Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

Two days later...

"I would like to express my gratitude to you here. I promise that I will not let you down and work hard to protect the border of Midland... Asi."

John crumpled a piece of paper and threw it into the trash can full of paper balls. In the past two days, he had been thinking about what to say when he met the king, but he didn't seem to have a good idea.

"Knock knock knock" there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," John said as he prepared paper to start a new draft.

"Lord John, my master wants to tell you something. Please follow me to the reception room." The person who opened the door was Count Milo's butler. The butler had arranged the meals and daily life in the past few days, so John had a good impression of him. At least as a butler, he was very outstanding.

"Wait a moment, I'll be there soon." John put down his pen, straightened his clothes, and followed the butler to the reception room.

After several twists and turns, John arrived at the reception room, which was located in the center of Count Milo's mansion, with the garden and swimming pool behind it.

Count Milo was playing catch with his five-year-old son in the garden behind the living room. Count Milo had two sons. The eldest son had just come of age and was studying law at Windham University in the capital of Midland, while the younger son was just old enough to hire a tutor.

"Master, Lord John is here," the butler trotted to Count Milo's ear and stood upright beside Count Milo.

"Take my son to play somewhere else first. I'll talk to Governor John first." Count Milo waved his hand and asked the butler to take his son away. Then he came to the living room and sat down opposite John, and then said:

"Governor John, how do you feel here?"

"It's pretty good. The environment is completely different from my big forest." John replied, and then told Count Milo about his troubles of not knowing what to say when facing the king.

"There is nothing to consider. Just speak the truth in a respectful tone and follow all the etiquette of aristocrats." Count Milo said in a relaxed tone.

"Don't you need to say anything like compliments?" John asked.

"We are heroes who won the foreign war. The entire royal aristocratic circle knows about it. This is already the best compliment to His Majesty the King. The rest is just icing on the cake. Don't say too much or it will backfire. If you ask me, those who flatter others are those who are not strong enough, need help from others, or want to get some benefits. People like us don't need it at all."

After Count Milo finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something and then said to John:

"Not only did we win the battle this time, we also fought a great defensive battle in the southern battlefield. And because of Adam and a bunch of Yoda nobles you captured, the Yoda Empire sent envoys to negotiate with us. They returned some of the castles they had captured to the Mitlan Kingdom and temporarily ceased fighting until next spring. This means that we will not face any more attacks from Yoda's large forces this year."

"There was also a star general on the southern battlefield this time. He was about the same age as you, Governor John. I don't know the details, but he used only 10,000 men to repel 100,000 Yoda troops on the plains, thus destroying Yoda's plan. Some people directly called him the Shield of Midland, just like you."

"He's so awesome, what's his name?" John was also very curious, because genius, young, and able to defeat a larger force with a smaller one, these labels were only given to Griffith more than a decade later in Midland, but at the moment he didn't know where his mother's womb was.

"I don't know the exact family, but it seems to be a minor noble family named Laban."

"Laban, is there such a person in Berserk?" John thought for a long time but didn't know that there was such a famous person in Midland.

"Anyway, there will be a triumphal ceremony before the banquet. You and Laban will attend. I will not attend, otherwise I will be verbally attacked by some colleagues. Next, let's go to the capital to buy some clothes. Also, it's time to change your armor. Although it is very practical, it is still too ordinary."

After saying this, Count Milo ordered someone to prepare a carriage and took John to the largest local tailor shop in Midland.

This tailor shop specializes in making custom clothes for the nobility. It has a history of more than 100 years and is able to make all kinds of clothing.

"Oh, thank you so much for bringing the hero of Midland to our store to customize clothes." The owner of the tailor shop had been waiting outside. When he saw Count Milo get off the carriage, he hurried forward to greet him.

"Have you prepared all the clothes I asked you to prepare?" asked Count Milo.

"Everything is ready. You can try them on anytime," the tailor shop owner said, and he took them into a bunch of spacious fitting rooms in the store. He clapped his hands, and the two of them pushed hangers over to John. The hangers were full of all kinds of clothes.

"Because this is for national heroes, the main colors of all the clothes are white and blue, the main colors of the national flag, and then trimmed with a little gold. In addition to the clothes specially prepared for the banquet, there are also pajamas, outdoor clothes for spring, summer, autumn and winter, clothes for riding, swimsuits, etc...."

Listening to the introduction of the tailor shop manager, John looked at the dozens of clothes again and felt that the life of aristocrats was quite troublesome.

"Okay, Governor John, please take a look and see if it fits you. I'll be out first." Count Milo said and walked out of the fitting room, leaving John with the boss who was recording data in a small notebook and two waiters who were helping John change his clothes.

"Well, this dress is a bit wide."

"The collar of this dress is a little high."

"This one is just right..."

After almost an hour, John finally tried on all the clothes. After John put on his clothes, the boss next to him said to John:

"Sir, of the 53 pieces of clothing you tried on, 9 need minor adjustments. The rest are all fine. Do you have any other needs?"

"No, how much are these clothes altogether" John asked, trying to check the prices at Wyndham.

"The total amount is in gold coins. Count Milo has already paid, so you can take the clothes that are in good condition directly. The rest will take me a day to adjust. You can send someone to pick them up after 3 pm tomorrow." said the tailor shop owner.

"How can Count Milo be so nice that he even paid for my clothes." John didn't know what he was doing, but he was getting it for free at the moment.

The waiter folded the clothes, put them in boxes, tied them with bows, and walked out the door with the boxes in his arms. Count Milo outside the door directly ordered people to put the clothes in another carriage. Then, after reminding the tailor shop owner to pick up other clothes tomorrow, he got into the carriage and returned to the mansion.

A few days later, in the early morning, outside the city of Windham, a guard of honor of several thousand people was ready. They were composed of soldiers, bands, and knights. Their purpose was to serve as a backdrop for the triumphal procession. There were also some nobles who were blocked outside by the soldiers. They all wanted to see in advance what kind of people the two generals were.

John was so excited that he couldn't sleep, so he brought his soldiers to the scene early. After arranging the positions of his soldiers with the honor guard commander, John observed the honor guard from the side.

"The Midland Army may not be very good at fighting, but the honor guard is still very good." John thought.

At this time, John developed another army that was rushing here. The leader was wearing ordinary Midland general armor, followed by a group of cavalry.

"Hello, I am Laban, I am here to participate in the triumphal procession, may I ask where my troops should be?"

"Oh, it's General Laban. Please place your troops next to Governor John. Governor John has arrived. You can go and talk to him." The commander said and pointed to John in the distance.

After listening to this, General Laban ordered his troops to follow the command of the guard of honor, while he himself rushed towards John.

John also discovered Laban, and he also wanted to see who this man was.

Laban stopped his horse a few meters away from John and said to John:

"Hello, Governor John, I am Laban, currently serving as the head of the Knights and the general of Midland. It is an honor to participate in the triumphal ceremony with you."

"Oh, isn't this that guy?" John saw his face clearly and compared it with the comics and animations he had seen before, then he remembered who this Laban was.

He once recommended Griffith to attack Doldore when everyone was not optimistic about him, and then lived to see the death of the Terror Emperor, which is almost equivalent to the upper limit of Midland's IQ, but at present he does not have a full beard on his face like he will have more than a decade later.

"Hello, General Laban, I am also honored to attend the triumphal procession with you," John responded.

Seeing that the two star generals were talking well, many nobles on the side started discussing it, and one of them said:

"One is the Spear of Mitlan, and the other is the Shield of Mitlan. Let's see which one is sharper, or which one is stronger..."