Ryan thought that although Teresa had agreed to treat everyone equally, it was impossible for her to change immediately. This woman was only willing to make some changes for him. Unless she faced real setbacks or got humiliated, her deep-rooted beliefs wouldn't change much.
For now, this would have to do. Changing someone's deeply ingrained beliefs wasn't something that could be achieved with just a few words.
After listening to the story for a while, Ryan seemed ready to leave. At this moment, the old lady suddenly spoke, "Is it Sir Ryan, the White Wolf Knight? Could you please stay? I have something to ask."
All the children turned around, their innocent eyes looking at Ryan, not daring to speak.
"You are teaching these children valuable knowledge. What are you trying to achieve?" Ryan did not agree immediately but asked instead.
"They are good children. They will grow up, and most of them won't be able to afford the cost of awakening their talents. They will continue to work for the nobles or farm their land. Then, when they reach their twenties or thirties, they will try to save enough money to find someone to spend their lives with, get married, have children, and then grow old while raising their children. I teach them here in hopes of giving them more options for their future. Am I right, Sir Ryan?" The old lady smiled, her wrinkles gathering together.
"I admire your generosity," Ryan said, performing a knight's salute to the old lady. In an era where knowledge was monopolized by the nobility, her willingness to share it to give these children more possibilities in the future was truly commendable.
The children gradually dispersed. Ryan casually grabbed a chair and sat down, indicating his willingness to hear Nora's request. Teresa stood behind Ryan, "Please speak, ma'am."
The sorceress found her words a bit awkward, but she had promised Ryan that she would treat everyone equally, so she forced herself to do so.
"As you can see, I am already an old lady in my fifties," the old lady's hair was graying. She laughed self-deprecatingly, "But once, I was a beautiful young woman like this young lady here."
Teresa frowned subconsciously, thinking that her appearance wouldn't change even after fifty years. But she said nothing because she could see from the old lady's features that she had been quite attractive in her youth.
"Were you a noble?" Ryan quickly made the connection.
"Yes, I was once a noble. But bankrupt nobles like me are not uncommon on this continent, am I right, Sir Ryan?" The old lady's expression didn't change; her tone was very calm, with a sense of seeing through the world.
Ryan nodded.
Bankrupt nobles were not uncommon. There were always the foolish and the smart among the nobles, those who could manage and those who couldn't. Some nobles relied solely on taxing their lands for income and loved grand displays and luxurious lifestyles. Under such circumstances, the occurrence of bankrupt and fleeing nobles was inevitable. Their lands either became wastelands or were reallocated by higher-ranking nobles.
Some lands, once abandoned, would be occupied by powerful wild creatures or monsters. Some lords were unwilling to spend the military effort and resources to reclaim these lands.
The new empire had been established for more than 150 years. The nobility had become stratified, and in recent decades, the number of bankrupt nobles had increased. In such a high-risk environment, nobles without strength and ability were massively eliminated.
So what was this old lady trying to say?
"So, Sir Ryan, would you be willing to listen to an old lady's story?" The old lady's eyes were full of hope.
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have stayed," Ryan nodded.
"Alright then... where should I begin? Let's start from my childhood. I was born into a noble family, but by the time I was born, the family was already in decline. Our entire family estate was just a manor about seven or eight kilometers from Miodon Haven." Nora's eyes began to glaze over, and a slight smile appeared on her lips. "At that time, my parents were still alive, and I had an older brother. Life was happy."
"But when I was fifteen, our manor welcomed a half-elf bard. He happened to seek lodging at our home. His handsome appearance and elegant demeanor quickly captivated me, and during the few days he stayed with us, I fell madly in love with him." Nora's face lit up, as if she was recalling the most beautiful days.
"But good times didn't last. You know, bards don't stay in one place for long. Soon, after a few days, he was ready to leave our manor and head to the next place. I couldn't accept my happiness being so short-lived, so I made a crazy decision." The old lady's expression gradually turned painful and obscure. "I decided..."
"You decided to elope with him?" Teresa immediately guessed the ending. The sorceress might have lacked experience in wild adventures, but she was well-versed in court affairs and the inner workings of the nobility.
