Ainz Ooal Gown: Noble Knight

This world also happens to have "silver plating solution," a special liquid used by alchemists for plating, which can be applied directly to weapons to temporarily give them a silver effect.

Moreover, this world also possesses lightning magic.

One day, Rune had a sudden inspiration: could he forge weapons from cheap metals and then plate them with mithril?

The experiment did not go smoothly, and it failed countless times, but the technique of electroplating mithril finally matured.

The finished weapons are far inferior to the real mithril weapons, but they are cheaper.

A genuine mithril longsword would cost enough to bankrupt a small adventurer's party. A mithril-plated longsword, however, costs less than a tenth of the former.

As a result, orders poured in like snowflakes, and the Earl believed that his territory was making a fortune.

However, Rune's territory policy was too expensive.

In reality, the territory was still in a financial deficit, so Rune had no choice but to use the wealth accumulated by the Aindora family.

Rune was quite open-minded. If he failed to stop Ainz Ooal Gown, these platinum and gold coins would simply become Ainz's personal collection. Unspent gold coins were no different from stones.

Hill's empty eyes lingered on the ledger for a moment before she suddenly spoke.

"Actually, there is a way."

Rune raised his head.

Hill's voice was flat, as if he were reading an unimportant report: "As for the Holy Kingdom, as long as you ask, they can send you as many gold coins as you want."

She paused, her brown eyes looking at Rune.

"You know."

Rune's gaze fell on the thick stack of ledgers on the table, his fingertips tapping lightly on the surface, making a rhythmic sound.

“Hill,” his voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable certainty, “don’t say things like that again.”

Hill tilted his head, his listless brown eyes fixed on Rune, as if waiting for a more detailed explanation.

“We cannot openly have any connection with the Holy Land.” Rune closed the ledger, stood up, and walked to the window. “It would arouse suspicion.”

Hill paused for a moment.

“Or,” Hill said, his voice still calm, “you could stop the free printing of your books.”

Rune paused for a moment, then looked down at the stack of books piled on the other side of the table.

The title page of "The Travels of Aindora" features the outline of distant mountains.

The cover of "The Adventures of Ian the Adventurer" has been read so many times that the edges are slightly curled.

The collection of fables and proverbs, the thinnest of them all, is the one that has been reprinted the most times.

These books have no fancy bindings, and the paper is just the most ordinary material, but each one represents countless nights of hard work by Rune.

Rune carefully wrapped the seeds of enlightenment from his previous life in the strange tales of his travelogue, in the adventurers' thrilling experiences, and in those seemingly innocent and romantic allegorical stories, along with the belief in the four great gods, all of which were cleverly integrated into it.

Even temples would not object to such books.

To plant these seeds, the soil must first be cultivated.

Schools were built in every village within the territory. Children who used to only follow cows and collect manure now sat at simple wooden tables, learning to read and write from impoverished nobles they had invited.

This is too difficult.

In a kingdom like this, teaching nobles and teaching commoners are two different things; the former is respectable, the latter is disgraceful.

Therefore, the nobles willing to come were only those who were already impoverished and had nowhere else to turn. The priests were no better off; only the lowest and least respected among them would come here for a few gold coins.

Each platinum coin seemed to have grown wings and flew away.

But Rune never hesitated.

“This must be done.” Rune’s voice was soft, yet like an iron nail driven into wood. “This may be the future of humanity.”

Hill tilted her head, and for the first time, a look of confusion appeared in her empty eyes. She had never seen Rune speak in such a tone.

It sounded like certainty, yet also like a prayer.

If it fails.

If Ainz Ooal Gown ultimately sweeps across this continent, if all of his plans and preparations for Runeterra's Eindora come to naught...

The morning light outside the window is just right, the farmland is neat and tidy, and wisps of smoke rise from the chimneys.

But beneath this picture, Rune knew he was burying something else. Something that wouldn't be destroyed with the fall of the territory. Something hidden in the minds of children.

Those words I know, those stories I've read, those principles I've pondered.

They will take root in the ruins.

Maybe a hundred years. Maybe two hundred years.

When the shadow of Nazarick finally fades, humanity will find that they are no longer the race that could only kneel and tremble before the undead.

They will stand up on their own.

Hill clearly couldn't understand this: "Are you talking about these storybooks that don't even record first-tier magic?"

Rune smiled, a smile that appeared particularly gentle in the morning light, yet carried a profound depth that was difficult to describe.

“Perhaps these books,” he said, “can teach people to be even more powerful than those who can use tenth-order magic.”

In the distance, the school bells continued to ring.

