Wizard Farming Guide

Chapter 32 Value Accounting

Rod looked calmly at the soldiers from River Mouth Town who had surrounded him.

After killing Mansaru, his anger was released, and he felt relieved.

As for the group of soldiers in front of them, although there were quite a few of them, they were only a miscellaneous unit, the lowest level in the army.

Even if they choose to resist, with his Snow Steed and Raven Feather, Rhode can leave whenever he wants.

They can't stop them.

The only one worth noting was the knight not far away.

Rod looked at him.

After meeting his gaze, the Knight of Loren's arm, gripping the cross-shaped sword, trembled slightly; the immense mental pressure made it difficult for him to breathe.

He was not afraid of the strength that Rhodes displayed; as a knight, he was fearless in the face of challenge.

But the current situation left Knight Loren feeling dizzy.

If what this Knight Rhodes said is true, then Mansaru really did collude with the barbarians to murder him.

If he chooses to continue resisting, he will drag the entire town of Hekou into an abyss.

His gaze swept over the heads of the wolf chieftain soldiers outside the wall, over the cowering soldiers around him, and finally settled on the snow steed behind Rhodes.

Knight Loren sighed, put down his cross sword, and knelt on one knee, bowing to Rhodes.

"Loren Adele, on behalf of Rivermouth, I surrender to you."

At that moment, the crisp sound of metal hitting the ground could be heard all around.

All the soldiers eagerly dropped their weapons and knelt down to show their submission to Rhodes.

With that, the dust settled.

The town gates were opened, and shield-wielding soldiers entered, confiscating the soldiers' weapons and temporarily taking over the area.

Rhodes was not surprised by the surrender of Hekou Town.

Faced with Baron Mansaru's plot to murder them, the other pioneering knights might be helpless without solid evidence.

After all, they represented the kingdom's nobles, and had serious conflicts with the Grand Duke of Northern Frost.

They can expand their territory outside the principality, but they dare not rashly interfere in the territory within the principality.

Because they lack legitimacy.

Legitimacy is based on bloodline dominion over the land.

Family lineage allowed nobles to rule their territories hereditarily, which was the foundation for maintaining the rule of the kingdom's nobility.

Under this feudal consensus, most of the conflicts within the kingdom stemmed from wars of claiming legitimacy based on bloodline tracing.

For example, a viscount might be reading through his family's heraldic history and discover that his mother's family had a village that was now occupied by other nobles.

This would give the viscount the pretext to send troops to seize the village from other nobles and expand his family's territory.

If other villages are captured during the process, they are usually returned after being looted.

Without a claim, there is no legitimacy; power does not guarantee the conquest of land. This has allowed the kingdom to maintain relative peace.

The barbarian bloodline of the Grand Duke of Northern Frost distinguishes this place from the nobles of the kingdom.

But Rhodes has half the blood of the Northern Frost in his veins.

The Northern Frost Duchy was formerly known as the Northern Frost Plateau, which was conquered by his grandfather William. He is also the nephew of the current Grand Duke of Northern Frost.

Regardless of whether the Grand Duke acknowledges it or not, given this factual basis, Rhodes even possesses a duchy inheritance right of considerable rank.

Therefore, he was able to conduct a trial of Mansaru with sufficient legitimacy in the name of the Northern Frost.

This is not an offense to the Grand Duke; on the contrary, the Grand Duke should thank him.

Rhodes was learning about the actual situation in River Mouth Town from Knight Loren.

The town has a population of 600 households, totaling more than 2,000 people.

This included an army consisting of one hundred militiamen and twenty castle guards.

They have now been completely disarmed and are temporarily being held in a house.

They will need to undergo further investigation to ensure they were not involved in any collusion with the barbarians before they can be released.

Mansaru, one of the town's only two knights, is dead.

Loren was an elite knight who, after being disarmed, was placed under the personal guard of Rhodes.

"It seems you were unaware of this." After questioning him, Rhodes stared at the ashamed Knight Loren, and could tell that he was not lying.

This knight of Loren was not involved in the collusion with the barbarians.

Rhodes could even sense the rigidity in his words, which placed too much emphasis on chivalry.

He was a little too respectful to himself.

"My lord, Mansaru's death was his own fault, but could you please spare the innocent children?"

As they walked toward the castle, Knight Loren whispered his request to Rhodes.

Rhodes, having learned that he and Mansaru's wife Flynn were cousins, nodded in response:

"As long as you're not involved, it's fine."

Although he occupies Hekou Town, it would be foolish for him to treat it as his own territory.

This area is still ducal territory, and Rhodes, out of respect for the Grand Duke, left the land to his heir.

Mansaru has only two children on the surface. The older brother is only eleven years old and is not difficult to control. He is more useful alive than killed.

Upon hearing his reply, Knight Loren breathed a sigh of relief.

As Rhodes led his shield-wielders into the castle, the maids and the baron's wife and children were temporarily placed under house arrest and imprisoned in their rooms.

Rhodes wasn't interested in them; he was more concerned with how much money was in the castle.

If he felt anger when Mansaru betrayed him, then so was he.

At this moment, Rhodes only hoped that Mansaru would sell him for a good price!

He sat in the castle's hall, with another figure beside him in addition to the Knight of Loren.

That was Adlich, the merchant who transported grain for himself. He excitedly approached Rhodes after seeing him on the road.

Rhodes then took him along to help estimate the value of the items in the castle.

"Oh, let me see. This is a red coral ornament produced by the Roman family of Donghai Port. It comes from the depths of the East Sea and is known as 'Fire from the Sea.' It is highly favored by the nobles of the plains."

Adledge examined the red coral in his hand carefully. "The quality is good, but it's a pity it's only worth 40 silver coins in the fortress."

"It's worth it to get nearly 700 pounds of wheat flour." Rod nodded after hearing this.

"This is a rare blue agate wolf head sculpture from the North. The nobles of the duchy love it. It's about the size of a fist and costs 2 gold coins!"

"Not bad, that's enough to buy half a set of plate armor." Rhodes' eyes lit up, eager for him to continue.

"This is a masterpiece of oil painting by Master Arthur of Fuxing City, entitled 'Love,' which is beloved by the noble ladies of the Central Territory."

After appraising all the valuable items in the castle, Adledge calculated that their total value was around 30 gold and 40 silver.

This was just a decoration; Rhodes' soldiers also discovered 120,000 pounds of wheat flour, worth more than 70 gold coins, in the castle's warehouse.

The confiscated military weapons, including those in the armory, totaled fifty-three sets of chainmail, one set of plate armor, two ballistae, thirty-two crossbows, and over a hundred wooden spears and stone axes.

Including the cash they found, the total value exceeded 200 gold coins.

Looking at the list of spoils, Rhodes couldn't help but sigh, no wonder nobles love to plunder villages.

After he led his soldiers and fought against the powerful wolf chieftain's army, the gains he made did not even cover the losses.

He could easily loot a baron's castle, and the spoils he obtained would double his wealth.

Of course, this is also because Baron Mansaru is special; he is far wealthier than ordinary barons.

Unfortunately, he couldn't take it all. Rhodes shook his head. He had to send at least 70% of the gold coins to Dragonbreaker Fortress and wait for the Grand Duke's response.

(End of this chapter)