The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Sean was not surprised when he read René's report, because he had already sensed it when he entered the so-called city of Domingo.

When the imperial chariots rolled into the city, there was neither a warm welcome nor fierce resistance, but a numb indifference that seeped into the bones, as if the people here had been ravaged by countless wars, leaving the entire city without the capacity for sorrow, anger, or even fear.

Even when Myron entered the city, many craftsmen were unaware of what was happening and were still numbly building the castle for Domingo.

The castle was exceptionally magnificent; according to Rosalind, even though it was an unfinished structure under construction, it was far more ornate than the old castle in Cartier.

To be honest, given the level of development in Domingo, Sean couldn't understand why the other side dared to keep provoking Rosalind. After all, there weren't many people engaged in production in the entire Domingo Castile. More than two-thirds of the craftsmen were captured by Domingo to build this magnificent castle, not to mention the slaves captured to do hard labor.

Production in Domingo Castile came to a complete standstill, yet Domingo still declared war on Rosalind under these circumstances. If it were a way to divert attention from other problems, that would be understandable, but even after the declaration of war, the construction of the castle did not stop.

It was too strange. Sean couldn't understand it. Such exploitation of productivity should have caused the country to collapse long ago, even in the past when it was Capet. Yet, the country was still able to keep running.

It was said that there was aid from other Castiles, but most of that so-called aid was used to provide Domingo and Alonso with a life of luxury, and less than one-tenth of the aid was actually delivered.

Compared to Domingo, Doug only collecting taxes three times is practically a stroke of good fortune.

However, when Sean saw the nobles and knights kneeling before him and Rosalind, he understood somewhat. These nobles and knights were the ones who truly controlled the land and production. As long as they didn't collapse, they could provide Domingo with a continuous supply.

As for why these nobles and knights did not collapse, it was because they had no professional soldiers under their command. Apart from their personal guards, the militia could be put into production at any time to continue exploiting them. Coupled with the continuous slave trade and the bloody suppression by professionals, this makeshift organization actually managed to survive.

Now, all the nobles and knights under Domingo have been gathered by Sean. These nobles and knights are prostrate on the ground, their foreheads covered in cold sweat.

The war was beyond everyone's expectations because it was so fast that Domingo didn't even have time to react before he was already on the lamppost, and he didn't even have to use the super-tier magic he had prepared.

The empire's display of violence successfully intimidated everyone, and coupled with the Avars' silence, all nations and lords were trembling with fear.

The restless lords all fell silent overnight. The pressure cooker, which was about to explode, seemed to deflate and became completely still.

Sean chose to kill some of these nobles and spare others, keeping those less abstract nobles and knights, especially promoting those knights of lower birth.

The title granted by Sean was even more prestigious than any title granted by any so-called king on the entire continent. After all, there were many dubious titles and nobles on the continent, but this was a title granted by the empire, which was far superior to those worthless titles bought from who-knows-where. Even if these titles could not be inherited, it did not stop the nobles and knights from showing off their newly acquired titles.

Amidst the profuse thanks of the surviving nobles and knights, Sean gave each of them a copy of the Imperial Law, instructing them to study it carefully upon their return.

The situation was quickly stabilized, and no further rebellions occurred around the port of Valenia. Rosalind's previous policies finally began to be implemented, and the territories began to steadily resume production.

Will they rebel again?

The gray-robed man looked in the direction the nobles and knights had left with some worry. In his opinion, these nobles and knights were the most unreliable. If they were released now, would they really organize production and gather the population as required?

"No, they will not rebel, because they are no longer lords of Castile, but citizens of the Empire, and the people of their lands will also be citizens of the Empire."

Sean is instilling a new consciousness in these people who have a weak sense of national and ethnic identity, assuring them that once they accept their identity as citizens of the Empire, they will never betray it again.

Of course, that's not enough. All the nobles in key positions in their territories were killed by Sean, who even wiped them out completely. Sean is not as easy to talk to as he seems.

Those who took the place of those key positions were naturally the sons of imperial nobles who had been brought on board this time. These positions formed a large net on the map, locking down the other nobles. Even if those nobles wanted to rebel again, they would find that they were completely unable to move.

Sean was actually too conservative. Given the violent strength that Myron and his army had demonstrated, as long as they didn't encounter super-level magic, they could practically roam freely across the continent of Soron. Especially those magic-free environments affected by super-level magic, they wouldn't even need the Empire to intervene; they could conquer them simply by training the farmers a little.

When Rosalind heard that the nobles were descendants of the Empire, her expression became noticeably complicated. Although this era had no concept of sovereignty and was entirely based on the principle of the strong ruling, and the Empire had promised to retain the name Castile in the future, Rosalind was still somewhat dazed.

"Alright, time to prepare for the next battle."

Sean's words brought Rosalyn back to her senses.

"Don't you need to rest?"

Rosalind believes that the priority should be to consolidate the territory before making any plans.

"The empire's prestige must be built on victory. As long as we continue to win, the nobles who submit to us will become more secure."

Sean explained to Rosalind and continued, "And although the Empire's next supply will arrive soon, we must find a way to be self-reliant."

Sean looked at the other countries on the map and asked the gray-robed man and Rosalind, "Where are the magic stone mines in those surrounding areas?"

Although they used different names, the two who had lived on the continent of Mu still knew what magic stones were.

Rosalind immediately understood, looked around at the map, and said regretfully, "There's nothing left nearby. Even if there were, it would have been mined out long ago in the battles with the Avars."

There is certainly a demand for magic stones on the continent of Soron, even though the Soron people have a very low level of development of magic stones.

The gray-robed man, who knew more about this, said, "Behind the country of the Fourth Princess Elto, there is a stable source of magic stone in the Albal Rocky Land, but the situation there is complicated."

"Tell me more about it."

"In theory, Albar does not belong to any faction, because in the long-term tug-of-war, no faction has been able to completely occupy Albar. In addition, after the ravages of war, and with the backward production tools in Albar, the mining efficiency has become increasingly low. Therefore, it has become a no-man's land for gold prospectors, with only agents of a few major factions conducting magic stone trade in Albar."

After hearing what the gray-robed man said, Sean raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Then let's attack Elto Castile first, and then control the Albar Rocky Land through that area. As for the mining methods, don't worry. Just point out where the magic stones are, and the Empire will take care of the rest."

Yes, as everyone knows, magic stone veins breed the Roel Empire army.