The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Herbert always felt that the world shouldn't be like this. Girls of this age in Cape should be either studying at school or working part-time, enjoying the beautiful years of their youth.

Instead of being sold for a few copper coins to some unknown entity and then transformed into emotionless human messengers.

Looking at the caged girl beside him who seemed to have experienced some emotional fluctuation just now, Herbert smiled self-deprecatingly, realizing that he had actually felt sympathy for her.

If it were her past self during the time of Augustine, upon seeing this novel human communicator, she would probably have played with it like the nobles of Anjou. However, after working for Capet for a while, Herbert actually felt that doing so was wrong, and that the world should not be like this.

After this little incident, Herbert lost interest in strolling around the factory district.

Seeing that Herbert had lost interest, the nobleman who was with him didn't say anything, politely said goodbye to Herbert, and left.

While the nobleman was away, Herbert asked the caged girl about her former family. Because the girl's eyes had softened earlier, Herbert guessed that this might help her remember more things.

Unfortunately, the girl in the cage remained as dazed as before. After sighing, Herbert began to wonder what stupid thing he was doing.

In the days that followed, Herbert did not treat the caged girl as an object like other nobles, but as a living person, eating with her and going out with her.

Although some nobles mocked Herbert's foolishness, Herbert was wealthy after all, so they simply regarded it as Herbert's personal quirk. Nobles have always been very respectful of other people's quirks.

After losing interest in visiting the factory district, Herbert naturally began strolling around the parish of the Church of War, appearing as if he wanted to convert to the Church. Coupled with his lavish spending, he was quickly and warmly welcomed by the Church of War.

The Church of War looked no different from usual, but Herbert fell silent after walking around it.

Something's not right, it's getting more and more wrong. Before, Herbert just thought that some heretics or cultists had taken over some parishes of the Church of War, causing the believers in those parishes to become increasingly strange.

But after delving deeper, Herbert discovered that something seemed to be wrong with the God of War's condition.

Although divine pronouncements are generally vague, the general direction can still be discerned. Most of the abstract pronouncements are reworked by religious leaders for various reasons.

However, recently the intervals between the divine pronouncements issued by the God of War have become shorter and shorter. Moreover, even after being processed by the religious leadership, Herbert could sense that these pronouncements were contradictory. One moment they wanted to start a war, and the next they did not. The Church of the God of War could only interpret this as the God of War hoping to stop the war with war.

He had to leave Anjou immediately, otherwise Herbert felt he wouldn't be able to go back.

After returning to his base in Anjou, Herbert, as was his habit, continued to talk with the caged girl beside him.

"The Church of the God of War is getting stranger and stranger. Do you think the God of War himself might be having some problems in his divine kingdom?"

Herbert leaned back in his rocking chair and chatted idly with the doll-like girl beside him.

While it may sound somewhat blasphemous, it doesn't involve any secrets, since Herbert was merely offering his comments as a visiting heretic.

Herbert didn't spend much time with the caged girl. Although her answers were usually not very helpful, Herbert gradually began to treat her as someone he chatted with.

"God of War...God of War..."

The caged girl finally answered the question.

"The God of War... has changed."

Herbert immediately stopped the rocking chair from swaying.

“I...saw the Kingdom of God.”

The girl in the cage was unaware of what strange change had occurred, but her speech became increasingly fluent.

In that instant, Herbert jumped up from the rocking chair, quickly drew the curtains, and sent a coded signal to his own guards outside by knocking on the wall, before covering the mouth of the girl in the cage.

The guards outside received the signal, and after patrolling the area, they leaned against a specific spot and tapped the wall with their weapons to indicate that there was no problem.

Herbert then released his grip, signaling the girl in the cage to continue speaking.

"The God of War... has turned black in the divine realm."

"The God of War has turned black? What does it mean that you can see the divine realm? Do you have your own consciousness now?"

Herbert asked a series of questions before realizing he had been too hasty.

After taking a deep breath, Herbert softened his tone and patiently asked, "You can see the Kingdom of God? Really?"

“We...converse...through the Kingdom of God.”

"The God of War... wants to... descend."

Herbert felt a buzzing in his head.

Has his own caged girl undergone a transformation? Or do the other caged girls also know this secret? If it's the latter, Herbert feels he can't possibly leave Anjou alive.

The caged girl before him remained dazed and wooden, but she tugged at Herbert's sleeve and said to him in an urgent tone, "Escape..."

......

When the Anjou security guards arrived at Herbert's residence, they found it deserted.

"Search! Don't let a single rat escape!"

After he finished speaking, the security guards rushed into Herbert's mansion in Anjou and searched everywhere.

These security guards didn't actually have any dirt on her; it was just an order from their superiors to keep Herbert, this big fat sheep, in the country. They had received news that war was imminent, and some of the fat sheep they were keeping should be slaughtered, especially someone like Herbert who could smuggle weapons. Controlling him would be very useful.

But when the officer in charge of the security guards discovered that Herbert's residence had been deserted and empty, he immediately realized something was wrong.

The officer waited outside for a long time, only to find that the search was taking longer than usual.

"Did you find anything?"

The officer stood ramrod straight, asking questions of the security guards who were constantly busy around him.

The officer in charge of the security guards smiled obsequiously and said, "Sir, that Herbert left behind quite a few good things. Our men have searched them all. Here, this is your share!"

As he spoke, the garrison commander called over the other garrison guards, who pushed over a box filled with all sorts of jewelry and gold coins.

"So, you're saying your searches were all about these things?"

The officer felt his blood pressure gradually rising.

"Yes, sir, that Herbert is really rich. Don't worry, the lion's share will be yours, and my brothers and I will just have some soup."

"idiot!"

The officer slapped the sheriff so hard he sent him flying.

"Is it about money now? The fact that they escaped beforehand means they have special intelligence channels and are hiding something. They're a spy! A spy, understand?! You're still searching for the treasure they deliberately left behind? Issue an official document immediately for a nationwide manhunt for that smuggler!"