"Good friend! I'm here!" When Alfred, dressed in pure white ceremonial clothes, with blond hair and blue eyes, opened the door of 53 Amber Road, Ryan greeted him with a warm hug: "Happy Winter Solstice! Afu!"
"Happy Winter Solstice!" Alfred laughed heartily, returning Ryan's hug before playfully punching him in the chest: "Good friend! Look at the big fuss you've made. I've been so bothered by it lately!"
"Come in, come in! Have a seat!" Ryan ushered Alfred inside.
Ryan's home had been completely transformed. With the efforts of Ryan and Emilia, the luxurious living room was decorated with colorful ribbons and stickers. A fir tree was placed in the center of the living room, adorned with flowers, cookies, candles, baubles, candies, ribbons, and paper chains, with many gifts placed underneath.
The two sat down in the living room, and Ryan brewed a cup of coffee for Alfred: "What's up, Afu? What's been bothering you so much?"
The blond hunk took the coffee with a grin, gulped down a big sip, and playfully pointed at Ryan: "Oh, it's all your fault, and now you're playing dumb? It's about the Aesthetic Society! The Aesthetic Society!"
"Ha-ha-ha! I got two birds with one stone," Ryan laughed along.
Eliminating the Aesthetic Society was a situation where the Church of Justice was used by him. However, the righteous paladins were happy to have eradicated the Chaos cult. Especially as compensation, the Church of Justice received many healthy orphans from the hands of the Church of the Ocean, as the Aesthetic Society's orphanage had quality children. Plus, with the Marlinburg Senate secretly giving them a sum of money, the Church of Justice no longer minded being used.
So sometimes, these lawful good paladins are genuinely good people. Even if they know they've been used, if the process involves eradicating evil and purifying corruption, they sometimes don't mind. Spreading justice and righteousness to every corner of the world is their goal.
"With some time before dinner, let's take a bath first and talk about it," Ryan suggested, having prepared the bathwater, and Alfred had no objections.
So, the two men, arm in arm, headed to the bathroom.
The steamy bathwater had already filled the tub, with mist lingering in the bathroom. Outside, snow fluttered down as Alfred's muscular physique and Ryan's streamlined muscles showcased their robust forms as they submerged themselves in the hot water.
"Wow~" Alfred howled in delight: "This is bliss! Soaking in a hot bath in the dead of winter, then having a turkey feast, this must be what the Lord meant by paradise?"
"Your standards for paradise are pretty low, Afu," Ryan immersed himself in the bathtub, contentedly saying: "It's like when we were kids, we often bathed together."
"Yeah, thinking back on our childhood, squeezing into one big tub, it feels like a dream," Alfred reminisced, giving Ryan and himself a thoughtful look before suddenly scooping up some hot water and splashing it on Ryan's face: "Take that! Ha-ha~"
"Hey, you jerk!" Ryan scooped up hot water and splashed it back at Alfred.
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~!"
The two played around for a while before calming down.
"So what have you been busy with lately?" Ryan wiped the water droplets off his face, casually asking: "I've been unable to find you recently."
"I joined the Underground Expeditionary Force," Alfred shrugged, relaxed: "The nobles here in Marlinburg are annoying, but I have to say they pay fairly. We fought several battles in the deep mines, killing quite a few ratmen and monsters, especially since there are many vampires and undead in the mines, and paladins excel at dealing with them."
The battles of the Underground Expeditionary Force had concluded, eliminating many ratmen and undead creatures, yielding some rewards.
"Alright~" Ryan rolled his eyes, shifting his posture: "I've also been doing some other things lately."
Paladins have a trait; they're not entirely dedicated to their vocation, as many take up other jobs, like blacksmithing, tailoring, farming, and sometimes take on missions for extra income.
"Other things?" Alfred seemed to remember something, hesitated, then said: "Recently, several merchants and nobles in the city suddenly died, and the Marlinburg Senate seems to be ignoring it. I checked the scene and found..."
