Hourglass

By Marilynne Robinson

Fairytale World. The ancestors of the tailor's family from "The Table, the Golden Ass and the Stick" were actually attendants of the god Pan.

The goldfish in The Golden Doll, which was eaten by the fisherman's wife, actually has the bloodline of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

There is actually a big secret behind the Holy Light Divine

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Gregory
• Release date: Mar 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869393425

Marilynne Robinson

Marilynne Robinson is the recipient of a 2012 National Humanities Medal, awarded by President Barack Obama, for "her grace and intelligence in writing." She is the author of Gilead, winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award; Home, winner of the Orange Prize and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize; and Lila, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her first novel, Housekeeping, won the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award. Robinson's nonfiction books include The Givenness of Things, When I Was a Child I Read Books, Absence of Mind, The Death of Adam, and Mother Country. She lives in Iowa City, Iowa.

Book preview

Chapter 5: The Scarlet Hand 1

    A small caravan of several wagons marched through the northern lands of the Duchy of Fardir.

    William stepped out of the center wagon compartment, the dirt road under his feet, the dark green forest on either side of him, and a gust of wind that blew like needles in his face.

    Although it was not yet the month of frost, the wind in the North still carried a freezing chill.

    Today is his sixteenth day back from the world of Snow White.

    Upon his return he was pleasantly surprised to find that time flowed differently on both sides.

    He stayed in the world of Snow White for a year to energize the thing named Hourglass of Time, and when he came back, the time in this world didn't pass for long, and when he opened the door, John was still guarding the door, and when he saw him, he wondered if William had changed his clothes so quickly.

    William guessed that the world was in stasis at the time he crossed over.

    He didn't have a modern timer though, so he couldn't measure it, just guessed.

    It's just a wrong guess, but the difference in the passage of time between the two sides is enormous, that's for sure.

    In coming to this conclusion, William was happy for a while, thinking that this would help him solve a problem that had worried him before, when he had spent a long time in the world of Snow White, how he was going to explain it when he came back from re-traveling.

    Well now, there's no need to explain!

    It didn't take long for William to be happy, though, before his nominal old man, Archduke Odyssey VII, came down with a formal order that was essentially the same as the one John had inquired about, enthroning him as Baron of Decas, with only one difference.

    That is, the Archduke of Odyssey VII gave him only three days.

    Once the three days were over, he didn't want to see William in Searle City.

    Having no choice but to purchase supplies in the city of Sel, William took the partition order signed by the Archduke and headed towards the Northern Dark Forest in a grayish manner.

    And the only people willing to follow William, the newly minted Baron of Decas, were John, father and son, a blacksmith, and a carpenter,.

    Three carriages, four followers, one thousand and three piastres of gold, twelve aiguillettes of silver, twenty-five francs of silver, and three hundred and forty-five poules of copper were all that William, the baron of Dicas, had.

    One peso of gold is equal to ten francs of silver.

    One Aigu silver coin is equal to three franc silver coins.

    And one silver franc is equal to one hundred copper Poole coins.

    And a nobleman's entourage like John's, William had to pay him three Aigu silver coins a month, or nine hundred Poole copper coins.

    William was still paid less for this salary, like the one in the family, Andrew, who had injured him, paid his entourage from three pisces of gold.

    Not to mention, the blacksmiths and carpenters who followed him here were paid.

    It was less than John's per month, but the blacksmith also used two aiguillettes of silver per month, and the carpenter was cheaper, but it was one aiguillette and two francs of silver.

    Viewed in this way, William's household could not be described as small; it should be described as shabby.

    If William's territory does not collect enough taxes, then William's life will not be aristocratic.

    And from the information William had so far, the odds were that it would be hard to squeeze oil out of his fiefdom called the small village of Nisei.

    Ai! William couldn't help but sigh at the thought, luckily for him, he had the hourglass of the Wheel of Time, which could take him through different worlds, then the future was still bright.

    Old John came forward and said to William, My Lord Baron, in two more candle burns, we will reach Viscount Grien's city of Patras. Outside of Viscount Grien's city, another short distance will bring us to your lordship.

    Uh-huh. William returned, sullenly.

    Old John's address to William had naturally changed from Master William to Lord Baronet.

    There were no accurate timepieces in this era, and nobles or generally wealthy people used candles to indicate time.

    One candle burns for about forty minutes or so, and two candles is about an hour and twenty minutes.

    Of course the poor people don't use this kind of rhetoric, they use vague concepts like when the rooster crows, when the sun goes down, at noon and so on.

    These vague concepts have large time errors.

    The wind whistled and blew the leaves of the trees on both sides.

    Seeing that William was unmoved, John, however, had to move forward and say, Lord Baron, it is windy outside, do you want to go back to the carriage to rest ......

    No, John ......, William declined Old John's suggestion and looked up into the empty distance when suddenly his chest lurched and a sharp voice rang out in his head.

    Enemy attack directly ahead!

    Ahead of William was John Sr.

    William's heart skipped a beat as he pivoted away from Old John with one hand and drew the crossed swords he carried with the other.

    This sword is a great sword of fine quality that William brought with him from the world of Snow White and was rewarded by the Queen for his bravery.

    Old John was pushed to the side of the wagon, still confused as to what was happening, not understanding why William had pushed him away, and then he saw a dark shadow shoot straight at William from where he had just been, in the woods behind him.

    William and the man in black mingled at once.

    Clang clang ...... the sound of weapons meeting rang out from time to time.

