Chapter 367: The Backstabber 2

Chapter 367 – The Backstabber 2
“Ka snort! Ka snort!”

The sound of metal scraping against metal came all the way to the dining hall, and Paul looked at the fully armored commander of the 1st Battalion of the Infantry with some dismay.

“Bryce, what are you?”

“Oh, Lord Earl!”

Bryce got down on one knee to salute, but I was surprised that he was a bit unfamiliar with the armor after not wearing it for a long time, and it took him quite a bit of effort to get to his feet.

“I am doing the courtesy of a noble vassal, and as your former military governor, it is only right to be in armor at all times in order to defend one’s lord against any possible threat.”

Paul cried and laughed and greeted him as he went to the table and sat down.

Soon, Steward Philip commanded several servants to set the delicious delicacies on the table.

Paul instructed, “You guys retire first, I want to be alone with Commander Alder for a while.”

Old Philip complied with the instruction and led the servants out of the dining room.

Blaise raised his eyebrows, it looked like the Earl did seek him out tonight for more than just a meal.

After the servants’ footsteps had completely disappeared, Paul picked up a bottle of wine and filled the glass in front of him first before walking over to Bryce.

“Bryce, let’s start with some wine to whet our appetites.”

He said as he poured into the glass in front of Bryce.

Bryce, seeing the Earl himself pouring himself a glass of wine, hurriedly got up, not expecting to be held down by Paul.

“Sit back down, you are my guest tonight.”

“Thank …… you Lord Earl.”

Bryce was so nervous and excited that he couldn’t speak properly.

Paul returned to his seat, raised his own glass and said, “Come on, let’s drink to that.”

Bryce hastily raised his glass as well, and the two men’s glasses clinked together with a crisp clink.

After drying his glass, Paul made a move to fill both of their glasses, causing Bryce to thank him again, and the two of them chatted as they ate.

As they chatted, Paul asked offhandedly, “I say Bryce, the Alder family’s service for the Graiman family isn’t short, is it?”

“Yes, Lord Earl.” Bryce hurriedly replied, “Since my great-grandfather’s generation. Alas! It’s really too much to be favored by the Earl-sama’s family all this time.”

“Haha, Bryce, you are too modest. Let’s not talk about your forefathers, just you alone, you’ve solved my problems several times, and have made a great deal of merit.”

“Where where!” Bryce looked terrified, “Sizeable feats! It really is sizeable credit. Besides, those were all my duties and obligations as your vassal.”

“I rather think that you are the most meritorious of all my men, even Schroeder, who is above you in position, is inferior to you.”

“This …… this ……” Bryce was a little speechless, “how can I dare to compare myself with Lord Schroeder, who is an honorable Knight ah.”

Paul waved his hand vigorously, “No, I don’t care about titles or positions here, I only look at actual merits.”

In fact, Paul said this set of words would be a little bit against his will, when the pirates were eliminated, in the second battle against Quake, if not for Schroeder’s decisive decision to stop the routed soldiers, this book would be rotten.

And Schroeder served in the Kingdom’s Northeast Legion, is the only person in Alda who has serious military experience, is he perfected the Alda army which could only be called a grassroots team at that time, is he brought Paul from the earth some modern military concepts landed in the army, is also he in the Graiman military school to teach a group of rookie officers how to deal with the army of this era, not to mention the usurpation of the war to formulate a lot of plans, personally leading the army to open up the second battlefield.

However, Bryce’s credit is not low, in the old Gleeman left, is his joint Cecil play to stabilize Paul’s lordship, in the initial battle against the pirates lost initiative to stay behind to break the back so that Paul can successfully escape, the usurper war led the army in the Bidor Castle defeated the enemy, and then led the troops to raid the Emden, occupying half of the old Maltz Kent land, greatly accelerated the process of the war.

The victory at Fort Biddle was especially important, it was the first battle for Alda’s army to show its strength to the outside world, and it allowed Alda to get rid of the weak image in the eyes of the lords of the Northwest Gulf, and beat out its own military prestige.

The two of them can be said to be half and half of the credit, hard to distinguish between them. “Come come come! Cheers to your merits!”

Paul raised the full glass.

“Haha! Your Excellency the Earl praised me so much, I am …… really …… really ashamed!”

Bryce raised his glass with a red face, his face was both ashamed and proud and proud, the Lord Earl recognized himself.

The two clinked their glasses again and dried.

Then one glass after another. I don’t know how many glasses later, Paul and Bryce were both a little drunk.

“Bryce ……,” Paul shook his glass, the wine inside sloshing slightly.

“Yes, Lord Earl.”

Bryce straightened up at once and sat upright, his instincts telling him that the main event was coming.

“Hansel has brought back the king’s edict from the royal capital, as I’m sure you’ve heard.”

Sure enough, Bryce’s heart tightened, reminding himself that he mustn’t say the wrong thing.

“Uh …… yes.”

Paul’s eyes stared at the other party and slowly asked, “Since the power due to a lord has been restored, it’s only natural that I should show something to those who have made meritorious achievements. Bryce, how do you think I should reward you ……” he noticed a slight twinkle in Bryce’s eyes, “and the others?”

“This ……” Bryce somewhat dared not look at Paul’s eyes, slightly twisting his head, “Naturally, it’s all up to the Earl’s discretion.”

“Alas, you are my number one merit, is a beloved, beloved understand? Naturally, I have to find you to discuss.”

Bryce once again looked at Paul, scratched his head and said, “Your honor is really a bit difficult for me, I am a rough man, charging and fighting can be, the matter of merit, not as good as …… how about you look for Lord Ford or Lord Schroeder?”

The eyes do not look like hypocrisy, okay. Paul drank the wine in the cup in one go.

“Bryce, these two years I build schools, promote education, use the examination to admit the officer of affairs, do you know what for?”

“This ……” Bryce frowned and thought about it, “Your Excellency, you are now in charge of the three territories of Alda, Bairdin, and Emden, but you don’t have a bunch of reliable subordinate lords, so it’s natural that you need to look for talented people from the civil society to assist you in rule the territories, or …… use the school to ‘create’ talented people.”

“Use the school to ‘manufacture’ them? Haha.” Paul was amused by Bryce’s description.

“You’re right, just like cans are produced in a cannery and porcelain is fired in a china factory, talent can be manufactured out of schools.”

“With a large number of talented people as officials, I don’t need any subordinate lords to keep a firm grip on a large area of land.”

“According to my optimistic estimation, in another five years …… no, another four years, Arda, Baildin, plus an even more vast Emden, will all be under the firm control of the Council of Government.”

Paul held his cup in his right hand, his left hand suddenly clenched into a fist, confident.

Bryce was even more unsettled, though not with the excitement of a moment ago, the Lord Earl’s words meant ……

He froze in his seat and waited for his lord’s following words.

“So, I’ll get right to the point! “

Paul’s eyes focused on Bryce’s face.

“What price do I need to offer to make you willingly …… accept the honor of only a peyote noble while giving up the power of a peyote noble?”

(End of chapter)