"You mean, you want to be my retainer and work for me?"

Claire looked at the flattering Malone in front of her with interest, and looked at each other curiously.

This is the first person who has taken the initiative to serve him since he came to this world, and he is also a magician with a high status, which surprises him.

There are two kinds of subordinates of the nobles of this world, one is called a vassal, and the other is called a retainer.

Vassals, it is easy to understand, that is, the land is divided and let the courtiers manage it themselves, and the courtiers are obliged to be loyal to the superior lord, provide taxes, soldiers, etc. Correspondingly, the lord must also ensure the property and personal safety of the vassal, and when the vassal is in danger, the lord must also stand up for the vassal.

It can be said that although there is a subordinate relationship between vassals and lords, most of the time they are equal.

The retainers are often the guards, deadpools or worshippers of the lord's family, and the retainers must be unconditionally loyal to the lord, and their lives are in the lord's thoughts. For retainers, the lord can beat and scold or even slash and kill like a slave, and even the laws of the kingdom will not punish him.

Of course, ordinary lords can't do this kind of thing, after all, retainers have a family character, in fact, many times they are not much different from the children of the family.

It can be said that although they are all loyal to the lord, the difference in status between vassals and retainers is very different.

Claire doesn't understand, could it be that he is the legendary protagonist with the air of a king, and finally someone will bow his head?

After Malone explained, Claire finally understood why Malone made such a choice.

A mage has a higher status than the average professional, and even as a retainer, the status is usually equivalent to that of a powerful vassal. At the same time, after becoming a bonus, you can use the magic tower justifiably, and you don't have to worry about not being able to mix up resources at all. After all, the retainers are their own people.

Co-authored, it's not his own personality charm and luck, it's because of this magic tower.

Although others did not come for him as a person, but for his money, Claire was not sad at all.

Ma Long's example has proved that the magic tower is attractive to these casual magicians, and when the time comes, when they have money, they will not be able to build a high-level magic tower and take refuge in their own magicians.

Claire's conjecture is actually a little different from the real situation.

The reason why Malone would so simply want to defect to Claire and become a retainer is that there are many other factors.

First of all, there is the problem of Ma Long's personality.

As a mage supported by Domey Town, Marlon deliberately released water when Domey Town was attacked, and then surrendered, which is enough to prove that he is a person who values his own interests extremely important. This kind of person has a chance, not to mention being a retainer for others, even if it is a son-in-law, it is not a problem.

Secondly, Claire has a bright future.

If you take refuge in someone, you should also see what the future of the other party is. Claire became a baron at a young age, with the combat power of a mid-level professional, and now she has three barons in her hands, and she has great potential for development. Join now, and it is very likely that you can catch a ride on development.

Finally, there is the attraction of the magic tower that does not yet belong.

Before meeting Claire, Malone had already inquired that although this magic tower was built for Bella, it was not owned by Bella, but allocated to Bella.

In other words, this magic tower is ownerless.

A magic tower without an owner, and Claire has no magicians by her side, so after becoming Claire's retainer, doesn't it mean that the future owner of this magic tower is him.

This is Malone's idea.

It's a pity that he doesn't know that Claire is also a magician, and the real owner of the magic tower is actually Claire herself.

If he knew, Marlon would probably regret his decision.

In this way, Claire thought that someone would take the initiative to take refuge in her, and in the spirit of never wasting it if she could prostitute it for nothing, Claire naturally accepted it gladly. On the other side, Ma Long seemed to have seen the completed magic tower beckoning to him, the master.

Under the witness of a group of professionals from the mercenary group, two people with different minds established a relationship in this way, and Claire officially had her first retainer. Wade doesn't count, after all, Wade's definition is more like a collaborator.

As for little Ivan, hehe, the status of the housekeeper in this world is not substantially different from that of a slave, and it is far worse than the status of a retainer.

As soon as he became a bonus, Malone couldn't wait to start his performance, telling all the surrounding lords' strength and territory situation, and instigating Claire to send troops quickly and expand the territory in one go.

In the face of Ma Long's suggestion, not to mention Claire, the high-level leaders of the mercenary group were speechless. is worthy of a magician who does not eat fireworks in the world, this idea is really fanciful.

Seeing Claire's indifference, Malone thought that Claire was afraid that the attack on the territory would fail, so he patted his chest and offered Claire the command, saying that if he gave him an army, he could multiply Claire's territory several times.

Claire was really helpless, and in the face of the high-level mercenary group leaders holding back a smile, she could only sigh and tell Ma Long.

The problem with the current territory is not expansion, but construction.

With the lords of the surrounding territories leaving with the main force, it is hardly difficult to defeat these undefended territories, but the consequences are very serious.

First of all, it is the legal rationality that is common in this world. That is to say, if any piece of territory belongs to a certain family, then in principle, the family will own the territory for generations, even if it is his lord or even the king, under normal circumstances, it cannot be taken away, this is the so-called legal reason.

In reality, of course, there will be territorial wars or something, but under normal circumstances, the war to seize the opponent's territory must also be famous and recognized by other nobles. If the other nobles don't agree with your reasoning, then it's likely that you'll be besieged and you'll be spit out the territory you've gained.

Similar examples abound in the history of the kingdom.

This time, Claire can take Tilling Town, which is actually a little inadequate in legal theory, but this problem is the problem of Count Wright, as long as the actual lord of the territory around Tilling Town, Count Marcus, pinched his nose and admitted it, the other nobles would not say anything.

The parties have no opinions, and others will naturally not participate.

And Claire, who pretended to be the Earl of Wright, naturally had to abide by the rules, and he had already taken three pieces of barony at a time. Even if there is a so-called "gentleman's agreement", I am afraid that it is not appropriate to take more, and it will annoy Earl Wright, and maybe all the territories except Tilling Town will be spit out, and the gains will outweigh the losses.

Another important issue is the counterattack of the original lords of these territories. These people left the territory with the army, not themselves and the army. Fighting back against one or two barons at the same time, Claire thinks there is still hope.

If she annoys more than a dozen barons at once, Claire will have no other way out than to flee back to Trois-Rivières in disgrace.

After explaining, Claire looked at Malone with a little headache, this retainer of her own, this political level is too low, how to arrange it.

He's a magician, or how about being a guinea pig?