    After a dozen seconds or so, the two men re-separated and each stood aside, a few drops of hot sweat looming on their foreheads.

    It was only then that Old John could make out the shape of the dark figure.

    The man in black was tall and thin, wearing a black coat and black pants, his face was surrounded by a black cloth, only revealing a pair of grim, viper-like eyes, holding a short sword with a blue light that looked like it had been fed with poison, and the poison was not low.

    There is an enemy, quickly protect the Baron Lord! Old John shouted, that other wagon blacksmith carpenter and his son, body froze, randomly took the guy to be surrounded.

    William looked warily at the man in black, and without turning his head, ordered in a fierce tone, No coming over here to make trouble!

    William and the man in black had fought against each other, and knew that the man in black was a knight level strength, and those who followed him were nothing more than ordinary people with a skill, and with just a few of them, how could they be a match for these killing machines!

    Just like Snow White's attendants. So what if there were seven or eight of them? It's still their fate to be slaughtered by him.

    Hearing William's order, the followers didn't dare to come any closer, but just cowered and watched.

    The black-clothed man's eyes narrowed, as if he was mocking, or as if he was sighing, ''Actually a knight level? That doesn't match the intelligence, which said that you were merely a knight squire. It seems we have undercharged this time, at least double it."

    Who are you? William asked, frowning and drinking calmly.

    He had killed so many people in Snow World that he had long since accumulated a wealth of battlefield experience.

    Who am I? Heh heh heh ...... the man in black sneered, in an aria-like tone, We are the messengers of death, we are the servants of the shadows, we are the Scarlet Hand!

    It was then that William noticed the scarlet glove on the black man's right hand.

    The Scarlet Hand? An assassination organization that spans several countries? William's face changed as he found out information about this organization from his predecessor's memories.

    Legend has it that this organization is extremely dedicated, and has yet to miss a kill they've tried to make.

    William's brow furrowed into a frown, and instead of begging for mercy, he asked, Who sent you to kill me?

    My lord, are you questioning my integrity? The man in black snorted, But I do have a little curiosity, and I hope that Your Excellency will satisfy a small curiosity of mine before you die. How did you discover me? I consider myself to be skilled in concealment ......

    Before the man in black could finish his sentence, something in William's chest jolted and the shrill voice came back into his head.

    Enemy attack directly behind you, jump left!

    Without hesitation William did as the voice said and jumped to the left.

    A large iron bar weighing at least a few dozen pounds slammed hard on William's previous position, only to hear a boom, the ground raised a wave of dust and air, the air waves scattered with the wind, and the ground appeared as a deep crater.

    William's face was grim and ugly, if he hadn't jumped out of the way in time he might have been a pile of muck by now.

    I can't believe it was avoided ...... the owner of the iron rod, a man in black, similarly dressed but considerably fatter, stood behind William's original position and spoke in an urn.

    I can't believe it's been avoided again ......, sighed the black-clothed man who was the first.

    Just now, it was definitely the two of them playing a double act, one was responsible for attracting William's attention, while the other was responsible for the sneak attack.

    If William hadn't had that reminder, he might have had to die again just now!

    His perception must be very high! Otherwise, he wouldn't have easily detected our presence. The first black-clothed man said with conviction.

    Doomed to disappoint him, however, William realizes that they are not on his own.

    Of course William wouldn't be stupid enough to bring this up.

    So what? If we can't sneak attack, we'll just kill him the hard way. With us two knights around, are we still afraid of him? The fat black man who stole the attack said in disbelief as he touched his stomach, Number 12, I'm hungry. I'm going to eat meat.

    Good! Kill him and he'll be yours to eat. Not enough there are a few more over there, enough for you to eat! The black-clothed man called number 12 said with a grim smile, the words were addressed to the sneak attacking black-clothed man, but his eyes kept looking at William.

    Good! It's best not to kill them and eat them alive to make them fresh. The sneaky black man was as happy as a 200-pound child and offered his opinion.

    Good. All according to you. The black man in #12 acted like a loving father.

    Killing people is nothing but a headache, and this man is actually going to eat human flesh and live to eat it?

    Old John the blacksmith carpenter and others who were hiding next to the carriage, heard the words of the sneaky black-clothed man, but their bodies shook like a sieve.

    William, however, was not intimidated by the psychological tactics of the two black-clothed men, his expression remained unchanged, only his mouth was gibbering without knowing what he was talking about, which made the 12th black-clothed man who was secretly observing William secretly disappointed, the damage caused by a knight who was playing normally was not the same as that caused by a knight who was scared out of his wits.

    Aid me in my battle with them, or I will destroy you before I die!

    William was speaking the words of the world of Snow White, a language he had taken over six months to barely learn.

    After he said this, something in William's chest vibrated, as if in response.

    Those two black-robed men of the Scarlet Hand naturally couldn't understand what William was saying, and even if they did, they didn't know what he was up to!

    It would just be assumed that William was scared out of his mind.

Chapter 6 The Scarlet Hand 2

    A new battle soon resumed!

    Two for one.

    Enemy two, William one.

    These weren't those guards of Snow White's, but two genuine knight-ranked assassins.

    The black man in #12 was a little more agile than William, while the fat black man was a little less agile but incredibly strong.

    William fought very hard, and it didn't take long before he had a close call, the leather armor on his body was cut by a crack from the short sword of the man in black #12, luckily it didn't hurt his skin, otherwise the toxin would have entered his bloodstream and he would be dead by now.

