Your Majesty's money, why don't you engrave my name on it?

And if this is the fiefdom of the Fengquan family, then the arrogance and inferiority shown by Philip would seem a little puzzling.

"Oh, no, you must have misunderstood," Philip explained. "Because this place is close to the Empire, many families in Western Inassus have established a presence here to facilitate trade, expand their influence, and gain early access to the Empire's developments. You can surely understand that the Empire is a colossal entity for us outsiders, especially since the short-lived Great Inassus collapsed."

"Large families would establish towns and gather people here, while smaller families could only rely on this place, opening a few shops or simply having a few contacts."

"So, this place belongs to your family."

"Uh...actually, not really," Philip covered his embarrassment with a laugh. "This place was first occupied by the Luwalu family, but because it's very close to the Kolin Otto Mountains, we also left a base here—a small manor and a chamber of commerce."

"The Luwalu family," Angelita paused and pondered in her mind, "Is the current governor of Qingzun City surnamed Luwalu?"

"Ah, it's an honor for him to be known by you," Philip flattered her clumsily, though if he knew the true identity of the girl before him, he might have thought the compliment was appropriate. "It's that family. They also mint and issue the gold coin 'Valu', which is recognized in most of Western Inassus. They really make a lot of money."

As he spoke, Philip took out a handful of gold coins. Although they all looked like real gold, the craftsmanship was uneven, and the sizes and thicknesses were also different. It was not difficult to imagine that when using these coins for transactions, both buyers and sellers would have to endure similar torture.

Reslaufer spotted the second-largest coin at a glance. Its obverse, modeled after the imperial coins, featured a figure, not just a bust, but a full-body portrait. The figure wasn't a secular emperor, but Delynissus, the god of feasting and wine.

It is said that this god originally came from a pantheon whose main god was in charge of thunder, lightning and the sky. However, other gods in that pantheon were not widely worshipped in this world. Only this god of wine became the main belief of Qingzun City and even many of its surrounding affiliated city-states.

"Counterfeit coin." Angelita lost interest after just one look. She looked at Reslaufer, who nodded slightly and motioned for her to take out an imperial gold coin from his purse and throw it to Philip. The young man immediately collected it as if it were a treasure and kept it separately from other coins.

And when he looked at Angelita again, his eyes became obviously more enthusiastic.

"No wonder the currency here is called counterfeit," the Dragonborn, who had witnessed everything nearby, couldn't help but mutter. "I thought it was another name for 'bad blood horse,' but... I'm afraid no force in all of Western Inassus can issue gold coins of this level of sophistication."

Even the "Valu" coin, with its image of Dionysus at least 70% abstract, was significantly different from the imperial gold coin that Angelita had taken out.

"Since the death of the common monarch of all Western Inassus, you probably haven't had this opportunity." Although both the empire and the Matt family are facing various problems, Angelita's sense of honor still makes her say this. "Can such a strong person still be found in Inassus now?"

"I'm afraid not," Philip sighed. "The war in Central Inassus has recently flared up again, and it's threatening to spread to our area. The elders in our family are worried about this."

"But speaking of it, isn't the Empire also included now--" The Dragonborn suddenly spoke, and Philip was so scared that he quickly covered his mouth.

"Watch your tongue, little thief!" Philip stole a glance at Angelita, whose expression instantly turned ugly. He felt a little sweat on his back. He didn't care about the dragonborn's outstanding appearance. He put his mouth as close to her head as possible and warned in a low voice, "That's not a topic you are qualified to discuss!"

Chapter 170: Joffrey Town

It is hard to say what the Inassas nations think of the powerful behemoth on the other side of the Golinoto Mountains, but if one day it really falls down and falls apart, they will probably breathe a sigh of relief and rejoice.

But at least for now, it hasn't reached that stage yet. The kings and lords of Inassus are trembling with fear when facing the Empire, and the nobles below also need to serve the nobles from the Empire with caution.

