Ryan's words left Lawrence speechless. He was captivated by the sword in his hand, but it was clear that the price he paid for it was not money, but something beyond the scope of his education.
He could have gone back to his father for advice, or he could have asked anyone else, but he didn't, and made his choice in the next moment.
"I agree to this deal, Your Excellency Baron Ryan."
Lawrence was impulsive yet not impulsive. He had already faced a lot of dissuasion to come here. Ryan was right. Commoners only had to accept the obstacles from their families, but those of noble blood carried much more. He could be carefree, but Lawrence was not that kind of person. Under immense pressure, he pursued what he wanted.
At all costs.
That's the kind of determination Ryan needs. As for the Knight's Path...
He was blessed, and five blessings fell in succession. Lawrence was shocked and felt his blood and energy craving once again.
"I've said I'll bear the consequences of your death, so it's alright for me to offer some help to protect my own interests, isn't it?"
Lawrence left, heading to the Northlands alone, without servants or a warhorse. Ryan gave him a Bearskin Cloak, and he went to the Northlands with a sword.
"Will he come back alive?"
"I ask, "Lynn asked, looking at Ryan with some curiosity, noticing that he didn't seem worried at all.
"What am I worried about? You invited him, everyone knows that, especially Lawrence's servant. If he dies, it's your fault."
Ryan chuckled, patted Lynn the shoulder, and turned to leave, leaving Lynn standing there dumbfounded.
Of course, this was a joke. Baron Xavier wasn't stupid enough to think that Lynn killed Lawrence, and Ryan didn't hide his team's entry into Zero Crossing City.
No one knew why Ryan had sought out Lawrence; Lynn couldn't possibly know, Brandt was standing beside him, was completely baffled.
"Nobles are like a pile of loose sand, but an army is a stone; an army is made up of soldiers."
"Soldiers like Lawrence can help me influence the two kingdoms to the east. If all goes well, the nobles will become my supporters because of these soldiers..."
Ryan murmured softly in the carriage. Of the five great nets in his circle, the two kingdoms were the only ones he could currently try to unravel.
It's not easy, but that's the price of power.
As for why Ryan was keeping an eye on the Andara Kingdom and Sera Kingdom, it was because if the two kingdoms were not at peace, the Northwind Province would definitely not be at peace either.
The Orcs within the Northwind Province were an excuse in themselves, but even so, it was not safe. In an era when armies could not conduct long-distance marches, the principle of proximity was only four words, but it could bring heavy pressure to neighboring lands for hundreds or thousands of years.
As Ryan grew taller, the pressure began to fall on him, who was taller.
The ladder of power has no end. When he told Lawrence about the responsibilities the other person bore, wasn't he also talking about himself? Baron Ryan's burden was even heavier.
My heart is pounding, and the Fire Clouds on the horizon seem like Dragons coiling overhead. My ambition also stems from that night that burned my heart, perhaps the distant place that every man dreams of.
The journey to Zero Crossing City has come to an end, leaving Ryan with only pastoral scenery and a dreamlike world, yes, Snow Mountain, swamps, and terraced fields.
Passing through the golden wheat ears, you arrive at the wonder of the Northwind Province, a place where wondrous plants and animals unlike anything found in the Northwind Province. However, the wonder now sits in the middle of a ravaged land. Golden wheat ears? Orcs won't let anything edible go to waste.
There were quite a few people among the wonders, including Chrysus Meyers and Count Pascal Gargoyle. Ever since Chrysus exchanged five years of tax abolition for the nobles' support for the Elector Volvo's Iron Ore, the pressure had shifted to the Church of Light, which was now demanding even more taxes from the nobles.
Originally, this matter was to be shared by Meyers or Volvo, but now it has all become a conflict between the nobles, the emperor, and Count Pascal.
Taxes: the nobles own the lands, and the empire cannot refuse to pay taxes, but if it keeps demanding more and more, how can the nobles possibly be friendly?
Chrysus attempted to defeat the emperor's eight hundred by sacrificing a thousand of his own, but it remains to be seen who will ultimately emerge victorious.
"The war is not over. The Northwind Province has many expenses. The Empire will no longer provide support, and we will have to bear all the expenses ourselves."
"In the next few years, the Iron Ore beneath this land will not bring us any revenue. Without income, we cannot support the method of directly moving the wonders from the sky."
"Do you know what a terrible price you'd have to pay to dig up this land and fly it away?!"
Count Winter suppressed his voice. His countess was a Mages skilled in Space Magic, so no one present knew it better than him.
"The money spent here is enough for us to fight another all-out war with the Werewolves."
" Archbishop Brenner knows how much it will cost, and you are not doing much."
