"I said why did the Giant Horn Deer Team refuse this mission before! So that's what happened. Old Doug said as he turned his gaze to the cloaked men in the hall, and then blew his beard and glared, "You young people just like to think too much. In any case, the Colston family is also a well-known family in 'Ulrike'. How could they spend so much effort on you ordinary mercenaries. How can the delusion of murder among young people be so serious today? ”

"It's not some victim paranoia, it's just caution to protect yourself." Barrett smiled playfully, and then asked rhetorically, "By the way, is that Colston family famous?" ”

"The Colston family is a fugitive aristocrat who only came to Ulrike 30 years ago. However, the patriarch of his generation is quite business-savvy, and the eldest son of the younger generation has also successfully stepped into the red iron rank and has been placed in the Praetorian Guard. Then, the eldest lady of that family also successfully married the historic Potter family. Among the court nobles of 'Ulrik', it can be regarded as an upstart. Old Doug touched his beard and spoke quite smugly, obviously deliberately showing off.

"O nobles of the court!" Rielly's eyes wandered, and then she looked at Barrett with a slight hint. Now that ∈ has already understood the main opponent that his party will encounter in 'Ulrique'. Then for those potential enemies, the mage naturally maintains a kind of vigilance.

'Upstarts rising in thirty years? It seems that the Colston family still retains a lot of vitality in the process of escaping! Do you want to take this opportunity to gauge the level of the court nobility in 'Ulrik' now? It's just that this approach won't be too presumptuous......' Barrett, who touched his chin, is now a little undecided. After all, contact with the other party too early. There is still a certain amount of risk.

Looking at the parchment scroll in his hand, the halfling wanderer's brows furrowed: "This escort mission is to the Kingdom of Lucia. If next. We'll have to leave Ulrike for at least two months. ”

"This task is not going to work. Take a look at the next one. "Claudia. Auditore immediately turned his gaze to the last scroll: "This is the recruitment mission of the Martial Arts Society?" Wait a minute! Shouldn't an event like this be publicly announced? Recruited to become a mercenary mission? ”

"I guess that's a 'Helping' mission! The so-called martial arts meeting is also only a private event. Maybe that thing itself is a gamble in the underworld. Barrett, who came to his senses, immediately explained. He still knows something about this situation.

"Isn't that a gangster fight with a different twist?" Claudia. Auditore angrily hammered on the counter: "I didn't expect the mercenary union to even accept this kind of commission!" Don't you have a decent task here? ”

Claudia. Audito's question hit the nail on the head, the mercenary guild of 'Ulrik' really doesn't have any decent tasks. So when he heard this, Old Doug had no choice but to bite the bullet and say: "This martial arts club really has nothing to do with gangsters. It was a martial arts meeting between the Ignatius family and the Bert Whistle family, and the outcome was used to determine the commercial quota of the two families in the second half of the year. ”

"How can anyone decide a business issue in this way?" Claudia. Auditore was even more incredulous at the moment.

Old Doug explained with a bitter face: "You guys just came to 'Ulrike' and don't know. This was the main way to resolve conflicts between the nobles of the court. If you don't believe me, ask for yourself. ”

"It's possible that in the Pamir Desert, even the tribal power swap is done in this way! From this point of view, it is not incomprehensible that the business competition between the two families should be resolved in this way. Barrett finally spoke up at this time, "By the way, Mr. Doug, you don't know. If it is a contradiction between the local nobility and the court nobility, then is this also used! ”

"You care about this?" Old Doug seemed to suddenly remember something, and then touched his beard and said, "If it involves the contradiction between the local nobles and the court nobles, it is not such a simple matter. The more people involved, the more ideas they have. There are many tricks, and although sometimes they will be solved by martial arts, they are only part of it. ”

"How about guys, what do you think of choosing the first mission or the third mission!" Barrett turned to look at several of his companions behind him. Anyway, everyone has no intention of leaving 'Ulrik' anytime soon, so the second mission is obviously impossible.

Rielly hesitated: "But it seems that no matter what the task, you have to deal with those court nobles!" ”

"Several, there's no way around it. Aren't those court nobles who can afford to pay a master's price in 'Ulrike'? Old Doug spoke. He didn't say much, though. Obviously, it also understands that the reputation of the court nobility is not very good.

That's right, compared to the fiefdom nobles on the shepherd side, the reputation of the court nobles is much worse. After all, the composition of this group is complex. And there is a lack of strong management. Take the court nobility of the Norhan Kingdom as an example! There are three main sources of their origins.

The first part is the Black Lead rank of the French Profession or the Wandering Knights without the Estate, who can become court nobles after allegiance to the kingdom and signing a formal magical contract. Unfortunately, this component is often very small in number and mostly serves in the military.

The second part is the choice of the heirs of the fiefdom nobles who did not have the right to inherit when they could not follow the first path. That is to change the civil line, and there are many successful people who have been canonized after making satisfactory achievements in this area. But after that, there will inevitably be some polarization.

Some of the descendants of these people can be said to work hard, some inherit the career of their parents, and even break through the boundaries of mortals and squeeze into the first source. But there are still some who do not seek to be motivated or even willing to degenerate. They either kept their titles through their father's arrangement or through the management of their networks.

But after that, he relied on all his privileges and collected money without scruples. He even made some oppression of civilians. or further collusion with underground organizations. What is especially annoying is that they will make a fuss from time to time. Asking for better preferential treatment and power from the authorities, but never thinking that they should pay reciprocal obligations.

