"...And, and the four ladies who returned with Knight Lenmond this time are pregnant again..." Generio added this report. Though it was Knight Lenmond's private affair, Generio couldn't help but speak up.
At that moment, Lorist felt as though ten thousand horses were galloping through his mind—this fellow Lenmond must be the reincarnation of a breeding boar. While mentally cursing under his breath, he raised his head and asked Generio with a blank expression: "I recall that before Knight Lenmond was dispatched by the family to
Generio wore an expression of pure envy: "Yes, Your Highness. At that time, Knight Lenmond's seven wives had borne him a total of seventeen children, and every single one survived—none died in infancy. Knight Lenmond became a legendary figure in the family's territory, hailed as the Heroic Father. Everyone envied Knight Lenmond's seven wives for being so fertile. His eldest son Balak is already seventeen and studying at
"They're all fierce women with wide hips—what's there to envy?" Fatty Shi grumbled unhappily from the side.
He had two sons and one daughter. While his wives' individual birth counts weren't inferior to Knight Lenmond's wives, the overall total was completely outmatched. Moreover, his eldest son had been spoiled rotten by his literary-minded wife, becoming a typical noble young master who preferred literature over martial arts, loved food and hated work. At just twenty, he already had three concubines. Poor Fatty Shi was completely suppressed by his wife and his Sword Saint father-in-law, never daring to entertain thoughts of taking concubines himself.
On the other hand, Fatty Shi's second son and youngest daughter were born close together, only a year and a half apart. His literary-minded wife focused her attention on their daughter and adopted a hands-off approach with the second son. As a result, this second son was raised by his Sword Saint grandfather Injelik into an unruly little tyrant. At just twelve, he beat his elder brother—who was six years older—into fleeing with his tail between his legs. When he awakened his combat force at fourteen, Injelik was overjoyed, declaring that the lineage would continue, and prepared to pass on everything he had ever learned to this precious genius of a great-great-grandson.
Though Fatty Shi had always been too busy with family affairs to attend to his children's education, he scoffed at his Sword Saint father-in-law's plans.
"You teach him? And turn him into another little turtle?"
As a first-rank Sword Saint, Injelik had always stayed at home, unwilling to serve the family. Sword Saints Reidi and Hughes had already advanced to the second rank, yet this father-in-law of his, after luckily advancing to the first rank, had shown no further progress whatsoever. Just like last time, when the Commercial Alliance sent a Sword Saint to Northland to assassinate Lorist, Injelik had retreated after being wounded at the first exchange, then hid at home refusing to show his face, claiming he was recuperating from his injuries...
So Fatty Shi, in a rare display of backbone at home, transferred his second son to Nico Academy, and arranged with Lorist that once the boy turned sixteen and graduated from Nico Academy, he would serve as Lorist's attendant. If Lorist took a liking to him, he would accept him as a disciple. The eldest son was a lost cause for this lifetime—let him live out his days indulging in wine and women.
Perhaps the Shrade family's glory would rest on this second son. As for what his Sword Saint father-in-law might think, Fatty Shi couldn't care less—if the old man had the guts, he could try competing with Lorist, the National Sword Saint, for a disciple. Everyone knew that Injelik turned into a mouse whenever he saw Lorist, and managing to complete a full sentence was considered a feat.
In truth, Fatty Shi was somewhat envious of Knight Lenmond. What he envied wasn't Lenmond's wives' fertility, but the sheer number—seven wives! If he himself had seven wives, the Shrade household would be bustling with life. Never mind twenty or thirty children—he'd have at least a dozen, and it wasn't as if he couldn't afford to support them...
"Seventeen plus five plus four more in the womb—it seems our Knight Lenmond will soon become a father of twenty-six children. This shows that Knight Lenmond has been living well in the Jekano Kingdom, since he still had the energy to get all four of his following wives pregnant..." Lorist laughed.
Back then, as the family's intelligence chief in Morant City, Knight Lenmond had offended a Commercial Alliance trade noble and was forcibly conscripted into the war. During the conflict between the Commercial Alliance's forces and the allied armies of the Central-South Kingdoms, he inadvertently treated the gravely wounded and captured Crown Prince of the Jekano Kingdom. When the prince's subordinates raided the camp, they took Lenmond with them. His four wives heard the news, set out to find Knight Lenmond, and the family was ultimately reunited. Their tale was so moving and inspiring that it could have been made into a classic romantic opera called "The Search for a Husband."
