Imperial Crown.

Chapter 226 Mind
At the same time, Raven also received the message and read it carefully.

After the previous introduction, the first thing that came out was a "letter of confession" from the Count of Montreal.

The general content is: Montreal Shiva Fox, due to poor supervision and failure to conduct a good military merit audit, voluntarily resigned the title of Governor of the Nord Province and was willing to pay any price to atone for his crimes.

The words used are simple and sincere, as if the author is really admitting his mistake.

But what Raven cared about was not the letter itself, but the fact that it could be published.

Judging from the wording, this should be a private letter, not only to Marquis Anthony, but also to His Majesty the King!
But Marquis Anthony actually released it publicly, and even the merchants in Mon'en City were able to get the specific content, which was a clear break with the Fox family.

There was no consideration for respect among the nobles.

It seems that His Majesty King Keynes XVI really hates the Fox family.

Raven could understand this.

The Church of Light is not only a religious organization, but also a political and military entity with independent territory. Allowing the Church of Light to station troops in the Nord province is a serious violation of national sovereignty!

No king who wanted to leave a good reputation would allow this to happen.

According to Raven, the Church of Light was extremely persistent in stationing troops in the Keynes Empire and dispatched three cardinals, whose positions were second only to those of the Pope, to conduct serious negotiations with the King's cabinet for a year, citing scriptures and classics.

The Church of Light was determined to win, and it was well prepared and eloquent. It also produced a contract signed by Montreal in the name of the Governor, putting His Majesty the King in a passive position everywhere.

In the end, Keynes XVI made a compromise decision.

If the Church of Light wants to station troops, it can, but the army cannot pass through any territory of the Keynes Empire except the Nord Province.

Even so, the Church of Light agreed and immediately sent out a troop transport fleet, preparing to circle the Middles Continent halfway and transport the troops in!

It was after that that His Majesty King Cairns XVI sent out Lord Anthony.

But an earl cannot be destroyed just like that. If Anthony really forces the Fox family into a corner and they openly rebel, then all his efforts will be in vain.

However, Marquis Anthony grasped the right measure. After publishing Montreal's confession, the actual punishment was much ado about nothing.

The Fox family only needs to give up some of the territories they had previously obtained by falsely reporting their military achievements and hand them over to the direct jurisdiction of the empire.

That's just a few baronies.

As for the dozens of families that were vassals of Fox, the punishment was even lighter. Each family did not have to return the territory, but only had to pay a certain amount of gold coins as compensation to those nobles who had fought truly bravely but had not been able to gain enough merit.

When he saw this, Raven's eyebrows rose. There are such nobles in Nord Province? How come I don't know them?
However, he also admired the skills of Marquis Anthony, who punished the nobles who were vassals of the Fox family with severe warnings, and at the same time won the favor of most of the nobles in the Nordic province without spending a penny himself.

Now it seems that the rumors that were previously circulated were correct.

Marquis Anthony came here not only to punish the Fox family, but also to take over the position of governor in order to fight against the infiltration of the Church of Light.

That's why it's necessary to win over the local nobles.

The next content was the specific amount of fines paid by each family, which surprised Raven a little.

All I can say is that the gold coins of the nobles are like water in a sponge, you can always squeeze them out if you squeeze them.

The most ordinary baron had to pay a fine of at least 15000 gold coins, and the viscount generally had to pay more than 50000 gold coins.

All in all, the amount of this batch of fines is as much as 94 gold coins!
These were distributed to the nobles of the Nord province according to their previous military achievements.

The one who got the most was Raven, who received 37200 gold coins alone.

For most nobles, getting this money, although painful, is not a difficult task.

But on the other hand, it has been just over a month since the announcement, and it is impossible for every family to save enough money.

Among them, it is probably inevitable that the Fox family would move out the gold coins from their own treasury and compensate the vassals.

I'm afraid this knife caused a lot of blood.

"It seems like it's time to get ready." Raven put down the magic book and tapped the table with his fingers: "The gift for the new governor's inauguration cannot be neglected."

As for what to give specifically, Raven hadn't figured it out for the time being, as he couldn't quite see through Anthony.

This Marquis is a little too selfless, as if everything is really for the empire and for His Majesty.

