Throne of the North.

Chapter 38 A Winter's Late Property
The weather was getting warmer. Ryan stood on the peak of Rhino Horn Mountain and looked into the distance. He saw that there was no snow in many places.

There are no soldiers in the territory now, because they have all been sent to supervise the slaves to build roads.

Opening mountains and digging tunnels is an extremely dangerous task, and many orcs suffered casualties during this month.

But the more people died, the faster the road was built, and the resistance that Ryan had imagined never happened.

I don’t know if it was because the soldier’s whip was painful enough or because he gave the slaves too much food.

“I wonder if we can build a complete road before all these orcs die.”

Ryan stood on Rhino Horn Mountain and looked to the south. He could already see a large gap in the forest, which was the direction leading to the North Wind Province.

As Ryan stood on the mountain and watched, the figure of Viscountess Wittman gradually approached. In the still somewhat cold wind, the Viscountess, whose belly was gradually growing, was shivering a little.

"Why are you here, madam?"

Ryan asked. Considering her talent for meditation, the Viscountess's value plummeted, and he arranged for her to teach the maids how to read and count.

"Lord Ryan, I want to move down the mountain."

"Oh why?"

"You still have to teach them knowledge. It's very troublesome to live down the mountain."

As a fellow noble, Ryan still respected the Viscountess, and his initial angry fantasies gradually calmed down during the period of time when he was dealing with the orc slaves.

At this moment, looking at the Viscountess whose belly was slightly bulging and became more charming because of her pregnancy, Ryan almost instinctively wanted to refuse.

The Viscountess didn't know what to say. The weather had warmed up recently and she had gone down the mountain several times. She always heard some embarrassing rumors.

"I am on the mountain, and it is not good for your reputation, Lord Ryan."

Ryan hadn't said anything yet. Not far away, the old butler Beard came over and said in a slightly hoarse voice:
"Madam is right. Master Ryan is going to marry. It's spring now, and the caravans from the south are gradually heading north to avoid rumors."

"I will have someone build a small manor at the nearest location at the foot of the mountain. Madam can live there when the time comes. If Master Ryan wants to meditate on magic, it's also close to the mountain."

The Viscountess's face turned red when she heard what Beard said, but Ryan didn't have much to say.

After the Viscountess left, Ryan looked at the old butler.

"How are those kids? Can they learn?"

Beard nodded. Since the population of the territory has grown, the old steward has been unable to cope with the situation alone. Ryan asked him to select a group of smart teenagers and teach them how to read and write, especially in arithmetic. After Ryan's personal changes, those teenagers have made great progress.

"Hey, this kind of thing should have been handed over to the Clayton family who were willing to follow Master Ryan to the North. That way they can be trusted. Now it's being taken advantage of by these peasants."

"Master Ryan, you don't know that every time these peasants know that they are going to be taught new knowledge, they can't wait to carve the words on their hands with a carving knife."

"Being studious is a good thing." Ryan smiled and didn't care about spreading knowledge to civilians.

"This way you can relax a little. Spring is here, and you are not as healthy as when we first came to the Frozen Territory."

"Ah." Beard sighed.

"I would rather die of exhaustion than allow those peasants to interfere in Master Ryan's territory."

"Don't worry, they are loyal to me, and they can't be my butlers, that belongs to Beard."

Ryan smiled and said, "They are indeed very loyal. There is no one who is not loyal in the entire frozen land, including the slaves. Because the North Wind Province has been a mess for more than a month, at this time, every time Ryan gives food, the slaves can cry out. The smart young men selected by Beard are selected from the most loyal among the loyal."

After hearing what Ryan said, Beard was a little excited, but then he couldn't help but look worried.

"That kid was detained in the Flying Wing Canyon. I don't know if he's dead or not."

"Flying Wing Canyon has been safe for so many years. It's not that easy for people to die."

Ryan patted Old Beard on the shoulder.

"I've sent people to look for him. If Beard is still alive, he can definitely be brought here."

When Ryan came to the North Wind Province from the imperial capital, he had less and less money and less manpower along the way. The old housekeeper's son, little Beard, was also detained in the Wing Canyon.

As the road construction continued, time also came to the spring plowing day. There were fewer and fewer people left in the villages and towns under the Rhino Horn Mountain. Those civilians had been staying in the fields all night, and they would fight for even a piece of bird droppings that fell from the sky.

In the province of North Wind, countless displaced people either became slaves or returned to their homes only to find that they had nothing.

For a time, the entire province was filled with wailing, and it was feared that in the days to come, more and more people would become slaves.

The more slaves there are, the lower the price. The chambers of commerce in the empire were like vultures seeing a rotting corpse. They arrived in the North Wind Province more than half a month earlier than today.

As luck would have it, for Ryan, there was also a group of people related to him who followed these caravans to the North Wind Province.

"Master, Master Ryan, I finally see you."

In the frozen land, a boy who was brought by Rosen and who seemed to have never had a chance to wash his hair, and who was one or two years older than Ryan, ran towards Ryan crying.

It was Little Beard, the son of the old butler.

"You were...released?"

Ryan was a little surprised, because according to his calculations, the people he arranged should not have arrived at the Wing Canyon yet.

"Thank you, Master Tolaine, the elders of the Clayton family brought me out with them."

Only then did Ryan see the team behind Beard.

There were hundreds of majestic war horses, with flowing manes like the silk scarves used to bind women's hair. These were not highland war horses, but grassland horses from further south, and they did not belong to the empire.

There were also twenty carriages, each with seven or eight oak boxes on it. Judging from the weight of the wheels, they should be made of iron or something. Of course, one of the carriages was not used to transport goods, but was specially used for noble lords to travel. The tall wheels were actually covered with a layer of silver rim, and the surface of the carriage was engraved with expensive magic circles, like a red rose but with a restrained glow.

The two white horses pulling the carriage made Ryan unable to open his eyes. They were monsters.

No matter how weak a Warcraft is, it can at least be compared to a Bronze Knight because it has mastered magic power. Formal knights need to form a group if they want to hunt.

In addition to these things, there are 150 soldiers wearing armor and holding spears guarding here, as well as five heirs from the Clayton family who lead them.

This is what the old butler said, people who can be truly trusted to help him manage the territory, but these people are obviously more suitable for the army.

Five of them, all were bronze knights, and they were practicing the Clayton family’s Flame Dragon Knight breathing method.

"Master Ryan, the Earl has ordered us to hand over your soldiers and wealth to you."

"A total of 50,000 gold coins, 10 sets of enchanted mithril armor, 100 knight lances, 100 knight armors, 500 kilograms of grain seeds, 1,500 pieces of linen, and the mammoth wool cloak that the Earl brought back from the depths of the North, a Clayton family carriage, 150 knight squires, and five Clayton family knights."

(End of this chapter)