Viscount of the Duchy
Count Connor glanced at Quint beside him and hesitated for a moment.
In the end, Count Connor still chose not to send Quint away and slowly began to explain.
"Let me put it this way. Of the eight great families originally on this land, our Conner Family has always been stronger than the Will Family."
"But in the end, it was the Will Family that became dukes, and the first Duke Will never regarded our families as enemies. Why do you think that was?"
"That's right. Our Conner Family deliberately gave up our claim to the ducal title, and the other families agreed to it as well."
Without waiting for Lister to answer, Count Connor continued.
His account of the history surrounding the founding of the Duchy of Will largely matched the history in the family's books, but he added more details.
The details fell into place one by one in Lister's mind, and the history of the Duchy of Will suddenly came to life.
"At the time, the Kingdom of Lucian was unstoppable. Although it occupied this land, it paid little attention to it and only wanted to put someone in charge of administering it."
"As it happened, the Will Family was desperate to break away from our eight great families, so it took the initiative to align itself with the Kingdom of Lucian and obtained the ducal title."
"After obtaining the ducal title, the first Duke Will made an agreement with the Seven Great Families that remained. He did it to stabilize the region, demonstrate his ability to rule before the Kingdom of Lucian, and secure the title so it could be passed down."
"What agreement?"
When Count Connor reached this point, even Quint couldn't resist asking.
Although he was Will II's son, he was only a marginal heir, and by now he wasn't even an heir anymore.
He knew nothing of the secrets behind the founding of the Duchy of Will either.
"There was only one agreement. The Will Family would hold the ducal title, while the Seven Great Families that remained would retain some of their existing interests and status and continue passing down their legacies."
"Within the Duchy of Will, they would not be subject to orders, nor would they take part in any actions abroad except in times of crisis."
Hearing this, Lister began to understand.
So that was how power was divided in the Duchy of Will.
No wonder only the seven great families in the main city were hereditary nobles, free from orders and able to pass down and develop their legacies steadily all this time.
And no wonder Will II had such a headache and was now determined to wipe out the seven great families.
The reason was obvious. The seven great families surely needed enormous resources to maintain and develop their legacies, and those resources could only come from within the Duchy of Will.
They were effectively sucking the blood of the Duchy of Will while contributing nothing to wars abroad and the like.
As for the Kingdom of Lucian's assignments and calls to arms, the Will Family could only recruit new professionals and face them alongside the new nobles.
The first duke could naturally tolerate that, since it was how he had secured his position.
But it was only normal that the current duke, the second of his line, could no longer stand it.
Only now did Lister understand the situation of his own Merick Family. No wonder it held such an exceptional position.
For the task of wiping out the Ghost-Eyed Giants, Duke Will had needed to offer him a medium-sized copper mine as an additional inducement and obtain his consent.
It turned out that his own Merick Family was one of the vampires feeding on the Duchy of Will.
Now, because each successive generation of the family had declined, Will II had singled it out as a target.
No wonder the duke's original goal had been to exterminate the Merick Family rather than kill Lister outright. But now everything was different.
"Our Conner Family does not want any more contact with the Kingdom of Lucian."
"The more contact we have, the more we reveal, and the more trouble we invite. That would only be worse for the continuation of the family."
"So we'll have to entrust this matter to you, Lister."
"As for any reward the royal family might offer, I'm willing to put what you want first on behalf of the Conner Family."
In the end, Lister accepted this wonderful opportunity with peace of mind.
Count Connor would take Kailina, Lius and the third person back to the city ahead of him, helping Lister shoulder the matter.
This would also prevent Will II from investigating Rai Territory again.
Meanwhile, Quint would find people to continue mining the turquoise vein for now.
Although it would eventually be handed over to the Kingdom of Lucian, whatever turquoise they could mine before then would naturally be profit for the three of them.
None of them were so rigid on that point; they would maximize their gains as much as possible.
After resting, Lister also had to return to Weier Main City first.
Only after completing the task of wiping out the Ghost-Eyed Giants could he find time to leave.
Otherwise, if he suddenly left for the Kingdom of Lucian now, Duke Will might notice something.
Five days later, outside Merrick Castle.
Looking at his family's castle, Lister found it strangely unfamiliar.
The castle's outer walls had apparently been renovated throughout during this time. Not only were they several meters higher, but the old main gate, covered in verdigris, had also been removed.
A new-style, bright red gate had taken its place. Nearly twice as wide as the old one, it looked much more imposing.
The interior of the castle had also been given a complete makeover, and most of the bricks in the outer walls had been replaced.
The training ground had changed the most. The ground, once uneven from training, had been leveled, and special new inscriptions had even been added.
"Lord Baron, you're finally back!"
Butler Anke led Lister into the castle. His clothes were still the same old style, but they were all new.
He was now rather proudly telling Lister the details of the family castle's renovation.
"Where did the money for all this come from?"
Lister was more concerned about the source of the money. By rights, he had already pledged the next three years of income from the family's only small copper mine.
He had used all the family's funds to buy potions earlier, so where had the gold coins for all this come from?
"Viscount Anbeite sent it as an apology. Viscount Anbeite offered to pay for all of this himself... mainly because of Anna... the matter with Miss Anna..."
"All right! I understand. I already agreed to it in my letter, so it's fine that you accepted it."
Butler Anke had written to report the matter a week ago, and Lister knew exactly what had happened with Anna.
He naturally had no intention of demanding an explanation from Viscount Anbeite. Still, the man knew what was proper: even with his daughter missing, he hadn't failed to offer a full apology.
"My lord!"
A servant jogged up behind him.
"My lord, Lord Walen is outside looking for you."
Hearing this, Lister handed the luggage he was carrying to Anke and went out to see Walen.
Walen was as undisguised as ever; just like before, everything he thought was written on his face.
His expression was hostile as he looked Lister up and down without any attempt at politeness, taking in his silver leather armor.
"Come with me! His Grace wants to see you."
This was Lister's first time entering the duke's castle.
Compared with the castles of their seven great families, the duke's castle was more than twice as large.
It had two enormous main buildings. The one at the front served as the duchy's administrative center and meeting hall.
A red carpet led all the way into the hall, where a large number of nobles were already waiting.
In particular, most of the core members of their seven great professional families had come to attend.
At the very front of the hall, Will II sat at the highest point, dressed in purplish-red and holding a cane that symbolized the authority granted by the Kingdom of Lucian.
He watched Lister calmly, without showing the slightest hostility.
There was even a smile in his eyes as he nodded at him in a friendly manner.
As expected, Will II was far more accomplished at this than his eldest son, Walen.
"Your Grace, shall we begin the investiture ceremony now?"
The chief consul beside him spoke softly to Will II. Lister heard him clearly and hadn't expected Will II to be so straightforward.
Lister had only just reached the main city, yet Will II had already prepared everything he had promised and was ready to make good on it.
Will II rose from his seat on the central dais and descended step by step. He took a sword from a servant at his side and handed it to Lister.
"Baron Merrick's Family has endured since the founding of the Duchy of Will, a span of 207 years, and has made immense contributions to the duchy during that time."
"Today, in the name of Duke Will, I grant the Merick Family the title of viscount."
"I also appoint Lister captain of the kingdom city guard's seventh squad."
"This is your letter of investiture, and this sword is the symbol of your authority!"