The morning sun shines through the smoky iron windows of the stove and sprinkles on the mildew-speckled bed boards, and the cool fresh morning breeze outside the window blows up the fragrant smell of flowers and plants, blowing away the stuffy and humid smell that has accumulated overnight in the small, dimly lit room.

The young man, who had been suffering from a hangover headache and would not open his eyes after waking up, very skillfully reached out his right hand to grasp the rope near the bedside post, and at the end was attached a brass bell hanging from the door of the servant's room. As long as he tugs lightly and hard, he doesn't have to wait long, and his servants, who have followed him for many years, will hurriedly walk in and serve him to get up and wash.

But when he shook the bell, a minute passed, two minutes passed, and even five minutes passed, but he never heard the sound of footsteps in his ears, and tried to open his bloodshot eyes, and saw no familiar figure in the door without a door panel. The young man was a little strange, 'Pique, won't you get sick again?'

This is not unprecedented, I remember the last hunting accident, the servant in charge of collecting prey slipped down the mountain stream and broke the leg bone, and it was only after he took care of it himself that the useless Pique recovered. In those days, I was busy with everything and tired, and the young people were very tired.

"Peake, Peake, where are you?"

As he shouted, he sat up, lifted the bearskin futon, and stood on the cold, dry floor with his feet off the warm bed. The young man held back the dizziness and boredom of his head, and slowly paced out with his hands on the wall. When he passed by the servant's room, he saw that the room without a door frame was empty, and scratched his head in confusion, "Strange, where will he go?"

Walking to the main entrance, the sun rising above the horizon sprinkled golden morning light on the earth, shining on the young man dressed in fine linen, and the moderate warmth was restored to the memory fragments that had been crushed by the hangover.

"I'm ...... My name is Aldrich, heir to the knighthood of Tris. Hey, a ruined and declining family of military knights, struggling in a poor life, the heir who is about to run out of breath. ”

Holding on to the wall pillars with the bronze carved door panels that had been removed, looking back at the empty house, Aldrich's mood instantly fell to a low point due to the reality of the four walls of the house, and suddenly he remembered something terrible: "Debt!"

Fortunately, in order to pay off the debts owed to the loan sharks, Aldrich sold all his belongings at a discount, a decision that seems to have been made during the last drink. At that time, the hundred-year-old mansion of the military knight still had the carpet of Elam, the statue of Herrick, and even porcelain from distant Seris, which weighed as much as gold, tea bricks sealed with fire paint, and silk as fine as silver.

In order to repay the rapidly accumulating high interest and debts, all the valuable goods of the family were sold as commodities to the merchants who had come to take advantage of the news, and when they learned that the door panels were made of precious wood, they evaluated the bronze carvings on them, and even forcibly bought all the door panels.

Aldrich saw the face of the merchant clearly, and this group of people lent umbrellas when the weather was fine, and the dregs were collected when it rained, and even hit his servants and tenants with the idea, but Aldrich terminated the employment contract in advance, and sold the ripe land in the territory to the farmers who had followed the family for many years at a very low price.

Pique, who served for many years, received a lush mountain forest that Aldrich was half-sold and half-gifted, a clever servant who raised chickens and ducks for eggs, and a piglet that had just been slaughtered, and when he had free time, he would carry a bow and arrow into the mountains to hunt and start his own life.

"They all have a place to go, and it's time for me to plan for the future. Aldrich, who had regained his senses, went to the kitchen and saw that the dry wood was scattered all over the floor, and there was no place to stay, and he couldn't help frowning.

He remembered that one of the "vampires" that day was a timber merchant, who hired mercenaries to pick up the pyre, pick out the precious trees among them, and leave the mess here without anyone to clean it up.

Aldrich walked carefully to the stove, turned on the fire with an iron drill, gently placed wood chips and wheat straw, lit the fire, and then slowly added dry wood to the copper pot filled with water. The orange-red flame greedily licked the blackened copper pot, and the cold well water rose hot, and he poured in a large spoonful of washed wheat, his eyes moving with the leap of the flames, and his mind gradually immersed himself in reverie.