    But the chest also fat black man's iron rod grazed, although it was not directly attacked, but the fat black man's terrifying power, also shocked his blood.

    William's followers, Old John and the others looked on with worried faces but could do nothing.

    Bend over! The shrill voice gave William orders in his head.

    William hastily bent forward to avoid the iron rod swept over by the fat black man, bringing up a strong wind that messed up William's hair.

    Just as he bent downward, the shrill voice rang sharply in his head again.

    Roll to the left!

    William rolled on the ground to his left in a hurry.

    A short sword glowing with a blue ghostly light appeared noiselessly where William had just bent over.

    If William hadn't immediately listened to the words of that shrill voice, or reacted a little slower, that short sword would have stabbed into William's brain from his Tianhui point, and he would have died in one go.

    Even so, the shirt on William's right arm was stabbed and picked apart by the short sword!

    A scrap of clothing material fluttered in the air.

    William rolled a few times before getting up nimbly from the ground.

    And the two men in black, standing on either side of him, left and right, vaguely surrounded him.

    What a shitload of difficulty! The fat black-robed man said in disgust, his gaze unkind.

    The man in black, number 12, on the other hand, acted a bit more subdued as he snorted, his eyes falling on William's wounds as he said, Not much agility, but great reflexes, able to dodge the attack every time, is this a sixth sense? But how many times can you dodge it?

    Damn! William grunted, this dance with death was such a bad feeling!

    Give me a new plan of attack, even if it means trading wounds for lives! William whispered in another language.

    Aye! the shrill voice in his head responded.

    A sense of uneasiness rose in the heart of the man in black #12 for no reason, he frowned and said seriously, Don't be playing around! Kill him first!

    Good, twelve! I haven't had a knight's meat in a long time, it's most chewy. The fat black man nearly drooled and launched himself at William with his iron rod raised.

    Feet stomped on the ground, moving as one, like a mountain of flesh rushing toward William.

    At the same moment, with a whoosh sound, the 12th man in black also disappeared into thin air.

    William's pupils snapped shut as the voice in his head rang out, Block left.

    Williamton swung his sword to the left.

    Clang was the sound of the 12th man in black's short sword colliding with William's crossed swords.

    Move two steps to the right and block!

    The voice appeared in his mind again, and without pausing, William did as it said, moving two steps to the right before swinging his sword violently across the room.

    Once the short sword of the man in black #12 was blocked by William, he intended to launch an attack on William from his right side, just in time to form a combined attack with the fat black man attacking from his left.

    When he fought in this situation before, it was often William who chose to step back and avoid the situation, otherwise, even if he could avoid his attack, he would still be injured by the fat black man coming from behind.

    The man in black #12 had wanted this one to be the same.

    By the time the two of them launched their combined attacks back-to-back, there would always be a time when William would miss.

    Only this time, the man in black #12 had miscalculated, and instead of retreating, William had ignored the fat black man at his back and directly launched a strong attack on him.

    Looking at William's face that was boyish with perseverance, the black-clothed man in No. 12 was incredulous in his heart, ''Didn't the intelligence say that this person was only 15 years old? How can he be so old and skillful? "

    However, reality didn't have time to give the black-clothed man #12 time to continue thinking, William's cross-sword with a cold light was about to cut him at the waist.

    At this instant, the black-clothed man in #12 was also inspired to be ruthless, and similarly raised his sword towards William to cut him at the waist.

    Each is chopping at the left side of the other's waist!

    Wound for wound!

    A life for a life!

    It's like playing a game of blink and whoever blinks first loses?

    The bets are all about who backs out first!

    The man in black, number    12, thought he could win, not to mention the poison on his own sword, and the fact that his companion's iron bar was quickly smashing into William.

    On that basis, he bet William wouldn't dare put up a fight!

    Yet again he miscalculated!

    Power up with your left foot in a half-turn backwards and explode the Seed of Life. the shrill voice commanded William, who immediately did as he was told, half-turning his left foot back and using the inertia of the turn to power up.

    At the same time, William's heart beat at an accelerated and violent rate, the small hot current that hovered at the mouth of his heart flowed violently towards his hands, and the strength of his hands holding the cross sword increased by another 20%, and the cross sword chopped at a much faster speed towards the black-clothed man in No. 12.

    With a hiss, William's crossed swords cut into the waist of the black-clothed man in No. 12, straight into the position of almost half of his waist.

    Blood gushed out crazily, and in the blink of an eye, the lower half of the 12th man in black's body was all covered in blood.

    And on the side of the man in black, #12, he didn't expect William to half-turn around and get a little more distance away from his shortsword.

    The short sword sliced through the soft armor around William's waist and through William's underwear, but ultimately failed to cut through William's skin.

    William had a scare.

    Loosen the hilt of your sword, lean forward, and raise your right hand to the position of your forehead. The shrill voice rang out sharply.

    William, too, had felt the fierce wind pressure coming from above his head, and his face went white as he hastened to do as he was told.

    Click!

    Because of the forward lean, the fat black-clothed man's iron bar did not hit William's head, but instead smashed into William's right arm at the shoulder blade.

    An intense, sharp pain spread throughout his body from the shoulder blade of his right arm, William's veins bulged and he hurt so much that he couldn't control the tears dripping out of his eyes, Ah ......

    William's right arm's shoulder blade cracked open.

    His hands drooped feebly, already unable to exert any force.

    But the feet are unaffected.

