Chapter 55: The Visit

Under Comoso's supervision, the gardeners in the Ray Mansion were unusually conscientious, and although there were still scattered snowflakes falling from the sky, the whole garden seemed to be spotless, and the evergreen ornamental trees stood energetically in the flower ponds, adding endless vitality to the whole garden. Lei, who had been immersed in the composition of the main military forces and power structures of the countries on the continent all morning, finally got a chance to relax his brain, picked up the long sword in his hand, and was fighting with Karub in the open space in the garden.

The long swords of the two rubbed violently in the air, and the steel sword body had already emitted a faint red light, and with a random wave, a long red piece of light flashed past, and with the high-speed swing of the long sword, it was like two firebirds flying back and forth in the air. Lei has gradually become familiar with the precise control of the fighting qi in his body, and can move and tumble in the air for a long time without falling down and losing his ugliness.

The whistling sword qi rolled out more than ten meters away, and those sword qi that inadvertently bombarded the ground immediately stirred up clumps of earth and stones, spilling everywhere. Jerry, who was lazily standing on the verandah at the back door of the main building and watching the battle, shook his head and said: "Ray's swordsmanship is getting more and more powerful, if Ray could have reached his current level in the last duel with Coca, he would have been able to beat him to the ground." ”

Standing next to him, Lomat, who was wearing a thick coat, smiled and asked him, "Lord Jerry, that coca seems to be very good at swordsmanship." ”

Jerry nodded and replied casually, "Yes, it's very good, and the sword is very weird." If I had done it with him, I wouldn't have been able to clean him up. ”

Lomat blinked his eyes and asked in a low voice, "Then doesn't that mean that you are no match for Lord Ray now?"

Jerry laughed, slapped Lomat hard, shook his head and sighed, "yes, Ray has now mastered how to deal with other people's fast movement when facing enemies, and if I fight him, I will definitely lose badly." My fighting spirit is not as strong as his, and my strength is not as strong as his, if you touch it hard, you see that Karubu has been beaten back again and again by him, let alone me?"

Jerry looked at his tall body line proudly, and boasted: "I conquer those beauties with my elegant demeanor, I don't need to exercise all my muscles, do I? Besides, even if I start exercising desperately now, it is impossible to reach the level of Lei, it is better to find a way to improve my fighting spirit." ”

As if to prove Jerry's judgment, Karub roared and fought with Ray for a dozen swords, only to be forced back by Ray from the center of the garden to the edge of the fence, and almost hit his head. Shaking his slightly trembling hands, Karub laughed and admired: "My lord, your swordsmanship is already very good, although there are still some flaws, but with the support of your strong strength, no one can catch these flaws to crack your swordsmanship." As long as you practice carefully, after about a year, your swordsmanship will reach the realm of perfection. ”

Instead of laughing as usual, Ray showed a cheerful, reserved smile, and over the past few days, Jerry and a court ceremonial officer's crazy tutoring has made Ray's gestures begin to have a noble flavor. Although such a move made Ray feel uncomfortable all over his body, but at Jerry's insistence, and because Ray himself didn't want to be seen as an alternative all day long, Ray still gritted his teeth and persevered.

Ray shook his head, reached out and shook Karub heavily, and then, turning his head to look at Jerry, he smiled a little maliciously, "Jerry, are you interested in playing with me?"

Jerry smiled very elegantly, gently took out the white silk handkerchief on the cuff and wiped the corners of his mouth, sighed and said, "Oh my God, is this weather? Look at the dress on me, if I sweat too much in a fight with you, it will ruin my image. Jerry then added in a low voice, "I'd rather go to a hundred silver knights than compete with a monster." ”

Jerry's voice was soft, so only Lomat, who was beside him, could hear him. Lomat smiled playfully, lightly, and was about to speak, when Esther's voice came from the balcony above them: "Ray, Jerry, Karubb, and Lomat, you kid, have all come up for tea, freshly baked snacks." ”

Thunder hurriedly agreed loudly. Standing on the balcony, Esther was wearing a set of purple tights with white flowers, a pair of comfortable small goatskin slippers on his feet, and a warm red alpaca coat on the outside. The embarrassed and shabby smell on his body has been swept away, and he has been replaced by the most perfect complexion that the old man who has enough living money in hand and comfortable living conditions can achieve. He is already in his fifties, and at the moment he acts like a middle-aged man in his early forties, and his whole face is radiant.

