In the reception hall, at the banquet welcoming Baron Argon.

Losa had a pleasant conversation with the baron.

One intended to recruit, the other decided to clearly join Losa's banner, planning to find a way out for himself.

The two hit it off immediately.

Argon stuffed a piece of roasted meat into his mouth and said:

"My lord, I understand your desire to abolish the tax farming system, but without those Saracen chiefs, I can't even maintain effective control over my territory."

He paused briefly and said: "Not many knights are willing to learn the language of the heretics."

"The Frankish people are not good at ruling, we are better at warfare."

Without the tax collectors, Baron Argon felt that the money he could collect would only be less.

He would also have to consider setting up a dedicated tax collection agency and sending guards for protection.

Only tax collectors, who have lived here for generations, are better at extracting every single copper coin and every grain hidden by those heretics.

Although they also profit, even taking the lion's share, it saves me a lot of trouble!

"But this won't get support, Baron."

Losa became serious.

The Kingdom of Jerusalem's rule over the Levant region was more like colonial rule, merely a facade.

Argon was a bit surprised and said: "My lord, I don't understand why we need the support of these heretics? Do you expect to recruit these heretics to fight for you in war?"

He clenched his fist, full of confidence: "Our knights are enough to destroy everything, let them be like cattle and sheep, plowing for us, providing grain and meat, and let us handle the war."

Losa sighed softly, although Argon was somewhat loyal, he was ultimately not an Imperial Knight, capable of following his orders unconditionally.

"Baron Argon, you should have seen the guards in my city, right? What do you think of them?"

Without waiting for Argon's reply, Losa added: "I'm not referring to my axe-bearing personal guards, nor the square shield infantry."

Argon thought for a moment and said sincerely: "Very elite, my lord, their equipment is excellent, well-trained, and they can be considered a fine group of soldiers."

"They were once heretics in your eyes, of course, they have since converted to the true faith."

Seeing Argon's incredulous look, Losa completely abandoned the thought of promoting the "new policy" in the Transjordan Territory.

"I understand now, my lord!"

Argon suddenly revealed an excited expression: "You have gone to such great lengths to spread the gospel of the Heavenly Father, even paying such a high price, to convert these heretics—a truly noble act, saint-like."

"I now understand your intentions, truly I am so dull-witted."

"But I also tried to convert the heretics in my territory; they seemingly comply but still act as they wish in private."

Facing Argon's misunderstanding, Losa nodded helplessly: "That's right, but it's not your fault; many view heretics as unteachable, but aren't they also creations of the Heavenly Father?"

"In Northern Europe, many clans and along the Baltic coast, people hold dual beliefs, worshiping the Heavenly Father while practicing witchcraft, offering sacrifices to pagan gods, but no one accuses them of being evil heretics—in lands far from Europe, we should be more tolerant in matters of faith."

"You're making sense."

Argon showed an expression of deep inspiration.

Losa sighed inwardly, conversing with people of this era, except for Baldwin IV, was extremely difficult.

It often resulted in scenarios like the one in front of him, where they seemed to be speaking two entirely different languages.

The retinues who had undergone system training might not grasp Losa's deeper intentions, but at least they would act according to his wishes, not stubbornly sticking to their own ideas.

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three days had passed.

In these three days, nobles from all over arrived at Eira Port with their families, knights, and guards.

They all received proper hosting from Losa.

The banquet was held on the second day, with unlimited meat, grains, and wine from morning until night, making them admire the new earl's generosity and wealth.

This was also a display of his own power.

With wealth naturally comes soldiers, even without counting the Axe Guards and Winged Cavalry who have already made their mark in the Holy Land.

And not counting those fierce and vigorous veteran soldiers who stayed on, just the conscripted farmer soldiers under Losa's command, with their uniform marching and training, left them in great awe.

The grand knightly tournament brought the whole banquet to a climax.

Hans won consecutive victories, fulfilling his dream of a knightly tournament championship in Austria.

Losa, sitting on the throne, continuously received one lord after another who came to pay respect, and he had prepared gifts as rewards for them—luxurious Gwent decks, exquisite porcelain, gold, and silver jewelry.

Their production seemed substantial; in actuality, many items, if sold to the system marketplace, would yield very little, being things with large added value that Losa could hardly liquidate in a short time.

Otto, standing below the stage, replaced Losa in receiving each guest, his smile began to stiffen.

This is how reputation is formed.

The reason Countess Stephanie was praised as a "knight in a skirt" was purely because of her generosity.

Reputation, it is both useful and not.

For someone like Losa who aspires to expand territories, conquer Sinai, and even the Egyptian granaries, reputation is naturally crucial.

With reputation, he could rally a large number of knights eager for achievements from the kingdom to serve him for free—post-war, he only needs to reward them with territories Losa has no time to control.

Reputation also correlates with prestige; if reputation were unimportant, how would there be monarchs rushing to participate in the Eastern Expedition?

They spent extravagantly, dared to risk bankruptcy, traveled thousands of miles to this so-called "Holy Land," and the lands they conquered couldn't be incorporated into their rule—what was it all for?

Minstrels roamed the scene, some even exchanged flirtatious glances with amorous noblewomen.

And their husbands didn't mind, fervently drinking and playing cards with their colleagues.

Some weren't keen on the currently popular entertainment and socializing form of Gwent, gathering to chat.

"In my territory, a strange person came some time ago. He stays secluded in his cabin, only occasionally coming out to buy food from the villagers."

"Some claim to have seen him frequenting the cemetery, picking up human bones. I can't confirm whether any of this is true."

"But that's in your territory, buddy!"

"But that might really be an evil wizard, brother. We should all know there are always some people in the world whom we can't afford to provoke, like casters, and also like the Count, my lord."

People fell into silence.

Not everyone likes, or reveres, this new lord above them, at least not all of them.

Many think that Losa just got lucky when he managed to climb so high due to a witch's allegiance.

When talking about Losa's fame as a "Werewolf Slayer" and "Dragon Slayer," they would sneer dismissively and say: "If I had a witch's allegiance, I could do it too."

It's like the legend of King Arthur and the Lady of the Lake; some believe it was King Arthur's heroism that won the Lady's heart, while others say it was the Divine Sword bestowed by the Lady that made Arthur.

Of course, even if they think this way, they would never say it out loud.

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