Chapter 499: The Reward of the Stone-Splitting Family!

"Gervas Gale, do you swear loyalty to Griffin VII, His Majesty the Great King Henrik?"

"I do!"

"Very well, Lord Gervas Gale. From this moment on, you shall no longer be a Viscount Lord, but shall become a glorious and sacred Count Lord!"

"Congratulations, Count Gervas!"

Speaking thus, the Grand Steward of the palace, who presided over the investiture, summoned several attendants.

The attendants held trays in their hands.

Upon them lay respectively the golden badge representing the Count's rank, the Count's sword, and a Count's silk banner.

The King stepped forward personally, first picked up the badge, and then fastened it onto Gervas's left chest himself.

Immediately after, the King picked up the Count's sword and handed it to Gervas.

Gervas received it with both hands and wore it at his waist.

Finally, the King handed Gervas the banner embroidered with golden Griffin threads, symbolizing the Count's rank.

Thus, this Count investiture was formally completed.

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for the reward!"

Gervas bowed respectfully once more to the Griffin King to express his gratitude.

"Count Gervas, I hope you will continue to strive in the future. Very well, you may withdraw now!" The Griffin King nodded in satisfaction and then dismissed Gervas.

Amidst the envious gazes of the nobles, Gervas returned to his original position with head held high and chest out.

And as Gervas's rank changed, the noble Young Ladies and Ladies sending him secret glances became even more numerous.

Had the reward ceremony not yet fully concluded, many noble Young Ladies would likely have come forward to greet him proactively.

"Gervas! Congratulations! From now on, you are a Count! A true great noble!"

"That's right! Who would have thought that one day we could become friends with a Count!"

"Gervas, you must promise that after becoming a Count, you won't ignore us!"

Gervas had barely taken his stance when Mil, Ian, and others could not help but excitedly crowd around him.

"You fellows, am I that kind of person? Besides, do not just focus on congratulating me; there will surely be investitures for you all as well later!" Gervas replied with a smile to the crowd.

"Gervas, our rewards are probably not that great, right? After all, our merits are not insignificant, but neither are they great..."

Hearing Gervas say they too would receive investitures, Mil and the others felt uncertain in their hearts.

"Rest assured! I believe Your Majesty certainly will not be stingy!" Gervas, full of confidence, assured Mil and the others.

And next, the rewards continued.

However, the subsequent rewards were naturally not as heavy as Gervas's.

After all, this Northern Region campaign was actually a case of taking a shortcut to drive away the Orcs.

This victory banquet was, in fact, somewhat forced.

But as the first 'great victory' after His Majesty the King recovered his health, the King would hold it with great fanfare regardless.

The King first rewarded the great noble families.

Among them, the Duke Hernand family and the Hou Jue Austin family each received a quota for a Barrier Lord.

The other noble families received either Baron Lord slots or several Knight ranks that could not be inherited.

After the great nobles were rewarded, next came the minor nobles.

Among the minor nobles, those with the greatest merits were undoubtedly Mil and the others.

"Baron Mil, Baron Ian... in view of your brave fighting in this Northern Region campaign, where you claimed numerous Orc heads."

"His Majesty the King specially rewards you by investing you as Viscount Lords..."

As the Grand Steward of the palace read out the King's royal decree, Mil and the others immediately became so excited their faces flushed red.

What Gervas had just said still left them without much confidence in their hearts.

But upon truly hearing the investiture reward, they were pleasantly surprised to find that Gervas had indeed been right.

They truly received the ennoblement of a rank, becoming a glorious Viscount of the kingdom.

"Thank you, Your Majesty..."

Immediately, the group hurriedly expressed their gratitude with excitement.

Soon, the group went to the front stage to receive their investiture.

Of course, the investiture ceremony for the group was not of the same high standard as Gervas's.

During the investiture process, the Griffin King sat the entire time on the throne above and did not rise.

Even the medals and swords distributed had to be picked up and worn by Mil and the others themselves.

Yet even so, Mil and the others remained excited and happy.

After all, this was the norm.

Many times, the ennoblement of nobles such as Barons and Viscounts only required a letter of appointment, which could then be handled by officials personally appointed by the King.

Personal investiture by the King was a privilege reserved only for great nobles.

For people like them to complete the investiture under the witness of His Majesty the King was already a rare honor among minor nobles.

"How about that! Did I not say so?"

As the group returned to their seats, their corners of the mouth still could not stop turning up; seeing this, Gervas could not help but tease them.

"Gervas! You were truly right! Besides, we must thank you. If not for you, we absolutely would not have achieved such merits or received such rewards!"

"That's right, Gervas! Thank you! Without you, we could not have received this Viscount investiture, and our greatest luck is being able to know you!"

This time, Mil and the others, contrary to their usual manner, became serious.

One by one, they solemnly expressed their gratitude to Gervas.

Everyone in their hearts clearly knew their own capabilities; to obtain this rank relied entirely on Gervas.

"Alright! You fellows, we're good buddies, we're allies!"

"If you really want to thank me, just wait until we return to our territory and send me plenty of fine food and good wine!"

"Gervas, never mind fine food and good wine—even beauties, we have no problem with that!"

"That's right, Gervas, once we get back, we'll immediately send fine food, good wine, and beauties to your castle…"

Good fellows! Gervas exclaimed good fellows…

……

And while Gervas was here bantering and chatting with Mil and the others, the rewards for the minor nobles quickly came to an end.

However, the banquet did not proceed directly to the dancing segment.

That Grand Steward produced another royal decree.

"Honored lords, the rewards just now were all bestowed upon the nobles who achieved merit in this Northern Region campaign."

"And now, His Majesty the King still has one more reward decree, meant to reward a noble who has been working tirelessly for the kingdom over these years—and that is Duke Lieshi!"

"Of course, Duke Lieshi is already a Grand Duke, with no title left to bestow, so His Majesty the King has likewise prepared to grant his family the position of an Earl Lord, with the fief chosen to be located in the Southern Region!."

Gasp!

"Another Earl title!"

"That's right! And an Earl Lord at that—isn't that far too generous!"

"That's right! Viscount Gervas only received his Earl title for achieving first merit—on what grounds does Duke Lieshi?!"

"That's right! Even Duke Hernande only received a reward of one Viscount title slot, yet the Lieshi family actually received an Earl title slot—the gap is truly far too great!"

"Shh! On what grounds—didn't you hear? That Grand Steward said it's because of Duke Lieshi's contributions to the kingdom over these years, so it's not solely because of his merit in this great war!"

"That's what they say, but didn't Duke Hernande serve the kingdom in ordinary times as well?"