Urgent Problems to Solve

Urgent Problems to Solve

Although some of the five remaining guards had merely followed the crowd blindly, the seeds of betrayal had already been planted—and had even sprouted once.

Though Luo Ning had snuffed it out in time this time, who could guarantee there would not be a second time?

Therefore, traitors should be avoided whenever possible.

But should he simply kill them?

Luo Ning frowned slightly. If he killed these five, who would drive the carriages?

He could not expect Chahar alone to handle five carriages. The man did not have the Clone Technique; he could not manage it.

Luo Ning pondered for a long while before speaking. "Since you have realized your mistakes, as a merciful lord, I can spare you once."

Those words were like a barrel of fine wine, intoxicating the guards. Their pleas turned into excited thanks and vows that they would never betray him again.

Luo Ning merely listened to such vows. "Now I order you to pick up your swords and gather enough fodder for the horses."

"Yes, yes, my lord! We'll go right away!"

The kneeling guards answered aloud as they hurriedly grabbed their weapons and threw themselves into cutting grass. They were terrified of being too slow and angering their lord.

Luo Ning withdrew his gaze from them. With a knight like Macken present, they would not dare run even if no one watched them.

These people no longer had the nerve to gamble on whether they could escape from a Professional Knight.

"My lord, are you really just letting them go?"

Chahar was indignant. As guards of the Wushan Family, they had actually dared to assassinate their master. He could hardly even imagine such a thing.

What he understood even less was that the Baron had spared them.

"If we kill them all, can you drive five carriages by yourself?" Luo Ning asked with a smile.

"Uh..."

Chahar froze. He scratched his head and racked his brains. "Perhaps we could tie the carriages together with ropes?"

As soon as he said it, his head drooped. "But we do not have ropes that long."

"Then let them keep their lives for now."

Luo Ning said, "Chahar, gather the weapons and valuables from the dead. Do not waste anything."

The guards had used poor-quality Iron Swords. Though they were not worth much, they were still iron swords. It would be a shame to throw them away.

"Yes, my lord!"

Suppressing the discomfort caused by the sight of blood, Chahar collected the Iron Swords while searching the corpses.

The Baron had said not to waste anything. Those guards should have a few Copper Coins on them, right?

"Macken, come with me."

Luo Ning called out and led the knight back onto the main road.

The six carriages and one Steed were grazing by the roadside and had not wandered off.

"Macken, tell me your story."

Macken, following two steps behind Luo Ning like a loyal guard, looked somewhat puzzled when his master asked. "Master, what story do you mean?"

"You should call me sir or my lord, like the others."

The title "master" was only suitable in certain moods and situations. Though Macken's use of it was understandable, it sounded somewhat abrupt.

"I want to hear about your experiences. For example, where your home is, what you have been through in life, and so on."

Luo Ning explained, "That way, I will understand you better."

Macken fell silent, clearly considering how to answer. But soon, he shook his head.

"My lord, I only know that you are my master and that I will serve you forever. As for where my hometown is and what I have experienced in life, I have no memories related to those things."

Luo Ning paused, then slowly nodded. "Oh, I see."

He could sense the contract between himself and Macken. It should be the same Master-Servant Contract made with Demon Beasts: if the master died, the servant could not live.

"You have no memories at all? I can tell that your combat experience should be quite considerable."

"When I fight, I seem to have an indescribable instinct," Macken explained. "Oh, right. It is not that I have no memories at all. At least I know common writing, communication, combat movements, and such things."

Luo Ning roughly understood.

The people summoned from the Seven-Day Login rewards were real, flesh-and-blood individuals, but they seemed like newly born people. Aside from their strength and some basic knowledge, everything else was like a blank sheet of paper.

"Welcome aboard, Macken Salliton!"

Luo Ning's tone was extremely formal. "From Today Onwards, you will be my Guard Officer, responsible for protecting my safety. At the same time, you will be my instructor and Sparring Partner, helping me improve my combat experience."

Macken dropped to one knee and placed his right hand over his left chest. "I am willing to serve you, my lord!"

"You do not need to be so formal normally."

Luo Ning helped him up and inspected Macken's longsword, shield, and Leather Armor.

These three items had appeared along with the summoning. Judging by their quality, they were at least several grades better than the poor-quality Iron Swords used by the guards.

This meant he did not need to spend money buying Macken a set of equipment.

Based on his understanding of prices in this world, a Knight's Sword for a knight cost at least five Gold Coins. Add the shield and armor, and a complete set would cost around twenty Gold Coins.

