As the sun rose, Shepard, who had been standing on the balcony all night, turned back to his room, and waited until the sun shone on the mottled walls of the castle and spilled into the bedroom, where he clearly captured the sound of servants moving and working.

Only wearing a soft plain nightgown walked out of the room, Eliza in the maid's room had woken up early, but Duomi was still asleep, as soon as she walked out of the door, she saw Shepard standing at the door casually, but also with an extraordinary bearing, immediately blushed, said good morning and hurriedly picked up the basin and went downstairs to fetch water.

Seeing that the little maid had consciously entered the role, Shepard chuckled lightly and turned back to the room, this doppelganger had been going back and forth between the old and new continents for more than a year, and now he finally had the opportunity to start enjoying a life like an aristocratic depravity.

"Master, please have breakfast."

The well-behaved little maid brought breakfast to the bedroom with a silver-plated plate, and the baked slices of bread, the fried eggs, the diced sausages, and the half of the roasted salted fish, all of the barony's own production, and in order to eat fine food, it was necessary not only to have money, but also to have a caravan that could sell goods through the land.

Shepard enjoyed a rich breakfast for ordinary freemen as usual, and although he pursued a fine life of not getting tired of eating, he was not the kind of fool who was blind enough to ignore the actual conditions, such a meal was the best that the servants of the castle could do.

A decent housekeeper, a chef with a knack for his skills, a well-behaved and sensible maid, and a loyal guard...... Every family that can become a qualified nobleman not only has money and luxury, but also soft power that must be cultivated by time and energy.

After breakfast, Domi and Lady Lisa's mother and daughter also woke up one after another, Domi took over from her sister to put away the plates and cutlery, Eliza brought the brewed black tea again, and Lady Lisa, who had freshened up and had breakfast, also walked in.

Lady Lisa held an account book in her hand, and waited until the sisters left the room, and then sat down in front of Shepard very ladylikely, and said seriously: "My lord, the Prell Territory has a total of one castle, four manors, two of which are only planted with wheat, the other is a vineyard, and one is a herding of cattle, sheep and chickens, and the annual output is equivalent to three hundred to four hundred gold coins of the goddess. ”

"In addition, it is the greatest wealth of the Prell Territory, Riverbend Town, and there are nine hundred gold coins in taxes alone every year! This includes a poll tax, a transaction tax, and a city entry tax. ”

Shepard listened to the report and said, "I have a wealth of about 1,200 gold coins every year, and after deducting the necessary expenses and costs, it is enough to support a decent life for a baron." ”

Lady Lisa covered her mouth and chuckled: "Of course, the Prell Territory is the richest among the noble territories in the entire southern part of Lake Esmere, even if some earls' territories are not as rich as the Prell Domain." ”

"This is nature, the traditional agricultural aristocracy, who does not know the importance of commerce and trade, has never seen a farmer make a fortune from ancient times to the present." There were only two people in the room, and Shepard was also very casual in his nightgown, "But food is the foundation of any kingdom and city-state, so the nobles have to monopolize knowledge and freedom, let the serfs and poor people at the bottom be willingly oppressed, and occasionally promote a few free people as models, so as to give hope to others, so as not to explode because of too much oppression." ”

Lady Lisa nodded slightly: "Your Excellency is right, only when the people are relieved to accept their fate, can the nobles enjoy a high life." "She has now lost her husband, and her status is no different from that of ordinary freemen, and her posture and tone are extremely low, for fear of angering the 'prospective son-in-law' in front of her.

After taking a sip of tea, Shepard said casually: "In the afternoon, you can go to Riverbend Town with me and two retinues, it's time for them to know the existence of the lord." ”

Lady Lisa complied.

……

"Everyone! Before you is our new lord, the valian, mighty, and benevolent Lord Shepard Prell! ”

The dog-legged servant proudly stood in front of the Baron's Mansion in Riverbend Town, and loudly introduced Shepard to the Baron's subordinates such as the tax collector and the militia captain in front of him.

The new Baron Prell coughed, he was very satisfied with this dog-legged servant, and when he saw that the servant had consciously retreated after speaking, he stepped forward and said loudly: "The heroic Baron Domino has unfortunately died in battle, as the only cousin of the baron, I will inherit his title and domain, and marry my cousin Rachelina!" ”

Under the high platform dedicated to the reading of notices and decrees, several people looked at each other, but not only Madame Lisa stood behind the new baron, but the baron in military uniform did not look very good, and even if there was a problem, it was not their turn to question it, so after hesitating for a while, they all pledged their allegiance to the new baron.