"It was me," Ryan admitted bluntly, chuckling: "As the guardian of Marlinburg, I have to do some righteous deeds."
"Can you tell me why?" Alfred believed Ryan wouldn't kill without reason, but he still wanted to know.
"They were vampires," Ryan stated plainly: "Vampires lurking in Marlinburg. These vampires were troublesome, so I made them disappear directly."
"Couldn't they be tried publicly?" Alfred understood.
High-ranking vampires able to hide in human society possess strong concealment abilities and are hard to kill. However, for Ryan, this wasn't an issue. With the Goddess of Vengeance drawn, one sword strike per vampire, there are vampires that could withstand the Goddess of Vengeance, but certainly not those in Marlinburg.
Vampire factions are divided into extremists and moderates, with extremists being self-explanatory and moderates mostly leading secluded and affluent lives.
But for Ryan, it made no difference. Whether any type of vampire, killing them was always right.
A dead vampire is a harmless vampire.
Alfred thought Ryan was ruthless, but as a paladin, he had no objections, just feeling a bit wistful: "Speaking of which, Ryan, I've been left behind by you. You're now a hero celebrated across the continent, felling Chaos champions one by one, while I'm still just a temple guard."
"But you're on the right path, Afu. Paladins are a slow-growing profession. Don't be disheartened," Ryan knew Alfred wasn't disheartened; he himself was an anomaly.
Compared to his brother, he was already growing slowly.
"Heh-heh-heh~" Alfred was an optimist.
After soaking for a while longer, they got up.
"Ah~ That was refreshing~"
"Ah~ I can't wait to have some beer~"
"Beer, beer!"
"Is the beer warm yet?" Alfred dried his blond hair with a towel.
"Don't worry! It's been ready for a while! Super cold."
"Hey! You drink ice-cold beer on Winter Solstice?"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha~"
When the two entered the dining room, Emilia had prepared a table full of turkey feast.
A proper Winter Solstice dinner is incomplete without roasted turkey, requiring half a day to prepare. Stuffing the turkey and baking it for about 3-6 hours depending on its weight, and occasionally opening the oven to baste it with its own fats, Emilia and Ryan spent most of the day preparing the grand dinner since returning home at noon.
Besides turkey, a proper feast includes roasted bacon, potatoes, sausages, various side dishes and fruits, along with appetizing cocktails, sweet beer, and essential red wine and champagne.
"Emilia, sit down, join us!" Ryan, holding a chicken leg, gestured Emilia to join them: "After all, there are only three of us at home."
"Thank you, Mr. Ryan!" Emilia, seeing Ryan's sincere attitude, also sat beside him.
Thus, amidst the snow and winter night, the three enjoyed the most wonderful turkey feast.
Ryan's appetite was astonishing; he alone finished most of the remaining turkey. After dinner, Ryan and Alfred discussed recent events: "So, what's been happening in Brittany lately?"
"King Richard has announced a new Knightly War, aiming to clear the land of bandits and beastmen threats," Alfred nodded, as they discussed recent occurrences, especially since Ryan was soon to head to Brittany.
Since the Doltar Tower incident, Brittany's national power began to decline. The dukes, having lost trust in each other due to the civil war and starting to act independently, left the king as a nominal leader of the nation, unable to wield effective control over the Kingdom of Knights. In this context, various factions began to infiltrate Brittany.
To the north, with the strength of the New Empire and Nord's active defenses, the northern barbarians found it difficult to exploit opportunities, turning declining Brittany into a better target for plunder. From the northern Duchy of Connaught and Duchy of Leonnais to the famous western port Duchy of Boldro, frequent attacks by northern barbarians kept the knights of the Kingdom of Knights busy, not to mention the pirate fleets of dark elves.
