Throne of the North.

Chapter 60: The Duke of the Crucible City

“Why so slow?”

Ryan said arrogantly, it was really not the case, it made people suspicious.

The soldier explained hurriedly with some fear.

“We are worried about a cult.”

"The cult, that group of cultists, attacked the Crucible City?"

Ryan said in shock:
"Aren't there many mages in Crucible City? How dare those cultists come here?"

"I don't know either, but I heard that it was because there were evil wizards in the cult, which made it impossible for the wizards to expel those cultists."

Ryan nodded, this made sense.

"Take me to see the nobles here."

Ryan must go to meet the nobles here. After all, there are many nobles among those cultists, and some are even a cult formed by nobles. Without confirmation, it is impossible for Ryan to act freely.

What's more, for a nobleman, it would be problematic if he did not integrate into the aristocratic circle.

Walking on the streets of the Crucible City, Ryan saw that the people here did not have much happiness on their faces. They were all in a hurry, looked pale and thin, and looked like they had a lot on their minds.

It seems that this furnace city has solved the problem of cold, but it cannot change another problem.

food.

And it is obvious that a large number of ordinary people and slaves live in half of the city, and the other half belongs only to nobles and wizards.

The place where Ryan was taken was a place called the Crucible Parliament, which was the center where the nobles in the city handled matters.

It was obvious that everyone Ryan saw coming and going here had an extraordinary temperament, a state that only aristocrats could possess.

He was received by someone, a duke, who sat on a gorgeous chair with exquisite pastries in his hands. This made Ryan doubt whether the Crucible City was really short of food.

"Your Excellency the Duke of Moriarty."

Ryan saluted. Before entering here, he already knew the other party's name.

"Are you the current master of the Wittman family? You are really young."

The elderly Duke Moriarty looked at Ryan and said with emotion, then smiled and pushed another piece of cake on the table over.

The sweet and smooth touch made Ryan a little amazed. Even in such an environment, these nobles were still able to come up with some tricks.

The two of them finished their cakes in silence. After the servant took away the silver plate, Duke Moriarty asked:
"I heard that you, Wittman, only brought two soldiers to the Crucible City?"

Ryan nodded, but said in denial.

"My territory was invaded by a cult and is now hidden in an iron mine. The remaining soldiers and slaves are all there, but I think this is not a solution, so I plan to come to the Crucible City for help."

"But it seems that this place has also been attacked by a cult."

Hearing Ryan's words, Moriarty's eyes also revealed anger. "That group of damn noble rebels actually sacrificed to the Abyss Demon and attacked the Crucible City, causing us heavy losses. All the food outside the city was snatched away."

"Where are the mages in the city? I heard from Mage Luna that there are three great mages who own the Mage Tower in the Crucible City. If they take action, they should be able to easily eliminate those evil cults."

Ryan couldn't help but ask, no matter how fast the cult developed, it would only take half a year, how could the Crucible City be helpless.

Moriarty shook his head and said:

"The Archmages did take action, but the cultists sacrificed their flesh and blood to summon the demon's minions. A lava giant fought off the three Archmages."

"If we didn't have some experience in using the spell scroll to kill the lava giant, the consequences would be disastrous."

In other words, the Crucible City actually lost the war.

Ryan still found it hard to believe when he heard the news.

"Where are the soldiers in the city? I've seen that group of cultists before. They're just a bunch of peasants. How could you not defeat them?"

Duke Moriarty looked at Ryan and couldn't help but sigh.

"I also know about the Wittman family. The first Viscount Wittman maintained the size of the army even at the cost of the family's wealth, and then established meritorious service in subsequent wars."

“I didn’t expect that this generation of Viscount Wittman also has the courage of his ancestors.”

Just like in Ryan's world, no one would recognize the noble status of those barons like Yazhe. In this continent of Exnel, no one knew Ryan's noble status. However, Viscount Wittman was a noble with history and heritage, and would be recognized.

This is also the reason why Ryan wanted to use the identity of Viscount Wittman. In addition, he also had the Wittman family's inheritance ring on his hand, which was seen by the Duke in front of him at the first time.

"There aren't that many soldiers in the Crucible City. There are only 500 of them. These 500 were put together by us nobles. The rest are just slaves."

"But those cultists, who sacrificed their flesh and blood to become followers of the abyss, have become extremely powerful, like wild beasts, and are able to climb up our city walls."

"In the end, I had to rely on the spell scroll to beat back those followers of the abyss."

There were no soldiers in the Crucible City, at least before the cult attacked. According to the ideas of these nobles, soldiers needed to be trained, and training would require eating more food and wasting more labor. If there was any problem, they could just directly draw slaves to form an army.

However, they encountered monsters that had become followers of the abyss, and the hastily formed army of slaves was no match for them at all.

Since then, the Crucible City has had these 500 soldiers. Even these soldiers are not completely free from work. It can even be said that they are still working most of the time. The food originally grown outside the city has been looted, and they need to be planted and harvested a second time at a faster speed, otherwise many people will die this winter.

Duke Moriarty and Ryan described the basic information of the Crucible City, and then learned about the situation in the north of the Crucible City from Ryan.

When he heard that the North had long been covered with solid ice and snow, making hunting difficult and planting impossible, the Duke remained silent for a long time.

Afterwards, Ryan said that he wanted to buy a manor here and got the consent of Duke Moriarty. The price was a bit expensive and it would cost 10,000 gold coins to buy it.

"The evil will appear again. Only the Crucible City is the safest place."

Ryan didn't know why Duke Moriarty was so confident. He guessed that perhaps as the last warmth of Exner, there should be another trump card here.

Otherwise, the lava giant before should have scared these nobles out of their wits.

(End of this chapter)