Throne of the North.

Chapter 354: The King of the Arena, the Never-Tiring Glory in the Box
This is the Wonderful Manor belonging to the God of Light. Its existence represents the will of the God of Light and the faith of the Flor Empire. The struggle between it and the Church of Dawn has entered a new stage.

The nobles are the nobles of the empire, and of course they are devout believers of the God of Light. Under this quiet sky, each noble expresses his or her loyalty to the God of Light.

"Praise the light. The Frozen Territory will donate 10,000 gold coins just to spread the belief in the immortality of light."

When it was Ryan's turn, it was already very late. This was not a tax to the God of Light, but the sincere joy in his heart after the completion of this wonder.

After that, there is the tax of 500 gold coins - for this month.

"Sitting there, he can collect tens of thousands of gold coins every year. Our Marquis has already possessed enviable wealth before he was even born."

Arriving among the nobles, Ryan listened to Viscount Hogg's remarks and looked expressionlessly at the Marquis's mother who was smiling in the crowd.

"This money will not reach her hands, and her goal should not be in Beifeng Province, but in the south."

As Ryan spoke, Viscount Hogg listened to his words and was filled with infinite emotion.

What the nobles always yearn for is the warm land in the south, which is in sharp contrast to the bitter cold in the north.

If human civilization has a center, it is definitely not in the north, but where the empire and the church collide.

"I don't know what's going on with the war in the South. I don't know if we will have a chance to participate in it."

Viscount Hogg was somewhat helpless. Ever since the arrival of Marquis Beifeng, his status as the royal son-in-law had plummeted, and now he could no longer obtain much intelligence from the royal family.

Having a similar idea to Ryan, the North Wind Province wanted to extend its influence into the southern lands faster than through marriage, and war was the most direct way.

However, if even the nobles of the North Wind Province were to send troops to the Thousand Lakes Province... then the situation would be a bit too extreme.

“There’s no telling when the war there will end.”

Count Sauron also ended his devotion to the light, came to this small circle, and responded to Viscount Hogg's words.

"The Empire has a strong foundation and is not afraid of war."

"It's the same with the Holy See. The entire southern land is fertile land for their faith."

"Perhaps only the immortal God of Light can stop this war from continuing."

Count Sauron sighed and said, which surprised Ryan.

"The Earl is truly a devout believer in light."

Count Sauron did not deny this. "

“People always need faith to maintain their lives. As the dawn fades away, the light arrives. This is actually what everyone hopes for.”

To the young man's surprise, the old earl did not oppose the empire's belief in light, and even supported it. He was just a little hesitant because his own interests were involved.

Now that things have come to this, he gladly accepts the appearance of the Church of Light, a wonder of light, and Count Sauron is very satisfied.

He decided to come here to pray every once in a while.

"The prayers of the Church of Light should not have been compiled so quickly."

“It doesn’t matter. Faith does not lie in those meaningless words, but in our hearts.”

“If you need faith to keep you on track, then it’s the right thing to do.”

The very fact that the Church of Light appeared already proves that it is correct.

Mortals need faith. No matter what they believe in, they need a faith to consolidate their future and to strengthen their decisions.

After the Dawn Church was expelled, the empire was in turmoil for a period of time and people were in panic.

The emergence of the faith of light calmed these frightened people's hearts.

Count Winter, who came here, was not surprised that Count Sauron had become a devout believer of light.

"When Grand Duke Meyers occupied the Northern Wind Province thirty years ago, there were many churches of various sizes here."

He said that, that was the history of the older generation, maybe even if the empire expelled the Church, the belief in Dawn still existed in their hearts, but the nobles' superb acting skills were able to cover it all up.

Now it's just that my inner thoughts are exposed.

"If that's the case, light will soon spread to every corner of the empire."

"There will be no surprises. The emperor will order that each province will have a Church of Light, and it is very likely that the marquis of each province will be the manager of the church."

"The Marquis's power is increasing."

No matter how slow his reaction was, Viscount Hogg understood it.

"This is inevitable. The political struggle between the royal family and the nobles has always been about power. Now it seems that our Emperor has the upper hand."

Count Winter understood it better, and he even participated in it personally. A great noble in the south invited him to become an ally of a certain faction, and then everyone accepted together another failure in restricting the emperor.

"Is it because of the war?"

Ryan asked, regarding the things about the South, there was no mention in the correspondence between him and the Clayton family, and Earl Clayton, his father, seemed unwilling to communicate too much in it.

"Yes, during the war in Qianhu Province, the empire showed signs of decline."

Count Winter gave a very absurd reason.

"Spring is coming."

——The soldiers are worried about the farmland at home.

"But the same is true for the army controlled by the Vatican."

Viscount Hogg was puzzled. The Vatican's army was not entirely the Vatican's army but also the army of those kingdoms and nobles.

