Caroberta The duchess, surrounded by a group of maids, walked slowly from the high platform exclusive to the nobles.
The onlookers in the auditorium fell silent for a moment.
Fringilla, who was following the duchess, gave Lynn a "cooperating" look.
So the witcher knelt down on one knee and thrust the sword into the ground with his right hand to show respect.
Duchess Caroberta took the crown from the hands of Fringilla and put it on the head of Lynn.
And announced loudly:
"I am honored to present this award to our courageous and honorable champion."
"He swore an oath in the name of Lady of the Lake. There is no doubt that this oath must have brought him this glorious victory."
"He has shown incomparable courage and strength, and maintained a high sense of honor and chivalry. He deserves the title of champion of this year's Knight Athletic Conference."
"Therefore, in the presence of Lady of the Lake and many nobles, knights, and citizens, I, the ruler of Toussaint, the duchess of the Beauclair court, Carlo Linna Roberta, hereby crown you the Baron of Duchy of Toussaint."
"And I will grant you Castel Ravello Vineyard and the surrounding five thousand acres of land."
The entire arena was silent at first, and then burst into loud cheers.
Although it is not the case before that civilians were awarded the title of knights due to their outstanding performance in knight competitions.
But since "Lance Duke" Ludovic founded Duchy of Toussaint, there has never been a civilian who can skip the knight and become a baron directly.
Although the baron is the lowest noble, he still belongs to the nobility after all.
As long as you can become a noble, you will be completely different from the mud-legged ones from now on. When the time comes, you will find that this is a completely new world from before.
Toussaint is not like Nilfgaard.
Although it expands externally every year, engages in military warfare, and wastes money and people, it has also created many opportunities for civilians.
Non-commissioned officers and officers who were born as civilians could rely on their military exploits in war to gain promotions, titles, and land titles.
But Toussaint is different.
This is a peaceful land that doesn't even have an army, let alone any external expansion.
The advantage, of course, is that people can live and work in peace and contentment without having to worry about war.
The country also thrives because of peace.
But the disadvantage is also obvious, that is, the lack of promotion channels.
Even if you can participate in the knight competition and show outstanding performance in the competition, you can be recruited by the nobles, and even be named a knight errant...
After all, such examples are still in the minority.
What's more, you can bring your own set of weapons, armor, and horses to participate in the knight competition. This alone exceeds 90% of Toussaint ordinary people.
Originally, when the common people heard that the grand prize this time was manor and land, they still had some doubts.
Now, they found out that this was true, and naturally they jumped for joy.
The nobles and knights-errant smiled and congratulated Lynn, the new member who joined them.
The bards who were invited to the scene had this scene firmly imprinted in their minds.
A commoner was promoted to a baron... This is a legend that is no less popular than Dragon Quest, and even more attractive to the public than the latter.
After all, compared to slaying the evil dragon, ordinary people in this era still want to dream of "jumping from the exploited to the exploiter."
One week later.
A group of people gathered at the door of Castel Ravello Vineyard.
The housekeeper Sebastian took out a handkerchief and kept wiping the unstoppable sweat on his forehead.
The Knights Athletic Conference had just ended when a travel-worn messenger brought instructions from the Beauclair palace.
He told Sebastian that the new lord will arrive at Castel Ravello Vineyard one week later today.
Sebastian put a lot of effort into leaving a good impression on the new lord.
And he also rushed to make the flag of the new lord.
It was a roaring direwolf.
It is said that this is the family crest designed by the new lord himself.
Sebastian is a true southerner. He has never been to the north in his life and has never seen a direwolf.
But putting aside the flattery, he admitted that the design of the new lord's family crest was indeed excellent.
At this time, the person who was specially sent by Sebastian to watch the wind on the sentry tower suddenly let out a shout.
"Someone, someone is coming."
Sebastian and others cheered up.
But I saw a group of people in the distance, coming slowly.
At the front is a young man riding a black horse.
The young man is handsome, with black hair and blue eyes, exuding a noble temperament.
He was wearing a set of jet black plate armor that looked valuable.
There is also a long sword stuck in his waist.
The two people following the young man were one a demon hunter with milky white hair who carried two swords on his back, and the other was a middle-aged man who exuded a strong herbal smell and was dressed like a barber doctor.
When a group of three people came to the door of the manor, Sebastian and the people behind him quickly bent down and saluted.
"Welcome home, distinguished Lord Baron Brandon, I am Sebastian Michaelis. I am ordered by the noble Duchess to serve as your housekeeper in Castel Ravello Vineyard."
Lynn nodded slightly, and got off the horse together with Geralt and Regis.
He pointed at them and said, "These two are my friends. From now on, whether I am in the manor or not, when they visit, you must treat them as honored guests."
Sebastian bowed again. "Yes, I understand."
Lynn nodded and said to Geralt and Regis: "You go and have a rest first. We will talk later."
After the two were taken down by the servants, Lynn looked at Sebastian again.
"Now, take me to see my territory."
"Yes, Lord Baron, please come with me." Sebastian told the servants waiting with him at the door to go back to work, while he himself led the way for Lynn.
"Castel Ravello Vineyard is very large, with its own mill, brewery, herbal garden, granary, blacksmith shop, stables, and wine cellar."
"Thanks to Her Royal Highness the Duchess's permission, our estate is fully staffed and fully operational."
"Outside the manor is where we grow grapes. The Merlot grapes grown on our manor are one of the oldest varieties in the world."
"After aging it in oak barrels, it can produce unique flavors such as cedar and vanilla."
"If Est Est is the king of Toussaint wine, then the rose wine produced by our manor is the lover of the public."
Lynn interrupted Sebastian.
"Wait a minute, I have a question. Why is this wine called rose wine? Why does it sound like it has nothing to do with roses?"
Sebastian had obviously done his homework, he explained calmly and with a smile.
"It is said that the former owner of this manor, the ancestor of the Macklin Family, named the wine because his wife particularly loved roses, so the word rose was even added to the name of the wine."
Lynn suddenly realized.
He gestured to the butler to continue.
"In addition to the manor itself, the approximately five thousand acres of land outside the manor are your territory."
"There are about three hundred free people living in your territory, and they are all your subjects."
"In peacetime, they will pay taxes to you, but in time of war they are obliged to fight for you."
"It's just the combat level of these farmers and soldiers... I suggest you don't have too high expectations."
Five thousand acres of territory is relatively small.
If this were in the north, with the same territory size, the lord would not be able to collect much tax, and the people would be in poverty.
But here is Toussaint.
The weather is good and the harvest is good every year.
Plus the income from selling wine.
This is much more nourishing than a baron with the same territory in the north.
It's ten thousand times better than a demon hunter who often doesn't get paid or is deducted from his pay, and who is always stared at and spit on the ground wherever he goes.
Next, Lynn and Sebastian rode horses to inspect the villages in the territory before returning to the manor.
Along the way, Lynn asked a lot of questions.
And Sebastian can answer most of them accurately.
Therefore, Lynn felt relieved and let Sebastian take care of this territory.
This is how the aristocrats of this era were. Everything was basically arranged by the butler.
There is no need to worry about being defeated or ignored.
In this era, without aristocratic blood, you cannot rebel even if you are justified, otherwise you will be a traitor and you will never be able to clean up your innocence and become a regular person.
Such "unreasonable" things also had similar situations in his home world. In addition to the land where he was born and grew up, even the island country just a strip of water was very particular about bloodline in ancient times. The so-called justice will only stand on the side of bloodline and famous family.
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