In the distance, there were rolling low mountains, a river running from north to south, green mountains and rivers, white clouds floating in the sky, lush green grass, thick trees with branches reaching up towards the sky and roots grasping the ground.

Lex took a deep breath in this environment.

—It stinks.

After a fortnight of bumpy rides, they finally arrived at their destination. However, as soon as they set foot on the ground, Lex was overcome by the stench before he could say anything, and he asked Elijah and Alex blankly, "Why does it stink so much here?"

Lex: "...do the people here poop in the open, no, go to the toilet?"

Elijah, however, is well-adjusted. Knights always travel around, going to the most barren places, so it's only natural that he says, "My lord, they are slaves. Slaves have no sense of shame."

By the way, there are no commoners on the manor. Everyone there is just the property of the lord, to be bought and sold at will.

"Where do they live?" Lex asked again. Standing on the hillside, he looked far away and had a panoramic view of the landscape. He really didn't see a decent house. Could it be that these people live in the stone 'castle' further away?

—He really didn't want to call that building a castle.

He had also seen stone houses during his previous trips to Europe, and they were still four-story small buildings, much nicer than that crumbling "castle."

Alex eagerly answered this time, "Slaves don't need a place to live, they only deserve to sleep on the grass."

Lex was silent. He felt that he was not dressed like a slave, and he definitely felt favored by the heavens.

You have to know that there are no treatments here. Lex has seen the prayer masters heal the common people. There are two methods: one is to forbid the other person from eating, and the other is to bleed. The prayer masters have "cured" many people to death, but they still firmly believe that their methods are correct, it's just that the patients are not lucky enough.

There were no shortage of people who starved to death or bled to death.

There were witch doctors who used herbal medicine to treat diseases, but since they were associated with witchcraft, they were definitely hated by the Holy Court.

When a witch doctor was caught, he would be made to dig a pit, then walk into it, while people pelted him with stones from above until he was killed.

Lex climbed back into the carriage and waited to be taken to the front of the "castle".

Alwin was sitting leaning against the side of the carriage reading books that Lex had brought with him from the monastery. Here, books were reserved for the nobility. There was no paper, only parchment, which was very expensive. A book could cost a hundred slaves.

"What's it about?" Lex hadn't had a chance to read any of the books yet. He didn't dare to read in the carriage for fear of throwing up.

Alwin laughed softly. "The duties of a lord."

Lex blinked. "What duties?" I don't know.

Alwin sits up straight and opens the book to show him the page.

The rules are very characteristic of a slave society.

Lex first looks at the rules for governing slaves before looking at the rules for the castle.

There are no civilians in the territory. Under the control of the lord, everyone is a slave. They can only eat one meal a day, start working in the morning, rest when the sun sets, and cannot gather together without an order.

The lord has the right of first night in the territory – a right Lex gives up.

The slaves themselves all belonged to the lord, so they could not own property.

They had almost nothing, the only thing they had was that one meal a day.

There was not much grain either, because there was no "farmland" in the standard sense here. If a piece of land was cleared and cultivated, without fertilizer, it would be thinly cultivated in just two years. Therefore, it was obvious that the land would rest and recuperate itself for half a year and be cultivated for half a year, allowing the land to rest and recuperate itself. The disadvantages were obvious—one had to keep clearing the land.

Because of this, the lives of the slaves in the territory were very difficult. They worked very hard, but were given very little food. They were not allowed to own their own houses, and they were not allowed to get married.

What's more amazing is that the people here are superstitious. People believe that if something unfortunate happens to them, they can only seek help from the clergy or the lord to exorcise the evil spirits. The way to exorcise the evil spirits is also very magical—just sleep.

Alwin glanced at Lex, and he gave Lex a subtle smile.

Lex shivered.

"Leave exorcisms to the priests!" Lex said decisively. 'I'm not capable of that.'

But he felt vaguely that if the person who admired him knew about this rule, they might pretend to be overcome by evil spirits in order to take advantage of him.

Alwin had been recuperating for the past few days, and Lex thought he was a very knowledgeable elf. He knew almost everything, and could even name the wild flowers and grasses on the road.

He told Lex that elves generally live far away from humans, and their way of treating diseases is to rely on herbs.

So compared to humans, they care more about the environment in which they live and would rather live deep in the forest.

Lex asked him in the car, "Where do elves usually go to the bathroom?"

Alwin was taken aback, "What?"

