Chapter 351: Knight Lanisha's House — Raising Money and Horses

After a while, Jier temporarily stored the Long Sword contaminated by evil power with this Craftsman. As for the so-called Magic Material, he used the excuse of raising funds to ask for some time to prepare. He had previously obtained a peculiar piece of metal that looked extraordinary from the Bandits, but that thing was too heavy; a small piece weighed thirty kilograms, and it was clearly potentially useful for the Long Sword.

Thirty kilograms—no matter where he used it on his weapons or equipment, he couldn't use it right now. He could only wait until his strength increased later to see if he would be able to use it.

Jier walked to the armor workshop next to the Weapon Forging Workshop, where Ganna was hammering a large Metal Armor Plate, and his apprentice was keeping the furnace in the workshop at a high temperature, waiting at any time for Ganna to put the armor plate on the flames to heat.

Ganna was not very strong, so whenever the armor plate cooled down slightly and its hardness increased, he had to put the armor plate into the furnace to heat it. Only when the steel was in a high-temperature softened state could he hammer it well and make the steel armor plate deform.

Jier greeted him, took a look, and then left; he couldn't intervene in the forging work, so it was better to let a professional Craftsman like Ganna handle it.

As he walked out of the Craftsman District, Jier was troubled by the high prices of those Magic Materials. Especially the last Magic Material introduced, the Blessed Praise Metal Sheet made by the Sun God Church, which cost as much as one hundred and twenty-five Gold Coins.

Jier's entire wealth did not amount to that much; it was truly an astronomical price. The treasure chest he had buried outside the city contained only a dozen or so Gold Coins; those coins were accumulated from selling the remains of the Monster he had hunted to the Merchant Guild and from rescuing Merchants kidnapped by Bandits, plus some miscellaneous commissions and income from defeating Bandits, and the previous income from selling a large amount of metal materials, which was how he had saved up this money.

Of course, the various weapons and equipment he had prepared for himself previously had also cost a lot of money.

As a result, the money he had saved up wasn't even enough to buy that one Magic Material.

Jier pondered for a long while before he remembered that when he was using the Magic Beast to deal with the Bandits earlier, he had harvested some things that looked like they might be worth a lot of money from the Bandit Leader's wooden house. It was just that he couldn't estimate the value of these things that looked valuable, so he had just kept them and hadn't processed or sold them.

Now that he thought about it, those things needed to be processed quickly; only by converting them into coins could he then take this opportunity to buy the Magic Material and strengthen his weapon.

As a Warrior who relied on force to make a living, Jier's primary goal was to ensure that his force could handle the various enemies and Monsters he faced.

However, before finding a way to process those valuable items, he had to find Knight Lanisha and ask for the horses she had promised for him to use.

Following the main road of Kendall City upward, Jier arrived at the entrance of the Upper City District. There was also a city gate here, and it was guarded by two fully armed guards.

Not being familiar with these two, Jier couldn't just go in directly. He had no choice but to report his business to the guards at this city gate. Upon hearing that Jier was a member of Knight Lanisha's Hunter team and was now going to Knight Lanisha's villa for business, one of the guards went inside to ask the Knight Family for information.

After a good while, the guard returned with a Maid from Knight Lanisha's house.

The guard waved his hand, signaling that Jier, who was waiting at the city gate, could follow the Maid inside.

Jier thanked the guard and then walked up to the Maid.

This Maid was wearing thick cotton-padded clothes and a thick skirt; the outer fabric of the cotton-padded clothes was quite bright, with the family crest of Knight Lanisha embroidered on it in detail.

The Maid was not wearing gloves, and at this moment, she was rubbing her hands continuously because of the cold weather and the lack of shelter at the Upper City District gate, where the wind was quite strong.

She looked at the young Jier, examined him carefully, and said, "You look very ordinary, and you don't seem like someone very remarkable?"

"Ah? No, did the Knight say something? Enough to make you think I should have grown an extra pair of arms or something?" Jier shrugged and said.

