CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51: NONE OF THEM HAVE MONEY

Hearing Ryan’s reply, Black’s expression darkened.

Indeed, it was precisely because of Ryan’s Tundra Territory that he had specifically sought him out.

As long as he pledged allegiance to Ryan, he would only need to send the boy a sum of money each year. In return, he could continue to control his own domain under Ryan’s name—one at the northernmost edge, the other in the affluent Silverstream County. A man who had spent over a decade navigating the Northern Wind Province—did he really need to fear handling a mere kid?

As for the rule that the fall of a fifth-rank noble would cause their lords to lose noble status too, Black wasn’t concerned. He had his own channels for information.

Ryan came from the House of Count Rimehart, and recently, after the Count had returned to the Empire, all of Ryan’s original possessions had been sent over—clear evidence that the relationship between Ryan and Count Rimehart was not as tense as the rumors claimed.

With the support of the Rimehart family, Baron Ryan’s noble status would be very difficult for the Empire to erase—even in death.

That would allow Black to safely become a lord under Ryan’s name, and from there, slowly plot his way to becoming a fifth-rank noble himself.

In his heart, Black didn’t consider lords to be true nobles. To him, the whole lordship system was nothing but a fig leaf concocted by the Empire and southern nobility.

He had to become a baron if he wanted to preserve his family’s wealth.

But who could have guessed that this kid would actually reject a domain capable of bringing in more than ten thousand gold coins annually?

The thought enraged Black. There truly wasn’t a baron more suitable than Ryan for him to pledge allegiance to.

...

In the following days—before Count Laxu and his entourage of sycophantic pioneer nobles returned—noble estates across Northwind City were practically trampled over.

Barons Ryan and Hatton, however, remained rather idle.

No one came to pledge allegiance to Ryan, and he felt quite at peace with that. He wasn’t exactly fond of these pioneer knights anyway.

Nor did anyone approach Hatton. The lord of Shama Territory had been quite dejected these past few days.

If Tundra Territory was the poorest, most destitute corner of the Northern Wind Province, then Hatton—being its closest neighbor—was certainly among the next five or ten worst off.

"That brat Walter actually went and pledged himself to Roch!"

Baron Hatton was still fuming over it. His rough plan to deal with Knight Walter’s domain might become a nightmare now that Baron Roch was involved.

Ten days later.

Having taken a token inspection tour—which was really just buying time for the pioneer nobles to gather funds—Count Laxu returned to Northwind City.

With the barons and lords of the Northern Wind Province finally settled, the registry would now accompany Count Laxu back to the imperial capital.

Thus, the Northern Wind Province now had three counts, nine viscounts, and over fifty barons—a total of fifty-five. As for pioneer knights, the number was even greater: one hundred and ten in all.

"Nearly twenty pioneer nobles were actually made barons..."

Ryan was a bit surprised. He was sure that many among those pioneer nobles were clearly unqualified for baronial titles.

Take, for instance, March Miles—the second son of Viscount Miles—a pioneer noble who had even lost his own domain. And yet, without any land, Count Laxu had recognized him as a baron.

Who knew how many gold coins Viscount Miles had poured into this process to achieve that result?

Ryan was especially curious: in just ten short days, how much wealth and how many promises had Count Laxu extracted from those pioneer nobles?

He had probably drained them dry.

The Empire had granted Count Laxu such sweeping powers—clearly, they had truly decided to give up on the Northern Wind Province.

Those who understood what had happened drew their own conclusions. Count Weiss, for one, saw something in this that thrilled him to no end.

If the Empire wasn’t preparing to abandon the Northern Wind Province, how could it possibly allow Count Laxu to run amok like this? And he’d even heard that Laxu had close ties with the royal family—so a good portion of that wealth would likely end up in royal hands.

Though the Northern Wind Province had sent off Count Laxu—the Empire’s envoy—the faces of the nobles in Northwind City still bore few smiles.

"Let’s discuss it now—how are we going to divide the annual 1.5 million gold coin tax?"

Count Winter’s voice echoed through the great hall. No one responded.

Back when it came to dividing the one million in imperial development funds, everyone had been eager and vocal. But now, when it was time to contribute 1.5 million gold coins, no one wanted to speak.

No one was willing.

"Well, since no one’s speaking, I’ll start as governor. Each year, the Winter County will contribute 50,000 gold coins. And Northwind City will provide another 150,000 in taxes."

As the largest city in the Northern Wind Province, Northwind City had a vast surrounding population. The common folk within and outside the city were among the most prosperous in the province. The 150,000 in annual taxes likely wasn’t the full amount.

But Count Winter’s own county offering just 50,000 gold coins meant he was only willing to shoulder 200,000 of the total 1.5 million—including the city’s taxes, which had always belonged to the Empire anyway.

After Count Winter spoke, the other two counts also chimed in: 50,000 from one county, and 100,000 from another shire—only 150,000 in total between them.

That left a full one million gold coin gap in the 1.5 million tax burden—one that would now fall squarely on the shoulders of the sixty-four fifth-rank nobles.

Three counties were held by the three counts. The remaining four counties—were they to split a million among themselves?

"Governor, isn’t that proportion a little too extreme?"

Viscount Hogg stood up. He wasn’t the most concerned about the issue—after all, Silverstream County was rich and boasted a silver mine—but he wasn’t just speaking for himself. The less he paid, the more profit his family could retain. Why would he side with the counts?

The bickering began. With Viscount Hogg taking the lead, Viscount Randa also stepped forward.

"Cold Mountain County was ravaged by orcs. All its wealth is gone. It’s impossible to cover 250,000 gold in taxes."

He stared hard at the three counts. Cold Mountain County couldn’t possibly pay. Even producing 100,000 gold this year would be a challenge—it was, after all, the region hit hardest by the orc invasion.

And if things were distributed this way, wouldn’t every barony end up shouldering ten or even twenty thousand gold in taxes?

So, some barons began to speak up as well.

"My territory only generates two to three thousand gold coins per year. You all have mines. I can only farm. There’s no way I can meet that tax."

This was also why Ryan had stayed behind.

"You all know what the Tundra Territory is like. I can only contribute 500 gold coins a year."

At this point, the nobles of Lingdu County stood together in solidarity, each voicing how their territories were still in shambles—and that there was absolutely no way they could hand over that much money in taxes to the Empire.