After all, with the vastness of the empire and its abundant resources, it was the Fengquan family that needed the empire's support, not the other way around. If trade routes or other routes were cut off by the empire due to some minor issue, they wouldn't even be able to cry.

But perhaps because the Dragonborn's way of survival was different from that of nobles like Philip, he scoffed at such concerns and kept his mouth shut out of consideration for his savior's face.

"...In short, although there are many forces in the town of Rofrey, there are actually only three families that we really need to pay attention to. They are the ruling family of Loire, the military noble family of Dieu, and my family of Maple...Fangboro." Philip did his best to change the subject to another side to prevent that despicable and cold-blooded creature from saying anything rude again.

"Two families," the Dragonborn still refused to cut off his tongue, "you yourself said that you only have one manor and one guild here."

"Three families," Philip glared at the bastard through gritted teeth, while the Dragonborn remained unconcerned. "But Miss Barty, you don't have to worry about these things. Your family and we have a deep friendship, and the Louvallu family is at least from the same city as us. They are both shrewd and will not cause trouble for no reason. During your temporary stay here, the only family you need to pay attention to is the Dieu family."

"They serve the Kingdom of Latour and are not of the same mind as us."

"Military nobility is built on piles of corpses, unlike religious or commercial nobility. If their descendants want to inherit this honor, they will have to continue piling up corpses until today." Reslaufer looked toward the distant horizon, the faces of several old friends who were doing well flashing before his eyes. "There are more people like this in East Inassus, but they basically only last one generation. West Inassus...how many generations does this family have?"

"Their current head of the family is the sixth generation, or maybe the seventh. Sorry, sir, I can't remember exactly—he, ah, now I remember, that head of the family seems to be 28 years old this year, which is almost at the end of their lifespan."

When speaking to Angritta's companions, Philip managed to maintain some noble dignity, but when facing Reslaufer, he practically treated the mercenaries as if they were Angritta's fathers. The Dopplers might not be particularly well-known in the Empire, but in Inassus, they were the scythes of the Grim Reaper, the only difference being whether the hand or the neck was closer.

"They're a tough one," Leslaufer nodded at Angarita. "Some honors are worth giving up everything for, but some people are capable enough to give up less. The Dieu family isn't one of them. It's not worth risking your life against them."

"I thought you would like such an opponent, Lao Lei." Feng Dahl looked at him in surprise.

"It's okay if there's no money to be made, but it's also okay if there's money to be made. It would be best if they pay me per head. With their help, I can bankrupt my employer." Leslaufer waved his hand.

"However, such families are still rare. Military nobles usually can't last this long. Either they no longer want to go to the battlefield and become religious nobles or commercial nobles; or their entire family dies out, leaving no sons or heirs."

"I understand the commercial nobility, but what about the religious nobility..." Angrita secretly memorized these differences from the Empire. If she could never find a way back, these would be the things she would rely on for survival. "Are the priests of Inassus also nobles?"

"It's the other way around: some nobles are also priests," Leslaufer explained, "and they're usually priests above the level of a regional bishop. It's just that their focus is more on matters of the land, like persuading the lord they serve to expand the temple, deciding whether the Knights should intervene in a war, and other matters that are no different from most nobles—the emphasis is on nobility, not religion."

"By the way, the nobility hierarchy in Inassus is different from that in the Empire. Here, 'Count' is already a very high noble, and below that is 'Grand Baron', then 'Baron', and those lower than that are all collectively called nobles or aristocrats. Don't get them confused." The mercenary thought for a moment and added a few more points.

"So, what is the current situation of the Fambro family?" Angelita turned to look at Philip. "Perhaps this has been mentioned more than once in the correspondence between our two families, but I hope to get a truthful answer this time as well. This is very important."

Is this...important?

Philip's mind raced. "My family can now be classified as one of the 'more powerful barons,' which is a significant improvement compared to the past few decades. Under the leadership of my father, the current patriarch, there's hope for further advancement—provided he can befriend some of the important figures in Qingzun City."

"If there's a suitable gift."