Yes, what is he not satisfied with? He lived in Ray's mansion for half a month, and under the influence of a group of Ray's friends such as Gaddafi and Milomi, he officially became his own adopted son, and Ray's mansion has become his and Lomat's home, and he is no longer the bad old man who was persecuted to death because of five thousand gold coins. After learning the news, His Majesty Shagru was very generous in restoring the title of Marquis of Copperhill, which his family's ancestors originally enjoyed, and all the copper mines that their family originally enjoyed that are still so rich to this day have all been returned from the state to the name of Esther.

The discerning person knows very well that this is the result of Milomi's ruthless words in front of Shagru, of course, it cannot be ruled out that Shagru wants to show favor to Lei, so these actions are possible.

In short, for Esther, he felt that he was already satisfied, and what was there not to be satisfied with? Everything was like a dream, and his life had been turned upside down in an instant since Ray had come to his house and taught Waltes a lesson, and he was so satisfied. The ancestral courtyard fell into the hands of the Walters family, so what? The fifty-seven copper mines under his name, with an annual income of more than 100 million gold coins, were the largest supply of copper ingots in the empire, and he was worried that he would not have the financial resources to build another more luxurious mansion?

He smiled as Ray and Karub strode towards him, a laugh coming out of his mouth. For a while, it seemed that the whole world was full of sunshine, flowers and gold everywhere, although now the whole world was covered with clouds, sprinkled with fine snow beads and scattered snowflakes. To be able to receive such a capable son as Ray, Esther felt that this was really a blessing for herself, and Ray was too good compared to that little bastard of Lomat.

Esther closed his eyes slightly, his face was full of smiles, since his grandfather or great-grandfather committed the crime, how long has it been since the family has not been so beautiful? Hmm, look at the nobles who were arrogant in front of him in the past, and now they are all smiling and pleasing themselves, Esther's heart is really happy. Especially after he was reinstated as the Marquis of 'Copper Mountain', he actually became the under-secretary of the Minister of State Krees in the Ministry of State, and I think it was also the credit of that young man from Milomi? Lord Krees really doted on this lovely young man.

The only fly in the ointment is that damn Walters, who still hasn't given himself any explanation, is it true that his grandson has been arrogant in front of him for so long, and he doesn't explain at all?

Poor man, who has just escaped from his state of embarrassment and poverty, has begun to pursue more things again. However, after all, people's expectations are endless, and Ray has begun to pay attention to elegant manners, but he can't make any accusations against Estedo. Maybe he was depressed since he was born, and he was so depressed that once he got his will, he couldn't help but start shaking, right? But in essence, Esther could be regarded as a peaceful, kind old man.

Ray and Jerry rushed into the lounge screaming and threw themselves into the couch. Jerry looked at Ray's wet hair, sighed and said, "Ray, even if your body is strong, you have to take a bath and drink tea again... In case of a cold, when there is a scandal in the empire that Lieutenant General Lei, who is known as the most powerful in the empire, is finished because of a cold, wouldn't it be a joke of our Van Empire, and the people of other empires will laugh from ear to ear?"

