Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence

The news of the Dragon Nest adventure team's return finally interrupted the stubborn dwarf commander.

His eyes lit up as well, and he couldn't bother insisting on sending troops anymore. He laughed loudly in a resounding voice, "Hahaha, Dorgin hasn't disgraced the name of us dwarves, successfully bringing the team back. Let's hurry and see what treasures they brought back from the Dragon Nest."

"I say, Order of the Purple Rose, now that our warriors have returned from the Dragon Nest with divine weapons, you have no excuse to refuse to send troops, right?"

The dwarves don't believe in the Sun Goddess, the goddess of tactics; they only believe in their own race's wisdom and talent.

A dwarven proverb: "The durability of a shield depends on how many blows it can withstand on the battlefield; the mellowness of wine depends on how many autumns it has aged in the barrel; the excellence of an archway depends on how many years it can endure wind and rain; and a dwarf's wisdom depends on how many years of life are etched upon his beard."

Su Li's young age made him particularly suspicious. Could the Order of the Purple Rose's refusal to fight be the Sun Goddess's tactic, or human cowardice?

If they hadn't had a good relationship, this irritable dwarf would have questioned him long ago.

Su Li couldn't bother with his questions. Right now, he was most concerned about the state of the adventure team members, especially his female courtier and his agriculture minister.

So, he decisively said, "Quick, let them in. No, I'll personally welcome our heroes. We'll talk about sending troops after I've spoken with them."

Hearing Su Li's words, the dwarf Muradin had no objections and immediately followed him out of the hall into the courtyard to greet the four warriors returning from the Dragon Nest.

Their condition was much better than Su Li had expected. He had even prepared himself for them to be missing arms and legs or even dead.

But aside from Ashfield, who was as thin as a skeleton or an old imperial farmer, the others didn't have many injuries.

They drove a chariot pulled by a battle ram directly into the courtyard. The carriage of the four-wheeled wooden cart was filled with bags of supplies. From the tightly tied openings of the bags, one could see various treasures such as longswords, flagpoles, and shields. Clearly, this adventure to the Dragon Nest was extremely fruitful!

Su Li didn't glance at these items. He immediately walked to Hilud, hugged her tightly, and spun her around in his arms, only slightly relieved after confirming she wasn't injured.

Then, Su Li kissed her heroic and beautiful cheeks and said, "Quickly report your itinerary for the past few days to me. Report your location to me; I want to see where my heart has run off to."

Two red clouds instantly appeared on Hilud's fair face, and she lowered her head shyly. She felt somewhat embarrassed, but also exceptionally happy and sweet, and couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth. Since they met, the two had been almost inseparable, and they had never been apart for so long. Now, absence makes the heart grow fonder, and hearing her lover's sweet words, she felt as if her whole being was enveloped in an atmosphere of happiness.

So-called love and romance are a maze to those involved, and disgusting to outsiders.

Dorgin couldn't help but grumble and complain, directly transforming into a dramatic master and beginning his exaggerated performance: "Oh, my old friend! You're truly one who values beauty over friendship! The four of us heroes bravely charged into that Blood Pine Forest Dragon Nest and snatched wealth from the dragon's mouth. To Hilud, your attitude is, 'My most precious treasure, my sweet little darling, has returned safely, without a single hair out of place, as beautiful as a princess from a fairy tale.'"

"As for me, humph, I'm like a pebble on the roadside, 'Oh, the dwarf is back too,' without even a warm hug, let alone cheers and applause!"

Su Li was amused and laughed heartily, stepping forward to warmly embrace him, saying, "My friend, there are no sweet words to welcome you, but there are flowers and fine wine! I've prepared two whole barrels of troll brew for you. Tonight, we'll drink until we're drunk!"

The little jealousy in Dorgin's heart instantly vanished, and he excitedly opened his arms and laughed: "Hahaha! Good, good, good! My friend, you truly are the best friend who understands me most! Our friendship is as mellow as troll brew, we'll drink until we're drunk!"

Afterward, Su Li stepped forward to comfort Fandal and Ashfield one by one. Their conditions were slightly worse, but there were no major problems; they had only consumed a bit of vitality and energy, and just needed to recuperate.

Su Li smiled and patted their arms, generously saying, "You've all worked hard. The Blessed Wisteria tree in our territory has been growing very quickly thanks to the acceleration of the Rainbow Hail Crystals. Perhaps the Blessed Wisteria pods will mature in the autumn this year. You two should rest and recuperate first, and when the Blessed Wisteria pods mature, I'll give you three each!"

This Blessed Wisteria pod might be relatively sour because it's the first year the Blessed Wisteria tree has matured, so it's not fully ripe, but it should be able to extend your lifespan by a few months.

The two, who were originally somewhat listless, immediately perked up upon hearing this, and hurriedly replied, "Praise Your Lordship's generosity; the Great God Hyacinth will bless your health and the continuation of your lineage."

"It is an honor for us of the Dawn Church to serve Your Lordship."

