Chapter 871: Chapter 435: Special Approval Officer

As mentioned earlier, in the Sevia Kingdom, especially for nobility at the base of the pyramid like the "Baron" class,

title and territory are not linked.

Take Baron Farrow as an example.

Similarly holding the title of "Baron," but compared to the local powers in inland areas, he has neither his own subjects nor the qualification to rule the life and death of the ordinary commoners like a local emperor, and his income is significantly less.

On the surface, he owns a rather luxurious three-story mansion in the White Cliff District, usually living in luxury, traveling with a special carriage and guards, quite dignified. However, when compared to barons living in towering fortresses and vast estates in inland areas, with many servants and even using milk for bathing, he is far inferior.

Of course, it’s not without benefits.

After all, one is a remote countryside where even professionals are rarely seen, while the other is an important port city of the kingdom where an adventurer association branch is located, with completely different living environments.

Additionally, although barons like Farrow, at the bottom layer of nobility, do not have their own territories, their noble status and title ensure that they will not sell their stamina for Gold Coins like the laborers at the Wave-breaking Pier.

Under normal circumstances, they would hold some high-paying, high-power important positions in the town.

If they have decent ability and some ambition, they might smoothly enter the official promotion system of the Swordfish Bay Governor’s Mansion at a very high starting point;

If they are ordinary in ability and not keen on climbing up, they can usually retire from some well-paid yet leisurely and easy sideline position.

Baron Farrow belongs to the former.

Born from a military family, he received an elite education since childhood, and his ability speaks for itself. However, due to his less tactful character, his promotion speed is relatively slow.

But even so, his identity as a "Baron" still enabled him to become the special approval officer of the Swordfish Bay Governor’s Mansion at the age of forty-two.

Just mentioning the job title may not reveal much, but if you list out the duties involved, anyone sensitive to the official ecosystem can see the value:

1. Responsible for issuing exclusive rights for fishing, mining, salt pans, and shipbuilding;

2. Responsible for permits for dock construction expansion, exclusive rights for certain goods, and temporary charters for shipwreck salvage;

3. Reviewing the qualifications of license applicants, investigating and assessing local resource inventories, and setting the commission rates for franchise operators... 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Apart from these, there’s much more.

But just the three listed are enough to prove the high authority of this so-called "special approval officer" role.

To put it bluntly, if anyone harbored even the slightest evil intent, given the scale and prosperity of the Swordfish Bay, the profit from just this one position would likely exceed the total from an entire territory of those inland local magnates combined.

Hai Yin’s interaction with Baron Farrow stemmed from this.

As a Druid of the Coral Association, her philosophy is to maintain the ecological balance of the ocean.

Even though her current strength is mediocre, she is at least a Level 3 professional, assigned by the organization to actually protect a coral reef located southwest of Swordfish Bay.

However, at the same time, she is also an adventurer, and because of her nature as a Spellcaster, she holds a nearly core position in the team, often needing to go out on missions.

In this situation, she naturally couldn’t watch over the coral reef as long-term as those professional Tomb Guardians living by the sea.

With this premise, through the Three-legged Sea Dog’s channel, Hai Yin and Baron Farrow reached a collaboration.

On the baron’s side, he was interested in the Coral Association behind Hai Yin. After all, by sitting as a "special approval officer" and having more interests with various forces, one can sit more stably. It’s also a form of investment in Spellcasters like Hai Yin, hoping to gain returns when she grows up in the future;

On Hai Yin’s side, she could receive regular financial aid, supporting her in hiring professionals to guard the coral reef, avoiding large-scale damage or pollution.

Moreover, the sea area where the coral reef is located, under the baron’s covert operations, was included as a certain undevelopable business franchise zone, enjoying an "off-season" every year at specific times, with restricted coral collection and prohibited destructive fishing in reef areas.

The help from Baron Farrow is something Hai Yin is undoubtedly grateful for.

At the same time, she also clearly understands that if anything happens to him, or if he steps down from the "special approval officer" position, his successor... may not be as easy to talk to as him.

Now, upon hearing the rumor that the baron’s daughter has been kidnapped, she could not remain indifferent.

"Is the information accurate?"

Hai Yin suddenly stopped, her expression serious as she asked Xia Nan.

"There shouldn’t be any mistake." Xia Nan nodded, "I learned about the situation from Hera over at the Three-legged Sea Dog before, and now the related commission is already on the mission wall of the association hall."

"It’s not necessarily an attack by someone, but her daughter’s disappearance is definitely true."

Hearing this, a strong anxiety appeared on Hai Yin’s pale face; she turned her body as if she was about to return to the association to understand the details of the task.

But the next second, she suddenly hesitated again.

She frowned, gritted her teeth, and then stamped her foot hard, quickly caught up with Xia Nan, and continued in the original direction, but her pace was noticeably quicker.