Throne of the North.

Chapter 694 Who issues the orders? Who executes them?
A large portion of the people present were not familiar with Ryan.

However, the moment Ryan spoke, Harald's legendary power was dispelled, and their gazes towards Ryan softened considerably.

A powerful nobleman.

The combination of these two identities makes one a model of nobility, and the nobles standing here still have this basic understanding.

Ryan has a title and power to gain status.

Harald looked at Ryan in surprise. How old was he?
Before this, he never imagined that Ryan would be a legend.

"With so many nobles returning here, the war at Twilight Keep must be over by now, right?"

Ryan asked again. He had gone to Twilight Keep earlier and had taken a look. He wasn't a god; he couldn't know the specifics just by looking at it.

"Today's war has indeed come to a temporary end. In the next two or three days, the orcs will not launch a large-scale attack."

The one who spoke was the Marquis of Twilight. In name, he was the governor of Twilight Province and had all the power in this land. However, just like the relationship between an emperor and a nobleman, his existence was more of a figurehead elected by others.

If we narrow it down to the military level, there are three top leaders in Twilight Province.

One was Harald, the Twilight Commander, the legendary 'Lionheart'; the other was the Marquis of Twilight, now Brody Columbus; and finally, the nobles nominated by the Twilight Province.

After all, the first two were members of the royal family, and the nobles were still wary of the royal family.

They were loyal to the emperor, but the emperor could not deprive the nobles of their power.

This straightforward understanding is the reason why the nobles are now rebelling and beginning to suppress the royal family.

The royal family lost once more than a hundred years ago, and now they have no chance of winning.

Upon hearing Marquis Twilight's words, Ryan understood that the orcs' cannon fodder on the battlefield at Twilight Keep had been exhausted again, and those powerful orcs would need to send cannon fodder from other places in the coming days.

"So... how much of Twilight Fortress can be repaired in two or three days?"

Ryan asked curiously, but no one present could bring themselves to answer the question.

"How much has been repaired?"

Count Gardner, seemingly more concerned with preventing an awkward silence from Ryan's words, spoke up:
“Lane, you have never lost a war. What do you think you could do to Twilight Keep in two or three days if you had 100,000 slaves? You should have seen what it looks like by now, right?”

Ryan pondered the question seriously, while the nobles looked at him in surprise. A few knew about Ryan, but most were focused on the flattering words in Earl Gardner's speech.

After a moment, Ryan said tactfully:

"Two or three days is too short. If we had two or three months, we could definitely restore Twilight Fortress to its original state. But for now, we can find a way to make it so that the orcs from the North can only cross Twilight Fortress and enter the province in ten days."

Earl Gardner was shocked by Ryan's words. He hadn't expected Ryan to give such an answer, but it didn't matter. It didn't stop him from turning the topic back to the members of the royal family.

"Did you hear that? Baron Ryan defeated the ten armies dispatched by the Dawn Church in less than a week on the southern battlefield. His judgment in war is absolutely correct."

"But what about you? You have two hundred thousand slaves, and the makeshift defenses you built couldn't even hold out against orcs for ten hours!"

"If you don't do a good job, give the slaves back to us and let us take charge."

The two sides were locked in a fierce battle, and at that moment, Volvo appeared.

He timed it perfectly; it seems he had been waiting for this crucial moment all along.

The nobles' arrogance vanished, replaced by friendly smiles and respect for the king.

For the nobles, the monarch and the royal family were two different things.

"Your Highness, you are here."

The nobles spoke softly, and you couldn't tell they had just been arguing. In contrast, the royal family members were much more difficult to control, each still seething with anger.

"I have received news that we have achieved a temporary victory in the previous battle."

Volvo's opening statement steered the war toward victory.

"However, such a short-term solution is not what the Empire needs. We need to eliminate the orcs from invading the Empire's lands once and for all, so that they can't even cross Twilight Keep."

“Baron Ryan just said that a huge advantage could be gained in two or three days, and I’m willing to believe him, but personally, I think that’s not enough.”

"Cassie, why did you repair the sapphire? It couldn't stop the orcs."

