Chapter 582 - 369: Interrogation

A squad of Golden Armor-clad Griffin Knights from Gonda slowly ascended into the air under the unimpressed gazes of High Cliff Castle’s Griffin Divine Archers, flying toward the horizon as if desperately trying to escape.

"Farewell, my esteemed Governor Bernard, my dear Old Man, and the lovely Tannis! Safe travels, and may we meet again!"

To show his respect, the Lord stood on a high platform, waving continuously. He looked just like a doting father seeing his children off on a journey.

Mimicking his master, Little Buji stood on the Lord’s shoulder, rising on its small, snow-white tiptoes. It waved a white handkerchief it had just used to wipe its mouth, which was still dotted with a few crumbs of black pine cake.

To be honest, as a show of respect for the Lord Governor’s visit to High Cliff Castle, Levi had wanted to send them off with his Rabbit People honor guard. However, upon seeing the guardsmen clad in their red and green uniforms, the governor’s party had flatly refused.

"Look at you lot," Levi scolded his Griffin Knights. "I told you they were His Majesty’s personal guard and to go easy on them, but you just had to beat them to a pulp. Well, look at you now. You’ve saved High Cliff Castle the cost of a few meals. As punishment, you’ll have to eat their portions." His tirade only caused the Feder Knights to scratch their heads and grin foolishly.

Now, besides Gonda, High Cliff Castle was the only other place in Debei with Griffins. And as the saying goes, "There is no first among scholars, and no second among warriors." True to form, when the Griffin Knights from Gonda discovered that High Cliff Castle’s Griffins had been tamed, they took the initiative and proposed a contest.

The result was a foregone conclusion. Though their opponents’ Combat Qi gave the Feder Griffin Knights a bit of trouble, High Cliff Castle’s riders completely outclassed them in Archery, Martial Arts, and even Griffin handling.

It made the Griffin Knights from Gonda look like cheap imitations.

The strong are always proud. Their pride wounded, the Griffin Knights were too ashamed to remain in High Cliff Castle. They hurriedly gathered Governor Bernard and his entourage and left without even staying for dinner.

"What are you staring at? They’re long gone!" Levi clapped Mier on the shoulder and asked with a knowing grin, "What’s the matter? Got your eye on one of them?"

The young man was terrible at hiding his feelings. At the Lord’s question, his face flushed crimson. He tried to think of something to say to cover his embarrassment, but realized he didn’t have a thick skin like Levi. He could only stammer, "She’s the Governor’s daughter. I’m just a country Knight."

His words carried a hint of self-pity that the Barbarian next to him found disgusting. With a bandit’s swagger, he declared, "Mier, if you’ve really taken a liking to her, they can’t have gotten far. I’ll take some men and snatch her back to be your wife."

The Lord gave the blockhead a solid smack on the back of his neck. As the Barbarian grimaced and clutched the spot, the Lord said with exasperation, "We are a proper noble fief of Debei, not a den of backwoods bandits!"

"What’s all this ’just a country Knight’ nonsense? I can’t stand that attitude," Levi said, clearly disappointed in him. "There are many Kings in this world, but only one Dragon Knight. And it just so happens that Dragon Knight is your brother-in-law. Doesn’t that make you even more Buer-some than a Prince?"

"Then I’m basically the King’s Imperial Mage," Sam chimed in from the side.

"Bullshit," Zat sneered while picking his nose. "With that half-assed Magic of yours, you’d be the Imperial Mage’s Footwasher Envoy. An old and ugly one, at that."

Sam opened his mouth to retort out of habit, but one look at the Beastman Barbarian’s arms—each thicker than his own waist—made him swallow his words.

’Forget it. Why argue with a meathead whose brain is all muscle? A summer insect can’t possibly know the bitterness of winter.’

"Hey, young buck, cheer up." Before leaving, Levi dropped a line that no one else quite understood: "As long as you find a chance to cook the raw rice, I’ll take care of Bernard."

This was practically spelling it out for him. If Mier still didn’t get it, then there was truly nothing more his brother-in-law could do to help.

Though Tannis might look down on such shameless scheming, Levi didn’t mind it at all.

It just proved she was a proper Knight, one who abided by her code—if perhaps a little too rigidly.

’Besides, if Mier really managed to win her over, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for her to bring along some of that old coot Bernard’s elite soldiers as a dowry, right?’

With nothing better to do, Levi’s mind began to wander.

...

Before heading to Gonda, there was one more thing he needed to do.

In the great hall, Levi sat imposingly in the main seat. Beside him, in order, were Tina, Heather, and Tiffany, as well as his young fiancée, Ashiru. The other burly, mountain-like chieftains of High Cliff Castle sat in chairs lining the sides.

"Bring Kemish up for questioning," Levi said with a snap of his fingers. Two Rabbit People Guards went hopping off to retrieve the prisoner.

They had originally been holding Kemish at High Cliff Castle to extort a ransom. But, as it turned out, the man was quite unlucky; King Fen IX had sentenced him to death directly, which meant the ransom was off the table.

And so, the Lord—a man who would pluck a feather from a passing goose—had no choice but to consider how to make use of this "waste product" and squeeze every last drop of value from him.

"War with the Persian Gulf Empire is almost inevitable, but to reach their lands, we must cross a great sea." The wait was always agonizing, so Levi decided to discuss other matters first. He looked down at the group of chieftains, none of whom had ever been to sea. "I will definitely leave some people behind to guard High Cliff Castle. So, those of you who don’t get seasick will come with me. The rest of you will stay."