Throne of the North.

Chapter 208 The Nobles and the Truth of the World
Ryan and Brand explained that he had enough patience and tolerance towards his guardian knight.

The young man who was in the snow grew up little by little. After coming into this world, Brand experienced a life that was completely different from before.

In the former Exner, apart from going out to find food, he would listen to the village elders telling stories from more than a hundred years ago, but he had never seen a different world beyond the ice and snow.

Until he came to the Frozen Territory and came to this world, he experienced a lot and saw a lot, but it was also because of this that the young man became silent because of the need to adapt to the different world.

But he has never changed his heart. His original intention is still the Brand who was discovered by Ryan in the village. He is growing and maturing, but he is still himself.

Brand is different from Brock and Etria. Those two siblings can still talk, but of course, they are more of a tireless blacksmith.

"If it weren't for what Count Weiss did, perhaps the natives of this world would have become our friends, but now that it has happened..."

Ryan pointed at the natives that Rosen was killing.

"They never thought of distinguishing us. Or rather, they were already dead when Count Weiss captured all of their people. All they had left was hatred for us."

"All we can do is to strengthen ourselves, so that one day, we won't become like them."

"Norris Continent, which is our world, Brand, you probably don't know much about it yet."

"I just heard from Harrington and others that the South is warm and the West Coast is prosperous."

Brand told the truth that he had been to the Imperial City, and everything he saw along the way was very different, different from Exnel, different from the Frozen Territory, everything was different.

"But do you know the truth?"

Ryan said:
"I just recently figured out something, which is that the prosperity of the empire and the prosperity of Norris Continent actually have a huge reason behind them."

"That is to support the Norris Continent. The Empire has never been a world or a land of resources."

"It's many worlds."

"Just like the Frozen Territory, if there were no otherworldly plane, the Frozen Territory would be very poor and miserable."

"It's like this for Earl Weiss, it's like this for Earl Winter, and it's like this for Earl Solon's family."

"This is true for the Northern Province, this is true for the Empire, and this is true for the entire southern land."

"Many different worlds have been found by powerful transcendents. Those legends can even turn divinity into their own power. This is a world, but it is also a land connected to many resources from different worlds."

"Do you think you are the only outsiders? No, the people living in this world are not just from one world, but natives from many worlds."

"Some of them even still exist as nobles."

"It's just that you don't know, because their arrival may date back to a hundred years ago. Many of the people you hear and see now may be the descendants of those who came to Norris Continent from other worlds."

"After all, this is all because of the pan-dimensional war between the gods. It is not just one or two worlds that are facing the prospect of not being able to survive and being eroded by winter."

Ryan knew a lot about the war in the North Wind Province, and heard a lot about it. Naturally, he also made a lot of guesses. For example, the Earl of Winter's family, as a great noble family from the south, did he abandon all his roots in the south after coming to the North Wind Province?
How big would the fiefdom of an earl be? Did Earl Winter give it up just for the position of Governor of the Northern Wind Province?

Impossible, but Ryan had never heard of any industry of the Earl of Winter's family in the South.

Then the only answer is that they have no land.

Without land, he was able to come to the North Wind Province, because when he arrived here, the Empire promised to grant Earl Winter a fiefdom after victory in the war.

Why would a great nobleman be without land? There are two possibilities.

One is that Earl Winter comes from the northern two-thirds of the land covered with ice and snow on the Norris continent. He was once a noble on those lands. The other is that he comes from another dimension.

Ryan tends to believe the second possibility, because apart from having relations with some nobles in the empire, the Earl of Winter's family has little communication with the nobles further south, that is, those outside the empire.

The circle of nobles is very small, even in the former Norris continent. The nobles of the northernmost kingdom may have a marriage relationship with the nobles of the southernmost kingdom. As long as there is such a chance, they can establish a relationship.

As long as the nobility is passed down long enough, it will be like a huge spider web. Many corners of the spider web may not be useful, but there will always be a time when spiders will crawl to those corners.

The Earl of Winter’s family is indeed not a noble family with a simple background. They have a very long history. Since it has been so long, yet they have not formed a spider web, then what else could be the answer?

It could just be that they haven't had time to weave their own web in a new world.

One Earl of Winter is like this. How many nobles like Earl of Winter are there in the empire? There must be many.

Especially in the provinces on the northern border of the empire, there are probably many nobles with such origins.

As Ryan's horizons and knowledge broadened, he gradually realized that this kind of thing was not surprising.

He was even thinking about another thing.

That is the Marquis among the five ranks of nobility.

Among the five ranks of nobility, marquises are special because they all come from the royal family. There are as many powerful marquises as there are provinces in the empire except the Boreal Province. Every marquis is a member of the Columbus royal family. They are the eyes of the royal family, keeping an eye on every province.

This also led to the fact that among the five ranks of nobility in the empire, the grand duke was the highest, but the next was the earl. This was also the reason why some earls had difficulty in being promoted to the title even though their strength was close to that of the grand duke.

Why is the Columbus royal family so powerful? As the only powerful empire owner who survived the Pan-dimensional War of Gods, is it difficult for them to make a fortune from the war, the fall of gods, and the otherworldly planes?
Moreover, if the royal family is powerful, then aren’t the four grand dukes powerful as well?

Grand Duke Meyers conquered the entire North Wind Province and was sent away with a basket of development orders, but he did not fall out with the Empire. Why?
Because in the eyes of Grand Duke Meyers, the loss of these interests is not enough to become a cause of dissension. Simply put, it is not worth turning against the empire and the royal family over such a small matter.

By the same token, isn't the Earl of Clayton's family, from which Ryan came, powerful? Do you really think that Earl Clayton led 30,000 Fire Dragon Knights straight into the North and killed through the Mammoth Man territory because of legends and dragons?
Where did they get their strength and wealth?

This is not difficult to guess.

As Ryan entered a bigger and higher circle, many truths became self-evident.

(End of this chapter)