Throne of the North.

Chapter 3 Spirituality

The biggest difficulty in the North is food.

But Ryan didn't expect that he would face the problem of food on the first day of arriving in his territory, before he even started thinking about how to exploit his subjects.

As a noble lord, I still have to find a way to get bread for you, right?

It really is.

Ryan sighed and looked at the transparent panel in front of him. The spirituality on it was increasing little by little.

10, 11, 12, 13...

The final number came to thirty-five, and looking at the twenty-six villagers in front of him, Ryan roughly understood the source of the spiritual increase.

Twenty-six subjects, eight apprentice knights, and an old butler easily understood the principle.

A citizen can bring him a little spiritual increase.

But what is the use of spirituality? Can it create food for oneself out of thin air?
I don’t know if it’s possible, but it’s definitely not possible now, because Ryan feels that he still needs more spirituality to unlock something.

"Go, call all the villagers from the frozen earth village here."

No matter what the village was called before, after Ryan arrived, it was called Frozen Earth Village.

At the side, Deren instinctively took a step forward. His strong and mighty appearance was almost like a monster in the eyes of these villagers.

A group of villagers scattered, but Deren caught one of them and threatened to call all the villagers over.

Soon, in the center of the village, there was a millstone.

Ryan met all the people in his barony.

Each one was wrapped tightly, but not in fancy cotton clothes, but in clothes woven from hemp.

Only a few people can wear clothes woven from animal fur, and their status is obviously different from that of other people around them.

Poor and cold, Ryan finally realized what his territory was like.

Fortunately, seeing that his spiritual power had reached over 90, Ryan didn't plan to bother with the villagers here for the time being.

One hundred and twenty-five people, including thirty-one elderly men who looked like they were dying, ten children who were exactly half his age, and the twenty or so people before him. Together with the entire village, this village brought him eighty-four spiritual points.

"Ninety-three points of spirituality, seven points more before there will be a change."

Feeling somewhat helpless, Ryan temporarily put aside spiritual matters and looked at the villagers of the Frozen Earth Village.

"Who is the village chief?"

An old man with all his teeth lost came out with a cane, supported by a middle-aged man, and knelt down in front of Ryan.

"I am Hamiti, a humble man. Nice to meet the Lord."

"You should get up first. Is your son next to you?"

Ryan looked at the middle-aged man next to the village chief Hamiti, Little Hamiti.

"Yes."

"From today on, he is the mayor of the frozen earth village."

"what?"

Seeing Ryan frown, the middle-aged man next to Hamidi knelt down again, his head hitting the cold ground.

"Thank you, lord."

Ryan didn't think that an old man who might not even survive the winter was capable of working, so he simply replaced the village chief.

This kind of thing is no big deal. As the lord of the Frozen Barony, he has absolute power. It is not an exaggeration to say that these villagers are his private property.

After sending away the surrounding villagers, Ryan only left Hamidi. The middle-aged man looked extremely nervous and uneasy standing in front of Ryan. "You're not going to tell me that my Baron Castle is right there, are you?"

Ryan pointed to the north. On the rhino-horn-like mountain, there was a fortress that could be seen even from here. It should have been built with funds from the empire after the conquest of the North Wind Province.

But when Ryan looked at the snow and wind blowing from the sky and the fortress that had been uninhabited for who knows how many years, he couldn't help but secretly curse the people who built the fortress.

He could tell how cold it was up there even with his own eyes.

"That damn bunch of parasites, is this how they do things when they are paid by the empire?"

Beside him, Hamidi didn't dare to say anything, and could only say in a low voice:

"It is said that it is because the scenery up there is beautiful."

Can people live there just because the scenery is nice? Ryan didn't think he could live there in his current state.

"Apart from the hundred or so of you, is there no one else in this frozen land?"

Hamity shook his head.

"It has been a long time since there have been barons in the Frozen Territory. There used to be hundreds of people in the village, but gradually, those who had some skills left. The people in the village are all free people. As long as they are careful not to be captured and made into slaves, they can survive in the territories of other lords with their skills."

"Later, some blacksmiths and carpenters left here. After they settled down, other people in the village gradually followed."

After hearing this, Ryan said nothing, but told Deren:

"Go in the direction we came from and kill two preys. Then look for bandits made up of slaves. Tell them that if they come here, I will give them the status of free people!"

Hearing this, De Lun could not help but be shocked, "Master, those mud-legged people should be burned to death!"

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying?!” Ryan looked over, and his gaze made Deren tremble and kneel down.

"I'll go right away."

On the side, the old butler Beard never spoke, but looked at Ryan with more and more approval.

He felt that Master Ryan was really becoming more and more like a noble lord.

Because of the reasons Hamiti mentioned, many houses in the Frozen Earth Village were vacant. After Ryan announced that all those who left would be expelled, these houses became his place of residence.

"Sooner or later, I'm going to live there!"

Ryan looked at the fortress on Rhino Horn Mountain and stood there with concentration.

The Flame Dragon Knight's Breathing Method, the Clayton Family's Knight's Breathing Method. Ryan knew very well that if he wanted to gain a foothold in the North, he absolutely could not do without extraordinary means.

As a lord, he cannot be weak.

One day, two days, and Deren, who had taken away five apprentice knights, did not come back.

"They...shouldn't run away?"

Ryan asked Old Beard, chewing on a piece of hard black bread.

"They wouldn't dare." Beard looked at Ryan, who was eating black bread without any emotion, with a look of heartache on his face. After hearing this, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Their families have all become freemen in the earldom. If they dare to run away, all their families will become slaves. And even if they run away, other lords will not let them go if they find out."

Those who betray their master will be hunted down throughout the continent.

At dawn on the third day, Deren finally returned to the frozen land territory with five elk carcasses and more than thirty refugees with bruised faces and stripped clothes.

Ryan declared his ownership of these thirty-four people who were originally slaves in other territories, and his spirituality also came to one hundred and twenty-seven.

【Spirituality: 127】

Ryan felt that he could use his spiritual power to open a portal to the unknown at any time.

(End of this chapter)