Chapter 212: Knight Title

Temporarily saying goodbye to Baron Luo Saier and his friends, Xia De followed the servant up the stairs. The first and second floors were in the style of grand banquet halls, but when they reached the third floor, it became a very ordinary layout with a corridor and rooms on both sides.

Miss Jia Lin Na and the maid Difa were waiting for Xia De in the study near the stairs. Xia De found that this witch seemed to like finding people to talk to in the study.

"Good evening, Miss Jia Lin Na."

This time it was a direct meeting, not separated by a door. The red-haired Duchess sat on the chair behind the desk, while the personal maid, Miss Difa · Se Weite, stood beside her. The Duchess was wearing a black and white evening gown, and she looked even more beautiful than the last time they met. Since she was dressed like this, Xia De guessed that she would also appear in public in a while.

"Good evening, Detective."

She signaled for Xia De to find a place to sit.

The conversation didn't start immediately. Miss Jia Lin Na sized up Xia De with curiosity before speaking:

"I really couldn't tell, you actually know Princess Lei Qianya?"

"Who? Oh, Princess Lei Qianya · Ka Wen Di Xu, yes, I know...... yes, I know."

He hadn't figured out the situation yet, so he could only follow the conversation.

"Congratulations, Detective. There is a big surprise waiting for you tonight. Do you want to guess what the surprise is?"

Miss Jia Lin Na asked. Xia De sat on the sofa and immediately thought of what Director Anluosi said in the morning. Without needing Xia De to guess, Miss Jia Lin Na gave the answer directly:

"A knight title that hasn't been awarded for hundreds of years is actually going to be awarded again."

She said in a low voice, then watched with satisfaction the doubt and surprise on Xia De's face:

"Knight title? Me?"

Xia De really hadn't expected this surprise. A knight title didn't fit the background of the steam age at all.

"Yes, a knight title. Originally, Anluosi and I helped you fight for it, but it was only the Deraerion Honorary Knight Medal. I didn't expect you to know Lei Qianya. Lei Qianya specifically wrote a letter back. She cleverly didn't write directly to our King, but wrote to Wang Hou Lei Qianya, and then let the Wang Hou lobby the King. So, the knight title belongs to you."

She sighed and asked in a teasing tone:

"Tell me, Detective, what is your relationship with my grandniece?"

This way of addressing made Xia De think for a while before sorting it out:

"This...... friendship."

This must have been Miss Louisa writing to Princess Lei Qianya, so the Princess, who was returning from a foreign visit, wrote back to fight for the title for Xia De.

This made Xia De realize once again how good the relationship between the female writer and the Princess was. He owed the blonde Miss more and more favors.

"Friendship?"

Not only did Miss Jia Lin Na not believe it, but the maid also showed a smile, obviously not believing it, but fortunately they didn't ask more:

"In short, congratulations, Detective. I have already received the news in advance that you have been granted the title of 'Lei Jiede Knight'. Of course, it's just a title, but there is no fief. It's equivalent to just an honor, and it cannot be passed on to your descendants. But compared to the honorary medal, the knight title can already be considered a very high commendation."

"Lei Jiede" was a small town under Tobesk. Past knight titles often meant a small piece of fief, which was why they corresponded to place names.

Seeing that Xia De hadn't reacted yet, Miss Jia Lin Na added:

"Let me think, with this title, you can call yourself...... 'Hamilton of Lei Jiede' (Hamiltonoflegend) in the future. Oh, doesn't it feel pretty good?"

"Pretty good......"

Xia De nodded. He didn't have much real feeling for this kind of honor. After all, he wasn't a person living in this era, and he didn't have a deep understanding of things like glory. Moreover, the knight title was just a title, and there was no gold pound to take:

"Miss Jia Lin Na, this title...... what are the benefits?"

This was what he cared about. The Duchess behind the desk had long expected Xia De to ask this question:

"The title itself is an honor. You can be considered a noble...... the lowest level of noble, but at least you are not a commoner. With this, if you can make contributions to the kingdom again, the difficulty of being directly granted a title will be greatly reduced."

"No, I mean, does the title itself have......"

He rubbed his fingers embarrassedly. Miss Jia Lin Na hadn't known Xia De for just one day, so she wasn't surprised by his thoughts:

"No, even knights in the past had to regularly pay part of the taxes from their fiefs to the kingdom. But if you are short of money, when you are commended in a while, it seems that besides the title, there is also a reward given by the royal family......"

She turned to ask the maid:

"What exactly is being given? In the era we live in, no one has ever seen this kind of knight investiture ceremony."

"Deraerion Honorary Knight Medal, and a knight's longsword symbolizing identity. Because the kingdom hasn't granted a knight title for a long time, this sword is an antique found in the warehouse. The price of the medal is immeasurable because no one has ever sold one, and the antique knight's longsword is valued at no less than 100 pounds...... but it's best not to sell it, this is an honor."

