Chapter 12 Leave the Dog Behind
The open space outside the castle.

As they gradually got closer, Lily's cheerful steps began to slow down little by little.

Especially after seeing those strong soldiers in full armor, she, who had never seen such a scene before, couldn't help but move her throat, nervously held the white bread in her arms, and shrank back.

"It is not convenient to enter here for the time being, please go back." Two soldiers saw her standing outside as if she was about to come in, and stepped forward to stop her.

Seeing that the soldier's attitude was not vicious but just a polite warning, Lily plucked up the courage and raised the white bread.

"This is what the knight wanted, and I need to deliver it to him personally!" Lily lied with her eyes open, suppressing her heart that was beating faster due to excessive nervousness.

The two soldiers looked at her and then made way after a moment.

"Go in and don't cause any trouble."

"Yes, absolutely not." Lily nodded repeatedly, lowered her head and ran in.

After trotting to the front of the castle, she patted her flat chest and couldn't help smiling.

"Yeah, I'm really in! We'll have a chance to be alone with each other soon! White Bread, you're awesome!"

Lily happily rubbed the wolfhound's head, making it howl.

Turning her head and looking behind her, standing at the angle of the castle and looking at the orderly and well-trained soldiers in the camp, Lily suddenly had a special feeling.

A unique pleasure of being the hostess here.

Lily blushed as she recalled the figure of the knight who had saved her not long ago while riding on a warhorse and shooting an arrow with a bow.

"White bread, you know what? I'm tired of living in a stinky pigsty. That's a strong knight leading soldiers. I should lie in his arms and ride in the fields."

She prayed silently in her heart that the knight was not too old.

Only in this way can she have the opportunity to hold on to the other person firmly and not be tired of him because of his powerlessness.

In the castle, Rhodes was sitting in the study looking through documents.

When the soldiers were tidying up the castle, they discovered a secret room, in which they found a number of parchment scrolls, which were sorted out and sent to him.

After reading the contents and combining them with the letter he found from the rogue knight Peggy, Rhodes found that he might be involved in some big trouble.

"Food smuggling, that's what it is."

Rhodes opened the letter and compared it to get a general understanding of the situation.

Peggy's attack on the village was not an accident, but an order from an unknown person.

The purpose is to resolve the scroll files in the baron and the castle.

As for the reason, it was that the local Baron Morton was involved in a smuggling business of transporting grain from the southern plains to the barbarian territories in the north.

The northern border is vast and is home to a large number of barbarian tribes. The biggest factor restricting the barbarians is the lack of sufficient food.

This made it impossible for the barbarians in the north to unify, and they were always in a state of division and chaos, and the population of a single barbarian tribe found it difficult to grow and develop.

Smuggling grain to the North is a serious crime expressly prohibited by the laws of the kingdom.

But the huge benefits are enough to blind people's eyes.

The kingdom's grain is mainly produced in the two major plains in the south and the west. If it wants to be sent to the north, it must pass through Jianling.

Rhodes knew this very well from what he had seen and heard during his father's past discussions in the castle.

There is a huge smuggling route in the kingdom with mature interests and clear division of labor.

Songguo Village, located at the border between Golden Sword Territory and Northern Frost Principality and the entrance to the Cold Wind Corridor, is a small link in this smuggling route.

These documents clearly record how much grain this baron smuggled each year and how much gold coins he earned on behalf of his superior, Viscount Dennis.

However, not long ago, due to the issuance of the Royal Development Order, Viscount Dennis was afraid that the matter would be exposed and was ready to stop smuggling.

But Baron Morton was unwilling to give up his interests and was ready to look for other partners.

then.

Then he died, and the rogue Knight Peggy broke in and killed his entire family.

Then Rod broke in and killed Peggy.

"This thing is a bit hot." Rhodes couldn't help but shake his head and threw the pile of documents on the table.

According to his understanding of the nobles, when Viscount Dennis hired Peggy to take action, he would definitely arrange his own men to wait a few kilometers away.

I guess he's realized something is wrong by now.

Although his situation seemed a little bad, Rhodes was honestly not worried.

Viscount Dennis is desperate and wants to silence him?
unnecessary.

