The old king was amused by Xia Zuoyi. He thought that this request was reasonable.
He said in a slow voice, “You just want to expand your territory? You don’t want gold?”
Xia Zuoyi’s eyes twinkled like stars. He raised his head and said in a childish voice, “Will Your Majesty give it to me?”
‘Why not give them all.’
Just as the old king was about to give a generous promise, Bass Richards spoke first.
He stared at Xia Zuoyi with a sharp look that could make a child cry. “The territory and gold coins are not a problem, but the Cogit Ocean is within the scope of Wissas. The salt drying and sale of sea salt will also be carried out in Wissas…”
“You know, a gift to the king is more than just a piece of parchment full of writing.”
The lord was a vassal of the king or a superior lord and had other obligations such as military service, tribute, taxation, and so on.
The lord was the supreme ruler in his territory, enjoying administrative and judicial powers and other privileges.
For example, the opening of courts and prisons, setting up checkpoints, collecting taxes, and so on.
The territory of Wissas was enfeoffed1 directly by the king so it was a vassal of the king.
The king could enjoy the tributes of the lord but had no right to interfere in all the affairs of the lord’s territory, including in war. Sometimes the king had to consult with the lord to borrow troops.
As the Chancellor of the Exchequer2, Bass Richards knew the huge benefits of selling salt.
He decided to control it. However, he could not blatantly try to gain it for himself.
After all, the territory of Wissas was not his vassal.
Xia Zuoyi took a step back as he continued staring at him. His little hand held the hem of Udit’s dress as he whispered, “I can give 60% of the profit from selling salt to His Majesty the King.”
Bass Richards replied, “As far as I know, Wissas is remote and poor. Since you want to expand your territory, you might as well exchange Wissas for another rich city close to the royal city.”
Only when Wissas became an ownerless land could he have a chance to get it.
Xia Zuoyi: “But I only want Wissas.”
Bass Richards raised the corners of his mouth, but his smile did not reach the bottom of his eyes, “Earl Desinia is clever.”
“Thank you for your compliment,” said Xia Zuoyi, pursing his lips shyly.
The old king waved Bass Richards to stand aside and ordered his attendant to bring a map, “There seems to be only Pal Mountain near Wissas… How about making Pal Mountain your territory and rewarding you with five boxes of gold?”
Xia Zuoyi naturally very much agreed.
It would take half a day to go through the territorial transition procedures.
The old king asked him to play and rest in the royal city first, and later an attendant would personally deliver the documents to him.
After Xia Zuoyi left the royal hall.
Bass Richards said, “Your Majesty, the method of drying salt in seawater is very important for the Gadaat Kingdom. If you take complete control of it, the wealth of the kingdom will certainly be richer. Now, Wissas…”
The old king interrupted him, “Desinia is considered to be my junior. Now that he offered me the sea salt drying method if I still turned my head and took back his territory, rumors would fly around the kingdom that I was bullying a helpless child. Where would I put my face then?”
“60% of the profits is already a lot. And Wissas is my vassal, which is naturally my property. There’s no difference between them, Richards.”
Bass Richards concealed his emotions deep in his eyes, lowered his head, and said, “Yes, Your Majesty.”
After discussing political affairs with the king, he went back to his residence in a carriage.
The butler had been waiting at the door for a long time. He took off his coat and brought his wine glass, “My lord, you don’t seem to be in a good mood. Is it because of government affairs…”
“It’s because of something that I can’t control.” Bass Richards stood by the window with a gloomy expression.
Butler: “It must be a very precious thing.”
“You are right.”
“I remember Fort Comoy is my vassal?”
Butler: “Yes, my lord. The lord of Fort Comoy is Beavis Elliott.”
Bass Richards turned and walked to the table, took a pen, and wrote a letter. Afterward, he sealed it with wax and handed it to the butler, “Quickly send the letter to Fort Comoy and give it to Beavis Elliott.”
“Yes, my lord.” The butler received the letter.
Naturally, Xia Zuoyi did not know of Bass Richards’s secret plan.
He was currently strolling around the royal city with Udit and Kelly.
The royal city was bustling with noise and excitement.
In addition to the bad smell and dirty environment, there were not only knights patrolling the city but also priests praying in the temple of the God of Creation.
Some civilians knelt outside the hall and prayed with their eyes closed.
There were no churches or temples in Wissas.
Xia Zuoyi was a little curious about the God of Creation so he walked in with Udit and Kelly.
Nobles could enter the temple at will and no one would stop them.
The main colors of the temple were white and gold. The roof of the temple was inlaid with Gothic glass windows and the sides of the windows were outlined with the pattern of the holy flower belanka.
When the sun shone through the glass windows, the mottled colors were refracted on the walls, creating a magnificent scene.
Xia Zuoyi saw the statue of the God of Creation standing under the dome, wearing a white robe, hair scattered, with a compassionate smile, and holding the holy flower in one hand and caressing it with the other.
“I heard that there was a miracle on the Western Continent, Udit, is that true?”
Xia Zuoyi retracted his gaze from the God of Creation and recalled the plot of the novel. With the shining halo of the Mary Sue heroine, the God of Creation seemed to be just a background existence.
“Naturally it is true.”