Count Pascal said that the Mages Brenna is now in charge of the Grand Cathedral of Light, reporting directly to the emperor. The Church is furious about this, as the Mages they burned at the Sacred Fire has turned around and become a believer in the Sun just like them.
It just didn't make sense no matter how you looked at it, so Brenna simply became the Church's number one target for assassination.
"Why move it? Can't it stay in Northwind Province?"
Count Soron also inquired, as a high-ranking nobleman, he had the right to know the truth.
" The Northwind Province is too far away."
"But this place has also become the Initial Land of Light. The believers of light yearn to seek the holy land, but they are powerless to come to the Northwind Province."
"The light of mercy has given us immortal warmth, and we must also strive to spread the light so that believers can get closer to the holy place in their hearts. This is our responsibility."
Pascal looked at these people and knew that such remarks were meaningless to the nobles of the Empire, who were all considered blasphemers.
"The Empire needs to leverage its prestige from defeating the Orcs against the Church in order to win over more noble lands to become our allies."
"We need to let the Faith of Light oppose the Faith of Dawn, and let everyone know that this is the will of the Deities."
This reason makes sense. For Emperor Flor, after defeating the Orcs, he had no enemies except the Church. The Northwind Province was too far from the Imperial Capital and the South, and the people there had no idea what a feat it was that the empire had defeated the evil Orcs under Emperor Flor's leadership. Even history would turn a new page for this year. The people in the South were in a frenzy, witnessing a glorious era they had never experienced before.
Columbus III, Emperor Flor, was also human. He too felt his blood boil with excitement and marveled at his glorious achievements. The His Majesty the Emperor, of course, wanted to press his advantage and ensure that no one in the world could ever be his equal.
The empire's ambition was to seize Royal Authority and divine power and rule the world.
"What about the Northwind Province?"
Viscount Hogg shouldn't have spoken at this time, as he was still on the side of the Imperial House. However, with the appearance of the Marquis of Northwind, Viscount Hogg's status in the Imperial House had declined, and he had to consider the fact that his territory was in the Northwind Province.
Count Pascal remained silent. He couldn't very well take action against the nobles. With just words, Legendary might not have any advantage over ordinary people.
Beside him, Chrysus watched all of this. This was the scene he wanted to see: to secure Imperial House power for Elector Volvo in this land, and in the process, to make Meyers' power in the Northwind Province irreplaceable.
The political struggle stemming from the war more than 30 years ago continues to this day.
Political struggles are accompanied by interests, and Count Pascal's current dilemma is that he cannot let his family pay the full price, as this would damage too much of the Pascal Family's foundation. It would also be unreasonable for Gargoyle Count to sacrifice a large amount of his family's interests in order to help the emperor.
The two sides are now locked in a stalemate, with neither able to control the other, which presents the perfect opportunity for Chrysus to make his move.
"Using the Faith of Light to oppose the Faith of Dawn is the empire's plan, and Meyers cannot stand idly by. Perhaps I can suggest to His Majesty the Emperor that we reduce some of the taxes in the Northwind Province to alleviate the pressure on the nobles."
Chrysus said that nominally they acted on the emperor's orders, but now everyone understood that Meyers' power over the Northwind Province was their own; the emperor had given them blank edicts, which they could write as they pleased for thirty years.
"However, we will have to pay a painful price for this."
Chrysus looked at the group and used a roundabout method to resolve everyone's problems.
"I need 10% of the annual revenue from all the mines in the Northwind Province. Don't worry, it's not all of it, but the extra 10% after deducting the amount used to support Prince Volvo in rebuilding the West Coast Fleet. That extra 10% belongs to you."
"You really have quite an appetite."
Count Winter stared at Chrysus and snorted coldly.
"This matter must be resolved eventually, mustn't it? His Majesty the Emperor must obtain this wonder, otherwise none of us can withstand His Your Majesty's wrath."
The interests among nobles are based on compromise and exchange. When everyone is willing to compromise and lose a little, then everyone can accept it.
"Should we inform Baron Ryan about this?"
Someone spoke up, but no one responded.
Chrysus was also taken aback and said:
"The Empire's non-comprehensive strategic matters are all decided by the high nobles. The outcome of this matter only needs to be reported to Baron Ryan."
After he finished speaking, no one responded. Everyone knew that Ryan and Meyers had a conflict, but in this land, no one could ignore the current importance of that Frozen Earth Territory.
"I will talk to him myself."
Seeing that no one reacted, Chrysus had no choice but to say this, a hint of anger in his eyes.
"I believe he will not reject the outcome that the nobles agree with."
"That's it? That's all? How about I personally donate a thousand Gold Coin?"
Faced with this outcome, Baron Ryan had no reaction and agreed without hesitation.
"If Baron Ryan can take on more, that would be even better."
Chrysus smiled, thinking this matter would be quite troublesome.
