Throne of the North.

Chapter 349 A Soldier's Day

No one expected King Andara to issue such an order, so some nosy nobles once again brought up Adams' unorthodoxy.

"After the crown prince Hernan became a heretic, the king of the Andara Kingdom should be King Macpherson Andara."

It was obvious that this was a noble who stood on the side of the Holy See. In response to this, several nobles of the empire cut off trade with the other party. Now, the nobles no longer dared to speak out openly.

"Praise the light."

The king of the Andara Kingdom said this proudly. As the imperial people entered the kingdom to build the Kingdom's Cathedral of Light and the Magic Academy, his confidence suddenly increased.

Ryan could not comment on Adams' actions. Whether they were good or bad, we may have to wait until later to know.

In front of him, Mage Lula was thinking about what kind of materials her mage tower needed. Finally, she came to the conclusion that there was no standard for magic materials and one could only know after seeing them in person.

"The levitation stone is necessary. It can save the consumption of levitation magic and mana, freeing up space for other magic. However, the reserve of levitation stone is insufficient, and we need to order a batch."

"The School of Magic must have a way to do this. I will buy it from the magicians through Master McKen."

"The remaining materials will be sent in a list. Those chambers of commerce have such means. It is said that magic materials are all illusory images, and some magicians will even leave their own experimental processes to ensure the stability of magic materials."

With the same words, Ryan also went to see Master McKen, but Master McKen had already thrown a list at him before he could open his mouth.

Yes, this guy is a great wizard from the magic academy. What he needs now is just a wizard tower of his own. He knows more about magic materials than Ryan.

"A total of 670,000 gold coins."

Ryan nodded as he looked at the list and the prices on it which seemed almost impossible to reduce, which in turn made Master McKen curious.

"How much did you earn from going to the kingdom? This is 670,000 gold coins. The actual cost may be more than 700,000."

"Not much, just over two million gold coins, of which three or four hundred thousand cannot be converted into gold coins."

Ryan also laughed after he finished speaking.

"And who said that 600,000 or 700,000 gold coins need to be paid in one lump sum?"

Master McKen was suspicious and said:

"Those magicians are not the ones you can owe money to."

"I trust your judgment, but what if they owe me a debt?"

“This is a rare opportunity.”

The economic development of the Frozen Territory needs to be quantitative and low-end at the beginning.

But in the final analysis, we still need to reach the high-end market, especially the extraordinary market, which is the real profiteering.

The mage tower needed by Mage Luna and Archmage McKen is Ryan's stepping stone to enter the supernatural market.

First of all, the materials in the Mage Tower show that the tickets in Ryan's hands are from at least two great wizards, which is enough to be recognized by the magicians.

Secondly, having the tickets means Ryan needs them, but does that mean they don’t need Ryan anymore?
The extraordinary also need the help of mortals. If they are just mortals, then the extraordinary are superior. But if the mortals are ruled by powerful nobles, then this is an equal transaction.

Transactions generate profits.

Interests will bring unexpected results to Ryan.

Not long after, Rose also arrived. This Sanctuary Alchemist needed less than Ryan thought.

"Alchemists don't trust other people's crops. We prefer to create everything ourselves."

After Rose finished speaking, Ryan also understood why the things he needed on his list were all basic tools, such as crucibles.

"By the way, I'm also making some progress on the things you asked me to research that ordinary people can control or even manufacture."

Rose said, and then took out a piece of paper with a picture of a lumberjack.

"This is……"

"The energy consumption for logging is currently gold."

"gold?"

Ryan opened his eyes wide. It was the first time he heard that gold could be used as an energy source?
"Well, gold is one of the best substances for guiding magic. The tools you want for ordinary people are not yet fully available. I can only use alchemical methods to combine gold and make it an energy source. But in essence, the role of gold is to absorb and guide the magic factors in the void, thereby generating mechanical-like power."

"Can't it be simpler?"

Rose shook her head.

"It can't be simpler. It's purely mechanical power. It's a waste of energy. It's better to just chop down the tree with an axe."

"But if there are more advanced research results in the future, perhaps gold can be replaced with something cheaper."

"It's also very troublesome to make. There are probably only one or two people in the frozen land who can make such a thing."

Needless to say, everyone knows that it is those two. There is no one in the Frozen Territory whose craftsmanship exceeds that of the Brock brothers and sisters.

Ryan could only give up. This extraordinary world and extraordinary means always had something that made his eyes light up.

"I will also send someone to find new energy for you."

The three high-ranking extraordinary people wiped out most of Ryan's wealth in one fell swoop, and also made him realize that war is definitely not the best way to obtain wealth.

Not long after, Rose, who had left, came back again, with a tall skeleton puppet behind him holding a dozen dried corpses.

