Chapter 57: The Legendary Stud

After leaving the Candy House, on the way to a shop owned by George himself, Hiren, who had been quiet since morning, suddenly asked George, “George! Even if you have been there a few times to buy Sugar Cubes, you shouldn’t be so familiar with the young girl in the shop. What is going on?”

“Didn’t you think of this? The Merchant Guild under our Territory is one of the main suppliers of sugar in the Duchy,” George said, looking at Hiren with a pretend shocked expression. “The manager of that shop often comes here to buy raw materials. We started interacting a few years ago, and later I bought finished sugar from their shop. It was natural that we became familiar.”

“I didn’t think of that much. Besides, the supply of sugar raw materials has nothing to do with me. Our Manor doesn’t grow sugar beets,” Hiren said, scratching his head awkwardly.

George didn’t know how to argue against Hiren’s explanation. Meanwhile, Craig on the side started getting restless. He counted on his fingers and asked, “George, since there is sugar in the Territory’s Merchant Guild, why don’t you open a Candy House in Poitou? Then I could eat candy whenever I wanted.”

George felt a fire burning inside him at such completely off-topic words. However, he had to calm his annoyance and patiently explained, “There are too few people in Poitou. If only a few people like you buy candy, we can’t even make back the cost.”

As he spoke, George reached out and patted Craig’s head hard. Craig shrank his neck a bit to make the pat feel more comfortable. It was clear that he enjoyed this feeling.

Craig asked innocently, “So if more people come to Poitou in the future, we can open a Candy House, right?”

“Yes! If more people come,” George replied absent-mindedly.

George shouted in his heart, ‘More people? I also want more people in my Territory. But relying on natural population growth might take forever. The risk of childbirth for women due to the current medical level is a major obstacle to population growth. Another main factor hindering population growth is food production. If my Territory cannot even feed its own people, not only will the price of grain rise due to losses during large-scale import, but handing over the Territory’s lifeline to others is also not a reassuring thing.’

George sighed and said to Craig, “If the number of people in the Territory reaches sixty thousand someday, I will open a Candy House in Poitou.”

“That’s great! You have to keep your promise,” Craig cheered and jumped high.

“Yes! It’s a deal. By then, I will surely invite the best pastry chef in the Duchy to open a Candy House. You will be able to eat candy whenever you want,” George promised Craig with a smile, while thinking bitterly in his heart, “If that day ever comes, I wonder if you will still like eating candy, Craig.”

“I mean, George, the raw material for making candy should be coarse sugar, right? Although the taste is not as good as candy, it can be eaten directly. How about waiting until we return to the Territory in a couple of months? Then come and give us some coarse sugar every few days to satisfy our cravings,” Hiren suddenly said, breaking George’s train of thought and pulling him back from his own mental space as George walked with a distracted mind.

“If you really want it, I will get some of that coarse sugar from the delivery ones for you. But this might not be free!” George said to Hiren, acting annoyed after giving the answer. “You haven’t been this smart in a long time. If you could be like this in other areas, I don’t think Mr. Val would have set so many restrictions on you.”

George spread his hands, showing a carefree expression: “Isn’t there you usually? Why would I put in so much effort? You are my future Liege Lord. Wherever you point, I will attack. Isn’t that very simple? And I heard someone say that using your brain too much makes you go bald.”

George stopped walking and examined Hiren from head to toe. The look, as if inspecting goods, made Hiren feel very uncomfortable. He protested repeatedly, “Please don’t look at me like that. I can’t sell for a high price.”

Hearing this, George directly punched Hiren in the chest and continued, “Who said you can’t sell for a high price? If you get caught and treated as a Stud, hanging a sign outside Nohan will surely fetch a good price. If you are willing to sow diligently in those Commercial Republics in the far south, in a few years, you might even be able to add a few Magic Items for yourself.”

“Can I really trade for Magic Items?” Hiren’s eyes sparkled with excitement after hearing George’s words, his expression almost as if drool was about to flow from his mouth. He muttered softly, “Armor and shoes! When I travel, I must stay there for a while. At least I need to get the armor and shoes before I leave.”

