A Maiden's Heart (Third Update, Bonus Chapter for Alliance Leader Little Rui's Kitchen 1/5)

This chapter is an extra update for the reward from Alliance Leader "Little Rui's Kitchen." One extra chapter for now; the remaining five will be made up later.

The victory celebration was undoubtedly a success.

The investiture of ten Baronet Knights ignited everyone's yearning for nobility. Then came the gold coin and material rewards for the Earth Knights, making all the commoners envious and the academy students green-eyed, wishing they themselves had been the ones fighting on the battlefield—though the knights and officials left behind had also received rewards, theirs were far less than those given to the battlefield knights.

It was precisely this imbalance in rewards that made every knight long for the battlefield, disregarding the fallen warriors they had mourned in silence earlier.

The ceremony was followed by a banquet.

On the eve of the banquet, Liszt gathered the ten Baronet Knights in the administrative hall's conference chamber. At the center of the hall stood a huge sand table covering four square meters, a scaled terrain map depicting the entirety of Black Horse Island. The island's towns, rivers, and roads were all clearly visible.

"Everyone, this is the sand-table map of Black Horse Island. You have become Baronet Knights, and I will reward you with land. From today onward, each of you will be a lord with lands of your own... Most of the wasteland here has been marked with red lines. You may choose your fiefs from among them."

The fiefs of Baronet Knights generally consisted mainly of villages and household settlements.

The ten Baronet Knights, Marcus included, all stared unblinkingly at the sand-table map.

Liszt did not actually like the enfeoffment system. Land could yield its greatest output only in his own hands; once given to others, it would be difficult for him to intervene