That night, Ruo Lin didn't go far. She wandered outside the town with the Minotaur warrior and the archer for quite some time. Although both of her companions thought they should leave the unlucky place as soon as possible, Ruo Lin seemed to have other plans. She appeared hesitant, showing a kind of indecision in her eyes as she sat there, hugging her knees, gazing at the moon all night long.
The next morning, Duwei and his group set off, but this time, there was an additional ox cart at the back of the caravan. Inside the cart was the bound magician, resembling a wrapped-up dumpling. The pitiful magician looked exhausted, drenched all over because Duwei's men had dutifully carried out their task as instructed: periodically dousing the magician with cold water, ensuring he had no chance to sleep or meditate to regain his magical strength!
Meanwhile, Duwei continued his habit of reading a thick book while sitting in the carriage compartment after they set off. He seemed deeply engrossed in his reading.
Despite the rough terrain, the well-crafted carriage provided a smooth ride, almost eliminating any sense of bumps. Duwei lay comfortably on a thick velvet blanket, curled up, pondering as he read. But soon, he was interrupted.
There was a light tap on the carriage window, followed by the slightly uneasy voice of Ma De, "Young Master... um, there's something that might trouble you."
Duwei opened the window to see Ma De's furrowed brow. Ma De had been riding a batch of horses today, and now he rode alongside the carriage, slightly bowing his head as he spoke, "Young Master, those fellows from the tavern yesterday, they've been following us from behind..."
Duwei glanced out the window and indeed saw, about a hundred paces behind their group, the leggy girl from the tavern yesterday with her two companions—a Minotaur-like warrior and an archer—following from a distance.
Other guards from the Rolin family, riding beside the carriage, struggled to suppress their amusement at the sight.
Yesterday... wasn't that girl seen leaving the young master's room? Could it be she's been won over by the young master, fallen in love, and can't bear to leave? Haha...
However, the guards didn't dare to show any hint of mockery in front of their master.
Duwei murmured softly, "Stop the carriage. Go and call that girl over."
Meanwhile, Ruo Lin had been trailing Duwei's caravan for the entire morning. Her mind was a bit chaotic, and she couldn't even understand why she was following the other party.
Was it because she was worried about the poor magician who had been captured? Well, not really, Ruo Lin couldn't care less about that guy's life or death.
Suddenly, the caravan ahead came to a halt, and two knights swiftly rode over towards them.
"Miss, our master wishes to see you. Would you please come with us?" one of the knights said, sounding much more polite, considering the leggy girl in front of them might have some kind of relationship with their young master.
Ruo Lin felt a bit bewildered but nodded nonetheless. Subconsciously, she followed them, while her two companions behind her felt puzzled and somewhat worried but still followed along.
"What are you doing here?" Duwei didn't even step out of the carriage. He simply opened the door and sat inside, looking at the girl who had ridden up to them.
Ruo Lin dismounted and bit her lip. Suddenly, in that moment, she found the answer to the question that had been tormenting her all night!
Why? Perhaps it was... because of the devilish smile that appeared once again on this guy's face!
"I..." Ruo Lin stood by the carriage, took a deep breath, and then suddenly dropped to one knee beside Duwei's carriage. She bowed her head deeply and spoke solemnly, "I, Ruo Lin; Moonsong, pledge my allegiance to you, Your Excellency. I am willing to become your subordinate! For the remaining decades of my life, I will guard my oath with my blood and life! But... are you willing to accept my allegiance?"
Duwei fell silent for a moment, examining the girl kneeling before his carriage. Then he slowly spoke, "You want to pledge allegiance to me... why?"
"I don't know," Ruo Lin spoke from her heart. "Perhaps you're right, I'm just too tired. A girl maintaining all this... I've realized my abilities are far from enough. Maybe I need to find a big tree to lean on. And I'm willing to be a vine that relies on that big tree for survival."
"Do you think I'm a suitable big tree?" Duwei chuckled.
"Yes," Ruo Lin replied quickly this time. "Although I still don't know your identity, the feeling you give me... You must be an extraordinary person! Or rather, destined to become an extraordinary person!"
"This is quite a predicament," Duwei sighed. He then turned to Ma De and asked, "Oh, Ma De, I forgot, I should have the qualification to recruit my own honor knights now, right? How many knights can I recruit in total?"
