Throne of the North.

Chapter 691 The People of the North Yearn for Merit

"Volvo promised to give us resources?"

On Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, Ryan was somewhat surprised. As far as he knew, yes, as far as he knew, because even he himself did not know how many demands the nobles of the North Wind had gathered in those letters sent to the Twilight Province.

That wasn't just Ryan's plea; the entire Northwind province was calling on the Empire for help. The number of orcs in the North was increasing, and the Northwind nobles, who had dealt with orcs year after year, certainly knew the consequences of losing the war.

He didn't expect Volvo to agree.

"Although Columbus III is dead, even in death he still possesses authority. His orders have led the nobles to continuously send supplies to the North."

"These supplies are so numerous that even a Volvo wouldn't be able to hold them all?"

Regardless, this is a good thing. With these war resources, the Northwind Province can better fight against the orcs in the North.

Ryan's happiness didn't last long. The very next day, Volvo sent someone to invite him to visit Twilight Province.

Volvo didn't know what a war in the North would be like, and he wanted to hear Ryan's opinion.

"Are you kidding me? My territory is located closest to the North, and now you want me to leave?"

Ryan snorted coldly, clearly dissatisfied, and was about to refuse Volvo's invitation, but then suddenly stopped himself.

"Lord Cassie, you're saying that His Highness Volvo intends to once again keep the orcs at bay outside the Empire's borders in Twilight Province?"

Across from him, Lord Cassie, a member of the Columbus royal family and now Lord Columbus, proudly raised his head and said:

“That’s right, His Highness Volvo, the Chosen One, will carry on His Majesty’s legacy. This is also His Majesty’s order. His Highness will fight against those evil orcs in the North!”

Ryan lowered his eyes, looking at the ground beneath his feet in thought. Volvo seemed to be in no hurry at all.

He wasn't sad, and Ryan could understand; that's how it is in the royal family.

If he's not in a hurry, then Ryan needs to think more about why.

"The nobles spare no effort in providing war supplies to the North... Besides the will of the dead emperor, another reason is that the nobles hope Volvo can win the struggle between the electors?"

As this thought crossed his mind, Ryan's eyes widened with increasing surprise.

He thought Freud was the popular choice, but the nobles were supporting Volvo instead.

Indeed, only a small minority of people ever crave war.

Ryan gradually understood the principle, and then said to Cassie:

“Mr. Cassie, please go back and tell His Highness Volvo that I will be heading to Twilight Province in two days to deal with the orcs in the North. It is the duty of the nobles of the Empire to do so.”

Ryan said firmly, and Cassie returned to Twilight Province with the result.

On Rhinoceros Horn Mountain, Ryan was also making preparations, writing letters to many nobles.

The first letter was from Norton Clayton, his brother.

The next day, before dawn, more than two hundred young noble members with burning eyes had already gathered at the foot of Rhinoceros Horn Mountain.

When Ryan came down, the group was already armed and full of energy.

Ryan then led this group of people to the Twilight Province.

When passing through Winged Canyon, Ryan had a brief exchange with the commander of the canyon, Farrell.

"If Volvo truly has a greater chance of becoming the emperor of the empire, then I will request command of Winged Canyon. I hope you are prepared for the Winged Canyon army to defend the Fragrant Hills Plain."

Farrell nodded. Not long ago, Ryan had written to him, telling him some of his ideas and plans.

The group was quite large. The young nobles following Ryan were not alone; they also brought their own knights, so the group numbered nearly two thousand.

Norton rode his warhorse alongside Ryan, hesitating several times, still curious.

"If we go to Twilight Province, will we really get what we want?"

Behind him, the others also had burning eyes. Ryan told their father, or directly told them, that following them to the Twilight Province would bring them honor and wealth.

The empire's nobles are engaged in involution, vying for wealth, military power, extraordinary legions, and historical legacy.

Among the noble families, the younger children were even more unruly.

Land and wealth are finite, but noble families have many members. Whoever can stand out will gain benefits, especially the brothers, nephews and nieces of the noble lord.

They need to fight for themselves, and they also need to fight for their own territory within the empire.

Therefore, no nobleman refused Ryan's proposal. If Ryan hadn't also made his own demands, the number of these two hundred people could have doubled.

"Of course, remember your identity, Lord Norton. You are a lord with your own territory, unlike other lords. Once you arrive in Twilight Province, you don't need to do anything else, just praise our Chosen One."

Norton blinked. He didn't quite understand. Was this really going to work?
That's certainly possible. Ryan could almost see that Volvo craved the approval of the nobles, and any respect shown to him by any noble would be seen as support and recognition.

This is what the elector needs most right now.

"As for the other lords or nobles who do not own land, things will be more complicated for you. Once we arrive in Twilight Province, I will try to secure officer positions for you in the army. You will need to participate in the war."

"If you gain merit, you will receive the same benefits as Norton, and perhaps you will also become lords."

The young people in the crowd were full of confidence. So what if it's war? They were already used to it. Even without this incident, they would still participate in the war in the Northwind Province. Now, while participating in the war, they could also gain merits from the Empire. Could there be anything better?

Even traveling at full speed, it still took the team five days to reach Twilight Province.

There's no other way. Getting from the Northwind Province to the Twilight Province isn't a straight line. It involves a huge detour, crossing the Winged Canyon to enter the Danube Province, passing the northern edge of the Volga Province, and then going around the entire Blazing Snow Province before finally entering the Gaze Province.

The empire's northern border is a range of mountains that shield it from the extreme cold and snow.

Especially the Blazing Snow Province, which is the source of the empire's largest river.

If there were only a few people, they could use flying magical beasts to travel between them. But with a team of over two thousand, they had to take the proper route. As soon as they entered Twilight Province, Ryan felt the extremely serious military atmosphere of the province. After walking for an hour or two, they saw no fewer than five armies, solemnly advancing northward.

