Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

The group following Su Li from the Zijing Castle was already quite large. Walking along the mountain road were the elite knights Schwartz and Friedrich, the formal knights William and Sophie, the trainee knights Hilder and Leif, and six armed squires.

These squires belonged to the Schwartz and Friedrich families. Whether in peacetime or wartime, the squires would obey their lords' commands, completing the rough, tiring, dirty, and cumbersome tasks that their lords avoided.

However, once on the battlefield, they would display every inch of their martial skills, wielding two-handed greatswords in the name of the gods, knights, or their lords, cleaving through all the villains before them. For the squires, each battle was an opportunity to advance in rank or repay their lords, even their only opportunity to rise to the knightly class—although the possibility was very slim.

They were the loyal servants of the knightly lords and the resilient infantry line on the battlefield. Basically, aside from the elite foot knights of the knightly orders, they were the most powerful infantry units in the empire. Every mature territory, in addition to a large number of knights, needed such an infantry legion to maintain the line. They were numerous, sizable, cheap, and versatile, capable of handling all the dirty and tiring work.

Their position dictated that they were not the focus of the group; the proud knightly lords attracted everyone's attention.

Especially Schwartz, clad in mithril rune armor, was dignified and mighty. The armor gleamed coldly in the sunlight, and the sound of his horse's hooves echoed like thunder, causing the knights William and Sophie in the group to repeatedly turn their gazes to him, envious of the mithril rune armor.

Knight Friedrich himself was already handsome, but his son William surpassed him, with a very handsome appearance and a lion-like mane of brown hair. He wore a full suit of plate armor and a kettle helm, looking every bit the elite knight.

His sister Sophie was a complete beauty. Having come of age, her figure was fully developed, with elegant and charming curves, radiating unparalleled sex appeal. Especially her wine-red long hair, cascading down her shoulders in waves, vividly showcasing her confidence, passion, and heroic spirit as a female knight.

In theory, this pair of men and women should have surpassed Su Li in terms of maturity, appearance, qualifications, and strength. However, Friedrich watched his two children, like children, unabashedly admiring and longing for the mithril armor. Then, looking at Su Li's composure, elegance, confidence, and approachability, he couldn't compare his two unpromising children with Young Master Su Li! Even though Young Master Su Li had just come of age, the maturity and demeanor he displayed easily overshadowed the older William and Sophie.

Friedrich couldn't help but sigh, then withdrew his gaze and asked Su Li, "Young Master Su Li, where are we going now?"

Su Li smiled and turned his head, asking everyone, "Did you all bring money? I've been lucky recently, so I'm taking you to win some money. The Zijing Town Arena Tournament is starting tomorrow, and we're going to place our bets before the deadline."

Hearing Su Li's words, Hilder and Leif were the most excited. They had completely trusted Su Li, especially Hilder, who was still clutching the gold coin she had won earlier. Such a large sum of wealth, she hadn't had a chance to exchange for change in the castle, so she hadn't returned it to Leif.

She immediately whispered in Leif's ear, "We'll bet with Young Master Su Li together later, and when we get the prize money, I'll return 1 gold coin to you."

Leif's heart was racing, and she nodded quickly, excitedly humming in agreement. She couldn't believe that wealth could increase so quickly. Yesterday, she had lent Hilder 10 silver coins, and in the blink of an eye, she could get back 1 gold coin.

Schwartz had become somewhat accustomed to Su Li's unconstrained thinking.

But Friedrich had only just met Su Li, and upon hearing this, he frowned slightly, "Young Master Su Li, shouldn't we be seizing the time to prepare for the development of the Border Prince's territory? The Zijing Town Arena Tournament has a maximum participation limit of trainee knights, so the victor is crowned with the honor of 'Dawn Knight.' This kind of combat is immature and full of unknowns. Perhaps a moment of tension and mistake could change the entire outcome of the match. Betting on it is completely a gamble."

Su Li said with a smile, "That makes sense, so let's just gamble a little for fun, with a maximum bet of 10 gold coins per person. But Knight Friedrich, you need to know that raising resources is also the most important responsibility of a developing lord. Without sufficient wealth, how can I build a larger army?"

Seeing Su Li's calm and confident demeanor, Friedrich didn't say much more. Raising funds was indeed the top priority at the moment. And he had to admit that Young Master Su Li obviously had a unique confidence in this regard.

After convincing Knight Friedrich, Su Li chatted about another matter with interest, "Knight Friedrich, do you know anything about griffins? Are they interested in lions?"

"Probably. People can even be interested in mermaids. There are many legends that griffins are alchemical creations, but I don't really agree. I think they might be like centaurs; griffons are creatures created by the extraordinary power of nature." After speaking, Friedrich asked curiously, "Why is Young Master Su Li suddenly interested in this? Do you want to breed a demi-griffon in the family's stables?"

Su Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are the family's demi-griffons bred?"

"Of course not!" Friedrich said, "Most of the terrifying creatures ridden by imperial knights are raised from a young age, but this rarely happens with demi-griffons. Humans have not mastered the training methods for these noble beasts with eagle heads and lion bodies, which only exist in dense and dangerous forests."

"The final trial for the knightly promotion of some famous knightly orders is to capture a demi-griffon alive and make it submit to them. Unsurprisingly, most of them fail and are torn to pieces by these beasts. This makes demi-griffon knights very rare in the empire. When a demi-griffon attacks, it can swoop down on its enemies before they have time to raise their weapons in defense; its razor-sharp claws can easily tear out their entrails, and its powerful beak can pierce through armor and limbs."

Su Li asked curiously, "Besides that, is there no other way to tame and obtain a demi-griffon?"

"High elves possess the talent for taming beasts and a way of interacting with natural creatures that allows them to be equal companions with elven horses, griffins, griffin horses, white lions, pegasi, dragons, phoenixes, giant eagles, war eagles, and forest spirits. In contrast, the empire's methods of taming beasts are relatively crude, so they cannot achieve coexistence with adult griffins. If you are the first person a young griffon sees when it opens its eyes for the first time, you can also tame a griffon, but such opportunities are obviously very rare. As far as I know, the family does not have any griffins about to be born."

Su Li's lips curled slightly, and he said, "Then what if I told you, Knight Friedrich, that you have a chance to obtain a demi-griffon? Would you like to try?"