‘George never thought that Magic Items would have such a strong attraction for Hiren. Or rather, Hiren’s integrity was so low that he would really consider selling himself for equipment. Although if Sir Val knew that George had pointed this direction for Hiren in a casual chat, the consequences would be unimaginable.’ Thinking of this, George couldn’t help but shiver. He quickly said to Hiren, “Have you thought about the consequences of doing this? If you really dare to do such a shameful thing, I don’t think Sir Val would mind taking a long leave from my father to go there and clean up the household.”

George’s words instantly broke Hiren’s fantasy. He changed to a serious expression and said righteously, “I was just joking just now. How could I really do such a thing?”

However, based on his usual unreliable behavior, both George and Craig looked at him with disbelief.

But with Hiren’s distraction, George almost forgot the original purpose of examining him. The only obvious feature Hiren inherited from Sir Val was his long, smooth hair, which used to be pale yellow but had now turned silver-gray. This was one of the few parts of him, besides his body, that fit the mainstream aesthetic standards, which was no wonder he cared so much about it.

However, the main reason he refused to use his brain might not be this. George thought it was the price he needed to pay to keep a pure heart at his age. But the path was chosen by himself. Except for Sir Val, no one else had the right to interfere. It seemed that Sir Val probably supported his choice, but sometimes it was just too shameful, so George had to give him a few hits.

“I mean, once you become a Formal Knight, you shouldn’t have to be like this anymore, right? Otherwise, when you travel the Continent in the future, are you going to give up your Knight identity to play a Barbarian among the Northern Lands?” George wiped the sweat from his forehead while complaining to Hiren.

Hiren lowered his head and thought. This was the first time George had seen him think about a problem so seriously in nearly half a year. Even when choosing weapon Enchantment at the Temple of the Lord of Justice just now, he hadn’t been this focused. It was clear that he cared deeply about this issue, and Craig, standing on the side, was completely stunned by his current appearance, his eyes wide open.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for Hiren to lift his head and whisper into George’s ear, “It will be much better once I become a Formal Knight. At that time, I will be able to control my emotions very easily. There won’t be too many restrictions on thinking. But the habit of not using my brain that I have cultivated for so many years cannot be corrected in a year or two. By then, I probably won’t have to give up my Knight identity to become a Barbarian, but it is still unlikely that I can become a team leader.”

This was the first time George directly asked Hiren about this aspect, and the latter gave the answer without any hesitation. Speaking of personal paths should count as an important secret. From this perspective, Hiren truly trusted George. With Hiren’s affirmative answer, the tight string in George’s heart for these years finally relaxed. He replied, “It seems I was worried about this for nothing. Anyway, this is good news. By the way, you should advance to Knight faster! You have already caused Sir Val enough shame over these years. Hurry up and let him have some peace. Keeping him like this is not good for his heart.”

“I also want to advance quickly! But somehow it feels like I have already crossed one foot over the door, but I don’t know how to bring the other foot in. Anyway, I am stuck here now. If it wasn’t for that battle in Greywood Town a while ago, I wouldn’t even have crossed the first foot.” Mentioning the issue of advancement, Hiren felt a bit depressed for a moment. But he immediately looked optimistic again, “As for the shame, I have already lost face for so many years, so a little more time doesn’t matter. Besides, my dad is a Knight and his body is fine. How could something like this cause heart problems?”

“Since you have your own overall plan, I have nothing more to say. But I think we should separate quickly! It would be bad if people on the street misunderstood us.” As George spoke, he pointed to the other end of the street where a few Noble women were blushing and whispering while looking at them. He could only hope that those women didn’t know him or weren’t very gossipy, so that no inappropriate rumors would spread during his time in Karada.

After Hiren received George’s reminder, he also sharply felt several strange gazes. He quickly stepped back to separate from George and joked, “I have used my brain the most today in these years. It really feels unfamiliar.”