Tome of Blood

Chapter 341 -191- Invitation from the Grand Duchy of the North

The Grand Duchy of the North is the northern neighbor of the New Moon Kingdom. It was a tribal alliance a few decades ago, and it has only recently been reformed into a feudal serf monarchy under the leadership of a talented and generous 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.

Today is no exception. Even though the Northern Grand Duchy has long been civilized, it is still incompatible 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 who are also from the Unet kingdoms 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 considered 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.

In particular, there are no cases in history where nobles of border territories turned around and fell into the arms of neighboring countries after they launched a war of independence against their lords.

In the feudal era, legal principles were legal principles, and reality was 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 mission sent by the Grand Duchy of the North at this moment was not to win over Charlotte.

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

Charlotte was not surprised by this.

She still has thousands of Isaac hussars from the northern border in her hands. Such a large number of mercenaries is not a small number for the northern border, especially there are also northern nobles among them.

Adventurous is the nature of people in the north, whether it is becoming a pirate or a mercenary.

Even though the country has been feudalized for a long time, many people in the northern border still enjoy adventure, including many nobles in the northern border.

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

And this time, the envoys sent by the Grand Duchy of the North were precisely for these captives.

"The benevolent, wise, wealthy, and beautiful Lord of the North, the Earl of Castel, and the Special Envoy of the Grand Duchy of the North, Hamid Kasimir Novak, sends you his highest 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 the purpose of your visit. As for the northern prisoners, I, Castel, have no intention of detaining them..."

"It's just that a prisoner is a prisoner after all, and 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 satisfactory price."

The Northern Envoy was even more respectful:

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

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

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

Although as a country, the Grand Duchy of the North is not rich, but the vast forest brings abundant resources of monsters.

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

To be honest, Charlotte is quite satisfied with the conditions offered by the Grand Duchy of the North. Castel does not lack secular currency, but what he lacks 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 of Dalu with a northern accent:

"Master 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 Isaac's hussars participating 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 understand, Lord Earl, so... what if, on top of this ransom, an additional 20% of mineral materials is added as compensation?"

Charlotte shook her head:

"Castel is not short of ore, and your compensation may have to be compromised from other places."

"Oh? Then what do you want?"

asked the Northern Envoy.

"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 mouth.

Strictly speaking, most of the horses ridden by Isaac's hussars who participated in the Northern Rebellion did not meet the rigid standards of war horses, but they were generally better than Castel's own horses.

After all, the hussars are light cavalry, and the quality requirements for the horses are not high.

But the standard warhorse that Charlotte is talking about here, is 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 terrible, and the dragon-scaled horse is no different. This thing can no longer be measured by ordinary war horses, it can be called a monster.

Many advanced knights don't have this kind of war horse.

A hundred horses...all of them are males. Even if the Grand Duchy of the Northern Territory has a lot of horses and a big family, it's not something that can be taken out casually.

Not to mention that this is what the neighboring countries requested, 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, it can even be called an "enemy" in a sense.

Large 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 what Charlotte said, the Northern Envoy also 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 emissary saluted Charlotte again, and replied respectfully:

"We understand, Lord Earl, we have agreed to your condition."

Charlotte: ...

Um?

Is that a promise?

Really agreed?

Her expression was inexplicable, and she couldn't tell for a while whether it was the envoy from the northern border who was lying to her, or whether the conditions of her lion's 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 even 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, Castel's cavalry might become human-like Gundams in a few years!

"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 not a scam, it's just a trick!

The Northern Envoy nodded slightly and replied:

"Of course, my lord earl, although your request is rather harsh, to show your 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 conditions?"

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

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

"Praise be holy, honorable 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 is looking 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 Royal Court..."

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 to 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-rank priest. Why didn't His Majesty ask the clergy to send priests, but Did you ask us to come here?"

"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 hearing what he said, Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, thoughtfully.

She understood the deeper meaning of the messenger.

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

The confusion of beliefs in the northern border 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 gods with bloody 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 its rule, it will also compete for power 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 the mission. 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 would be the best to invite you as a saint. Even if it's not convenient for you, if you can send some priests from the north that you approve, that's also fine."

The messenger said respectfully.

Negotiations with the Northern Envoys went much smoother than Charlotte had 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 wrangle with the envoys in the north.

The Northern Envoy resigned, and only Charlotte and Sebastian, who resumed his duties as housekeeper, were left in the meeting hall.

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

"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 laughed.

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' 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 hearing 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's expression suddenly became strange:

"Nice him... If my guess is not wrong, he should be playing hide-and-seek with Your Excellency Yurst right now..."

Charlotte: ...?