Throne of the North.

Chapter 417: Ashes and wreckage, the orcs live forever

On the stone slabs, the iron hooves of the war horses made crisp sounds, and the strong legs of the horses stepped accurately on every clean open space, carrying Ryan forward with his back to the direction of the wind. Behind him, the ashes that filled the sky fluttered for a long time and were reluctant to fall.

These are not the ashes from burning straw, but the flying ashes from burning corpses on the battlefield. This world has no environmental awareness, and letting these ashes fly in the sky seems to be a tradition.

The war was over, but it seemed not to be completely over. A large number of werewolves died and a large number of werewolves fled. The army of the North Wind Province did not have time to set up a wall and clear the land, nor did it have the ability to do so.

Piling up the messy corpses on the battlefield and setting them on fire had already consumed the soldiers' last bit of strength.

Ashes filled the air as Ryan walked on the land. The people coming and going around him had returned to their original identities: farmers, slaves, craftsmen, but no one looked like a soldier. They were forced to become warriors.

Everyone looked at him in awe, but Master Ryan was no longer complacent. He had matured a lot and walked expressionlessly past the humans who were cleaning up the battlefield debris and came to the Earl's castle.

"It's a pity that no legend was born in this war."

This war had the potential to give birth to a legend, but it lacked the last element of favorable timing, favorable location and favorable people. There was no extraordinary person on the road to the peak of the legendary holy realm in the war.

The legendary gift naturally does not appear for anyone, which makes the war less colorful, but there is no doubt that this war is still a legendary part of the history of the North Wind Province.

"Baron Ryan is here."

I don't know who said it, but the surroundings fell silent. Ryan quietly dismounted, walked calmly through the crowd of nobles, and came to the depths of the castle.

There was no laughter and joy like outside, no joy over victory in the war, and the nobles all looked silent and heavy.

It was not until the end of the war that the nobles had the time and energy to count the losses in the war.

And this answer is destined to be difficult for them to accept.

"Congratulations, everyone. You are standing at a new chapter in history. The future of this land will be written by us."

Ryan was the first to break the silence, causing Lord Winter to respond somewhat sarcastically.

"Is this your new chapter in history, Baron Ryan?"

“This land belongs to everyone, not just me. One person’s power is limited. If we want to reach higher peaks, we must work together.”

The war did end with the death of the King of the Silver Moon Court, but the politics of the human nobles only began with the end of the war.

According to preliminary estimates, the North Wind Province lost nearly 20% of its population in this orc war.

This 20% of the population not only refers to those who died, but also those who are still alive but have lost ownership of certain lands and interests due to serious injuries, disabilities, and the fall of the nobility.

These lands are vacant and no one can occupy them. They belong to a certain family. Even if the noble family is wiped out, the emperor's coronation is needed for new nobles to inherit, or distant relatives can obtain the inheritance rights because of blood.

But before the arrival of the new nobles, and even after their arrival, the resources on those lands were something that the current nobles could covet.

It's very simple. That piece of land has lost its owner, and also lost most of the people living there, including Ryan. In the following time, they will frantically plunder the population to make up for the losses in their own territory.

Moreover, every noble in the North Wind Province has suffered heavy losses. Population is the first factor in development. No matter whether they are conservative or radical nobles, they have to rely on population to restore the prosperity of their territories.

A noble territory without its nobles is like a piece of fat meat, and the greed of the nobles will not let go of the immediate benefits and take a bite.

War brings sorrow, so we must quickly transform into hungry wolves.

However, this kind of thing also makes the nobles feel uneasy. They need face, dignity and prestige.

So, unscrupulous plundering will turn into a friendly negotiation. What are they negotiating about?

Discuss how to restore the ecology of the Northern Wind Province, what are the necessities for human survival, and what kind of "help" the nobles can provide for the population that has lost everything.

The first thing the nobles thought of was a shelter from the wind and rain. They were able to provide those poor people with houses, food, and even land for farming.

Secondly, the nobles also thought that if the land was not managed, weeds would grow and it would become wasteland.

Adhering to the principle of mutual assistance among nobles, how could they see other nobles' castles become desolate and even overgrown with weeds because of the lack of population to take care of them? As a matter of course, they would send people to manage them before the new nobles arrived.

The nobles in the North Wind Province all have iron mines, which may be the most critical place.

However, the purpose of the negotiation was for a charter, a charter that only the surviving nobles could participate in.

This is a difficult situation. The nobles will not give up any of the interests they have. They cannot afford to suffer losses. The small nobles are petty, and the big nobles in front of them will not give up even the benefits of a tree.

Decisions in war can be made quickly and decisively, but the division of political interests is incomparably anxious and slow. Now the ashes from the burnt corpses outside have filled the sky for several days, but the nobles here have not made a single decision.

"According to Lady Rosalind, the Emperor may not crown a new noble to the Northern Wind Province next."

