Imperial Crown.

Chapter 257 What posture do you use?
Count Jonah's doubt is not unreasonable. The price of food itself may not be high, but it is irreplaceable.

1200 million pounds of food is enough to feed 3 people for a year. If it is just to keep people from starving to death, it can feed 5 to 8 people.

Raven not only readily provided the product, but also took the initiative to lower the price, which clearly showed that he had some ulterior motive.

But Raven smiled and said, "Count Jonah, you are a distinguished guest who has come from afar. We are very rude for not entertaining you well. It is very good that you can forgive me. How dare I put forward any additional conditions?"

"This..." Count Jonah looked surprised and couldn't help but start looking at Raven as if he was looking at a rare magical beast.

There are many shrewd nobles, and young and humble nobles are not rare.

But a noble who is not greedy is rarer than a dragon!

"Lord Raven, you confuse me." Jonah said, "Don't you really want anything?"

"I'm selling you food, not giving it away for free." Raven said lightly, "And if you want to talk about conspiracy, I do have a little bit."

Jonah asked, “What is it?”

"That is your friendship." Raven spread his hands. "What could be more valuable than gaining the friendship of a gracious and distinguished earl?"

Jonah had not expected this statement at all, for it was too direct and did not fit in with the usual tone of aristocratic communication.

But it’s just what I wanted!
"Good!" Earl Jonah smiled happily, "It seems that this trip to the Eagle Territory has really yielded a lot. Not only did I see exciting games and receive food, but I also made a close friend!"

As he spoke, he raised his glass: "Come on, let's drink to our friendship!"

"cheers!"

Drinking is not the end of a dinner party, but the real beginning. This principle is the same everywhere.

As they drank more and more, the two began to chat about this and that, which broadened Raven's horizons and allowed him to hear a lot of gossip and customs of the province of Molinier.

For example, because they both had beards, a noble lady mistook her husband's twin brother and had an affair with him; a female noble got drunk and went out for a run naked on a snowy day, and was caught by her own knight; a male noble used sheep intestines as a contraceptive, even though the sheep was still alive.

At the end, after drinking a lot of wine, Count Jonah even took Raven's hand and wanted to introduce him to some charming ladies.

If Nancy hadn't been watching over him, Raven would have agreed.

The banquet ended in the evening, and Count Jonah left by car and returned to his residence. Raven finally had some free time, so he unbuttoned his collar, returned to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed.

Nancy sat beside him, unbuttoned her heavy long skirt, revealing her sweaty undershirt, and complained with a frown, "Really? Your clothes smell like alcohol. This Count Jonah is really something. He actually held on to you and wouldn't let go. He doesn't look like a count at all!"

Raven stretched, turned around, hugged Nancy's slender waist, and put his head on her thighs covered with delicate white silk.

Blushing, Nancy gently pushed Raven's shoulder: "...I haven't showered yet."

"Well... let's wash together later." Raven muttered.

"You, really, why did you drink so much?" Nancy saw that she couldn't push him away, so she changed her hand movement from pushing to stroking: "Jonah looks like a rough guy, he really made me wait for an hour in vain."

Raven chuckled.

"Why, did I say something wrong?" Nancy asked.

Without answering, Raven twisted his body and burrowed deeper into Nancy's arms.

Nancy grabbed Raven's ear and said, "Don't be weird. Tell me what I said wrong!"

"Mercy, mercy." Raven smiled and looked up at Nancy: "Do you really think Jonah is a simple-minded person?"

“Isn’t it…?”

"Of course not." Raven adjusted his posture and said in a relaxed tone, "When he first came, he mentioned the drought intentionally or unintentionally, and he told Earl Tyrone and your father about it."

"But he still accepted our invitation and mentioned this matter at the banquet. Why do you think that was the case?"

"Because... he didn't buy it?" Nancy said.

"Yes, and no." Raven said, "To be precise, it's not that he didn't buy it, but your father or Earl Tyrone agreed to it, but the price was very high, probably more than twice the market price."

"So, he offered 1.3 times the price, which was to leave room for me to raise the price. If I am not mistaken, he would agree as long as it is within 1.7 times."

Nancy didn't quite understand: "But... it's just food. 1200 million pounds is about 1 gold coins. Even if it's twice the market price, it's only 2 gold coins."

"Why is he so happy when you say 9% off? A great earl shouldn't be so happy just because of a price difference of 1 gold coins, right?"