Baron Morton of Pine Cone Village's feudal lord is Viscount Dennis of Ice Valley, and Viscount Dennis's feudal lord is Count Balk of Screaming Harbor.

The feudal lord of Count Balk is Duke Bert of Jianling.

My own father!

Strictly speaking, this place still belongs to my father's territory.

Given the strategic location of Jianling, if his father was not involved in such a big thing as grain smuggling, he could just write his name backwards. Rhode was helpless, as it was really his own people who were causing trouble.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door.

Rhodes collected the documents and put them aside.

Then he looked towards the door.

"Come in."

The door slowly opened, and Rhodes was a little surprised to see that the person coming in was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old.

She looked to be about the same age as him, wearing a neat and clean linen dress, and her long brown hair was tied up with a wooden hairpin, which looked to have been carefully braided.

After opening the door, he kept his head down, behaving very respectfully.

"Don't be so nervous, relax, what do you want from me?"

After taking a deep breath, the girl slowly raised her head.

She is not beautiful, but her facial features are regular and make people feel comfortable.

She looked familiar. Rhodes looked at her and remembered that she was the daughter of the village chief, named Lily.

Compared to his calmness, after Lily opened her eyes, she looked at the figure in front of her and froze on the spot.

It was different from the middle-aged face she had imagined, which was old and vicissitudes of life.

Under the shining golden hair was a handsome face that seemed to be carefully carved by gods, and those flawless blue eyes like sapphires made Lily involuntarily avoid his gaze, not daring to look into his eyes out of guilt.

This was a man whose handsomeness was beyond her ability to describe, and the familiar armor and sword placed beside him proved that he was the knight from before.

Seeing this result, Lily didn't feel the slightest bit of surprise, but rather felt frustrated.

Facing this man of the same age, she looked at herself, her plain apron contrasting with his exquisite clothes.

The huge gap made all the seductive words she had prepared stuck in her mouth, and she stood there like a puppet.

Seeing her suddenly become dazed, Rhodes' head was full of question marks.

But when he saw the little wolfhound in her arms, he understood why she came.

"Is this yours?" The wolfhound was held tightly in her arms, and it was not convenient for Rhodes to take it directly.

So I changed the subject, hoping that she could hand it over herself.

"Yeah!" Lily came back to her senses and nodded quickly, "Her name is White Bread, and she's very obedient!"

After seeing the other party talking to her gently, Lily gradually calmed down.

"White bread?" Rhodes found the name interesting. "Not bad. I like white bread, too. It's a good name."

Not to mention, after eating dry bread with the soldiers during this period of time, he really began to miss Jianling's white bread.

Although it can’t compare to the high-end baking in my previous life, it’s at least soft and sweet.

Lily was stunned again when she heard his words and gave a somewhat forced smile.

She had never actually eaten white bread, she had only heard of it in her father's stories.

"My Lord." Lily took a deep breath and finally mustered up the courage. "My name is Lily. You saved me. I am really grateful to you. Can you let me stay with you? I will be very good. I promise! I will listen to you in everything!"

"Do you know swordsmanship?"

Facing Rhodes' question, Lily didn't know how to answer.

How could she know swordsmanship when she grew up in a village?

"I'm afraid that won't work." Rhode shook his head. "I'm going to the North to explore, not to inherit a peaceful territory. Fighting and war are the main themes there, and you can't help me."

He declined, saying that he had not yet found a place to stay.

If he were to enjoy himself with a maid while leading his soldiers on a march, all the military discipline he had worked so hard to establish during this period would be wasted.

Leaders set the example, and followers follow suit. If you, as a leader, only care about enjoying yourself, then don't expect the people below you to obey the rules.

Lily sniffed and bit her lips tightly to hold back her tears.

Even though the other party might not have meant that, she still felt disliked and deeply ashamed, and wanted to turn around and run away.

"Sorry to bother you." Lily lowered her head and walked out stiffly.

At this time, Rhodes suddenly called her.

"You changed your mind?" She was a little surprised.

But Rhodes just pointed at the wolfhound in her arms.

"Can you keep the white bread? I paid for it."

"Wang?"

(End of this chapter)