Hearing the old butler's words, Alan chuckled in his heart.

If his father came back together, Brad would never say that, plus he is now, then Locke must have come back alone, and he is in a very bad situation.

"Take me there!"

The old butler did not hesitate, hurriedly turned around and led the way, and led Alan all the way to the castle hall.

As soon as Alan stepped into the hall, he saw Locke, who was covered in embarrassment, his usually bright and neat armor was full of scratches and potholes, and his once handsome and calm face was full of panic and urgency, and he couldn't wipe off pieces of blood.

"Uncle Locke, are you alright?"

Alan hurried up to check the wounds on Locke's body, and at the same time ordered: "Go get a basin of water and wash Uncle Locke's face." ”

Locke's son is similar to him, and Alan usually treats Loren as an elder.

When Linda heard this, she hurried out of the hall and went to fetch water as Alan had instructed.

"I'm fine, young master, it's just Lord Horn that he ......"

As he spoke, Locke's face was full of indescribable sadness, and he almost choked with sadness.

A middle-aged man had such an expression that even if Locke didn't finish his words, Alan understood what was going on.

Although he has experienced two lives, it is difficult to resist such sadness after all, tears instantly welled up in his eyes, and all kinds of his father also came to mind.

"Father's ......"

Although Alan comes from another world, he grew up with Horn, who is also his true father.

The Baroness died in childbirth when she gave birth to him, but Horn never blamed him or let him suffer any grievances.

Unlike other nobles, he doesn't force Alan to learn anything, and he doesn't use him as a bargaining chip, as long as Alan is happy.

Moreover, as a baron, Horn has not remarried for more than ten years, just to take care of Allen's feelings, and stubbornly boiled himself from a middle-aged uncle to a middle-aged uncle.

"Before leaving, the adults told me that being the father of the young master is the greatest pride of his life!"

"I'm proud to be your son. ”

Alan tilted his head and waved his hand to wipe away the tears that had slid down his face, trying to suppress the sadness in his heart.

"Uncle Locke, I know you're working very hard right now, but I'd like to trouble you to tell me everything. ”

Eren clenched his fists tightly, and the magic power surged unconsciously in his body.

"I will let them pay with blood and comfort my father's soul in heaven!"

"Huh?"

Locke's hands stiffened, and his face was a little embarrassed and said, "Lord Baron, he's still alive......"

“？？？”

Alan was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes glared: "What did you say?!"

"Those rogues weren't farmers at all, they were bandits, and we fell into each other's trap and kidnapped the adults. ”

Locke explained slowly: "They put me back to ask the young master for ransom, five thousand gold coins. ”

In fact, this is no different from killing Horn, because even if you hollow out the entire Merlin family, you won't be able to get five thousand gold coins.

The most basic unit of currency in the continent of Federon is copper coins, a gold coin is 100,000 copper coins, and the families with strong farmers in the barony's domain are only five or six gold coins a year.

Five thousand gold coins cost the Barony's more than twenty years of taxes, or when the Merlin family did not eat or drink.

Although Locke did not know Horn's family background, five thousand undoubtedly sentenced the Baron to death.

"Oh, that's good, it's good to be alive, it turns out that I was just kidnapped. ”

Loren's tense body suddenly relaxed, and he walked to the chair next to him and sat down to breathe a sigh.

Now he hasn't thought about it that much, as long as his father is alive, it's good news.

People are often like this, bad things are a little less bad and it's good news, just like once the daughter-in-law is innocent with Lao Wang, then it doesn't matter if the child studies well or not.

At this time, Alan also calmed down, and his right hand was placed on the table and unconsciously tapped gently.

"Young master, the water is here. Linda walked in with a wooden basin.

"Uncle Locke, you wash your face first, Grandpa Brad, you arrange breakfast, Uncle Locke who rushed back in a hurry must not have eaten yet, fill his stomach first and then think about it in the long run." ”

"Okay, young master. ”

Brad didn't expect Alan to calm down so quickly, and the old butler's heart was very relieved, in his opinion, no matter whether Baron Horn could come back this time or not, the Merlin family would not fall.

Breakfast was short, and Locke was indeed hungry, and his stomach was quickly filled up after an empty day and night.

And Alan swallowed a few pieces of bread and couldn't eat it, so he put down the utensils.

After Linda cleaned up the table, Alan didn't move the place, and asked Locke about the whole thing directly.