"Yes, I knew it was wrong, but at that time, I couldn't think of anything else when I thought about being separated from him. So, on the night before he left, I secretly took my dowry and chose to elope with him. We took a ship and left the city together."
"In the first few years, because I brought a lot of money and was young and beautiful, we were inseparable, enjoying several years of happiness."
"But good times don't last. The money eventually ran out, and my beauty faded with time. The half-elf's sense of time is different from ours. After more than a decade, I began to age, and my dowry was mostly spent. I could feel that he was growing tired of me, no longer loving or needing me."
Naturally, most men are like this, Teresa thought. Women must be self-reliant, not just exist as attachments to men.
"So one night, I left him and started the journey back home alone. It took me several years. When I returned to my hometown, I found everything had changed."
"After I eloped, my parents went mad searching for me. After years of fruitless efforts, they died of grief. My brother wasn't good at managing the estate; he quickly squandered the family wealth. A few years later, the manor was attacked by a manticore. The guards my brother organized couldn't fight off the beast, and he died from its poison."
There was no need for the old lady to continue. Ryan and Teresa could imagine the rest. After the deaths of her parents and brother, Nora, with her weak claim, naturally inherited the manor. In fact, she had already obtained the land deed from the lord of Miodon Haven.
The problem was that the manor had become a manticore's lair, and Nora certainly couldn't drive the beast away by herself.
"Didn't you seek help from the Church of Justice?" Ryan understood what the old lady wanted.
"I did, but justice comes at a price. The manticore is not an ordinary monster. It has been identified as an elite pinnacle monster. The Church of Justice's price was beyond my means, so I could only find a corner in the city to live in, relying on some savings and teaching to make a living. I spent my days reminiscing." Nora sighed, the wrinkles on her old face deepening.
"So why do you think I would agree to help you drive away the manticore?" Ryan was intrigued.
"I don't know. Maybe it's intuition, or perhaps just a naive hope. The fact is, I can't offer a suitable reward," Nora sighed. "This might be my last attempt. If you don't agree, just consider it a story. I still have some savings, which should last me a few more years."
"I agree," Ryan suddenly said with a smile.
"What?!" The old lady looked up in surprise.
"I said, I agree," Ryan nodded. "Don't worry. I won't do it for free. I will get my share of the reward, but it won't come from you. Just follow my instructions."
After parting with the old lady, Teresa curiously asked, "How do you plan to do it? You said you wouldn't do it for free, but where will the money come from?"
Ryan smiled and explained his plan softly, "First, I will write a letter to Count Albert, notifying him of the monster in Nora's manor. As a knight of the kingdom, he must respond. According to your intelligence, Albert is not keen on sending troops. Since the manor is lost and has an owner, the most likely scenario is that he will post a notice, offering a reward for solving the problem. This is the first source of income."
The sorceress immediately understood. Faced with Ryan's inquiry and warning, the lord Albert would have to respond. Even if it was just a formality, he would need to post a reward, so the income would be secured.
"Then, Mrs. Nora will go to the Church of Life, promising the bishop that if her manor is reclaimed from the manticore, she will pay a tithe to the Church of Life." Ryan crossed his arms and outlined the second step.
"For the Church of Life, having a piece of farmland unusable is blasphemy. Collecting tithes from all farmland is their ultimate goal, so the bishop has no reason to refuse. But Mrs. Nora can't offer immediate payment," Teresa's eyes lit up. "So if I were the bishop, I would post a reward. If the reward succeeds, the church's commission can be offset by Mrs. Nora's future tithes. If no one completes the reward, the church loses nothing. And for Mrs. Nora, her manor currently generates no income. If she can regain it by paying a tit
he, she would certainly agree."
Ryan held up two fingers, "So, that's the second source of income."
"As for the third, don't forget, the manticore is valuable. Many precious alchemical materials come from this beast..."
"It's Sister Dieterinde! She would surely be willing to buy these alchemical materials from you at a good price!"
"So, these three sources of income together are enough to justify my involvement." Ryan extended a third finger, then smiled at Teresa. "Teresa, tell me, did you learn it?"
In response, he received a charming roll of her eyes, "You mean enough to involve the both of us."
You might think this chapter is a bit short, but that must be your imagination!