No wonder they were so excited; this was a Blessed Wisteria pod, after all, and eating one could extend their lifespan by a few months. Moreover, based on this contribution and merit, they would likely have the opportunity to receive more in the years to come, potentially extending their lifespan by decades or even centuries. This trip was too worthwhile!

Su Li nodded, and after confirming that the members of the adventurer team were all right, he turned his attention to the bags of supplies on the cart, asking, "Let's see just how fruitful your trip was, considering the risks you took."

Hilud immediately directed Deathclaw to step forward and use its sharp beak to pick up the bags of supplies one by one and place them in front of Su Li.

Then, Schwartz and Frederick stepped forward and took out all the supplies, arranging them neatly in the courtyard, sorted by type.

The first thing to be counted was gold coins. The Seal Minister Laun recorded the details in the ledger and reported to Su Li, "Lord, the adventurer team brought back a total of 430 dwarven Oath Gold coins and 176 gold crowns!"

This item alone yielded close to 4,500 gold coins, and that was just calculated at the lowest exchange rate.

With friends like the dwarves of Redbeard Keep, it would also be possible to open up trade routes to Dragon Rock Forge in the future. Su Li couldn't possibly exchange the dwarven Oath Gold for gold crowns. If he casually used the dwarven Oath Gold to buy some dwarven equipment, jewelry, and engineering equipment and traded it, the wealth it would bring could be several times that value, and earning 10,000 gold crowns wouldn't be impossible.

So, Su Li waved his hand at Phyllis, saying, "Take one-tenth and distribute it to Hilud, Dorgin, Fandal, and Ashfield. Take the rest back to the castle's cellar and store it."

Standing to the side, Phyllis immediately stepped forward happily and began counting them one by one.

This was not an easy task. Most commoners in this world were illiterate, and even many knights couldn't read a single word.

The overall illiteracy rate in the empire was over 98%. The fact that she, a female courtier, could actually read, count, and even calculate one-tenth of a value surprised many of the onlookers.

They were all clear that this female courtier came from a common background, and there were not a few knights who secretly sneered at Su Li's behavior of recruiting a farmer's daughter as a courtier, believing that it simply tarnished the honor of nobles and knights.

But the knights didn't think much of it. They only assumed that this female courtier might have been a follower of the Sun Goddess, after all, the people of the Sun Goddess Church would explain tactics to the believers and teach them to think every day of rest.

Hilud had learned to read and understand military strategy from this process, and Lord Ron had praised her highly.

What was subsequently tallied was the books that Hilud brought back. Priest Ron held these three sets of books with some excited trembling, and said to Su Li, "Lord, these are the classic books bestowed by the grace of the Sun Goddess Violet, and should be treasured in the library and monastery of our church's holy land. I don't know how they fell into the hands of the green dragon. I am sure that the divine grace on them, after being fully absorbed, is enough to create a powerful Chosen Knight."

"Chosen Knight?!" Su Li exclaimed in surprise. He immediately took the three sets of books from Ron's hand and flipped through them.

"How long will it take to create a Chosen Knight? Can it be done before the battle with the demon army ends? Before the battle with the green dragon?"

Ron hesitated for a moment and shook his head, saying, "We don't know. It depends on the knight's comprehension and when they can fully absorb the contents of the books. But in any case, a few days is definitely not enough."

These were three sets of books, not three books!

Stacked up, they were nearly half a meter high, especially the *Goddess's Tactics*, which had 27 editions of annotations alone.

So, Su Li asked with concern, "What about a few months? If we can successfully create a Chosen-level knight before the green dragon awakens, our chances of winning will greatly increase."

Priest Ron still shook his head, saying, "I don't know. I have never seen a knight rise from the Champion level to the Chosen level in just a few months."

"Even with the best talent and the most diligent effort, it should take at least a year to rise from the Champion level to the Chosen level."

At this time, Hilud interrupted Ron's argument. She tilted her head slightly and reached out to take a golden hairpin from the bun behind her neck, saying, "With the blessing of this ancient dwarven relic, it is not difficult to read these three sets of books in two months, thoroughly understand them, absorb the contents of the books, and fully obtain the divine grace."

"This hairpin can help people clearly remember every detail, like a camera imprinted in the mind, and it can also increase the wearer's mental agility, rapidly improve their skills and cultivation level. Even witchcraft and magic only need to be heard once to immediately analyze the components needed for the spell."

Isn't this a cultivation artifact?

All the human knights focused their attention on the golden prop in Hilud's hand.

Su Li asked curiously, "An ancient dwarven relic? What is this worth?"

Before Hilud could explain in detail, Muradin excitedly rushed to Hilud, rudely snatched the hairpin into his hands, excitedly held it up with both hands, carefully confirmed it several times against the sunlight, and finally burst into tears.

"Kadrin Redbeard's Golden Hairpin! It's really Kadrin Redbeard's Golden Hairpin!"

"Value? Value! How can this treasure be measured by value? This is our ancient dwarven relic, the symbol of the High King's status!"

