The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Meanwhile, Wesker Evans, the head of the Champagne Nobles, had just finished receiving envoys from the capital and excitedly convened a family meeting.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our Evans family's chance to turn things around has arrived!"

"Now, the evil Lars family has been wiped out by the repentant Doug Lars, along with reinforcements from the capital and our friends on the border. Now, we only need to eliminate the last old Lars hiding in the west to completely end the Lars family's rule in the North and usher in a new era!"

Everyone present applauded excitedly. Many of them already knew about it, but they were relieved only after Wesker confirmed it.

The Lars family has been cultivating the North for too long. If they are not wiped out in one fell swoop, they will inevitably face a terrifying counterattack.

Now, a branch of the Lars family has completely sided with the royal family. With the help of the royal family and the demons, they have seized a large territory, including the valley, and ambushed and killed Grand Duke Lars on his way back to the North.

It can be said that as long as the last thorn in the side of the Lars family in the North is removed, the Lars family, which has ruled the North since the founding of the kingdom, will be nothing more than Augustine's dog.

Of course, Doug Lars's methods were not honorable. Not to mention the rules of the War of Succession established by Grand Duke Lars, the noble wars of this era also followed very absurd and primitive etiquette. For example, before the war, a formal declaration of war had to be submitted, a time and place had to be agreed upon, and everyone had to count to three before the war could begin.

Even if this rule is stupid and shouldn't be followed, it's still wrong to use the fact that you're also a member of the Lars family as a pretext for diplomatic negotiations to send your two nephews out of the city and then send troops to raid your home.

Moreover, they even colluded with foreign tribes to attack their own people, which is rather shameless.

But no one cared about these details, because Doug Lars and his brothers won. Although the two nephews escaped because they were lured out of the city before the battle, and the little niece who ambushed them also slipped away, at least Grand Duke Lars was dead.

Although it's impossible to take Winterhold, the stronghold of Grand Duke Lars, in the short term, as long as his supplies are cut off, the old men inside the fortress will either have to wait to die or surrender.

Now, if we can overthrow the gray-collar workers that Lena Lars belongs to, a new era will begin.

As the head of the Champagne aristocracy, Wesker had already secretly placed his bets: on Doug Lars, or rather, on the royal family behind Doug Lars to win. Clearly, the time to reap the rewards has arrived.

A newly established viscountry is practically within the Evans family's grasp. If they win this battle, the Champagne Nobility will no longer refer to a group of nobles, but will now refer solely to the Evans family. From then on, the Evans family will no longer be a noble family that can only bully others in the western North, but a truly first-class family.

Although the main force was unable to come to the west because it had to suppress the newly occupied territory, this was precisely the significance of the Evans family's existence, not to mention the other allies who came to support them this time.

Although Wesker would have preferred they hadn't come, these people, seeing the war was over, immediately came to say they wanted to wipe out the remnants of the old Lars family, clearly just there to grab a slice of the pie. This made Wesker, who had already placed his bet, very unhappy. However, for the Evans family, who had already reserved the biggest slice of the pie, this was also a way to maintain balance in the western North in the future.

Since everyone shared the same corpse, they would all be on the same side from then on.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let us give a warm welcome to the bard who brought this alliance together, and also my personal confidant, the bard of the epic writing school—Lucanus!"

Amid cheers from the crowd, the bard, dressed in a brightly colored and exaggerated costume and blindfolded, entered the arena.

Everyone was already used to this outfit.

Just as Lucanos was about to bow, Wesker helped him up.

"Your Excellency, you mustn't."

After saying this, Lucanus stubbornly bowed.

"Why not? You're the one who showed me the way. If it weren't for you, I'd still be holed up in my room counting money."

Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

For those who didn't know Lucanus, Wesker explained, "Our current success is all thanks to Mr. Lucanus's lobbying. Our family was able to seize the opportunity and rise to become the leading family in the North. If we had been like Jefferson, hedging our bets, we would still be just minor nobles sitting at home counting money."

Lucanus humbly replied, "I merely guided you to the right destiny; after all, we are bards of the Compilation School."

“We, the bards of the epic writing school, are different from the recorders. We are not only responsible for recording history, but we also take the stage ourselves to create magnificent epics. And now, Your Excellency, you are the protagonist of my epic.”

Before Wesker could even offer a humble reply, Lucanos continued enthusiastically, "It's not enough to just wait for new heroes to create epics. True bards should create epics and myths themselves! I believe that under the leadership of the Evans family, humanity will reclaim the glory of the Rhom Empire."

Röm was the last human empire, dating back a thousand years, and is also known as the legendary golden age of mankind. The kingdoms of Cape and Anjou both split off from the Röm Empire and claim to be the legitimate successors of the Röm Empire.

Of course, for people today, this empire is just a legend.

This was somewhat disrespectful, after all, it was still the time of Augustine, but no one present cared about that, and they all stood up to applaud Lucanus, even opening champagne—in a physical sense.

"Once the allied forces arrive and eliminate the last Lars, I will present you with my carefully crafted epic story. At that time, you will be the hero who saves the North."

Lucanus took out his lute and sang for the people present.

In the midst of this pleasant atmosphere, a discordant voice rang out.

“Father! Doug Lars not only violated the honor and rules of the nobility, but also suppressed local merchants and exploited his own people in order to please the demons. He even killed his own father. Do we really want to associate with such a person?”

Wesker stopped opening the champagne and realized it was his short-tempered youngest son, Jim.

Although most families dote on their youngest son, Wesker grew increasingly displeased with him, so he assigned him many arduous tasks that required him to run around. Unexpectedly, the more places the boy went, the worse his temper became, and the more he liked to contradict his family.

"Moreover, based on what I saw when I last visited Gray Collar, their people are very united, and their lord is deeply loved. It probably won't be so easy to conquer them."

Wesker scolded him with exasperation, "Being a good person doesn't put food on the table! What can a bunch of peasants do? You might as well talk about the remaining fifty cavalrymen of the Gray Collar! Men, drag Jim away and shut him in for a period of reflection!"

"Father!"

Before Jim could say anything more, the guards immediately dragged him back to his room.

"Alright, guests, I'm sorry my son isn't quite right in the head. Let's continue opening the champagne! Today's bill is on me."

Of course, Wesker felt that Jim had some merit. As the future ruler of the western North and a nobleman about to be promoted to a first-rate family, Wesker felt that he couldn't afford to win as badly as Doug Lars.

Although it wasn't like the traditional aristocracy where everyone had to agree on a time and shout "three, two, one" to start the war, a declaration of war still had to be sent first, and envoys still had to be dispatched.

After all, it was already a sure win, and Wesker wanted to win in a more dignified way. Moreover, winning without fighting would be the best outcome, as it would also prevent his allies who were preparing to attack Lars from getting the biggest slice of the pie.

However, Wesker still needed to discuss this matter with Lucanus, and after inquiring, Lucanus clearly expressed his support.

"Subduing the enemy without a fight will add even more luster to your epic saga."

Upon hearing this answer, Wesker stroked his beard, already able to imagine the scene of the once arrogant Lars surrendering to him.