"It's nothing, a thousand Gold Coin isn't much, is it? My territory doesn't have any Iron Ore, so donating a thousand Gold Coin is just a token of my appreciation."
Ryan's words froze Chrysus's expression on the spot.
Looking at Baron Ryan before him, he asked in disbelief:
"Your territory has no metal mines?"
He didn't directly mention Iron Ore, but instead referred to metal ores.
"Yes, there is Iron Ore in my territory, in the mountains over there, but the environment in the Frozen Earth Territory is too complicated. We haven't built a mine yet. We finally managed to dig a mine shaft, but it collapsed as soon as the Orcs came."
"After the war ended, I was originally entitled to acquire the mines on those lands, but as you probably know, I did not choose to compete with the nobles for the land. Instead, I took a group of people and came back. I did not take any of the profits from a single mine."
"As for metal mines, there are some, but they're in Otherworld behind the entrance to Thundercloud County. It's a Gold Mine, so we can't include that in the count, can we?"
Chrysus was somewhat puzzled, and he couldn't help but ask:
"I've heard that Knight's Greatsword from the Frozen Earth Territory of the Northlands are highly sought after by knights. I even bought one for my own collection. A finely forged Knight's Greatsword must require a lot of Iron Ore."
"I didn't expect Mr. Chrysus to be knowledgeable about blacksmithing. That's right, but those metal materials are not mine; they come from a portion of the profits from the nobles' mines."
"You may not know, but many wars have taken place on this land before, and I have gained a lot of wealth as a result, which is more than enough to support the smelting in the Frozen Earth Territory."
Hearing Ryan's answer, Chrysus was somewhat dazed. He had thought that the Frozen Earth Territory had everything, which was why Ryan was so powerful. But now it seemed that the Frozen Earth Territory had nothing, and Ryan possessed everything because of his power.
The black-haired, red-eyed Baron before him filled Chrysus with dread. How had he managed to do that?
"Is there anything else, Mr. Chrysus? If not, please stay in the castle for dinner and leave tomorrow. It's winter, and the roads out of the Frozen Earth Territory are not smooth, and things haven't been peaceful lately."
Ryan said helplessly, then handed the message in his hand to Chrysus.
"This is a letter from Count Fragoso of the Sera Kingdom. However, considering the current relationship between the Empire and the Church, I ask Mr. Chrysus not to tell anyone. When Count Fragoso was still a viscount, we were very good friends."
"On this..."
As a nobleman, Chrysus had an instinct to want to control everything, but he wouldn't excessively explore what others possessed, especially in this situation, as the reserve and morality of nobles prevented him from looking.
Even if he really wanted to see it.
Seeing that the other party didn't react, Ryan just said it directly.
"Previously, another group of more than 100,000 Dawn Believers from the Andara Kingdom were relocated to the Sera Kingdom. They were forced to leave their homeland and thus harbored a deep hatred for the Andara Kingdom and the Empire."
"Of course, that's not the key point. The key point is that these believers have actually turned into fanatics."
"Mr. Chrysus should understand better than I how terrible the fanatics of the Church are."
The fanatics of the Church are, to put it simply, very directly.
That is, even if the Pope ordered them to kill the King or the emperor of the empire with their teeth, the fanatics would not hesitate to sharpen their teeth and launch an attack on the target with no retreat.
Lacking rationality, yet possessing extreme ambition.
"My position and decisions in the Kingdom War have led to unimaginable resentment and anger towards me from these hundreds of thousands of fanatics. To be honest, I don't even dare to go out now, for fear that a group of fanatics among those peasants will suddenly rush out and attack me."
"Some of them have already entered the empire's territory through the merchant guild's ranks."
"When did this happen?"
Chrysus also frowned. The political struggles among the nobles within the empire were severe, but when it came to external affairs, the nobles always had to unite, no matter what.
Internal enemies can be dealt with through interests and compromise, but external enemies are a matter of life and death.
"Unfortunately, it happened just yesterday."
"Inside the Unicorn Fortress of the Sera Kingdom, the Archbishop of the Church held a holy ceremony. The light of Dawn turned into flames and fell into the square, forming an Eternity bonfire that people used to illuminate the darkness."
Chrysus was surprised that the Church could so easily invoke Divine Blessing, but he was equally astonished by the speed at which Ryan obtained information from the neighboring kingdom.
In one day, he learned what had happened in the kingdom and the trouble that was related to him.
Ryan's influence in the Northlands is no less than Meyers ' prestige in some places.
"Our His Majesty the Emperor has once again challenged the Church, but it is clear that the Church is no pushover either, and their anger is burning in ways we have not yet discovered."
Ryan wasn't lying. The information came from the Sera Kingdom. What happened yesterday had made Ryan stop his planned inspection of the territory's winter reserves.