"We found them outside the territory. I think they came for you."

Ryan nodded. He had destroyed the foundation of the Holy See in the Andara Kingdom. Given the Holy See's temper, they would definitely find a way to assassinate him. After all, even a marquis was killed by them.

"It seems that we need to strengthen the defense of the frozen land territory."

……

On the streets of the Frozen Territory, with the arrival of spring, the lord also returned from the distant kingdom. The Frozen Territory became much more lively, the taverns were crowded, and the market was filled with a large number of pedestrians.

Parker followed the old captain who was said to have retired from the battlefield. The five of them walked on the gray flagstone street. The ground under their feet was solid, and someone had cleaned it early in the morning, so they didn't have to worry about mud.

Wearing leather armor and holding spears, the five-man team formed a line and walked on the street. All the people who saw them turned to the sides to avoid them, lowering their heads in envy and awe. Parker was intoxicated by this feeling of being high above, and he couldn't help but wish for a better position.

As the son of a commoner, Parker was still a little smart. For example, he knew that if he wanted a higher status, the old captain in front of him was his only benefactor.

Although he is called the old captain, in fact, the captain is not old at all. He is only five or six years older than Parker.

The group passed through two streets in silence and finally returned to their base, a slightly imposing three-story stone building. There were fifty sheriffs in the U-shaped building, who were responsible for any disturbances of the five or six thousand people in the surrounding streets.

"Well, the morning mission is finally over."

Each patrol lasts two hours, and Parker has to go through three patrols every day. Today's patrol is the same as yesterday, and maybe it will be the same as tomorrow. Nothing major happens on the streets, and those noisy residents are not their responsibility. As long as there is no bloody conflict, the governor will solve the problem.

The work at the security station is relatively easy. When you go out, you have to face the awe-inspiring looks from others. The extra time is either spent on training or on the way to the tavern.

Training is necessary for sheriffs, and the tavern is for showing off one's status in front of others, making others envy and agree with them.

But Parker rarely went to the tavern, which made his old captain look up to him.

As a veteran who retired from the battlefield, Amy was not depressed, so she had high demands on her teammates.

"If you want to be sheriffs for life and get paid one silver coin and fifty copper coins a month, then get out of my team."

"Because you have no chance to become captain and get a salary of three silver coins and one hundred copper coins. This position is reserved for the soldiers who follow the lord." Parker listened carefully. He knew that although the old captain was strict, what he said was really useful and hit the nail on the head.

"If you want to live in a better house and marry a better woman, your only chance is to pass the assessment as a sheriff and become a patrol guard. The guards are already qualified to pledge allegiance directly to the honorable Lord Baron Ryan. If you are good enough and stand out among the guards and become an apprentice knight, then you will have the opportunity to become Lord Ryan's knight squire."

"By then, you will be noble knights, and the income of ten silver coins per month is what you can earn as a sheriff in a year."

Parker listened in fascination. The old captain also told them that ten silver coins were just the basis. After becoming a knight's squire, there would be many more opportunities to gain wealth.

He even took out his own knight's sword, which was given to him by the lord as a reward for his performance in the war.

"I originally had another set of armor, but I couldn't wear it anymore, so I left it at home."

When everyone else went to rest, Parker came to the old captain again and asked how to become Master Ryan's servant.

"There are two opportunities. One is when war breaks out, and you join the army as a reservist to see if your performance allows you to stay."

"The second opportunity is much more common, and it will take three to five years to complete at the fastest. But working at the police station can make you one of them."

"Take time to exercise every day to keep yourself strong and adapt to the cold winter so that you don't get sick. Then I can recommend you and you will naturally be admitted to the guard battalion."

"If everything goes well, you won't be in the Guards Camp for too long. In about a year, you'll be able to pass the assessment and enter the Squire Camp, which is the reserve force for Knight Squires. Once Lord Ryan accepts your oath of loyalty, you'll become a true Knight Squire."

The status and treatment of the police station are good. It only takes two steps for an ordinary sheriff to become one of the top three in the frozen land territory.

The first circle is unique, and that is the honorable Baron Ryan.

The second circle is Lord Ryan's followers, including those extraordinary magicians and knights, as well as the lords in the territory.

The third circle is the knights and attendants.

That afternoon, Parker couldn't sleep and kept sweating. His colleagues were envious and said they couldn't do it.

In the afternoon, they needed to continue patrolling. They tidied their appearance, put on leather armor, and followed the old captain through the streets with spears in hand.

People around them would avoid them when they saw them. It was no different from yesterday or the day before yesterday.

Parker enjoyed such treatment, but the next moment, the old captain led them out of the center of the road and stood quietly on the side. Parker, with his back to the pedestrians behind him, could also see who occupied the center of the street.

puff~
He had to look up to the tall northern warhorse, not to mention the knight riding on the horse, his armor shining in the sun.