Shepard accepted everyone's allegiance with a smile, and instead of wearing the garb of a nobleman, he wore a hunting suit, and wore his sword at his waist, pacing a few steps on the platform at this time, and then opened his mouth to issue orders.

"Baron Domino was killed, and his faithful servants lost their lives in battle, so after the bereavement was handed down, a notice was issued for me to recruit new servants, and the militia was to be expanded accordingly."

"I'm going to expand the fishing village next to the castle of Prell, and anyone who wants to settle there will get land."

"The tax collector and the militia captain remain the same, and the financial matters are reported to Lady Lisa, who will take my place in the Baron's mansion in Rivertown."

The order was issued, and although the tax collector and others were arrogant in front of the commoners and serfs, they could only grovel in front of the nobles.

The order was just the beginning, and for the next few days Shepard took Lady Lisa to Riverbend Town, and later brought the sisters and Rachela over as well, and then took them to the castle to reclaim the land.

The turmoil in the Kingdom of Amm has produced a large number of refugees who have fled, and if they were replaced by other lords, most of them would have been unable to close the gates and drive them away, but for the Prell Lord, it was a sleepy pillow.

Riverbend had a population of just over a thousand, but it had not yet saturated the town, and with this group of refugees, it had increased its manpower in many positions that sold their strength and body, and the new baron took out a lot of money to settle these refugees, some of them worked in the docks and nearby fields, and some of them went with the barons to the castle as the first immigrants to reclaim the land near the castle of Prell.

The convoy of materials and necessities was pulled from Riverbend to the vicinity of the castle, and the merchants who had to be trapped in Riverbend due to the cultist rebellion ushered in the spring, and the generous new baron bought almost most of their goods, and extracted a small amount of commercial taxes than before, which made them happy and joyful, and began to purchase some goods in Rivertown to be shipped south to the kingdom of Tessel.

Baron Prell, who had succeeded in boosting domestic demand, quickly collected the money he had spent from taxes, new orders were placed for the town's blacksmith and tailor's shop, and a new militia guard was about to be formed, with uniforms and weapons indispensable.

The sunset fell on the river near Prell Castle like a wide ribbon of gold winding across the land.

After a busy day, the workers converted from refugees and partially landless civilians returned to the pre-built shacks, where they had to build the prototype of the garrison and prepare some supplies for the incoming Tesser's army, which Shepard had negotiated with Viscount Duris before leaving.

Letting the two maids help her change into her regular clothes and put on her dressing gown, Lady Lisa took Rachela to live in Riverbend Town, and made preparations for the wedding, news from the north has arrived, the Church of the Gods has suppressed the size of the cultists, and the next step is to close the encirclement and approach the place where all the chaos is happening.

However, the nobles of the Kingdom of Amm may not have imagined that Tesel has stabbed them in the back, and when they find out that Tesser's army has approached the rear, their expressions must be very exciting.

"Go down and let Tommar come up to me." Waving his hand to let the maids leave, Tommar is also the servant who is very conscious of doglegs, originally just a random person, but he did not expect that he is very talented in dog fighting.

The maids obediently retreated, and after a short time Tommar knocked at the door and entered, and as soon as he entered, he bowed his waist as humbly and flatteringly as a lobster: "Your Excellency the gracious and wise and powerful Baron, my most admired master, do you have any command to summon your faithful servant, Tommar?" ”

Although Shepard admired Tommar's consciousness as a dog's leg, it was not necessarily related to his liking for such flattery, and he only said casually: "Tommar, I need you to do something for me." ”

"Master, please say that your loyal servant is willing to go to every corner of the continent for your wishes!" Tommar had a look of pride on his face, as if he was going to save the world.

"You don't need to travel all over the continent," Shepard chuckled, "I want you as a messenger to go south, to Blouce, Tesser's army has taken over there, you have to go and meet their commander, Viscount Dures, and tell him that I am ready for the army, and ask him to go north as soon as possible, the Church of the Gods has begun to suppress the internal strife in the kingdom, and there is not much time left for him." ”

Tommar's legs were weak, and he said with a crying voice: "Master! Gracious master, your faithful servant Tommar is willing to go to the trouble for you, but if anything happens along the way, you will not see your faithful servant......"

Shepard interrupted Tommar's cry: "Enough, just to get you to pass the word, I allow you to borrow a horse from the stable, you know, Tommar, I don't need flattering waste." ”