Chapter 518: Lord or Beast of Burden?

"This... this is way too fast!"

Having received Gervas's personal affirmation, Butler Violet cried out in his heart.

He still remembered that when he first met this Lord Gervas, he was only a baron lord.

At that time, he had discovered that bandits had kidnapped Young Lady Catherine, and came to notify him to muster his vassals to go rescue her.

In the blink of an eye, Baron Gervas had actually risen all the way to viscount, and then to earl.

If one said that his own lord earl was already considered to be rising in rank quickly,

then this Viscount Gervas was simply faster than riding a giant dragon straight up to the heavens!

"Congratulations to Lord Gervas on your promotion to Earl!" Butler Violet did not hesitate at all, and immediately called out his congratulations to Gervas.

After shouting, he immediately called out to the surrounding servants and guards: "Quick, all of you come over and congratulate Lord Gervas on his promotion to Earl Lord!"

"Congratulations to Lord Gervas on your promotion to Earl!"

Hearing this, the servants and guards also rushed over one after another, shouting their congratulations loudly.

"Haha! Good, everyone gets a reward—Knight Mi Gen, two silver coins each!"

Wow!

"Thank you, Earl Gervas, for your gracious reward!"

"Thank you, Earl Gervas, for your generosity!"

A reward of a few copper coins, or even a few dozen copper coins, the servants had all seen before.

But a single-handed reward of two silver coins, and to so many people—the servants and guards were seeing it for the first time.

Immediately, each of their faces lit up with pleasant surprise, and they cheered gratefully toward Gervas.

Butler Violet wanted to say something, but Gervas cut him off directly. "Butler Malik, being promoted to earl is a good thing!"

"Such a small reward, you don't need to hold it back! As long as everyone's happy, that's all that matters!"

The Violet Castle butler had naturally not originally been after a reward.

He was simply happy that Gervas could be promoted to earl.

After all, how could he, as the castle butler, not understand his own lord earl's thoughts?

Originally, Gervas was only a viscount, and the status between the two sides might have been a bit awkward.

But now that Gervas had been promoted to earl, the gap in status between the two sides could be narrowed to the greatest extent.

Although his own earl was a scion of the Hernand family, there was still some gap between the two sides.

But it was still better than before, when Gervas was only a viscount.

"Thank you, Earl Gervas, for your generosity!" Hearing this, the Violet Castle butler said no more.

And Gervas even went on to have the castle butler call out the servants from the other castles as well, rewarding them too—striving for a fair share of the bounty for all.

And after receiving their rewards, these servants naturally beamed with joy, each one singing the praises of Lord Gervas.

【Ding! The Daily Intelligence System has refreshed!】

【Intelligence One: The weather is turning cold, the bitter winter has arrived, and the first snow of Storm Territory will fall today!】

【Intelligence Two: The bitter winter has arrived, all things fall silent, but there are also races that want to stockpile enough supplies before the land freezes over,

such as a group of boar-men roaming the border between the Chaotic Wastes and the Gryphon Kingdom.

They have already plundered more than ten gathering places of human refugees, causing hundreds of casualties and thousands displaced.

But they are still not satisfied, wanting to pull off one last big score before comfortably settling in for the winter.

And they have ultimately set the target of this last big score on Storm Territory.

Because they learned of Storm Territory's prosperity from the mouths of these plundered refugees.

The boar-men, numbering over a thousand, are confident they can take Storm Territory in a short time, loot it thoroughly, and then withdraw calmly.

And they will arrive at Storm Territory around noon today!】

【Intelligence Three: Catherine has already arrived at Storm Territory for several days. After repeated questioning, she finally got your true whereabouts out of Old John.

Hearing this, Catherine was both anxious and angry, feeling that you had hidden such a big matter from her.

Fortunately, after Old John's explanation, she finally understood that you had been forced to, with no time to come find her for help.

And she, who had originally wanted to immediately go seek her grandfather's help, was also persuaded by Old John to temporarily abandon the idea of seeking help.

Instead, she waited for your return, and would subsequently consult your own opinion.

And after staying in your territory for three days, seeing that it was starting to snow, Catherine finally reluctantly prepared to return.

But just as she set out, was also when the boar-men arrived.

What choice will Catherine make?

Will she immediately leave Storm Territory to escape the danger, or stay in Storm Territory to help organize the defense against the boar-men?】

【Intelligence Four: One o'clock direction from Swan Lake, thirty kilometers south at the border between the Chaotic Wastes and Death,

as snowflakes fell one by one, a peculiar scene appeared in a beautiful mountain hollow here.

That was, the surroundings were freezing cold, but inside this mountain hollow it was full of spring, and the four or five crystal-clear pools within the hollow kept rising with warm steam.

That's right, this place was actually a cluster of hot springs.

Moreover, if one were within it, one could immediately feel that the hot spring water actually contained elements and magic power.

This also proves that this is a magic hot spring, countless times rarer than ordinary hot springs. One only needs to be within it, and the body can slowly be nourished and replenished.】

【Intelligence Five: In the area located downstream of Fallen Leaf River, thirty li from the kingdom's border, over eight thousand refugees have gathered there.

They have all been displaced because of the boar-men's attacks.

Besides having their shelters destroyed by the boar-men, they have also lost the meager winter food supplies they had painstakingly accumulated.

Right now they are both hungry and cold. If nothing unexpected happens, they will die of hunger and cold one after another within the next three days!】

【Intelligence Report Six: Today, the Griffin Capital welcomed a team claiming to hail from the snowy nations of the northeast.

This team received high-level hospitality from the Griffin King.

Moreover, the Griffin King publicly announced that he would specially appoint the mages within this team from the snowy nations as the new Royal Court Mages, placing them under his sole management.

Among this group of mages were Magicians, Alchemists, and Witches.

Everyone was extremely curious about the origins and caliber of this mage team, given the king's high-profile appointment and trust.

However, because the king's secrecy measures were well executed, no one currently knows the true background of this mage team or the king's real purpose in starting anew!】

【Ding! Today's intelligence report has been refreshed!】

Gervas ultimately did not dine at the Violet Castle; after awarding the bounty to the servants, he took his leave immediately!

Following that came several more days of travel, until Gervas was only half a day's journey away from Storm Domain.

As he slowly woke up, the intelligence ding sounds entered his ears.

Hearing this intelligence, Gervas exclaimed, "Good heavens!"

I have only just returned to my domain, haven't I?... No, I haven't even returned to my domain yet, have I?

Immediately, so many major events followed.

Am I truly my lord, or am I a beast of burden?

"It's snowing! Snow is falling from the sky! The true Winter has arrived!"

Just as Gervas was complaining, shouts came from outside the window.

Gervas looked out through the open castle window and indeed saw flakes of snow drifting down from the sky.