Hidden Corners

A few days later.

Black Castle.

The water in the castle moat makes a roaring sound, and birds chirp and fall down from time to time. They drink water and dance by the river, like elves.

Li Chengyi was sitting by the bed in the study, holding a simple book he had just received in his hand, and he was flipping through it casually.

These were books borrowed from several knights near the territory, but the contents were very little.

In this world and this country, the illiteracy rate among the people is extremely high. Only nobles can enjoy the right to read and write.

Many of the secretaries and castle stewards were mostly non-eldest sons of other nobles.

They have no inheritance rights and can only make their own way out. Choosing to become managers and officials of other nobles is undoubtedly the most suitable direction.

Snapped.

Li Chengyi closed the "Heart of Nobility" in his hand and sighed slightly.

This body of his is only nine years old and needs time to grow unless he is willing to abandon this identity completely.

but.

Li Chengyi stretched out his finger, and the fingertips shone a little bit of golden light. The golden light was so weak that it was almost invisible as light.

This is the limit of the world.

‘To be precise, it’s not restriction, but silence and slowness.’ He could sense that any power in this place was extremely heavy.

Like an extremely viscous quagmire, it is impossible to swim as lightly as in the ocean.

Here, power is trapped and squeezed within the body, unable to affect physical reality.

‘In this place, the power that can destroy the world in other blind spots can only shine here’

This is what Li Chengyi really tested.

His brilliant flash, released with all his strength, only flickered like a firefly. Even fainter than fireflies, you can't even see it unless you look carefully.

‘What an ordinary world. Where have I been? ? ’

He sighed deeply.

"Carlos, come on, your grandfather is here, and with him is your uncle. Do you remember him? He used to hug you when you were a child." Mother Melissa hurriedly walked in with two maids, her face filled with joy. With a relaxed smile.

Li Chengyi put down the book in response, walked to Melissa, followed her obediently, left the study, and walked along the gray carpeted corridor to the living room.

There were a few more armored soldiers talking on both sides of the aisle. They wore full sets of silver armor and helmets, holding broad-bladed sword hilts, scattered in twos and threes on both sides.

Seeing Melissa walking past with Li Chengyi, they all tilted their upper bodies slightly as a tribute.

Li Chengyi remembered that they were not soldiers from the Black Fort. Looking at the family crest on the armor, it was a bear holding down a python and biting it.

This is the coat of arms of the Thrall family. It is also the family run by the maternal grandfather, Earl Remington Sal.

The soldiers were strong and burly, each over 1.8 meters tall. Most of them smelled faintly of sweat, spoke in rough voices, and thick beards could be seen in the gaps under their helmets.

Li Chengyi made a rough estimate of their physical strength, and after roughly knowing what they were capable of, he went to the living room.

In the living room, which is so simple that there are only a few tapestries and coats of arms, the fire is blazing and making a crackling sound.

The scent of milk tea floats in the air.

A white-haired old man with a slight cough was standing by the sofa with his back straight, listening to the questions of a burly black-haired old man.

Standing was the supervisor, Old Mr. Buck, who was also the chief butler of Black Castle.

The person sitting and asking was a strong old man with wrinkles on his face. He was wearing aristocratic clothes that were mottled and gorgeous like python patterns. He had a majestic expression and his beard was only a little bit of chin, which was neatly trimmed.

He is Melissa's father and Carlos's grandfather, Remington Sal.

Noticing someone coming in, the two turned to look over. Remington's eyes were immediately attracted to the black-haired boy next to his daughter.

The boy wore a simple brown coat, a buttoned white coat inside, and slim white trousers.

The collar is also tied with a simple black and purple bow tie.

The key is those eyes.

Should a nine-year-old boy have eyes like that?

Remington didn't know, he only knew that this kid named Carlos seemed to be very precocious.

Such thoughts flashed through his eyes, and then he ignored it and focused on his daughter Melissa.

"My dear daughter, you look much more haggard than the last time we met. I'm sorry about Op. I advised him not to act out of anger or continue to gamble, but..."

Op is Melissa's husband, the previous Baron of Okla, and Carlos's father.

"Father, it's not your fault. I have tried to persuade him for a long time, but..." Melissa said as tears started to flow down again.

Her eyes were swollen, obviously from crying too much these days.

The two comforted each other for a few words, and then Remington's eyes turned to Li Chengyi.

"Baron, you look strong, which is good. As a man at this time, you must bear everything you should bear. There is no age at this time, and the enemy will not be merciful because of your youth."

"I understand. Thank you very much, grandpa, for rushing here to help me and my mother." Li Chengyi performed an aristocratic salute according to the etiquette teacher's instructions in his memory.

"Your uncle has gone out for a walk. I can't stay here for a long time, but he can. Before you can take on the overall situation, he will stay and help you take care of all the industrial territories. I will also leave twenty fully armed bears. Food Army, they obey the orders of your uncle Lei Kai and can protect the safety of Black Castle. I heard that several towns in the territory have not paid their food taxes, so I just want to come and solve it together this time. From now on, you can focus on your academic training, and these trivial matters will be taken care of. Let Lei Kai handle it completely." Remington said word by word in a clear and rhythmic tone.

