wolf so soon? You're much smarter than Tucker was when he was little!"

"Don't talk about my father!" Dick pouted, made a face, and said, "My father is very smart. He taught me. Next time you scare me, I will show weakness first and then find a chance to fight back."

Thales didn't expect Dick to say that. He stared and wanted to say something, but a gentle voice came from behind: "Very good, Dick, your courage is not inferior to your father, and your wisdom is far superior. But I have to add that Thales is not your enemy."

"Father, you are here, please sit down!" Klina was the first to react. She was wearing a blue dress and pushed a chair for Rhett.

Mina, who was telling the story, also stopped and looked towards the door. The other three generations, Rhett's little grandchildren, ran to Rhett and tugged at his clothes, chattering. Their innocent and childish voices were so penetrating that they drowned out all the noise in the room.

Hearing his grandfather praising him, Dick seemed to forget everything and smiled carelessly, looking so naive that Rhett seemed to see Tucker possessed again and couldn't help laughing.

Rhett sat down, stroked the heads of the children around him, and said, "Dick, Gianna is your good friend, you can't bully her."

"Dick didn't bully me." Jaina spoke up for him. She tilted her head and said, "He also said he would take me to see the acrobatic performance of the giant horn!"

Thales' eyes lit up, and he said with interest, "Oh, Dick, I didn't expect you to have this skill. Did you learn this from your father?"

"Taylors, could you please be serious?" Mina rolled her eyes when she heard that.

At this time, Count Nero was standing closest to the door. Jaina saw him last, and she ran over cheering and hugged his thighs.

Dick's little head didn't seem to understand what Thales meant. He just thought it was a compliment and continued to smile foolishly.

Rhett walked forward, touched Dick's head, and said, "Since you made the promise, you have to fulfill it. Let the orcs perform acrobatics, I'll leave it to you."

"Ah? Don't they know how to do it themselves? Do they need to be taught?" The smile on Dick's face froze and he was dumbfounded.

"Without any training or instruction, of course we can't do it. If we just barely cope with it, it will definitely be a bad performance." Rhett turned his head to look at Jaina, then looked at Dick again: "Do you want your good friend to watch a bad performance?"

"No, I don't want to." Dick shook his head.

"That's right. This task is given to you. Whether Jaina can see the orcs' performance depends entirely on you." Rhett said with a smile.

Dick took a deep breath, his fighting spirit high. He nodded and said, "Then leave it to me!"

At this time, Count Nero patted Jaina, who blinked, seemed to understand something, and said loudly: "Dick, thank you!"

"No, you're welcome, Jaina!" Dick blushed, touched the back of his head, and said embarrassedly.

Vanessa seemed to be thinking about something and sat aside in silence.

After chatting for a while in the room, Rhett and Count Nero left. At noon, when they had lunch together, the family discussed the engagement in detail. Tucker heard that Dick had a good impression of Jaina, so he did not reject it and agreed to it.

In the afternoon, Count Nero left with excitement, and his steps felt light as he walked.

Not long after Count Nero left, Vanessa found Rhett and said, "Father, although Dick and Jaina have been engaged, I hope that if something unacceptable happens to them in the future, the marriage can be cancelled."

"Something difficult to accept? Are you worried that Jaina will do something obscene?" Rhett thought for a while and said, he knew that some aristocratic circles were indeed promiscuous and played very extravagantly.

"It's more than that, of course, it's an important part, I want Dick to be happy."

Lei Te smiled and said soothingly, "Don't worry, I will let Count Nero supervise him well, otherwise he will feel extremely heavy pressure."

Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't dare to interrupt at the dinner table just now. In fact, she knew her own weight, so she could only talk to her father in private. Fortunately, she got a satisfactory result, so she said, "Thank you, father!"

"Haha, why do you want to thank me? Don't forget that Dick is also my grandson, and I'm not doing this to help you!" Rhett smiled slightly and turned away.

Vanessa looked at Rhett's back and was quite moved, as if a warm current was flowing into her heart.

She was about to go back to the room to have a good chat with Dick, but when she turned around, she suddenly looked at the wind flower tree next to her in surprise. A girl with short purple hair was hiding behind the tree, sticking her head out to look at her. She seemed to know that she was discovered, so she stuck out her tongue and jogged away embarrassedly.

