Chapter 332 Nobles and Fiefdoms
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for more chapters
Hobert exchanged 100 gold pounds for 120 gold Lire at the bank, first exchanging for 10 banknotes each of 1, 2, and 5 gold Lire denominations, and then exchanging for some silver Lire banknotes and coins, as well as copper Lire banknotes and coins.
In Backlund, the coin compartment in Hobert's wallet had been empty for a long time, but now he filled it up.
Currently, the currency of the North Continent, the Loen gold pound, is strong, which is largely due to Loen's industrial output being almost the sum of the other three countries.
Therefore, the handling fee for exchanging gold pounds for gold Lire is only 0.02%, while exchanging gold Lire for gold pounds has a handling fee of 0.5%.
Taking a rental carriage again, he arrived at the Christian Earl's manor. Hobert then realized that Christian's manor was not far from his own in a straight line.
Their mansions were located in the Huanna District, which is like Backlund's Empress Borough. The nobles of Feynapotter City basically lived here.
With Dophis in charge, things were indeed different. At Christian's mansion, more than a dozen male and female servants were already cleaning inside and out.
Several chefs and assistant chefs, as well as two gardeners and two coachmen, also began to work, while Dophis changed into butler attire and became the butler of the Earl's mansion.
After chatting with Dophis, who was supervising the work, he said that he had also hired a butler for Hobert, three male servants and three female servants, as well as a chef, an assistant chef, a coachman, and a gardener.
Finally, Dophis said, "If you have any other needs, you can let your butler hire more.
"The standard for barons in Feynapotter is no more than 20 servants. I suggest you hire a few more carpenters and bricklayers. I heard that your mansion needs some repairs."
Originally, Hobert wanted to borrow Christian's servants to clean up his own mansion for a while, but after hearing what Dophis said, he seemed to belatedly realize that he was now a noble, and under the financially permissible conditions, he could no longer use the servants at home to help clean the rental house like before.
Thinking of this, Hobert recalled that he still had more than half a year's rent for Blanca Street that had not been refunded, which was more than one hundred silver Lire.
Thinking about it, Hobert wanted to slap himself again. He kept telling himself in his heart: "I am a noble now, I am a noble now." He would no longer think about the one hundred silver Lire.
Originally, Hobert wanted to complain that once he joined the "Tarot Club", he would become a believer of the "God of Poverty", the most direct manifestation of which was being stingy.
But on second thought, Hobert realized that it was not his stinginess, but the education he received from childhood in the AD era, which was to live frugally.
And the life of a nobleman is all about luxury and waste. Hobert found that he actually disliked and looked down on these nobles who did not have the correct moral standards.
In the main hall of the Earl's mansion, Hobert saw Christian sitting on the sofa drinking tea.
The main hall had already been cleaned up, and now only here were no servants busy.
The father and son sat opposite each other, and Christian's new personal male servant poured Hobert a cup of tea.
Hobert took the initiative to say, "The crystal of that bracelet was traded at a party. I felt that it was a bit different at the time, and it was not too expensive, so I bought it, but after studying it for a long time, I didn't find out what it was for, so I made it into a bracelet.
"At the same time, I also used the scraps to carve a wax seal and make a pocket watch key."
Of course, he had to lie about this matter. "The Nation of Disorder" was his biggest secret at the moment, a secret that he could not tell anyone.
Christian slowly nodded: "Maybe it just doesn't work in our hands."
He instructed: "Keep the wax seal and pocket watch key safe. I have a hunch that they may be of great use in the future."
Even the demigod Christian could not see anything special about the wax seal, so Hobert believed that so far, only angels or above could perceive the special nature of the "Order Crystal".
But these "Order Crystals" still have a considerable effect on Hobert, and they cannot be hidden in the "Nation of Disorder", which would be a huge waste of resources.
Christian asked, "What are your plans?"
"I plan to return to my territory tomorrow." Hobert now increasingly felt that the territory should be the key to digesting the potion. To have new improvements, he must go to the territory as soon as possible to try to digest the potion.
Christian gave an "hmm" sound: "I will help you invite the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Land and Resources to dinner tonight, so we can learn more about your territory."
Hobert was slightly stunned: "I didn't expect this."
Although Christian was a "traitor", the position of Deputy Chief of Staff given to him by the King was a genuine high-ranking official, and he had enough face to invite Roderick, the Deputy Director of the Ministry of Land and Resources, to dinner.
At the dinner, the host and guests had a pleasant conversation, and Roderick told Hobert a lot of information about his territory.
Of course, this was inseparable from the gift that Christian gave to Roderick, which made him quite satisfied.
Through the conversation at the dinner, Hobert learned that his territory was considered the most fertile territory in Colson County. It previously belonged to a viscount who was native to Colson County.
But six years ago, the viscount's family died inexplicably in their mansion, and the officials sent to investigate did not find any problems.
Later, the royal family learned from Viscount Teuton, west of Full Moon Lake, that the viscount had actually died at the hands of bandits in his own territory.
The King seemed too lazy to care about this and divided the viscount's territory into two. Previously, one-half had been enfeoffed to Baron Ronald, but Baron Ronald had never dared to go to his territory.
After Roderick heard that Hobert was preparing to go to his fief, his eyes were full of disbelief. He suggested that Hobert hire more bodyguards, and even hiring a team of mercenaries would not be too much.
After the dinner, after seeing Roderick off, Christian suggested that Hobert go to his territory alone, and take public transportation, and inquire about the situation of that territory along the way.
Roderick only mentioned the general situation, as well as who the surrounding territories belonged to, and whether there was any background, etc. For the details, Hobert had to find out for himself.
Hobert also had this idea, and he could not easily expose the secret of his "travel" ability.
Returning to his baronial mansion, the butler and servants hired by Dophis were already waiting in the courtyard. This afternoon, under the supervision of the butler, the servants had cleaned up the mansion, at least Hobert's master bedroom was no problem to move into.
Hobert called the butler into the room, informed him that he would go to his territory tomorrow, and gave the butler 50 gold Lire to maintain the daily expenses of the baronial mansion, but he had to report the accounts to Mr. Dophis, the butler of Earl Christian, every week.
join p atreon.com/KeyofStars for more chapters