"Good day, sir."

Lincoln, who was already waiting behind the door, first bowed to Lan En on the Kirin's back, and then nodded to the kitten standing on the Kirin's head after straightening up.

"Good day, flannel ball."

"You're meow, Lincoln!"

Lann rolled over and dismounted, and Lincoln stepped forward to give him a courtesy support.

Indicates the status of the vassal.

And when Lan En stood on the ground, Lincoln seemed curious, and wanted to slowly put his hand on the Kirin's neck and stroke it.

But then, "Whew! ”

Turning his head to his side, Kirin exhaled, and the hot air from his wet nostrils was still arcing.

Pumped Lincoln, who was wearing knight's armor, with electricity.

"Huh~"

The electricity sent a quirking sound from the knight's mouth, which only stopped after a moment.

And Flannel Ball and Lan En were next to them, smiling maliciously and watching the excitement.

The knights in the castle were also in an uproar.

The last time Lane traveled outside Goth Willen to receive his Knights again, he didn't ride the Kirin over.

After all, considering their receptivity, a talking Elu cat is quite amazing.

Now, a mount that could match Lane's size was unusual.

Coupled with this expensive and heavy magic horse harness, as well as the awe-inspiring temperament of the unicorn itself.

"Is this a unicorn?!"

This voice could be faintly heard from the Knights.

"It seems that you have been in this time." Lincoln shuddered and looked at Lan with a grin, apparently not very used to being slightly shocked. "Big gains?"

"Haha!" Ran, who had succeeded in his prank, leaned over and shook Lincoln's shoulder.

"It's called Kirin, and it's my friend. No, you don't need to take care of it, it will play on its own. ”

Lann said as he beckoned Geralt to follow.

The White Wolf handed the reins of the radish to the members of the Ember Knights who were waiting on the side.

He was also an old acquaintance with the members of these knights, after all, they had fought side by side in Sintra.

But after not seeing each other for such a long time, he only felt that these people were very different from the original group of stragglers.

"Long time no see, I'll leave it to you, He Lin."

His hair was still wet with the sweat of training, and the knight, who was lying on his forehead, smiled and took the reins.

"Wouldn't this horse still be called a turnip?"

"Or else? My horses are called this, you know. ”

The two laughed at each other and patted each other on the shoulder, and Geralt waved his hand again, then picked up his pace slightly and rushed towards Lan and the others who were walking in front.

As soon as he stepped forward, Geralt noticed an acquaintance approaching.

Stuart Lynn, son of Haxel Lynn.

Half of his face was shattered, and instead of letting Eretusa's technique reshape his face, he only added an iron chin to the gap in his cheek.

But the iron chin was useless, it just made his temperament more terrifying in addition to being cold.

Geralt looked at Stewart with some complications.

In the previous refugee group in Sintra, the two of them had a lot of friction, but after Hacksoll explained everything with a letter and cleared up the misunderstanding, Stewart had been destroyed into a human form.

It took a long time to save people in Eretusa.

Geralt didn't have a chance to talk to him, so he could only escort Ciri to Kelmohan first.

Ciri's identity was too sensitive then, and even now, for him to dare not stop in the slightest.

So now that acquaintances meet, Geralt, who is not very sociable in the first place, just walks up to Stewart, opens his mouth but doesn't know what to say.

Stewart's cold temperament was more excessive than before the injury, so even when Geralt walked to his side, he only glanced at it.

"By the way, I've never been to this castle before, so let me know about it."

And just as the atmosphere between the two of them became more and more solidified, Lan's voice interjected like an icebreaker.

The young witcher seemed to be completely unaware of the anomaly in the atmosphere, and naturally inserted himself between the two. The two hands put on the shoulders of the two of them one by one, and dragged them forward.

Good communication skills and emotional sensibility allowed Lan En to eliminate the barrier almost without any abruptness.

"Lincoln is your appointed commander, in charge of your Ringseal, my lord."

Stewart said calmly, and Lane smiled unconcernedly.

"But you're also involved in the management, right? Don't deny it, I can feel it from the people of the Order. ”

"So, are you going to cure me for the crime of ultra vires? I have no objection. ”

"Punishment? Don't take it so seriously, Stewart. ”

Lan En patted him on the shoulder, and although he deliberately controlled his strength, he still made the grim-faced knight shake it violently, and coughed out of his mouth.

"Lincoln doesn't have your management experience, I think he has potential, but it's far from being developed. Your guidance has been very helpful to him. ”

"And the Knights can't always be so small, and it's inevitable that the management will be enriched."