Volvo seized all the initiative and directly exercised its power by asking:

Beside him, Lord Cassie said with a hint of helplessness:

"Your Highness, this is not our fault. The slaves were afraid of the orcs, and the mud used to build the city walls had not yet dried, so they were not sturdy at all. The orcs have thick skin and flesh, and they know where the walls are newly built. The new walls could not stop them when they charged."

"There are even monsters like Behemoths among them."

Volvo nodded thoughtfully, then swiftly issued his orders.

"You issue an order to those slaves that those who perform well in this war can be granted the status of imperial commoners with the title of Elector. If they can help hold back the orcs, I will grant them commoner status, gold coins, and provide them with tools to cultivate the wilderness and farm the land. They only need to pay taxes to the empire."

"In addition, I have notified the Mage Guild that they will keep a close eye on the reconstruction progress of Twilight Fortress. It doesn't matter if the soil doesn't dry; the mages will solve all the problems and may even rearrange the magic array."

“But two or three days is not enough. Baron Ryan is right. I think we need to hold the orcs off to the north of the fortress to give the rear construction time.”

"I have made a decision. From now on, all soldiers participating in the war at Twilight Fortress, whether soldiers or knights, will have their daily clothing, housing, and food provided by the Empire. Everyone will have access to all resources fairly, instead of some people going hungry because of the richness or poverty of noble territories."

"For the safety of the nobles, I hope that you will no longer go to the battlefield in person. That would be too irresponsible to your lives. You can stay here and stay with me."

“However, Commander Harald, you are the commander of Twilight Keep. I’m sorry to have kept you here for so long. I think Twilight Keep is what you need.”

Harald looked at Volvo, nodded solemnly, and placed his palm on his chest.

"I will do everything in my power to stop the orcs' attack."

Volvo nodded silently and continued:

"From now on, every soldier will eat four meals a day, one of which must include meat. Every slave will eat two meals a day, and the knights will be provided with monster flesh and blood as supplementary ingredients."

"In the name of Volvo Columbus, I tell everyone to give their all, even their lives, to the Empire. I will absolutely not allow the orcs of the North to ever appear on the Empire's soil again!"

Volvo's voice was firm and resounding, and everyone present bowed their heads, chanting in unison:

"Follow your will."

Volvo was deeply moved by what he saw, but he kept his composure. "Then carry out my orders. I need to win this war. All of you here will be credited with this victory. As the elector, I promise you that I will never betray your trust."

This group of nobles left, and Volvo's words gave them a lot of confidence. As for Volvo itself, it will naturally have to meet with the next group.

There are six provinces in the north of the empire. Not counting the adopted Northwind Province, there are still five biological provinces. As the person in charge of the background war, Volvo's political and military vision is not limited to the Twilight Province.

It's just that this place was breached once before, and that was the most intense attack.

On his way out, Ryan approached Harald again.

"The nobles from the Northwind Province that I brought with me have extensive experience in fighting orcs. I believe they can be of great help to Lord Harald, both in themselves and in their knowledge of warfare."

After saying this, Ryan took his leave. He didn't want to get too close to this Viking supporter hidden within the Empire, but it seemed that Harald's actual ability to take action was greater than Volvo's.

As for why I say that... how come Ryan doesn't remember Lord Cassie having time to manage the 200,000 slaves in Twilight Province to repair the fortress?

He has three heads and six arms and can even create clones?

Therefore, everything Volvo just said was just empty talk.

Who told him that a few words spoken in front of the nobles could control and decide the fate of 200,000 people?
……

It seems, maybe, possibly it's him, Mr. Ryan?

He remembered talking to Volvo about the difference between one person managing ten, one hundred, and ten thousand people. Volvo thought he could manage two hundred thousand.
No, it's not just 200,000; the population here at Twilight Keep is probably much larger.

With Volvo's craftsmanship, Ryan will have to find other ways to benefit.

Compared to the previous method, there are many more troubles, but things will go much more smoothly.

Ryan thought of Earl Gardner, who was in charge of handling a portion of the massive amounts of supplies sent by the southern nobles.

food.

