Chapter 463: News Concerning the Conferment

Within the manor of Fleming family in Golden Feather City.

Knight Jos strode in briskly, handing a letter to Melon.

"Your lordship, this letter has been sent from the family, stating that Patrick is still alive."

Melon was greatly astonished, quickly taking the letter to examine it, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

Both he and the Hunt family had believed Patrick was certainly dead, but unexpectedly, the man had survived.

Melon placed the letter on a nearby table, darkly muttering, "Roan actually managed to capture a Meteor Knight alive. It seems just as the outside rumors suggest—he has already become a Sunlight Knight!"

Though Melon had briefly interacted with Roan twice, he had not held him in particularly high regard.

But events had changed too swiftly!

A Sunlight Knight—even he had to admire, had to fear.

Though in this world, major nobles could decide many matters, absolute power could completely break these rules.

Clearly, Roan had grown to a level where they could not afford to ignore him.

Jos could not resist reminding him, "Your lordship, perhaps you have forgotten, when we attacked Rapids Island, Roan was still battling Count Hesus in Moonlight Valley. He simply could not have made it to Rapids Island."

Melon was visibly stunned; his busy schedule had indeed overlooked this point.

"That's true!"

He stood up, "Then how was Patrick captured alive?"

Jos shook his head, hesitating slightly before saying, "Perhaps, besides Carada, there were other strong individuals on Rapids Island? After all, Roan and Roanas have made deployments in North Harbor and Thunderbolt Domain; likely they wouldn't neglect Rapids Island either."

"Mountains Domain, and this grandfather-grandson pair..."

Melon suddenly felt very irritated, "Send someone to Crescent Island to wait. When Patrick returns, have him come to Golden Feather City immediately to see me. I truly want to know, after giving him so many personnel and equipping him with so many weapons, how he managed to lose this war!"

Jos hesitated briefly, "Your lordship, Crescent Island hopes we can provide some warships and gold coins, what do you think?"

"Let them find their own way!"

Melon angrily declared, "For this expedition, I equipped them with five warships, ten magic cannons, a large batch of magic arrows, and five knight teams, with Patrick merely leading them, and he still managed to lose!"

"Now he returns alive, but all my resources have fallen into enemy hands! I am not pursuing Crescent Island's responsibility, yet they still want me to pay ransom?"

Previously, considering Patrick's supposed demise, Melon had not intended to speak against Crescent Island.

Now that Patrick was alive, yet had lost all his supplies, Melon grew increasingly angry.

Jos originally wanted to say more, but thinking of the great losses Patrick had caused Melon, he swallowed his words.

"Alright, your lordship, I will go inform the Hunt family, letting them find their own way. But given Crescent Island's accumulated resources, ransom should not be a problem."

After speaking, he exited the room.

Melon suppressed his anger, pacing within the room.

"My father has gone traveling, I wonder if he has gained anything, when he will return. This Mountains Domain is growing ever stronger; without a powerful transcendent guardian in the family, many matters feel somewhat weak."

His several schemes against Roan now seemed all failures.

Though the losses were not significant, they left him extremely displeased, yet unsure how to respond.

After all, in these years, no opponent had ever been a Sunlight Knight.

"Starting today, we must increase investment in defense."

He was deeply concerned—how would he deal with such a powerful individual if disguised as an assassin?

Time flew by, ten days passing quickly.

Crescent Island's ransom and warships had all been delivered to Rapids Island; Patrick, now able to walk, boarded a ship assisted by his son, leaving this sorrowful place.

Now, the harbor at Rapids Island docked ten vessels, very crowded.

Roan thus instructed Rees to arrange personnel to sail three warships back to North Harbor, ensuring the naval forces of North Domain also had sufficient ships.

Thus, Roan completed handling all the chain events arising from the Moonlight Valley battle.

The most significant gains were undoubtedly magic cannons, warships, gryphons, and mithril—these four items greatly enriched Roan's arsenal.

Roan returned to Marsh Fortress, intending to rest well, preparing for the wedding three months later, but the outside world clearly had no intention of letting him rest.

"Brother, this time I have brought a total of eighty people!"

Brayton sat in the living room, sipping the barley tea Bella served, slightly bitter with a hint of sweetness, a rather pleasant taste.

Recently, Brayton had not just once or twice sent talents to North Domain—those capable in painting, skilled in statistics, and outstanding in craftsmanship.

Most had received education, at least possessing abilities in listening, writing, and reading.

This greatly alleviated North Domain's illiteracy, even Wilson no longer complained about lacking promising individuals.

"Well done Brayton!"

Roan raised his thumb, "I plan to establish a public academy in North Domain, needing a group skilled in language, mathematics, statistics, etc., to serve as teachers. Please continue helping me watch for them."

"Hehe, leave it to me!"

Brayton smiled, "Just as grandfather gave me a gryphon as a mount. Once trained for riding, traveling everywhere will be convenient for me."

Roanas, though highly favorable toward Roan, did not neglect Brayton, who also possessed excellent talent.

In his view, Brayton, once matured, could become a major aid to Roan, as they were brothers with good relations anyway.

"How is your recent training? Don’t focus solely on these tasks, neglecting the main matter." Roan reminded.

"Don’t worry, mother recently gave me many enhancement potions. Now my strength is at intermediate peak, likely breaking through within a few months."

Roan nodded slightly—a sixteen-year-old advanced knight; Brayton’s talent was indeed good.

"Brother, this time, grandfather asked me to notify you. King Brunor will hold Hesus family's funeral in the Royal Cemetery this month’s end. Additionally, the royal family might bestow a title upon you, requiring you to arrive timely."

"Oh?"

Roan was somewhat surprised.

Brunor holding a funeral for Hesus, even rewarding Mountains Domain, was all within reason.

After all, externally, this event was not advertised as Hesus becoming an alien species, but as pitiful figures controlled and killed by aliens, while Mountains Domain was the hero saving Hesus.

Regardless of how uncomfortable this propaganda felt, in this era of poor information transmission, many commoners and minor nobles would still choose to believe this narrative.

But Roan had not expected being granted a title.

"Brother, what title do you think the king will grant you?"

Brayton leaned closer, grinning, "Given your strength, I think the king might grant you a duke, even assigning Hesus's Moonlight Valley as your domain!"

Roan laughed hearing this; Brayton’s body might be grown, but his words still held childish whims.

"A duke isn’t so easy."

Roan shook his head, "Though my strength is decent, my rise has been too brief, lacking deep foundations externally. If truly granting a title, likely between kingdom viscount and count."

For him, these two titles held little allure, far less valuable than receiving additional gryphons.