Lord Raven, You Are Simply an Angel

"Yo, Sir Knight!" Gaul laughed and clapped Simon on the shoulder. "When you get your own territory someday, don't forget us old brothers!"

"N-no, not at all!" Simon waved his hands frantically, at a loss for how to respond. "Big Brother Gaul, please don't tease me like that."

Gaul's tone carried a hint of sourness. "How is that teasing? With this plate armor on you, who wouldn't believe you're a knight?"

Simon scratched his cheek shyly, only to have his hair catch in the gaps of his gauntlet, making him wince in pain. "Ow..."

"Hahaha, you idiot, don't move!" Seeing this, Gaul's irritation faded considerably. He stepped forward to help untangle the hair caught in the gauntlet's finger joints.

He was truly envious!

He had served in the castle first, yet Simon was the one to get plate armor first.

The armor's surface was smooth as a mirror—shoulder guards, gauntlets, groin guard, leg armor, and boots all included. With the visor down, only a slit in the helmet revealed a glimpse of the outside world. It was a defense with virtually no weaknesses. Wearing this into battle, one's chances of survival were at least three or four times higher than anyone else's!

But even if he was envious, even a little jealous, he wasn't too surprised that Simon had received such an honor.

That kid's progress was just too fast.

He was a serf who didn't even know his letters, yet he absorbed and understood new things faster than both him and Link. His performance in the recent fight against the bandits had been especially outstanding.

His feet planted like stakes in the ground, he didn't waver even when the enemy charged close. If he hadn't held the line like a nail, the formation might have broken long ago.

But Lord Raven was generous. If Simon could get plate armor today, then maybe he, Gaul, would have his chance someday!

"What are you two doing here? I'm running myself ragged!" Link walked over in a chainmail, carrying a large box. "Quick, help me out, take some of the weight!"

Simon hurried over and took the box into his arms. "Heavy. What is this?"

Link didn't answer, opening the box directly. Under the sunlight, it reflected a dazzling white light.

Silver coins! A whole box full of silver coins!

"Whoa—" Gaul's eyes went wide. He reached in and touched the coins, exclaiming, "Did you rob the lord's treasury and plan to drag us along for the escape?"

"Don't talk nonsense!" Link said, half-laughing, half-crying, and slapped his hand away. "This is our bonus, and compensation for the brothers who died."

"Five silver coins for each living man, twenty for the crippled, and fifty for each dead man's family!"

"Well then, these are mine." Gaul plucked out five silver coins and clutched them in his hand, praising, "Lord Raven really is generous. I've been a soldier for years, and this is the first time I've heard of getting paid after winning a battle. Don't you think so, Simon?"

He turned to Simon with a smile, only to find the man's eyes already red, his lips trembling, tears streaming down his face.

He was crying.

At that moment, he thought of his dead grandfather.

If Lord Raven had inherited the territory earlier, if he could have gotten these five silver coins sooner, then his grandfather wouldn't have starved himself to death just to save a few mouthfuls of food!

In truth, he had been full of fear and tension during the bandit attack, even letting his mind wander.

If he died, what would become of the three women left at home? How would they get by?

But now, all he felt was deep guilt and gratitude.

Each fallen soldier's family would receive fifty silver coins.

Fifty!

Even if the man died, that money could be used as capital to raise chickens and sheep.

A ewe cost fifteen silver coins, a hen one silver coin. With two sheep and a few hens...

A kilogram of sheep's milk was six copper coins, one egg two copper coins. The black bread and coarse wheat flour they could buy would be enough to keep a family of three alive and well!

How could he have dared to doubt Lord Raven? He deserved to die!

"Lord Raven must be an angel. He's too kind!" Simon sniffled. "I'll go distribute the silver coins to them right now. I know where the dead men's families live!"

"We all know." Link smiled and patted his shoulder. "Wipe your tears. If you're going to deliver the compensation on Lord Raven's behalf, you can't show up looking all downcast!"

A few hours later.

Old Gordon knocked on Raven's door. The latter was staring blankly at the magic core on his desk. Hearing the sound, he said, "Come in."

The door opened. Raven turned his head and immediately laughed. "Mr. Gordon, what brings you to bring me my meal today?"

"It's not lunch, my lord." Gordon took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow. "This is a gift from your people."

"A gift for me?" Raven was curious. He took the basket and set it on the table, then lifted the cloth covering it and froze.

It was a basket of four-leaf clovers, fresh and dewy.

Four-leaf clovers were a mutation of the three-leaf variety. Usually, only one could be found among hundreds of three-leaf clovers. This basket held over fifty, showing just how much effort the collectors had put in.

It represented the heartfelt gratitude of Eagle Town's people.

"One leaf for honor, One leaf for wealth, One leaf for love, One leaf for health."

Old Gordon intoned in an elegant voice. "Lord Baron, I once thought you were being wasteful, spending meaningless coin on lowlifes. But now I see that your wisdom and foresight far surpass this old bones of mine."

"With an expenditure of just a few hundred silver coins, your achievements have already surpassed all the ancestors of Eagle Territory. Before you, no one had ever earned such heartfelt support from the people."

A faint smile tugged at Raven's lips. He had indeed anticipated earning a wave of goodwill, but he hadn't expected it to be this effective.

A lord's authority could force men to march to their deaths, but heartfelt gratitude made them willingly offer their lives.

Both led to death, but the outcomes could be vastly different.

The former was a reluctant sacrifice; the latter meant that even in their final moments, they would tear a chunk of flesh from the enemy.

Old Gordon left with admiration in his heart, and Raven turned his attention back to the magic cores before him.

They were three date-sized, diamond-shaped objects like black crystals, taken from the hindbrain of the Blood-Eyed Warhorses—the source of their transcendent power.

Raven activated the Eye of Truth. Under this vision, he could clearly see a dark red light coiled within the magic cores.

Holding a core in his hand, he felt a tingling, numbing sensation like an electric shock. No matter how he turned his wrist, the dark red light clung to the side nearest his palm, like a small worm.

"So this is transcendent power..." Raven murmured to himself. "If I ate it, could I become a First-tier Transcendent too?"

That was, of course, a joke.

A First-tier magic core cost one gold coin on the market, but a bottle of First-tier God-Given Potion went for three hundred gold.

If eating two cores could make someone a Transcendent, who would buy the potions?

Tossing the core onto the table, Raven lifted a belt in his hands, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

This belt was the most valuable prize from the bandit extermination!