Chapter 42: Ghost Town
"The fish soup lacks a lot of flavor, it's bland, too bland." Charles expressed a different opinion at the dinner.
"It seems that the dishes in the manor villa don't suit your taste, Mr. Charles, I hope you can find a cook who satisfies you soon." Russell didn't care about Charles's opinion, he just wanted to taste the taste of his hometown.
As for Charles, he will move out of the manor villa soon.
"Oh my God, I really hope this day will come later. You know, sir, I like the wines in your cellar too much."
"When you move, I will give you a bottle of Black Pearl Wine."
"Living in the small market, I will miss you, sir." Charles said sullenly. The housing in the small market has been repaired, and he has no reason to stay in the manor villa. After all, this is the private residence of Lord Russell.
As for Eric, he will also live in the small market.
However, Eric's contracted fantasy beast, the golden and silver wolfhound, will stay in the manor villa to keep watch to protect Russell's safety.
The golden and silver wolfhound is the wolfhound Kevin, and its fantasy beast name is named golden and silver wolfhound by Russell.
Because one of its eyes is gold and the other is silver.
On this day, as usual, Russell would go to Fluorescent Castle for dinner. He would take one day a week to return to Fluorescent Castle.
"You mean, Eric was promoted to a phantom beast knight?" Before lunch, the baron chatted with Russell in the study again. He was very surprised when he heard the news, "Did you find a phantom beast in your territory, or did he find a phantom beast on the snowfield?"
Phantom beasts are a scarce resource at the strategic level.
There are many great knights in the territory of the Dark Light Valley, but there are not many opportunities to contract phantom beasts. And sometimes the phantom beast and the knight are not compatible, and no matter how much they try to get along, they cannot complete the contract, which makes many great knights waste half their lives and fail to get promoted.
"The wildcat sisters sent a half-ghost beast. I originally just wanted to earn a favor, but I didn't expect the wolfhound Kevin to survive by himself."
"This is really... praise the dragon. It must be the power of the Shadow Flame Dragon that prompted this wolfhound to be reborn." Baron Roman couldn't figure it out, so he could only attribute all the miracles to the Shadow Flame Dragon of the Grand Duke.
In everyone's mind, the dragon is omnipotent.
"Yes, praise the dragon." Russell echoed, in fact, he was praising his own dragon in his heart - Xiao Menglong.
"What are you going to do next to integrate the Xiangshui River Cave?" The baron calmed down and immediately guessed Russell's next plan.
"Yes." Russell had nothing to hide from his father, "I plan to lure Lisbon to death first, then integrate the Xiangshui River Cave, expand the area of the Black-waisted Snake Manor to the entire cave, and observe the situation of the snowfield at any time."
"You have a good idea, it's not a bad thing to try more, but the cave is full of filth, you have to grasp the degree, don't annex the cave and make your territory a mess."
"I'll take care of it, father."
"In addition, don't feel at ease just because Eric has been promoted to the Fantasy Beast Knight. Remember, your own strength is the most reliable reliance."
"I understand."
"Let's go, have dinner."
The father and son put down the red wine glasses and left the large study. When it was time to eat, mother Meryl talked about another thing.
"In a few days, June 4th is your grandmother's birthday. Your father and I plan to hold a banquet at the Fluorescent Castle. Remember to come back a day in advance... Alas, I don't know if your sister and her family will come back. June 13th is Rowling's birthday."
Baron Roman said: "We will know soon whether they will come. Every June, there will be a caravan coming to trade. The letters from Rowling and the Coopers should be delivered with the caravan."
Russell's sister Rowling married the heir of Baron Black Court, Lord Cooper Tian Zicao.
Basically, the two earls and five barons of the Grand Duchy of Shadow Flame are intermarried with each other, and the eldest son will marry the daughter of another nobleman. As for the second son like Russell, it doesn't matter. Marriage is fine, and free love is also fine.
"I'll come again on June 3rd." Russell said.
"Have you thought about what gift to prepare for your grandmother? You are now a fiefdom lord. You can't just use a pot of flowers like in previous years."
"I haven't thought about it yet."
"If there is no gift to prepare, just pick one from the castle, a magic bracelet or a gem necklace will do." Meryl said casually, "Don't let people gossip about us and think we don't know the rules."
Baron Roman glanced at his wife and said nothing.
Russell also pretended not to hear the implication and smiled: "If possible, I will prepare a special gift for my grandmother. Of course, if the gift is not prepared properly, I still have to rely on my mother to give me a gem necklace in case of emergency."
"I'll let Meijin get one for you now." Meryl said, Meijin is her personal maid.
"Is it necessary to be so anxious?" Baron Roman was speechless.
It's not easy to save this little fortune in Fluorescent Castle. It will soon be taken away by the second son. Every time he comes, he has to take a little back.
Russell smiled: "Thank you, mother."
Seeing that Russell was not polite at all, Baron Roman said with a dark face: "You are managing your fiefdom well now. You must learn to be self-reliant slowly. Self-reliance is a good quality of the nobles. Your uncle does a good job. Ask him for advice when you have time."
"I will, father."
"Brother, when are you going to take me to the Black-waisted Snake Manor to play?" Lola interrupted, and she didn't cover her mouth now.
Firstly, he has already adapted to the image of missing teeth, and secondly, new teeth have already emerged a little.
"Next time, for sure." Russell replied calmly.
After leaving the Fluorescent Castle, it was still early, and Russell suddenly wanted to go to the town for a walk. The town is called Youguang Town, but this name is rarely mentioned by locals, and it is replaced by "town". It is the center of the entire Youguang River Valley.
A long street along the bank of the Youguang River and three short streets across the Youguang River constitute the main framework of Youguang Town.
The town is surrounded by a circle of tall walls. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a city, but the population is a little small, probably less than 10,000.
The entire Youguang River Valley territory has only more than 60,000 people.
Riding a black horse, Russell led a knight entourage and shuttled through the crowd. No one would salute him without revealing his identity.
Even if his father is the owner of this territory and this town, not many people know him.
"The stench is so strong. No wonder the nobles never live in the town. Just like the Black-waisted Snake Manor, the manor villa is a little far from the small market." Russell silently endured the smell of feces and urine in the town. There were not only human feces and urine, but also feces and urine of livestock and poultry.
Although there were toilets in the town, not every household had a toilet, and the phenomenon of dumping feces and urine was everywhere.
The only thing worth praising was that no one dumped feces and urine into the Glowing River.
If caught, they would be fined heavily and whipped.
After all, the river food in the Glowing River is delicious, and it is supplied to the Fluorescent Castle in large quantities. No one dared to pollute the food of the Baron.
Of course.
When Russell walked to the long bridge on Hengjie Street, he saw someone urinating by the river, and it seemed that there were people squatting in the grass by the river to defecate in the distance.
"Fuck!"
Russell directly ordered the knight's squire James: "Go, catch the person who is shitting by the river, and hand him over to the town sheriff!"