Throne of the North.

Chapter 42 Potatoes
After everyone swore to give up their noble status, Ryan looked at these people with a sudden idea.

"According to the oath you just made, swear to the Stag Spirit of the Exnel Continent."

Although they didn't quite understand the reason, Baron Yazhe and others still did as they were told.

Ryan looked at his spiritual panel, well, no reaction.

With the oath witnessed by the Lord of the Dawn, these people will not have the power to resist him in their own territory.

Ryan looked at the soldiers and maids around him.

"You should have heard it too. Now you are my soldiers and slaves."

The soldiers looked at each other, then knelt on one knee and sweared their loyalty to Ryan.

"very good."

Ryan found a leather stool and sat down, but this time, these former nobles all stood and dared not cross.

"You are all mage apprentices? That's right, there is no possibility of becoming a knight here."

"Tell me about the situation here. Are there any other noble territories around? I'm in great need of people now."

"Where do I start?"

Everyone else looked at Yazhe, and it seemed that he was the only one who had a little relationship with Ryan.

Yazhe paused for a moment and then said:
"Ryan...what the Lord wants to know is what else is around us besides us."

"Then let's start from... a month ago."

"A month ago, we were quite wealthy here. We had over 800 slaves and more than 200 soldiers. In addition to us, there were five or six baron lords."

"There are four or five noble territories around here. There is a wizard tower about ten miles to the south. They taught us meditation after we paid gold coins."

"I don't know about further south, but the magician in the Mage Tower said that there is a furnace city burning with underground fire on the southern coast, which is not affected by the cold winter."

"But that all changed one day a month ago."

"A group of evil devil followers came to our door. They invited us to sacrifice to the devil in exchange for food and fire. But in reality, they wanted to burn the slaves and even the civilians to death and then eat them. The fire only burned brightly because of the corpse oil to dispel the cold."

"If we don't agree, they will attack. Besides, the barons in our group are also tempted."

"They incited all the slaves to open the door, and after eating human flesh, they followed the cultists."

"None of us wanted to eat anyone, even if it meant starving to death. We hid deep inside the fortress and waited for them to open the granary and take away all the food before we came out."

"We tried to ask for help from the Mage Tower, but the place where the Mage Tower was located has become a ruin, and a golem puppet has occupied it."

"Then we retreated to the fortress, where we remain today."

It was a very simple story of survival and experience in the apocalypse. Hearing that these people did not do anything evil even though they had no food, Ryan could not help but look up to them.

It seems that these people still have the pride and faith of nobility, and even the faith of knights.

That group of cultists actually helped him select people.

Despite extreme despair and hunger, these people still remained rational.

“Where did these potatoes come from?”

Ryan asked, pointing to the clean plates on the table.

"Potatoes? You mean the berries?"

"When we went to the Mage's Tower for help, we didn't find the magician, but we did find these... potatoes, several hundred kilograms, all placed there."

Yazhe pointed behind Ryan, and Ryan turned around and saw a huge stag statue. The cabinet below opened it and took a look. It was indeed potatoes, but I don’t know what these people used to make the potatoes that should have sprouted not sprout.

Is this normal? Is this abnormal?

Ryan didn't know, he just knew from his memories of his previous life that in a place in Siberia, potatoes were less afraid of the cold than humans.

To be on the safe side, looking at these potatoes that were obviously processed, Ryan asked about the location of the wizard tower.

"Gather the soldiers here and follow me."

Ryan looked at a soldier next to him, then looked at Yazhe.

"Take advantage of this time to pack up your belongings. Don't forget that you gave away all your belongings to get this opportunity. You will never have the chance to come back here again. Don't fall behind."

Several people nodded silently, as if they had not yet recovered from the process of losing their noble status and all their property.

In the wind and snow, Ryan and his knight attendants followed behind thirty soldiers. What made these soldiers different from them was that they had ropes tied around their bodies.

"It seems that the fact that those people can have food to eat is all thanks to these people."

Brand said softly. He knew very well what such a skillful movement meant in a world where ordinary people could see less than 50 meters.

"He's a good soldier."

Harrington also spoke up, wanting to compete with Brand in everything.

After walking for about two and a half hours, Ryan finally saw a collapsed ruin. In the past month, the biting wind and snow had covered up the uneven terrain here, and only the once magnificent buildings could be vaguely seen.

“This is where we first discovered potatoes.”

A soldier pointed to a corner of the ruins and said, "There was not such a thick layer of snow here at that time. There was a stove there, which seemed to be able to keep out the cold. The potatoes were there."

"Where is the golem puppet you were talking about?"

Ryan looked around, but he couldn't find any trace of monsters here.

"No, I don't know."

A month of wind and snow has caused serious changes here.

"Maybe it left. Let's separate and look carefully. Don't go too far."

After Ryan finished speaking, the soldiers dispersed. Their method of searching was very primitive, which was to test the depth of the ground under the snow little by little, and then grope with their own hands.

In comparison, the methods of the five bronze knights of the Clayton family are much more convenient. The Flame Dragon Breathing Technique can give them blazing energy and easily melt the surrounding snow.

"My Lord, this seems to be a cellar."

Harrington called out in surprise soon.

After confirming that this was indeed a hidden space, Ryan gathered everyone together, and then as the cellar opened, the dark entrance was a little scary.

This is a magician's territory, and no one knows if there are any terrible spells and traps inside.

In the end, it was the soldiers who took the lead.

"My Lord, it's safe down there."

After confirming it was safe, Ryan and others began to enter the cellar.

There was an oil lamp still on in the cellar. In the light, Ryan saw a table and notes on the table, as well as three treasure chests in the corner full of sprouting potatoes.

(End of this chapter)