Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A Small Bet for Pleasure

Under the friendship of Knight Schwartz, Su Li met the Knight Frederick, whom he had been paying close attention to recently.

This knight was tall and mighty, just as his nickname suggested, his face was covered in a thick red beard, giving him a solemn and authoritative appearance.

However, this stern and imposing knight did not have much fondness for Su Li. He valued honor and justice, and he looked down on Su Li, who had only broken through to an apprentice knight at eighteen, with great disdain.

”Out of respect for Schwartz, I came out to see him. I don’t know what unjust means you used to obtain two apprentice knights, but clearly, this is not the treatment you deserve! I hope you have the sense not to say anything inappropriate, or even if you are the son of the Count, I will not spare you any face!”

This is the typical knight and military man—arrogant, domineering, and crude.

Talking about etiquette and morals to him is pointless, like playing music to a cow.

To subdue him, only irrefutable facts will work, crushing him into submission!

So Su Li calmly said, ”Knight Frederick, I don’t want to waste words with you. According to my agreement with my father, I can choose 30 attendants myself.”

Frederick impatiently said, ”Even if you have that right, it has nothing to do with me! I am an elite knight, not in the selection list you mentioned! If you dare to make any impudent demands, I will teach you a profound lesson to show you what respect means! The honor of an elite knight cannot be offended!”

Su Li responded with a faint smile, ”Of course, I always know that Knight Frederick, you highly value honor, and will not tolerate any offense. But as luck would have it, I know something that tarnishes your knightly honor is happening. I have the right to recruit 30 attendants from the training camp, but in the camp, for some reason, I haven’t seen Lord Henry for two consecutive evenings. So...”

”Knight Frederick, aren’t you curious where Lord Henry is? Could his actions bring shame to you and your family?”

Henry? That incompetent son? Knight Frederick’s thick eyebrows immediately furrowed. He was well aware that when this young master Su Li found him and said this with impunity, he must know something.

So Knight Frederick stopped talking nonsense and directly said, ”Where is he? Take me to him!”

Su Li lowered his head and looked at his own palm, appearing calm and unruffled. ”Sir Knight, it seems you haven’t realized one fact! Right now, you need something from me, and you can’t even bring yourself to call me young master! I am quite disappointed.”

So Su Li took out ten gold coins from his money pouch and walked over to the stable where knights were gathered, asking the knights and attendants who were setting bets, ”I saw you were quite lively just now. Could you tell me what you are betting on?”

”Uh...” The knights who were sitting all stood up. Although they looked down on Su Li’s talent for training, he was still the young master of Bauhinia Castle, and proper etiquette had to be shown in person. The prestige, power, and honor of Count Suna made the knights hold him in awe and respect.

”Young Master Su Li.”

”Greetings to you, Young Master Su Li.”

...

But after the formal greetings, they didn’t show much respect or politeness towards Su Li personally. Someone said bluntly, ”We’re betting on how many attendants you can bring from the camp within three days, Young Master Su Li.”

”Oh? Really? Interesting, I’m also quite interested.” Su Li smiled faintly, not minding their disdain. ”Could you tell me the specifics?”

”Of course. The most bets are on you not being able to bring a single one, with odds of 100:7. That means for every 1 gold coin bet, you can only win 7 Silver Coins back, a drink’s worth, haha, better than nothing. The next popular bet is you can at most take one apprentice knight, with odds of 100:15. If you bet on taking more than two apprentice knights, the odds are 100:20. The highest odds are on you taking one elite knight, at 100:870.”

”So, Young Master Su Li, want to join in? But if you place a bet yourself, you can’t bet on your own failure! Hahaha!”

Immediately, there were bursts of laughter around: ”Hahaha! You stingy iron rooster, just let Young Master Su Li choose freely. So what if everyone buys him a drink?”

”Exactly! Exactly! Does Young Master Su Li really have the nerve to bet on not taking a single one?”

”Our Bauhinia Castle doesn’t have such cowardly trash.”

Su Li calmly threw down the 10 gold coins, the clinking sound attracting all eyes with the coins’ dazzling shine. ”I’ll bet on the one with the highest odds, make sure you note it down!”

Everyone was stunned, looking at Su Li in shock, not expecting him to be so generous and bold. Did he have some sort of confidence?

But soon, everyone burst into excited laughter: ”Hahaha, good! Good! Good! Then thanks to Young Master Su Li for the drinks!”

”Young Master Su Li, you’re a good person. Even humiliated, still bringing joy to everyone. Winning against you makes me feel a little embarrassed.”

”Hahaha! Young Master Su Li is distributing his money, anyone else want to place more bets?”

No one believed any elite knight would be foolish enough to follow him to the Border Prince’s Territory. To become an elite knight, one must be a genius, so who would value such trash? Risking their life and future to accompany such a waste to their death.

And Hilude suddenly became anxious, quickly grabbing Reve and asking, ”Reve, do you have any money? Lend me 10 Silver Coins, I’ll pay you back 30 Silver Coins when I get my salary.”

Knights are not allowed to gamble with their armor and weapons, or else she couldn’t help but want to bet her entire iron sword too.

Reve was a bit dazed. She did have money. As an armed attendant, she received a monthly stipend of 20 Silver Coins, plus holiday benefits and allowances, earning nearly 3 Gold Coins a year, sufficient to support a family and pay taxes, so she had saved up 85 Silver Coins.

But she lacked confidence to take out the money for gambling. She couldn’t believe that Young Master Su Li could take away an elite knight. An elite knight! Would an elite knight really follow Young Master Su Li, an apprentice knight, away from Bauhinia Castle?

Yet Hilude had no such concerns, decisively taking ten Silver Coins from Reve’s hand and putting them all on the bet with the highest odds. She had unconditional faith in Su Li, following all his decisions.

Beside them, Knight Frederick witnessed the whole scene, his eyebrows twitching with anger, knowing full well that Su Li’s bet was precisely on him, Frederick.

But ironically, Su Li said nothing explicit, so he couldn’t step forward to question him.

He said angrily, ”Young Master Su Li, are you threatening me with my honor?”

Su Li calmly put away his money pouch, turned to look at Frederick, and smiled, ”Of course not, I come here with good intentions. After all, Knight Frederick, you wouldn’t want such a thing to tarnish your honor, right?”

Frederick was burning with anger, breathing heavily, and after seriously weighing his options for a long time, he had no choice but to say, ”I admit your despicable words have succeeded! I am a fair person, and if you truly restore my honor, I will owe you a favor! If your request is not excessive, I will consider helping you resolve it.”

Su Li clicked his tongue in wonder, feeling a bit strange. What did it mean by ’not excessive’? Was wanting you as a person excessive?

The more Su Li pondered, the stranger it felt, so he had to halt the thought, waving a hand at Frederick and saying, ”Then Knight Frederick, come with me.”