Gospel of Blood

The convoy from Castell's County consisted of about three hundred people, escorting around forty carriages.

Among them, one hundred were armored knights of the Castell family, three were mages, and the remaining two hundred were attendants and coachmen.

Leading the convoy was Baron Sharon, whose full name was Sharon de Leon-Castell, a senior First Tier Starry Sky Knight.

After learning the other party's full name, Charlotte was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected to see her own family's surname in his name.

However, after Casimodo's explanation, Charlotte learned that the Leon-Castell family was a branch of the Castell family.

Just like the Castell family was a branch of the Borde family, the Castell family also had many branch families. Some branches retained the Castell name in their surnames, while others completely changed to new names.

Similar family branches were quite common in the world of Myria.

This was determined by the inheritance laws of the Myria nobility, originating from the Yunette Empire, which laid the basic political framework of Myria. The Yunette Empire advocated for divided inheritance, where each offspring of nobles, besides the eldest son who received the main titles, would inherit secondary noble titles and estates.

As a result, over the past millennium, various noble families had branched out, and apart from the main families, side branches continued to emerge, leading to the formation of increasingly large noble surnames.

However, what rises with divided inheritance can also fall with divided inheritance.

Although divided inheritance maintained a certain fairness and allowed noble families to continuously grow, it also brought wars, especially struggles among heirs for inheritance rights.

Moreover, continuously divided inheritance weakened central authority, leading to the decline of royal power, including many feudal kingdoms like the Yunette Empire, as continuous division weakened the monarchy's control over the regions, eventually leading to the downfall of nations.

Of course, that was ancient history.

People have long memories, and nobles are no exception.

To this day, a thousand years later, the vast majority of noble families have long abandoned divided inheritance and opted for the more "advanced" inheritance.

Although offspring other than the firstborn might still receive fiefs, it wasn't for inheritance purposes but rather as grants from the lord.

As for the Castell family...

Apart from more than a hundred years ago when they branched out, forming side branches, in the past hundred years, the head of the Castell main branch family had been passed down for five generations.

By the time it reached Charlotte, it was almost the same as being on the brink of extinction.

Thus, although there were branches of the Castell family in Castell County, their blood relationship was not even as close as marriage ties with other kingdoms and duchies' families. This was also true for their claims and inheritance rights to Castell.

Despite their blood ties and being considered part of the Castell family, the nobles of her territories were almost on par with those enfeoffed nobles.

In addition to Baron Sharon, among the one hundred armored knights escorting the convoy, there were five Second Tier extraordinary, including one hereditary noble and four extraordinary knights who awakened through the Awakening Seed.

The remaining knights were all awakened individuals.

As for the three mages, one was a First Tier, while the remaining two were Zero Tier.

Obviously, the ratio of mages among the extraordinaries was much lower than that of extraordinary knights.

But this was normal.

The conditions to become a mage were stricter than those to become an extraordinary knight, not to mention that extraordinary knights could be produced through the Awakening Seeds.

Although the produced extraordinary were slightly weaker, they were still extraordinary.

Seeing the strength of the escort knights, Charlotte had a more intuitive understanding of her own family's strength.

It was worth noting that in the Demon Hunter Bureau of Borde City, the total number of First Tier and above Demon Hunter Knights did not exceed forty, but here, in the Castell family's convoy, there were seven!

However, the knights escorting the convoy were not the strongest force of this team.

The strongest force was a middle-aged man who stood beside Baron Sharon.

Unlike the armored knights, his equipment seemed much more weathered, and he exuded a rugged aura.

In him, Charlotte felt a distinct sense of threat, though not as strong as Sebastian's, it was quite intense.

Silver Moon!

He was a Second Tier Silver Moon extraordinary!

Realizing the opponent's strength, Charlotte couldn't help but glance at him with curiosity.

Undoubtedly, compared to the majestic armored knights, this Second Tier Silver Moon was the real escort.

Just him alone could probably easily defeat these knights!

Noticing her gaze, Sharon quickly respectfully introduced him.

"Miss Charlotte, this is Mr. Carlisle."

After that, he introduced Charlotte to the Second Tier extraordinary.

"Mr. Carlisle, this is our Castell family's young mistress, Miss Charlotte."

Mister... Carlisle?

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Her heart stirred.

As a First Tier Knight, Sharon did not address the other as 'Lord', indicating that the other was not a noble.

Second Tier Silver Moon, but not a noble, coupled with the rugged appearance, the answer was already apparent.

The other... was probably a freelance mercenary!

As if verifying Charlotte's guess, the middle-aged man couldn't help but glance at her a few more times before averting his gaze. His gaze lingered briefly on Sebastian before turning to Baron Sharon.

"Baron Shalon, we've arrived at Borde. I should take my leave."

"Mr. Carlisle, won't you stay and rest? Let us extend our hospitality."

Baron Sharon said solemnly.

However, the extraordinary named Carlisle shook his head.

"Thank you for your invitation, but I have other matters to attend to."

After some refusal, the Second Tier Silver Moon extraordinary left.

Before leaving, Baron Sharon instructed a knight to hand him an exquisite bag. Charlotte keenly took a glance and found it filled with shiny metallic objects, resembling the legendary mithril.

She immediately understood. This mercenary was not a vassal of Castell, he was simply hired to assist in escorting the goods.

However, being able to hire a Silver Moon to escort goods for a month indicated the wealth of Castell and the value of the goods being transported.

According to Nice's assessment of the prices for hiring extraordinary individuals in the black market, it would probably cost tens of thousands of gold Tarna, if not more!

This... made Charlotte even more curious about the goods being transported by the convoy.

After all, just the cost of this trip would probably amount to tens of thousands of gold Tarna!

Accompanied by the excitement of the children, the Castell family's convoy entered Borde City, while the knights on the periphery scattered silver Tarna to clear the way, receiving cheers.

Sitting in the carriage, Charlotte couldn't wait to have the knights send over the inventory list to have a look.

Upon hearing her command, Baron Sharon hesitated slightly but ultimately complied.

After seeing the list, Charlotte finally understood why forty carriages were used.

It turned out that their escorted convoy not only transported funds for the manor but also supplied goods for the family's shops throughout the Borde Duchy.

Most of the forty carriages were loaded with goods!

They were not just a convoy transporting funds but also a caravan.

As for the goods they transported... there were high-quality textiles from the Fallen Star Kingdom, elf accessories and magical items from Luna Island, as well as minerals and gemstones from Castell County.

And when Charlotte saw the column for the funds transported to the manor, her eyes lit up.

Five hundred thousand!

The funds transported by the convoy to the manor for the family's activities amounted to five hundred thousand gold Tana!

My goodness, this was the budget for one month!

In a year, it would be six million gold Tarna!

Was her family really this wealthy?!

Charlotte felt her heart fluttering. She realized she had underestimated her family's wealth.

And at that moment, the old butler Casimodo couldn't help but knock on the carriage window.

"Mistress, about the funds transported from the family county... approximately how much is it?"

"Five hundred thousand gold Tana!"

Charlotte took a deep breath, her face flushed with excitement.

However, upon hearing her words, Casimodo's brows furrowed slightly.

"Five hundred... thousand?"

Seeing his expression, Charlotte found it strange.

"What's wrong? Is there an issue?"

Casimodo hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"It seems... there might be some issue."

"Mistress, I haven't been involved in family affairs for many years, so I'm not quite sure about the current state of the county."

"But just five hundred thousand... seems too little."

Charlotte: ...?

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