"That's true, but the Church has means that the Empire doesn't have. The belief in the Dawn will make the soldiers' desire to fight even stronger. Even if they spend a year on the front line, their loyalty to the Lord of the Dawn will not waver."

"A large part of the Empire's troops were transferred from the northern provinces close to the northern border."

"In the far south of the empire, they miss their families in the far north."

This is also why Count Winter said that the emperor would soon order the spread of the faith of light within the empire.

And Ryan had the evidence.

After arriving at this spectacular manor, the woman Shaya began to look for him for various purposes.

One of them is that the orders for ancient books from the Frozen Territory have doubled.

"The emperor and the nobles will not admit defeat."

Viscount Hogg knew the emperor's temper very well. He would not admit defeat. If this war did not have a reasonable ending, the imperial army would not withdraw.

"You are right. The emperor is sending more troops."

Amid the spectacle, the nobles spoke in low voices, as if intimidated by the quiet church bells, until someone noticed that the sun was always shining here overhead.

"The God of Light is watching over this land."

The one who spoke was a legend, Stuart the Light Shepherd. This surprised Ryan. How could he appear here and seem to have become a member of the Church of Light?
As the ceremony ended, Ryan found Stuart and asked him about his doubts.

“The royal family and the great nobles use the Cathedral of Light to worship us legends.”

Stuart explained that the Empire's Church of Light was different from the Church of Dawn, in that it was part of the royal power, and half of the money earned by the Church of Light belonged to these legends who defected to the Empire.

Ryan captured some surprising news in it.

"There are so many legends of the empire... already?"

You know, before, the legend Stuart was only under the orders of the royal family, but the belief in light not only belongs to the royal family, but also to the great nobles. Doesn't that mean that Stuart now has to consider the wishes of those great nobles?
The royal family has clearly overwhelmed the nobles in the political struggle, but they can no longer completely control these legends. Apart from the fact that there are too many legends to support, is there any other reason?
Stuart was also stumped by Ryan's question. He was just a legendary magician, not a prophet under the skirt of the goddess of fate.

Ryan, who didn't get an answer, returned to the Frozen Territory with a heavy heart. In his opinion, too many legends might not be a good thing.

Master Ryan once again idled in his own territory, waiting for news from the south, but the two guys in the south seemed to have forgotten their lord.

...The Central Province is also the Imperial Capital Province. The province centered on the Imperial Capital is the political center of the empire. Powerful nobles will have their own manors here. Noble members sometimes come here for vacation to appreciate the style of the Imperial Capital.

Bogeld rode a bear and walked on the road in a swaggering manner. He was also one of the coolest ones. It was not that there were no knights who had mounts like white bears, but it was rare to see them wearing armor. Those monsters did not like metal to restrict their flesh and blood.

The nobles looked at the combination of the armored bear girl with curiosity, but Bogurd's eyes were bolder than theirs. Volibear, who was walking on the road, would always sniff his nose and approach the edge of other people's carriages from time to time. Bogurd took the opportunity to reach out and draw open the curtain to see what the woman inside looked like.

It usually succeeds because everyone is curious about the armored bear, and Bogeld seizes the opportunity before they know it.

There was a scream, a shout, and the soldiers' movement caused the sound of metal clanging. Bogeld walked away in disgust.

"It's too small, definitely not."

"Whose knight are you?"

Some soldiers angrily shouted that someone dared to open their master's carriage without permission, which was too much of an insult to the knights.

The proud armored bear girl would not answer their questions. Only the helpless bard in the back came forward, presented a gift to the owner of the carriage, and told an ancient and distant story to attract people's attention.

"It turned out to be Baron Ryan, the heir of the Clayton family. I know him. People in the empire say that he will become the most dazzling nobleman under the great nobles."

The woman in the carriage showed curiosity in her eyes. She said that she would pay attention to the specialties from the frozen land, and then said regretfully:
"Unfortunately, I heard that he was married to the Viscount family of the Calais Province."

The bard humbly agreed with the other party's words and finally got rid of the matter.

"Miss Bogeld, if you continue to be so rude, the soldiers will take action."

The bard was helpless. The legion commander always did his own thing, and the specialties they brought along the way were almost all gone in this way.

"Don't mind your own business. I'm doing this for Boss Ryan's sake."

In this team, no one could really control Bogerd. Before in Calais Province, the Countess also praised her, well, her behavior.

The bard wanted to find another member of the team, but was driven away before he could get close.

"Go away, go away, don't disturb Master Brock's thoughts."

The lackeys are loyal and will never allow anyone to disturb Brock's thinking on the dragon scale forging process. Even if they can only accept one tenth of it, it will benefit them for life.

Well, these lackeys are all followers of Master Brock. They are not from the Frozen Territory, but followed him along the way. They are people from the noble territories and may become the backbone of the craftsmen in those territories in the future.

