From a hired knight to a master of Game of Thrones

study.

Don Quixote looked toward Warren.

This was a Northern mercenary knight whom he could trust.

He smiled and said slowly:

"Warren, I need someone to help me manage many things about the Bloodhand Mercenary Group, especially when I don't have the time or energy to take care of things within the Bloodhand Mercenary Group."

An unexpected fiefdom could save Don Quixote from many detours and allow him to truly participate in the power struggles.

But a fiefdom is ultimately just an entry ticket.

It cannot give him a real advantage, a truly overwhelming advantage.

After all, he was far behind the other power players.

The heritage and reputation of those centuries-old and millennia-old families are far beyond what he can acquire in a short time.

Therefore, he cannot give up the system rewards for completing the employment task.

That's his advantage!

Upon hearing this, Warren paused, then hesitated before saying:

"My lord, I wish to accompany you to your fiefdom, and if possible, I would like to truly pledge my loyalty to you!"

Don Quixote said earnestly:

"My fiefdom may not be large, but Warren, there will always be a place reserved for you that is respected!"

"Warren, you are a capable knight, and even more so, a knight loyal to honor."

"Ah, if I could choose someone else, I would gladly have you by my side, offering your unwavering loyalty and zeal for me and for my fiefdom!"

Hearing such frank praise, especially from someone he had always been grateful to and admired, was a great relief.

Although Warren restrained his emotions, he was still deeply moved.

His eyes shone brightly.

He knelt heavily on one knee.

Warren said in a deep voice:

"My lord, I swear to you with my sword and my honor that I will shed my blood for you."

"I will keep your secrets and remain loyal to your will. Your enemies are my enemies, and your friends are my friends."

"I will defend your honor, and if necessary, I will die for you. I swear this in the name of the old and new gods."

Don Quixote also firmly stated:

"I swear to you, Sir Warren, there will always be a place for you by my hearth, food and drink on my table, bread and salt under my eaves."

"I promise you that you will always have my trust and protection, and I will never ask you to do anything that would damage your honor."

"Your loyalty will ultimately be rewarded with all the honors I can bestow upon you."

"To all those who wish to do injustice to you, as long as I have breath, no one can take away your honor."

"In the name of the old and new gods, I solemnly swear."

Get up.

A silent, two-way pledge of allegiance came suddenly and then slowly came to an end.

After Warren stood up, he bowed and said:

"My lord, I am willing to stay in White Harbor to manage the Bloodhand Mercenary Group's affairs for you, whenever you need me!"

Upon hearing this, Don Quixote smiled and said:

"Warren, once I've finished dealing with some matters in my fiefdom, once I've completed the construction of a Seven Holy Temple on my fiefdom."

"I will appoint you as my sworn knight in front of all my subjects. You will be my first sworn knight!"

"Yes, sir!" Warren replied.

"I will always look forward to that day, and I will always remain loyal to your will!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Watching Warren's figure disappear beyond the wooden door of the study, Don Quixote sat back down at his desk and began to ponder.

He began to recall the personalities and behaviors of the members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group in order to select members suitable for a mercenary career.

Not long after.

He had already chosen the members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group who would remain in White Harbor to continue searching for and completing mercenary missions.

"I hope everything goes well."

Don Quixote took a deep breath and looked at the system's task panel.

[Employer: Pierce Cobwood]

[Mission: Be Pierce Cobwood's practice partner]

[Reward: 100 Gold Dragons (Claimable)]

Pierce Cobwood is a minor lord under the Earl of Manderle and is also a knight.

Immediately after the tournament ended, he suddenly visited Don Quixote, wanting to hire elite members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group as his daily knight training partners.

One day of training, 20 silver deer.

It's not cheap, but considering the Blood Hand Mercenary Group's current reputation and status, it's not too expensive.

Pierce Cobwood originally intended to hire Don Quixote as a sparring partner.

But he only dared to think about it in his heart, unless Don Quixote brought it up himself.

Otherwise, Don Quixote, who was also a vassal of the Count of Mandalay but was no longer a hired knight, could have directly labeled Pierce Cobwood's behavior as disrespect for his social honor and status.