The gurgling of the water and the ripe smell of the wheat brought Aldrich's attention to him, and he extinguished the fire with the ashes of the plants and trees with an iron chisel, carefully preserved the unburned embers, and then grabbed the two 'ears' of the copper pot without fear of heat and brought it outside.

Pouring the bright wheat soup into a clay bowl and letting it cool, scooping out the swelling wheat grains after cooking it with a wooden spoon, Aldrich silently used the simple breakfast without oil and salt, slowly sipping the dull wheat soup one by one, and finally regained some warmth in his body tortured by the cold morning breeze.

Aldrich, who had made a decision to leave everything he knew since his birth, and to go to the city, had made up his mind to overshadow the glorious family crest and disgrace his father. The goal is Eastwood, the closest to the territory, and the location next to the Champagne River to open up a deep-water port and thriving new city.

After fifteen minutes of rest, Aldrich began to recuperate, and the three-story mansion built on the hill was once full of guests, but now deserted with only one heir.

It would be a pity to abandon it like this, and it should be taken care of by someone reliable, lest dust be allowed to bury the only sign of the Triss family. ’

Aldrich held on to the mallet and began to strike the large bronze bell that was too bulky to be dismantled by the merchants, striking seven times to summon everyone in the realm.

"I'd like to see how many people are still heeding my call. ”

After a quarter of an hour, only three men came to the knight's mansion at the sound of the bell, Vincent the old tenant, Gris, the cowherd, and Pique, a hunter.

Panting, they saw the bitterness in the lord's smile that could not be concealed, and their faces were a little embarrassed when they looked around, ready to come forward to meet them according to their past habits.

As a result, Aldrich stretched out his hand to help Vincent and the three of them up: "Remember, you are already free people, there is no need to curtsy me." ”

Seeing them awkwardly putting their hands on their knees, their eyes fixed on their feet, their bodies bowed, and trembling with fear or joy, Aldrich bowed in return and motioned for them to stand up.

"Only three people came to me, unexpectedly few, is it because I have not given enough favors? I know that most people must still have a grudge in their hearts that I have abandoned them. But if you think about it carefully, isn't there less and less harvest to bend down and dig in the soil in these days? plus the various taxes that must be paid, it will be even more meager when it falls into the mouth, and you can still have a full stomach in a good year, and you will inevitably go hungry in a famine year......."

Zero always said a bunch of nonsense, Aldrich sighed: "The glory of the family has been lost in my hands, and it must be revived in my generation." The businessmen who knocked us out of the marrow made us around, but they also made me see the scenery outside. I decided to leave the territory and venture out into the city to see if I could make a business. During my absence, this uninhabited mansion will be left to the care of the three of you, and it will be enough to clean up the dust every few days. Vincent is closest to it, and is in charge of the day-to-day maintenance, with Gris and Peake assisting, what do you think?"

The old tenant, the cowherd, and the hunter looked at each other, and they readily agreed to any objection to the knight's decision.

After arranging the way to retreat, the young Aldrich placed his salute on the black horse Hayek, stepped on the saddle with a stirrup, and bowed sideways to the forehead of the "butlers", and lightly clamped the horse's belly between his legs, and Hayek, who had long teeth, left the mansion with steady steps, leaving the knightly territory of Tris.

After crossing the Lusha River over the small stone bridge, Aldrich seemed to hear the familiar shouts coming from the wind, so he stood up in the stirrups and turned to look back, and was surprised to see the tenants standing on the shore with their families in tow, waving their hands at him. Spotting Aldrich's movements, everyone cheered and saluted.

"They all remember, they all remember. Young Aldrich sat down contentedly, like a knight on battle with high hopes from his subjects, and headed for his destination, Eastwood.