    With a sharp downward thrust of his right foot, the man jumped to the other side, distancing himself from the arriving fat black man.

    The jump tugged at the injury and the pain caused William's brow to furrow again.

    Young Master William, are you alright? Old John beside the carriage was so nervous when he saw that William was injured that he even forgot to call Lord Baron and instead called him by his former name.

    It's okay! You guys stay back! William shouted again, they would only add to the chaos by coming over!

    Aye! Young Master William, be careful! Old John could only say helplessly.

    William didn't return it, just looked his guarded gaze over the fat black man standing next to the black man in number 12.

    Now that he had lost his weapon and was unable to use his right arm, a large portion of his strength had gone.

    The only good news was that the fat black man was overpowered, but not agile, or his silver lining.

    Only to see the fat black-robed man staring blankly at the black-robed man #12 whose eyes were lifeless and whose body was gradually freezing, he suddenly roared violently.

    Ahhhhh ...... you guys killed 12! Killed my best friend #12! I'm going to kill you guys! I'm going to abuse you guys so hard! I'm going to smash you all into pulp! the fat black man glared viciously at William, the hatred coming out of those eyes on the verge of turning into substance.

    Old John and the others all cringed at the sound, but William felt nothing in his heart.

    The pain had been left behind by the threat of death, and William tensed and bent slightly, like a panther about to attack, his eyes unblinking as he stared at the fat black man.

    The fat black man s brow wrinkled into a ball, he raised the big iron rod in his hand, and with a wild roar, he ...... turned toward the woods on both sides of the road and fled.

    Eh ...... William looked breathlessly at the fat black man's departing back.

    Ah ...... Old John and the others were also stunned, the script seemed a bit off.

    In the woods, the fat black-clothed man charged across the road, the small trees in his way were directly broken by his body, while his speed did not decrease at all.

    Heh heh heh heh ...... A fool would stay and fight for his life? I'm the smart Max!

    Hmph! You guys always say Max is stupid! Haha, everyone smarter than me is dead, only stupid Max is alive and will stay alive.

    Ooohhhh ...... Just a shame, #12! Number 12, who understood me the most, died just like that!

    But it's okay, when I go back, report to the organization, and bring more killers to take revenge.12, I'll help you take revenge!

    Number 12 is dead! A lot of smart people are dead! Max is still alive! Max is the smartest ......

    The fat black man ran with his mouth agape as sweat continued to emerge from his forehead.

    Suddenly, a smattering of sword tips appeared from his chest, and then another twist.

    The fat black man only felt a sharp pain coming from him, and his entire consciousness was gone, and he collapsed.

    Behind him, was William with a sword in his left hand.

    Dumbass! Didn't anyone tell you not to leave your back to your opponent? William taunted, You don't know how to take a windy zigzag when you run, and you take a zigzag, isn't that inviting people to commit a crime?

    William's entire body and mind relaxed at this point, and the pain in his body came flooding in like a tidal wave, drowning him.

    William frowned, half leaning against a tree, waiting for the pain in his body to ease.

    Second Knight-class soul absorption complete. The shrill voice appeared in William's mind again.

    William's expression was as usual, unsurprised, and his mind wondered who the hell had sent these assassins?

    He remembered that he, or the predecessor, hadn't offended anyone?

    .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. ......

    Half an hour later, the two Scarlet Hand assassins were stripped to naked meat pigs and casually abandoned in the woods.

    And their short swords, iron rods, two black dress clothes, and two money bags became William's trophies, and were all taken away!

    A money bag contained more money, three piasters of gold, four francs of silver, and twenty pounds of copper.

    The other money pouch was very little more than forty-five puerile copper coins.

    Are there poor and rich killers?

    Class is really everywhere in this world!

Chapter 7: The Magic Mirror Chip.

    Ten days later.

    In the small village of Nisse, which consisted of a few rows of wooden fences, and a hodgepodge of thatched earth huts next to the dark forest, at the very center of the village, in the room of the only stone earth hut, William was looking thoughtful.

    The stone adobe house was the council house for public business in the small village of Nisei, and was occupied by William, the new lord, after his arrival, in a dignified manner.

    When he first arrived at the small village of Nisse, William was desperate! Other lords lived in castles, or at the very least a villa, and what did he live in?

    Live in an earthen house!

    The earth huts were dark and damp, hot during the day and cold at night, yet they had been the best shelter in the small village of Nisei!

    Followers like those of William had to live in thatched huts next to earth huts.

    It wasn't a matter of being cold, it was a matter of leaking so badly the wind kept blowing in!

    I really don't know how those villagers can survive in such conditions.

    William can only say that human endurance is infinite.

    Like William, it's a slow habit to get used to it as you live it.

    There was one thing, however, that William could not get used to in any way.

    There are no toilets in the village, and the villagers of this era have no sense of hygiene, so the situation of urinating and defecating anywhere at any time is a commonplace in the village, and everyone is not surprised by it.

    It's also why, when William comes to take over his territory, the first thing he sees is not individual villagers dressed in rags and looking numb, but poop everywhere!

    There are yellow ones, black ones, and dark red ones.

    There were hot and fresh out of the oven, and those that had been air drying for a while.

    For people and for livestock.

    There are those in front of the door and those behind the house.

    There are regular molded ones and scattered ones.

    When the wind blew, an indescribable smell went straight to William's nose.

    And two black-clothed killers against the face without changing color William, finally could not endure, face became pale white, wow sound on the spot on the vomit up.