The two walked inward along the stone street, with the Maid leading Jier in front. The soft shoes on her feet made no sound on the ground, while the soles of Jier's pair of warm boots were made of hardened leather, so every step he took made a loud clatter.

The Maid walked and turned her head to look at Jier again: "Except for being a bit sturdy, you are indeed very ordinary. Lady Lanisha told us the story of how she defeated the Magic Beast before; in the story, you were very remarkable, but it turns out you aren't even as tall as me." After finishing, this Maid stopped and gestured to compare her height with Jier's.

Jier scratched his head; he wasn't short, it was just that this Knight's Maid was a bit too tall. He remembered that among the women he had come into contact with, not many were as tall as her. Even Knight Lanisha didn't seem as tall as this Maid.

Regarding this Maid's evaluation, Jier had to save some face for himself: "Actually, I still have some strength, and my martial arts skills are not bad either."

"Is that so?" The Maid rubbed her hands, blinked her eyes, and said suspiciously.

While talking, they arrived at Knight Lanisha's house. This place was very close to the Upper City District gate, and opposite it were the tightly closed gates of the Sun God Church and the Pantheon next door.

Knight Lanisha's house had a circle of towering walls and occupied a large area. After entering through the small door at the main entrance, Jier discovered that besides a front yard, there were several tall houses connected to each other inside.

Unlike the surrounding church buildings, the Knights' houses appeared very simple, without the stories of gods and reliefs carved on the outer walls, nor the flashy patterns made of various colored stones and bricks that attracted attention.

They were just ordinary brick-and-wood buildings, but they were relatively tall.

Jier followed the Maid through the side door of the main building into the house, passed through a corridor, and arrived in the dining room.

The floor of the dining room was paved with large pieces of rock, and there were various landscape paintings and decorative weapons around. Jier took a glance and could tell that those weapons were the real deal. After all, it was a Knight Family that relied on force to ensure its status; this was truly too normal.

At this time, at several wooden tables in the middle of the dining room, many of Knight Lanisha's family members were dining with the Knight herself. Jier was just wondering if he had come at a bad time, but upon closer inspection, he found that the meal had already ended. The Knight's family members curiously glanced at Jier, who had followed the Maid in, then each prayed to the gods, left their seats, and walked out of the dining room with their Maids and attendants.

Knight Lanisha did not leave after finishing her meal; she signaled for Jier to come over and had the Maid bring a new wooden chair for him to sit on.

Jier saw that the other chairs were all different, presumably because the Knight's family members each had their own chairs; as an outsider, he naturally could not use someone else's designated chair.

After sitting down, Knight Lanisha opened by asking Jier if his weapon had been purged of the contaminated evil power.

Jier, having confirmed that the Knight was involved in this matter, smiled and said: "My Lady, not yet. The Pastor Craftsman brought out many good things." He rubbed his hands: "I want them all, so I temporarily left the Long Sword with him, and I plan to raise some coins in the next two days to buy all those things."

Lanisha laughed: "Pastor Craftsman, hahahaha. If Craftsman Ender heard you call him that, he would definitely be crying and laughing at the same time. But you kid are quite wealthy, actually wanting to take all the Magic Materials. However, remember to act according to your ability; when raising money, it's best not to go into the city to borrow usury from gangs. Just borrow a short-term, low-interest loan from a familiar Merchant."

Jier didn't quite understand; he hadn't planned on borrowing money in the first place. After all, once he borrowed money, he would be a grandson in front of the creditor, and he would be a head shorter than them for no reason. As a transmigrator, didn't Jier have his pride? Borrowing money was impossible. It wasn't like he couldn't sell high-value war spoils.

But Knight Lanisha didn't seem to understand Jier's specific situation. As for Jier's claim of buying all the Magic Materials, that was not a small amount of money; even they, the Knights, would have to think of ways to manage it.

Of course, the Knights each had their own village fiefs. The fief of the Knight Lanisha family was Umi Lake Cunzi in the north. Because it was close to the vast Umi Lake, it had delicious big fish that could be used as a specialty product of the fief. Every quarter, the village would transport a large amount of dried fish as tax. These delicious dried fish, which also had special effects, could be preserved for a long time and could be sold for a good price when transported to other places.