Philip looked at the Dragonborn angrily, and the hidden message was self-evident: the "right gift" was in the Dragonborn's hands, and if the half-elf Antichi hoped to better cooperate with the Maple Springs family, it would be best for the Dragonborn to spit out that thing.

Philip was somewhat disappointed by Angelita's noncommittal attitude, but he still accompanied everyone around half of the town of Joffrey with great flattery, and finally stopped in front of a manor with a family emblem of a fountain holding up a maple leaf on the gate, and asked the servants to go in and inform his fellow clansmen who stayed there.

The walls and gates of the manor were merely the tangible boundaries of the Maple Springs family's influence in Joffrey. In reality, within the circle centered on this wall, the Maple Springs family held a stronger say than the Louvalou family. However, precisely because of this, Philip completely failed to notice the vendor flipping pancakes behind a single snack stand, only turning his gaze away once everyone had entered the manor.

After confirming that the young man was indeed Philip Fengquan himself, the vendor lifted his hood, put down his shovel and turned to leave, but was grabbed by the collar by the only customer.

"You want to run away after it's burnt? I already gave you my money, what kind of person are you?" The customer stiffened his neck when he saw that this shabby vendor dared to glare at him. "Hey, what do you want?"

The pancake vendor looked at the unyielding customer. As the pancakes in the frying pan began to emit a foul charcoal smell, he finally lowered his head in resignation. "Don't worry, I'll make you a new one," he said, throwing the unrecognizable food into the nearly full trash can nearby.

However, the customer didn't notice that in that one move, the vendor had lost his tangible size, becoming a ghostly phantom. His true form nimbly darted out of the customer's blind spot.

Chapter 171 Dieu Family

"Are you sure it's them?"

Looking at the phantom created by magic, even though the opponent's real body was still thousands of miles away, Pierre Dieu still knelt on one knee in front of the opponent respectfully.

"A small group of four to six adventurers, definitely including a dwarf, and possibly a half-elf or elf. Such a group wouldn't be too conspicuous, but if someone informed them of the time and location in advance, it would be almost impossible to mistake them, uncle."

Although he called the other uncle, in fact, the age difference between the two was only a few years. It was precisely this age difference that made the person opposite the phantom the patriarch of the Dieu family, and Pierre could only be the head of the family in the small town of Joffrey.

The fact that Pierre's branch was not qualified to inherit the family business was decided the moment his ancestor became the eldest son.

"Excellent," a voice of praise came from the other side of the phantom. "Thank you for your hard work. In the next battle, you and your family will not have to follow as knights. Another branch has volunteered to take on this task."

Pierre understood the meaning of this volunteering, but he was grateful nonetheless. Branch clan members like him simply didn't have the ability to break away from their main family, so the fact that they were willing to send them to the battlefield later in the order was already a favor.

"Also, Uncle, besides the fact that they accepted the Maple Springs family's invitation, I think there's one more thing I need to add," Pierre suddenly thought of the tall, dark figure and said hurriedly, "There's a dragonborn traveling with them, a black dragonborn. But I'm not sure if he's a guest of the Maple Springs family or a companion of the group."

"Dragonborn..." Phantom seemed to be having a headache. "These reptiles have even reached out to Kolin Otto? What on earth do they want to do?"

Pierre didn't answer. Dragonborn were a rare and exclusive race, establishing clans in the wilderness of Inassus. They rarely visited towns except for essential visits, and even if they did appear between cities, they would usually leave quickly, attracting no attention beyond curiosity.

But Pierre had heard of a peculiar situation recently—which was why he decided to report it—that in the wilderness of the Latour Kingdom, several dragonborn clans were migrating and gathering together. This was extremely rare, and even if these lizards did nothing, this behavior alone was enough to raise alarm bells.

After all, although they are not true dragon blood, each member is stronger than humans, has scales, and can spit out various breaths. Not to mention their arrogant and independent way of doing things: if it is a matter that the dragon clan can solve on its own, they will not even seek help from other dragon clans.