"Ellie? What are you doing hiding there? Are you trying to scare me or play a prank on me?" Vanessa looked suspicious and asked, "Also, what are you hiding behind your back? Is it a prop for a prank?"

Ellie giggled, put her hands hidden behind her back in front of her, and gently shook the gift box on top: "How is it possible! Vanessa, today is the anniversary of your becoming a knight. This is a small gift I made by myself."

"Knight's Day?" Vanessa was stunned for a moment. After she came to her senses, she said in surprise, "Ellie, you are so thoughtful. I haven't paid attention to this festival myself. Today is really an unforgettable day."

"Thank you, Ellie, my dear sister."

Vanessa hugged Ellie and said after they separated, "I'll open the presents when I get back to my room, but before that I want to ask you something."

"Tell me, what's the matter?" Ellie smiled and said, "Hurry up and tell me, I have to go to the ranch to transport milk later."

"You go to the training ground every day. Are you familiar with those two orcs?"

Ellie tilted her head and said, "I'm not familiar with them, but we chat sometimes, because I bring them food every other day."

"Really? That's great. I want to ask you a favor. Can you take Dick with you and let him communicate more with the two orcs?"

"That's fine, but why do you want me to help? Wouldn't it be more convenient to ask Tucker to help directly?" Ellie was puzzled, and suddenly opened her eyes wide and said, "Did you have a fight?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "What nonsense are you talking about? I just want to train Dick. Anyway, he is still young and doesn't need knight training. He has plenty of time to waste."

"Okay, that makes sense, but what kind of exercise is that?" Ellie muttered, "Anyway, I'll help you, as long as Dick is willing."

"Thank you, I'll ask him to come see you tomorrow." Vanessa smiled.

Spring goes and summer arrives.

The intermediate blacksmith that Rhett finally waited for came to him. He was a fourth-level earth knight named Aldous.

"Now that we have a new member in our blacksmith shop, the existing space is almost reaching its limit, right?"

In the first floor hall of his best friend's blacksmith shop, Rhett said to the blacksmiths surrounding him.

"Your Lordship is right. Although there are two vacant rooms upstairs, only one is left after Mr. Aldous moves in. Although it is spacious, it will definitely not be enough for another person." Glencoe frowned and said thoughtfully.

"Then I'll find a group of stonemasons to come over someday to expand and upgrade the blacksmith shop." Rhett made the decision.

"My Lord, there's no need to go through so much trouble. Just leave this matter to me!" At this time, Aldous, who had just joined the blacksmith shop today, said hurriedly.

Hearing this, the other blacksmiths all looked at the bald strong man. Rhett also looked at him. He was nearly two meters tall, with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and rough skin.

"What do you think?" Rhett asked curiously.

"To be honest, my father is a stonemason, and I am also a blacksmith. I learned the stonemasonry craft from my father when I was a child. With my power as an Earth Knight, I only need one person to expand the blacksmith shop, and the efficiency is definitely high enough!" Aldous added, "Well, it can also be made into a space outline that suits my taste."

Lei Te smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to have this ability. That's great. In that case, I'll leave this task to you. I'll gather a batch of high-quality stone nearby to meet your needs."

Aldous grinned and said, "Thank you, Lord, but can this matter be postponed for a while? I plan to go home first and pick up my father. He still lives in the small village of his hometown. And my father is also a stonemason. It will be more convenient to build with his help."

"It's a small matter!" Lei Te waved his hand, not caring at all, but still asked: "Why didn't you bring your father with you when you came here?"

Hearing this, Aldous scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Because I'm worried that you'll reject me, and I don't want my father to go through all this trouble in vain, so..."

Lei Te smiled and waved his hand to stop him: "Okay, I understand what you mean, no need to say more. Just bring your father here, and I will arrange a house for your father in Dark Eagle City."

"I'm so sorry, I can just buy it with my own money!" Aldous was shocked and waved his hands.

…………

Everyone, please take care of your health! 　Thank you for your monthly votes, thank you very much 　　Thank you for your recommendation votes, thank you very much 　　Thank you for the 100 starting coins rewarded by the deceased hero soul, thank you very much 　　 　 (end of this chapter)