The next morning, Duke woke up early.

Then I washed and dressed myself, thinking about the day's itinerary.

Vlavich had proposed to hire a maid to serve the lord's life, but Duke himself had many secrets and was not very accustomed to being served.

After all, he was never one of those upper class society, so he didn't agree to this proposal.

Today, according to the original plan, I took Lenia, who had almost recovered, and Vlavich, the Minister of the Interior, to the Barony of Connaughton to inspect the Barony of Connaughton, and by the way, to receive the victors.

So he left the castle after getting fully dressed, and went to the south gate to wait for his subordinates as agreed.

When he arrived, he found that Vlavic and Lenia were already there, and had hired a carriage waiting at the door.

"Good morning, sir. ”

They saluted in unison when Duke approached, and then invited Duke to get into the carriage first.

Vlavich was still as energetic as ever, his gray hair meticulously combed.

And Lenia is well after a short recovery, and she still wears that iron-black armor today.

"Good spirits. ”

Duke nodded at them, then spoke to Lenya.

Then he noticed that Lenia's chest still had the glaring white scratches from the previous battle.

Duke frowned and said to Lenia, "Why do you still keep this sword mark as a souvenir?"

"Of course not, it's just that there are no blacksmiths in our territory who can repair magical equipment. ”

Lenia said as she turned sideways, avoiding Duke's gaze.

Duke was a little abrupt, there was indeed no talent in this area in his own territory, and the craftsmen who could repair magic equipment were generally the objects of competition for each territory, and it was impossible for him to come to a poor country like his own.

He was considering whether to give her the high-grade magic armor he had gotten now.

But when he looked at the sun above his head, he still thought it would be later.

"We'll leave for Baronsy Connaughton now, and we'll talk about that later. ”

With that, he was the first to board the carriage, and then pulled Vlavic and Lenia up with his handle.

When the three of them were seated, the coachman gave a loud whip and drove the carriage south.

The distance between the Barony of Connaughton and the Northern Fortress is not too far, so it only takes half a day to reach it by horse-drawn carriage.

And if it is a forced march or a horse, it is faster, and the two are originally one.

"The Barony of Connaughton was originally my domain, and de jure belongs to me, can we take it back now with this victory?"

On the way to the Barony of Connaughton, Duke asks his vassals his questions.

After all, this territory is really important, and it was an important source of income for the Duke's treasury in the north before it was separated.

Because the Connaughton area has one of the largest ore veins in the north, it is an important iron ore producing area, and it is responsible for a large part of the iron ore supply in the north.

From an economic point of view or from the needs of future development, Duke felt that it was best to immediately regain the territory as his own private property.

"De jure of the territory, you can indeed retake the Connaughton region. Vlavich pushed his monocle and continued, "But the trouble is that Baron Rhine belongs to the nobles officially canonized by the emperor, and also has a de jure name. ”

"Hmm? Is it officially canonized by His Majesty the Emperor? ”

Duke was a little surprised, until the official lord died, under normal circumstances, the emperor would not canonize another lord to inherit the land.

"Perhaps the new nobles of the North have joined forces to put pressure on His Majesty the Emperor, and those people will do anything to protect their own interests. ”

Lenia said with some indignation, and Vlavich seemed to agree with this statement and did not refute it silently.

Duke nodded, but he didn't quite accept the conjecture.

He instinctively felt that this matter was not as simple as he imagined, but he had no clue for a while.

"But now that Baron Rhine is not in good health, he may die at any time, and there is a possibility of collusion with the cultists, can't this situation deprive us of his territory and return it to us?"

Duke thought of another thing, if the lord died, he, the high-ranking lord with the right of legal inheritance, should be able to take it back.

"Theoretically, it is possible, but now that Baron Rhine has not been killed, we still need to continue to ensure his safety, and we cannot let him die on our territory during this time.

Moreover, Baron Rhine has a son who serves as a knightly guard in the Templar of Light, and can return at any time to inherit the territory. After all, the matter of collusion with the cultists still needs to wait for the church to confirm, and we do not have absolute evidence to prove it. ”

Vlavic's words once again shattered Duke's desire to take over the Connaughton area, leaving him a little frustrated for a moment.

So Duke didn't say a word until he reached his destination, and he was thinking about the possible way to take over the territory.

But when he knew that Joseph's fat face appeared in front of him, he didn't even think of it.

"Dear Lord, welcome to Connaughton, it's great to be alive to see you again!"

Joseph saluted, and with exaggerated remarks, he graciously helped Duke down from the carriage.

"Welcome to the Duke!"

As soon as Duke landed, he heard four crisp sounds in front of him at the same time.

I saw four beautiful girls dressed in maid costumes smiling and bowing to welcome their arrival as if they had received the most standard training.

He looked at the four girls with interest, and then at Joseph, who had been smiling at him,

Or this fat man understands me and can play!

Duke thought to himself, but remained silent and walked through the four maids towards the castle that belonged to the Baron of the Rhine.

Joseph's butler was already waiting at the gate of the castle, and when he saw Duke coming, he hurriedly bowed and saluted, and then pushed open the castle gate for him.

Duke strolls into the castle and discovers that Baron Rhine's castle is not splendid, not unlike his own cold, damp stone castle.

Or the aristocratic castles of this era are almost the same, more to show the identity of the nobility.

So Duke felt that if he had cement, the first thing he would do was to build himself a three-story bungalow.

"Alright, Joseph, tell me about the results of your work here in the last few days. ”

Sitting on the main seat in the castle hall, Duke began to inquire about Joseph's work.