Luo Ning had less than one hundred and eighty Gold Coins on him in total. Spending one-ninth of it at once would be no small expense.

When he thought about how he still needed to save up to buy six Magic Crystals for the first top-up reward, he could not help sighing.

Money always feels scarce when it is needed.

Now that he had become independent from Wushan Castle, it was no longer very feasible to play on old sentiments and obtain financial or resource support from Rulans and the others.

If he wanted to make money, he needed to find another way.

"My lord!"

Macken's voice pulled Luo Ning from his thoughts. "My lord, during the earlier battle, I suddenly felt my strength increase. What exactly happened?"

The question had been lingering in his mind for half the day, and he could not stop himself from asking it.

"This is a secret between us. Remember to keep it confidential."

Luo Ning smiled mysteriously. "I can increase your strength, just like this."

As he spoke, he used the twenty points of Energy Essence he had just obtained from completing the King of Slaughter achievement on Macken, increasing the other man's knight level progress from sixty to eighty.

With another twenty points of Energy Essence, Macken could be Promoted to an Intermediate Knight.

An Intermediate Knight could use Battle Qi Release, and his combat strength was several levels above that of a Beginner Knight. At that point, Luo Ning's safety would be better protected.

Of course, a territory still needed an Advanced Knight to truly have someone worth showing off.

Only Advanced Knights could possibly accumulate enough merits to be granted the title of Noble Knight.

From Wushan City to Mountain Forest Town, Luo Ning estimated the journey would take eight or nine days. By the time they reached the territory, Macken would definitely be at the middle stage of Intermediate Rank.

"My lord, I became stronger again!"

Feeling the sudden surge of power, Macken looked utterly incredulous. He became even more certain that a master with such abilities was anything but ordinary.

"Go get used to that power. That horse belongs to you now."

Luo Ning pointed to the Black Steed that was not pulling a carriage. "This is an Excellent Quality Warhorse, the best horse I currently own. I hope you will use it well and not disappoint my expectations!"

Knights loved Warhorses, especially good Warhorses.

Thinking of Guan Yunchang in Three Kingdoms, who accepted nothing after passing through five gates and slaying six generals except the Red Hare, one could see how much he loved fine horses.

Macken was no exception.

His eyes went wide as he looked at the black horse. "Thank you for your generosity, my lord!"

Luo Ning could not help smiling as he watched his Guard Officer eagerly go communicate with the horse.

An Excellent Quality Warhorse was worth more than a hundred Gold Coins and was one of Luo Ning's major assets, but he likely would not have many chances to charge into battle himself.

Giving it to Macken, his Guard Officer, was a good choice.

Besides, Macken would not abandon him. If Luo Ning truly wanted to ride the black horse, he could do so whenever he wished.

He withdrew his gaze and began seriously considering This Time's betrayal.

After arriving in this world, Luo Ning had believed that servants here would not easily betray nobles.

But after experiencing this betrayal, he understood that every world was the same. As long as there were sufficient benefits and a chance of success, ambitious people would take desperate risks.

Whether nobles, commoners, or serfs, they all had ambitions. It was merely that the latter two were less likely to turn on their masters.

Drawing parallels from this, Luo Ning thought of Mountain Forest Town.

Would the people there welcome him as their lord?

No, more accurately, would the local tyrants there welcome him as their lord?

Mountain Forest Town had gone more than ten years without any lord willing to go there. The family had only assigned an Administrator to maintain annual tax collection.

After staying there so long, might that Administrator have come to regard Mountain Forest Town as his own territory?

That was entirely possible.

Though Luo Ning had never experienced such a thing personally, he had heard of similar cases back on Earth.

For example, after working for a family for several years, a nanny might subconsciously regard herself as the master of the house and begin ordering around her employer.

Who could guarantee that this Administrator was not that kind of nanny?

Luo Ning made the worst assumption: if the local tyrants of Mountain Forest Town did not welcome him, and if they had lived in that remote place for many years, they would surely have some men under them.

Then he needed to consider how many men they had and how capable they were in battle.

He was not afraid that there might be powerful knights there. If there had been an Intermediate Knight or Advanced Knight, they would never choose to remain trapped in lordless Mountain Forest Town, where there was no future.

Luo Ning was only worried that they had too many people.

"I still have too few people under me."

Even counting the Light Mage reward from the seventh day of Seven-Day Login, Luo Ning had only three people he could trust: Macken and Chahar included.

"I have to find a way to solve this problem!"