The maid was also very understanding of Xia De.

"I won't sell it."

Xia De said. Actually, he was calculating how much money he was still short of to be able to repair his third floor without affecting his life.

"Hamilton of Lei Jiede...... what a strange way of saying it."

He sighed himself.

"Knight novels often have this kind of address. On the contrary, in reality, very few people will call themselves like this anymore. After all, the era of knights has ended, but people seem to think that the spirit of chivalry still exists."

Miss Jia Lin Na said, but the point of the first half of the sentence wasn't entirely correct, because nobles with fiefs could all call themselves in this way. For instance, Miss Jia Lin Na's fief was Saradir County, so she could call herself "Ka Wen Di Xu of Saradir".

"Spirit of chivalry? No, I don't have that kind of spirit."

Because they were all acquaintances, Xia De didn't need to avoid anything. The incident on Wednesday noon was purely a coincidence; he happened to have time, and it didn't cause much damage to his own interests.

"I can't say your point of view is wrong, but people are always unable to evaluate themselves correctly."

Miss Jia Lin Na said.

"Who said the second half?"

Xia De asked curiously, thinking it was a sentence left by a literary giant of this world.

"I said it."

The witch gave the answer while playing with the golden fountain pen in her hand.

With rewards and remuneration, Xia De naturally had to care a little about the development of the case. Last time Director Anluosi said this wasn't a person from the Gray Gloves, but there was no follow-up afterward:

"Speaking of which, Miss Jia Lin Na, has the background of the murderer who assassinated the Wang Hou been found out?"

"This matter, the investigation has already ended."

The Duchess shook her head and said, with an expression of great regret.

"Do you know who sent the gunman?"

Xia De asked again, and then saw the maid standing beside Miss Jia Lin Na shake her head slightly at him.

"Of course I don't know. Detective, I know you are curious why we didn't continue to investigate. That's because the Intelligence Agency didn't dare to continue investigating."

"What do you mean?"

Miss Jia Lin Na just smiled and didn't speak, while the maid behind her answered instead:

"The royal family specifically asked the Zhengshen Sect Society to request a Ringed Shushi squad to protect Yoder Palace, but they didn't find any suspicious personnel. And Wang Hou Lei Qianya was attacked immediately the first time she appeared in public these days. The attacker seemed to know that the vicinity of Yoder Palace was dangerous, and the Wang Hou who went out had no guards from the Zhengshen Sect Society by her side. This itself is a bit of a coincidence."

Xia De was shocked. The Outsider, who was used to similar plot points in his hometown, immediately reached a shocking conclusion under the tone of conspiracy theory, so he lowered his voice and asked in a low voice:

"Is it...... the King? In order to frame Kasenrike so as to provoke a war? Thereby achieving his ambition to unify the Old Continent."

Miss Jia Lin Na and the maid both laughed:

"Oh, how could you think so? Of course not."

Miss Jia Lin Na shook her head with a smile and put down the fountain pen in her hand:

"Now no one wants to continue fighting, including our King. The Intelligence Agency found out that it was one of his few unpromising sons...... Detective, you should know that in recent years, as the heirs have grown up one after another, thoughts about that crown...... Moreover, Wang Hou Lei Qianya is not the current King's first wife. Now, only a few princes and princesses like Lei Qianya are...... the others are not all hers......"

The Duchess paused and blinked at Xia De:

"Do you still need me to continue?"

"No need, no need."

Xia De immediately shook his head. He didn't want to get involved in this kind of thing:

"This information is enough to make me think of complex court political struggles that outsiders absolutely cannot understand, or those vulgar court romance novel plot points. These things have nothing to do with me, please don't let me know."

This was the truth. Court political struggles were not something an Outsider who had just arrived could participate in, and there was no benefit in getting involved.

"It's good that you understand caution. I don't even want to deal with this kind of thing. However, you actually read court romance novels?"

She looked at Xia De with slight surprise, but in fact, Xia De just flipped through Sparrow's relics to determine which novel was the so-called "codebook".

"Alright, let's not talk about this. Then let's go back to the main topic. I asked you to come here, not just to tell you about the knight title. It's like this, the ceremony of granting the knight title is very complicated. Do you know those rules?"

Miss Jia Lin Na asked again, but her tone changed slightly. After the conversation about the gunman's identity, her mood seemed to have become a bit bad.

"I don't know."

"Then one hour before the King appears, go learn it. I think if the King's protocol officer teaches you urgently at that time, it will definitely be too late."

She waved her hand at the maid behind her, and the maid wanted to lead Xia De out.

But Xia De sat there without moving, instead looking at Miss Jia Lin Na. The latter looked at him with doubt, knowing he still had something to say. ===== CHAPTER 213 =====