"Uncle, could this be a conspiracy?" Pierre asked bravely. "His Majesty the King suddenly asked us to find such a group of adventurers, and he knows their whereabouts so well. I think this is very suspicious..."

"Everything our Majesty does is suspicious, Pierre," the Dieu family patriarch snorted from the other side of the phantom. "He asked me to mobilize my own family's power to act as his spy. This is no ordinary conspiracy. But don't worry, at least this proves that he has no intention of targeting us."

There is really nothing worth targeting in a family where the average age of the patriarch is less than 30 years old. The threat posed by the Dieu family to the enemy on the battlefield is far greater than the threat they pose to other nobles in the kingdom.

"But it's always better to control your own destiny. Don't you agree?" Chief Die changed the subject. "If you don't seize this opportunity that's right here, you'd be quite foolish."

Pierre was startled. He was no stranger to the patriarch, so he was sure he was hinting at something. "Uncle, please tell me, what should I do?"

"The most difficult level, the greatest reward." The phantom looked at the man in Jorfrey Town with burning eyes. "That Dragonborn, I want to know what they are thinking. Your Majesty must keep that half-elf alive."

"This……"

"Of course, you can choose not to do it. No one will blame you, Pierre." The patriarch's sudden gentleness caught Pierre off guard. "I know our family's strength over there is insufficient, and it's difficult for me to send you reinforcements in time. Therefore, all this is not easy."

"But if you can do it... what do you think of the last name 'Geoffrey-Dieu'? Or, 'Golin-Otto-Dieu'?"

Pierre's heart skipped a beat. He knew exactly what this meant! It meant he would be completely separated from the family as an independent branch! And with the help of the clan leader!

He and his descendants will never have to fill the death quota of the damn military aristocracy again!

"We had a lot of fun together when we were young, Pierre. If it weren't for my current position, I would have wanted to do this a long time ago," the person represented by the phantom patiently coaxed. "Now the opportunity has finally arrived. As long as you can achieve either of these two, I can move forward with this idea. And if you can truly achieve the second, perhaps you can even go one step further—you will receive the same noble honors as me! And not as a military noble."

Pierre's breathing became heavier due to this grand vision, but his sanity was not completely deprived: "This is not easy."

"It's undoubtedly very difficult," the Dieu clan leader agreed. "Otherwise, we wouldn't be thinking about this."

"If Fulei Town isn't controlled by the Die family, and they've already received an invitation from the Fengquan family in Qingzun City, I'm afraid they'll need to promise some benefits if they want to snatch food from them."

"It's entirely up to you. As for how to fulfill it, I'll figure it out."

"Then... no problem."

"Pierre," the Dieu family member from Joffrey was about to end the call when the already trembling and blurry phantom suddenly called out to him, "Remember, your safety is paramount. If it's impossible, let go."

"Enough of Dieu's of our generation have died."

Was this out of concern? Or was it some kind of tactic? Pierre took a deep breath as he looked at the phantom that had disappeared before him. It didn't matter to him.

The vision the other party promised alone was worth everything he had to sacrifice. As for death... the Dieu family had never been afraid of it.

"Brother, we really have to--" A man walked out from the shadows. It was the pancake vendor who had been making pancakes near Maple Spring Manor before. It was also him who had maintained the communication spell just now.

"Go down, gather the brothers, and wait for my order." Pierre waved his hand to signal his capable spellcaster friend to leave for the time being. "Leave me alone for a while. I need to think about it, think carefully..."

Chapter 172 Edward

In the small town of Joffrey, many people would have trouble sleeping tonight, including Pierre Dieu, his men, and his men's men.

Including a certain Dragonborn.

The snoring of the dwarf beside him was deafening. The dragonborn with gray-black scales and blue eyes opened wide, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

But in fact, he knew in his heart that the dwarf's snoring was just an excuse. His insomnia was due to something else entirely.

There are many specific reasons, but they can be summarized into one: the plan is out of his control.

