Aside from this exquisite statue of the goddess, the House of Nobles does look no different from the private mansion of the nobles next to it......

There weren't even stables outside the door.

Leon took it upon himself to tie Alice to a stone stake at the doorway and stepped up the steps. A young attendant who crossed the sword guard glanced at Li Ang, greeted him slowly, and smiled politely but not enthusiastically at him: "Sir, this is the House of Nobles. ”

Generally speaking, those who come to a place like the House of Nobles alone are either down-and-out nobles or come to climb relatives to fight the autumn breeze. So that smile looks pretty perfunctory.

"Leon Griffin, here to register the fief."

Leon took out a scroll sealed with fire paint from his dirty saddle bag, thought for a moment and took it back, then pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment and handed it over.

The attendant seemed a little surprised, raised an eyebrow and took the parchment, scanning the parchment again as he looked at it.

"Please follow me, Lord Leon."

After handing the parchment back to Leon, the smile on the squire's face seemed to be a little more sincere, but there was a clear hint of doubt in his eyes.

Those who can serve as squires at the gate of the House of Nobles are usually well-trained knightly servants who are qualified to carry the swallow-tailed flag.

In fact, they were all young masters of aristocratic families - most of them were concubines or side branches who could not inherit the family business, and they took a lesson called "humility" here.

So, most of the time, they just have that faint polite smile on their faces.

It's just that this humility is only for other nobles.

Of course, it also includes the pioneer lords - those who dare to register as pioneer lords are either the sons and nephews of great nobles, or the chaebols with strong armies, usually very powerful guys.

But it was rare for someone like Leon to come alone, who didn't seem rich or expensive, but who intended to register as a pioneer lord—either a tired megalomaniac who wanted to die in the wilderness, or a man with strength but a low profile.

Either way, in the eyes of these guards, they all belong to the object of 'don't offend and don't touch'.

The attendant led Li Ang to the second floor of the noble house and knocked on a wooden door carved with intricate patterns.

A calm voice came from inside the door, "Come in!" ”

The attendant pushed open the door, leaned over and saluted very politely, and stretched out his hand to signal: "Sir, please come inside." ”

It was a modest room, with only a mahogany table and two chairs facing each other, except for the tall bookshelves on the wall.

On the chair facing the door sat a thin, gray-haired old man.

"You may be seated, Your Excellency."

The old man didn't even lift his head, but was concentrating on pouring fire paint on the seal of a parchment roll.

Leon sat down quietly and placed the certificate with the lion coat of arms on the table and waited.

Watching the old man take off the ring and use the ring face to print a double lion shield face coat of arms on the fire paint.

Seeing this, the guards outside the door also consciously came in and took the parchment scroll with both hands: "Is this a reply, Lord Earl?" ”

"Yes."

The old man waved his hand for the guards to leave, put the ring back on, and fiddled with the pioneer baron certificate on the table, but did not open it, and looked at Li Ang with interest.

"I'm Oden. Young man, are you going to become a pioneer lord? ”

Li Ang was stunned.

Oden......

He'd heard of the name—in fact, it was one of the few aristocratic names that Leon could remember well.

Count Auden Fletcher, who rose from the steppes of Cato in the northeast of the kingdom thirty years ago as a pioneer lord.

He built a precipitous shield fortress on the edge of the Gatu steppe, using it as a foundation to expand the territory of the Lion Kingdom for hundreds of miles, and blocked many attacks by the Gatu army and the barbarians of the Misty Mountains.

On one occasion, even with a lone army of less than 500 men, he held the siege of Gato's army of thousands with brilliant results.

It is precisely because of the existence of the Shield Fort that the steppe people of Cato were unable to enter the territory of the Lion Kingdom on a large scale and plunder.

This is the benchmark for all the pioneer lords for thirty years.

His name is well-known even in the Fog Cage City, thousands of miles away.

Li Ang thought that such a general with outstanding military exploits should be a fierce and strong image, but he didn't expect that he would be so thin and small, and his face was so kind and even a little kind.

But why did such a famous general become the administrator of the House of Nobles?

"Young man, I used to be an aspiring warrior like you, but it was very difficult to carve out a new territory...... It's tough. ”

As if seeing the confusion in Leon's eyes, Auden smiled slightly: "I've experienced it, and I know the difficulties - of course, I've also been duly rewarded." However, when a person gets old, there are always things that become different......"

"You mean ......?"

Leon was even more puzzled, he felt that something seemed to be wrong.

Auden smiled even deeper, put his hands crossed on the table, stared at Leon with blazing eyes, and spoke directly: "The reply I just sent is for my son-in-law Lehman. ”

Lion Knight Lehman? Fields Wings' opponent in that final! He's Oden's son-in-law?!

Leon stood up in surprise.

"Sit down, young man, don't be so composed...... Lehman wrote to me about the unexpected situation you encountered, and in fact he admired your martial arts. ”

What do you mean? Leon felt even more uneasy in his heart.

"I wanted Lehman to have a good relationship with Duke Alma, and his future was at stake, I think you know. But Lehman and I are both people who respect the rules, and since the result has been like this, then we will congratulate you. But ......"

A 'but'...... The heart that Li Ang had just put back in his stomach hung again.

Auden gave a mocking smile and continued, "But considering the bad character of the Alma family, I think you probably need a little extra help?" ”

As an excellent swordsman, Leon's observation is very good, and he will never be inferior to the veteran in front of him.

He saw a hint of mixed emotions in Auden's strange smile just now.

"You have a conflict with Duke Alma?" Leon keenly smelled the hidden message in Auden's words.

Auden was stunned and looked at Leon fixedly.

After a few seconds, he shook his head and sighed, "No wonder Lehman said you were a cunning guy...... Right! Alma and I were a bit at odds. As you can see, I don't like to be in this place with paperwork...... But Alma recommended me to the king, and I was not easy to refuse the king's trust and invitation. ”

That's right, unless it's to scare people and then recruit them to do things for themselves, otherwise Auden doesn't need to say such a lot of nonsense.

It seems that Auden, the famous general who was supposed to lead the army in battle, was stumped by Alma's use of the administrative affairs of the House of Lords.

"Thank you for the compliment, cunning is a virtue for a pioneer lord - what can I do for you?"

Leon began to get straight to the point.

Auden also nodded, looked at Li Ang and exclaimed: "Cunning is indeed a virtue......"

"You have two choices...... Become a Pioneer Lord and establish your own territory on the border, but only near the Long River Forest. Or, become a knight under my command and garrison my shield fort, and in return, I will give you a village as a knight. ”

Becoming a Pioneer Lord may be more promising in the future, but everything has to start from scratch. Moreover, the Changhe Forest is not far from Yongdun Fort, and the surrounding area is very dangerous...... Auden probably wanted to register his fief as the Long River Forest—no matter how much territory was opened up outside the registered fiefdom, it would not be recognized.

And becoming a knight under Auden, this is the lowest level of formal nobility, but the future depends on how far Auden Fletcher's family can go. But in this way, you can get the protection of Count Auden, and you can also directly have a knight's domain.

It's a really hard choice.