To my surprise, this time on the road to Harin city we finally met the bandits. With me were only children and a couple of people as coachmen that Jayden found for me.

There were only 8 bandits, mostly young, five with bows and three with axes. Perhaps they fled one of the villages of some local lord who terrorized them with taxes. After losing 30 people, I had less than 50 left in the gang, most of them I knew, these were clearly not from my people.

Fortunately, I noticed them early enough. Stopping the caravan, I went ahead.

The arrows were not fired at the same time, and the accuracy was lame. I was able to dodge and fight them off with my sword, after which I moved to attack.

These guys were lucky, because I needed fresh blood in the gang right now, so I just neutralized them without causing serious injury, and then threw them into my wagon. The children roared in delight at the performance.

With the development of my guild, trade will go more actively, and accordingly, there will be much more bandits on the roads. Even gangs from neighboring cities will actively rob everyone, so I needed an army and the more the better. I myself was going to solve only the most serious problems.

At the entrance to the city, I gave the collector a gold coin and explained the situation, and soon the whole procession went to our base.

First of all, we will have to find a new building for the life and education of children of which there are more than two hundred, given those who were already in Harin and I was not going to stop recruiting them.

The city was enough for now, but soon with the growth of trade and prosperity, it will be overpopulated, so I was already planning to acquire land from the outside and develop it.

The title of Knight, which was bestowed on the Knight's Disciples, was formal and did not give any more monetary or land rewards. However, I could buy land or enter the service of any lord who would appropriately provide me with an allotment.

After learning what happened during my departure and resolving minor issues, Isabelle and I went to visit the lord.

Viscount Rashford was Lord of Harin and the eldest son of the Earl of Rushford, who in turn controlled this southern county of the kingdom, including the five towns in its territory.

I knew that the viscount was a rather young Knight's Apprentice, but I was still surprised to realize that he was not even 30 years old.

He was well built and good-looking. Shoulder-length black hair, combined with a noble posture made him look like a hereditary aristocrat.

There were two older men by his side, one was the Knight's Apprentice, a personal bodyguard and teacher named Karos, assigned to him by his father. The second was the intermediary Mark, whom I already knew.

Although I originally introduced myself as a Knight's Apprentice to meet the viscount, he was still surprised to sense the life energy in me.

I shamelessly introduced Isabelle to them as my wife. Even if they were surprised by her appearance, they didn't seem to care.

After an exchange of pleasantries, we finally got down to business.

- First, I would like to ask you to send an application to the capital on my behalf to receive the title of Knight. I said.

- Of course, no problem. I would do it anyway. - Rashford replied with a smile.

- Thank you. The second question is my service under you, of course, if we come to an agreement.

- Are you going to leave the gang? - he asked.

- No, I'm going to partially legalize it by creating a guild. Of course, only on the condition that you give the go-ahead.

I'm going to develop trade and craft in the city. I promise that you will earn no less than before by collecting taxes, and with the expansion of the guild and the city, your profit will skyrocket.

I will have to recruit more people and do many other things, but I will cover all the expenses myself. You will only have to enjoy the increase in profits.

And of course, since I will swear allegiance to you and will fight for you if necessary, I naturally desire to receive my own allotment of land.

I am talking about the land in the northeast, starting from the river around the city and ending with sheer cliffs. I marked the area on the map. - my monologue was finished.

This time Rashford didn't answer right away.

- You're not going to spread the knight technique among your people, are you? - Rushford asked.

- I'm not a madman, although I may have given reason to think otherwise, for which I apologize. In any case, I am not going to violate the laws of the kingdom and the technique will be transferred exclusively to my descendants.

After chatting a little more, I bowed out with a promise to get an answer soon.

Rashford watched Sam go and thought. Then he asked.

- What do you think?

- It's too early to judge, we'll have to watch. Personally or indirectly, he killed a lot of gang members and not only, which clearly did not benefit the business. If he continues like this... - Mark shook his head.

- It’s a pity that I don’t have any more Knights under my command. - Rashford looked at Karos and shook his head, continued - The city needs to be developed, I do not intend to continue to live in filth and shit, my innovations have not yet given the desired result. For now, we will support him in all endeavors and see where the wind blows. - he concluded.

- As you command, sir. - Mark answered meekly.

