The Knight's Journey to the Empire

"Okay! Butler Mark, thank you for your hard work! Please sit down and take a rest!" Countess Katis said politely.

The level of respect in his tone was even higher than when he was talking to Sauron!

But could she be disrespectful?

Because now, her earldom title can be inherited smoothly, her power is still in her hands, her market has not declined quickly, and her wealth is still stable!

The main reliance is on Butler Mark!

In addition to being the butler of Seagull Castle, Butler Mark has two other special identities!

One is the personal valet of the former Count Curtis!

One is a knight practitioner with a professional level of Pillar State Knight!

The first identity makes him always loyal to the Earl of Curtis's family and never change until death!

Of course, Butler Mark is loyal to the Earl of Katis family, not Countess Katis!

Although now there is only Countess Katis left in the Earl of Katis family!

But the two still cannot be confused!

And his second identity frightened the many evil hands that were ready to make moves in the darkness!

Otherwise, the Earl of Curtis's family would have been wiped out long ago, leaving only an empty shell of a unique title!

"No need! Countess! I'll just stand!" Butler Mark also said respectfully.

The current Countess Latis is the legal wife of the former Count Katis!

And he was the personal butler of the former Earl of Katis, so Butler Mark prefers to call the current Countess of Katis the Countess!

Instead of calling her "My Lord Earl" like other castle servants!

Countess Katis currently needs his support and is already asking for his help, so it doesn't matter!

As for what to call him, it’s up to him!

……

"Butler Mark, what do you think of Baron Soran? Is he suitable?" Countess Katis asked in a slightly heavy tone.

Butler Mark thought about it silently, then said: "It's okay!"

"According to the information collected by the family, Baron Soran is only 20 years old this year. He has already cultivated to the professional level of a brave knight at such a young age. This is enough to show that he has a very good talent!"

"Moreover, his performance in the Western War was also remarkable. Now he has even innovated the process of refining and purifying sea salt, which is enough to prove that his intelligence is not low!"

"Also, he has a biological elder brother, which is enough to prove that his bloodline is not unique and can be used to expand the Katis family!"

"And most importantly, there weren't any powerful knights among his ancestors! In other words, the gap between his bloodline and that of ordinary people is relatively low!"

"So such an excellent and fresh bloodline is indeed suitable to inherit the title of Earl Katis!"

"And, Countess, the way he looks at you, it seems he has some different feelings for you!"

Yesterday, when Countess Katis and Soren were chatting in the reception room, Butler Mark was standing beside them and listening!

It’s just that he remained silent from beginning to end, so he had no sense of presence!

Upon hearing this, Countess Katis bit her lip lightly, seeming a little reluctant!

Then she asked, "What about that Kzero from Cashel County whom I told you about? How is he?"

Kezero is a civilian knight practitioner who has recently become famous in Kassel County. He also has the professional level of a brave knight!

Countess Curtis had heard of him a long time ago!

And I've also seen his portrait!

She was also very satisfied with Kzero's beauty!

"Alas!" Butler Mark sighed and said, "I have asked someone to investigate the background of that Kzero. He is the illegitimate son of Marquis Barbatos. Marquis Barbatos told me not to touch him!"

"And Madam, you know the bloodline of the Marquis Barbatos family without me having to tell you more, right?"

"Haha!" Countess Katis chuckled helplessly!

How could she not know this?

……

As the saying goes, success is due to blood, and failure is also due to blood!

This is the case with the Count Family of Curtis and the Marquis Family of Barbatos!

Among the ancestors of these two families, there were knights who were pillars of the country, and noble bloodlines were passed down!

One of the consequences of a knight's training is that his own bloodline will evolve in a more advanced direction!

However, this evolved bloodline, even if it is continuously diluted by future generations, will still have a certain gap with the bloodline of ordinary people!

Therefore, this leads to the dilemma of difficulty in bloodline inheritance for future generations!