Knight Lenmond was consequently declared a traitor by the Commercial Alliance—a capital crime punishable by immediate beheading without even a moment for defense. At the same time, the Commercial Alliance's territory was vast, cutting off Knight Lenmond's route back to the family's lands. Left with no choice, Knight Lenmond could only remain in the Jekano Kingdom with his four wives, making a living by practicing medicine.
It wasn't until the
"And Knight Lenmond won't remain the father of only twenty-six children—I believe his three wives who stayed behind in the family territory will soon have bellies too, and in the coming years, they'll get pregnant at least twice more..." Fatty Shi chimed in from the side.
"Your Highness, I truly sympathize with Knight Lenmond—supporting such a large family is no easy task..." Generio expressed his concern for Knight Lenmond's family.
"Indeed. Back then, Knight Lenmond had only a single small silver coin as pocket money, bustling through the streets all day treating patients just to keep life at a barely tolerable level. Among the family knights, his situation was the most destitute. After all, he had seven wives to treat equally—when buying birthday gifts, he had to buy seven of everything, and he couldn't leave anyone out..." Fatty Shi shared this sentiment.
"I recall that Knight Lenmond was also granted the title of Baron in this enfeoffment. Did you select a good fief for him?" Lorist asked Fatty Shi.
"I did," Fatty Shi nodded. "Knight Lenmond's barony is located around the Xingsen Minor Mountains in Dlamik Province, covering one hundred and fifty square li. The territory includes a stretch of mountain forest, a small lake, a ready-made castle, and a small silver mine. According to our family's regulations on mining territorial resources, the silver mine is to be operated by the family's mining department. Each year, Knight Lenmond's family receives thirty percent of the profits—nearly two thousand gold Forde. Combined with other territorial income, they'll bring in over three thousand gold Forde annually, more than enough to maintain a respectable noble lifestyle."
Lorist tapped his fingers on the table, pondered for a moment, then picked up a quill pen and wrote a few lines on a blank sheet of paper. He handed the paper to Generio: "Generio, take this withdrawal slip to Steward Bowley and collect ten thousand gold Forde—this is coming out of my own pocket. Later, Shrade, I'll trouble you to bring Generio to Knight Lenmond's home and deliver the ten thousand gold Forde to him. Tell him this is a personal reward from me as his lord.
My apologies, Shrade, for taking up your time again. I believe Knight Lenmond will be too eager to see his family to come and pay his respects to me as his lord right away. So I can only trouble you to make this trip. These ten thousand gold Forde will let Knight Lenmond's family dress up splendidly for the New Year celebration, give him some leeway to develop his barony without having to scrape together funds everywhere, and also help him curry favor with his seven wives."
"Heh heh..." Fatty Shi laughed. "You ought to bleed a little, Your Highness. Knight Lenmond's misfortune is your doing—you're the one who had him marry seven wives, live in a sea of suffering, and become an object of our sympathy. I'm sure Knight Lenmond will be very grateful for your reward. Over these six years, he probably didn't save much in the Jekano Kingdom—he just gained nine more children..."
"Ha ha," Lorist also laughed heartily. "Serves him right—who told this guy to fail to control himself? Setting up a harem in the women's camp—he should know the consequences of being a stud now. Besides, don't make him sound so pathetic. He's probably enjoying every bit of it himself. Otherwise, how could there be such a continuous stream of babies? Oh right, give him this year off. Starting next April, tell him to get himself over to Chief Kodan for his assignment. I think with his abilities, he'd be quite suitable as a Senior Patrol Inspector. The family territory's patrol system still lacks some management personnel."
