"Too formidable, seven days, five bandit hideouts." The marquis still had a lingering look on his face, his hoarse voice filled with helplessness and admiration: "And my knights have fought several times without success, instead I had to hold funeral after funeral for those unlucky ones."

"The Lady's champion managed to deal with these bandits with only a few dozen young men." Francois lifted his head, his deep eyes full of wise radiance: "I plan to have him train the young lads of the duchy."

"You intend to hire him as a Ranger Knight instructor?" Marquis Connelly's eyes sparkled; this marquis was just a Kingdom Knight, only at the Elite Initial Tier, and military was not his strong suit, which is why he often lost more than he won when leading armies into battle.

"Moreover, don't you think he's excellent? He's only twenty-five." Francois watched Laine's calm demeanor and suddenly laughed: "At this age, aren't young ranger knights usually filled with all sorts of hot-blooded fantasies or are they not hopelessly indulged in luxurious lifestyles? Am I right?"

"You always see things so deeply, Francois." Connelly propped himself with his cane, looking at Laine's figure: "Do you think he'll agree?"

"He will, he's not yet fully-fledged, he really needs to assemble his own team and manpower, at this time he won't refuse my help; waiting until he truly rises, it would be too late for us to lend a hand." The Grand Duke tapped his magic ring-bedecked index finger continuously on the marble table: "Moreover, I have a premonition that the Knight Kingdom is about to undergo a huge transformation, Connelly, don't you think that Brittania, after hundreds of years since its founding, is beginning to decline?"

"You always worry excessively, my duke, but...perhaps you're right." Marquis Connelly also supported himself with his cane: "This year's famine wave has come earlier than previous years, it's only April, and already quite a few peasants have appeared at the duchy's border asking for asylum, particularly the peasant numbers from Paragon Duchy and Borelion Duchy."

"Theodoric has been leading his knights against those invaders from Estalia for more than two years now, the Borelion Duchy is already exhausted from war... to this day, three baron's domains and many castles have fallen to the enemy; if my predictions are correct, this war will drag on for a long time." Duke Winford had always been observing the surrounding situation, and he had a very clear understanding of the current circumstances: "And as for Casvan? That's his own fault! That barren territory of Paragon is mainly mountainous, with income completely relying on several divided pieces of barren land and tariffs, yet he insists on maintaining an entire Pegasus Knight Order; he's simply insane."

"The excessively high taxes and corvée have almost crushed the peasants, and not only that, but many knight families have also begun to be unable to afford to buy a full set of knight equipment for their young offspring." Marquis Connelly also replied: "Perhaps one day we will face this issue as well."

"The kingdom needs change, but it's fraught with difficulties; Vampires lurk within our country, and knights must never lay down their cavalry lances. From southern Borelion to northern Leonais, peasant uprisings are becoming more frequent, we need to cautiously find ways to solve these problems... especially when our relations with neighbors are adverse." Francois frowned deeply, the Grand Duke looked at the beautifully rich Helunhilde and fell into deep thought.

Duke Winford had poor relationships with his neighbors, he set the duchy's tax rate at seventeen percent (70% of after-basic ration is turned over), which was far lower than the ten-nine tax of surrounding dukes, hence there were many disputes between the surrounding dukes and Duke Winford, only the northern Duke Bastogne had relatively good relations with Duke Winford.

Laine was completely unaware that others were discussing matters about him. The Holy Grail Knight had just entered the castle and, introduced by the duke, met Marquis Connelly-Ascot: "Hello, my marquis."

"Hello, Lady's Champion, Laine Macado." Connelly was also relatively warm.

After exchanging a few words with the Grand Duke and the Marquis, the Holy Grail Knight proposed to leave: "My duke, please allow me to return to my own territory now."

"Won't you stay a little longer? I've arranged a banquet for you, Connelly will also attend." Francois seemed genuinely keen on having Laine participate in the banquet: "At the banquet, you might get to meet many new friends."

"Sorry, I will definitely join next time, mainly because there are matters with Gene that require handling." Laine politely declined the duke's invitation, indicating that he had business to attend to elsewhere.

The baron had just arrived at his domain, and there were many matters to tend to; Laine's request was not considered excessive, and as the Holy Grail Knight did indeed have his own independence, Francois couldn't force him to stay when one attempt failed: "Then don't rush off, let us sit and have a drink."

It was a courtesy he couldn't refuse. Laine had to change out of his armor into the baron's uniform, though this process was quick thanks to his space ring.

A few minutes later, the group sat back down in the pavilion, and the duke inquired about the affairs of Laine's territory: "Have there been any difficulties encountered in the territory's construction? Do you need my assistance?"

"My duke, I need a steward, do you have any good candidates to recommend?" Laine thought for a moment and suddenly felt this was a good opportunity to ask for help.

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