The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

The next day, just when Balo thought things would calm down after he apologized, he discovered that the Twilight Tower was covered in red paint, and the words "Dissidents of the Demon Race" were written in red on the tower.

Anxious, Balo entered the mage tower and saw his colleague looking at him with a rather complicated expression.

"Barlow, it's fine for everyone to talk about demons, but how could you actually do it?"

Last night's events have been embellished and spread throughout the entire capital. Balo and his sister have been transformed into ugly, evil villains filled with racial prejudice. Just because a demon accidentally touched his sister, Balo wanted to use his status as a member of the Royal Professionals Association to chop off the demon's hand.

Before Balo could explain, the owner of the mage tower stepped forward and shouted, "Balo, you're fired!"

Many of Balo looked at him with sympathy. They knew this honest colleague very well. He wouldn't even dare to make eye contact with people, let alone discriminate against demons, let alone say such things in the street.

But there was no way around it. It wasn't just the pressure from the nobles above; if Balo wasn't dismissed, those people would incite the commoners, thugs, and students in the capital to block the entrance of the mage tower, making it impossible for the mage tower to even carry out its normal operations.

Those students from the capital who might have powerful connections are one thing, since their numbers aren't that many. But the Mage Tower doesn't even have the right to expel the commoners of the capital. If the Mage Tower were to take action against these commoners who usually look down on others, the nobles who normally don't care about the lives of their subordinates would immediately transform into benevolent magistrates and start impeaching them in a frenzy.

And using this as a pretext, they began to put pressure on the new king in order to slow down his reform policies.

Barlow returned to his home in the outer city in a daze, only to find that his house was also covered in red paint and graffiti. A terrible thought popped into Barlow's mind. Barlow rushed to his house like a madman, opened the door, and saw Sharon trembling in the corner.

"Brother, I'm so scared. After you left, they brought people and kept smashing up the house."

Balo hugged his sister tightly and comforted her, "It's alright, your brother is back."

Life had to go on, but overnight all the part-time jobs Barlow did heard about his situation and terminated their contracts to sever ties. Soon after, the debt collectors from Barlow's loan also came to his door to collect the debts.

"Barlow, it's time to pay back the money!"

"Sir, this doesn't make sense. Why is the interest rate so much higher than before?"

Barlow was shocked when he saw the bill in his hand. He had thought that even if he lost his job temporarily, he could slowly figure out a way with his savings, but the interest alone had already bankrupted him.

"You don't want to pay back the money? Aren't you afraid that people will start talking about you owing money to the demons and not paying it back?"

The debt collector slammed the IOU onto Barlow's table.

"Demons? Demons? Did I borrow this loan from demons?"

"Otherwise what? I'm just doing odd jobs. All this money belongs to the Demon Lord."

Barlow examined the loan agreement more closely and discovered that it was actually a well-disguised compound interest loan, also known as interest on interest.

Fear, confusion, anger—a surge of negative emotions rushed into Barlow's mind in an instant. But the debt collector merely glanced at Barlow's sister behind him, and Barlow calmed down, taking out all his assets to pay off the interest—just the interest.

"I'll be back next month, remember to be prepared, otherwise I think your sister is quite pretty."

The debt collectors left Barlow's house, which was covered in red paint, with a wicked grin.

At dusk, Balo dared not leave his sister alone at home any longer, so he took her to a job posting site.

To make matters worse, my younger sister's old illness relapsed, and she started coughing up blood.

A second-tier runemaster shouldn't be in such a sorry state, but no one of any standing dares to approach Barlow, even though Barlow's salary demands are less than those of a first-tier runemaster.

All Barlow wants now is to find a job that will allow him and his sister to survive.

"Brother, what do you think of this? It looks like we can both make it!"

Barlow looked in the direction his sister was pointing, and in the corner of the job postings, there was indeed a job with incredibly good pay.

However, the workplace description reads "gray-white collar".

Balor, who had been working at the Twilight Tower, knew this place; it was in the North, under the rule of Governor Lind Rol.

In the prevailing public opinion in the capital, the western North, where the Grey and White Collars resided, was both poor and barbaric. Next door, Doug Lars had been baptized by the King, reflecting on the mistakes of his family, and had become a member of the capital's nobility; there were even rumors that he would become the new Grand Duke of the North.

But Lind Raoul inherited all the vices of the old Lars, and it is said that he and Rena Lars ate two babies alive at every meal, making the land under his rule a living hell.

Barlow knew the truth was probably not that exaggerated, but he and his sister had both seen the painting that Cordick had shown depicting the situation in the North before.

However, the benefits advertised on the job posting board are indeed very generous, even higher than Balo's previous salary in Twilight Tower, and it includes a job assignment; even a Tier 1 Runemaster can be assigned a house.

As mentioned above, the governor enjoys exploring mathematics, so even if you don't know runes or aren't a professional, you can still find a job as long as your math skills are good enough.

"Brother, I studied math in school, so I can do math-related work too!"

Barlow nodded. Although his sister had stopped attending school due to illness, she still had a basic understanding of the subject.

Most importantly, the demons can only travel within Doug Lars's territory, and the western North might offer them refuge.

Barlow was genuinely tempted.

At that moment, a bard dressed as an actor suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

"Are you two interested in this job?"

The bard bowed politely and looked up at the brother and sister.

"I am in charge of this job."

Although the bard seemed unreliable at first glance, Balo still took his sister to a nearby room after seeing the North Wind Bear tattooed on the bard's costume.

After all, not just anyone dares to use the North Wind Bear crest in the capital now; even Doug Lars and his family have abandoned this family crest.

If he's a scammer, he's being far too dedicated.

After discussing the work location and salary in detail, Barlow said hesitantly, "I have a few things I need to confirm, is that alright?"

Although he could conceal his situation, Balo feared that if he were discovered, things would get even worse. After all, in the eyes of the people of the capital, the North was now a war-torn wasteland. Staying in the capital might only mean being exploited, but Balo feared that he might die without even knowing why if he went to the North.

Barlow explained in detail his and his sister's current situation, but the bard simply stroked his chin and asked, "Could I see your IOU?"

Barlow nodded and pulled out the long, rambling IOU that he had looked at repeatedly.

After looking at it for a while, the bard said, "This IOU is illegal according to both our Northern Laws and the Kingdom's laws. Not to mention compound interest, the interest calculated is higher than the maximum interest rate for noble loans."

This interest rate is outrageous, even higher than the interest rates offered by nobles.

Seeing that Barlow still seemed a little confused, the bard added, "An illegal IOU is naturally invalid."

Hearing this, Barlow finally felt completely relieved.

Then, the bard said half-jokingly, "To be honest, there are so many people like you lately that I even suspect some of them are specifically looking for us to escape their debts."

Are there many people like me?

Barlow was somewhat shocked; was he not an isolated case?

"There are many, but it's rare to see someone as unlucky as you."

The bard sighed, "At least many have fled to the North because they can't repay their loans, and it seems that more and more demons in the capital are starting to lend money at exorbitant interest rates."

"Moreover, most of the people who take out loans do so for medical treatment, specifically for your sister's illness."

The bard looked as if he had seen something amusing.

Barlow suspected that the bard in front of him must know something, but he didn't dare to think about it too much. He simply asked, "When can my sister and I go to the gray-collar area?"

The bard simply nodded: "It will happen soon. There are surprises everywhere in the gray-collar world. It might even cure your sister's chronic illness."

Barlow just smiled awkwardly. This was a disease that even the Central Church in the capital couldn't cure. How could a lowly white-collar worker possibly have a solution?