On the arena, powerful physiques clashed, longswords sparked, and armor was covered in wounds. This competition, which was closely watched by the entire Zero Crossing City and even attracted the attention of several nobles, brought Ryan huge benefits.
Every purchase is impulsive, and what kind of environment leads to impulsive purchases? It's right now. Watching those knights fighting with such passion, many people can't help but join in and become part of this grand event. In this way, at least for a short time, they will be the center of attention wherever they go.
Under Ryan's witness, the final eight knights were selected, but at this moment, the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild told everyone that the battle would not continue.
"After three days of fighting, more than a hundred people have been injured on this arena. They should have been wounded on the battlefield, but they fell here instead."
"We cannot guarantee that the last eight powerful knights will survive. If any one of them dies in the arena, it will be a loss for Zero Crossing City and its nobles."
Ryan didn't want the nobles to lose a knight they had trained for many years because of such a death. The victors were happy, but the losers paid a heavy price.
" The Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild was originally created to explore the vast Northlands, a place covered in ice and snow, where countless treasures lie. Every one who returns alive is a human hero."
"They shouldn't be enemies of humans, enemies of heroes; they can only be evil Orcs, Dragons!"
"So, among the final eight knights, who is the strongest?"
"That is—the knight who can kill the most Orcs!"
The Bard's roar set the entire Zero Crossing City ablaze. The knights' battles were certainly exciting, but they were confined to this moment and this place.
Now, all the territories and people in the Northwind Province, including those in Zero Crossing City, need to leave the city for their daily lives.
They were all attacked by Orcs.
Hatred for the Orcs led them to accept the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild's decision, as the Bard's next words also mentioned that knights could not return to their own territories.
"Eight knights will travel to eight different directions from Zero Crossing City, going anywhere on their own to kill Orcs. They will return here in half a month. The knight who kills all the Orcs will obtain the Northern Warhorse!"
The Bard looked at the eight knights.
"You are knights. The moment you became knights, you swore an oath. Now I want you to swear once again to your knightly dignity that you will defeat the Orcs alone and save humanity from the brink of death."
"You will become heroes to many. The strongest one will be able to obtain a warhorse, but the remaining seven knights are still commendable heroes. The Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild will reward you with Gold Coin for the number of Orcs you kill."
"What are our rules?!"
The Bard turned around and suddenly roared.
"One Orcs, one Gold Coin!"
"This is the first rule of the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild, and it transcends all other rules: for every Orcs a hero kills, he receives one Gold Coin!"
No one is exempt, and no one can disobey the rules of the brave.
The Bard looked at the Ryan couple on the high platform. Ryan nodded, and the next moment, the people from the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild brought out ten large wooden crates.
Splash!
Golden Gold Coin were scattered all over the ground, tens of thousands of Gold Coin piled up haphazardly on the arena where bloodstains had not yet been cleaned. Not only were the citizens of Zero Crossing City breathing heavily, but even the nobles invited by Ryan had their eyes red.
Who can resist the temptation of Gold Coin? Not even Dragons.
The Bard bent down and grabbed a handful of Gold Coin. He was trembling, but as Bard, he was more passionate about poetry and stories of distant lands; this was their faith.
"These Gold Coin will eventually belong to you. Defeat the evil Orcs, come back alive, and take back the Gold Coin that are rightfully yours."
Eight Bard also emerged, who would follow behind the knights, using their own eyes to write the story of the eight knights and record their experiences.
Guided by the direction, the eight knights rode their warhorses out of Zero Crossing City. They were extremely excited. This was not only an opportunity to obtain their own warhorses, but also an opportunity to make a name for themselves and become even more powerful knights.
Knights are not peasant slaves or commoners; they understand very well the opportunities this conflict offers them.
They were excited.
"Of eight people, at least four should survive and come back alive, right?"
Ryan believed in human greed and the Orcs ' fighting prowess. None of the eight knights were particularly strong; only two of them were bronze-level.
"Now, we just have to wait for half a month."
Ryan smiled and said that he had already seen that many people in the crowd had realized what the Bard had said earlier: the only rule of the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild.
Orcs equal Gold Coin.
Sure enough, that afternoon, someone rushed out of Zero Crossing City and returned with a bloody Orcs head.
"Even if the Orcs weren't killed in the Northlands, can they still be exchanged?"
"Logically, it shouldn't be possible, because there are also Orcs slaves in the human world, but it's different now. The Orcs in the Northwind Province originally came from the Northlands."
