Chapter 294: So What If It's a Prince
Amy's first stop for debt collection was a small town called Talboa, just north of Goddess Mountain.
Talboa has a small population and a small area. The entire town has only one street, and there are few fields around it. Even the trees grow sparsely, which does not look like a suitable place to live.
In fact, this town is very quiet and located inland, far away from the war, so it is safe and secure. In theory, there should be quite a lot of people willing to settle here.
But that's not the case.
The place of Tarboa has been a well-known poor and remote place for hundreds of years.
This is mainly because the land in this area is relatively poor and the yield from farming is quite low.
The reason why the land is barren is mainly because there are rich minerals underground.
In fact, most places rich in minerals are generally wealthy, but Talboa is an exception.
Because although there are rich coal seams here, they are not worth mining...
It’s not that people don’t know the value of coal. The people of the Pendor continent have realized the great role of coal as early as the end of the Pendor Kingdom. Coal is used in many places, and places with large coal seams usually become Feng Shui treasures that nobles scramble to grab.
And that is exactly what the nobles did when large coal seams were discovered in the town of Talboa more than a hundred years ago.
At that time, a small-scale civil war broke out in order to fight for the control of this small town, resulting in many deaths and injuries.
But the first Baron Leofurvan, who finally defeated all his opponents and gained this town, almost went bankrupt because of it...
Because the soil layer in Talboa is only half a meter thick, and below that is a very thick layer of gravel - this is why the land is barren and nothing can be grown. The soil is too thin and has no fertility, and most crops except grass cannot grow well.
The coal seams here are almost all buried deep beneath the gravel layer.
It wouldn't matter if it was just buried a little deeper, and mining could actually be done by digging the mine deeper. But the problem is that if you dig a deep well under the gravel layer, you will inevitably face accidents such as landslides and water seepage that may occur at any time.
Few people are willing to enter such a mine. Anyway, the locals are definitely not willing to go into the mines...
However, Baron Leofurvan was unwilling to accept the huge price he paid to obtain this territory, so he bought a lot of slaves from Singal and used human lives to build the mine.
In the first few days, the mine did successfully dig out a lot of good quality coal, so the scale of the mine was expanded again - the initial investment costs were relatively high, so the scale had to be increased, otherwise it would be difficult to make back the profit.
But after the scale was increased, when the second batch of coal was mined in large quantities, Baron Leofurvan suddenly suffered a heart attack and died on the spot...
Because the mined coal is mixed with a lot of coal gangue, with gangue accounting for 80% and coal less than 20%...
The coal seam below the gravel layer is like this, with a lot of gangue, but it is difficult to distinguish in mines of this era, as it is all black anyway.
There was no coal washing method in that era, and it was difficult to separate the gangue and slag. This kind of coal mine was naturally destined to lose money, and even if it was mined, it could not be sold.
A baron was angered to death, and naturally the news spread quickly to all places.
As a result, the town of Talboa changed from a popular place to a deserted place, and almost no one was willing to stay there except for passing merchants.
But this territory has been passed down by the Leofwan family until now. This place that once angered the lord to death, even if they wanted to resell it, they couldn't, it was unlucky...
Besides, no matter how poor a place is, it still has to pay taxes to the king, and the tax collector doesn’t care whether you make a profit or a loss.
So in today's Talboa town, the lord is still called Leo Fuwan - this is their clan name, and successive family leaders have all used the same name.
And now, Talboa has a new industry.
The Leo Fuwan family has been operating here for a hundred years, and they have indeed found a way to make money.
This road actually comes from the gravel layer that they have always ignored or regarded as a trouble - the stones here themselves can actually create a good industry, so why risk their lives to mine coal?
So now Talboa is full of quarries.
People here no longer think about coal. They collect stones directly from the gravel layer and then screen them into stones of various sizes.
Large stones will be made into large and medium-sized sculptures, other stones will be made into stone materials such as wall tiles and floor tiles, and small stones will be used to pave roads in various towns.
Although the profit from these stones was not very high, it was a stable, reliable and inexhaustible industry, and the Leo Fuwan family was able to climb back from the brink of bankruptcy.
With a large number of quarries and stone processing plants, Tarboa has become a gathering place for stonemasons.
However, this place is still regarded as a remote and poor place by people from other places - because there are almost only quarries and stone processing plants here, and the whole town is like a large factory area.
