The Lady of the Lake certainly felt the thoughtful gaze of the dark elf.
Frankly, the Lady of the Lake was quite averse to having such a dark elf stay by Ryan's side because her stance and worldview inevitably led to differences.
Moreover, she might recognize who the Lady of the Lake really is.
Fortunately, Ryan had already known her true identity and had no reservations about it; otherwise, she might have found a way to make the dark elf disappear from Ryan's side.
"My lady?" Ryan noticed the Lady of the Lake sitting beside him and hurriedly tried to get up, but she stopped him. The goddess shook her head, her beautiful face carrying a faint smile: "Sit, my champion. We need not stand on ceremony with each other."
"Of course, my lady." Ryan then settled back down.
He knew he was the Lady of the Lake's chosen champion. Although their statuses were different, there were times when protocol was just that—protocol. Whether or not the Lady of the Lake minded was one thing; whether he acted accordingly was another.
It's always right to adhere to proper etiquette.
And the Lady of the Lake... a goddess is still a woman, after all.
"Ryan, my champion, it seems you are thinking something disrespectful," the Lady of the Lake suddenly felt, and Ryan quickly denied, "No, my lady. I was just wondering why you dislike the skull pattern?"
"Skulls, blood, they are symbols of tyranny, not mine," the Lady of the Lake shook her head. She extended her slender finger, lightly touching it, and a phantom of flowers appeared, erasing the skull pattern from the parchment: "I don't like this pattern on my champion's family crest. Remove it."
"Alright then." Ryan had no objections. He didn't particularly care about having a skull pattern. It was fine either way: "Would my lady like to offer some suggestions for her champion?"
"Of course." The Lady of the Lake pointed, and a chair flew towards her. She sat down next to Ryan and pointed to the top of the shield: "My champion, you are a knight of the Holy Grail, so you may use the Grail's pattern on your crest."
Thus, a golden Grail pattern appeared in the middle of the book on the shield.
Ryan was also satisfied with this pattern, as it immediately identified his status as a knight of the Holy Grail.
"Then, you will have two ribbons to signify that you are my champion... and the battles you have fought for me." Following that, the Lady of the Lake's delicate fingers traced over the Grail pattern, and two ribbons intersected on the book pattern, creating a beautiful curve.
Thus, the new crest for Baron Jean was created.
The Lady of the Lake was quite pleased with her design.
Finally, Ryan wrote down his family motto below the shield: Death is the servant of the righteous.
"It's done~ I like this crest. Hang it outside your castle!" The Lady of the Lake's golden hair emitted a captivating fragrance. She picked up the parchment, flying past Ryan, and under the goddess's divine power, a complete and detailed family crest appeared on the parchment.
"As you wish, my lady." Ryan was satisfied with the crest as well.
The new baron's family crest was thus decided.
"Is this your castle? Show me around," the Lady of the Lake holding the Grail said to Ryan.
"Of course."
So, Ryan gave the Lady of the Lake a tour of his castle. His castle wasn't very large; the main part was a four-story keep that was fully equipped. Much of the land was just enclosed by walls, with a lot of open land available for development.
"Ryan, what are your plans for your castle?" the Lady of the Lake asked her champion as they stood on the balcony.
"The castle has many flaws and damages. I plan to reinforce and repair it comprehensively. I plan to build a stable on that empty land in front, as Pinecone has been with me for many years and deserves a comfortable home," Ryan pointed to the empty land below, "Then, I plan to build a training ground there. My soldiers need sufficient training during their leisure time."
After listening to Ryan's detailed plans for his castle, the Lady of the Lake nodded in approval: "Ryan, my champion, I can see you have a detailed plan for your castle, but before that, I might need to interrupt you... I have a small request for your castle."
"Speak, my lady. I will do my best to fulfill it," Ryan thought he knew what was coming.
"I need you to designate a small territory within your castle as my palace," the Lady of the Lake held the Grail, pulling out a roll of enchanting white paper from her bosom and placing it in Ryan's hands.
Ryan looked at the design, which required him to add a spire to his castle.
This would allow her to descend at any time, as long as Ryan could continuously supply her with psychic energy through subspace. Then, this spire would become the Lady of the Lake's terrestrial domain of divinity.
Of course, this needed to be kept secret, as neither Ryan nor the Lady of the Lake wished for others to know about their relationship.
After a moment of thought, Ryan knew that a closer cooperation with the Lady of the Lake was both his and her desire. Despite some drawbacks, overall, building a spire "palace" for the Lady of the Lake in his castle was a beneficial endeavor. After brief consideration, Ryan smiled and nodded: "Of course, my lady. I will build the most beautiful spire as a symbol of my devotion to you."
The Lady of the Lake's smile remained unchanged, and she secretly sighed in relief, knowing her request was somewhat excessive.
In the material world, there's a saying: "What belongs to the gods remains with the gods, and what belongs to mortals remains with mortals." Her request had exceeded the normal demands of a deity on their followers. This wasn't about building a temple; it was about constructing a palace.
She was certain that had she made such a request to any duke, she would have been politely refused, even by the direct descendants of Arthur, like the Duke of Bastogne, and the most devout Duke of Connacht.
The relationship between deities and mortals isn't always as simple as faith. Knights are willing to die for their ladies, but they wouldn't want to give up all their possessions, which is the principle here.
After the Lady of the Lake left, Ryan officially began the development of his territory.
Expanding and repairing roads within the territory, constructing more workshops along the river, building stronger walls for the town, and thoroughly renovating the castle required a significant amount of manpower and resources, but also offered wealth and opportunities.