"Oh my, you really are a big shot!" Raven was very painful to give up nearly 1 gold coins in profit, but only Nancy was not sensitive to this:

"Do you think that drought would target just one person? His territory was hit by the disaster, and other nobles in Molinier Province were not any better off. The 40 or so people who came this time are probably representatives of the counties buying grain."

"Count Jonah may not care about the price of grain, but what about other nobles?"

"My 1200 million pounds of grain basically belongs to Count Jonah alone, but the 9% discount I offered has a demonstrative effect. If other nobles from Molinier Province buy from them, local nobles won't ask for too much."

"And this, in their view, is the credit of Count Jonah."

At this point, Raven paused.

Nancy's brain was working and thinking, and slowly it dawned on her: "Oh - I understand!"

"Your 9% discount on food has helped Earl Jonah gain favor and prestige among the nobles in the province, so he is so good to us!"

But immediately, her brows furrowed again: "But... can't my father or Earl Tyrone see this? Why don't they do this?"

Raven said, "Because they are all 'earls' who herd the lambs for His Majesty the King."

The Earl's status is too noble and his influence is too great.

His authority within the territory is no different from that of a king, and his influence can radiate to most of the province.

The two earls of the neighboring provinces are too close, which is enough to shake the foundation of the empire's local rule, and this will undoubtedly arouse the suspicion of His Majesty the King.

"Count... That's why you received Jonah so grandly." Nancy bit her lip: "But one day, you will become a count."

"Can I?"

"Definitely!"

……

In a blink of an eye, two days passed, and on the afternoon before the final, Eric found Raven.

"Take a seat." Raven called Eric and stood up and asked, "Tea or coffee?"

"Anything is fine." Eric sat halfway on the chair and said stiffly.

Raven raised his eyebrows. "Tsk, just choose what I ask you to choose, why are you talking so much nonsense!"

"Then let's have tea leaves."

"That's a good choice." Raven took tea leaves from the porcelain pot beside the bed and brewed them while talking: "This is the orc's 'blood tea' that Earl Jonah sent yesterday. It's said that the young buds were picked by the girls of the civet cat tribe."

As Raven moved his hands, the aroma of tea spread. He poured half a cup of the slightly brown tea and placed it in front of Eric. Raven sat opposite him and raised his hand and said, "Try it."

Eric blew away the hot air and took a sip.

"How about it?"

“Good tea, good tea!”

"What's good about it?" "This..."

Seeing Eric's embarrassed look, Raven shook his head: "You!"

But he was not angry. It was normal that Eric could not taste the quality of tea. After all, although there was so-called black tea in the world, the taste was bland. It required a lethal amount of sucrose to make it taste good. Some people would even add spices such as cloves and cinnamon to their tea.

But the blood tea of ​​the orcs is really good stuff. It tastes mellow and not only has a light sweetness, but also a fruity freshness. Even before the time travel, it is still a delicacy.

Of course, the price is not cheap. A can of less than 1 pound, or about 0.4 kilograms, is worth 200 gold coins, and it is almost not available on the market.

"How's home lately?" Raven asked, taking a sip of black tea.

Eric smiled. "Everything is fine, except that my son is a bit of a worry. Since he got a servant, he even refuses to dress himself. I took the opportunity to give him a good scolding!"

"Then this is your fault." Raven said, "Although it is said that a strict father can raise a good son, this is after all the standard for nobles. Not only him, but you have to adapt to it too."

"You are a knight now, so don't keep doing the same things you did before."

Eric nodded in agreement. I don't know if he heard it or not, but he seemed to have tasted the flavor, and the tea in the cup flowed down faster.

"A lot of nobles have come to Eagle Town recently." Raven filled his tea cup. "Have you tried to find one for your child?"

"I've been preparing for the competition, so I don't have much chance." Eric said, "And to be honest with you, I really don't like those nobles. They speak in a pretentious tone, as if they are so gentlemanly, but that look, that demeanor... Hey!"

Eric said with a strong disdain in his tone: "If I were to marry them, I might as well marry someone I know well locally."

I have to say that the current aristocratic atmosphere is really not that good. In comparison, even Raven in his Bee days was considered conservative.

No wonder Eric looked down on them.

"Come to think of it. Actually, I came here today to ask Lord Baron about the finals of the competition." Eric hesitated and said, "Should I have an exhibition match with Mr. Gul'dan?"

"Has the Fox family come looking for you?"

"No."

"Then go for it." Raven waved his hand and said, "You may not be Gul'dan's opponent anyway, so try your best. Don't feel pressured if you don't win."