Ray had already grabbed a few pieces of dim sum and stuffed it into his mouth, and replied vaguely: "Take a bath? When I come over from the shower, you all eat the snacks, and I won't be stupid anymore... Jerry, your home is next door, and now you almost live with me, what the hell are you doing? ”

Jerry smiled and smiled mysteriously. Ray rolled his eyes and glared fiercely. Jerry hurriedly raised his hand and begged for mercy and said: "Okay, okay, I said, I hooked up with a little girl a few days ago, and I just had a hot fight with her, who knew that someone actually told me that she was the daughter of His Majesty's uncle Shagru, oh my God, how dare I provoke such a woman? Now she comes to my house three times a day to see me, and I have to stay with you. Anyway, she's embarrassed to come to you, so ... ”

Karubb and Lomat, who had just walked into the door, rolled their eyes when they heard this, and walked into the room with a smile, and Esther, who closed the double door of the balcony with a little difficulty, shook his head and said with a smile: "Jerry, your temper is really bad, you have time to provoke these noble ladies, why don't you go to the barracks to see more." ”

Jerry picked up a cup of tea, took a sip lightly, and said with a smile: "Uncle Esther, it's too cold now, and there are several big trees on the streets of the imperial capital that are frozen to the brim." Therefore, the daily training in the barracks has been suspended, and the soldiers are now eating, drinking, and sleeping well in the barracks. There's really no way to train now, and if those soldiers get frostbitten, it's a big trouble. Fortunately, they also have something to do in the barracks, at least they can help make some war equipment, such as big ropes or something. ”

Lei Wenyan nodded hurriedly and said, "That's right, it's much colder here than in Xili Province, and it doesn't snow much in winter in our place." If it weren't for the fear that people from other countries would find out that our army had expanded, they could have sent part of the army to the southern provinces for training. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Comoso had already walked lightly to the door of the lounge, and reported in a loud voice: "Master, the Marquis of Katrian Walters of the Walters family has come to visit, may I ask which parlor will you arrange him in? Is it the Crystal Hall on the second floor or the Ivory Hall on the third floor?"

Ray's brows furrowed, and he turned his head and asked Karub, "Karubb, you didn't hurt that kid too badly that day, did you?"

Karub quickly shook his head and said, "Where? Moreover, if I hurt that kid, the people of the Walters family would have come forward to find trouble, they would have come over a long time ago, and they didn't have to wait for half a month, did they want to do something crooked?"

Ray and Jerry glanced at each other, gritted their teeth, and gave the order that made Comoso almost faint: "Let him wait in the hall on the first floor, who is patient to receive them seriously?" "Ray is full of bad impressions of this aristocratic family that has manipulated the legions directly under the two major military systems, first of all, Karub was ostracized, and then there is this block of Esther, Ray doesn't think that he needs to show the so-called aristocratic demeanor to entertain the members of such a family.

After taking a quick sip of tea, Lei jumped up and threw himself on the door of the balcony, and after opening the door, he just took the long sword in his hand and jumped straight down. Jerry looked at each other with Karub and Lomat, shook his head, and jumped down after Ray. Ray bypassed the main building from the back door of the main building, deliberately stepped on the ice underground, made a 'crunch' sound, and walked towards the front door.

A lightweight, black-lacquered four-wheeled carriage was parked in front of the gate of Ray's main building, and there was no decoration on the carriage except for the coat of arms of the Walts family's 'lion, sword, and shield', but it further highlighted the bearing of a large aristocratic family. A few knights of the guard, who looked like they were not easy to deal with, were standing by the carriage, but their bodies were not moving in the biting cold wind, as if they were standing near the carriage like sculptures.

Lei laughed in a low voice: "Hehe, he is worthy of being the manipulator behind the two major military systems, and the people under him can be regarded as good hands." Compared with them, Crete seems to be a little less fierce. If it is desperate, Crete may not be an opponent. ”

The knights had heard Ray's footsteps and quickly looked back at Ray. A man in his thirties who took the lead with a face like a knife, and his hands were bruised, hurriedly bowed: "General Lei, our Marquis went in just now, you are... ”

Lei said with a big grin: "Oh, I was comparing swordsmanship with the 'Karub' mentor in the back just now, who knew that you were coming, so I just ran to take a look." Lei spoke extremely politely, and the clothes on his body were also very inconsistent with the etiquette of the nobles. He was bare-chested, with a pair of ordinary coarse cloth leggings underneath, and a pair of high-top leather boots worn by ordinary soldiers, who would have known that he was a general if it weren't for the people who had seen him?