Lex touched the back of his head, "That's right, you shouldn't use the word toilet. You just poop..."

Alwin didn't let him say the last word, and he replied, "You have to dig a hole and bury it."

Lex: "Oh, I thought the elves didn't need to poop."

Alwin shut up.

He found the human's appearance to be very deceptive. When he wasn't talking, the person looked elegant and gentle, with a hint of indescribable mystery.

It wasn't annoying, but there was a bit more youthful exuberance than was befitting of his appearance.

Lex explained, "The book says that elves are born from flower buds, so I think they should be different from us. For example, they only drink dew and eat flowers and the youngest leaves, so they don't need to defecate."

Alwin closed his eyes and let out a little snore, pretending to be asleep.

After a short final stretch, the carriage finally stopped at the entrance to the "castle".

The butler and servants of the castle were already waiting at the gate early in the morning, led by an old man in a tuxedo.

He had gray hair, was so thin as to look like a skeleton, with wrinkled skin and deep set eyes. His face was lined with wrinkles like a series of ravines, and his limbs were so thin that they could not support his clothes, making people suspect that he would pass away at any second.

He was simply a walking specimen, his skin had lost its elasticity, and he could very well be used in a horror movie.

The servants stood in two rows, left over from the previous lord and the one before that. The manor was plagued with pests year-round, and it was prone to flooding during the rainy season, so the lords often changed every four years, and the servants just kept multiplying.

As a result, there were forty people who came out to greet Lex at this time, and there were more than sixty who didn't come out.

They stood on either side of the gate in an orderly manner, and except for the butler standing at the front, they all bowed their heads, not daring to look up.

Elijah and Alex dismounted at the same time. They were both tall and strong, and they both ignored the servants as they unsheathed their swords at their waists.

Although knights served the nobles, they were themselves members of the nobility and considered to be in the reserves. Their status was above that of the common people, and if they could achieve feats of merit, they might also be granted a title of nobility.

The nobles usually let their eldest sons inherit the title of nobility, and the other sons were sent to serve as knights in the territories of other nobles, which was also an outlet.

Elijah and Alex, who had sometimes acted foolishly and sometimes like idiots in Lex's presence, were now showing no respect at all, as if the servants were just air to them.

The butler followed Lex when he got out of the car, and said softly, "My lord, I am the butler here, and I will be responsible for your food and accommodation in the future."

Lex glanced over his shoulder and was almost scared by the butler's face.

Lex had read about the duties of a butler in a book.

A butler is a very respected profession here. He is responsible for the master's food and accommodation, not necessarily doing the work himself, but he must always try to understand the master's preferences. Since Lex does not have a personal maid or butler, his butler has to do everything himself.

In addition, he also manages the master's personal belongings, social interactions, and property management.

Even if Lex has children, the butler will also become the child's first teacher.

In other words, he is a perfect personal nanny and personal secretary, and must be absolutely loyal and dedicated.

After all, the butler can never switch jobs, even if Lex fires him, he can't find a similar job, so he must do a good job, so good that Lex can't do without him.

Of course, the butler can also change bosses, but it must be in the form of inheritance. For example, if the previous lord is gone, he can continue to serve the successor, but only if the successor does not bring his own butler.

The butler let out a sigh of relief. He could tell at a glance that the knight was of noble birth, and if the new lord did not bring anyone else with him, then he would remain the butler here.

Just then, another person jumped down from the carriage.

The butler turned his head as he heard a sound, and his eyes narrowed as he saw that the person getting out of the carriage was clearly not a knight. Although he was wearing noble attire, he had the ears of an elf.

Many nobles liked to have housekeepers from other races.

The rarer and more precious they were, the better, and it was also a symbol of status.

Lex introduced the butler, "The two who just passed by are the knights the Holy Court assigned to me, and this one... is sort of my friend, and will be staying here for a while."

The butler, who had been wearing a stern face, now revealed a gentle smile like the spring breeze caressing the willows.

Even his face, which had originally seemed a bit intimidating, now had a kind and amiable look.

He also nodded his head at Alwin.

Alwin: "?"

Alwin also smiled at the butler and nodded.

The butler's smile grew even wider.

Alwin could only match it.

The two of them exchanged smiles.

Lex: "Are you two... making faces? They're quite ugly."

Alwin and the butler immediately stopped smiling. The butler returned to looking like the old-fashioned, stuffy butler, while Alwin remained beautiful and extraordinary.

Lex muttered, "Is this some kind of special way of saying hello?"