    William's attendants rushed him into the council earth hut to rest.

    The inside of the council's earth hut was also covered in shit and urine, and William threw up while directing his entourage to clean the entire hut.

    As for the hygiene of the village outside, William can't do anything about it for the time being, so he'll just have to look the other way and get well.

    If William hadn't been seriously injured at that time and was new to the city, he definitely wouldn't have let it go so easily and would have made sure to fix it up!

    William made the history of the Duchy of Fadhil by being the first, nobleman to vomit on the spot while receiving his domain.

    Somehow the story spread to the nearest city of Patras, and Viscount Glynn, at one of the nobleman's banquets, said with goodwill, Forgive him, after all, Baron Dikas is just a boy, and we ask too much of him!

    Viscount Glynn had always been haunted by the fact that William had not visited him first, but had gone straight to the little village of Nisse.

    The nobles in attendance nodded their heads in deep sympathy, and talked about it from time to time in future feasts or casual conversations, or hunts.

    Thus, William received his first title, Baron Child.

    .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. ...........

    It had to be said that the physical recovery ability of the Knight-class was too strong, and this kind of injury that William suffered from a crushed scapula fracture, put aside in modern times, he might have to have surgery, and after the surgery he would have to recuperate and recover, and it would take more than a month at the very least for him to gradually get better.

    Which, like he was now, was nothing more than using a few small wooden boards himself, correcting the bones, and then wrapping them up in burlap.

    But * * * in a few days it was almost well enough, so he himself took the linen off, moved his arm a few times, and, finding that there was no great harm in it, put it down with satisfaction.

    At this time, although it was daytime outside, it was still dim inside the earth hut.

    William extravagantly lit a candle.

    The candle's dim light filled the room, illuminating William's pensive form and the eerie round mirror that stood on the center table.

    The magic mirror that William had managed to snatch back from the Queen from the tiger's jaws in the world of Snow White.

    The Magic Mirror has a consciousness of its own, and the Queen can't fully control it. Out of the world of Snow White, the Magic Mirror can't sense the Queen's presence.

    After being bullied by William, the Magic Mirror gives in.

    Because it needs magic or souls to maintain its spirituality, otherwise it will fall into a deep sleep!

    William was not a wizard and had no magical powers, but souls were not difficult for him.

    With that, the Magic Mirror reluctantly accepted William as its master.

    And of course don't think of the Magic Mirror as noble; if someone took it from William, it wouldn't mind having a new owner for the sake of its own survival.

    But to be recognized by the Magic Mirror was enough for William!

    The Queen used the magic mirror as a beauty detector, a situation that, in William's opinion, could no longer be described as a great talent, but was simply taking a golden bowl to ask for food.

    The Magic Mirror is fully capable of developing more abilities.

    Like ten days ago, it was with the Magic Mirror's reminder that William was able to escape from two Knight level killers and successfully kill them back.

    Otherwise, probably in the first place, William would have been killed by the two assassins in a sneak attack.

    However that's not all that William uncovers about the Magic Mirror's capabilities, he uncovers even more of what the Mirror can do.

    For example, now William said to the magic mirror, Magic Mirror Magic Mirror, based on what you have detected over this period of time, using the standard of physical fitness of an average healthy, prime-aged man as 1, extrapolate my current physical attributes.

    An ethereal light flashed on the mirror surface of the Magic Mirror, and the Magic Mirror Mirror Spirit emerged.

    It replied to William, "Master, master, your physical attributes are as follows:

    Strength: 2.1 Constitution: 2 Agility: 2.3, Status: Healthy! "

    Knights stimulate life energy, and life energy transforms**, which will cause their physical qualities to change as qualitatively.

    An attribute point of    2 or more means more than twice the physical ability of a normal person.

    It's not as simple as 1+1=2, it's a leap of faith.

    It hadn't been long since William had inspired his life ability to promote to Knight, and like some of the highly gifted ones who stayed at the Knight level for even longer, their physical attributes were even more terrifying.

    What's more, they broke through the Knight level and became Grand Knight level warriors.

    That kind of level of existence, raise their hands and feet have a huge force to add body, really rubbing that is injured, touching that is dead, so William was mesmerized.

    William tapped his fingers lightly on the rough wooden table, thought for a moment, and then added, Magic Mirror, give me the physical attributes of those two killers from that day as well.

    Okay, master.The physical attributes of the 12th black-clothed killer are as follows:Strength:2.2, Physique:2.1, Agility:2.4.The physical attributes of the other black-clothed killer are as follows:Strength:2.8, Physique:2.5, Agility:1.9. The Magic Mirror Mirror Wound replied after flashing the images of the two black-clothed men that day.

    That 12th man in black's attributes are generally stronger than mine, but not by a lot, the impact of this gap isn't that great, but the other man in black's strength is much greater than mine, 0.7 difference, almost close to double, if I were to fight with him hard, then it would be a complete non-opponent! The good thing is that his agility is a little bit worse, agility represents speed, the black man's speed is slow, and against me with the magic mirror, it's just a living target. I'm sorry," William muttered.

    Just where the hell did these guys come from? Why are they after me? William's eyes flashed with a hint of gloom, and his heart was a little disturbed.

    The scariest thing is the unknown.

    Right now William's situation is that I'm in the clear and the enemy is in the dark, which has to worry William!

    William frowned and asked the Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, can you find out who's coming after me?