Ryan's words made everyone look at him.

Count Winter's eyes were terrifyingly bright.

"Really?"

He reacted quickly and knew what this meant.

"At least not in the short term. Our Majesty has reached some kind of deal with the Meyers family. The management of the North Wind Province for the next thirty years will fall on Grand Duke Meyers."

“Those lands that have lost their nobles, if nothing unexpected happens, will be inherited by someone related to the Meyers family.”

Count Winter looked at Ryan, his eyes narrowed slightly, and then said:

"But we all know that the nobles of the Northern Wind Province have not had many marriages with the nobles of the South, especially those land nobles near the northern border. They only defected to the Empire thirty years ago."

“There are not many people in the Meyers family who are qualified to inherit those lands with noble honors and splendor, and the Grand Duke cannot force the bloodline of the Meyers family to inherit those titles.”

"It is like this. Currently, most of the nobles in the Northern Wind Province still have many blood relations in this land."

Ryan nodded and said that he was actually at a disadvantage in this matter. Everyone knew that Baron Ryan had only been in the North for a few years, and the complicated marriages between the nobles had nothing to do with him.

But he won't throw away his share just because of this.

"We can decide who owns most of the land, and the rest will be left to Meyers."

"Besides, it's obvious that I don't have any 'relatives' of the dead nobles around me. I only need some manor-sized places, about a dozen, to grow food."

Ryan waved his hand and said this.

"Then there is the Northern Chamber of Commerce's share. You will have to compensate me for some of it."

Ryan's territory is in the Frozen Territory. For him, it is too troublesome to extend his tentacles to these lands. It is better to centralize power from other places.

……

The brief exchange would not bring any answers, and Ryan left the Earl's castle and returned to the world of ashes once again.

Another two days passed, the ashes in the sky became much clearer, and it was time for Ryan to lead his army back to Lingdu County.

The war was over, but the chaos between humans and orcs was not over. The werewolves forced millions of orcs to cross the Xiangshan Plain. Together with the werewolves that fled, there were still a large number of orcs left in the North Wind Province.

Moreover, in those noble territories, fights between orcs and humans broke out from time to time. These orcs arrived a little late, and there was no way they would leave without stealing some things.

The army led by Ryan included most of the young and strong people in Lingdu County. Their disappearance for one day would cause panic for a family, let alone such a long time.

They are needed in the battle against the orcs, and the family's income also depends on them. If they don't go back, Lingdu County will be in chaos.

With the army passing through, the orcs naturally did not dare to act rashly. After helping some nobles to temporarily solve the orc threat, Ryan finally returned to Lingdu County.

"Can we clear this place of orcs?"

Baron Enzo asked, frowning as he looked at the uninhabited land, thinking that the power of this army might be able to make the orcs in Lingdu County disappear.

“It can’t be cleared.”

"You drove away the orcs in Lingdu County. Guess where they will appear? By then, the pressure from the other counties will be unbearable and the war will break out again. By then, it won't be a matter of purging them." "It's actually not bad now. When the orcs were not organized, they were also a mess."

"As long as we can achieve a balance, these orcs will allow us to spend the next few years comfortably."

"several years?"

Baron Enzo was surprised and puzzled, and Ryan nodded helplessly.

"Our neighbor, the Andara Kingdom, sent three letters in succession to the Empire asking for help. One of them was sent to me, and the other two were sent to the Imperial Capital. Your Majesty must be having a headache about what kind of troops to send to support the Andara Kingdom."

"I guess he wanted to send the troops from the Northern Province, but the troops from the Northern Province couldn't leave until the orcs left, and our losses were terrible."

"These orcs are the reason why we face the Emperor."

"What about Wing Canyon?"

"Northern Wind Province has been occupied by werewolves. It is impossible for the extraordinary army of Flying Wing Canyon to be dispatched, so how can they be sent to rescue Andara?"

"That……"

"Don't worry. The Andara Kingdom is one of the nine kingdoms after all. It's not that fragile. And if things get really desperate, the Sera Kingdom will also support us."

"After all, the Andara Kingdom is the Serah Kingdom's line of defense against the orcs."

The Griffin Mountains directly connect the orcs and the Serra Kingdom, but such geographical terrain is obviously not suitable for the outbreak of war. The orcs will not understand the difference between human kingdoms. To them, being human is enough.

"With the orcs invading, everyone has to take care of their own business. This is a headache for the Imperial City. After all, the Andara Kingdom has just surrendered to the Empire. The Empire wants to set an example in the southern lands, and now is the time to test it."

Baron Enzo felt something strange. It seemed as if there was a layer between the North Wind Province and the Empire in Ryan's words, but he didn't think it was too wrong.

The Dragun family only joined the empire thirty years ago, so their ties with the empire are not that deep, nor is their sense of identity that absolute.