This is completely different from the impression Raven had of nobles!
However, half a month later, when he received the compensation gold coins, Raven felt relieved.

Because nominally it was 37200 gold coins, but in reality only 25000 were received, and nearly one-third of the gold coins disappeared.

Obviously, it is a common "transportation loss".

Raven was relieved about this. It seemed that Marquis Anthony could not escape the temptation of gold coins!
Moreover, Raven inferred that in addition to this explicit fine, Marquis Anthony may have extorted an additional million-dollar sum from Montreal - Marquis Anthony made some extra money for himself, but he could not forget His Majesty the King.

Soon after the gold coins arrived, many nobles sent messages through the Sky Eagle platform, wanting to place orders for the Book of Magic.

This is actually related to the way Marquis Anthony dealt with the Fox family.

The spread of news always starts from near and spreads to far. According to convention, no matter how fast the big events happened in Meng'en City, it would take two or three days for them to spread to border areas like Xuefeng County.

But this time, Xuefeng County got the news shortly after the incident in Meng'en City, which shocked some nobles who came to show off their well-informedness.

The information known by the nobles of Xuefeng County was even more detailed than theirs.

This of course has to mention the Book of Magic.

Since Raven distributed four magic books to each family, those who were interested would naturally borrow or buy one, and then show off to others.

Therefore, within just a dozen days, the reputation of the Book of Magic became completely known, and the nobles who were farther away from the City of Mon'en became more eager to buy it.

After all, information is very valuable. A time difference of a few hours may affect the rise and fall of a family.

A magic book requires about 3 pounds, or about 1.35 kilograms, of misty iron. Adding the cost of enchanting materials, the total material cost is about 290-310 gold coins.

There is output in the territory of Wu'ai Chen Tie Lei Wen. You will make a profit for every piece sold, it's just a matter of how much.

And the focus of Raven’s profit is not on the magic book itself, but its platform function.

Therefore, it was priced at 399 gold coins and sold uniformly on the Sky Eagle platform.

Even though it was announced in advance that its scope of use was limited, Raven still received 372 orders. Once all of them were delivered, he would receive another 148428 gold coins!
Although an old Nordic proverb says that good things don't usually come in pairs, Raven happened to encounter one.

Because just five days after receiving the order, Annuo's Witch Academy was finally completed.

Its official name is "The First Orphanage in Xuefeng County, Xuefeng County, Nord Province".

And Anno named it "The City of Silence". It is hidden deep in the mountains. It takes six or seven turns to walk from the foot of the mountain to the entrance. If you don't have a guide, you will easily get lost in the thick pine forest.

This is a huge drawback for ordinary buildings, but it is very much in line with Annuo's requirements.

You can tell from the faint smile on her face.

Annuo was still as mysterious as before. She was wearing a black robe, with chestnut hair showing through the hood, and the scepter in her hand resting quietly on the ground.

The more his strength increased, the more Raven felt that Anno was unfathomable. In his eyes, the sense of oppression brought by this young God-Blood Witch was no less than that of Crouch.

Annuo was a little different today than usual, perhaps because she was holding the hand of a little girl who looked only four or five years old.

"From now on, this is your home."

The little girl nodded ignorantly, the surprise and shock in her eyes still not fading.

Because when she looked here from the air on her horned eagle just now, there was clearly only a pine forest covered with snow.

But now, what appeared before her was a towering building that she had never seen before!

The dark city wall seemed to be connected to the entire mountain, and the heavy gate was as tall as three people stacked together. It was even more magnificent than the baron's castle.

How do you open such a heavy door?
An Nuo just raised his hand and the door opened. The first thing he saw was a monster bigger than a house!
The little girl held her breath, but the big fat lizard moved its butt to make way. On its back, several girls who were about her age poked their heads out and said, "Sister An Nuo, you're back!"

After moving aside, the little girl could see that inside the door was an extremely spacious square with a fountain in the center. Even in the cold winter, spring water was still gurgling out, with hot steam rising from it.

Is that the legendary hot spring?

The girls rushed forward, bowed to Anno first, and then saluted to Raven: "Baron!"

The little girl widened her eyes and shrank quietly behind An Nuo.

