Tome of Blood

  The Northern Grand Duchy is the northern neighbor of the New Moon Kingdom. It was a tribal alliance decades ago, and it was reformed into a feudal serf monarchy in recent years under the leadership of a talented monarch.

For hundreds of years, people in the northern border have always been equated with pirates, bandits, and barbarians in the eyes of the Unet people, who are dominated by the New Moon Kingdom, the Fallen Star Kingdom, and the West Unet Empire. They are also barbaric and backward. synonym.

  Now is no exception. Even though the Northern Grand Duchy has long been civilized, it is still out of tune with many countries in the central and southern parts of the mainland. This is not only the impact of technological gaps, but also geopolitical and cultural conflicts.

  There will always be a chain of contempt in the human world. People are always used to separate the crowd into us and them, and then gain a sense of superiority from identity.

  The nobles despise the common people, the city people despise the country people, the imperial people of the same Unet kingdom look down on the Xingyue people, and the Xingyue people look down on the northerners...

Just after the Northern War ended, the Grand Duchy of the North sent an envoy to visit. Seriously speaking, this time point is quite sensitive. After all, at this moment, although Castel is independent from Boulder, he has not yet sworn an oath to the Crescent Royal Family. allegiance.

   Jurisprudentially and nominally, Castel is already a direct vassal of the New Moon Kingdom, but as long as he does not take an oath of allegiance, the relationship is still ambiguous.

  Especially in history, there are no cases where the nobles of the border territories turned around and fell into the arms of neighboring countries after winning the War of Independence against the lords.

  In the feudal era, legal principles are legal principles, and reality is reality.

  Under the premise that the royal power is not strong, the noble lords are actually quite independent. For a strong lord, it is not surprising that their rule is comparable to a country within a country.

  Of course, the Grand Duchy of the North is not sending an envoy at this moment to win over Charlotte.

   To be more precise, they, like the Violet Principality, came to negotiate.

  Charlotte is not very surprised by this.

  She still has thousands of Isaac hussars from the northern border locked up in her hands. With so many mercenaries, it is not a small number for the northern border, especially there are also northern nobles among them.

  It is the nature of northerners to love adventure, whether it is becoming a pirate or a mercenary.

  Even if the country has long been feudalized, many northerners still enjoy adventure, including many northern nobles.

   This is the reason why the Legris family was able to attract so many northern mercenaries during the rebellion.

   And this time, it was precisely for these captives that the Grand Duchy of the North sent an envoy.

  "Hamid Kasimir Novak, the benevolent, wise, rich, and beautiful Lord of the Northland, the Earl of Castel, and the Special Envoy of the Grand Duchy of the Northland, sends you his high regards."

   "I'm sorry that some of our countrymen caused you some trouble during the Castel War..."

In the earl's mansion, the envoy of the Grand Duchy of the North, who had a bushy beard and was dressed in a noble robe similar to the style of the Unet kingdoms, but still showed a rough overall style, made a rather standard Unait to Charlotte. Special noble etiquette.

  On the lord's throne, looking at these tall and burly northern representatives, Charlotte nodded slightly:

   "Welcome, His Excellency Hamid Kasimir Novak, I already know your purpose of coming. As for the northern prisoners, I, Castel, have no intention of detaining them..."

   "It's just that a prisoner is a prisoner after all. Your support for the rebels has also caused a lot of damage to Castel."

   "If you want to redeem those nobles and warriors, you must give us a price that satisfies us."

  The Northern Envoy became more respectful:

   "Of course, Lord Earl, we are willing to redeem those reckless compatriots with Warcraft materials that are higher than the general ransom price of Miria..."

  Hearing the words of the northern envoy, Charlotte's heart moved slightly.

  The Grand Duchy of the northern border is vast and sparsely populated. Many areas are quite bitter and cold, with vast forests.

  Although the Grand Duchy of the North is not rich as a country, the vast forests bring abundant resources of monsters.

  If it wasn't too far away from the center of the Myria civilization world and the environment was too harsh, the northern forest is fully qualified to be the fourth adventure paradise for free mercenaries.

   Regarding the conditions given by the Grand Duchy of the North, Charlotte is honestly satisfied. Castel does not lack secular currency, but what is lacking is extraordinary materials.

but…

   "Your Excellency Hamid, if you want to redeem those Isaac cavalry, it's just such a condition, I'm afraid it won't work."

  Charlotte shook her head lightly and said.

