69novels Page 4
Page 4
It didn't take long.
His thoughts were interrupted by a slightly hurried shout from beside him.
It was the butler, Leon:
"Young master, a slave caravan has passed through Frostraven Town and arrived at Blackrock Fortress."
Chapter 4 Slave Caravans
then.
Arthur followed his butler Leon to the gates of Blackrock Castle.
Not far in his field of vision, a slave caravan consisting of five horse-drawn carriages appeared.
The slave caravan was heading in his direction.
"Squeak!"
"Squeak!"
Soon, as the wheels rolled over the gravel road, he smelled a stench of rust in the wind rushing towards him.
finally.
The five carriages, covered with coarse hemp tarpaulins, were lined up in a row and parked outside the gate of Blackrock Fortress.
He carefully observed the stopped slave caravan:
The carriage at the front had a faded wine flag hanging on it.
After the carriage stopped, the person inside lifted the corner of the curtain, revealing barrels of cured meat piled up inside and luxurious woolen blankets.
Subsequently.
Two sleazy-looking middle-aged men with thick beards and protruding beer bellies stepped out of the carriage.
Judging from their expensive silk clothing, he concluded that they must be the owners of the caravan.
Look further back.
The three carriages in the middle were the most cramped.
Rusty iron bars divided the carriages into cages, each containing a dozen or so slaves.
The cramped space forced them to huddle together like sardines.
They all had heavy iron rings tied around their ankles.
As the carriage came to a stop, the iron rings collided with each other, making a soft metallic sound.
Finally, look at the carriage at the very end.
Two tall knights, clad in chainmail, stepped down from the chariot, leaning against the shaft.
They each wore a sword at their waist, the copper studs on the scabbard gleaming coldly.
Arthur frowned.
As a trainee knight, his gaze naturally fell upon the last two knights to appear.
After careful observation, he deduced from their attire, which lacked family crests, that the two knights before him must be "wandering knights".
In this world, the knight profession is commonly divided into three categories:
Church knights, kingdom knights, and wandering knights.
As the name suggests.
"Church Knights" are followers of the church, and in addition to the Knight's Breathing Technique, they can also receive blessed power from the deity they believe in.
"Kingdom Knights" are knights of noble birth who receive training from the kingdom's system. They are well-equipped, possess comprehensive skills, and are proficient in horsemanship, combat, archery, swordsmanship, and more.
"Wandering Knights" are mid-to-lower-class knights without faith or background. Their existence is more like that of bounty hunters. They have no sense of belonging and exchange resources for survival and training by completing commissioned tasks.
He and his butler, Leon, were both semi-orthodox knights of the kingdom.
On the other hand, the two knights walking towards him were wandering knights.
They must have been hired as bodyguards by the two bearded merchants.
At this time.
"I have never had the pleasure of meeting this gentleman."
The first two bearded merchants to appear walked up to Arthur and blocked his view:
"I don't know you are His Excellency Arthur Field, the newly crowned Viscount?"
"That's right!"
Arthur looked away and answered the other person.
"Hehe! Congratulations to the young and promising Viscount Arthur Field for taking over Blackrock Territory."
After confirming Viscount Arthur's identity, the two bearded merchants forced a lewd, fawning smile onto their greasy faces.
"As you can see, my brother and I are actually slave traders in the North who are authorized by that earl's family."
Say it.
One of the bearded merchants took a piece of parchment from his expensive silk coat and handed it to Arthur.
The butler, Leon, stepped forward and took the parchment, which still retained the warmth of the bearded merchant's body.
Subsequently.
Leon carefully read the contents of the parchment and informed Arthur of his confirmed identity as a slave trader.
So Arthur looked again at the two bearded merchants in front of him:
"So, you've come to my territory to sell slaves?"
"Your Excellency is truly intelligent!"
The two bearded merchants displayed obsequious manners:
"After learning of Your Excellency's succession, we assumed that you would be busy with family affairs and would be short of manpower, so we sent three cartloads of slaves over."