"My friend, you should return this treasure to us dwarves. Please believe in our dwarven generosity, we will give you an extremely satisfactory reward."

"Our High King will fill your warehouse with gold and drown your castle with countless armors and jewels!"

Su Li, of course, had no doubt about Muradin's words.

Although some criticisms of the dwarves would say that the dwarves are stingy and greedy.

But the dwarf's desire for gold is very different from the dragon's.

In fact, in dwarven culture, success is measured by the amount of wealth. Dwarves see the accumulation of wealth as a means of earning the respect of those around them and living a good life. Therefore, ordinary dwarves are richer than people of similar status in other races. The emperor of the human empire is far less wealthy than the dwarven High King.

But dwarves are also very generous when bestowing priceless treasures to glorious clan dwarven warriors, and very generous when repaying debts and reciprocating the friendship of other races.

However, Su Li smiled and nodded, then took the hairpin directly from his hand while Muradin was excited and distracted, and turned around and inserted it into Hilud's hair bun.

"This Imperial Seal... no, the dwarven hairpin, of course, I will return it to your dwarven High King. After all, if I take this thing, you dwarves will not recognize me as the dwarven High King."

After putting the hairpin on, Su Li looked at Hilud's heroic face with a hint of beauty, nodded in satisfaction, and continued, "But such a precious thing, I can't send a few people thousands of miles to the dwarven capital, right?"

"I think the High King should at least send an envoy to discuss the return of this hairpin with me to show solemnity and appropriateness, right?"

Muradin's eyes immediately became feverish, staring greedily at Hilud, the golden hairpin symbolizing the supreme authority of the dwarves was inserted between her soft hair.

Under the decoration of this golden shining hairpin, Hilud's temperament is more noble, the sun shines on her dimly, it is simply beautiful to the whole body shining, making people feel ashamed.

Muradin heard Su Li's voice, restrained his excited mood a little, and immediately said: "Of course! Dwarves and humans have always been firm allies, and we have a deep and close friendship with Blackfort. We dwarves should show our importance to our friends."

"Please rest assured, knights of the Purple Rose family, our dwarven High King Thorgrim is the richest dwarf in the world today, and also the holder of the most powerful rune - the Eternal Rune, he is the revival master that all our dwarves are looking forward to."

"He was an exceptionally generous and magnanimous king, vastly different from ordinary dwarves. He believed that the petty grievances of dwarves only led to death and destruction, and that making a big fuss over trivial matters like a few copper coins was ultimately more harmful than beneficial. He also encouraged engineers to innovate and advocated for the fastest possible (by dwarven standards) approval of new technologies. Furthermore, breaking away from the dwarves' reclusive and self-protective style, he actively sent troops to help other races."

"I believe that once he hears about this comb, he will immediately dispatch an army and bring you a reward that will satisfy you."

"You will earn the friendship of the entire dwarven race!"

This is truly rare! To have the stubborn, rigid, and arrogant dwarves use the honorific 'you'.

Su Li smiled calmly and replied, "No problem! Before that, I'll have Hilde keep this ancient relic for you, after all, she retrieved it from the dragon's lair."

Su Li didn't ask if it was okay; this was a direct decision and notification.

The dwarves no longer had their usual irritable and impulsive tempers and were exceptionally polite to Su Li. All the dwarves in heavy plate armor next to him nodded repeatedly, like chicks pecking rice: "No problem, no problem, it's only right."

Su Li then smiled and turned to Hilde, saying, "My dear, carry this treasure with you and strive to fully understand these three books as quickly as possible, absorbing all the divine grace within."

Hilde furrowed her heroic brows slightly and said, "Lord, giving this treasure book to me might be a bit wasteful. I have already received the divine grace of the Sun Goddess once, and my aptitude is enough to guarantee a breakthrough to the God-Chosen level. It would be best if you read this treasure book to ensure that you can advance to the God-Chosen level."

"What are you saying!" Su Li glared at her. "What do you mean wasteful? How can anything used on you be considered wasteful?"

"The opportunities we can obtain are endless, and what am I painstakingly collecting so many opportunities for? Isn't it to allow the loyal knights of the territory to grow as quickly as possible?"

"Giving this treasure book to me would be a real waste. As long as the territory can continue to prosper, I can grind my way to the Saint Domain Knight stage, even relying on the Blessed Wisteria Pods."

"With so many books, I don't have the strong will to study diligently for months."

If he had that kind of perseverance back then, he would have been admitted to a top university long ago! Would he have ended up as a corporate slave?

He didn't think that transmigrating for just a few months would bring about earth-shattering changes in his focus, willpower, and other aspects.

One of his greatest advantages is that he is very self-aware.

So, he held Hilde's slender shoulders with both hands, gazed into her eyes, and said, "My dear, I believe that only you in the territory have the aptitude to break through to the God-Chosen level in two months with the help of this comb."

"Only when you reach the realm of a God-Chosen Knight do we have hope of defeating the Green Dragon!"

"This is the best choice for you, for me, and even for the entire territory! The continued existence and prosperity of the territory are the most important things to me."