    Master, the scope of probing needs to be extended to the entire Fadhil Duchy, or even a larger place, the energy left behind by the Queen and the two Knight-class souls are not enough to probe such a large area, and if I force myself to do so, the energy will be depleted, and I'll go into an early slumber. Is it proceeding with the probing? Magic Mirror replied.

    With so much groping, William also knew that the energy consumed by magic mirror probing was related to the probing range, the farther the probing, the wider the energy consumption. Like the Queen's probing of the entire world, the consumption of magic power is definitely like a mountain like a sea.

    No wonder with the Queen being such a beauty lover, she didn't run to ask the Magic Mirror every day who the most beautiful woman in the world was?

    For no other reason than the consumption is horrible.

    The queen herself could not bear it.

    The Magic Mirror requires magic to awaken it if it goes into a dormant state.

    And that's something William couldn't do.

    With the loss of the Magic Mirror, what could William do even if he knew who was after him?

    The other side could just send two knight-level assassins, and without the magic mirror to remind him, was he still an opponent?

    Currently, it was still the main focus to enhance one's own strength. Only when one was strong would the enemy become weak!

    And the magic mirror came in handy at this point!

    In a flash of lightning, William's mind was made up and his gaze became firm.

    He said to the Magic Mirror, No probing!

    Yes, Master.

    New Knight's Breath and Knight's Sword, deduced?

    That's another ability William has unearthed from the Magic Mirror.

    The magic mirror itself could not tell William what he wanted out of nothing; all of its information needed to be probed.

    Judge on the basis of probing and generalize.

    It's like the queen asking it who the most beautiful woman in the world is.

    The Magic Mirror is about to probe the entire world of women and then judge them one by one, finally concluding that the Queen is the most beautiful woman in the world.

    And if William asked the Magic Mirror what was the most powerful knight's breath and knight's sword technique in the world?

    The Magic Mirror would probably have to die on the spot because it didn't have that much energy to probe the entire world for Knight's Breath and Knight's Sword.

    However, it would be different if what William did was to have it detect the workout methods of all the knights in the entire Grand Duke's castle, and then have it extrapolate from those workout methods to those with better results.

    Knight's Breathing and Knight's Swordsmanship are both exercise methods invented to improve physical fitness, stimulate life energy, and battlefield fighting.

    Each family or country has its own Knight's Breath and Knight's Sword Technique, the principle is the same, just in the specific operation, there is a small difference.

    Don't underestimate this little difference, it's this little difference that determines the excellence of a workout regimen and the ups and downs of a family.

    A good workout will allow the rider to improve his physical fitness more efficiently, better energize his life, as well as reduce physical injuries.

    William had previously learned the Odyssey family workout, which was already a fairly efficient workout, but William still felt it wasn't enough.

    He needed better workouts to help him hit the Grand Knight rank, to help him gain more power, to help him fight off his shadowy enemies!

Chapter 8: The Magic Mirror Chip 2

    Master, master, the new Knight's Breathing Technique and Knight's Sword Technique, have been deduced! This work started not long after William came out from the world of Snow White, and it had been almost a month now, and it had finally been deduced. Top X 23 U S

    William's eyes lit up with joy, and he hurriedly gave the order, Magic Mirror, demonstrate to me!

    Yes, master! The magic mirror answered, and with another ghostly flash of light on its surface, William's appearance appeared, in an empty place, wielding the cross-sword sword techniques in a single slash: cleave, pirouette, swing, diagonal slash, straight thrust, horizontal slash ......

    The sword technique was not complicated, not fancy, simple, direct and brutal, and there was a kind of violent beauty amidst the flowing movement.

    William in the mirror rehearsed to the end, his whole body was wrapped in silver sword light, emitting a eerie chill.

    William had no doubt that if someone broke inside William's sword technique at this time, they would immediately end up being split up!

    At this time, William in the mirror began to rehearse the sword technique again, only the movement was much slower, at the same time, the magic mirror mirror spirit's voice also sounded on the side, explaining, practicing the newly deduced knight's sword technique, you need to cooperate with the corresponding knight's respiration method ...... When you chop horizontally, you need to carry out the three shallow and one deep respiration rate quickly When chopping,......, maintain an ethereal state, while performing three shallow and one deep breathing frequency......After becoming skilled, the breathing frequency can be increased to five shallow and one deep, nine deep and one shallow, and the effect will be further strengthened! ......

    William drew his crossed swords, looked at himself inside the magic mirror, and began practicing his new knightly sword techniques and knightly breathing techniques.

    The Knight Sword Technique is fine, it just becomes concise, and with a few more practice sessions, you can get pretty good results.

    But the Knight's Breathing Technique was difficult, much more complex than the Knight's Breathing Technique that William had practiced since he was a child, and at the same time, he had to cooperate with the new Knight's Sword Technique, and the difficulty of the two was stacked up, so William practiced with great difficulty.

    After a few practice sessions, William was practicing until his face was red and his body was sweating, but the results were not good, which discouraged him a little.

    Master, after deduction, the new Knight's Breathing Method and Knight's Sword Technique reduce the burden on the body by fifty percent, shorten the running time by one-third, and increase the cultivation effect by twenty-five percent!

    These percentage probabilities were taught by William to the Magic Mirror Mirror Spirit in order to know the situation more intuitively and concretely.

    A preliminary estimate is that practicing five times a day, morning and evening, the damage to the body is in a recoverable state and will not cause permanent damage to the body.

