Feng Chou's brain spun quickly as he weighed the pros and cons. After a moment of silence, he said, "I'm from Antalya County, and I'm the first successor of Viscount Ferguson. I was kidnapped by Drow when I was hunting. After I woke up, I became the test subject of an archmage in this city. He needed someone with noble blood to do a terrible magic experiment, but the experiment failed. They thought I was dead and threw me away like a corpse, but I came back to life … If you can find a way to get me out of here, I swear my father will thank you and make you a real knight."
Viscount Fegesack was the lord of Leo's father. When Leo was young, he had lived in Viscount Fegesack's castle as a servant for a period of time. His age, height, and hair color were very similar to Viscount Fegesack's eldest son. Unless this middle-aged man had seen Fegesack's eldest son with his own eyes, it would be very difficult to see through his lies.
In the early days of the Arcane Empire, land was very common. Even the lowest noble knights could get a piece of land of at least three square kilometers as their fief when they were enfeoffed.
However, as time passed and the number of nobles increased, the upper nobles were rarely willing to enfeoff land. They were more willing to be given the title of lifelong knight and use the annuity to hire middle and advanced professionals to serve them.
The real knight Feng Chou was talking about was a fief knight.
The fief of a fief knight could be passed down from generation to generation. Even if the younger generation was incompetent and couldn't become a real knight (a real knight had to be at least level 5), the fief wouldn't be taken back. The fief would become the sacred property of the family, and the family would at least be a squire.
For a level 6 warrior, this was undoubtedly a great temptation.
After listening to Feng Chou's words, the middle-aged man looked at him thoughtfully for a while, as if he was trying to determine the truth in his words.
After a moment of silence, he smiled bitterly and said, "I used to be a guard of an underground merchant guild. Our guild had trade with a nearby city of grey dwarves, and my caravan was in charge of this trade route. It used to be very smooth, but this time, for some reason, the caravan was ambushed by Drow. Most of the guards were killed, and only I was captured … If I had the ability to return to the surface …"
He didn't finish his words, but the meaning was clear.
Feng Chou asked, "So you're very familiar with the Underdark?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "I'm only familiar with the route I used to take. Even Drow and the grey dwarves don't dare to say that they're familiar with the Underdark. It's too big and complicated."
At this point, the middle-aged man suddenly thought of something and asked, "You said you were robbed near Forgesack?"
Feng Chou nodded, "In the east of Fogesack, in the territory of Pedro Pioneer, I was attacked and captured by the Drow there. I had planned to go there to catch a Green Owl as my future magic pet."
The Green Owl was known as the fastest common bird. It was also a bird that could move around day and night. It was the first choice for low-level mages to sign a magic pet.
The middle-aged man stroked his chin and said, "I once heard the mages of our caravan mention that the city of the duergar that we traded with should be right below Fogesark. The duergar also mentioned that there was an enemy drow city to their east. You said that you were captured in the east of Fogesark … But there shouldn't be a passage to the surface nearby."
After hearing this, Feng Chou searched Leo's memory. After a moment, he seemed to have thought of something and said, "Could it be a new passage?
Ferguson was opened up by Knight Erik. It's not impossible for there to be an undiscovered underground passage in just a little more than ten years. "
Speaking of frontier knights, there was a need to mention the order of expansion. With the proliferation of the human population, the land that could be enfeoffed in the human kingdom became less and less. The path of advancement for middle-level professionals became narrower and narrower. This caused social unrest to a certain extent. In order to solve this problem and expand their territory into the wilderness, some countries issued an order of expansion.
According to the order, any middle-level professional or above only needed to pay a deposit to be conferred as a frontier knight. They could also apply to the empire or the lord for a piece of wilderness as their territory. If the knight could occupy this area and cultivate a piece of land no less than three thousand mu and maintain it for more than twenty years, the kingdom would receive half of the land as a reward and recognize the knight's ownership of the territory. The knight would also be given a corresponding title according to the castle, land, population, and other conditions of the territory.
When the order of expansion was issued, countless middle-level professionals and above rushed to the wilderness. Who knew how many strong people shed their blood and tears in the wilderness.
Although Leo had a noble surname, in reality, his family was only a remote branch of the Stuart family that only had the title of Baron. His father, Erik Stuart, was only the second son of the Baron and did not have the right to inherit.
If it wasn't for Erik's father supporting him to open up a frontier knight territory, Erik would only be a commoner with a noble bloodline. At most, he would become a commoner knight of a certain family.
Leo's father's frontier knight territory was on the eastern edge of Viscount Ferguson's territory. It was a forest plain close to the eastern coastal mountain range.
Feng Chou searched Leo's memories and found that there seemed to be a bottomless cave on a mountain close to Pedro's frontier knight territory. Some time ago, his father wanted to use this cave, so he organized a team to explore it.
After hearing Feng Chou's words, the middle-aged man's eyes lit up. He murmured, "Maybe you're right. It stands to reason that the cave in the east of Shakui city in the Vita duchy is the only passage that connects to the surface world. The two Drow cities and three grey dwarf cities nearby all rely on this passage to trade with the surface world. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't rob each other's trading caravans, because the other party could do the same. Once such a thing happened, the end result would be a loss for both sides, and no one would be able to do business …"
Feng Chou continued, "Unless someone discovered a new passage, then they wouldn't dare to cut off other people's trade routes without any scruples!"
The two glanced at each other and saw excitement … and doubt in each other's eyes.
Of course, Feng Chou wouldn't be convinced by the words of others. He believed that Simon wouldn't either, but at least this was a glimmer of hope.
The two fell silent. Feng Chou finished the mushroom porridge in a few mouthfuls, and imitated the others, hanging the bowl around his neck.
Feng Chou did not notice that in another corner of the house not far from him, the level-4 warrior who had eaten three big bowls of mushroom porridge in a row and filled his stomach was attracted by Feng Chou and Simon who were whispering to each other. The level-4 warrior kept staring at them.
Feng Chou had just put away the bowl when there was a sudden commotion at the back door of the house. Feng Chou took a look and saw that someone had noticed that the patient was dead.
Several people carried the body and leaned it against the back door while laughing. Feng Chou faintly heard someone say, "… At least I can sleep well tonight …"
Simon saw that Feng Chou was paying attention to that side. He took a look and explained, "Bear Goblin often sneaks in and kidnaps slaves to eat meat. Those who sleep at the door are in danger. If a Bear Goblin sneaks in and sees the body, it won't kidnap a living person."
After listening to Simon's words, Feng Chou couldn't help but understand. No wonder everyone tried to stay away from the front and back door.
Simon looked at the noise around him, especially at the level-4 warrior who was staring at him and Leo. He thought for a while and got up from the straw bed. He patted Feng Chou's shoulder and got up and walked out.
Feng Chou followed him out of the stone house.