The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

New empires established amidst war are often very vibrant, especially compared to the aging medieval nobles on the continent of Solon. Many things that no one in the empire cares about can be talked about as legends for a long time among these old nobles. It is as if the current empire is experiencing the glorious era that the Solon nobles talk about their ancestors.

For example, there were many imperial nobles on the Black Sail who came to Sauron with the army. Many of these nobles were even the only sons of a certain family. In the Sauron continent, even the most adventurous families would not let their only sons go on adventures unless they were desperate.

But in the newly established Roel Empire, those families not only threw all their descendants onto the ship, but this spot also required family power and connections to snatch it up. Only the most promising child in the family could be sent there.

After all, it's incredibly difficult to earn military merit on the Mu Continent. Apart from the Black Sail, even the small boats on the periphery are highly competitive, with everyone scrambling to get in. While this is largely driven by self-interest, the newly formed empire is indeed more radical and adventurous than the nobles of the Soren Continent.

Thanks to the fact that the Laurent family had already pledged allegiance during the Northern Wars, coupled with Pierre Laurent's skillful management and Emily Laurent's active role in the army, old Pierre finally secured two slots and sent his two good-for-nothing sons to the Black Sails. He didn't expect his sons to gain any merit, but rather to earn some military credit along the way, so that they would have more protection in the future and be treated leniently if anything happened.

After all, Emily's heart was entirely focused on Darcy and the army. Although she was flirting with Pierre, he knew that it was basically impossible to find a husband for Emily now.

Although Pierre had experienced a resurgence in his life, remarried for his two sons, and was still in good health, he still had to think about the future.

Old Pierre always disliked his two sons, but they weren't actually stupid; they were just average-looking. However, thanks to the aristocratic education they received from a young age, coupled with Pierre's later teachings, the two sons were able to stand on their own after graduating from the Northern Academy. If nothing unexpected happened, the two sons would be able to run the Laurent family business after they separated from the family in the future.

At this moment, old Pierre was reading the newspaper, wondering where his two sons should be now. He guessed they should have reached the continent of Solon by now. If Lord Sean had acted quickly, they might have already finished the first battle. He wondered if the two lads had earned any military merits.

Contrary to what old Pierre had expected, René and Alain had not yet earned any military merit. The two brothers had just been rescued by Sean from their clerical work in the rear and were now responsible for receiving the "Morning Star Apostles" sent by Cartier.

It all started with old Pierre's new wife. She came from a minor noble family and had little vision, but she doted on Emily and his two "foolish" brothers. So, through special channels, she sent gifts to Myron before setting off, hoping that Myron would take care of René and Alain so that they could be the first to charge into battle and win the first merit.

Myron was furious. The battle hadn't even started yet, and these nobles were already planning to divide the credit. Although the advantage was indeed significant, and there was no question of bloodshed or sacrifice, corruption often begins with seemingly trivial matters. After all, the Black Sail was essentially still isolated overseas and couldn't afford to be careless.

So, Myron, who was getting angrier the more he thought about it, not only refused to accept the gift, but also brought the matter up before attacking Domingo.

“Some people want her sons to be on the front lines fighting, but I’ll make sure her sons are clerks!”

All the noble sons who wanted to get to the front lines through connections were kicked to the back to do clerical work by Myron.

René Laurent and Alain Laurent were thus relegated to the back. Of course, the two weren't truly stupid, especially after their advanced studies at the academy, their work abilities far surpassed those of ordinary clerks. So, seeing that it was a waste for them to stay in the back, Sean sent them to receive the Morning Star Apostles sent by Cartier.

The two brothers didn't complain much, because under Pierre's repeated guidance, they had a clear understanding of their own position and dared not do anything reckless again.

"Is this what they call an apostle?"

Looking at the emaciated people before him, Alan turned to his elder brother and asked, "Aren't these really not refugees?"

"you guessed right."

After René counted the number of people and confirmed that there were no mistakes, he said to his brother, "They are really similar to refugees, maybe even worse off."

At this moment, the other officials present also fell silent. They had heard Sean talk about the so-called Morning Star Apostles, which were actually brain servants of the Lantern Dream. What would become of these brain servants in the end? According to the Lantern Dream, if there were no protective devices, it would be a good ending if the brain servants' brains were burned off. More likely, they would become idiots, unable to be squeezed out of any computing power, and would be cruelly discarded.

Not to mention, according to Ms. Bernice's analysis, the Dark Night Holy Court's technology is quite backward. Forget about protective devices, they are even still performing human sacrifices, praying to their non-existent cruel god to let the rituals go smoothly. This is inefficient and causes irreversible damage to the human brain.

Looking at the child who was only slightly taller than his knees, René lowered his head to wipe the dirt off the child's face and asked, "Where are you from?"

Montaras.

The dirty, gender-indiscernible child in front of them spoke in a muffled accent.

"Where is that? Do you know exactly where in Castile?"

"No, I don't know. What is Castile? We only know the Marquis of Montara."

You could tell the child was very nervous. He could only gesture the location of Montaras to René with his hands, and more and more unfamiliar place names came out of his mouth. These were places that were not marked on the map.

"You don't even know Castile?"

Not only the children, but many of the Morning Star Apostles who were sent there shook their heads. Some genuinely didn't know, while others came from other regions outside Castile because they couldn't make a living there and had come to the relatively wealthy Castile to beg for food.

Afterwards, René took Alain to ask these people many questions, and after they had washed themselves and settled in, he began to prepare the report to Sean.

René discovered a crucial problem among these Morning Star Apostles: the sense of nationhood and statehood on the continent of Solon was extremely weak.

Because the continent of Mu was unified once by the old empire, and both kingdoms claim to be the successors of the empire, the people of both kingdoms, even in the most remote places, such as Hidden Mountain Territory, at least have the concept that they are Anjou people.

But in Soren, the concept of Castilians only existed among nobles with vested interests. Most commoners only knew the surname of their lord. This division was more severe than that of the Capets, who not only inherited the unified territory of the old empire but also had Augustine consolidating power. Castilia, however, was divided into seven parts under the manipulation of those nobles.

It's important to understand that both Anjou and Capet had considered annexing each other to restore the glory of the old empires, and they had been working towards this goal. A nobleman wanted to split the country into seven pieces? Even when Lind was about to lead the North to de facto independence, Kran thought of using the title of governor to keep the North nominally under Capet's control. He wouldn't even dare to think about splitting it into seven pieces.

And the Castilian nobles did just that. They had no concept of unity whatsoever. In fact, the other six countries besides Castilian were living peacefully together and had recognized each other. Being divided into seven parts seemed to them not as a burden, but as a relief.

Of course, if we have to say something, at least these ordinary people have some ideas about fighting against the Avars. After all, resisting the Avars is a consensus among everyone in the alliance, but that's all.

René finished writing his report. Even though he had asked many merchants about the situation on the continent of Solon before, it was still better to ask the common people on the continent of Solon what this world was really like.

Some of the bloody realities of the continent of Sauron were brought to Sean's table along with this group of Morning Star Apostles.