Baron Enzo Dragun grew up in such an environment, and his loyalty to the empire was not very high. Originally, his descendants should have been very loyal, but now the North Wind Province has been handed over to the Meyers family by the emperor. If the Meyers family pays more attention, the next generation and the next generation of the nobles may recognize the Meyers family more.

If you don't pay attention, then this loyalty will spread everywhere and grow randomly.

The nobles here care more about the interests of the land than loyalty to the emperor of the empire.

"How do you think the mines, forests, farmlands, and rivers on those lands will be divided in the end?"

Baron Enzo cares more about this matter. His loss is not too bad in comparison, but loss is loss, and he needs to make it up from other places.

In his previous arguments with the nobles, he had never been able to overcome the limitation of only being able to reap a portion of the profits from a mine.

He wants more.

"After the Divine Grace Festival, I plan to serve in the Winged Canyon as a baron officer and become the deputy commander of the Violent Elephant Legion."

Baron Enzo said his goal is to become a legend.

In order to achieve this goal, he needs to prepare a large amount of resources himself to support the promotion of the legend.

Therefore, the interests fought for at this time are very important to him.

"It's nothing more than dividing the land into pieces, leaving a little leftovers for the nobles who inherited the land. In the end, everyone can only get a few pieces of mismatched melons and dates."

Ryan laughed, which made Baron Enzo beside him a little embarrassed.

Baron Ryan looked down on those things because what was given to him could never be shared with others.

Having said that, Ryan was actually not very willing to accept such a division.

"In the south, the impression of the Northern Wind Province is that it is poor and cold. But what I can't understand the most is that everyone has a mine, so how can it be associated with poverty?"

"The only problem is the direction."

“Perhaps, we should open source rather than compete on what we already have.”

Baron Enzo seemed to be lost in thought. Although he had received aristocratic education and knew many more versions of knowledge than the common people, he still found it difficult to understand what Ryan said.

"Among the many provinces of the empire, the size of the territory of Beifeng Province can be said to be in the top five. There are too many places that can be cultivated on this land."

"However, these places are scattered all over the place and are controlled by the nobles."

"Do you know of any way to connect these lands?"

"the way?"

“The road is for people to walk on.”

Ryan said with a smile, giving Baron Enzo a hint. After all, the nobles of Lingdu County had a better relationship with him, Ryan.

"It's the Chamber of Commerce."

“Only the Chamber of Commerce can connect resources into money.”

The war is over, where will the Northern Province go?
In the eyes of the emperor, it is not important as long as it does not affect his prestige and reputation on the throne.

In Meyers's opinion, the land of North Wind Province will become an important part of their plan in thirty years, and the thirty-first year will not exist at all.

In the eyes of the nobles of the North Wind Province... they couldn't see that even a great noble like Earl Winter would find it difficult to take the initiative to control the future because he was deeply involved in it.

They live in the past and do their best to maintain their hereditary power.

Ryan doesn't live in the future either. He can't see what the future of a supernatural world will be like. The only thing he can do is to use different cognitions and insights to stand in the present and pursue what he needs now.

It is not a good thing for the future to appear in a time and space that does not belong to it.

Ryan can't do it either, he's not even a legend.

However, Ryan felt that he was qualified to lead many of the things that would happen next on this land.

What Earl Winter said was not actually a mockery, but rather that after the war, the great nobles of the North Wind Province had become extremely weak in many aspects.

Count Weiss is gone, and the Marquis of the North Wind who replaced him is nothing special, the extraordinary legions of Count Winter and Count Sauron suffered heavy losses, and their territories suffered epic destruction.

The North Wind Province is still strong enough, except for the increasingly mysterious Frozen Territory. Everyone is getting weaker, but Baron Ryan's weakening is not significant, which is a kind of enhancement.

He became weaker, but he also became stronger.

Count Winter's words represent hostility towards Ryan. This hostility does not come from subjective will, but from instinctive vigilance after authority is threatened.

However, the change of power has not yet begun, and the spread of theocracy is indeed becoming more and more intense.

As the army entered Lingdu County, the number of soldiers around Ryan became fewer and fewer. With their departure, the joy of war did not appear. After all, they did not gain any benefits from the victory in the war, and after they returned, they still faced the threat of orcs. The war was over for the nobles, but it continued for the noble territories.

In a sense, these people are still under the shadow of war.

What we need in such a gloomy situation is hope.

The miracles of the God of Light before became one of the few things they could hope for.

The nobles were too close, and ordinary people did not dare to ask for it. The gods were far away, but they could make them believe from the bottom of their hearts that one day...

If belief in gods also had a progress bar, I'm afraid the belief in light in the Borean Province would have already topped the list in the empire.

The closer they got to Lingdu City, the more nervous the remaining soldiers around Ryan became.

Because this is the end of the journey, and there is no place for them here.

(End of this chapter)