I had enough time to spare. Whoever was the nobleman named Lawrence whom Delric served, it would be a long time before he learned about what had happened and gathered enough information to finally identify the culprit.

Rashford of course knew that I was leaving the city for the raid and lost all the people, but there were no witnesses, so he could not know the details. I was going to tell him the details only after the oath.

Mark visited me shortly after, informing me of Rashford's consent, as well as the approximate date of the official ceremony.

Without hesitation, I began to gradually implement my plans. The first thing I did was officially make Isabelle my wife.

Both the ceremony of taking the title from the viscount and my wedding were modest events. In the eyes of the few other nobles, I was still a bandit and a commoner, so I only contacted them if I needed something. And usually I received what I wanted one way or another.

The children I took under my care were still too young, however I singled out a couple of those to whom I might pass on Knight techniques in the future.

With Rushford's tacit approval, I was able to occupy a decent enough building and found the Tarrister Guild. Of course this building was a temporary measure. The main building, as well as warehouses and the rest, I was going to build on my own land in the future.

Blacksmiths, carpenters, tanners and all the rest gradually became part of the guild. Of course, not everyone was willing to join voluntarily, so they had to resort to threats. I simply killed some especially obstinate ones and took away their property and shops.

I didn’t really like what I was doing, however, my start-up capital was not infinite, and I needed results as soon as possible.

A couple of months later, the Earl Lawrence personally visited Viscount Rashford, along with a hundred soldiers as an escort.

- I demand that you give me a criminal named Tarrister. Lawrence began.

Rashford shook his head.

- Earl Lawrence if you had said it a few months ago, everything would have been decided in the blink of an eye. However, Tarrister is now a Knight's Apprentice and a noble with the appropriate title. Your words alone are no longer enough to condemn him. Besides, he already swore allegiance to me...

Interrupting, Lawrence said.

- Are you really going to protect him?

- There are still laws in this kingdom, at least for nobles. Until there is hard evidence, my ward is innocent of anything. - Rashford replied calmly.

- Isabelle, his so-called wife belongs to me. If you give her back to me, I'll forget everything else. - Lawrence made concessions.

Rashford was taken aback.

- You know that they are already married? Do you even care about the reputation?

- To hell with the reputation, if you do not want to help me, I will achieve justice myself. - Lawrence insisted.

Rashford sighed and said.

- Earl Lawrence, have you already found out the ins and outs of this man? I have to remind you that he is a commoner who grew up in a gang from childhood. A butcher who kills people like cattle.

If you try to kill him and fail, or if you kidnap his wife, he will not demand justice in the court or challenge you to a duel. He is one of those people who can easily get into your house in the middle of the night and cut out everyone you appreciate and love.

I hope you think carefully before making Knight Apprentice your enemy, one bodyguard is clearly not enough...

- Enough! It was he who killed my second Knight! Do you think I'll just endure such an insult?! Let's see what your father has to say.

Lawrence left the castle in a rage. Then I left the next room.

- Heard? - asked Rashford.

I nodded.

- And what will your father say? - I clarified.

Rashford chuckled.

- Nothing. Their relationship was strained without your participation, I doubt that they will be able to agree. However, now you will have to be careful, and especially your wife.

- I understand and thank you Viscount Rashford for your help. - I replied with a smile.

Soon, rumors about what had happened even reached the palace, which further tarnished Lawrence's reputation. However, he was unable to get anything from the Earl Rushford.

He had only to start a war between the counties, but in order to get with the army to the city of Harin, he would first have to pass through another city on his way here, like the lands of many lords around. Naturally, Earl Rashford will not leave this without an answer, as well as the lords in his territory. And the Duke of this area is also unlikely to be happy with civil strife in the controlled territory.

Therefore, the plan with the banal kidnapping of Isabelle seemed more realistic. However, we were almost always with her from our first meeting, and I was not going to take my eyes off her.

My father and tutor, William Tarrister, died soon after. I watched with bitterness his posthumous expression, it was as severe as in life. The old man rarely smiled, and even my return could not smooth over his sad past.

He never told me about himself, but I managed to find out that his entire family died during the war. Since then, he has been alone.

I looked at Isabelle and squeezed her hand tightly. She looked back at me, seeing those beautiful eyes the color of the sea, I swore to myself that I would save her no matter what.

However, the melancholy over the death of Gray did not last long. I had too many things to do and plans, time passed and the pain of loss gradually faded away.