In the heart of the country, the Ardennes Forest was rampant with beastmen. Though the beastmen tribes were supposed to have been thoroughly cleared, they reappeared, mostly engaging in small-scale looting. The Kingdom of Knights had to regularly dispatch troops for extermination.
The Duchy of Connaught was ruled by the undead, with the Duke of Blood Red claiming to be the rightful heir to the Duchy of Connaught and eyeing the throne, stirring one war after another.
To the south, invaders from southern kingdoms eyed and coveted the wealth of the Kingdom of Knights. The Kingdom of Estalia and Duke Theodoric of Brelyon fought several wars, with the duke failing to completely drive out the invaders, while other dukes stood by idly.
Duke Falcard of Montfer defended the Axe Bite Pass, facing nearly endless hordes of greenskins.
"Truly peaceful and calm are only a few duchies like the Duchy of Wimford and Duchy of Bastonne located in the inland," Alfred concluded, understanding Ryan's future path: "So, you'll be heading to Brittany soon?"
"Yes," Ryan nodded: "After the Spring Festival."
They talked for a long time until Alfred decided to leave: "I have a vigil to attend at the Church of Justice tonight."
The Church of Justice held vigil activities on Winter Solstice Day, and Ryan couldn't keep him.
So, it was just Ryan and Emilia left at home. After cleaning up, Ryan noticed Emilia was a bit tired: "If you're tired, go rest."
"No, I'm just a bit tired, not sleepy," Emilia thought for a moment, becoming somewhat bolder: "So, Mr. Ryan, you'll be going to Brittany to become a lord?"
"Why? Don't you like it?" Ryan gestured Emilia to sit beside him, speaking softly: "If you don't want to follow me to Brittany, you can stay here or leave."
Emilia, who had been a mercenary, not only was capable of household chores but also cooked well. After living together for a while, she and Ryan grew closer.
Emilia shook her head vigorously, her face turning red: "No, no, no, no! Mr. Ryan, going to Brittany is great! I'll definitely go with you."
Ryan had many thoughts upon seeing her reaction.
Going to Brittany is great?
Strange, logically speaking, the Empire, as the strongest nation on the continent, should be the best choice. Ryan knew the problem with the Empire was the lack of space for him to develop. Every part of its vast territory already had rulers, and the emperor's position was elected by the electors, while the elector titles were hereditary. In such circumstances, Ryan had little room to climb higher.
Unlike the Kingdom of Knights, where the upper nobility had significant mobility.
But Emilia shouldn't be considering these, right? As the strongest nation, shouldn't she wish Ryan to go to the Empire?
"Alright, when the invitation arrives, you'll go to Brittany with me," Ryan nodded, and Emilia eagerly agreed, feeling secure by his side.
"Tomorrow there's a grand auction at the slave market. Let's go take a look together! It's too hard for you to take care of the entire house alone. I'll see if there are suitable maids to buy one or two," Ryan decided, seeing Emilia's forehead sweating.
Knowing Ryan had made up his mind, Emilia remained silent.
So, the next morning, Emilia changed into a deep blue wool coat, a white blouse, and a black scarf, with a deep blue skirt and high-heeled boots underneath, heading with Ryan towards the edge of the Temple University District and the port dock area.
There was a world-famous market there.
The Marlinburg Continental Talent Market.
"Today, let's buy you some help!" The talent market was bustling with people, and Ryan gestured for Emilia to stay close to avoid getting lost.
Emilia clung to his coat, looking around uneasily.
"Don't worry, with me here, no one can harm you." Indeed, the more crowded the place, the more insecure Emilia felt. Ryan protected her while listening to passersby discussing today's auction.
"What's at today's auction? It seems people from several trade unions are here!"
"Not just that, many members of both the Upper and Lower Houses are here too!"
"So what's attracting them after all?"
"My father's brother's aunt's nephew's son works at the auction, and I'll tell you secretly, don't tell others, okay?"
"Spill it, spill it!"
"Today's auction items include dark elves!"
"Dark elves?!"
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