Looking at Sophia's serious expression, Duke was a little surprised at first, and then couldn't help but have a smile on the corner of his mouth.

Is Stormcastle the best lord? I didn't expect to have this evaluation, you must know that before Duke only thought about luxury and corruption, and then it was enough to eat and wait for death to be his own land. As a result, he didn't expect so many things to happen in Storm Castle, and for the sake of his own life, Duke could only keep moving forward.

"Thank you. Duke replied with a smile.

Seeing the smile on Duke's face, Sophia was a little bolder, after all, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old maid was at the most lively and curious age in her life.

"Your Excellency, you are also the most unscrupulous nobleman I have ever seen. ”

Duke was not the slightest surprise at Sophia, after all, the future world paid attention to the equality of everyone, and there were no nobles and commoners. Especially since he was born in China, he has been a kind of prince and general Xiangning since ancient times, and in modern times, he is also fighting local tyrants and landlords or something, and there has never been a tradition that nobles are naturally superior, and naturally there is no class concept.

It is this outlook on life that leads to Duke's equal attitude towards both the high-ranking princess and the humble servant, and naturally there is no arrogance.

Hearing Sophia praise herself like this, Duke couldn't help but feel proud in his heart, or the word modesty was not obvious to Duke.

"Just kidding, your lord is a man of bravery, wisdom and handsomeness, so it's all normal. ”

After boasting to himself, Duke put his face close to Sophia, and said in an obscene tone: "Sophia, have you been dumped by me, or let's sublimate our feelings and study the mysteries of the human body!"

"Ah~~!"

Sophia screamed in fright at Duke's sudden approach and obscene words, and then quickly hid at the door of the study.

Seeing Sophia's scared look, Duke showed a wicked smile, in fact, it's good to tease the maid's life, but there are too many threats in this world, and the corrupt life you want doesn't give you a chance.

Seeing the evil smile on Duke's face, Sophia immediately became the lord of teasing herself inappropriately, so she pouted and made an angry look. However, now Sophia has the same disgust for Duke as before, so naturally she will not be really angry.

"Alright, if it's okay, you can go down. ”

Duke beckoned to Sophia, he still had so much to do, far from the time he could eat, drink, and be merry.

Hearing this, Sophia bent down and saluted to retreat, although the lord did not have a shelf, but she still did not dare to omit the etiquette that should be there. Halfway through the retreat, Sophia hesitated, but still said, "Lord Lord, come on!"

After saying this, Sophia left quickly with a red face. Looking at Sophia's hurried appearance, Duke smiled and shook his head, if it weren't for the current crisis situation in Storm Castle, how beautiful it would be to be a gentleman lord and live a corrupt life.

......

Abner returned this time, although he was hacked, but in addition to the reward given to him, there were still almost 2,000 gold coins in his account. And this is only the porcelain of the first kiln, during the time when Abner went to Alpine City, three kilns were fired, almost thousands of porcelain plates, even if it is according to ten gold coins, there can be tens of thousands of gold coins.

In other words, as long as you go to Alpine City to sell a few rounds of porcelain, Storm Castle's financial crisis this winter can basically be solved. Once it is spring, then the mines and fiefdoms outside the city can also be produced, and you can be controlled by others without relying on the materials of Takayama City.

With the gold in his account, although the amount was still far from enough, Duke still kicked off the military reform of Stormcastle.

First of all, Cassel summoned the Border Knights and told them about the Duke professional knighthood system, giving them the option to join the new Knights of the Storm. Duke had thought that the implementation of professional knights would encounter great difficulties, but he far underestimated the chivalry of this world, except for a few who voluntarily quit, plus the dead and disabled dischargers, there were still one hundred and fifty border knights willing to join the Knights of the Storm.

There are no major problems on the City Lord's Guard's side, and now Duke's prestige is soaring in Stormcastle, and the entire young adults of Stormcastle are enthusiastically signing up for the newly formed Stormguard. Even if it was strictly selected according to Duke's standards, the five hundred re-recruited Storm Guard soldiers were quickly full.

The first step of military reform was simply unexpected, and he had already prepared for the worst. He decided to hold a ceremony for the formation of the Storm Legion, and set it up in Campo de Campo for all the residents of Storm Castle to witness.

In winter, the Flower Square is cold and windy, and there is a thick layer of snow on the ground. But unlike the hustle and bustle of the square in the past, this time the air in the square was filled with a solemn atmosphere. And Duke is also wearing the lion-head armor of the Otto family, standing at the top of the square!

In front of Duke were the Storm Knights and Storm Guards lined up, all of whom looked at Duke with excitement and admiration, whether it was his heroic performance on the city walls, or the roaring lion head on his chest, the badge representing the Iron-Blooded Duke of the Empire, which made these soldiers feel their blood boiling!

Princess Gina and Bishop Castlesmai of the Holy See were also invited to the ceremony, and even the Royal Knights stood aside. Around the square, tens of thousands of people had almost arrived, all of whom wanted to witness the military reform of Storm Castle.

Duke looked at the neat queue in front of him, the expression on his face was a little dignified, the main reason for this dignified was that the armor on his body was too heavy, and he had to stand straight and pose as a resolute image, which made him even more tired.

"First of all, Stormcastle people, thank you all for coming to Campo de' Fiori to witness this great occasion. Just a while ago, we were plagued by disease, cold and hunger, and even an invasion of monsters! Any one of these difficulties could overwhelm the entire Storm Castle!"

"But we overcame these difficulties, and we won! It's just that we won this battle very badly, and it also showed me the current shortcomings of Stormcastle. Therefore, there is this important day today, and it is also a day worthy of Storm Fort's commemoration, because of Storm Fort's brand new military force, the Storm Legion has been officially established today!"

Duke's words entered the ears of everyone in the square with the magic amplification, and many people were excited, emotional, sighing and other emotions in their hearts after listening to it.

However, the existence of the new lord gave them unprecedented hope, and also led them to overcome all this. So after Duke said this, these people all waved their arms and cheered loudly, shouting slogans such as "Long live Storm Castle" and "Long live the lord", venting their inner excitement.

At the same time, the soldiers in the square also cooperated with Duke to shout the slogan "Storm Legion, forward!"

Princess Jina on the side saw this scene, and she was also very emotional in her heart, everyone in the imperial capital was not optimistic about this appointment before, and even she herself thought that Duke was a straw bale, but she didn't expect this straw bale to do something that could be called a miracle and become the hero lord of Storm Castle.

On the other hand, the expression on Bishop Carsmail's face was not very good-looking, because Duke's prestige had risen too quickly during this period of time, so that the people who had gone to the church to pray in the face of suffering before turned to believe that the lord could lead them to overcome difficulties, which was equivalent to weakening the influence of the Holy See, and Carsmai was naturally not very happy.

At the same time, he was also puzzled in his heart, how could such a noble son from the capital of the empire do this?