Parker's breathing stopped. At that moment, he understood how those ordinary people felt when they looked at him. No, it was a hundred times worse than that, because even if he was staring at the tall warhorse and not looking at the majestic knight, he felt that he was infinitely close to the brink of death.

He discovered sadly that he might not even be able to beat this horse.

There were ten people in the group, ten fully-armed knights. Their cold visors made it impossible to see their faces. The quiet sound of their armor skirts gently colliding drowned out the noisy voices on the street. It was not until they had left for a long time that the people on the street seemed to have ended the process of being frozen and began to move again numbly.

Some people were discussing how majestic the knights were and imagining what they would do if they were in their shoes.

Some people were also curious about why the Knights showed up today. They usually patrolled the streets near Rhino Horn Mountain, and today did not seem to be the time for the Knights to patrol this area.

"It's General Michaela."

It was the first time that Parker saw his old captain look at him with such a passionate gaze. He knew the knight, which was why Parker thought that the old captain would be his benefactor. The other party was a retired soldier, and he knew many big men in the Frozen Territory, even if those big men might not know him at all.

Moreover, the "general" mentioned by the old captain made Parker become stiff and numb at this moment.

"Brother Amy, are you saying that only those who can command a thousand knights and attendants can be awarded the rank of general by Master Ryan?"

He asked in shock, as if he couldn't believe that he would see such a person on the streets he patrolled.

"Of course. Lord Michaela is the first general of the Frozen Territory and the deputy of Commander Brand. After the war, Lord Ryan personally asked Master Brock to tailor-make a series of equipment for him, including armor and weapons. However, Master Brock probably hasn't finished it yet."

"I've said before that if you become a knight's squire in the end, you will still have decapitations and centurions above you, and above the centurions is the general."

"Lord Michaela is a powerful silver knight. He won the victory of Zhuoyue in the kingdom's war. I once followed him."

Amy said enthusiastically:
"Those military exploits might even allow Michaela to become a Golden Knight."

There were crowds of people ahead, so Parker and his team ran over to maintain law and order. Although it was to keep the pedestrians in order, in fact, they also wanted to drive away other people and see what was happening ahead.

Standing at the front of the crowd, they could not go any further because the guards wearing armor were standing in front of them shivering, and a well-dressed government official was explaining to everyone what was written on the posted parchment.

"The honorable lord, Lord Baron Ryan, will recruit a team of 300 people to travel the lands of the kingdom and the empire in the name of the Frozen Territory, and ask..."

Parker didn't get a good rest this afternoon. He felt that the opportunity the old captain had mentioned had come.

“Perhaps, this is indeed an opportunity.”

The old captain said this, allowing Parker to make a decision.

"It's just... there are only 300 people, and there are only 50 spots for the guard team."

Parker hesitated, thinking he might not be able to compete.

Amy patted his shoulder.

"I have some connections up there. Since you've made up your mind, I will definitely let you in."

The night patrol, which is also the last patrol of the day, is more intense than the daytime patrol.

The daytime patrols are their time to show off their power, but at night, it was heard that an assassin had entered the Frozen Territory and wanted to assassinate the honorable Master Ryan. The leaders of the police station angrily canceled everyone's vacation. Whenever night falls, everyone in the police station will appear on the streets looking for any sneaky guys.

"stop!"

Parker shouted loudly. He knew that he was mediocre. Although the old captain helped him, he couldn't be too mediocre. He needed credit.

He rushed out, forcing the dark shadow in front of him to hide in the alley. This alley was originally used as a ditch and was only wide enough for one person to pass sideways. Parker was a little nervous, and the dimly lit world made it difficult for him to see what was inside.

At the critical moment, the more perceptive old captain was already standing on the other side of the alley, shouting at the people inside to come out.

"Someone actually dared to sneak around in the frozen land."

The people in the alley were a little nervous, and finally, after other people gathered around, they couldn't help but walk out and kneel on the ground.

"Wright?"

The old captain was surprised, he recognized who this man was.

Then he said sternly:
"Why are you sneaking around so late at night?"

He scolded, and Wright said it after hesitating.

"I'm going to look for Fox."

"What on earth do you want to do?"

The old captain's voice was murderous.

Because he knew the identity of the person in front of him, and he also knew the identity of the Fox he was talking about.

They have the same origin, that is, they are the people of the kingdom who were conscripted during the war between kingdoms.

"I...we just want to bring our family over."

During the process of conscription, women, children and the elderly would of course not be allowed to join the army. These young and strong men are important labor forces and family pillars. After arriving in the Frozen Territory, they missed their families.

(End of this chapter)