If the matter were brought before the Earl of Mandalay, the most likely outcome would be that Pierce Cobwood would take the initiative to apologize.

Of course, there's another possibility: Pierce Cobwood simply can't afford to hire.

Wanting Don Quixote to spar for a day without at least one Golden Dragon is a gross underestimation of the champion's status and position in the White Harbor Martial Arts Tournament.

Pierce Cobwood wasn't a particularly poor or destitute lord, but he didn't have the means to spend gold dragons to hire knights as sparring partners.

Even elite members who earn 20 Silver Deer a day find it difficult to continue hiring them as sparring partners.

At most, Pierce Cobwood's chivalrous spirit would suddenly ignite, prompting him to consider hiring someone for a few days.

Just like in this tournament, Pierce Cobbwood lost too quickly and didn't feel satisfied.

However, the sworn knights in his territory could not provide him with the corresponding pressure, so he came to the Bloodhand Mercenary Group to find expensive sparring partners.

The verbal contract, made in Don Quixote's name, involved dispatching other members of the Blood Hand Mercenary Group to complete the mercenary tasks, with Don Quixote only needing to collect the system's task rewards in the end.

Don Quixote had been making this arrangement for quite some time.

He had already begun this after clearing out the raiders around White Harbor.

To date, a total of seven employment tasks have been completed.

Since they were all simple tasks with no new magical item rewards, I only received a little over a thousand gold dragons and five large bags of blood apples.

But this was enough to satisfy Don Quixote.

While the blood apple had no effect on him, it was perfect for cultivating loyal subordinates, those whose names were recorded in the magic contract scroll, "The Ironclad Secret."

Five large bags of blood apples, plus the remaining half bag of blood apples, should last for quite some time.

And the more than one thousand golden dragons have many uses.

This world, however, does not distort money as severely as in the previous life, nor does it treat money as a new faith.

Even so, the Golden Dragon and Silver Deer are a very terrifying and very effective tool in this world.

The Golden Dragon and Silver Deer combination can turn many, many things into a single product!

Affection, time, life, dignity, and so on.

When something becomes a commodity, it has a price!

That means it can be easily obtained, as long as you have enough Golden Dragons and Silver Deer!

Therefore, Don Quixote never underestimated the immense power brought by the golden dragon and silver deer.

He wouldn't have achieved his current fame and status without generously bestowing upon those people enough gold and silver dragons and deer! Nor would he have gained the loyalty of others.

The people on his list are grateful, but they're not fools.

If he hadn't generously used the Golden Dragon and Silver Deer to genuinely help those people, how could he have gained their loyalty!

Just like Pierce Cobwood hires an elite member as a sparring partner for 20 silver deer a day, but if that elite member performs the job well, Don Quixote will reward him with an additional 100 silver deer afterwards.

If the reputation rating of the job is excellent, the reward is 1 gold dragon!

These tangible gold dragons and silver deer are the real reason why the seventeen members of the Bloodhand Mercenary Group are willing to offer their loyalty.

With no one else offering a higher price, even Tom and Shane are currently working loyally for him.

Therefore, the vast majority of those who are truly loyal to him do so because of Don Quixote's generosity.

Of course, it was also because those people were grateful and would not easily betray him that Don Quixote was willing to be generous.

"It's a good thing this system didn't treat me as a servant, a knight of the Count of Mandalay. Otherwise, I wouldn't need to worry about finding and completing servant jobs, and I could settle down peacefully for a long time." Don Quixote pondered, then suddenly remembered something, smiled, and muttered to himself:

"Forget it, the current situation is already very good, so let's not be greedy."

"After that, I will focus on farming to truly develop my own power, remaining loyal only to my own forces, while also putting some effort into making the Bloodhand Mercenary Group bigger and stronger. Mission rewards are the foundation for my early-stage operations."

"If the opportunity arises and the time is right, it would be worth considering secretly stirring up chaos!"

"Okay, I'm not going to think about it anymore. Everyone should be here by now."

"We should get things settled in White Harbor and then head to our fiefdom; there will definitely be a lot of things to do there as well."

……

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