  The northern envoy frowned suddenly, and asked in a common language full of northern accents:

   "Lord Earl, I don't know... what are you dissatisfied with?"

"compensation."

  Charlotte paused and said:

   "What you proposed is only a ransom, but it does not cover the compensation for the losses caused to the Northland due to the participation of Isaac's hussars in the war."

  After hearing what Charlotte said, the Northern Envoy fell into deep thought.

  He discussed in a low voice with his compatriots from the north, and then saluted again:

   "I see, Lord Earl, so... what if, on top of this ransom, an additional 20% of mineral materials is added as compensation?"

  Charlotte shook her head:

   "There is no shortage of ore in Castel, and your compensation may have to be compromised from other places."

   "Oh? So what do you want?"

  The Northern Envoy asked.

   "War horse, I need a war horse."

  Charlotte paused, and the lion opened his mouth wide:

"All the war horses captured in the civil war will belong to Castel. In addition, the Grand Duchy of the North has to compensate Castel with 1,000 standard war horses of the right age and 100 male dragon scales. Horses, and they must be young and strong."

   This is really the lion's big mouth.

   You must know that in a strict sense, most of the horses ridden by the Isaac Hussars who participated in the Northland Rebellion did not meet the rigid standards of war horses at all, but they were better than Castel's own horses on the whole.

   Hussars are light cavalry after all, and the quality requirements for horses are not high.

   But the standard warhorse Charlotte is talking about here, that's different.

  The so-called standard war horse refers to a war horse that must be capable of being used by heavy cavalry, and each of these horses means that extraordinary cavalry can be formed.

   Not to mention the dragon-scaled horse, anything in this world mixed with the blood of a giant dragon is a big deal, and so is the dragon-scaled horse. This thing can no longer be measured by an ordinary war horse, and it can be called a monster.

  This kind of war horse, many advanced knights do not have it.

  One hundred...all of them are males. Even if the Grand Duchy of the Northern Territory has many horses and a big family, it is not easy to take them out casually.

   Not to mention that this is what the neighboring countries want, and the relationship between Castel and the Grand Duchy of the North has always been delicate, and it is not without border conflicts...

  If so many horses are really provided, in a sense it can even be called an "enemy".

  Big opening, Charlotte is a standard lion wide opening.

Of course, she herself was the one who said the number later, and she didn't expect the other party to agree at all. She could get it by asking for it. In the end, even if she could get 300 standard war horses and 10 or 20 dragon-scaled horses that could be used as stallions, she That's enough.

  Hearing Charlotte's words, the Northern Envoy frowned.

  Seeing the other party, Charlotte turned her head and muttered with the members of the delegation in the Northern Territory, and even had several disputes.

   It wasn't until a moment later that the northern envoy saluted Charlotte again, and replied respectfully:

   "We understand, Lord Earl, we agree to your conditions."

  Charlotte:  …

Um?

   Is this a promise?

   Really agreed?

  She looked inexplicable, and for a moment she couldn't tell whether it was the envoy from the northern border who was lying to her, or whether the conditions for her to open her mouth did not exceed the bottom line of the other party's heart.

   A thousand standard war horses, that's a thousand standard war horses!

  If extraordinary equipment is difficult to build, qualified war horses can only be said to be more difficult to find, and a thousand extraordinary cavalry is enough to reverse a secular war.

   Not to mention 100 dragon-scale stallions, if they were provided to Charlotte, then in a few years, Castel’s cavalry might be in human form as Gundams!

   "Oh? Your Excellency Hamid? Are you serious? Can your decision represent the Grand Duchy of the North?"

   Charlotte asked.

  Although the envoy from the north agreed, she didn't believe that the other party would really agree to her request so easily!

   It's either fraudulent, or it's ulterior motives!

  The Northern Envoy nodded slightly and replied:

   "Of course, Honorable Earl, although your request is relatively harsh, to show sincerity, the Northern Territory is willing to agree to your request. This is the decision of His Majesty the Grand Duke."

   "It's just...we also have a prerequisite, or more precisely, a deal, or an invitation."

   Sure enough, there are conditions...

  Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, then asked with a calm smile:

   "Oh? What condition?"

  The Northern Envoy took a deep breath, and then saluted Charlotte respectfully again.

  Under Charlotte's slightly surprised eyes, he stretched out his right hand and drew a circled cross crookedly on his chest, with a pious expression quite exaggerated:

   "Praise the holiness, Your Excellency the Earl, as you can see, I am actually a devout holy believer, not only me, but also His Majesty Stefan Sobieski, the current Grand Duke of our Northern Grand Duchy."