In addition, the soil layer is too thin, making it difficult for trees to grow and unable to block the wind and sand, so when the wind blows, stone powder is everywhere.
This kind of environment is certainly not very good, so people who are unwilling or unable to do stone-related work will naturally not come here.
Nowadays, there are only quarry workers, stonemasons and their apprentices in this town, and even women are hard to find.
Therefore, when Amy brought the female soldiers here, it quickly caused a sensation and the whole town was in an uproar.
Amy also didn't expect that after she entered Talboa with a large group of fully-equipped and murderous female soldiers, what she encountered was not the denial of the liar or the protection of the lord, but a large group of workers covered in dust but with shining eyes.
The quarry workers here probably don't see beautiful women all year round, so they are all quite thirsty. When they heard that a large group of female cavalrymen had arrived, they put down their work and rushed out to see the beauties...
At first, Amy thought these people were here to fight, and she almost ordered the female knights to lead the charge.
Fortunately, she discovered in time that these people were unarmed, and they only surrounded the troops for a few dozen meters and did not get any closer, so no tragedy was caused.
But the experience of being watched by others was of course quite embarrassing - many quarry workers were even whistling, and the sounds of laughter and discussion were endless. Some brave people even asked loudly: "Beautiful lady, would you like to get to know a strong man?"
This was of course an extremely rude act, especially for an aristocratic girl like Amy.
Of course, it is quite normal for these quarrymen to behave in this way - quarrymen are not stonemasons, they are not even civilians, but criminals or servants. Many of them have committed crimes and were sent here to do hard labor. They are not a group with good eyesight or quality.
But Amy was in a very bad mood at the moment - first there was the liar, and then there was the rude onlookers and provocations. She felt that the people in Talboa really didn't take her seriously.
So, when Amy met Baron Leofwan, Lord of Talboa, her face looked quite ugly.
The current generation of Baron Leofuran is very young, only in his twenties, but he has two large jazz beards - the kind that extend all the way to the cheeks and curl into an arc on the sides of the face.
His red hair was slicked back with oil and he looked like a playboy.
In fact, this is a very popular style among the Lion Knights recently. Baron Leofwan is indeed a member of the Lion Knights now, and a squadron leader - a new member when the King recruited the Lion Knights.
"Miss Amy, I recognize your flag... This is the flag that your father and brother used. Maybe you don't know that I am a good friend of your brother Andrew - two years ago, I served in the Royal City Guard."
With a large number of troops arriving at his territory, Baron Leofwand of course had to come forward to understand the situation. When he saw Amy's unhappy face, he naturally realized that they were definitely not here to purchase stone, so he quickly began to build relationships.
"Baron Leofurvan, please forgive me for the polite words. I am here to find a knight named 'Lyans' who owes me 150 stonemasons."
Amy said with a gloomy face.
Her first stop was, of course, because this swindler named Ryans had the most stonemason contracts - even when collecting debts after being deceived, Amy still prioritized things.
However, Leofur's connections did work - since he was her brother's friend, Amy did not take direct action.
If it were someone else who didn't have this relationship, Amy might have just asked the female soldiers to arrest the man.
"Lions? One hundred and fifty masons?"
Leofurvan was stunned. "There is no knight named Ryans in my territory... and one hundred and fifty stonemasons, that's equivalent to all the stonemasons in Talboa... Amy, are you mistaken?"
A stonemason is not just one person, it usually also includes the stonemason's apprentices and family members.
One hundred and fifty stonemasons actually mean nearly a thousand people - excluding the quarry workers, there are only about a thousand people in the stone processing plant in Tarboa.
"Oh? In other words, you intend to protect that liar..."
Amy felt that Leofur was probably cheating because she had seen the contract documents and they were all real. The person who signed the contract was named "Lions" and the territory signed was indeed Talboa.
"Liar? Amy...why don't you tell me what happened? I feel like the person you're looking for isn't one of my men..."
Baron Leofurvan was still quite polite.
Of course, anyone facing four hundred cavalrymen armed to the teeth had to remain polite, even if those cavalrymen were all women.
"Leofwan, I don't care if you know my brother or not, this is what the agreement says: Administrator of Talboa, Oath Knight Lions , is subordinate to Baron Leofwan..."