"So—it can be exchanged!"
The Bard handed a Gold Coin to the man dressed in tattered armor and carrying a rotten dagger, suggesting:
"If you're going out hunting again, I hope you can change your equipment. It's not easy to kill Orcs with these, is it?"
"If your wounds are not treated, they will become infected. I think the treatment will cost at least ten silver coins. For one Gold Coin, you have only earned less than ten silver coins, because you need time, and it will be difficult for you to work during that time."
The man hesitated. The Bard was right; he had ambushed a boarman during the hunt, but the ambush had nearly killed him.
"But good weapons and equipment are very expensive."
" The Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild's internal trading market offers registered adventurers a 5% discount. Of course, all of this is on the premise that you still intend to hunt in this way. If you plan to quit, you don't need to do this. Ten silver coins are enough for your family to live a good life for a while, aren't they?"
The man gritted his teeth, ran out, and quickly returned with dozens of silver coins.
"I want to buy a good dagger!"
Weapons can be passed down through generations, and the man also discovered on this trip that Orcs are not as scary as they seem.
The price of a single Gold Coin gave him a taste of success.
"I don't charge you here, but you have to go inside. Don't worry, Master Brock is the chief blacksmith of the Frozen Earth Territory. All weapons and armor have to be inspected by him. Anything inferior has already been melted down and has no right to be seen outside."
Hearing the Bard mention Master Brock, the man felt relieved. Brock had now become a brand, and because of the merchant guild, everyone in Zero Crossing City knew that this master had forged Legendary longsword that could become a national treasure of a kingdom.
Anything he has reviewed is definitely not a fake.
Ryan also has his own residence in Zero Crossing City. After the competition on the arena ended, Ryan invited several nobles who came to Zero Crossing City to a small gathering.
"Mr. Haton, you actually let Lynn go."
Ryan smiled and said to Haton that one of the eight knights was Lynn.
"That brat!"
Haton was furious as he spoke, but at the same time he held his head high, looking very proud.
"He insists on participating; this kid is getting harder and harder to manage as he grows up."
"Haha, Baron Hatton, so many people envy you for having such a son."
Viscount Miles walked over. No nobleman who came to Zero Crossing City could avoid Viscount Miles, who lived in the city.
"The Viscount looks to be in good health lately. Has this winter not been so terrible?"
"Winter is still terrible, but I bought a fox fur coat from the South Kingdom from the Imperial Merchant Guild, so I don't have to be afraid of winter anymore."
Viscount Kristan Viscount Miles said this.
Ryan turned his head and, sure enough, saw the red fuzz deliberately peeking out from under the other person's clothes.
"This is a good thing. It seems you've recovered from the reparations to the nobles."
The Miles Family had been quite poor for a period of time, mainly because of the fact that old Viscount Miles had killed Viscount Dragoon.
The Miles Family had to pay a huge price to quell the anger of the nobles.
"I didn't lie to you, Kristan Viscount Miles Family will only get better and better in your hands."
"Of course, Baron Ryan, I will always remember our friendship."
Viscount Miles said with a smile that after eating steamed buns for several years, he had finally started eating meat and was feeling quite spirited.
The prosperity of Zero Crossing City foreshadows the prosperity of the Miles Family, and it seems that Zero Crossing City will continue to prosper for at least a long time to come.
The Miles Family will rise to a higher position in his era.
"Even though we have money, we can't give up our interests. There are some things that money can't buy."
Ryan said this in a calm voice, which silenced the nobles.
"You should not give up on the matter of those lands and mine revenues. Although the Northwind Province has inexhaustible Iron Ore, His Majesty the Emperor will soon order the requisition of the Northwind Province's Iron Ore and purchase it at an extremely low Iron Ore to rebuild the West Coast Fleet."
"We will all suffer losses."
"Such a thing really happened?"
The nobles stared at Ryan in shock, Baron Kendra looked somewhat resentful.
" Your Majesty cannot easily take away our Iron Ore."
"Of course he will pay you, but the problem is that it's just the payment for the Iron Ore. We have to bear the manpower and resources required for that ourselves."
"Does rebuilding the West Coast Fleet require so much Iron Ore?"
"Of course, and it's probably not just the West Coast Fleet. Our Elector will definitely take a share of it for himself."
"The war between the Church and the Empire ended because of the Orcs, but that doesn't mean the nobles will forget that war. It's a wake-up call."
"A new arms race is about to begin on the Norris Continent, which will cause the value of Iron Ore to rise again."