In layman's terms, it means the phenomenon of only one lineage or no descendants!

Therefore, many formerly powerful aristocratic families became the dust of history!

This is actually the main reason why Countess Curtis and the former Count Curtis have been married for many years but have no children!

The situations of the Count of Katis's family and the Marquis of Barbatos' family are somewhat similar, both of them have only one descendant for several generations!

But the situation of the Marquis of Barbatos' family is better than that of the Count of Katis!

Because in this generation of the Marquis Barbatos family, there is also a daughter and an illegitimate son!

As for the Count Katis family, the bloodline inheritance was completely cut off!

Although thanks to the presence of Butler Mark, Count Katis's title and wealth were preserved!

But if Countess Katis dies, then the earldom and all the wealth under his name will be immediately taken back by His Majesty the King of the Kingdom of Midburg!

Moreover, it was recovered according to law, and the reason was 100% justified!

Therefore, in order to prevent the surname "Cattis" and the title of earl from losing their inheritance, Butler Mark, who had always been loyal to the Earl of Katis's family, made an agreement with Countess Katis!

Butler Mark can obey Countess Katis and serve her!

But Countess Katis also needs to give birth to a child for the Earl of Katis family before the age of thirty to inherit the Earl of Katis family's surname and title!

Of course, Countess Katis is an ordinary person and is in very good health without any physical illness!

So it is actually very easy to have a child!

But the noble surname "Kattis" and the distinguished title of earl cannot be tarnished by some trashy low-end bloodline!

Therefore, the paternal bloodline of this future child must first undergo layers of screening. Factors such as talent, intelligence, excellence, and freshness are all indispensable!

Then it needs to be jointly certified by Butler Mark and Countess Katis, and they both agree!

Finally, he can marry Countess Katis, give birth to outstanding offspring, and inherit the "Katis" surname and earldom!

Now, many years have passed, and Countess Katis is already 28 years old!

Although there have been countless young nobles pursuing Countess Katis over the years, there has not been one who truly meets the requirements and is pleasing to both of them!

These pursuers:

Either the purpose is impure or there are ulterior motives!

Either they are ugly or they are sloppy!

Either he is not talented enough, or he lacks intelligence!

There are also those whose ancestors were knights of the country!

Anyway, there are all kinds of problems!

...............................

Countess Curtis's real name is Helen Elloria.

Ten years ago, she, who was born into a minor noble family, unexpectedly met Count Curtis, who succeeded to the earldom at a young age, at a dance party.

So, she, who was in her twenties, fell in love with the young and handsome man at first sight, and then fell deeply in love!

The two met, knew each other, fell in love, and stayed together, and finally entered the marriage hall together and started a new and beautiful life!

But unfortunately, the good times didn’t last long!

Three years after their marriage, Count Curtis died of illness!

So Helen was left alone in the empty house, and there was no offspring to inherit!

Of course, in fact, over the years, the two of them have not chosen a suitable man!

One of the main reasons is that Countess Curtis still has sincere love for her predecessor Count Curtis!

At the same time, she is also a self-respecting and self-loving woman, and does not want to give in easily!

Otherwise, she would have been able to enjoy the love of having her children around her long ago!

However, it was precisely because of this sincere love that Butler Mark did not force her and was willing to obey her!

And there was no mention of what the consequences would be if one did not do so!

There is a certain tacit understanding between them!

....................................

On September 4877, 9 of the Knight Continent calendar, Soran brought Ramos, Doug Johnson, Thomas and the Knight Guards, a total of fourteen people, to the beach for two days and then prepared to return to the White Bear Territory!

Because there is actually nothing to do in this city of Ganise!

There was feces, urine, garbage, flies, mosquitoes, a strong stench, and black, smelly water everywhere!

This is truly disgusting!

If Soran hadn't wanted to see the ocean of this world and the port in the city of Ganise, he might have gone back long ago!

……

On the way back, Sauron followed the caravan led by White Bear!