Ray ignored the Walters guards, and swaggered up the stairs into the hall on the first floor. Behind him, Jerry, Karubb, and Lomat quickly followed. When Ray entered the hall, Gosia and Groot were lazily guarding the stairs with a few guards, while Comoso said apologetically, "Our master he... ”

Ray laughed, "I'm here, ah, this is the Marquis of Walters?"

A man dressed in black, tall and almost as tall as Karub, but only as slender as Lomat, turned around sharply, and a smile appeared on his thin face like a bamboo shoot, and he bowed slightly and said, "I still like people to call me the Marquis of Catharian, not the Marquis of Walters." Several of my brothers are marquises, so I don't like people confusing me with my brothers. ”

Catrian's words revealed a bit of pride and conceit, their Walters family has a total of two dukes, seventeen marquises, and in the entire aristocratic class of the empire, it is very rare for a family to have so many high-ranking titles. He also secretly put a little pressure on Ray, telling him: "Our family is not easy to mess with, you better be careful." ”

But how does he know that Regan is a rough man in his bones, and when his fire comes up, he doesn't care what marquis you are or not. Ray took a closer look at Katrian, and swept the Imperial Medal of Courage on his chest, the neat pure black garment, the slender and powerful fingers, and the thick callus on the tiger's mouth. It can be seen that Katrian is a rare good swordsman.

Ray waved his hand and said deliberately, "Oh, then, Marquis Catharie... ”

Catarian was stunned for a moment, and Comoso hurriedly walked over and reminded in a low voice: "Master, yes, Marquis Catharyan." ”

Ray shook his head and muttered, "Damn, what's the difference between Cathari and Catrian?" Okay, Count Catrian, sit casually, sit casually, I just came back from sword practice, and I am covered in sweat, and I am embarrassed to invite you to the living room, so let's just order it and sit here and talk." After saying that, Ray sat straight on a sofa in the back, crossed Erlang's legs, and tilted his head to look at Katrian with an incredible face.

Catarian froze, even if he appeared in the house of their family's enemies, those people would greet him with the most solemn courtesy, who knew that Ray would play such a hand on him in disregard of his identity. Receiving himself in the lobby on the first floor? This is a treatment that Katrian has not encountered since he was six years old.

Jerry looked at Catarian a little amusedly, shook his head, and sat down next to Ray. Lomat and Karubb, on the other hand, stood behind Ray with strange faces. Catrian finally reacted, and he smiled lightly, bowed slightly, and sat down on another couch with a smile.

Comoso looked at everything in front of him with a blank expression, it was incredible, his master was too rude. However, he did at last show all that a good steward should do, and he quickly beckoned the servants to close the door of the hall (the Catarian guards rushed in), added a large amount of chopping wood to the fireplace in the hall, and served hot tea.

Ray looked at the busy Comoso dissatisfied, and simply waved his hand and said, "Okay, Komoso, don't be too tired, go rest by yourself." There's nothing to be busy with here... Lord Marquis, what are you here for? Is it because my subordinate Karubb injured Vic Walters? If so, you can do it, or I will pay for the medical bills, or you will find someone to duel with me... Haha, I'm a good talker. ”

In his conception, everyone should follow the rules of the aristocracy, slowly involve the matter, and then express their intentions in a slow conversation, and in the end, everyone will be happy and disperse, this is the best. But Ray picked out the conversation at the beginning, how else could he answer?

Several of the knights behind him had dissatisfied, angry expressions on their faces, and the thinnest middle-aged man had already stepped forward, but Katrian immediately stopped his impulse and let him fall back into place. Katrian smiled modestly, bowed slightly on the couch, and said, "Our entire family sincerely apologizes for my son Vic for offending General Ray. He paused slightly as he said this, and looked at Ray with a smile.

Lei shook his head and snorted coldly and said, "Your son provoked me, why do you need your entire family to come forward? You nobles are really troublesome, maybe in the future, if you kill a dog, your whole family will rush out to ask for guilt, right?"