"These troops all came from the south and were dispatched to the northern border by the nobles in accordance with His Majesty the Emperor's will."

"They... don't seem very happy."

Norton looked at the army officers and said this.

You can tell a lot about a person's spirit and energy. This team of northern nobles was full of anticipation and enthusiasm, but many of the military officers were yawning and moving as slowly as possible.

"Of course they were dissatisfied. Back when the war in the south started, we northern nobles were all just watching the show. When the emperor wanted the northern nobles to send troops to the south, the nobles made all sorts of excuses."

"Now the tables have turned. The North has started a war, and the nobles in the South, being far away, cannot see the impending disaster and are naturally unwilling to accept it."

"However, the difference between these two wars is that the invasion of foreign tribes always outweighed all internal human struggles for interests, leaving the nobles in the south with no reason or excuse."

Gradually, the sounds of battle filled the air as the Imperial army clashed with the orcish forces for control of Twilight Keep.

The Empire repeatedly drove the orcs out of Twilight Province, but when the Empire began to repair Twilight Keep, the orcs would launch another large-scale attack, pressing southward with overwhelming force, destroying the partially repaired Twilight Keep once again. The huge gap became a meat grinder on the battlefield.

Such a war, not to mention the nobles in the south, even the nobles in the north gradually became dissatisfied. Everyone knew very well that this back-and-forth attrition would never have a positive effect on winning the war.

Most importantly, the orcs have a massive supply of cannon fodder. Even if the human army were to fill the gaps with slaves, the losses would be all to the nobles' wealth. If the slave shortage were too large, the regular army would become meaningless sacrifices, which would be a huge blow to the nobles' strength.

The discontent, rising from the bottom up, naturally and gradually fell on Volvo's shoulders, putting immense pressure on the elector. This was not the outcome he wanted, and in comparison, the nobles would see him being left far behind by Freud in terms of military prowess.

Volvo refuses to accept its own incompetence.

“Uncle Harald, we can’t go on like this. We must press on and force the orcs back to the north, leaving enough time to repair Twilight Keep.”

Harald the Lionheart, whose father was a former prince of the Empire, is now the legendary figure in charge of the fortresses of the Twilight Province.

Harald does have a solution to Volvo's problems.

"We need to assemble our army and push the battlefield at least a hundred miles north, building a temporary defensive line north of Twilight Keep so that the orcs can't stop us from building the fortress."

“I know, but the nobles won’t agree.”

Volvo said helplessly that this was not the first time such a proposal had been made, but there were significant problems with it.

The nobles had a valid reason: once the human army left Twilight Keep and entered the snow-covered world of the North, they were unable to fight. Even knights could barely move in the knee-deep snow and were completely unable to exert their fighting power.

"Then let's follow the mage's method and first build part of the fortress behind Twilight Province. Then, using the power of legendary magic, we can transport the completed fortress part from the void to the front line for assembly."

This proposal is novel, but it's certainly not perfect. Is a Twilight Fortress assembled like building blocks really sturdy enough? The nobles don't know, but it's not just the nobles who find this approach unacceptable.

Volvo shook his head and took a deep breath.

"Think about it again, Uncle Harald."

Just as the two were discussing, Lord Cassie walked in from outside.

"Your Highness Volvo, Baron Ryan has arrived."

Volvo's eyes lit up, and he said:

"Let him in."

Ryan entered this magnificent mobile military palace; it couldn't be the power of magic, but rather the work of gods.

However, Ryan felt that this place was a bit far from Twilight Keep.

"Your Highness, Ryan Clayton sends his greetings."

“Mr. Ryan, you’ve finally arrived. It’s amazing how long it takes to get from Northwind Province to Twilight Province.”

"The empire's territory is so vast that even legends find it difficult to traverse."

Ryan responded with a smile, then got to the point.

"I wonder why Your Highness has summoned me to Twilight Province?"

"Northwind Province is now also under invasion by orcs, and I may not be able to stay in Twilight Province for long."

Volvo laughed, ignoring what Ryan said.

“I’m glad you’re here, Ryan. I’d like to know what you think is a way to help the Empire defeat those damned orcs more easily.”

“They have really caused us a lot of trouble. I don’t want any part of the Empire’s land to be invaded by orcs. I want to do better than my father and make sure that not a single orc can enter the Empire’s territory in this war.”

Ryan thought for a moment and said:

“The empire’s northern border is fortified with strong fortresses. As long as the fortresses are not breached, the orcs will not be able to invade the empire’s lands.”

He was relaying a message to Volvo, and sure enough, the elector quickly sighed and said:

“As you said, Ryan, during the last full-scale orc invasion, Twilight Province suffered a huge blow. Even Twilight Keep was breached with a huge gap. I’ve always wanted to repair that gap, but the second orc invasion came too quickly.”

"We have no time to repair Twilight Keep. The constant harassment by the orcs has already caused the Empire heavy losses."

Ryan asked, puzzled:
"Couldn't we force the orcs back to the North first, then hold them off north of Twilight Keep, and use the time to repair it? If my information is correct, the Behemoth Orc Royal Court did not participate in the invasion on a large scale this time."

“We are trying, but it is difficult for humans to fight orcs in the snowy north, and there are many mountains north of Twilight Keep, where our army is better suited to fighting on flat ground.”

That's true. When crossing mountains and valleys, a person's legs would probably tremble before they even see the enemy.

Ryan didn't refuse anything. When he made the decision, he had already thought about how to deal with the trouble here. He wanted to gain greater prestige by Volvo's side, so as to obtain the right to Northwind Province at the official level of the Empire.

"I need to go to Twilight Keep to see what it looks like before I can give you an answer, Your Highness."

(End of this chapter)