Because a few days ago, the White Bear Caravan just delivered a batch of snowflake sea salt!

Now we need to buy another batch of sand salt and ship it back!

So Sauron brought people to follow him all the way, and they can also act as bodyguards!

Today, the personnel of the White Bear Caravan are still drawn from the territory guard team!

And there will always be an officer with the professional level of an entry-level knight following the team!

Because the road from White Bear Territory to Ganise City is indeed a bit uneasy!

Not only might you encounter robbers who block your way, you might also encounter wild beasts, or even monsters, that suddenly rush out from the brush or woods on the side of the road!

So the person in charge of leading the team this time is Henry!

……

Soran led the caravan out of Ganise City and walked for two days.

When they reached a dense forest, a group of robbers rushed out and stopped the convoy!

This wave of robbers was huge, with nearly seventy or eighty people!

But from the leader to the ordinary robbers, they all looked tattered and poor!

Plus the "farm tools" weapons in their hands!

Therefore, Soran only needed to make a slight guess to figure out that they should be residents of a nearby territory!

Now he is just a "part-time" robber!

This is actually the current situation in some impoverished territories. The people in the territories work for the people to make a living during the busy farming season, and become bandits to make quick money during the slack season!

Some lords not only condoned the occurrence of such situations, but even "organized" them.

But Sauron doesn't care about that!

Since he dares to rob people on the road, then I dare to suppress the bandits!

"Why are you blocking our way?" Doug Johnson roared with full energy, shocking the whole audience.

"Everyone, we just want to make money this time and don't want to cause any more trouble! As long as you give us money, we will let you go!" The leader of the robbers replied loudly.

But after thinking about it, he added: "Of course, giving some food is also OK!"

The robber leader was wearing a mask, obviously not wanting to be recognized!

Soran used the Arcane Eye to observe: [22/50]

Oh, he's an advanced knight!

But looking at the data, I think the breakthrough will come soon!

"Haha, this is so funny! Why should we give you money..." Doug Johnson was about to argue with the robber leader!

He was stopped by Sauron halfway through his words!

Soran jumped forward and shouted loudly: "How much money do you want!"

"Not much, just one gold coin for each of you!" the robber leader said subconsciously.

But after thinking about it, he felt that it was too much, so he continued to shout: "Ten silver coins per person is also fine!"

Looking at his unfamiliar appearance, Soran became more certain of his thoughts!

They are not habitual criminals!

Slowly taking off a purse from his body, Soran took out a handful of gold coins from it, shook them, and then said in a deep voice:

"I have plenty of gold coins, I can give them to you, but I have a small condition. It depends on whether you can get them!"

The robbers over there were stunned when they saw the golden coins!

So he said without thinking: "Okay, this is what you said, what are the conditions, tell me!"

"Okay, I like straightforward people like you!" Soran praised, "How about this, as long as you can take my attack, I will give you all the gold coins! How do you think?"

"One hit? Are you sure?" Obviously, the robber leader had blind confidence in his own strength!

Or maybe he had been dazzled by the brilliance of the gold coins!

"Yes! Just one hit!" Sauron nodded affirmatively!

"Okay, I promise you!" said the robber leader with a big laugh.

Then Soran dismounted and drew out the enchanted greatsword on the horse's back!

The leader of the robbers also stood out from the crowd and confronted Sauron!

Soran then took the enchanted greatsword and began to circulate his fighting spirit, preparing to condense the fighting spirit to slash!

But the leader of the robbers knelt down immediately when he saw the brown fighting spirit rising from Soran's hand!

Although the robber leader is confident in his own strength, he is not without common sense!

That brown-yellow airflow is obviously fighting spirit!

A master who can display his fighting spirit like this must be a knight above the professional level of a brave knight!

How could I possibly withstand a blow from such an adult?

The reason why he readily agreed to Soran before was because he looked at Soran's clothes and appearance and thought that he was a spoiled young nobleman!