Ray's words were so unkind that they simply compared Vic to a dog. Jerry, Lomat, and Karubb's faces all changed, and Catrian's face became a little ugly, and as for the guards behind Katrian, they had already rushed forward a few steps forward with a loud scolding. The shadow of the sword swayed, Gosia and Groot shouted and led their knights to draw their long swords and pounced, and the two sides stabbed a few swords quickly in the hall, and in the sound of 'snort', Gosia's face was cut by the thin middle-aged man, and the man was also dragged heavily by Groot's long sword in his hand.

The whole hall shook with a roar, and Comoso and the servants almost sat on the ground in fright, and looked at each other with pale faces covering their hearts. The knights who were beating in the middle of the field were also shocked by this loud roar and stopped in a daze. Lei picked up the long sword in his hand, jumped up as a whole, pounced like a big ball of meat, and a brutal slanted shoulder charged, knocking the thin man more than ten meters away, and crashed into the wall of the hall in embarrassment.

There was a chaotic sound of 'Ding Lang Dong', and the unfortunate man knocked down the wooden plank parapet on the wall, and all the decorations on the wall fell off.

Thunder looked at Katrian with murderous eyes, and said with a sneer: "Lord Marquis, did you come to my house to propose a duel?"

Catarian came to his senses, and he shouted at him, driving the knights back. The emaciated man, whose name was Yavi, was the captain of Katrian's guard, and he also got up from the pile of deer head specimens and disk fragments, and stood back in anger and annoyed.

Katrian's face was full of smiles again, and he smiled and said to Ray: "General Lei, how can it be that I am here this time?

The scar on Ray's face twitched a few times, and it was precisely because of his scar that his face had some strange changes, and he looked more than ten years older than normal people, so Catarian thought that Ray was at least in his thirties. Ray didn't bother to argue about age, he just nodded, sat back on his sofa, and said in a deep voice: "Lord Marquis, no matter what it is, no matter what your Walts family's opinions are, in short, Marquis d'Este is my father-in-law, and I will take care of everything." ”

As soon as Ray's words fell, Esther appeared on the wide staircase, and he trembled and walked down the handrail of the staircase, and whispered, "Oh, Lord Katrian, are you here? I'm sorry to make so much trouble for five thousand gold coins." But isn't my ancestral mansion already worth you? Or do you think that a courtyard of this size is not worth five thousand gold coins? ”

Esther's tone of voice is no longer the poor petty official of the Ministry of State who is half a month of money, he is now the real Marquis of 'Copper Mountain', he has power, money, and has a righteous son who has mastered the power of the imperial army, and a group of big nobles such as Jerry, Gaddafi, and Milomi as friends, and the family behind them has also become one of his helpers, so there is no need for him to be too polite to Catrian.

Although his so-called matter of buying back his mansion with 500,000 gold coins is a bit of a nouveau riche tone, even if his tone is ten times that of a nouveau riche, no one dares to laugh at him. In terms of financial resources alone, the 'Tongshan' family, but there are a few big families in the empire that occupy a monopoly position in a certain industry, even if some big families that occupy a dominant position politically and militarily, they may not be able to compete with him.

Esther's pace gradually stabilized, and he slowly walked towards Catrian. To be honest, when he first saw Catrian, Esther was indeed a little apprehensive, but when he got to the back, he suddenly thought of his current identity and worth, and he really didn't need to be afraid of Catarian anymore, so his walking posture was much more majestic.

Catrian saw through Esther's thoughts, he quickly stood up, bowed slightly respectfully, and said, "Marquis d'Este, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am extremely angry at Vic's behavior that day, and our family also believes that his actions have damaged our family's reputation and damaged the friendly relationship between our Walters family and General Ray, so we have sent Vic to the territory of Northern Xinjiang to reflect, and I am here today mainly to apologize to you. ”

Catarian took out an old piece of parchment wrapped in a brocade bag from his bosom, and he handed it to Esther with a smile, and said with a smile, "This is your title deed, Marquis d'Est." As a sign of our family's apologies to you, we have completely renovated your mansion. I came to visit General Lei after the entire renovation of your mansion was completed... It was a bit difficult to start construction in the winter, so we spent half a month and hope that you will be satisfied with the renovated buildings. ”

Ray looked at Catarian blankly, puzzled why their Walters family was so easy to talk to. Karubb's uncle offended the Walters by allocating five thousand fewer horses to the legions of the three major armies when he was allocating horses, and he had his son beaten up, and he didn't have any anger at all?

