The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

After reading the report on today's battle results and the territory's production status, Linde looked up and, sure enough, found that Lena was fast asleep.

It looked like he had been asleep for a long time; the blankets were kicked off everywhere, drool was dripping from his mouth, and a small part of his clothes had been lifted up at some point. He was also scratching his lower abdomen with his right hand, looking completely out of sleep.

As a time traveler, Linde couldn't tolerate anyone sleeping with their belly button exposed, so, in a fit of obsessive-compulsive disorder, Linde covered Lena with the blanket again.

Looking at Lena's relaxed sleeping posture, Lind recalled that question again: "Do you like it?"

This question may no longer need an answer; both parties have become an integral part of each other's lives.

At this moment, Lena was sleeping on a makeshift cot set up in the camp tent, right next to Lind's office. But it didn't seem to matter much usually. Lena seemed to have fallen asleep after listening to Lind's reports several times before, and later she simply slept next to Lind's desk.

Her sleeping posture also changed from the Sleeping Beauty at the beginning to become more and more unrestrained, seemingly because being next to Lind made Lena more and more relaxed.

Like a cat, it is very alert in the wild and dares not sleep soundly. Even when it is asleep, it maintains a fighting posture. But after being adopted for a long time, its sleeping posture begins to become abstract.

According to Lena herself, even in her sleep, she can immediately react if anyone enters the area of ​​her knightly domain, including her knights. That's why Lena can sleep soundly and keep watch without worry.

But this rule didn't apply to Lind at all. Whether Lind was going in and out to get documents or helping to cover himself with a blanket, Lena didn't react at all. If the maid hadn't accidentally stepped into the tent while handing Lind a document, Lind would have even thought that Lena's knightly stance had failed.

After extinguishing his lantern, Linde stepped out of the camp tent, where the guards had been waiting for some time.

"You've captured a strange prisoner, haven't you?"

"Yes sir."

The guard explained, “He was wearing a strange theatrical costume and was blindfolded. He claimed to be a composer bard who had come to join us. We tried many methods to control him, including tying him up with ropes, locking him in a cell, and putting him in shackles, but he easily broke free.”

The guard's description grew increasingly bizarre, and Linde, carrying a lantern, encountered the shackled bard in the cell.

"My king! My esteemed king, it is an honor to meet you. I am your most loyal jester, Lucanus!"

Through the iron bars, Lucanus, wearing shackles, was unusually excited to see Lind and gave a deep bow, but the shackles jammed his movements during the bow.

Upon seeing this, Lucanus withdrew his hand, causing the shackles to fall off, and then continued to bow meticulously.

It was indeed very strange. Linde stroked his chin and began to think. Lucanus's movements were somewhat like the art of bone shrinking, but it was different from the bone shrinking techniques Linde had seen in his previous life. Lucanus was not only more fluid and didn't require any preparation, but more importantly, the feeling he got from this set of movements was that the body didn't belong to him.

To Lucanus, his body was like a toy that he could knead at will.

"My esteemed king, are you satisfied with your jester's first performance?"

Lucanus lay prostrate on the ground, looking exactly like a jester.

"Are you mistaken? I am merely a viscount from the frontier, not your king."

A servant brought over a chair, and Lind sat down comfortably.

Linde was always wary of bards. Most of them worked as spies, perhaps double agents, but more often unaffiliated spies. They were only responsible for collecting intelligence and then selling it. It didn't matter whose intelligence they stole or to whom they sold it.

While merchants might be somewhat understandable, since they only care about gold coins, bards are completely incomprehensible in their thinking.

Although they gathered intelligence, most of it was embellished by the bards, making it difficult to distinguish between truth and falsehood. Moreover, they weren't motivated by money; sometimes they simply wanted to incite conflict between two nobles, constantly releasing information to stir up trouble.

"No, you are my king, and your status will not change because of your denial."

"But according to the investigation, weren't you Wesker's retainer before? Are you planning to surrender after losing the battle?"

Linde was also a little puzzled. After all, this bard could have easily escaped, so why did he insist on staying with him?

"Because we were still very confused before, a new storm was about to break out in this world, but we still hadn't found the starting point of the epic. We could only keep expanding our goals and include all possible people as candidates for the starting point of the epic."

After listening, Linde became even more confused. What was the new storm? And what was the starting point of the epic?

Seemingly sensing Lind's doubt, Lucanus said, "My king, I am your courtier, and I will tell you everything I know."

"As you have probably noticed, the demons have begun to emerge from the eternal tundra, the human empire has split, and subsequent kingdoms have begun to disintegrate. The Anjou dynasty in the south has begun reforms, cultists are starting to stir, and alien races, just like in the past, are waiting for humanity to collapse on its own, preparing to seize humanity's glory."

"And we, as witnesses to history, need to find the starting point of this epic story and witness this heroic epic!"

Linde roughly understood that the bard in front of him meant that the world was about to change, and that they were responsible for recording history.

"So you previously thought Wesker would be the key to a turning point in history?"

“We still believe that he is, he is just a footnote to your hegemony, but also your most perfect stepping stone.”

Lucanus's face showed undisguised fanaticism, even a hint of madness, like that of a fanatic.

"So what exactly are you bards? Are you only responsible for recording history? Then why do you act as spies for the nobility?"

Linde had initially thought that bards were just a group of singers who also acted as spies, but it seems that the bards of this world are not so simple.

“We bards are mainly divided into two schools: the epic writing school, which I belong to, and another school of historical record-keeping.”

Lucanus seemed genuinely open with Lind, continuing, "We compilers believe that when compiling historical materials, we can add our own perspectives to make this history more magnificent and grand. Therefore, when recording, we choose to step into the fray ourselves, becoming retainers of some nobles and manipulating some dramatic plots."

"As for the documentary group, they are a bunch of old-fashioned people who are neither interesting nor loyal."

So that's how it is. No wonder those bards would stir up trouble for no reason; it was just to make their epic tales seem more exciting.

"So you're going to manipulate me to add some drama to the epic you're recording?"

Seeing that this guy was really going to tell him everything, Linde continued to ask.

“No, you are different. You are not only recorded in our epic, but you are also our king. I have only infinite loyalty to you. Of course, you can choose not to believe us, but our loyalty has nothing to do with whether you believe us or not.”

“You’ve been referring to yourself as ‘we’ from the beginning. Does that mean your group of bards is a collective?”

Without hesitation, Lucanos continued, “No, humanity has never been united, and neither have we bards. Even though we are all writers, each of us has a different king or protagonist in mind, which has led to different branches of our society. Most of the bard groups went to the Kingdom of Anjou in the south because the new king there is actively reforming, making great strides, and reorganizing the army. He seems more like the victor of the next chapter of history than the Kingdom of Capet.”

"But our branch is different. The body of the corrupted is more likely to nourish new life, and heroes in adversity are more likely to attract people's attention."

"From this day forward, you will be the sole king of our Lucanus branch, and we will provide you with all the intelligence gathered by the bards of the Lucanus branch."