The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Jefferson has been a bit irritable lately.

Jefferson, a member of the Champagne aristocracy, naturally received the invitation to join forces against the Lars family. Moreover, as a neighbor of the gray-collar workers, Jefferson was placed in a very important position.

But to be honest, Jefferson was somewhat reluctant, because the most direct beneficiaries of the development of gray and white-collar workers were the downstream town of Fason.

If things continue to develop so steadily, Jefferson will eventually surpass Wesker to become the head of the Champagne aristocracy.

If the gray-collar and white-collar industries are destroyed, the best outcome is that the benefits will be divided among everyone, and the worst outcome is that the Evans family will monopolize them.

At that point, forget about being fellow champagne aristocrats; Jefferson would probably only be able to carry Wesker's shoes. No wonder that guy wasn't very interested in gray-collar and white-collar business before, and only sent his least favorite youngest son.

However, Jefferson now had a good opportunity to make a name for himself. During the routine tax collection for merchant ships heading to the Grey and White Collar, Jefferson unexpectedly discovered Ruby and the old butler Sebastian hiding in the cabin.

Although they were made up, and looked like an ordinary grandfather and granddaughter, Ruby's acting skills were still lacking. Jefferson, who had met them once before when he was out doing business, still recognized them.

It was obvious that these two were heading to the gray-white territory where Lena was located. According to the alliance agreement and Jefferson's current stance, they should be detained immediately to claim credit.

But at this moment, Jefferson hesitated. As a well-known fence-sitter, Jefferson disliked doing risky things. Although everyone thought that the Grey Collar could be wiped out with a snap of the fingers, the old butler's hand had already reached behind him. Who knew what Lars's last strength could bring out?

To avoid a lose-lose situation, Jefferson pretended not to see anything, walked out of the cabin as if nothing had happened, and let them pass.

If you can't even get a share of the broth, why risk your life?

Jefferson's attitude was the same as his attitude towards these merchant ships. Even if he didn't know what they were carrying, as long as they paid taxes, he would still let them pass. What difference did it make whose money he made?

As a member of the lower-class Grey and White Collar, Jefferson wasn't worried at all. Only someone with a brain out of their mind would actually fight the Allied Forces. Jefferson believed that Lind was a smart man, and even if he didn't surrender, he would most likely end up siding with the Elves.

The old butler inside the cabin breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he had enough magical items to escape, he didn't want to cause chaos at this time.

The old steward grew increasingly desperate as he observed the situation. The nobles of the western North made no attempt to conceal their united stance, intending to devour the last piece of the pie together.

Even the nobles in the western North refused aid from other places, claiming they would eliminate the evil Lars family on their own, but in reality, they were afraid that other forces would come and take away their share.

The old butler now only wants to get Ruby to Gray Collar smoothly, and then take the two young ladies to escape into the Giant God Mountains to seek the protection of the elves.

However, when the merchant ship sailed into Gray and White Collar, the old butler noticed something was amiss. The riverbank was lined with neat buildings, huge waterwheels were turning slowly, and nuns wearing bird-beak masks were checking the hygiene of everyone on the merchant ship to prevent any disease from entering the territory.

Although he knew that Miss Lena would deliberately belittle the gray and white-collar workers in her letter in order to get more assistance, describing them as being the same as the streets around the capital, the old butler never dreamed that the real gray and white-collar workers would be like this.

"Grandpa, have we arrived?"

To maintain her disguise, Ruby had to call the butler "Grandpa" all the way, but it didn't matter, since Ruby had been calling the butler "Grandpa" all along.

"I am not sure."

When the ship entered the Gray Collar Port, the old butler still couldn't quite believe that this was the Gray Collar.

The crew members nearby were used to it and simply assumed that the other party was a country bumpkin from somewhere else.

"Name, age."

The nun's cold voice, who was in charge of registration, brought the old butler back to reality.

The old steward then noticed that everything on the territory seemed to be under control. This feeling was very familiar to him; it was the atmosphere that only a territory entering a state of war would have.

Instead of answering the nun's question directly, the old butler took out a token with a North Wind Bear tattooed on it from his pocket.

...

"Ruby!"

"elder sister!"

Lena and Ruby embraced and wept. This was the first time Lena had cried out loud since learning of Grand Duke Lars's death from the merchants.

"Sister, I'm so scared. I'm afraid that if I fall asleep, someone will kidnap me again."

"It's okay, your sister will protect you."

Lena cried and wiped away her tears while taking on the responsibility of being the eldest sister. Although Lena cried even louder than Ruby, her words seemed rather unconvincing.

Seeing Lena, who had been suppressing her emotions for so long, finally cry, Linde felt much more relaxed. The plot of this world had indeed gone awry. Linde never dreamed that Lena's uncles would actually dare to kill Grand Duke Lars.

Lind was just as surprised as he was when he heard that Isa had rebelled.

Gray and white-collar workers also entered a state of preparation after this.

Although not explicitly stated, it is now a widely accepted fact that the gray-collar workers have become the last remaining force of the Lars family in the western North.

Of course, strictly speaking, there are many people who are more representative of the Lars family than the gray-collar workers, such as Winterhold, which has not been breached to this day, Lena's two brothers whose whereabouts are unknown, and many resistance organizations.

But it's useless to talk about these things now. They just want to eliminate the last remaining force of the old Lars family. As for who that force is, it doesn't matter.

Even Lind, who hadn't yet married Lena, was inexplicably labeled as the legitimate son of Lars, since Lind hadn't cut ties with Lena immediately.

Linde could only sigh: Oh no, I've become the orthodox one.

“Mr. Lindroll, thank you for everything you’ve done for the young lady, but now I’m taking her to the elves. Of course, you can come along if you’d like.”

The old steward still held him in high esteem, after all, Linde had not sold Lena off immediately, and had even put the territory into a state of war preparedness, which far exceeded the old steward's expectations.

"Mr. Sebastian, do you mean I should run away?"

Linde isn't a coward, otherwise he wouldn't have put his territory on high alert, but he's not the kind of person who would fight the whole world for a woman in a fit of rage. His relationship with Lena is pretty much as Lena herself calls it—they're practically brothers, at least that's how Linde sees it for now.

Doesn't fighting the whole world for your brothers sound much more normal? Well, Lind just felt that surrendering was not an option, that's all. In the eyes of outsiders, the gray-collar area was entirely the territory of the Lars family, and surrendering was out of the question. Even if you surrendered, they would just put you in enemy clothes and keep firing.

“Sometimes running away doesn’t mean failure. We need to gather strength, connect with other righteous Lars people, and we will eventually have the day to counterattack.”

This is the safest approach. Lena's uncles are all illegitimate in their positions and are currently suppressing rebellions in their respective territories. In the old steward Sebastian's view, the Grey and White Collar cannot be defended by the Grey and White Collar alone, and it would be easy to blockade the Grey and White Collar.

The best course of action now is to escape together to the elves and seek their protection.

But if we just run away like this, wouldn't all those weapons we built have been for nothing?

Moreover, the number of gray-collar workers has now grown to several thousand, and they cannot be taken away at will.

Even if they only take the core team, there's no guarantee that the technology won't be leaked, which could make things even more difficult.

Of course, Linde could also give a French military salute, but would any time traveler really be that cowardly?

Just as Linde was pondering, another guest arrived at the gray-collar area; the one who was trying to persuade him to surrender had finally arrived.