Lomat stood beside him, looking at Katrian with disdain. He knows very well that now Ray is a big celebrity in the Imperial military, especially the Minister of War Siddock almost treats Ray as a baby, and His Majesty Shagru, because Milomi is constantly blowing the wind over there, has also reached a realm unimaginable to others, so the Walts family will please Ray like this. Otherwise, according to the consistent temper of the Walters family, the people who offended them would have been desperately suppressed by them in all aspects.

Lei Youyou threw the long sword in his hand to Karubb, and laughed: "Lord Marquis of Catrian, I'm really embarrassed, to be honest, I thought you were here to find fault." Hahaha, Comoso, go clean up the crystal hall upstairs, and ask the Marquis to go up and sit down. With that, Ray gestured to Katrian to go upstairs.

A kind smile appeared on Katrian's face: "Oh my God, General Lei, you are really a very direct person. I really appreciate your style of speaking, and if you have time, our family will have a big family dinner, so I would like to invite you and Lord Jerry to attend. Katrian lightly caricatured at the fact that Ray spoke without going through his brain, and was actually a rough man.

Lei Hehe laughed a few times and didn't answer. Jerry said politely, "It is a great honor for the Marquis to personally invite us. Rest assured, I'll be there. After saying that, Jerry bowed slightly.

The smile on Catrian's face became even brighter, and he didn't go upstairs, but just made a gesture of saying goodbye, and said with a smile: "General Lei, since the matter has been explained, I should also go back, the newly formed legion is busy, and there are many things waiting for me to deal with... Well, that kid Vic is so ignorant that he actually offended Lord Esther, Lord Esther, our two families have been friends for hundreds of years, and we will have to communicate more in the future. ”

Esther smiled and replied, "The child is not sensible, just teach a little lesson." Our two families are friends in the world, so naturally we have to communicate more. ”

Katrian bowed deeply, and Ray hurriedly returned the salute. Katrian straightened up and chuckled towards the door of the hall, and Ray stepped forward and followed him to see off the guests, saying some polite words that he had learned from Jerry, such as welcome again, leaving too early, and not being treated well today. Katrian answered the words and walked out the door.

The cold wind blew, and the thunder didn't seem to feel anything at all, and Katrian shivered all over. Ray smiled and personally opened the door of the Catarian carriage and escorted him on. Katrian said modestly, suddenly turned around and said to Karub with a smile: "Karub, if you are interested, my newly formed Second Legion of the Tight Guard can let you go over, according to your conditions, there is no problem to be a legion commander." ”

Karubb's face changed for a moment, he quickly glanced at Ray, and quickly replied, "I'm sorry, I've sworn allegiance to General Lei, so I can't accept your invitation." ”

Katrian said innocently, "Oh, is that so? I heard that you are loyal to General Lei, and I thought it was a joke, but it turned out to be true, so I will not force it, Lord Lei, and take my leave." ”

Ray snorted with an ugly face, nodded and answered him. What is this deliberately wooing Karub in front of him? This Catarian's way of doing things has changed too much, and it just makes Ray's anger rise for a while, fall for a while, and then rise again, so it's not uncomfortable.

As soon as Katrian's carriage rushed out of the gate of the courtyard, a fast horse rushed madly, and a herald from the military headquarters swooped up, fell heavily to the ground, and shouted: "The military department has ordered that the two lords, Lei and Jerry, together with their subordinate right-hand men, rush to the military headquarters as soon as possible." ”

Ray and Jerry shuddered and looked at each other in surprise. The new army has not been trained yet, is it about to go to war?