“This is the Nineveh Stronghold, the domain of Lord Asher Ashbourne. I shall inquire from our lord first before you are granted the right to see him.”
Eritrea spoke when she saw their shocked expressions.
Claude’s ears rang.
“How did that small dying town transform to this in just two years?!” Claude’s eyes shook.
He couldn’t fathom how that cripple could have 10 knights and come to the count’s banquet with a silver-ranked bodyguard and no other force.
Both he and other nobles had underestimated Asher severely.
No wonder only 10 of them came so proudly.
Right at this moment, Claude suddenly realized that the quality of armour these men behind Eritrea wore was beyond silver rank!
His heart trembled.
To make it even worse, he couldn’t discern the quality of Eritrea’s armor because he had never seen such high quality gear in all his years.
But it was clearly higher than the gold-ranked armor.
If that was the case then…
Claude suddenly felt the calm afternoon breeze vanish as he realized the woman before him might not be a gold-ranked knight but a diamond-ranked knight!
As he followed them, Claude began to fear that his heart couldn’t handle the grandness of this stronghold. This place looked like the capital city of an earl, just a fortified version.
The houses were of high standard, the people mostly had clothes made from beast skin. It protected them from the cold, and they had enough to make appealing clothes, especially due to Lois and her apprentices doing their jobs to bring new and fashionable styles.
Although some wore linen, fur coats and jackets were always worn above them.
From his carriage window, Claude looked at the paved road with mixed feelings. When they were close to the castle walls, he heard the sounds of hundreds of men, causing him to look toward the other side.
He saw a wall that blocked the northern part of the stronghold. It was a military camp.
Ashbourne flags were mounted at several places atop the wall, and sharpshooters clad in attire similar to Eritrea’s were on the wall’s walkway.
…….
Boom!
The doors of the sacred hall were swung open by two shura vanguards, revealing the grand hall’s interior to Claude Flameheart. As Claude took some steps into the hall, he sensed a presence at the left end of the hall. Instinctively, he turned his head, and behold, it was the mighty beast lying on all fours and a man squatting before it.
Beside the man was a beautiful blonde woman clad in a black gown that flowed right down to her knees.
There was a strange-looking meat in between the young gray-haired man and the beast, and it seemed like the beast wasn’t interested in eating the strange-looking meat, but the man was trying to coerce it into eating.
‘That beast!’
The young man suddenly turned, revealing his handsome, pale face.
At the same time, both of them raised their eyebrows.
“It’s you!”
Claude gasped.
Asher got to his feet, and Cynthia gave him a cloth to clean his hands.
“Baron Claude, this is truly a surprise.”
He said while cleaning his hands.
“Indeed. You never introduce yourself as the ruler of this powerful stronghold.”
“And you didn’t introduce yourself as the richest baron in the wasteland and the owner of BrightSkies Merchant Guild.”
They both chuckled softly.
“It’s been a long time since the banquet. You added more weight,, and it seems like you also cursed your legs.”
Claude spoke with smiles in his eyes.
‘Smooth talker. A befitting trait of a merchant who bought his title.
Asher said in his mind.
His smile broadened, and he walked up to Claude.
“I’ve been eating well. After all, I have to make up for all the years I laid on the sick bed.”
The confidence and slight hint of authority in his tone were all captured by Claude. Internally, he was stunned by the way Asher carried himself.
Like a true noble that had power.
He didn’t act like a man his age.
“I’m glad someone came to visit me. Come, I was just about to go eat lunch since my pet beast doesn’t want to eat.”
Claude took a glance at the wolf that was using its head to push the strange meat away.
“That’s your wolf?”
“It is. He’s quite stubborn, I’d say.”
Asher beckoned for Claude to follow him as he walked out of the hall.
They went to the dining hall and sat.
In less than a minute, maids trooped in with meals that had such great aroma that Claude had to look twice. When he scrutinised the freshly baked bread before him, his eyes flickered with a shocked gleam.
The moment he took a bite, a fabulous sensation caused throughout his body, humbling his pride in eating the best delicacy amongst all barons.
“What is in this?!”
He asked while chewing the delicious bread.
“My goodness, this is…”
Claude couldn’t explain the explosion of goodness inside his mouth and his body’s reaction. He felt like he was gaining strength and life just by eating this bread!
What sort of sorcery is this?!
Asher slowly ate a meal prepared with Golden Fragrant Corn with a smile while he watched Claude lose all decorum. The rotund man was clearly a lover of food, and he proved just that by tasting almost everything on the table.
Before Asher’s eyes he finished five specially prepared loaves of golden bread, drank an entire jug of Moonlit Starhorn milk and cleaned his plate of corn meal.
As the maids took the plates away and served them tea, Claude finally regained his bearing.
“Ahem. You should open a restaurant.”
He said it with all sincerity.
A meal was all it took to lower this baron’s walls. He didn’t even act like he was speaking to another baron and had to put up his guard.
“There are restaurants all over the stronghold.” Asher chuckled. He knew Claude meant restaurants in other domains.
Claude looked at his skin and sighed, longing for more food.
“Take the tea. It was prepared with the milk of a Moonlit Starhorn cow.”
Claude raised his head.
“What did you just say?!”