The so-called gentleman's domain was actually a knight's domain.
When the descendant of a knight could not become a knight, he would lose his title and become a civilian. But this civilian was very different from a real civilian. They had land, money, and a certain relationship with the noble class. Moreover, as the descendant of a knight, their next generation could afford to go to a knight's school and receive the most orthodox training. Their chances of becoming a knight were much higher than others.
Once a gentleman's successor succeeded in becoming a knight, because there was a ready-made fief, according to the noble law, he would immediately be re-enfeoffed as a knight.
Over time, this kind of knight's family formed a class, that was the gentleman class. Even if a gentleman lost his title, he would be recognized and accepted by other knights and be regarded as a superior person.
…
After entering the forest, Feng Chou took out a horse from Qiankun Pagoda.
He rode his horse through the forest for more than ten kilometers. Suddenly, a river appeared in front of him.
There was a castle by the river, and thousands of acres of land were cultivated on both sides of the river.
This was a simple castle not much better than Leo's father's castle.
The castle was located on the south bank of the wide river, and along both sides of the river, large areas of farmland were cultivated. Looking at the scale of the farmland, this territory could barely meet the standards of a knight's domain.
To Feng Chou's surprise, there were no irrigation facilities in the farmland, and there were no waterwheels on both sides of the river, but the crops in the field were growing quite well.
Feng Chou rode through the farmland and came to the north gate of the castle. The guard on the wall poked his head out and asked, "Who are you?
What are you doing in Victor's domain? "
From his expression, she could tell that he wasn't very nervous. In fact, he was even a little interested.
In fact, the castle in this world was mainly used to defend against wild creatures. In Antalya County, which was not bordered by other countries, there were few wars between human nobles, because there were large areas of wasteland outside of human territory. Instead of attacking other nobles, it was better to explore the wasteland.
Feng Chou said, "I'm a mercenary who was entrusted by Mr. Clare. Is Clare's domain in that direction?" Feng Chou pointed to the northwest, which was the direction upstream of the river.
Hearing that he was going to the Territory of Claire, the soldier immediately lost his spirit. He said, "That's right," and shrank back.
Feng Chou smiled and bypassed the castle, continuing upstream along the river.
He walked upstream along the river bank for a short distance and left the agricultural area of Victor. Puddles and reed-like plants began to appear in the open space on both sides of the road.
This phenomenon undoubtedly indicated that there was an abundance of underground water.
Feng Chou couldn't help but think of a lake that wasn't far from here.
Feng Chou had once seen a map of Antalya County in the library of the Mage Academy. It was a map drawn by a Mage who had mastered the Flight spell. It was very accurate and detailed.
Therefore, Feng Chou knew that there was a lake about twenty kilometers northwest of Victor.
The lake, which was hundreds of square kilometers in size, was formed by a few rivers from the northern mountains that flowed into a low-lying land.
The Counts Of Antalya built a dam south of the lake, which collected the overflowing water from the south bank of the lake into a river, turning hundreds of thousands of acres of swamp and wetland downstream into fertile farmland.
The abundant underground water here should have come from that lake.
Feng Chou walked upstream along the road for a short distance and saw another territory. This was a knight's domain with only two thousand acres of farmland.
There were three knight's domains upstream of the river, and Clare's domain was the one closest to the upper reaches.
The surrounding farmland of this knight's domain was the same as Victor's domain. There were no irrigation facilities, but the crops were growing well.
Feng Chou's speculation was basically confirmed.
The crops here were growing well, probably because of the underground water from the lake in the northwest.
But for some reason, no one had developed this place on a large scale.
This thought flashed through Feng Chou's mind, but it was not what he was concerned about now.
He raised his eyes and looked at the castle by the river not far away. It was no longer a castle. A mud fence surrounded a village with only twenty or so households. The length of the mud fence was less than fifty meters. In the middle of the village was a small round stone castle, which was much shabbier than the one in Leo's house.
Feng Chou rode his horse to the front of the mud fence.
On the mud fence, there were a few militiamen wearing simple armor and holding axes and spears. They looked at Feng Chou, who was riding a tall horse and wearing shiny armor.
There were armors in this world. In some shabby blacksmiths' shops, armors could be seen for sale. Compared to plate armor and chain armor, the armors in this world were mostly crudely made, and the armor plates used were also very thick.
Only the caravan's coachmen and the militiamen in the countryside would use armors.
It was not because the armors were not good. It was said that before the Arcane Empire, armors in this world occupied half of the market. But during the Arcane Empire, a genius young mage invented a genius spell, which directly led to the elimination of armors.
This spell was called "Disintegrate Armor." It was only a level 0 spell, but it could cut all the leather ropes on the armor and disintegrate it into a pile of iron pieces. Later on, the improved level 1 spell "Disintegrate Armor" could even disintegrate riveted chain armor.
It was also the spell "Disintegrate Armor" that led to the creation of fusion magic in the "Alchemy" department.
Nowadays, the ancient riveting technology had been eliminated. Instead, magic items with fusion magic, such as "Magic Welding Tongs" were used to connect the chain armor. Not only could it resist the spell "Disintegrate Armor", but it also greatly increased the defense power. However, the cost was also much higher.
The reason why the low-level caravan's men and militiamen still wore this kind of armor was probably because they were not even worth the opponent's spell, even if it was a level 0 spell.
In the end, the militiamen did not have the courage to question Feng Chou, who was riding a tall horse and wearing shining armor. And Feng Chou was too lazy to pay attention to them.
There would never be a professional above level 5 in such a soil enclosure.
After passing through two knight's territories, Feng Chou finally arrived at the territory of Claire.
This territory was even more shabby than the previous two knight's territories.
Feng Chou came to the front of the gate that was tied with round wood tenons and tenons, and explained his purpose to the few militiamen with dull eyes inside.
The militiamen looked at each other, and one of them ran to the small stone fort in the middle of the soil enclosure.
Not long after, two middle-aged men in old suits and triangular hats, and a strong man in old armor that did not fit well, came over.
After showing the document issued by the Mercenary Union and signed by the gentleman of Claire, the strong man in the old armor ordered the militiamen to open the wooden gate and let Feng Chou in.