The children in the territory are still in class.

On the desk, the stack of books lay quietly in the morning light.

The lettering on the cover shimmered slightly in the light.

A collection of fables and proverbs.

On the opened page, there was a line of small print:

"Thinking is mankind's oldest and most powerful weapon. It requires neither martial arts nor magic, but only a mind that refuses to be bound."

Chapter 33 Old Friends

The morning light slanted in through the window, drawing a bright line on the desk.

Rune's gaze lingered on that line for a moment, his fingertips tapping the table at a steady, unhurried rhythm, as if he were calculating something.

Hill stood to the side, his brown eyes half-open, his face bearing the same dejected expression he had worn for thirteen years.

“Use it for now,” Rune finally spoke, his voice tinged with a hint of reluctant compromise. “If all else fails… borrow some from Si. That kid seems to have saved up quite a bit of money since becoming an adventurer.”

As soon as he spoke, he felt that gaze change.

Hill didn't speak, but her eyes clearly said, "How dare you ask your own sister for money?"

That look was so direct, so direct, that Rune had to look away.

"Ahem." He cleared his throat, trying to salvage the situation. "This is a loan, not a demand. I'll pay it back later."

Silk ultimately failed to become a knight, as the kingdom's knighthood could only be held by male descendants of nobles. Silk had no choice but to settle for becoming an adventurer.

For this reason, Rune even wrote a letter to his father, complaining that his father had not raised Si well.

This kind of behavior—using the guise of righteousness to settle personal scores—feels surprisingly good.

Hill remained silent. He merely tilted his head slightly, and a tiny, almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth on his expressionless face.

But it is extremely lethal.

Rune decided not to interpret the meaning of that expression.

Just now.

There was another knock on the door.

"Please come in."

The wooden door opened, and a figure walked in, bringing with it a refreshing breeze.

He was a boy of about fifteen years old, with short, bright golden hair that looked as if it had been soaked in sunlight. It was neatly combed back, revealing a smooth forehead.

His eyes were a pure, clear blue, almost transparent, like the clear sky after rain reflected in two shallow pools of water.

His face still had the youthful, unrefined features typical of teenagers, but his features were already beginning to show the handsome features of a young man, and his skin had been tanned to a healthy honey color by the daily patrols of the territory.

He wore a simple but neat linen shirt, covered with a thin leather armor, and a plain-looking longsword hung at his waist. The edges of the scabbard were worn white, showing signs of daily maintenance and never being neglected.

The boy stepped in, his back ramrod straight, and his right hand deftly raised to his chest, performing a standard knightly salute. Although he was not a knight, he did this gesture with utmost seriousness.

"Lord Rune, I'm back!" His voice was clear and energetic, typical of a young man, as if bringing the whole day's vitality into the somewhat dull study.

Rune raised his head, and the slight frown that had been on his face due to financial problems instantly relaxed, a gentle smile appearing in his eyes, like a smiling mask.

"It's Tachimi." His voice was unhurried, carrying a brotherly warmth. "Thank you for your hard work. How are the tax revenues from the territory?"

Hill, standing nearby, quietly scoffed, the sound so soft it was like a pebble falling into a pile of cotton.

Her brownish-yellow eyes were half-closed, her gaze lazily sweeping over the boy with an inexplicable dissatisfaction. She didn't understand why Rune was treating this guy so well.

Tachimi didn't notice Hill's little actions. He simply took out another account book carefully wrapped in parchment from his pocket and presented it to Hill with both hands.

"It's all done. Here are the tax ledgers. Please take a look, Lord Rune."

Rune took the ledger, opened the cover page, and scanned it line by line. The handwriting was neat, every income and expenditure was clearly recorded, and the writing exuded the vigor of a young man. One could tell most of this child's character just from his handwriting.

Touchi knelt down on one knee again, and after Rune had turned a few pages, he spoke softly:

"Lord Rune, I have something to report, please forgive me."

Rune raised his eyelids slightly, without stopping turning the page, and said, "Speak."

“Two families have encountered misfortune this year,” Tapimi said in a steady voice, but his fingers hanging at his sides curled slightly. “The Kurut family next to the blacksmith’s shop on the east side, the father broke his leg while working and has not been able to work since. And the single-parent family near the woods on the south side, the mother fell ill in the winter and spent a lot of savings on medical treatment. The family only has a child under ten years old to help them.”

He paused.

“My subordinates took it upon themselves to reduce or exempt them from taxes.”

The study was quiet for a moment.

There was a hint of tension in Tapchimi's voice.

"Please deduct it from my salary, Lord Rune."