He didn't like this feeling, he really didn't like it. In his opinion, this was the worst case scenario, worse than the inevitable failure.

He had gone to great lengths to finally run all the way here from Qingzun City, but now he had to go back? He might as well die—he had to escape, and now was the time.

With this thought in mind, the Dragonborn could no longer lie still in bed. He stared at the dwarf sleeping soundly in the nearby bed in the darkness, tiptoed to lift the quilt, and stepped on the cold floor with his scaly feet, but he no longer dared to wear boots.

Just run away, you can worry about clothes and shoes later.

The door was pushed open by a clawed hand, but before the Dragonborn could take a breath under the moonlight streaming into the corridor, a tall figure had blocked the light source behind him.

"...Ah!" The Dragonborn turned his head and immediately jumped up in fright. However, before he could make any more noise, a strong hand had already pinched his throat. Just a little more force would make him, like most creatures, unable to utter a word ever again.

"As a thief, you're pretty lousy."

Who else but Reslaufer could have captured the Dragonborn at this point? He had already removed his armor and donned the same attire he wore in the city. Looking at his cloak, eerily white in the moonlight, the Dragonborn wondered if he saw his own face.

But no, he is a dragonborn and has black scales.

"Sir, calm down, please don't get excited!" the Dragonborn shouted hurriedly. "I didn't steal from you, much less from your companions! You saved my life, remember? I won't do such an ungrateful thing!"

"That's exactly why you're still alive." The mercenary looked at him coldly. "But that's also why I call you 'crappy.'"

"What kind of thief can be detected without intending to steal anything?"

A cruel smile appeared on the corner of Reslaufer's mouth. "I suggest you explain this point. Otherwise, twisting this lizard head off your neck should be a good entertainment."

"How do you explain this... Look! From the very beginning, I've never admitted to being a thief!" The Dragonborn's expression was difficult to discern, but the shifting of his scales, the flexion of his back, the angle of his eyes, and the visible and invisible teeth all fully demonstrated his awkwardness. "Why do you have such a preconceived notion? Is it because that Maple Springs guy kept calling me a thief?"

"If you weren't, what are you doing now?"

"Whether I escape or not has nothing to do with whether I'm a thief, sir! Think about it, think carefully! How far did they run in pursuit of me? How many men did they lose? Even if they finally believe I wasn't the one who stole it, they still won't let me off!"

"So," the Dragonborn looked at Leslaufer pitifully, "just consider it as you saving someone to the end. Can you just pretend you didn't see it and spare my life? I will definitely repay you in the future..."

"No," the Dragonborn could feel the pressure on his neck ease a little, but the situation didn't change much. "With your skills, you can't get around the servants patrolling the manor. Besides, even if you escape, what can you do? Will you have to go into the Kolin Otto Mountains again?"

"Then what should I do?" The Dragonborn had to admit that what Leslaufer said was right. He was even caught by the old man guarding the grave when he came out of the cemetery. I'm afraid he hasn't made any progress now.

"A group of people saved you once, and they can save you a second time. But I need to know who you are," Leslaufer let go of the Dragonborn. "Follow me out and take a look around town."

The Dragonborn dared not resist and could only obediently follow Reslaufer lightly. The two of them, one in front and one behind, avoided the servants stationed inside and outside the manor by the Maple Springs family. After their last leap from a height of more than one meter, only their backs could be seen through the fence of the manor.

"You don't look like a Dragonborn, in the traditional sense," Leslaufer said suddenly as they walked one after the other on the empty street. "Tell me about yourself."

"Where to begin?"

"your name."

"Just call me Shield Gnawing—" the Dragonborn said hurriedly. He was sure that no other race would have this name except the Dragonborn. However, Reslaufer in front of him stopped and turned to look at him with a smile.

"You're not really a Dragonborn."

If the species Edward had transformed into didn't have sweat glands, he would have been sweating profusely. "I don't understand," he said, looking at the mercenary in astonishment. "That's the name a Dragonborn would give!"