4: Suspect

The person who came to assassinate him was human, and humans and orcs share a blood feud; they have always avoided each other, making it almost impossible for one to be driven by the other.

Furthermore, even if he were killed, it would have no impact on the outcome of the war between humans and orcs; there was no need for the orcs to engage in a losing trade.

The other suspect was another count whose territory bordered the Counts Fief—the Thorn Flower Count.

Both counts' fiefs wanted to expand, so conflict naturally arose between the two adjacent lands. Over the years, they had accumulated no small amount of grievances.

Speaking of the Thorn Flower Count, one must mention the power dynamics of Mondo Province, which had just been reclaimed and was now the northernmost province of the kingdom.

Mondo Province had no duke. The most powerful entities were two Great Marquises and three Counts, which resulted in their five territories being somewhat larger than those of typical marquises and counts.

As for viscounts and barons, there were too many of them to be worth paying attention to.

The three counts were the Fierce Lion Count, where Arthur was located, his neighbor the Thorn Flower Count, and the Raging Bear Count further away.

The three counts' fiefs collectively faced the Barren Plains where the orcs resided. One could say they stood side-by-side in front of the Barren Plains, forming the front line against the orcs.

Thus, the three counts' fiefs were clustered together, with the Thorn Flower Fief situated between the Raging Bear Territory and the Fierce Lion Territory.

Following the policy of befriending those far away while attacking those nearby, Arthur's eldest brother, Art, had entered into a political marriage with the legitimate daughter of the Raging Bear Count. This placed a great deal of pressure on the Thorn Flower Count, who was caught in the middle.

Furthermore, not long ago, Arthur had become engaged to Olivia, the legitimate daughter of Marquis of Roses—one of the two great marquises of Mondo Province. This caused the Thorn Flower Count's pressure to mount even further.

The best way to break this deadlock was to sabotage the marriage alliance between the Fierce Lion Territory and the Marquis.

Assassinating Arthur was certainly a means of sabotaging the alliance between the two territories.

Thinking through these various factors, Arthur had developed some suspicions regarding the enemy behind the assassination.

As for the specifics, he could only investigate them carefully in the future!

As Arthur's thoughts concluded, Karona arrived at the bedside with food.

The food consisted of milk, cheese, desserts, and even some meat.

People here Cultivate Battle Qi, so their digestive capabilities are naturally excellent. Consequently, there weren't many dietary restrictions; unlike his previous life, a severely injured patient didn't have to stick to a liquid diet.

Arthur's current body was capable of feeding itself, but Karona would not allow it:

“Young Master Arthur, you are still very weak. You should let me fulfill my duties as a maid and serve you!”

“Fine!”

Since she insisted, Arthur didn't push it further and peacefully enjoyed being fed by Karona.

In this quiet and beautiful atmosphere, Arthur took another look at the first person he had seen in this world.

He hadn't looked closely before, but now Arthur realized that Karona's beauty was among the very top tier in his memory.

Her face, which was originally a somewhat cold heart-shaped face, was now unusually filled with gentle colors as she faced Arthur.

The form-fitting maid uniform accentuated her figure to the fullest; she was truly the embodiment of both beauty and physique!

Finally, topped off with her unique silver hair, she was simply exceptional!

In his previous life, Arthur had never enjoyed such treatment. This scene and setting lifted Arthur's mood significantly.

However, Karona was not just a pretty face. She was an orphan who had been adopted and carefully trained as Arthur's personal maid.

Not only did she have a good grasp of management, but her own strength was also not weak.

She was four years older than Arthur, and at just twenty years old, she had achieved a Breakthrough to the Silver Knight stage two months ago.

Her talent for Cultivation was on par with Arthur's sister, Arina, which could be considered very impressive!

Two more days passed before Arthur was allowed to get out of bed for further rehabilitation training.

In truth, he could have gotten out of bed as soon as he woke up, but the others didn't think so, so he stayed in bed for two extra days.

During these two days, the Count and others came to see him several more times. Seeing his health improve, they were finally at ease.

After being forced to stay in bed for two days, Arthur was impatient to reach the courtyard below the castle once he gained his freedom. He picked up a knight sword and began to train.

After all, he was still very curious about the Battle Qi of this world.

Since he was just getting acclimated to this body, Arthur didn't wear armor, opting instead for a set of brown silk casual clothes.

Somewhat awkwardly, he began to mobilize the energy that had been restless within his body—Battle Qi.

As a Bronze Knight, Arthur could not manifest Battle Qi outside his body; he could only keep it hidden within to enhance his speed and strength.

Manifesting Battle Qi outside the body to enhance physical defense and weapon sharpness was the exclusive privilege of a Silver Knight.

As for projecting Battle Qi away from the body to swing a Sword Qi slash, only a Gold Knight could achieve that.

Those levels were still too far from Arthur. Currently, as he continuously swung his knight sword in the courtyard, except for the particularly sharp sound of the blade cutting through the air and his slightly faster speed,

he looked no different from an ordinary person. After all, he had only just entered the Bronze stage.

After practicing formally for a while, Arthur also noticed this gap, and his yearning for higher strength grew even stronger.

After all, how dashing and satisfying it would be to split mountains and stop rivers with a single sword stroke!

Furthermore, upon reaching the rank of Sky Knight, one could actually fly. With this yearning in mind, Arthur Cultivated with great enthusiasm.

Arthur was eager to train, but Karona would not indulge him. In Karona's heart, Arthur's health came first.

So after only one hour, Arthur was forced to go and rest.

Another five days passed like this, and everyone was completely reassured about Arthur's health, so they didn't pay as much attention to him anymore.

Having fully recovered, Arthur was in the mood to consider other matters, such as the situation of the families of Jorg and Sean—the two guards who had sacrificed themselves to protect him earlier.

After he handed this task to Karona, she quickly clarified the situation.

For Jorg and Sean to become Arthur's guards, the Count naturally trusted them implicitly. They were veterans who had fought alongside the Count to establish his domain twenty-five years ago. They started as orphans with no ties, but now they both had families.

For some reason, Sean and his wife had never had children.

Jorg, on the other hand, had a son named George. He was twenty-three years old and had reached the Silver Rank at twenty-two, which showed some talent. He was currently serving as a guard in the Count's castle, which could be considered a Family Legacy position.

“Has the compensation for both families been paid?”

“Yes. They were veterans of the Family and possessed Silver Rank strength, with an annual salary of one thousand gold coins. Normal compensation is ten thousand gold coins, but this time it was ten times that, so it was one hundred thousand gold coins.

Jorg's compensation has already been fully given to his son, George.”