The enfeoffment ceremony concluded in less than an hour, and the five newly knighted individuals were led back to the Lord's Hall's office by Tinietz's herald.
The herald pulled a thick parchment book from a wooden shelf in the office and placed it on the wooden table, then took out several blank parchments from the table, picked up a quill pen stained with black ink, and said to the people standing in the office: "Sirs, you may state your requirements for your knightly crest and swallowtail banner. The Master Craftsman in the city will design your knightly crests according to your requirements and produce crest rings, seals, and swallowtail banners adorned with the crest pattern. However, you will have to pay two hundred fenny for these three items, as our Master Craftsman needs to eat. Additionally, if you have special requirements for materials, you will have to pay an additional amount for material costs..."
After listening to the herald's introduction, everyone stood in place, deep in thought.
A rich merchant's son walked to the herald's wooden table and sat down, pulling five large silver marks from his money pouch and tossing them in front of the herald.
The herald picked them up one by one, smiling obsequiously: "Young Master Dean, congratulations on your promotion to Knight. A generous noble like you deserves a noble and special crest. So, what kind of design would you like?"
The rich merchant's son named Dean replied with a smile: "I would like a unique crest, but my father has already said that my knightly crest must use his merchant guild's crest design. So, please make the crest ring, seal, and swallowtail banner according to my family's merchant guild's crest design. However, my crest ring and seal need to be gold-plated, and the swallowtail banner fabric must be made of good raw silk, with gold-colored silk threads embroidered along the edges..."
The herald searched through the parchment book for a while, found Dean's family merchant guild crest, and then took up his pen to record Dean's requirements on the blank parchment.
"Alright, Young Master Dean, your ring, seal, and banner will be delivered to your residence within three days. Please wait patiently."
"Alright, thank you."
Dean stood up, bowed slightly to the remaining people in the room, and said: "Brothers, I must go now. See you at the dinner party."
Then, the other three newly promoted squire knights came forward one by one to tell the herald their requirements for the crest rings, seals, and banners. They were either sons of wealthy merchants or younger sons of minor nobles. They all either adopted their family crests or made minor modifications to their family crests to use as their own.
Art was the last to go up.
He took out a large silver mark and five small silver shillings that he had prepared beforehand from his Pregnant and handed them to the herald, saying: "The remaining few fenny are for your wine."
The herald had already earned enough money for the day and didn't care about Art's few copper coins. He chuckled as he took the coins, putting them directly into the iron box on the table without even looking at them.
"Sir Art, what kind of knightly crest do you want?" the herald asked, stifling a yawn as he picked up his quill.
Art took out a parchment with a drawing from his Pregnant and handed it to the herald. The herald took the parchment and examined it carefully. On the paper was a Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf on a black background. The wolf's head was raised as if howling at the full moon, its blood-red eyes gleaming ferociously...
The herald examined it for a long time, and the more he looked at the wolf's eyes, the more he felt they were full of ominous energy. He put down the parchment in his hand, picked up the crest collection, and searched for a long time, but found no existing crest that overlapped with it.
"Your Excellency, is the crest I drew not in accordance with regulations?" Art asked.
"No, no, I've just never seen a Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf crest before. Your Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf looks absolutely murderous!"
The black-backed Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf crest was drawn by Art himself. The lone wolf was the totem of the now-declining Wells Family crest. Art retained the lone wolf howling in profile and added the black background and blood-red wolf eyes, symbolizing revenge.
"Do you have any other special requirements for the ring, seal, and banner?" the herald asked, putting away Art's parchment drawing.
"No."
"Very well, please come here at noon three days from now to collect your crest ring, seal, and banner."
...
In the evening, a grand banquet was being held in Tinietz's municipal hall.
After the simple enfeoffment ceremony during the day, the five newly promoted squire knights jointly sponsored this banquet. As one of the newly promoted squire knights, Art also paid two hundred fenny for this banquet. This price was not high because Young Master Dean, the newly promoted son of a rich merchant, contributed one thousand fenny to host the banquet. Art certainly wouldn't compete in such an occasion; he only paid the minimum standard set by the banquet organizers because he needed to save money for the enormous war expenses that lay ahead.
Contributing the least naturally meant not being the center of attention at the banquet. While Dean and the nobles attending the banquet in Tinietz County were toasting each other, Art and several of his subordinates, including Ron, were feasting in a corner of the hall. The two hundred fenny worth of food was enough to feed all the Soldiers of the Patrol Team for a week.
Jason finished a large piece of roasted bacon from his plate, drank a large bowl of broth, wiped his mouth full of gravy, and said: "My Lord, should we also go over there and clink glasses with those noble sirs?"
Ron threw a honey-glazed white bread onto his plate, glared at Jason, and said resentfully: "Why go? Do you know any nobles, or does any noble know you? Just eat quietly. Such delicious food tonight is something a poor man like you won't get to eat many times in his life."