Amy took out a transfer agreement from her saddle bag and threw it over: "Look for yourself!"
Leo Fuwan swallowed, picked up the agreement, looked at it, and then frowned deeply.
"Amy, I know who this Ryans is... but this guy is not one of my men. He is not even from the Sarleon Kingdom! This bastard is actually planning to sell my property to you!"
As he spoke, Leofur gritted his teeth, as if he was making up his mind: "Well, I'll take you to find him, follow me!"
From this perspective, Leo Ferwand is also a victim.
Amy was still reasonable. In fact, she now had a vague feeling that this scam might not be aimed at her, but perhaps at Leo Fuwan.
…
Weird Fox Town.
This is a large town under the jurisdiction of Lion Lake City, and is also close to the Lion Lake Inland Sea.
Guihu Town is a prosperous and wealthy place. There is a large commercial street in the center of the town, and pubs and hotels are everywhere.
At this time, Leo Fuwan took Amy into the largest tavern in Guihu Town.
This tavern is no longer called the Adventurer's Tavern, it is called the 'Strange Fox Inn'.
The pub was doing very good business and was packed with customers.
"Are you sure that Ryans is here?"
Amy brought eight female knights and surrounded Baron Leofwand into the tavern like they were escorting a prisoner .
The smell of alcohol and sweat that hit her in the face made her cough - and then she looked at Leofuran with an even more unfriendly look.
"I'm sure. Check to see if it's that man... He is indeed a noble, but he is a noble from Ravenstern! The reason I remember him is actually because of his work..."
Leofurvan pointed to a tall man in the tavern.
That was indeed the Ryans that Amy had seen. He was tall, handsome and good-looking. Amy did remember him.
But the guy was not at the drinking side - he was standing at the bar, wiping the glasses.
"Bartender? A nobleman is actually working as a bartender here?"
Amy looked at Ryans in disbelief, then at Leofwan: "Are the nobles of Stern Crow Realm so worthless?"
"Ahem... I asked the same question. He used to be a member of the Silver Mist Rangers. It is said that he had an affair with the wife of their Grand Master, so he was convicted of adultery and his noble status was stripped away. He fled here from Ravenstern, otherwise he would have had that thing cut off and fed to the dogs..."
Leo Fuwan explained with a strange look on his face.
"You know it very well... This makes me suspect that you are in cahoots with him..."
Amy glanced at Leofurvan and motioned him to go forward and catch that Ryans: "If you catch him, I will believe that you have nothing to do with this. Otherwise, I will have to take those stonemasons away. You can do whatever you want."
"Wait, Amy..."
Leofurvan stopped him and then left the tavern: "I hate that guy more than you do, because he is using my property to deceive you. This is obviously to get me into trouble... But I can't arrest anyone here."
"Why? You are the Lion Knight, Leo Fuwan. Since when did a Lion Knight become timid in arresting people?"
Amy's brows were already furrowed.
"Because this tavern belongs to Prince Alanric. And..."
Leo Fuwan pointed at the iris emblem on Amy's body and said, "If no one instructed him to do so, how could a fugitive like Ryans dare to deceive you in this way? And he didn't even run away after deceiving you?"
That's true. Lions is a fugitive from the Kingdom of Ravenstern. He finally escaped to the Kingdom of Sarleon, but now he has offended two great lords. I'm afraid it will be difficult for him to survive.
But he didn't run away, but still worked as a bartender here?
"On the surface? Then what is his identity?"
Amy also realized that Ryans had a background.
"He is now Prince Alanric's intelligence officer."
Leofurvan gnashed his teeth and said, "He was indeed appointed as the administrator of Talboa by Prince Alanric, but that was Alanric's way of forcing me to serve him - so I drove him away... I think he used Talboa's stonemasons to deceive you this time, probably because of this..."
"So... it's Alanric who's causing trouble?"
Amy nodded indifferently: "So what if it's a prince? No matter who it is, they must pay back their debt to me..."
No matter what, Amy is still a princess, and she really doesn't care about Prince Alanric's identity.
So Amy led the female knights directly into the tavern door and pointed at Ryans: "Clear the place! Everyone get out! Tie up this liar!"
However, just as Amy was arresting someone, outside the tavern, a strange smile appeared on Baron Leo Ferwan's face.
