you have graduated from the knight corps

It was the first time Clark had observed the ruler of Normandy at such close range.

Contrary to his imagination, the ruler was not as young as he had thought.

The dignified middle-aged man sat on the throne, his golden hair partially obscured by the crown.

His sharp gaze turned to Clark, and he spoke slowly.

"So... Baron Williams, you have come to me with this golden eagle gladiator emblem, what is it that you seek?"

The golden eagle gladiator emblem has been issued a few hundred times in the history of the kingdom.

But the number in the hands of barons could be counted on one hand.

After all, this is an event that even the royal family can participate in, and many emblems are collected by the royal family.

It represents the utmost honor.

The emblem in Clark's hand should have been issued by the king's father.

Clark knelt on one knee, performed a standard noble's salute, and respectfully said, "Your Majesty, I hope to exchange this emblem for an outstanding talent and a small amount of gold coins."

King Gannon the Thirteenth was somewhat surprised, but he said, "You may select a candidate for the royal knight from the kingdom's reserve knight corps."

"Additionally, I will pay you one thousand gold coins of Normandy to reclaim this eagle."

...

The kingdom's knight corps is directly under His Majesty.

The talents stored here are naturally the super elites gathered from all over.

There are even many family scions who come to gain prestige.

Because noble children, apart from the eldest son, the second sons have no inheritance rights.

After they come of age, they will be stripped of their noble titles until they make achievements and are enfeoffed.

Larger territories can still accommodate the second son to make a career, such as starting a chamber of commerce or an adventurer's guild.

And some less capable nobles, with fewer family industries.

It is highly likely that they will become commoners again.

In fact, Clark is quite fortunate with his situation.

His father only has him as a child.

He can easily inherit a hereditary baron's position.

Although the territory is barren, it is still much better than a noble without a territory.

As for his mother... since he can remember, he has never seen his mother.

When the knight commander brought Clark to the training ground of the knights, many people held their breath.

This overly young noble, is he just a baron?

According to common sense, nobles who come here naturally have the king's permission.

Being able to follow a noble, at least one can get a knight's title.

But being a knight of a baron and becoming a knight of a duke, there is naturally a world of difference.

Many people showed expressions of fear and hatred.

Some family knights even hid behind their colleagues.

Clark didn't pay much attention to it.

With the authorization of King Gannon the Thirteenth, even if he took away the second son of a count from the training ground today, it would be reasonable and justified.

Although he wouldn't do that.

It has to be said, the royal reserve knights are truly formidable, with attributes that are terrifyingly high.

Franklin

Martial value: 74

Strategy: 40

Loyalty: 0

Rating: A-

Special Talents: Spear Mastery, One-Handed Sword Mastery

Ake

Martial value: 68

Strategy: 56

Loyalty: 0

Rating: B

Special Talents: Eagle Eye, Longbow Mastery, Amazing Strength

...

Looking down the line, they are all knights with their own strengths.

The ratings are somewhat similar, which can actually be changed through later learning.

After a round, he finally stopped in front of a knight.

Duncan

Martial value: 96

Strategy: 80

Rating: A

Loyalty: 0

Special Talents: Horse Training, Eagle Eye, Weapon Mastery, Warrior...

Duncan's attributes are indeed powerful, even among this group of knights, he is extremely outstanding.

Some second sons from noble families are far inferior to him.

Duncan calmly met Clark's gaze, he is an ambitious person.

However, his background is indeed ordinary, and in order not to outshine the family's children, he performed in the knight corps tests in a moderate manner.

"I choose him."

The royal knight commander came to Duncan, "Duncan, from today on, you have graduated from the knight corps."

"From now on, follow Baron Clark."

Duncan's expression did not change at all, he just put his fist on his chest and respectfully saluted.

"Yes! Commander!"

...

Actually, Duncan didn't really resist following Clark.

Anyway, following a baron will definitely reduce the opportunities to perform, but it is also easier to stand out among the knights.

As we all know, the higher the noble rank,The more knights they have.

And the baron's territory is generally on the border of the Normandy Empire.

There are constant bandits, and once a war with other countries occurs, it is also the first to be hit.

As long as he can get the command of a guard army from Clark, he has many ways to establish military merits.

Although most of the credits will be taken by Clark, who is a noble.

But as long as he can make a name for himself and win a gladiator competition.

Becoming a common noble is not so far away.

He must become a common noble, there is a reason why he must become a common noble.

Clark, who was thinking about how to use this gold coin in the carriage, of course, did not know Duncan's thoughts.

A bag of Normandy gold coins was casually placed in the corner of the bright carriage.

The formation of the guard army is not an easy task.

He will immediately spend dozens of gold coins to pay the soldiers' salaries.

And then use five hundred gold coins to buy some iron weapons...

He originally thought so.

Until Alice, who was a bit bored, said: "Young master, are we going to use these gold coins to hire some blacksmiths?"

Clark suddenly realized that if he could train his own blacksmith, he could indeed save a lot of gold coins.

The ironware in Normandy is very expensive, an ordinary blacksmithed iron sword can be sold for about one gold coin.

If you add chain armor and shields, it takes about ten gold coins to arm a soldier.

And such a soldier is just barely called a regular army.

It's not much better than the conscripted civilians and militia.

This is a magical continent, a grand war, this level of soldier is not even worth mentioning as cannon fodder.

Those famous old nobles, who doesn't have a large number of heavy cavalry in their hands.

After all, this is not the Middle Ages recorded in the Blue Star world where hundreds of heavy riders can sweep almost everything.

This is a huge world with a population and land far exceeding that of the earth.

There are even many special troops, such as griffin cavalry or magical troops, and even alchemical creature legions.

These are all trump cards that can be created with countless gold coins.

And it is not easy to train a blacksmith.

Talented and untalented are completely different things.

The good news is that Clark's golden finger can help him attract these talents with special talents.

The bad news is that the gold coins in Clark's hand can't even hire a famous blacksmith.

As for what special troops, such a money-burning thing is not suitable for him for the time being.

...