Reincarnated as the fourth son of a noble and tamed an SS-rank dragon-Chapter 55: Baronet
Before Darius could reply, the Queen began to speak:
"Don’t worry, I’m only joking, but allow me to explain what this was all about. I’m very curious about you, your potions arrived in Solsticea through some merchants, none of whom made the potions, they just resold them and charged a little below market value. This trade became popular and then we discovered the supplier, the Adventurers’ Guild of the Capital of Velmont. The biggest surprise was when we found out the price. So, from that moment on, I wanted to meet you," she paused. "The King was also curious and did this test to find out your reaction to being accused, but you did well. But the question I have is, would you agree to help us? We wouldn’t ask you to fight or anything, we just want help with food and potions."
"If you give him the title of Duke, we guarantee that all the demons will be destroyed," Kaly replied. "But if that’s all you want, we’ll be happy to make more potions, but your purchase must be from the Guild, just like the food. We accept the old request because it’s a mission, but we can’t sell outside, we have an agreement and we don’t intend to break it."
"I can’t allow you to take a risk on something like this, nor promise a title of this level. That said, I’ll send the request to the Adventurers’ Guild."
"Another matter we should address is, what can we expect from your tournament?" Kael asked.
"Just expect that we want to hire the strongest people for House Lestor’s personal army, that’s all."
"Do you think you’ll make it?"
"Yes, we pay more than any other noble, in addition to the prizes we provide, so I reckon we’ll have new members."
"Your family got very rich, that was very fast."
"Yes, I think the fact that we were summoned here explains why my family got rich."
The answer was a little rude, but Kael laughed.
"Yes, that’s why I’ll give you a present, you’re what we call a royal jewel. You have a talent for business, but at the same time, your ideas are very audacious, which we can call dangerous. But at the same time, losing someone like that is something the Kingdom can’t afford, so I’ll give you the title of Baronet. I wanted to give you at least the title of Baron, but because of your age I can only offer you that title."
Kaly gave a slight smile, Arcan and Aeryn stared at the King, they had wanted to offer before, but due to the circumstances they couldn’t give a title of nobility.
A man entered the hall, he was holding a red cushion, on top of which was a piece of paper rolled up and tied with a red ribbon.
The paper was the title of nobility, it had already been filled in and Darius was officially a Baronet.
As a form of ritual, he knelt down and the King touched him three times with a sword, he said a few things.
"I, Darius Lestor, humbly accept the title of Baronet and promise to serve Velmont and the Royal Family with my life."
"Now your family will have two bloodlines, your second surname will be Transmutera, and your full name will be Darius Lestor Transmutera. I think this second name makes sense with your profession as an alchemist."
Surnames were given to nobles and the Royal Family, although in some countries anyone could have a second name. But in Velmont it was exclusively for nobles.
The surnames were in reference to the name of the domain the nobleman was in charge of, in other cases it was in reference to some feat the person had accomplished. Like an invention, heroism in battle or something like that.
Lestor was the name of the village that Lucian commanded, as Darius already had a surname, he should keep it and have a second surname, informing a new line of nobles.
Some nobles don’t get land or houses, in which case the created name comes into play.
Darius wouldn’t receive land or inherit his father’s, although this was frustrating because of what he had done to Kaly, he had already accepted it.
"When you turn 15, you’ll be given a domain to call your own, but until then you must be content with just the title."
He wasn’t expecting that, but it made sense in a way, as he had shown himself competent for the task.
At the mansion, Orphelia celebrated hearing about the title, Amanda and Lucian were also happy, but not like Orphelia, who kissed Darius several times.
To celebrate, they had a banquet, although Orphelia wanted Darius to cook.
His other brothers were warned and invited, the eldest brother was furious, he was the true heir, but ended up being considered an exile for having sided with the princess. By the time he read the letter, several days had passed.
In that world, letters were delivered by birds, called royal hawks. They could reach more than 120 km per minute, so they were perfect for the job, even more so for very distant regions, and they were only paid for with grain, such as corn and other seeds.
Soren, Lucian’s second son, would be the current heir, he was also angry and jealous of Darius, when they were younger they got on very well, but when Darius began to excel, their relationship began to become more fragile. The third son, Arto, was neutral, he didn’t want to inherit the title, he just wanted to be a merchant, but he wasn’t good at it.
He had some money saved up, bought some products and tried to sell them, but ended up losing all the money. Today he is in his final year at the Academy, Soren is part of the Royal Guard, his mission is to protect the Castle. But when he inherits the title, he will have to step aside and start with the bureaucratic work.
But they weren’t going to Darius’ celebration, but that was to be expected.
The celebration was simple, they ate, had fun and drank. Aeris was very happy for her brother, she had always been sweet and affectionate with Darius, and he reciprocated her affection.
Everything went smoothly, until the next day, when Lucian asked Darius to help with the paperwork, as this could help manage the domain when Darius received it.
Darius questioned why he didn’t have any helpers or anything like that. Lucian was slow to explain, first it was money, they weren’t doing well financially, then they had other problems and finding someone to help took a back seat.
Darius gave the advice to find someone, even if it was a slave, that would make the work easier and less time-consuming. But he agreed to help with the tasks.
There were a lot of papers, all of which had to be filled in and sent to the castle. It was like an accounting and with this information taxes were collected. The nobleman could lie and put in the wrong information and pay less tax, but if this was discovered, the entire amount withheld would have to be paid, and, depending on the severity, the nobleman would lose everything, as well as being killed.
The tasks took longer than Darius anticipated, but he was faster than Lucian, even though it was common for nobles to be better educated than commoners, they still had less knowledge than someone from high school.
Education didn’t advance much, while Darius studied mathematics, chemistry, and other areas. In this world, they were only taught to read, write, and do mathematical operations, but these were simple arithmetic accounts that were used in everyday life.
So a person who could read, write and do math was considered very intelligent and could serve many nobles and be well rewarded.
The illiteracy rate was very high, so these tasks ended up piling up without anyone to do them.
Perhaps opening a school could be a good business, but it might be difficult at first because of the amount they would have to charge.
People weren’t in this situation just because they wanted to be, it was difficult to find someone willing to teach and when they did, they usually had to pay. There were no schools for this, people had to learn on their own and that’s why grammar rules didn’t exist.
Every new book discovered a new way of writing a particular word.
But the idea was still there.
Then Darius went to the Adventurers’ Guild, the mission was already there and he went to the factory, he wanted to finish the mission as quickly as possible so that he would have more missions. Logically, that’s how it should be. But he also had other things to do, like taking care of the tournament, the selection was taking place and so the factory was without any security. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
The store was full of other adventurers, Darius managed to hire a few C-rankers, because the higher-ranked ones were in the selection, most people wanted to take part, because even if they didn’t win, they could still be hired if they stood out.
Having a steady job, sometimes paying less, was better than being an adventurer, at least for some adventurers.
This was because of the dangers of the profession, as well as always depending on the missions available at the time.