His tone left no room for argument or doubt, and it was obvious that he had already thought about it.

Melissa also stood aside and said nothing.

But to Li Chengyi's ears, this was actually just empty talk.

This grandfather came all the way here, and his purpose was obviously not that simple.

According to the aristocratic law of the Sola Empire, once he, the orthodox male heir, dies, the territory will inevitably be inherited and merged by Melissa's family in accordance with the law that it can only be inherited by men.

Because there are no other males in Carlos’s father’s family.

But Li Chengyi didn't care about this at all. He simply responded and nodded, no matter what the other party said.

There are three towns in the territory, a large forest and few fields. The main industries are planting cold area crops and breeding snowshoe hares and snow deer.

As soon as Remington arrived, he assigned two of the towns to Lei Kai with full responsibility, while Melissa and Old Buck were only responsible for one town.

Such prestige made Old Buck want to speak several times, but Melissa stopped him every time.

Finally, the conversation was about to end, and Remington looked at Li Chengyi.

"Carlos, I heard that you like reading books?"

"Yes, grandpa." Li Chengyi nodded.

"Father, couldn't you recommend a spot to the White Tower? How about letting Carlos try?" Melissa said.

"White Tower?" Remington pondered for a moment.

The purpose of his trip was actually to come to the Okla family's inherited territory, and the White Tower was the domain of mages. His grandson Carlos's qualifications had been tested a long time ago. He was not a mage's material. In the past, I happened to be able to avoid warrior training.

It would not be too easy for a young man with little military strength and no force of his own to have any accidents happen in the future.

Just thinking of this, Remington glanced at Li Chengyi's face, which looked so much like his daughter's, that he couldn't help but feel soft.

By sending him to the White Tower like this, even if Carlos doesn't die, he will be completely destroyed.

Scholars are weak and can only rely on them, which is meaningless in this day and age.

'Perhaps, letting him practice martial arts so that he can have skills to protect himself in the future can be considered a destination.'

The empire also has laws that allow the heir to transfer territory and titles to blood relatives as long as they are willing to give up.

But then he thought about it, and Remington thought about his son who could not inherit the territory now. The Okla family's territory was just right for him.

His heart hardened again.

"The quota has been promised to others and has been taken up long ago. In Carlos's case, he still needs to practice martial arts and train his fighting power. Who will take care of him if he is sent to the White Tower at this time? What if you go to the territory?"

"Okay then" Melissa was convinced.

"Then it's settled. I will arrange for Milton to be Carlos' teacher and train him in knight combat methods. I will also teach him strategic marching." Remington said calmly. He became cruel in his heart.

"Thank you, father." Melissa said gratefully.

Li Chengyi followed and saluted.

He didn't ask. From the other party's eyes, he could no longer see warmth, but only calculations.

The plans for the following days were decided.

As his uncle, Lei Kai left twenty people with the Bear Food Army to guard the safety of the Black Castle. At the same time, the knight Milton stayed behind to serve as Baron Carlos, Li Chengyi's knight training instructor.

Because Carlos just fell ill, the training time started in a week, with a seven-day rest buffer.

During these seven days, Li Chengyi repeatedly tried various cultivation methods, martial arts, meditation, and simple exercises of the earth and moon.

But found it was useless.

Only the simplest and most basic biological principles are useful here, and the rest of the methods that can create strong strength are all ineffective.

Soon, seven days later.

Earl Remington left Black Castle, leaving Lei Kai and Milton, as well as twenty bear food troops, to occupy the defense of Black Castle.

Milton officially began to train Li Chengyi.

Spacious ice and snow school grounds.

The weapons rack was hung with strings of ice picks in a specially cleared area.

Milton and Li Chengyi stood face to face.

This knight, who is over forty years old, is not very tall, but his muscles are very smooth, giving him an elegant temperament.

Her short curly brown hair and somewhat melancholy blue eyes give her a hint of the gentleness of a bard.

At this time, Milton was holding a wide wooden sword and looking at Li Chengyi opposite.

"Knights are essentially warriors. We don't have all kinds of special spell-casting abilities like mages. What we can rely on is mainly strength, speed, and reaction. Do you understand?"

Li Chengyi nodded.

"Yes, then Knight Milton, is there any difference between a knight and a warrior?"

"There is basically no difference, mainly in terms of equipment and maintenance. Knights' equipment and body maintenance are much better than those of warriors. For financial reasons, almost none of the warriors don't want to be a knight."

Milton sighed.

"When you have the same strength, the same speed, and similar skills, it's the equipment and tactical thinking that determine the outcome."

"Is there no fighting spirit or anything?" Li Chengyi asked.

"Grudge? What is that?" Milton was stunned for a moment.

"What about the seeds of life?" Li Chengyi asked again.

"Well, you have read too many novels and stories. The only thing we are good at is how to train strength, speed, reaction and tactics. The rest is at most a bit of a distinction between fighting schools. We don't have the ability to be passed down by blood like the mages." Milton He said helplessly.

Baron Carlos seemed precocious, but turned out to be a fanciful person.