"Please, I even gave me a draft of the style of the noble coat of arms on the ring, and I wish there were many people to worry about this kind of miscellaneous matter."

In three or two sentences, Lan En completed the 'atmosphere icebreaking', 'soothing people's hearts' and 'looking forward to future development'.

Geralt, even as an outsider of the Knights, could clearly feel that when Lan first arrived, the atmosphere of the Knights was a little tense, although excited.

The knights feared that their current situation would displease their grown-ups.

They longed for Lan En as if they were worshipping a god, but they also became nervous in front of him.

Now the atmosphere was much more relaxed, as if Lan En had not been out of the leadership for a long time, but had been with them all the time.

I won't be able to do that for a few hundred years.

Geralt said to himself as he relaxed as he followed the atmosphere.

Lan En controlled the atmosphere of the scene like a fish in water.

He was friends with everyone here, sharing campfires and food in the wild.

But the identity of a friend does not mean that he does not need to use the means of a leader to carry out overall control.

Friends are friends, but after forming a group, it must be managed in a group way to ensure the operation of the organization.

It's not about the level of intimacy, it's about the strength of the group.

So even if Lan En had a relationship with everyone here, he would use some 'wrists' when appropriate.

For example, the few words just now, as well as his matching small expressions and small movements.

"You're the son of the royal governor, Stewart."

Lan En opened his hands slightly, making a look of 'waiting to see the show'.

"We're all a bunch of 'idiots' who can only cut people, can you still expect them to introduce me?"

Laughing and scolding without malice is a good way to stir up the atmosphere, especially for people of higher status.

So the people around were laughing together unconcernedly.

Stewart sighed and shrugged his shoulders and walked to the front of the line resignedly.

"Allow me, then, to introduce you to the castle that serves as the Order's residence, my lord."

Stewart does seem to have followed his father a lot.

As far as posture and etiquette are concerned, there is nothing wrong with it.

He stood by the side of the road and bowed slightly, and at the same time stretched his arms into the castle as if he were inviting in.

The flannel ball lay on Lan En's shoulder, and curiously followed the group in.

"King Foltest's material support has never stopped, and we have returned all the donations from the rest of the countries in accordance with your instructions."

"There are currently sixty-one members of the Ember Knights in Fort High Hills, but there are almost twice as many servants, as well as two royal liaisons from Temeria."

"The main body of the castle is made of local rocks and is a typical hill fort. Functionally, it is a defensive military fortress, and the shape is in the style of a tower fort."

With Stewart's introduction, Lane walked into the main body of the castle.

As the son of the former head of the royal family of Sintra, although he later became a knight, Haxel's knowledge still influenced him after all.

The speed and pitch of speech, the order of introductions, and the brief and detailed arrangement. These are details that an untrained person can't spot.

The military castle does not take comfort into account, so the commander's room is not spacious.

But along the way, Rann saw large furniture in the room that fit his size.

This room, which belonged to the owner of the castle, showed a rare display of comfort.

Lann sat in the large chair behind his desk, and next to the large chair, Lincoln had placed a small chair that matched the shape of a flannel sphere.

After Lann sat down, the flannel ball jumped up excitedly.

That's when you enter the scene of a formal conversation.

"As usual, this is the ledger for this time, my lord."

Lincoln's armor was indistinguishable from the rest of the Ember Order, but the large notepad that hung around his waist like a crossbody bag was very eye-catching.

It's a personal sign of the Knights.

Lincoln opened the tome, pulled a key from the page, and then opened it on a tin safe in the room, and took out a notebook.

Financial records, or traces of resource flows. The controller of any organization, if he does not have the control of this thing, is just a puppet that has been put on the stage.

Lan looked through it twice, and Mentos had already sorted out all the details.

In addition to the initial large amount of funding, Foltest was also responsible for the replenishment of supplies and the monthly input of funds.

The first fund was 20,000 Oron, and 2,000 Oren were allocated every month thereafter. The supplies were calculated separately, and Lane estimated that he had put the pressure on the Governor of Willen, Viselard.

Even for the veteran knights in Temeria, this treatment is completely beyond the standard.

A prolific knight can get an average of a few dozen Oren's agricultural products or a small amount of coins from his village every month.

If you join the Order, the Grand Nobles to which the Order belongs will give the knight a symbolic monthly allowance.

However, none of the members of the Ember Knights were propertied knights, and even if they had an estate before, they now belonged to the Nilfgaards.

(End of chapter)