After all, Eric had just been promoted to the third level not long ago. Although he had a second-level enchanted armor to protect him, Gul'dan's equipment was not bad either. His fighting spirit realm was at the third level with 8 stars, and he had even awakened his martial soul. The gap between the two was really too big.

Eric was at a loss for a moment. He took a sip of tea and said, "But, what if I hurt Gul'dan..."

Raven said indifferently: "In the arena, anything can happen. As long as you don't kill him or get killed by him, anything is fine."

Seeing that Eric still didn't quite understand, Raven turned over four teacups and placed them on the table, then pointed at them one by one: "These four are us, Fox, Slater, and Anthony."

He pushed two of them away and said, "Now that Anthony left in anger and Slater has been eliminated, the only ones left are us and Fox."

"At this point in the tournament, whether we win or Fox takes the title, it's all good stuff."

"So, you must do your best in this match. The better you perform, the more pressure you can put on Gul'dan, and the more we can show our strength to the outside world!"

Eric nodded slowly, gradually understanding what Raven meant.

Although Raven is powerful, his rise was too fast, which inevitably gave the outside world the impression that his foundation was unstable.

It was because of this that Vissasim was dissatisfied with Raven, and Seleva was always jumping up and down.

Among the 11 noble families in Xuefeng County, there were more than just the two of them who were dissatisfied, but most of them did not express it obviously.

The world of aristocrats is almost the same as the jungle; the strong eat meat and the weak drink soup.

Previously, the Griffith family declined and their territory was divided into pieces and could not be taken back; now that the Griffith family is strong and has occupied the Gray Mountain Town of Judra, he dares not utter a word.

"I understand, Lord Baron." Eric nodded heavily: "I will definitely not embarrass you in this competition."

"Look at you, you're saying that again." Raven shook his head and smiled, "Your previous performance was already quite good, and this one is just the icing on the cake. Don't put so much pressure on yourself."

"People should relax when they need to. You are just short of that. If I'm not mistaken, you haven't been home during the three-day offseason, right?"

Eric nodded awkwardly.

"Afraid of your wife?" Raven raised his eyebrows.

"That's definitely not possible!" Eric patted his chest and said, "I'm going home now, and she has to bring people to serve me carefully!"

"But Baron, this woman is really strange. I have been married to her for 20 years, and I have watched her gradually turn into a yellow-faced woman. But now that she has become the wife of a knight, she seems to have become a completely different person. I don't know why she is so beautiful."

"I'm not bragging. Even though I'm over 40, I'm full of energy now. I'll show off my prowess as soon as I get back."

Raven sounded like he was bragging: "Yeah, I believe it."

"I'm not exaggerating. You may not know that what I like most right now is..." Eric opened his arms and began to straighten his chest and move his waist: "Do this posture for half an hour without stopping!"

"I wonder what position you usually use?"

"You have the nerve to play for only half an hour? I usually..." Lei Wen answered smoothly, then his face turned embarrassed: "Don't ask! What do you want to learn?"

Eric smiled and said, "That's not impossible."

"Get lost!" Lei Wen scolded with a smile: "If you have nothing to do, go back and have a good rest. I'll see how you perform tomorrow."

"Well..." Eric twisted his beard subconsciously, "Actually, there is one more thing I came here for."

"That's right, the construction of the castle in my territory is a bit slow, and I would like to borrow some from you..."

The more he spoke, the weaker his voice became and his face became redder.

Although he had saved about 400 gold coins before, and made some big money following Raven for a few years, and had nearly 1000 gold coins in his hands, it was still a bit stretched to build a castle.

After all, a castle is difficult to renovate once it is built, and he and his wife wanted to make it perfect, so their spending was a bit uncontrollable.

Raven hesitated for a moment and asked, "How much do you need?"

"800...500 gold coins are enough!" said Eric.

"I'll give you 1000." Raven said readily, "2% interest per year."

"Great, thank you, Baron!" Eric breathed a sigh of relief.

Asking for money from others, especially from the Baron, really put him under a lot of pressure.

But there was no way out. Colleagues who had some money, like Old Gordon, Simon, and Link, were all building castles, and no one had enough money.

If he borrows from outsiders, the interest rate will be 4% or 5% a year, which he really cannot afford.

Now Raven is willing to lend him money, and the interest rate is only 2%, which is like a timely help.

After saying goodbye with many thanks, Eric returned to the barracks and practiced with Simon until midnight before taking a rest.

The next day, September 9, the finals of the first competitive tournament, which was remembered by later generations, began.

Because the course of this game was beyond everyone's expectations.

……

(End of this chapter)