Duwei seemed somewhat indifferent to the question. "Well, my master..." Ma De, the former stable boy turned steward, fortunately had done quite a bit of homework before his promotion. He had memorized some of the rules and traditions that he should learn. "My master, as the eldest son of the Earl, even if you cannot inherit the title of Earl in the future, according to imperial law, you should at least be able to obtain the title of Baron. And according to imperial law, you can recruit ten honor knights of your own."
"Thank you." Duwei rubbed his nose. "Only ten spots... Although it's a bit fewer. One knight can have several attendants, so if you calculate it, including direct honor knights and their attendants, there will be quite a few people, even dozens. It's not that few."
After receiving Ma De's affirmation, Duwei rubbed his temples and then smiled at the girl in front of him. "Alright, I accept your allegiance. From now on, I grant you the title of my subordinate honor knight... Well, you're the first honor knight I've bestowed a title upon, and you're also a female knight."
Ruo Lin seemed hesitant to look at Duwei's smiling face. She lowered her head and whispered, "Thank you... And since I have pledged my allegiance to you, could you please tell me your identity, Master?"
"Oh, my identity... I am Duwei#8226;Roland, the eldest son of Count Raymond, the current head of the Roland family and the Vice President of the Imperial Command Department," Duwei chuckled, continuing, "Oh, almost forgot, I have a resounding nickname in the Imperial Capital... They all call me... 'The Fool.'"
"The... the Fool?!" Ruo Lin's eyes widened.
Damn it! This kid is a fool? If he's a fool, then there are no geniuses in the world! If he's a fool, then the vast majority of people in the world are idiots!
She dared not show a hint of amusement and quickly stood up, pointing to her two companions beside her. "Respected Master, these two are my companions, their names are..."
"No, no, no." Duwei interrupted her rudely. "Sorry, I'm not very interested in their names. And, as you heard, the law only allows me to recruit ten honor knights! I won't waste these spots... I plan to keep the remaining spots and recruit some holy knights or high-level swordsmen."
Duwei didn't even glance at Ruo Lin's two companions.
"What a joke! These guys are just average. That bull-like warrior only has some strength, and as for that archer... Hmph, a few hundred gold coins would easily recruit three or five of them! Even this female knight... Well, if it weren't for her being a beauty with a pair of beautiful long legs... Otherwise, Duwei wouldn't even consider her with her martial skills.
"Knight Ruo Lin; Lady Mu'en, you are now my direct honor knight. Your two companions will be considered your attendants. As for your knight emblem and equipment, they will be provided to you by the family's servants when we reach our destination. Now, please have your people join the team, and let's hit the road. If all goes well, we should reach home tonight."
Ruo Lin didn't say anything, but her two companions couldn't help feeling disappointed at missing the chance to be bestowed with a knighthood.
This was a genuine opportunity to become a knight!
Generally, there are only three ways to obtain a knighthood. The first is to possess formidable martial skills and then receive the assessment and recognition of the Knight Association, obtaining official knight medals of different levels - these are considered the most legitimate knights.
The second is to devote oneself to the Temple of Light from a young age, serving the church, and after rigorous training in martial skills, passing strict selection to become temple knights.
The third is to pledge allegiance to a noble and receive the title of direct honor knight bestowed by the noble.
However, these two fellows didn't have formidable martial skills, so they couldn't pass the assessment of the Knight Association. They weren't affiliated with the church, so they couldn't become temple knights.
The only way for them to advance in the ranks of knighthood was to be noticed and recruited by a noble.
However, those with the authority to recruit knights are usually big noble families, and they wouldn't be interested in such mediocre individuals.
Seeing her two somewhat disheartened companions, Ruo Lin could only comfort them softly.
Ruo Lin herself felt complex at this moment. Once she pledged allegiance to Duwei, it meant she would lose her Readly surname, and the small Readly group she had painstakingly maintained would disband. She would no longer be the leader but a subordinate pledging loyalty to someone else.
However, what Ruo Lin didn't know was that many years later, when people looked back on history, they would recall this day!
Because, among the ten most notorious members of the "Demon Knight Corps" that later shook the continent, the first official member was Ruo Lin Mu'en, the female knight who first pledged allegiance to the demon! This name would be remembered in history because of this special moment!