    Practicing for seven consecutive days is expected to increase strength by 0.1, physique by 0.09, and agility by 0.15.

    Really? The Magic Mirror's assessment gave William a shot in the arm, and he became passionate again as he continued to practice this new Knight's Breathing Technique and Knight's Sword Technique.

    Magic Mirror, since I am now Baron Dekas, take this new Knight Breathing Technique and Knight Sword Technique and name it Dekas Knight Breathing Technique and Dekas Knight Sword Technique, to distinguish it from the previous Knight Breathing Technique and Knight Sword Technique!

    Yes, master, it has been named! the magic mirror responded.

    William added, Every move I practice now, if I make a mistake, you point it out.

    Yes, master. Magic Mirror responded without any annoyance in his mind.

    William nodded and concentrated, continuing to practice the Dekas Knight Breathing Technique and the Dekas Knight Sword Technique.

    The horizontal chopping motion is deformed by twenty-five percent, and the chopping range is extended 20 centimeters to the right.

    Breathing rate is too fast in straight chops, need to slow down a bit more.

    ......

    Under the real-time guidance of the Magic Mirror, William's sword skills and breathing techniques struggled to improve.

    Time flows drop by drop.

    William became more and more skillful, made fewer and fewer mistakes, and finally, in one exercise, was able to perform the new workout without error in a single bound.

    Phew...... William exhaled a breath of white air and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a smile on his face.

    With the first successful experience, the later ones are much easier.

    William struck the iron while it was hot again and practiced a few more times.

    Master, your body is already close to its limit today, if you continue practicing, it will cause damage to your body that is difficult to recover from! The Magic Mirror came out to dissuade.

    Like this? Okay! Let's practice tomorrow then. William wanted to continue practicing, but reason made him make a wise decision.

    He leaned on his crossed swords, thought for a moment, and then said to the Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror, repeat my current physical attributes.

    Okay, master. Master, master, your current physical attributes are as follows: strength: 2.2, constitution: 2, agility: 2.3, status: slight fatigue!

    Strength 2.2? a 0.1 increase so quickly? asked William in surprise as he keenly noticed the change in the strength attribute that the magic mirror was talking about.

    Yes, master, because your power was already on the verge of a breakthrough, fueled by the new Knight Exercise Method. Magic Mirror explained.

    I see! William said with a sudden realization, no matter what, his power was enhanced, and he was still quite happy inside.

    He now felt more and more that the Queen was a waste, obviously a supercomputer with its own radar scanning, taking into account self-analysis, was actually used by the Queen for beauty pageants?

    William was furious at the thought, and could not wait to strip the Queen naked right now and spank her so hard that her ass was red.

    No, let Snow White fight! William thought again.

    Put Snow White with her clothes off in front of the Queen and have Snow White spank the Queen hard for Snow White's revenge!

    William's mouth nearly watered at the thought!

    .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. .............................. ........

    Knock, knock, knock ...... That's when a soft knock came from outside.

    Lord Baron, I've brought your dinner. It was Old John's voice.

    It was only then that William noticed that it was nighttime and that he had been practicing for so long without realizing it.

    William then said, Come in.

    Old John came in at once, pushing open the door, holding a wooden tray on which was a large basin of white broth, and half a loaf of white bread.

    When he saw the room in disarray and William standing there with his sword, he understood a few things in his heart and said worriedly, Lord Baron, your injury is still not healed, why do you need to be in such a hurry to practice with your sword?

    William waved his hand dismissively and said, Don't worry, old John, I'm as familiar with my body as you are with me. I'm perfectly fine already! It doesn't prevent me from exercising again!

    But ......, said Old John, still worried.

    Bring the soup! William interrupted Old John.

    Yes. Old John just had to swallow his words and put the tray on the table.

    There was also a queer mirror on the table, and the neatest of all around it, which made old John look at it a little longer, and then stand sideways.

    William came striding over to the table with a single stride, and the clay pot fell into his hand as he copied it.

    William is a poor new aristocrat, and while other aristocrats use silverware, he still uses pottery.

    That is, William doesn't care much about the superficialities.

    Only Old John was ashamed, and he vowed to help William run the territory into a rich one, so that William would have the decency that a nobleman should have.

    The Baron of the Children was a play on words that had spread from the city of Patras to the small village of Nisse, and old John gritted his teeth whenever he heard it!

    Where were the sissies in the city of Patras to know that Baron Decas was a true man's man, a warrior who fought two Knight-class killers on his own.

    Those sissies just know how to soak in women's nasties. I'm afraid they can't even hold a sword.

    Unfortunately, William had forbidden them to publicize it, and it was only then that old John had to keep his anger bottled up.

    William had been practicing his knightly sword skills all afternoon and was already hungry.

    He opened his mouth and the broth was swallowed in one gulp.

    The broth was only coarsely salted and tasted a bit salty with a hint of bitterness. But people who are really hungry don't care about that.

    After finishing the broth, William picked up the white bread again and wolfed it down.

    Old John reminded in succession from the side, Lord Baron, etiquette, etiquette! Nobleman's eating etiquette, my lord, slow down, slow down.

    Don't care about these useless things! Old John, our sights should be set on things of real value! William spoke vaguely as he chewed white bread in his mouth.

    Old John could only laugh bitterly.

    It didn't take long for William to eat all the white bread, and he burped, Seven points full, just right!

    It was then that William looked at Old John and said, Old John, have you done the population registration I asked you to do in the last few days?