According to Locke's description, when Horn went to the village with the territorial soldiers, he did see a group of rogues dressed as farmers.

Although there are a lot of rogues, their strength is extremely ordinary, and they scatter and flee without geometric rounds, and in order to completely eliminate the bandits, Horn led his men and horses to chase in the direction with the largest number of escapees.

Halfway through the chase, Horn realized that something was wrong, because these people were not as embarrassed as they were running away, and they were obviously deliberately controlling their speed, and even stopped to rest when Horn and the others couldn't keep up.

Unfortunately, it was too late at that time, the bandit group had already surrounded everyone, and there was no way out if they wanted to leave.

"If I'm a little stronger, I'll definitely be able to bring the Baron out!"

Thinking of this, Locke slapped the table helplessly, and his face was indescribably melancholy.

Although Locke has the strength of the fifth level, there are three fifth-level swordsmen in the bandit group, and Horn knows that this knight will not be able to escape with him, so he forcibly ordered him to break through and let him protect Allen well.

The bandit group also noticed Locke's strength, so they did not forcibly round him up, but let Locke go, and let him come back with the ransom to replace him within two weeks.

"Uncle Locke, you don't have to blame yourself, this kidnapping is obviously a planned conspiracy, even if your strength is a little stronger, they will find someone stronger. ”

In fact, Alan still hasn't said a word, as long as their strength is not enough to make everyone fearful, then disaster will always come.

"Grandpa Brad, how much money do we have in our account. ”

Facing the young master's questioning, the old butler pondered for a moment, looked at Allen, and then peeked at Locke next to him.

After getting along for more than ten years, Alan is also familiar with the old man's temperament, and said: "It's okay, you say, Uncle Locke is not an outsider." ”

"Normally, the master will keep one hundred and thirty gold coins in the account as his annual expenses, and now there are one hundred and seven left. There are about 2,900 gold coins in the treasury, and I will check the exact amount. ”

Alan nodded, and silently calculated in his heart, even if the castle did not eat or drink, it was still a small half.

"Is there anything else of value at home that can be sold?"

The old butler understood what Alan meant, and nodded, "There are some collectibles and two sets of armor in the basement of the master, as well as a few antiques, but I don't know if it can be enough for two thousand gold coins." ”

"Young Master......"

At this time, Locke, who was sitting on the other side, just spoke, but suddenly lowered his head again, with a strange expression.

The way he wanted to speak suddenly caught Allen's attention, and this middle-aged man, who was usually honest and straightforward, rarely had such an expression.

"Uncle Locke, if you have any opinions, you might as well say it directly, and we can discuss it together. ”

"No, young master, it's not my opinion, it's my lord's instructions to me before I broke through. ”

After a few hesitations, Locke gritted his teeth and finally told him all the words that Horn had told him.

"The lord said that he spent half his life to keep the Merlin family as it is now, and he didn't want to let the family fall because of himself, so no matter what happened, he hoped that the young master would not take revenge, and keep the family territory well, so that the Merlin family could grow stronger. ”

As a knight who was extremely loyal to Horn, Locke didn't want to say these words, he wanted to welcome the Baron back completely.

But for the perfect execution of Baron Horn's orders, it was also the loyalty of a knight of the Merlin family, so in the end he still gave all his words.

"The lord also said that he knew that young master you have an extraordinary talent for magic, and he only hated to be born in such a family of mountain lords, and he couldn't cultivate it well, otherwise he would definitely be a proud son of the sky. ”

"If you want to leave this corner of House Merlin and explore the wider starry sky, Lord Baron says that you are not to blame, but be sure to leave an heir for House Merlin, and your personal maid Linda is a good choice. ”

"Father's ......"

After listening to Locke's words, Alan exhaled deeply.

As a lord and the head of the Merlin family, Horn fulfilled his duties well, but as a father, he did not understand his son's heart after all.

Father, you, the person I care about the most, are gone, will I care about the Merlin family?

"Okay, I know my father's words, Grandpa Brad will sell all the things in the basement in the next few days, and get together five thousand gold as soon as possible. ”

"Yes, young master. ”

The old butler nodded in response, he had expected Allen's decision, he knew very well that although this young master usually didn't talk much, he was very stubborn and had the right idea.

The young master's words were naturally clear to Locke, and his face was suddenly happy, and his previous worries were gone.

Suddenly, the bell outside the castle rang with a crisp sound, continuous but not intense.

"Yes, there's a guest here?"