Upon hearing this, Arthur frowned again.
In fact, due to its barren and harsh geographical environment, no other nobles lived in Blackrock Territory except for their family.
In addition, his family was already in decline, and the old lord Richard had little need for shelter in his decadent later years, relying on the steward and servants he brought from the capital to make a living.
Therefore, slaves, a "commodity" that circulated between large landowners and nobles, were conspicuously absent from Arthur's territory.
Furthermore.
Arthur's identity as a time traveler and his eighteen years of almost isolated life in a remote border region meant that his original values did not change much.
Therefore, he instinctively abhorred the system of slavery.
then.
"Your 'enthusiasm' makes me feel 'ashamed'."
The obsequiousness of the two bearded merchants before him irritated Arthur, and he spoke with a hint of hostility in his voice:
"It's a pity that the Field family's territory has never been controlled by chains and shackles."
At this time.
Two wandering knights appeared just in time.
They had extensive experience as bodyguards and keenly sensed the tension in Arthur's tone.
Thus, the two wandering knights, adhering to the principle that the customer is God, disregarded Arthur's status as a viscount.
They stepped forward, placed their hands on the hilts and scabbards, and quickly drew half of the blades.
They are intimidating Arthur.
He looked at the butler, Leon.
He was quick-witted and nimble; how could he allow anyone to run wild in Blackrock Territory, especially in front of his young master, Arthur?
then.
He made no attempt to conceal his Silver Rank Knight strength, unleashing the powerful Frost Raven Breathing Technique and unleashing a formidable Frost Wave.
As the Frost Waveguide appeared, the temperature at the scene began to drop rapidly.
However, the two wandering knights on the other side did not show any weakness and actually displayed the strength of silver-rank knights.
Together, they unleashed a wave-guiding aura that was on par with Leon's.
All of a sudden.
The two waveguide energies collided, creating a gust of wind.
The strong wind blew wisps of hair across Arthur's forehead, but it did not disturb his resolute expression.
All of a sudden.
A tense atmosphere of impending conflict arose between the slave traders and Arthur and his group.
"Leon, stop! Even if you two are unfamiliar with the rules of Blackrock Territory, don't you understand?"
Ultimately, it was Arthur who broke the stalemate, rebuking Leon's rudeness in the manner of a lord:
"Once you come to Blackrock Territory, you are a guest of Blackrock Territory."
His reason told him:
With their current strength, although they are not afraid of this slave caravan, there is no need for them to antagonize it.
The hostility he had just revealed was clearly reckless.
Therefore, his words were not only a reprimand to Leon, the butler who had stood up for him, but also a reprimand to himself for not controlling his emotions just moments before.
"I'm so sorry, young master!"
Butler Leon respectfully stepped back and put away the Frost Wave.
See this scene.
The two bearded merchants opposite him narrowed their eyes into slits, and they also raised their hands to signal the two wandering knight bodyguards to put away their swords.
After this unpleasant little episode passed.
The two bearded merchants didn't say much.
They realized that the deal seemed unlikely to go through, so they had no choice but to abandon their fawning attitude.
then.
They turned around with cold faces and returned to the carriage at the head of the group.
Arthur did not stop them, and silently watched them leave.
So, soon.
The slave caravan began its journey away from Blackrock Territory.
But when the third wagon of the slave caravan passed by Arthur...
The cold voice of the Knight Lord System echoed in his mind:
[A person with the "heart of a knight" has been detected. Subduing them will grant the host the blessing of one virtue.]
He looked up when he received an unexpected system notification.
Under an indescribable, invisible, and subtle pulling force.
His gaze locked onto a emaciated boy inside the slave carriage in front of him.
The boy weakly embraced a girl of the same age, and the two leaned against each other.
As the carriage jolted along, the frail boy sluggishly sensed a burning gaze directed at him from the outside world.
He raised his head and looked out of the rusty cage.
The boy's vision reflected a handsome blond youth with eyes as clear and bright as sapphires.
The boy inexplicably felt a long-lost sense of warmth from him.