The third part is the exiled aristocracy from foreign countries. Some of the surrounding countries are actually unstable at home, and wars and annexations between lords are not uncommon. In the aftermath of the war, even if the family with a knight's heritage loses its territory, it will always find a new monarch as long as the person is still alive. And some aristocratic families who have lost their inheritance or even have no inheritance. If you are lucky enough to survive the devastation of war and have a certain degree of wealth. In such cases, they usually choose to go to other countries and become exiled nobles.

As one of the few powerful countries on the mainland, such guys are naturally indispensable in the territory of Nohan. With perfect magical documents, genealogical and heraldic certificates, and a certain amount of money paid to His Majesty, they were allowed to retain their nobility - a long-standing practice on the mainland. Failure to do so often leads to discrimination in dealings with other countries.

Some of these people took the initiative to integrate into the nobility of the duchy itself, while buying and working hard to run their own estate, hoping to one day go further. Of course, miracles always happen, and in the nearly 700 years of the kingdom, hundreds of high-ranking professionals of the Black Lead rank and above have sprung up among these people. It has also succeeded in the emergence of a new knight family that has become official knights for three consecutive generations, and has successfully obtained inheritance and obtained the fief.

Of course, there are those who are motivated, and there are those who are degenerate, and some nobles spend their time in drinking while running their industries. Some of them were able to break even, but most of them eventually sold their property. Then these guys who are unwilling to give up their drunken life also go to black trading and competition for privileges.

Whether it is the latter in the second or third part, as was the case with the majority of the citizens who had the right to vote in the late Roman period. Even some people have the shadow of those unscrupulous second generation officials in the classical period. These are obviously abscesses that belong to the state, and they still rely on these guys to make a fuss from time to time. Sometimes it's really weird and disgusting.

However, their direct negative impact on the aristocracy or even the burghers was not significant. Coupled with the status of the aristocracy and the intertwined network of relationships, the high-level has not been allowed to make up their minds to rectify it - but the people who dare to scrape the bones to cure the poison are a minority after all.

Comparatively speaking, the educational methods of the fiefdom aristocracy were rarely wasted. Even if it's because of the rebellion, I've got a psychopath. However, with the assistance of his retainers, there are usually no major mistakes—or only by virtue of the powerful power of the fiefdom nobles, who hide those shady things in the deepest part of their own territory. Provinces are often still functional.

Therefore, while the court nobles were notorious because of the number of black sheep inside, the local nobles with fiefs were still able to maintain a good reputation.

Barrett, who had long been aware of this situation, finally pulled out the first sample volume: "Since it is an upstart in the rising period, the door seal of the Colston family should still be good." Compared to the two families who didn't know what it was, the first task seemed relatively safe. ”

But at this moment, Rieli stood on tiptoe and whispered in Barrett's ear: "Isn't the biggest characteristic of this upstart just forging ahead?" Then in the confrontation between the court nobles and the local nobles, it is not possible for them to rush to the front. In this way, isn't it a self-defeating task for us to take on this task? ”

"But it's also a good opportunity to spy on the enemy, isn't it?" Barrett replied quietly, then placed the parchment on the counter, "We'll take over this task of finding pets." Let's go through the formalities! ”

The files on hand of the mercenary guild were processed very quickly. After a while, old Doug handed Barrett the commission scroll representing the mission token and a map with the address of his employer: "Go and talk to the housekeeper of the Colston family about the details of this!" ”

With the map and documents in hand, Barrett led his companions on the road to meet their employers. In this regard, we have to praise the urban planning of 'Ulrique', where each area with distinct runoff is regularly numbered. It didn't take much effort for players to confirm their destination.

In front of a small marble three-story building, Barrett shook the bell outside the wall. Soon a maid dressed in black opened the window on the door. After seeing strangers who she didn't remember, she asked very vigilantly, "Who are you?" ”

"We are mercenaries who have been entrusted with a mission, and we have come here to ask our employer about the situation." As he spoke, Barrett expertly handed over the commission documents to the window.

"Wait a minute! I asked Ms. Isbell to confirm the matter. The maid who said this closed the window after the results of the papers.

Barrett shrugged his shoulders and looked back at his companions, "Looks like we're going to have to wait a while." ”

After about 7-8 minutes, the closed courtyard door finally opened, followed by a slightly shrill female voice: "You are the mercenaries who accepted this mission?" ”

Following the prestige, the players suddenly found that talking to them was actually a big blue-gray cat next to the maid before. And judging from the maid's performance, this is the status of the big cat's materials, which is obviously above her.

'Looks like a shape-shifting cat pet!' Barrett already had a judgment in his mind - as a precious pet and a dutiful animal. In civilized society, it is common to see the appearance of deformed cat pets. Generally speaking, most of these creatures that live in human beings have been domesticated.

Each shape-shifting cat pet recognizes only one owner, and they will follow the owner for the rest of their lives. These creatures are very malleable, but many times their tempers become very similar to those of their owners. When it begins to be spoiled, it will turn into all sorts of new and interesting creatures in front of its owner, and when threatened, it will become an even more threatening creature.

In order to confuse the opponent during battle, the transforming cat pet can transform at any time. This makes it difficult for the opponent to decide what kind of attack to use. Although they are tempted to flee when the war is very unfavorable to them, they will choose to fight to the death for the safety of their masters, and in every sense of the word, they are one of the best bodyguards of the noble lady. (To be continued......)

ps: Modify the wording. Thanks to the lazy Ying Long' for the big reward.