When a pastor heard this, he turned his head and replied. After clearly seeing that the person who asked was a child, the expression on his face softened, “Please don’t ask such questions anymore. The God of Creation is omnipotent.”
Xia Zuoyi, with a more naive and innocent tone, asked again, “Since the God of Creation is so powerful, if I pray for a lot of coins, will he give them to me?”
The pastor’s face reddened, “How can you get something for nothing?”
“But you said the God of Creation is omnipotent.”
“If he can’t give me money, can he give me the ability to do what I want? Can he keep me healthy forever? Can…”
“Please stop talking now!”
The priest raised his voice. His face showed a sense of sorrow “Because you are a nobleman, I can’t do something to you. I can’t help but be pissed to death”.
“Oh.”
Xia Zuoyi pouted. He could not help the teasing.
Pal Mountain was about to be included in Wissas, which made him want to relax.
Behind the temple.
A handsome young man with black hair could not help but curl his mouth. His golden eyes were as radiant as the bright sunrise. He held a white nine-petal flower in his hand. It was Belanka.
“Your Excellency, the things have been obtained.” A knight in armor appeared behind the young man.
“Okay.”
The boy answered faintly. He did not speak again until the child he was watching walked out of the temple. “Do you think the God of Creation is omnipotent?”
The knight was immediately terrified, “Of course, Your Excellency.”
The young man chuckled, noncommittal, “Let’s go. Set out for Gadaat.”
“Yes.”
Xia Zuoyi heard the noise from outside the temple before going out.
Otherwise, he wanted to stay and see if the pastor would be further annoyed by him.
The scene of a nobleman beating a slave was happening outside the temple.
The cause was a verbal collision.
The civilians gathered around and pointed, the vendors applauded or could not bear to watch, while the patrolling knights stood aside to maintain order… No one intervened and no one stopped the unilateral “murder” happening amidst the crowd.
In the middle, the man about to be killed was tall and strong.
He had thick light brown hair, dark brown skin, a scar on his right face, and blood stains on his upper body. He was made to kneel on the ground under the impact of the club.
A young nobleman was laughing at the side, “Use more force! Have you not eaten enough?!”
He seemed to want the man to die after going through suffering and torture and did not want to give him an easy time.
The beneficiaries of the laws of the kingdom did not include slaves.
The nobles have privileges. Even if they kill people in the street, they would not bear any responsibility, let alone if it was a slave.
There was a “bang”.
The club hit the top of the man’s head, and immediately, blood ran down.
Half of the blood dripped down on the ground along his ear, while the other half slid down his forehead and flowed into his left eye. His brown eyes were stained red with blood, causing his vision to blur, but those eyes were still filled with sharp and unyielding will.
He was like a wounded lion on the verge of death but his pride could not be crushed. His straight back did not bend at all. Even if he was humiliated, he still had to hold his head high.
It seemed that a river of blood would flow into the ground.
There was a cry from the crowd—”Stop.”
The young nobleman raised his eyes and saw a child who was not taller than his thigh approaching them and instructed a knight to stop the beating.
“Who are you?” The young noble said in a bad tone.
“Who are you? Say your name first before you ask others.”
The young man raised his eyebrows, “Nate Case.”
Xia Zuoyi raised his chin, “Do you have a title?”
Nat Case sneered, “My father is Marquis Marco Case so I naturally don’t have a title yet. Do you have one?”
Xia Zuoyi: “I do.”
“Earl Xia Zuoyi Desinia. Please call me Lord Earl.”
Nate Case’ face froze.
He did not doubt what Xia Zuoyi said, after all, pretending to be a noble was a capital crime.
Nate Case heard his father mention the surname Desinia. The old Desinia died unexpectedly so his title was inherited by a six-year-old child.
He was…quite envious.
He did not expect to meet him here.
The corner of Nate Case’s lips twitched, “My-My lord Desinia…what can I do for you?”
Xia Zuoyi pointed to the man, “What crime did he commit?”
Nate Case sneered, “His crime is that, as a knight, he betrayed his lord and brutally killed his lord’s brother. He violated the principles of knighthood. After being sentenced to become a slave, he was sold to Gadaat.”
“Sold here? He is not a Gadaat?”
“Yes. He is from the neighboring country Gaynor.”
Xia Zuoyi became thoughtful, “Are you his master now?”
“So what?”
Xia Zuoyi gave Nate Case a sweet smile, “Brother, can you sell him to me?”
It was a critical hit.
Nate Case stammered, “It’s-it’s just a slave. I’ll just…cough, two, two gold coins.”
No, he could not give it in vain. At most, he could only lower it to the lowest price.
Nate Case woke up at the last minute.
Xia Zuoyi sighed regretfully.
Two gold coins were just that.
After all, he was a man with five boxes of gold. He was rich so he did not care about it.
Translator’s Note:
Hi everyone~ To get out of my translation slump, I decided to edit the previous novels I have on this site. If you see [Edited] before the chapter title, then it was already edited. Enjoy~~
- According to Wikipedia In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. ↩︎
- “The finance minister of the United Kingdom, responsible for preparing the nation’s annual budgets.” I can also just name it as finance minister but I guess it sounds fancy, right? ↩︎
Yaoi Wonderland 
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