The world is always different. The culture of this world makes family ties not as strong as modern people think, especially in families with many sons and daughters. It is not incomprehensible that greedy people let their children risk their lives to gamble for a small piece of gold.

It's understandable, but not forgivable.

"We taught those townspeople a lesson for not caring about their children, even though the children did gain something from the forest. Later, my grandson Levin and your retainer, Ms. Milva, communicated with the tree spirits, and this form of allowing women and children to trade with the tree spirits has been preserved."

Is this really the tribe led by the tree elf queen Esna who once protected the Squirrel Party because of hatred for humans in the original book? Why does it sound so fantastic...

Lann rubbed his brows, feeling that something was very strange: "Is there anything else I should know about the tree spirit?"

Luca thought for a moment and said, "We select two days every month to have the young men in the town go deep into the Dryad Forest at night. We also want to make it a festival. We were expecting the Earl to help us name the festival, but you were gone for so many days..."

Lann slapped his forehead and scolded, "Serious business!"

The old man smiled and said, "Ms. Esna did ask the tree spirit to leave a message, saying that she hopes to see you when you come back. At that time, it was rumored that you were killed by the Nilfgaardians, but she seemed very sure that you would come back..."

Lann sat up straight, thought for a while, and nodded: "Indeed. Whether it is the care the town has received in the past year, or the things that will require the cooperation of the tree spirits in the future... it is necessary to go see Ms. Esna."

Luca said hurriedly: "Then I will let my grandson take you to our camp in the forest. There will be tree spirits coming there from time to time."

"No hurry, I have to finish things here first." Lann shook his head, "But you can let Levin start preparing."

After finalizing the visit to Brokilon Forest, the old mayor withdrew, and then the Lannister retainers entered the room. Lann had other instructions for them.

The old butler Ens, the future butler Hardy, the servants Ace and House, and Milva who rarely communicated with Lann. These were Lann's current direct team.

"Tell me everything. What happened at home when I was away? What is your situation now?"

The people looked at Lann with different expressions. Hardy, Ace, House and other young people were all excited and even a little bit unbelievable. At the same time, they were also shocked by the fighting power Lann showed when facing the Nilfgaardians before. At this moment, they all had a feeling of excitement.

Milva's reaction to Lan's return was relatively calm, but she was also very grateful. She was very grateful to Lan for saving her from the tree spirits, and she vowed to follow him. It was just that because she had not yet reached a combat strength that could play a role, Lan had not brought her with him, and she did not seem as close as the other few people.

The old butler was the most emotional among the group. His eyes gradually turned red as he spoke to Lan En.

In the end, it was the old butler who suppressed his emotions and started to talk about business, and he was the first to explain the current situation.

When Lann was away, Calanthe gave all of Lannister's property to Ciri in the name of protection, and Ciri handed it over to Enns for management.

Enns was trained as a palace steward by the royal family of Cintra since he was a child, and became the steward of Lann after serving the first generation of Lannister. Therefore, after taking over the affairs of the Lannister family in full - in fact, he was almost in full charge before - the first thing he did was to build Brokilon.

He traveled back and forth between Brokilon and the capital many times, and devoted almost all of his energy to the construction of the territory. It can be said that he now has a complete plan for Brokilon's population composition, tax revenue, economic foundation, and even future plans. After the war between Cintra and Nilfgaard intensified, he even transferred most of the Lannister property here in various forms.

It is not known whether this was Ens's own intention or Queen Calanthe's secret instruction to leave a way out for her granddaughter, but after hearing this, Lann had only one thought: You can always trust the old butler.

Only under such high-intensity work can the old butler forget the pain of Lann's "death" for a short time. He didn't know how many nights he confessed to the Lannister family's coat of arms and told Lann's dead father about his guilt for not taking good care of Lann.

Lan was moved and thanked the old butler: "You have worked really hard during this period, Ens."

The housekeeper didn't think what he did was hard, but there was a serious problem: "Master, we have to use our own money to build our territory in the future. You can't play with material things anymore..."

Lan quickly turned his head to the others: "Is there anything you need me to know?"

Hardy had nothing to say. He continued to learn from the old butler and would take over the old butler's job when the old butler was no longer able to work.

House has changed a lot. He used to be a combination of fighting and domestic affairs, mainly taking care of Black Wind. He can ride a horse and charge together in a fight, and can also replace Hardy when resting. His mind is more flexible. When Lane was away, he turned to domestic affairs, and most of the time he followed Ens to learn.