In her hometown, a baron was determined to burn her to death, even though she had harmed no one and had cured the baron's son of a fever.

Seeing this, Raven didn't mind. He just smiled gently and followed An Nuo and others into the central hall.

The hall itself is very large, but only two stories high. This is for the same reason as the removal of the walkway leading to the orphanage after the main structure was completed.

Witches have always had a bad reputation, so both Annuo and Raven try to keep a low profile.

If the project wasn't so protracted that it would be impossible to completely erase all traces, Raven wouldn't mind learning from the ancient emperors.

Although the main building is not tall, the scale of this college is even larger than Eagle Town.

While retaining a large open space, the internal buildings are complete enough to accommodate thousands of people living and residing at the same time.

For such a large area, the cost is also quite high.

Although the magic circle that can block vision and create illusions was designed by Annuo, the raw materials were all provided by Raven, and this alone cost nearly 6 gold coins.

All in all, assuming that a considerable portion of the materials can be self-sufficient, the total cost is close to 30 gold coins!
"Starting today, the academy is officially in operation." An Nuo's words were as simple as ever: "I, An Nuo, invite you as the God Blood Witch to establish a mysterious connection with me. From now on, we will break through the shackles of blood and become each other's closest sisters."

"Let silence be our name."

The ethereal voice echoed in the hall, and bits of purple light rose from An Nuo's body, gradually becoming thicker.

The surging energy surged in the air, and the energy in the bodies of the 16 girls present was drawn, showing a colorful glow, interweaving and vibrating with Annuo's own energy, and was drawn by her energy, falling to the ground, outlining circles of intricate magic arrays.

The girls were all witches rescued by Annuo, and they obeyed her orders, so although they were a little confused, they did not resist.

Margaret, who had been keeping out of the matter, had an extremely complicated expression.

Among all the people present, she was the only one who saw An Nuo's true intention.

The intention to establish an academy is real, and the intention to gather witches and give them a home is also real.

But the best lie is to tell only part of the truth.

Anno's ultimate intention behind this is to rebuild the "Silent Sisterhood"!
That was in the ancient times, an organization founded by the Mother of Pure Black and composed purely of witches. It was active in the long river of history for a long time, secretly manipulating the situation on the continent, but was eventually destroyed.

The Mother of Pure Black also fell.

And now, Annuo is obviously going to replace the Mother of Pure Black and become the lord and god of all witches!
This is what Annuo is pursuing? !
No wonder she didn't choose the existing human forces, but invested in Baron Raven.

No king would allow a supernatural organization beyond his control to exist under his nose!
Margaret found that she actually had some admiration for this divine blood witch.

She originally thought that An Nuo's strength was the inheritance of blood and the gift of fate.

But now it seems that An Nuo's pursuit is enough to accommodate her strength.

On the other hand, Margaret herself has lived for hundreds of years in vain, and her greatest wish is to prolong her life...

Emotions that had not fluctuated for a long time began to stir and my heartbeat began to speed up.

Margaret wants to join Anno in his feat and become a member of this new silent sisterhood.

She looked at Raven with a questioning look, and Raven nodded in agreement.

Margaret took a few steps forward and actively released her energy, which intertwined with the mottled light in the air.

At this moment, countless illusions flashed before Margaret's eyes, as if she could also jump high and glimpse the direction of fate, but the more she paid attention, the more blurred these images became.

Everything went dark before Margaret's eyes and she lost consciousness.

When she woke up again, she found herself lying on a bed with a mysterious mark of sedimentation in her body.

She woke up with a start and sat up, and An Nuo's back appeared in front of her.

"Are you here to spy on me?" Margaret sneered, "But you've got the wrong person. I'm also a witch, and I didn't tell Raven about your ambitions."

"You've got the wrong person." An Nuo's voice was calm: "Baron Raven knows my intentions, and he also knows your little secret."

Margaret frowned. "This is impossible! If so, why am I still alive?!"

Raven only needed a thought to wipe her out.

An Nuo looked out the window, as if he saw the distant future: "Raven's heart can hold the entire continent."

"What about your little thoughts that have nothing to do with the overall situation?"

……

(End of this chapter)