This was giving Knight Lenmond an iron rice bowl. A Senior Patrol Inspector was already a senior position in the family territory's patrol system, responsible for overseeing patrol affairs in a given region. For instance, Fengleyuan had seven towns, each with its own patrol unit. Besides maintaining order and handling criminal cases in their respective towns, they were also responsible for managing sanitation, traffic, and other municipal affairs, while also assisting various family departments with law enforcement work. They also took turns patrolling the villages under each town's jurisdiction. The Senior Patrol Inspector was responsible for overseeing the patrol affairs of all seven towns in Fengleyuan.
If Knight Lenmond became a Senior Patrol Inspector, his annual salary plus benefits, subsidies, and bonuses would amount to over three hundred gold Forde—many times more than what he earned treating patients on the streets. Moreover, since he had returned to the family territory, the one hundred gold Forde annual danger allowance he received as a special investigator for the Woleiber Intelligence Investigation Bureau would be gone. When he was stranded in the Jekano Kingdom, his three wives and seventeen children who remained in Northland had lived comfortably on this allowance, his salary, and the benefits afforded to family knights.
Most importantly, becoming a Senior Patrol Inspector meant that Knight Lenmond wasn't one of those idle nobles—he was serving in an official capacity within the family, indicating that there was still room for advancement in both his career and his noble rank, rather than just muddling through on a barony.
"Your Highness, on behalf of Knight Lenmond and the old students of Dawn Academy, I express our heartfelt gratitude and highest respect!" Fatty Shi solemnly bowed to Lorist.
It was Fatty Shi who had persuaded Lenmond—then embroiled in conflict with a pharmacology professor at Dawn Academy and suffering persecution—to follow Lorist northward, becoming one of the thirty-six students. Excluding the seven students who defected to the
Knight Lenmond's return became a legendary story in the family territory, especially since he had brought back five children and four pregnant wives. So much so that some family knights and civil officials who struggled with having heirs kept hosting banquets for Knight Lenmond, beating around the bush to find out whether he had some special method or potion for having children, and were willing to pay handsomely for it. Eventually, these stories reached the ears of Princess Sylivia and his four concubines. Princess Sylivia even forced Lorist to personally go and ask Knight Lenmond whether he truly had some special method or potion...
Miserable or not, life went on. Once October passed, Lorist took his entire family to the Cherry Ridge estate. North Sea City had become unbearable—the cold wind blowing in from the sea pierced right through to the bone, as if winter had arrived a full month early. Because Princess Sylivia didn't like returning to Ragebear City, which resembled a massive construction site, Lorist understandingly chose the Cherry Ridge estate—a private estate he had gifted to Princess Sylivia, with especially beautiful scenery.
It wasn't until mid-December that Lorist brought his entire family back to the lord's manor in Ragebear City, preparing to preside over the upcoming New Year celebration. By this time, Ragebear City was festooned with lanterns and colorful decorations, surging with crowds of people. The overcast skies and the sky-filling snowflakes as large as goose feathers couldn't dampen the jubilation and enthusiasm of the entire city's residents. In addition to the white snow piled along the roadsides and sculpted into all manner of snow sculptures, the city also hosted various open-air theatrical performances and cultural activities, with cheers and songs constantly ringing through the air.
This was the New Year celebration held in honor of the Grand Duke of Northland, National Sword Saint Lorist, leading the Norton Family's forces on a victorious return from their three-year expedition to the Mana Hill Plains. The family had invested a massive amount of funds to share the joy with the people. Moreover, a large-scale enfeoffment and promotion ceremony was to be held, so the scale of this New Year celebration surpassed all previous ones. The momentum was unprecedented, and the entire city overflowed with a festive atmosphere.
The two promoted to Count were Chief Spel and Chief Kodan. Those promoted to Viscount included the first batch of sixteen family Gold Knights led by Fatty Shi, Sword Saints Reidi and Hughes,
Among the forty-six newly promoted to territorial Baron, the first noteworthy one was Sericamp, who had risen from being Lorist's personal attendant to a territorial Baron—demonstrating the Norton Family's meritocratic approach to promotion regardless of background. The second was Schward, whose elevation to territorial Baron surprised many, as he already held a Viscount title granted by Duke
It was an unforgettable New Year celebration. The large-scale enfeoffment ceremony drew wave after wave of cheers, heralding the Norton Family's ever-thriving development, its power at its zenith, and a brilliantly bright future ahead.
...