"So... we lost even more."
Upon hearing this, the nobles couldn't help but feel a toothache.
"This is outrageous, Baron Ryan. Perhaps we should refuse the Emperor's low-price offer."
Before Ryan could speak, Baron Hatton had already started shaking his head.
His political acumen remains as sharp as ever.
"Impossible. The nobles of the Northwind Province are currently fighting over land, trying to have their offspring inherit it. This is a very troublesome matter. More than a month has passed, and not a single noble has succeeded."
"The nobles need to compromise with the emperor, and ultimately, it may be necessary for the emperor's decree to allow those of bloodline to truly inherit the land."
"Therefore, this low-price proposal will definitely be approved."
"Damn it! That's noble land, how could they occupy it so easily?"
"Those nobles are all dead. Their entire families perished in the war, and they couldn't even send their offspring south."
"Those who occupy those lands will be nobles, that's the bottom line. And most importantly, even if it's not nobles from the Northwind Province who occupy them, the emperor will use them to make deals with those Wandering Nobles and the offspring of great nobles in exchange for their support."
"The land cannot be left to waste. If anyone is to blame, it is those nobles themselves, who allowed their entire families to be wiped out in the war."
Actually, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on the nobles themselves.
The nobles of the Northwind Province wanted to send their children to the South for refuge, and there was a very important and crucial factor: they also had a certain degree of confidence in the South.
In the past year or two, the nobles of the Northwind Province have been keen on marriage alliances with the nobles of the South, in order to extend their influence South and hopefully gain something in return.
That was the backup plan, a step that many local nobles in the Northwind Province had failed to take.
It took them a year or two to finish weaving the spider web.
Another important reason is that the nobles who were wiped out in this war were actually all nobles from this land; they did not come from the South to the Northwind Province.
Those noble territories that went north would never be so close to the Orcs. Even Baron Hatton's territory was chosen because it was far enough away from the Fragrant Mountain Plains. And this was the worst choice for the nobles who went north after the war more than 30 years ago.
The most obvious examples are the nobles of Silver Stream County and Viscount Hogg. They are not nobles who have been rooted in the Northwind Province for hundreds of years, but they occupy the land that is most suitable for growing food.
This was a consequence of war, so naturally, those lands too close to the Northlands, too close to the Orcs, were the choice of the losers.
Thirty years ago they failed, choosing to be the first to invade their land when the Orcs attacked. This failure continued for thirty years, and they lost everything.
"The ownership of the land in the Northwind Province will not be decided so quickly. It may take several years or even decades to complete the planning of those lands, but we need to be prepared."
"It's not just a few of us; all the nobles of the Northwind Province are part of our group."
Ryan revealed his true intentions as if to say, "I've finally seen the light."
"The emperor's orders are not the most important thing. Meyers will rule the Northwind Province for the next thirty years, and they will squeeze the last drop of wealth out of us."
"I don't want the war I've worked so hard to win, the Northwind Province I've protected, to end up riddled with holes because of Meyers."
Ryan's eyes were cold, and his voice turned chilling. Viscount Miles, standing next to him, wrapped his coat tighter around himself. Despite having bought the best thermal underwear, he felt unusually cold at that moment.
Having spent over half a month sitting on five million Gold Coin, how could Ryan possibly be constantly immersed in the joy of wealth?
Meyers ' generosity is unacceptable unless they can reap even more wealth than five million.
Although Meyers provided significant assistance to the Northwind Province during the war with the Silvermoon Royal Court, especially with the appearance of the Legendary Demon Hunter Rosalind, now that the war is over, Ryan instinctively senses that they have become enemies with Meyers.
At the start of the war, they were each other's closest allies; at the end of the war, their conflicting interests turned them into enemies.
However, the Orcs are still rampaging, and Meyers hasn't made any moves, so nothing has been revealed yet.
If a frog is not quick enough to react when being boiled in lukewarm water, it is certain to die.
Ryan needs to be aware of this.
The most important aspect of this was the division of those lands.
If, in the end, Meyers wasn't involved, then it means their purpose was far more complex than that.
That would be even more terrifying.
Ryan didn't voice this conjecture, because even just a few words he uttered had already made the nobles uneasy.
What will Meyers do?
When it comes to wealth, Viscount Miles gets extremely nervous.
"I don't know, let's wait and see."
Ryan concluded by saying that in their brief exchange he had determined that these nobles would not stand against him in future major events, and then he laughed.
"How about we make a bet first, on Lynn can win that warhorse, haha."