Immediately after, Knight Lanisha continued to talk about the subsequent matters: "In a few days, after the remains of the Hunter who died in battle are transported back to his home and buried, our Wolf Pack crusade for this year will begin. Although we eliminated many of the Northern Wolf Pack last year, it did not damage the foundation of the pack. After long-term reconnaissance, the old Hunters discovered that they have increased the birth of new wolf cubs."

"This means?" Jier asked, puzzled.

Knight Lanisha took off the exquisite napkin from her collar, stood up, and asked Jier to follow her. As they left the dining room and walked upstairs, the Knight said: "Wolves are not Humans. From birth to being able to hunt, it only takes a little over a year. The wolves in the north are larger in size, and the breed seems to be different from the scattered wild wolves in other wilderness areas; their growth time is slightly longer, about two years or so before they grow into adult wolves."

"So this year we are going to eliminate more adult wolves and young wolves before the newborn wolf cubs grow up in large numbers?" Jier said.

"Not bad. Last year, the Hunters and I used strategy to severely damage them. According to the abilities of those cunning beasts, the same strategy and trap will not be fallen for again by cautious beasts. This year, we have to rely on the combat power provided by you, the new addition. Jier, with your help for the other Hunters, while I entangle the Wolf King on the other side, you all must definitely defeat those guys."

Jier followed Knight Lanisha to another room, which looked like a study. Judging from the furnishings in the study, this place didn't look like a place used by a woman for a long time.

From a bookshelf on one side, Knight Lanisha took down a homemade simple book. She flipped through this simple book, which was pieced together from many sheets of paper, and then handed it to Jier.

"I heard that you know how to read, unlike the other Hunters. So, take this record of the process of how I fought the Northern Wolf Pack alone before and led the Hunter team afterward, and read it to understand how we dealt with the Wolf Pack before. There is no time to train you on how to deal with the Wolf Pack this year, but I know that you have dealt with many wild wolves alone outside before, so you should have some of your own experience in dealing with wild wolves."

After receiving the simple record made by splicing individual sheets of paper, Jier put it inside his clothes and kept it safe.

Immediately after, Jier told Knight Lanisha that he had already moved his residence from the Fox Tail Chamber of Commerce to the Hunter Stronghold according to the other party's request.

"So, you came today to ask for the other two horses?"

"Yes. However, I won't be using the horses alone. When we crusade against the Wolf Pack later, we can use them to transport more supplies. With enough supplies, I suppose going deep into the north of the county to deal with the Wolf Pack will be more secure, right?" Although Jier came to ask for the promised horses, he didn't want to ruin his image, so he preemptively promised that the horses would come in handy during the crusade.

After hearing Jier's words, Knight Lanisha nodded: "That's fine. However, three horses. You must take good care of them. The feeding cost for each horse is not small; three horses—if you want to keep them for a long time, you must be prepared to spend a lot of Gold Coins."

Jier thanked the Knight gratefully.

"I will have someone go to the Government Office to handle the ownership of the three horses. Kendall City is different from other places; owning private horses requires paying heavy taxes. This year, I will notify the Government Office to waive your taxes. Remember to go to the Government Office to pay taxes next year, otherwise, they will fine you. If you drag it out and don't pay, your horses will be confiscated." Knight Lanisha introduced to Jier.

After speaking, she clapped her hands and called the Maid at the door.

"My Lady?" Another personal Maid of the Knight entered the room and bowed.

"Go and call the Butler."

"Yes, my lady." The Maid bowed again, then closed the door and left.

"Sir Knight, why does Kendall City impose heavy taxes on privately owned horses? Does it have something to do with the Imperial Knight Order at the northern border of the county?" Jier asked about the topic he was concerned about.

Lanisha snapped her fingers: "That is indeed the case. Because the Imperial Border Knights, who guard the very frontier of human survival, are stationed in Kendall County, we must provide sufficient support to the Knight Order guarding the human border in accordance with the agreement between the Kingdom and the Empire. The Kingdom provides a portion of this support, and the Nobles in the border regions provide another portion."