Every time he was driven away, the bard couldn't help but sigh that fortunately he had worked hard and completed the tasks assigned by the Baron.

From the Frozen Territory, across the Wing Canyon, the communication with the Pascal family and six or seven nobles in the Danube Province was the smoothest. The closer to the southern land, the more tortuous the process became.

The bard would not erase the contributions of Master Block and Miss Bogold. These lackeys who followed Master Block to learn skills were part of the deal compromise. The other part was beaten back by Bogold's sandbag-sized fist.

But ahead is the imperial capital, where there are countless important figures.

Hey……

The bard sighed and glanced over to see that Miss Bogeld was fighting with a knight on the other side.

"Stop fighting, stop fighting, it's just a misunderstanding."

The imperial capital city has a strict hierarchy, and even if nobles want to do business here, they are limited to certain circles.

For example, where the great nobles are, there will be no emblems of the lesser nobles. Although blacksmiths and carpenters are both craftsmen, they belong to two opposing streets. Conflicts break out between the two sides from time to time, causing a bunch of people who like to have fun to sit back and watch the show.

The caravan from the Frozen Territory came here for two purposes.

The first is to choose the shop belonging to Baron Ryan, and the second is to choose the headquarters of the future Northern Chamber of Commerce.

As for the first thing, Bogold and Block, two people who had nothing in common, surprisingly found the same place.

"It's right next to the arena."

The Imperial City, the center of the empire's civilization and politics, also has a bloody arena, and it even makes countless coin every year and is considered one of the top five places in the Imperial City.

"That won't do. Lord Ryan is a baron. How can the flag of the noble Ryan family fly outside the arena all day long?"

The bard was helpless, but the two big men in the team were both stubborn.

"The Baron will definitely choose a new location."

Bogeld and Brock didn't care about it and rushed into the arena excitedly. It was said that there would be a battle between the sirens from the deep sea and the demon minions from another world today.

Brock started hammering and banging, and both of them turned a deaf ear to what was happening outside and focused on what was happening in front of them, until...

No one knows when, the armored bear and the girl have appeared in the center of the arena. The crowd in the arena is boiling. They claim to be civilized and do not like blood, but the battle that is like art can make them climax.

Bogeld kept fighting and winning, but outside the arena, the cheers were strangely suppressed.

Because just about seven or eight hundred meters away from the gate of the Colosseum, in a shop of one thousand square meters, there was a clanging sound, as if there was a special rhythm. Every time the knocking sound was heard, the noise in the air would disappear. The sound of the hammer hitting was like the dividing line of time.

Finally, people who could no longer bear it began to gather in front of the shops.

"Heart of Northgard? Is this a newly opened store? What does it sell?"

People were curious and wanted to get closer, but were repelled by the sound of the hammer hitting the target.

It was not a physical repulsion, but as soon as they had such a thought, the metallic sound would eliminate all desire to move forward.

Gradually, more and more people came to the street.

The cheers in the arena were getting louder and louder, and the people inside were calling out Bogold's name fanatically, not caring at all about how the world outside was changing.

The people on the street outside were also waiting calmly and silently for the sound coming from deep inside the store to end.

More and more people cheered for the duel, and more and more people stood in silence outside the shops on the street.

at last……

"Let us congratulate today's queen, the follower of Baron Ryan who settled the Kingdom War from the border of the Empire, and the owner of the Armored Bear - Ms. Bogeld!"

The arena was still noisy, and on the street outside, the sound of Brock's hammering also stopped at this moment.

The reddish-orange rock flowed into the cold pool, and the puckering steam filled the entire store.

In the crowd outside, a tall bearded man shouted loudly:

"Let's see what weapon you have forged!"

Brock walked out with a black lump in his hand and stood in front of a group of eyes. Many people were disappointed, but those who knew the business had gleams of light in their eyes.

Brock raised his palm and jerked it forward.

Cracks appeared in the dark lava, revealing an orange-red glow in the cracks, which then dimmed in an instant.

As Brock shook the black lump in his hand again and again, the crack became bigger and bigger, and the exposed orange-red magma color became brighter and brighter.

People gradually understood something and stared at Brock's palm without blinking.

finally--

boom! ! !
Countless lava fragments splashed, and a shiny black knight's sword appeared in Brock's hand. There were faint dragon scale patterns on its surface, winding towards the tip of the sword, like a giant dragon's bloody mouth revealing its fangs.

In the sky above, the fog seemed to distort, turning into the outline of a giant dragon before dissipating.

The air cleared up, and everyone stared at the sword in Brock's hand, until the sturdy man who was also a blacksmith spoke out tremblingly.

"Legendary embryo..."

“I actually saw the embryo of a legendary weapon here!”

He looked up at the equally burly Brock.

"What's your name?"

The empire has gained another person who can forge legendary weapons, but he doesn't even know him!
(End of this chapter)