Seeing Jason and the two scout riders burying their heads in their food and no longer speaking, Ron quietly asked Art: "My Lord, look at that Young Master Dean, he's just too showy, as if he wants everyone at the entire banquet to revolve around him. I saw the thirty Soldiers he recruited yesterday; except for a few who looked like caravan guards, the other Soldiers must all be serfs and vagrants forcibly conscripted."
"Ron, if it weren't for Young Master Dean, we would have had to pay several hundred more fenny for this banquet. He paid more, so it's only right that he's the center of attention at this banquet."
Ron could only close his mouth sullenly.
As the banquet was nearing its end, out of basic courtesy, Art still found Dean and the other three squire knights and toasted them one by one. After all, they were "brothers" who had sworn allegiance together.
The others had also heard about Art and his Patrol Team in the past few days. Their initial contempt for Art had slowly disappeared due to Art's military achievements over the past year. The others had not experienced battle and were quite apprehensive about the impending war, so they somewhat looked up to Art, who had already seen combat. Only that fellow named Dean consistently scoffed at Art.
Viscount Pierre, seeing the group gathered together, also approached them with a wine glass. The group was, of course, very grateful to the Viscount who had enfeoffed them and raised their glasses one after another.
Pierre returned their toasts one by one.
"Sirs, the documents for you five newly promoted squire knights have already been sent to Besançon this afternoon. According to the Court's previous order, you have a little over a month to prepare. Before the first Sunday of July, you must gather here fully equipped with excellent armor, riding warhorses, and with a full complement of armed Soldiers. Then, I will personally lead you and your Soldiers to Besançon for assembly and training. Is that clear?"
"Clear!" they all replied in unison.
"Good, Sirs, enjoy this banquet to the fullest. With troubled times approaching, such grand feasts will not be common." Viscount Pierre drained the wine in his glass and then, accompanied by a curvaceous maid, walked out of the banquet hall with a slightly tipsy gait...
Art declined an invitation from a heavily perfumed noblewoman for a "private chat" and prepared to leave the banquet with his well-fed and well-drunk subordinates.
"Leide, let's go! Still staring, damn it! Be careful not to fall into the deep cleavage of those women and not be able to climb out." Ron was dragging Leide, who was staring fixedly at a noblewoman in the dark corner of the hall.
Leide was already twenty years old, but he had never tasted a woman's charms, let alone a fragrant and alluring noblewoman. "Officer Ron, just a little longer, just a moment."
Upon hearing this, Art stopped, turned to Ron, and said: "Ron, you don't need to return to the inn tonight. Gather at the inn before lunch tomorrow."
Art knew that these Soldiers had accumulated a good amount of their salaries, and there were no taverns or shops in Valley Wood Fort for the Soldiers to amuse themselves. Therefore, Art allowed the Patrol Team Soldiers to seek entertainment and fun when it was absolutely safe.
Ron released Leide and said to Art: "My Lord, just let Leide and the others go. You shouldn't be without someone by your side."
Art smiled and nodded.
Ron turned and conveyed Art's arrangements to Leide and the other two, admonishing them not to cause trouble in Tinietz City.
Nothing happened that night...
Three days later, Art arrived at the herald's office in the Lord's Hall as agreed.
The herald took a crude wooden box from a drawer in the wooden table and handed it to Art. "Sir Art, this contains your crest ring, seal, and swallowtail banner, as well as an identity document issued to you by Tinietz County. Please examine it."
Art took the wooden box and opened it. The ring and seal were placed on a neatly folded fine linen swallowtail banner. He picked up the bronze ring and seal and looked at them; a Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf was reverse-carved on the ring and seal. He then took out the swallowtail banner and unfolded it; the black-backed Blood-Eying Howling Wolf crest was printed on the banner. The identity document was transcribed on cowhide and bore Viscount Pierre's signature and seal.
The herald opened the thick parchment book on the wooden table and said to Art: "Sir, if you feel that this crest meets your requirements, please stamp your seal in this crest collection so that your crest will officially take effect."
Art looked at the parchment book in front of the herald. The open page depicted Art's knightly crest, and at the bottom, in elegant Latin script, were the name, title, family motto, liege, and other information of the crest's user.
Art took the iron spoon containing melted sealing wax that the herald handed him, gently dripped it onto the parchment, and pressed his seal onto it, completing a Blood-Eyed Howling Wolf crest impression.
The herald blew dry the sealing wax on the parchment and closed the crest collection, saying to Art: "Sir Art, may God be with you. I wish you military achievements on the battlefield and an early removal of the swallowtail from your crest banner."
"Thank you, and God be with you." Art put away the wooden box and turned to leave the herald's office...
"Ron, notify your scout riders, we'll be leaving Tinietz and returning soon..."
A group of five riders, carrying Art's crest banner and seal, rode out of Tinietz and galloped south...