Milva's situation was rather special, as she was not in the capital most of the time. Because of her strong archery talent, and Lann's intention to train her as a combatant when she was still alive, Ens arranged for her to be in Brokilon during this year. It was unknown what method she used, but she was able to learn from the tree spirits for a period of time.

Ace has changed the most. With the help of his knight father, he joined the city defense force. Relying on the relationships he had built up with Lan in the city defense force, he also achieved good results.

But Lann suddenly thought of a question, and he hesitated and asked: "Ace...where is your father?"

The Arrow Sergeant replied calmly: "My father stayed in the castle until the very end, and he fulfilled his knight's destiny."

Lann sighed.

Lann did not intend to interfere with the direction of development that everyone had chosen in the past year. After briefly explaining what was to come, he only left behind Milva and Ace.

The two people in front of him are both fighting figures who will be trained in the future. Ace has already shown his leadership ability, and Milva may become a gold card of Gwent in the future. Lane wants to try to see if he can let them continue to break through their limits.

He wanted to contract the two of them to become [Followers].

However, their situation is somewhat different from that of Black Wind, because in addition to upgrading and sharing skills, the [Follower] system actually has a core effect: providing 20% ​​of one's own experience.

You know, the follower panel also has a task bar. Lann thinks that when there are more followers in the future, he can just lie down and gain experience.

However, skill points are still precious now, and Lann does not have enough skills for himself, so he only decides to open the follower panel for future fighting personnel to maximize their effectiveness.

"I have gained a power that you can understand as magic. Once I give it to you, you can increase your power by killing enemies or helping others."

After hearing what Lann said, Milva's first reaction was disbelief, while Ace's eyes widened.

"Lion..." He recalled some rumors he had heard among the troops and refugees, and Lann's bravery before he became a demon hunter. He felt that he gradually understood everything. "Could it be true? And was the Earl chosen so long ago?"

Ace was shocked and froze in his place, while Milva took a step forward curiously: "My Lord Earl, how do you get this kind of power?"

Lann said: "Don't resist in your heart, choose to be my [Follower], and when I feel your intentions, I will respond and be able to give you power."

"This is a pride of lions..." Ace muttered to himself, gradually becoming excited.

After spending two skill points to obtain two blank follower slots, Lann placed his hand on Milva's head, and the experience value dropped a little.

[Follower: Milva (Maria Barin)

Gender: Female

Race: Human

Level: 1

Talent: Sharpshooter

Experience value: 0/1000

Health: 100/100

Mana: None

Inventory: Ranger Leather Armor, Ranger Greaves, Ranger Gloves

Skills: Concentration, Precision Shooting, Jungle Master, Wilderness Survival, Advanced Archery

Mission: None]

[Shared Follower Talent: Sharpshooter]

[Talent·Sharpshooter: Increases proficiency in shooting weapons, skill level +1 after learning shooting skills]

To describe Lann's mood in one sentence is: gasp.

This was the first time Lann had shared a talent. It could only be said that [Talent] was indeed superior to [Skill], and Milva was indeed a future gold card. This [Sharpshooter] was equivalent to a low-profile [Magic Tide] of the bow and arrow class. While unlocking a new weapon for Lann, it also saved him at least four skill points in the future.

However, Lann has no plans to activate archery skills yet, as this is not included in his current tactical system.

Lan was about to greet Ace, but suddenly he saw Milva staring at him blankly, and her eyes began to look strange.

"Any questions?"

Milva shook her head woodenly. Her head was shaking, but her eyes seemed to be glued to Lann's face. "Nothing... I just suddenly felt as if everything I learned before had come to my mind all at once. Also, I suddenly felt that you, Lord Earl... have become more majestic and more handsome. I dare not look directly at you."

As she stared, her face turned red.

Lann responded speechlessly to Milva's undisguised gaze. Is this what you call not daring to look directly at someone?

Because Black Wind is a horse, Lann could not get a more intuitive change to become a [Follower] before. Lann estimated that Milva's feelings mainly reflected two aspects after the contract [Follower]: First, all talents and skills were panelized, so what was learned before was more obvious and solidified;

As for Milva, he felt that his image had become more handsome and majestic... probably because after becoming a real "follower", the way he looked at the Oath Master naturally had a filter.