Food is often the most important thing, and perhaps Volvo would prefer the Marquis of Twilight to do it, but it is clear that as a marquis, and nominally a governor, the Marquis of Twilight does not have a very generous fief.

In other words, he did not have enough and good means of storing food.

The warehouses in Twilight Keep have all been destroyed, so where are the remaining food storage warehouses located?

Within the control of the nobles, there were too many nobles and too little land, resulting in every piece of land having its own owner. Naturally, the nobles would not choose members of the royal family to manage their granaries.

The Earl of Gardner was the one everyone hoped for.

"His Highness is asking the Empire to cover the food expenses of all the soldiers. This is too much trouble."

After the meeting, Earl Gardner naturally gathered a group of nobles to discuss the matter.

The task needs to be done, but the problem is that it's very complicated.

Twilight Province is close to the North, and it's still winter, so storing food is relatively convenient.

No matter how convenient it was, there were just too many supplies, so much so that Twilight Province needed too many warehouses to store them. The nobles dared not embezzle them, because those resources either came from the dead emperor or from the great nobles in the south. If something went wrong, the first person they would offend was the dead—the most important of all, Columbus III.

Secondly, all the nobles in the south—it doesn't matter which one—if any one of them gets into trouble, the entire south will hold the northern nobles accountable.

Those powerful noble families are all in the south.

Food supplies cannot be compromised; they represent the wealth of various nobles, and now they must support the consumption of all soldiers and even slaves. Therefore, the first problem to address is…

transportation.

More than 70% of the grain is stored in the territories of various nobles in the Twilight Province, and transporting it here would be a huge problem.

The country lanes of Twilight Province are not so bright.

"Sir, Baron Ryan has come to visit."

The nobles were discussing what to do when a knight knocked on the door to report. Count Gardner was puzzled: why would Baron Ryan come?

But it doesn't matter. Lord Gardner had seen it clearly when he was in the South. Ryan Clayton, this Baron of the North, surpassed 99% of the Empire's pot-bellied nobles. This had nothing to do with the rank of nobility. So Gardner was very enthusiastic towards Ryan and didn't care at all that the other's rank was only that of a baron.

"Please invite Baron Ryan in."

After Gardner finished speaking, he explained to the nobleman beside him:

“We can see what this Baron of the North has to say; as a young man, he always has a lot of good ideas.”

When Ryan arrived, he found himself in a study that was neither too big nor too small, complete with a fireplace and bookshelves. Ryan began to wonder what the full size of this mobile palace, which resembled a Rubik's Cube, was like.

“Baron Ryan, you’ve come at the right time. His Highness Volvo has decided on the food supply for hundreds of thousands of people with just a word, but this is really troublesome.”

“We simply don’t have enough oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages to transport the grain. After the nobles from the south sent the supplies, their vehicles had already returned. Now, I don’t even know how many vehicles we need to feed hundreds of thousands of people every day.”

Count Gardner remained enthusiastic, but the issue he raised was indeed true: the nobles, enjoying the best education and knowledge in the world, never considered that in this extraordinary world, the ceiling of knowledge was only so-so.

There are plenty of fancy philosophers, but we might have to look for mathematicians inside pregnant women's bellies.

Ryan could take the time to calculate the amount for them, but the problem is that this isn't the benefit he needs.

So he hesitated and said:

"I'm afraid it will require a lot more."

"Yes, yes, we need a lot, and I can't even imagine what we'll do if the food gets spilled on the way or looted by the orcs."

Count Gardner said with concern, "There are actually orcs inside Twilight Province as well."

This is a problem left over from the last full-scale orc invasion, and it has not been resolved to this day.

Human settlements and wilderness are two distinct types of land. The latter has always occupied the majority of the world, and since there are wild beasts in the wilderness, it is only natural that there are also beastmen living there.

Nobles were never traveling without being protected by a large number of soldiers.

“I see… Since the nobles in the south didn’t leave any carriages, I’m afraid we’ll have to rely on our own transportation resources in the north.”

Ryan also seemed to be thinking about Count Gardner, his expression hesitant and suggesting he was having trouble making a decision.

(End of this chapter)