    It was not as if he had done nothing during the ten days that William had been recuperating from his injuries; he had asked John, father and son, to make a brief mapping of the little village of Nisei, in the manner he had given.

    After all, as the great man has said, there's no such thing as a survey without a statement.

    Done, Lord Baron. Old John fleshly took out two pieces of parchment from his bosom, he asked William in confusion, Lord Baron, this kind of small matter is just remembered by us, why waste two pieces of precious parchment?

    It was no wonder that old John was not heartbroken.

    A single sheep can only produce four sheets of parchment, making parchment expensive.

    In some places, a book bound in parchment could even buy a vineyard.

    And the average minor nobleman didn't have more than a few parchment books at home.

    In old John's opinion, why waste valuable parchment when these little things about the population of the territory could just be kept in your head, or on a tablet?

    William knew that old John was heartbroken, and knew that old John was now thinking for himself as his own steward.

    But with different eyes, you see things from different perspectives and at different depths.

    So William just smiled and took the parchment from Old John, This is valuable first-hand research!

    Of William's followers, he was the only one who knew how to write the Duchy of Fadhil's script, the other being his son, John the Younger.

    That's why Old John was sent by William to do it!

Chapter IX. First mapping of the hamlet of Nisé

    On the parchment is a table drawn by William with a quill pen. Top X 23 U S

    The vertical rows of the form contained the name of the male head of each household, and there were seventy-three rows in all, that is to say, seventy-three households.

    On the horizontal row of the table are the three categories of population per household, cultivated land per household, and household property.

    The data that William had gotten from the door-to-door surveys that he had asked Old John to do over the past few days were filled in the spaces inside.

    In the bottom row, there are totals.

    At a glance, all the data of the village is clear and obvious.

    From this table, William would know that the small village of Nisei, as it is now, has 73 families, and the population of the whole village is 363, with an average of five persons per family, though of course some families have more people and some have fewer.

    The total cultivated area of the village is 168 Crores.

    Crockett is the area unit of the Duchy of Fadhil.

    1 Crockett equals 4 Burwitt, and 1 Burwitt equals 6 Fugate.

    The fugate is the most basic unit of area, 1 fugate is roughly a 30m*30m square, which is roughly 900 square meters, equivalent to 9 acres in William's previous life.

    Extrapolating past that, 1 Burwitt is 54 acres and 1 Crockett is 216 acres.

    The village has 168 Crores of cultivated land, which means that the village has 36,288 hectares of cultivated land, which is close to 364 hectares.

    There are 73 households in the village, so each household has an average of 4.9 hectares, which translates into the unit system of acres that William was more familiar with in his past life, so it would be about 72 acres.

    A family has an average of seventy-two acres of land.

    However, in terms of household property, fewer villagers have filled in the information.

    Old John noticed William's eyes focused on the villagers' family property he didn't find it strange, every lord is interested in any penny of the villagers' pockets, on the contrary, Old John also felt that it was a reflection of William's maturity there were only simple data on the parchment, it was not specific enough, so Old John opened his mouth and explained it to William in detail.

    Lord Baron, in the village, the Adams family has a stone mill that specializes in grinding flour for the other villagers, and of course, he charges a fee.

    Gretel's family has two pulling horses, and usually when the village needs to send a message or something to someone elsewhere, the Gretel's are asked to do it. Of course, heh, it's not free!

    The Mortons, the Hewsters, the Potters, and a few others, have oxen at home to plow the fields. Oh, by the way, my lord, the Adams family has two oxen, and he thought that by keeping them temporarily in other people's houses I wouldn't know about them ...... Oh, what stupid pariahs ......

    ......

    William read the contents of the parchment carefully and got a basic understanding of the village.

    He smiled, and to Old John, beside him, he said, Thanks, Old John, for bringing me this detailed information!

    My Lord Baron, it is an honor to serve you! I ...... William's thanks caught Old John, who was used to honoring his superiority, a little off guard, and he hastily saluted back.

    John, I'm lucky to have your help, too! William said in a low voice as he looked deeply at Old John.

    Young Master William ......, said old John, a little old and touched, wiping his eyes.

    With another faint smile, William wiped the tears from the corners of old John's eyes and said, Well, John, cheer up, I've got things for you to do! Otherwise, I'm going to have to find someone else!

    Old John instantly stood erect, his eyes looking straight ahead, and said in a firm tone, At your service, Lord Baron, at all times!

    Okay, Old John! I need you to gather the whole village for me, I need to make a speech! William said.

    Yes, my lord! Old John replied back with a heavy pause, and after a pause, asked, My lord, do you want to collect taxes from that group of villagers tomorrow?

    Collecting taxes? William looked at Old John in disbelief.

    Old John also froze, Lord Baron, didn't you want to collect taxes before you asked me to investigate the property situation of those villagers? The Harvest Moon is almost here, so it just so happens to be convenient for us to collect taxes as well!

    William hadn't actually meant to do that, but now that it was mentioned, he became interested and asked in passing.

    Old John, so what do you think I can tax them on?

    Lord Baron, you can collect a lot of taxes! Old John smiled meaningfully, The birds that fly through the sky, the beasts that run on the ground, the fish that swim in the river, as long as they are in your territory, they all have to pay you taxes! Hunters have to pay you a prey tax for hunting, fishermen have to pay you a fishing tax for fishing, and caravans and people passing through your territory have to pay you a passing tax.

    "Also, all the land here belongs to the Principality, which has partitioned it to