The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

"So what? In the end, you chose my territory?"

If words could be written on one's face, Lind would be speechless right now.

"Otherwise what? If you were in that situation, wouldn't you be curious about what's going on with the offspring of your mother's first love?"

Tia, on the other hand, was very calm and simply shrugged like a bear.

"That's true, but my family tree was destroyed along with the original territory, and isn't this 'Luo' a given name, not a surname? Maybe it just happens to sound the same?"

"It's not impossible that a descendant of a prince who fled would use the name of his ancestor as his surname in order to conceal his identity, is it?"

Tia then added, "I saw it in a chivalric romance novel."

At this moment, Lena also stepped forward with a shocked expression and said, "That makes sense!"

"No, no, no, why do you think that hiding one's identity would involve using one's ancestor's name as a surname?"

"No way?"

The two asked at the same time.

For a moment, Linde wondered if he had made a mistake. After all, he was the one who had traveled through time, while the two people opposite him were the local natives, although neither of them seemed very reliable.

"Well, I initially thought it was unlikely, but after seeing you in person, I think it's not necessarily true."

After saying that, Tia carefully examined Lind's appearance.

Lena immediately grabbed Lind's arm as a warning.

"OK OK."

Lind waved his other hand, ending the farce.

"In any case, a thousand years have passed, and I have no interest in being a descendant of any prince of the old empire, but I still welcome you, princess of the elves."

Accompanying Tia were some rangers, mostly young elves, who were full of curiosity about the things in the territory.

Especially the huge obelisk on the territory.

Since they were already there, Linde wanted to assign some work to the elves, such as building the obelisk.

Elves are known as a magical race, so constructing arcane magic arrays should be a piece of cake for them.

But the reality was completely different from what Lind had imagined.

Because elves are a magical race, they have absolutely no interest in arcane magic circles and magic triggers that allow everyone to use magic.

However, because they have an innate and extremely high affinity for magic, elves can often quickly point out errors and flaws in the operation of magic in the arcane magic circle. But when it comes to building and compiling the arcane magic circle, the elves are completely stumped.

Elves are not good at using runes, or rather, they are not good at using magical tools. Although they can still learn slowly through their long lifespans, they are far less adept at using runes as they are at humans.

Linde stroked his chin and began to think. The long lifespan, excellent magical affinity, emphasis on agreements and contracts, and faith in the god of nature made the elves' lives very simple and austere. It seemed that elves were born to be supervisors and maintainers.

If given the opportunity in the future, Linde even considered hiring some elves to help maintain the obelisk.

Out of courtesy, Lind still led the elves on a tour of the territory. Most of the elves had a good impression of Lind, after all, after Lind conquered the western part of the North, he voluntarily followed the covenant between humans and elves.

These days, honest human lords are a rare sight. Tia has met many humans who were initially very humble, but once they gained power, they immediately became despicable.

But Lind was different. Back when there was only one gray-white collar in the territory, Tia had already made contact with Lind through the ranger who delivered the magic stone. The impression Lind gave was that the more power he had, the more cautious he became.

The human side of the Giant God Mountains is now almost entirely under Lind's control. Lind can learn from the previous human lords and completely disregard the contract, paying less or no fees, and even the magic stones that the Grey and White Collars are required to pay can be completely stopped, since Lind no longer needs the protection of the elves.

However, Linde chose to find the Ranger and draft a new contract. This was not to continue being taken advantage of, since the territory under the Giant God Mountains was now basically unified, and there was no need to pay third-party fees to the elves. Therefore, this contract was more about the ruling on trade between the two parties.

"Your territory even has special holidays?"

Tia strolled with Lind through the streets of the territory. It happened to be prayer day, and the streets were full of children running around in their new clothes, while the adults gathered in the church for their weekly prayers.

“The human lords I’ve met all wished they could make their slaves work even while they slept. I’m not kidding. We’ve actually seen your human alchemists research this kind of potion, but in the end, it was abandoned because the cost was higher than that of a slave.”

Does such a medicine still exist? I guess those capitalists from Linde's previous life would love it. After all, under industrialization, how expensive a bottle of medicine could be is questionable. But Linde believes that proper rest can improve productivity, and even if it's just an ideal state, Linde is more willing to believe this theory.

“Even machines need maintenance, let alone people? According to the Vatican, people should take a day every now and then to pray to the goddess, reflect on their lives, and repent for their sins.”

Linde greeted the people along the way while answering Tia's questions.

"And what about you? Do you have any vacation time?"

Tia stopped and looked at the church not far away.

"You have neither faith nor vacation time, right?"

Linde remained noncommittal. In reality, the highest leadership in the territory hardly ever took a vacation. High-level intellectuals were still too rare in this era; most people were already quite good at reading, writing, and doing arithmetic.

As a result, power in the territory is still almost entirely concentrated in the hands of a few individuals, especially after Isa left. The pressure from the lower ranks has fallen almost entirely on Caroline, who seems not only to have no objections but is actually even more excited about it...

But this was certainly not a long-term solution. Linde absorbed a large number of old nobles and religious figures to form new bureaucrats and interest groups. Even though Linde had lowered his standards, many old nobles were still unable to change their mindset. Once they gained power, they were eager to restore their former status.

Now that the performance evaluation law has been officially implemented, those old nobles who wanted to take shortcuts are probably going to be unable to withstand it. I heard that recently many old nobles are planning to move to neighboring territories. Lin Dequan has chosen to turn a blind eye to it all. As long as the family property is left, everything is negotiable.

In the end, most of the elves were assigned to assist with the work at the obelisk. After all, although they were not good at building and compiling arcane magic circles, the elves could help the professionals correct errors and verify calculations. Moreover, most of the elves were originally very curious about this obelisk.

When Linde returned to the mansion, Lena came up to him, sniffed him, and asked, "Brother, are you really not a descendant of the old empire?"

Noticing the subtle change in address, Lind immediately comforted her, "If my family were truly descendants of the old empire, how could we have ended up like that? It's all Lucanus's nonsense."

"Then why do I always feel that the elves are taking special care of you? They even specially sent that elf princess to our territory?"

For some reason, Lena displayed an extraordinary insight into this matter.

"You have to explain this to me today. Come on, come inside with me!"