Many merchants from Brittany moved at the news, each bringing their workforce to the new baron's lands.
Their sources indicated that Ryan was wealthy, making this an opportunity to earn money.
By early April, the weather had gradually warmed.
Ryan was inspecting his vineyard with his people.
The man responsible for managing the vineyard, Durand, was a fallen noble with only the title to his name, unable to afford even a set of knight's armor and a warhorse, leading him to manage the vineyard.
But Durand never gave up hope of returning to the ranks of knights, especially after the new lord was appointed, dedicating himself to the vineyard's operation.
The Jean Vineyard was located on a hill not far from the town of Jean, covering about thirty hectares. Although not very large, it was fully equipped, from grape cultivation to wine production, with twenty hectares dedicated to vineyards and the rest to workshops. Additionally, a beautiful small wine castle was built atop the hill, said to be a vacation villa for the Duke of Ascot and his family during winter, making its interior decoration even more luxurious than Ryan's castle.
However, when Ryan visited, the wine castle was bare, as if ravaged by robbers, with nothing left but the walls and floors.
"My baron?" Durand, a gentleman in proper noble attire and a top hat, appearing to be in his thirties and following Ryan, wore a face full of respect. Seeing Ryan's displeased look at the bare interior of the wine castle, he quickly explained, "There used to be many things here, but the Duke of Ascot took everything with him when he left, including all the wine in the cellar."
Ryan's expression was not very pleased, but he had nothing to say, as in a sense, those were indeed the Duke of Ascot's possessions, and his actions were not wrong: "What about the workers responsible for cultivation and winemaking?"
"The Duke of Ascot did not touch any of them. He left all the workers, hoping Lord Ryan would treat them well," Durand added.
From this perspective, the Duke of Ascot's actions weren't too extreme, as he left a complete team for himself.
After leaving the wine castle, the vineyard workers were diligently working, and Durand whispered to Ryan, "Baron, we've encountered some difficulties. This is the season when grapes need a lot of water, but we need to draw water from the River Shennon. We lack enough manpower to transport water, and the sunlight this year is weaker than usual, which I fear might not produce sweet enough grapes."
"I will send people to help you transport water. As for the sunlight issue, I will find a solution," the baron indicated his understanding, though his words seemed noncommittal.
Durand added, seeing the situation, "Baron, the grapevines in the Jean Vineyard are all at least thirty years old. With proper care, the quality of the grapes produced will not be inferior to the premium grapes of Winfort."
"I understand what you're saying, but some things take time. Let's first solve the water source issue. I will gather manpower to build an aqueduct here," Ryan signaled Durand to be patient, as problems needed to be solved one by one.
Since arriving in this world, he had noticed that many people had this problem: wanting to solve everything at once, not realizing that patience is a virtue and problems should be addressed one by one.
"Of course, my baron." Durand knew how powerful the person before him was, the chosen champion of the lady.
After a brief inspection of his vineyard, Ryan immediately met with the elders of the five villages under his jurisdiction.
In Brittany, the lord nobles had the duty to adjudicate fairly among the serfs. If they heard of criminal cases among the serfs, many knight lords would volunteer to judge. Since the subjects were serfs, they never needed to worry about the judgment outcome, as lords had the authority to dispose of serfs within their territories as they saw fit.
Thus, after the just judgment was issued, the criminals were usually hanged, and the victims might also be hanged for various reasons, with their stored grains taken away by the nobles in the name of justice.
The serfs preferred to avoid such "justice."
Hence, the title "village elder" came into being.
These elders were generally respected elders in the village, who listened carefully to case details and then adjudicated punishment. Usually, this involved compensation to the victim and unpaid labor, avoiding the misuse of punishment by knight lords.
Over time, the village elders became the actual spokespeople and representatives of the serfs, responsible for communicating with the nobility. The fairness of the elders' judgments depended entirely on their character, as their decisions had no legal basis. Elders could make unfair judgments for various reasons, but this was still better than attracting the attention of noble lords.
Most of the visitors were white-haired old men, who respectfully sat in the largest and best house in the village, enjoying the poor quality sweet wine and bread provided by the lord, answering the lord's inquiries.
"My baron, spring plowing requires enough manpower, and we cannot provide as many workers as you need," one elder put down his wooden cup and said cautiously, "If it affects spring plowing, we won't be able to deliver enough grain to you on time."
"Also, my baron, with spring here, the beastmen in the forest are stirring, and creatures of the dark threaten the safety of the villages," another elder added.
"I will lead a party to clear out the beastmen in the forest. I want to know, aside from not affecting spring plowing, how many people can the villages spare?" Ryan asked.
"Uh, this..." The strength of the Holy Grail Knight was unquestionable, but it seemed they still faced difficulties. This season was a critical time for sowing, with scarce household grain and labor-intensive work.
"I will provide meals," Ryan noticed the elders' dilemma and continued.
The elders then reported a number, totaling around three hundred people.
Three hundred people? Ryan was satisfied with this number and did not say much else.
The development of the territory must proceed quickly.
Merchants had already gathered in the Jean territory, knowing there was a big deal to be made. Like sharks smelling blood, they came knocking, and after confirming the available labor force, a fierce bidding ceremony was about to begin in the baron's castle.
Just as Ryan returned to the castle entrance, a beautiful female knight with golden curly hair and sea-blue eyes stood waiting for him on a pure-blood elven warhorse.
"Miss Surya?"
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