"And so?"

"And so, the large number of horses required by the Knight Order must be borne by our Baron and several other border Barons together. Not only that, besides horses, there are many other supplies. There is a large Everlasting Logging Site to the north of our Kendall County, and they also shoulder the task of providing fuel supplies to the Knight Order. Other neighboring counties provide other supplies. Therefore, every year we purchase a batch of horses from Bingxun Pass and hand them over to the Knight Order at Bei Mian. In order to prevent private individuals from affecting the local price of horses, the Government Office must impose heavy taxes on horses."

"So that's how it is. Thank you, my lady, for clearing up the doubt that has troubled me for so long." Jier finally understood why, in the economically developed Kendall City, every Merchant Guild used donkeys to pull carts; it turned out they would be heavily taxed.

Just as this topic finished, the Butler of Knight Lanisha knocked on the door and entered.

"This is Qiao-Jier, as you know. Take him to the stable to hand over the two horses brought back two days ago to him, and by the way, go to the Government Office later to transfer the ownership of the three horses I obtained to Jier. Say a word to the relevant clerk; don't collect this year's tax, and we'll talk about it next year." Knight Lanisha quickly gave the instructions.

"Jier, follow my Butler and go to the backyard to collect those two horses. Once the ownership of the horses is processed, they will be delivered to the Hunter Stronghold. Remember, before you get the tokens representing ownership, don't flaunt the three horses in public, or if a passing clerk checks, they will confiscate your horses." After Knight Lanisha finished her instructions, she went to the desk, picked up a book, and started reading; she waved her hand, signaling the two to leave.

After bidding farewell to the female Knight, Jier followed her Butler toward the stable in the backyard.

This elderly Butler did not seem curious about Jier and brought Jier to the stable without looking him over.

The backyard of the Knight Family was very large, not only having a stable and a garden, but also a low stone building in the very back; it was impossible to tell what it was used for, but it just looked very sturdy.

The stable was quite large; inside, it not only kept some horses and livestock, but also had three carriages. One of them was a cargo cart, and the other two were carriages for people to ride in, though one was more exquisite and the other was relatively ordinary.

The Butler found the dozing Groom and had the Groom lead the two horses over. Without wasting words, he directly handed the two horses, which lacked Jiansheng and saddles, to Jier.

Jier looked at the two horses that had nothing and was in a bind; he asked the Butler for a rope, tied two slipknots at the ends, looped them around the necks of the docile horses, and gently led them out of Knight Lanisha's house.

Along the way out, Jier carefully pulled the rope and led the two horses to the Hunter Stronghold located behind and next to the Government Office, letting these two horses stay in the small stable in the front yard of the Jiedian with their friends first.

After feeding the new horses food and water, he realized they had already eaten in the morning. Looking at the sun, Jier came into the house, called the dozing old Hunter, and went to the backyard for noon archery practice.

After practicing a quiver of arrows under the guidance of the experienced old Hunter, Jier returned to the house again, took out his wooden training weapons, and practiced his martial arts with the Long Spear, sword, shield, and greatsword alone on the empty archery field in the backyard.

He hadn't practiced like this for a while, but he had been fighting outside for the past period, and actual combat was more effective than simple virtual practice.

In the afternoon, Jier greeted the old Hunter and received the horse ownership certificates sent by the Knight Family's attendant. They were actually three very finely crafted wooden tokens. On them were descriptions of the horses' coat colors and appearances, as well as who the owner was and whether the tax had been paid.

Jier put two in the house, took one and put it in his Backpack, then put all the things he had obtained earlier into the Backpack, and led one horse out the door.

He had to go to the general store opened in the Craftsman District to buy a set of Jiansheng and saddles for the horses, and then ride it to Bingxun Pass, which had a large number of Merchants.

There, he would sell all the valuable items he had seized earlier and exchange them for money to buy Magic Material.

The things he carried in his Backpack were: a small piece of red Gems in a box; a bone box containing a set of eerie-style jewelry made of Gems. Some miscellaneous small art pieces.