   "Your Majesty looks forward to the teachings of the Holy King's Court, and has always wanted to accept the belief of the Holy King's Court as the official belief of the Grand Duchy, but you also know that the beliefs in our northern border have always been chaotic, and the belief in the old gods is difficult to sever..."

   "His Majesty the Grand Duke admires and admires you very much, especially your devout belief in the royal court, and your status as a saint on earth has long been famous in the northern border."

   "His Majesty the Grand Duke wants to ask you for help, invite you and the priests in your territory to visit the Grand Duchy, and send experienced priests to assist our holy believers in the north to spread the belief of the Holy King..."

  After hearing what the messenger said, Charlotte was even more surprised.

  She had a lot of guesses about the conditions of the Grand Duchy of the North, but she never thought that she was invited to be a guest and spread the belief of the Holy Royal Court!

"Thank you, His Majesty, for the invitation. It's just...I'm just a small earl, and my church branch in Castelland has only one first-level priest. Why didn't His Majesty ask the clergy to send priests, but asked Come to our place?"

   "As far as I know, there are many priests and even priests in the church who are very interested in spreading the faith in the northern border."

  Charlotte asked calmly.

  The Northern Envoy saluted respectfully and said:

"My lord, you are joking. Your Majesty seeks the faith of the holy royal court, and the priests and priests of the clerical country, where is you, a holy saint who walks on the ground, who can better represent the teachings of the royal court? Would it be more acceptable to believers and the public?"

  After listening to his words, Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, thoughtful.

  She understood the deeper meaning of the messenger.

  Although the Grand Duchy of the Northern Territory hopes to make the Holy Royal Court an official belief, it probably doesn't want to be under the strict control of the church like the Unet kingdoms.

  Beliefs in the northern border are chaotic, which is not conducive to governance. It was okay to be tribal alliances before, but now religious conflicts have become more serious after feudalization. The old **** beliefs with **** and brutal teachings are no longer suitable for the requirements of the new era.

   At this time, it is logical to choose the "Orthodox Church" with good teachings like the Holy King's Court as the official belief to stabilize the rule.

  However, although religion can stabilize the rule, it will also compete with the ruling class, and the high-level officials of the Grand Duchy of the North do not want to see such a scene.

  That's why they didn't seek help from the Church Power, but found Charlotte.

   After thinking about it, Charlotte smiled and said:

   "I know what His Majesty means. It is not difficult to send priests to assist in missionary work. I will also consider the invitation, but I am afraid it is not now. At least within half a year, I am afraid that I will not have time to leave the New Moon Kingdom."

   "Of course, my lord, it is best to invite you as a saint. Even if it is not convenient for you, if you can send some Northland priests you recognize, it is also possible."

  The envoy is respectful and authentic.

  The negotiations with the Northern Envoys went much smoother than Charlotte imagined.

  After clarifying the main content of the ransom and compensation, Charlotte ended the meeting, and the subsequent details were left to the cabinet of the Earl's House to wrestle with the envoys in the north.

  The Northern Envoy resigned, leaving only Charlotte and Sebastian who resumed his duties as steward in the chamber.

  Looking at Charlotte who was lost in thought, Sebastian couldn't help but said:

   "Master, you... really want to agree to the Grand Duchy of the North, accept their invitation, and help them spread the teachings of the Holy Royal Court?"

   "Why not? It's just sending some priests to preach. It just so happens that the church priests in the territory who are full of energy and have nowhere to vent are also sent away."

  Charlotte smiled.

   After finishing speaking, she smiled and said:

   "And... don't you think this is also an opportunity? The belief in the northern border is already chaotic. Even if we add a little private goods to the priests we send, it should be okay."

  Sebas's eyelids twitched:

   "You... you mean, do you also plan to take the opportunity to spread your beliefs in the northern border?!"

  Charlotte smiled:

   "If you can, why not?"

  After listening to Charlotte's words, Sebastian's eyes moved slightly, thoughtful.

   After Charlotte finished speaking, she glanced around again and asked:

   "Speaking of... how about Nice? After coming back this time, I don't seem to see him much?"

  Sebastian suddenly looked strange:

   "Nice him... If I'm not wrong, he should be playing peek-a-boo with Your Excellency Yurst right now..."

  Charlotte: ...?