Throne of the North.

Chapter 23: Orcs Go South
Another reason why Ryan announced the end of meditation was that he was about to turn fifteen.

This winter, the Frozen Territory welcomed its first grand festival.

My Lord, enjoy the happiness with your people.

In addition, on this day, the Bain family terraced fields, one of the three fields, were officially opened and completed. The next step is to continuously increase the vitality of the soil.

The one hundred and ten acres of arable land drove the Bain family almost crazy. When they saw Ryan, they knelt down after every three sentences and kneeled down after every five sentences.

The Bain family, who had clearly entered the upper echelons of the territory, made the rest of the people extremely jealous. Ryan believed that the remaining two pieces of farmland would be developed quickly.

"Master Ryan, congratulations on growing another year older."

In the Baron's Castle on Rhino Horn Mountain, there are only a few people who can actually sit at the same table with Ryan.

Outside the Baron's Castle, Deren couldn't help but regret, because he was supposed to be the one replacing Rosen inside, but now he could only guard.

Looking at the many jumping lights in the villages and towns at the foot of the mountain in the night, perhaps he really shouldn't have refused. The Frozen Territory is becoming more and more prosperous, and it's very warm here.

This day will probably be remembered by many people, because even for those slaves, their lives in the Frozen Territory are actually similar to those of civilians. After all, they cannot spend money in the territory for the time being, and all they eat are the food rewarded by the lord.

Today, the peasants can even eat some broth. Following Master Ryan's order, the cooks dare not cut corners today.

I hope today will make those peasants remember the kindness of Master Ryan and they will quickly clean up the fields tomorrow.

The food that Knight Water received was a mixture of good and bad, and it was starting to taste bad.

Perhaps only Master Ryan could have thought of cultivating farmland in that mountain? It also attracted birds to poop, which was said to enrich the soil.

The terraced field method is unheard of in the south, but it can provide dozens of times more arable land, which is amazing.

There should be no one guarding the mountain today, but some wild beasts should not destroy the farmland.

Deren looked into the distance and suddenly his eyes narrowed.

Today is a big day, Master Ryan’s fifteenth birthday, and everyone is celebrating with the people. However...

Why is there fire on the mountain?
Deren is able to become the captain of the guard, so he is naturally capable.

He looked into the darkness, called over a few soldiers and gave them some instructions.

……

"Master Ryan, we have been in the Frozen Territory for almost two months. According to the time, the Earl should have returned to the Empire."

The old butler gave a slight reminder, which made Ryan silent for a while.

Now that Earl Clayton has returned to the empire, no one knows what kind of turmoil he will stir up in the imperial capital, and whether it will affect his frozen land territory.

In two months, he has accepted everything about his current situation.

everything is fine.

Beard was in charge of internal affairs, Brand was in charge of the military, Rosen was in charge of patrols and guards, and even the management of the maids in the Baron's castle was something the Viscountess was very familiar with, saving Ryan a lot of effort.

Everything is fine except that food problem is becoming more stressful as population increases.

As expected, the orcs did not disturb the barren frozen land as usual.

However, Ryan got what he wanted.

Deren trotted in from the door and said in a panic:
"Master Ryan, the patrol guards found traces of orcs."

In the cold wind of the night, Ryan rushed out of the Baron's Castle and saw the fire in the distant mountains and forests at a glance.

"What orc tribe?"

Deren said:
"The people I arranged didn't dare to get close. According to them, those orcs had horns on their heads that looked like long, thin scimitars, about the length of a forearm."

"It's dark in the forest, and the orcs have a keen sense of smell. They are right not to get close."

"As for this species of orcs..."

"There are many orcs with horns on their heads. This description is close to the North Wind Province. Could they be a group of Black Goat Orcs?"

Ryan's face looked a little ugly, and he immediately ordered the soldiers around him.

"Put out all the fires in the territory." The soldier hurriedly ran to the foot of the mountain.

They could see fire on the distant mountain at Rhino Horn Mountain, but there was cover at the foot of the mountain, so the orcs might not notice it.

Black Goatmen, an orc tribe.

In many legends, black goats are synonymous with death and a symbol of evil. Similarly, the black goat people of the orc tribe are equally cruel and evil.

Other orc tribes went south because there was not enough food and there were too many orcs. They would only eat humans when they didn't steal too much food, but the black goat people...

This tribe of orcs loves to eat humans, especially human cubs.

Besides human cubs, there are women with tender flesh.

In short, the younger you are and the better you take care of yourself, the more they like you.

However, they are still very powerful and are said to have received blessings from the gods.

After hearing Ryan's description, the Viscountess and several maids beside him turned pale.

"Don't be afraid. It's impossible for the Black Goat People to appear in such a large group. It's not winter yet. Those who appeared should be their scouts."

Ryan's expression was calm. If things really went wrong, he could always take his people and hide in another world. With this way of retreat, he felt confident enough.

……

In fact, Ryan believed that the Black Goat People did not notice the fire in the Frozen Territory. In fact, they discovered it before Deren discovered them.

Being able to become scouts in the black goat tribe, they are definitely not lacking in professionalism, but... they don't care.

"Brother, there is a human noble's territory here. Why don't we rush in and rob it? It would be perfect if we can find a few children."

A black goat man with black hair as long as a palm and a pair of curved horns spoke greedily, but just after he finished speaking, he was hit by a huge slap next to him, and several of his teeth fell out.

"Idiot, don't you know what we are here for?"

After slapping him, the taller black goat man pointed at the fire in the distance.

"Do you know where this place is?"

"do not know."

"This is the Frozen Territory, a poor and sour place."

"More than a decade ago, a hyena tribe came to rob this place in the winter. Do you know what happened?"

"do not know."

"Idiot, do you know that after the hyenas robbed this place, 30% of the tribe members starved to death when they returned. Of the remaining 70%, half starved to death during the winter. The remaining hyenas survived the winter by eating the corpses of their companions."

“From that time on, that tribe became a joke.”

"Do you know why our Black Goat Tribe was able to become the leader who led the orc army southward to plunder the human province this year?"

"do not know."

"Stupid, because we are wise."

"Wisdom, do you understand? Wisdom! We can become leaders because we can lead the orc army to rob more food and more cubs than before."

“Do you know what wisdom is?”

"I still don't know, brother. I don't think I'm very smart." The Black Goat Man lowered his head in frustration.

"So I'm your captain, and you're just an idiot who only knows how to eat."

"Wisdom means that we know where there is more wealth, where we can grab more food, and where we can grab more human cubs."

“Wisdom is amazing.”

"Okay, you know my wisdom. Anyway, we should be careful now so that we can be bold in the future."

(End of this chapter)