The Grand Duchy of the North is the northern neighbor of the Crescent Kingdom, a newly emerging state that a few decades ago was a tribal alliance that has only recently been reformed into a feudal serf monarchy under the leadership of an eloquent monarch.

For hundreds of years, the people of the North have always been synonymous with pirates, bandits, and barbarians in the eyes of the Yunette people, mainly the Crescent Moon Kingdom, the Falling Star Kingdom, and the West Yunaite Empire.

Today, even though the Grand Duchy of the North has long been civilized, it is still at odds with many countries in the central and southern parts of the continent, not only due to the technological gap, but also due to geopolitical and cultural conflicts.

There is always a chain of contempt in the human world, and people are always used to separating groups of people from us and them, and then derive a sense of superiority from identity.

The nobles despised the commoners, the city people despised the countrymen, and the Imperial people, who were also members of the Unette Countries, looked down on the people of the Stars and Moons, and the people of the Stars and Moons looked down on the people of the North...... As soon as the Northland War ended, the Grand Duchy of the North sent an envoy to visit, and seriously this point in time is quite sensitive, after all, although Castel is independent from Boulder at this moment, he has not yet sworn allegiance to the Crescent royal family.

De jure and nominally, Castel is already a direct vassal of the Crescent Kingdom, but as long as he does not swear allegiance, the relationship is still ambiguous.

In particular, it is not without a case in history that the nobles of the border realm turned to the arms of neighboring countries after the victory of the war of independence launched against the lord.

In the feudal era, jurisprudence was jurisprudence, and reality was reality. Under the premise that the royal power is not strong, the autonomy of the noble lords is actually quite strong, and it is not surprising that for a strong lord, the rule is comparable to a country within a country.

Of course, the Grand Duchy of the North sent an envoy group at this moment, not to win over Charlotte. More precisely, they, like the Principality of Violet, came to negotiate.

Charlotte wasn't surprised. She still has thousands of Isaac hussars in the north in her hands, so many mercenaries are not a small number for the north, especially since there are many northern nobles among them.

It's in the nature of the people of the North to be adventurous, whether they're pirates or mercenaries. Even though the country has long been feudalized, many people in the North still enjoy adventure, including many of the nobles of the North.

That's why the Legris family was able to pull together so many northern mercenaries in the rebellion.

And this time, the Grand Duchy of the North sent an envoy mission precisely for these captives.

"Greetings to Hamid Casimir Novak, Lord of the Northlands of Kindness, Wisdom, Wealth, and Beauty, Lord of the Northlands, and Envoy of the Grand Duchy of the North."

"I'm sorry that some of our compatriots have caused you some trouble during the Castel War......" In the Earl's Palace, the envoy of the Grand Duchy of the North, who had a thick beard and changed into a noble robe similar in style to the Unite Kingdoms, but still had a rough style on the whole, gave Charlotte a fairly standard Unity aristocratic etiquette.

On the lord's throne, looking at these tall representatives of the North, Charlotte bowed slightly: "Welcome, Your Excellency Hamid Casimir Novak, I know the purpose of your visit, and I have no intention of detaining the captives of the North......

"It's just that a captive is a captive after all, and your support for the rebels has also caused a lot of losses to my castre."

"If you want to redeem those nobles and warriors, you must give us a price that satisfies us." The Northern Envoy was even more respectful: "Of course, Lord Earl, we are willing to redeem those reckless compatriots with Warcraft materials that are higher than the general ransom price of Miria......" Hearing the words of the Northern Envoy, Charlotte's heart moved slightly.

The Grand Duchy of the North is vast and sparsely populated, with many areas quite bitter cold and vast forests. Although as a country, the Grand Duchy of the North is not rich, but the vast forests bring abundant resources of demonic beasts.

If it weren't for the fact that it was too far from the center of the Miriaan civilization and the environment was too harsh, the Northern Forest was fully qualified to become the fourth adventure paradise for free mercenaries.

For the conditions given by the Grand Duchy of the North, to be honest, Charlotte is also satisfied, Castel does not lack worldly currency, what is lacking is extraordinary materials.

But......

"Your Excellency Hamid, if you want to redeem those Isaac cavalry, just such conditions, I'm afraid it won't work." Charlotte shook her head lightly and said.

The brows of the northern envoy suddenly furrowed, and he asked in a common language full of northern accents, "Lord Earl, I don't know...... What are you dissatisfied with? ”

"Indemnification." Charlotte paused and said, "What you are proposing is only a ransom, but it does not cover the compensation for the losses caused to the Northland because of the Isaac Hussars' participation in the battle. Listening to Charlotte's words, the Northern Emissary fell into thought.

He discussed in a low voice for a moment with his fellow Northerners, and then saluted again, "I see, Lord Earl, then...... What if on top of this ransom, an additional 20% of the mineral material is added as compensation? Charlotte shook her head: "Castel is not short of ore, and your compensation will probably have to be conceded from other places." ”

"Oh? So what do you hope for? The Northern Emissary asked.

"War horses, I need war horses." Charlotte paused, and the lion spoke: "All the war horses captured in the civil war will belong to Castel, and in addition, the Grand Duchy of the North must compensate me Castel for a thousand standard war horses of appropriate age, and a hundred male dragon scale horses, and they must be young and strong." "It's really a lion's mouth.

You must know that strictly speaking, most of the horses ridden by the Isaac hussars who participated in the Northland Rebellion did not meet the hard standards of war horses at all, but they were better than Castel's own horses on the whole.

After all, hussars are lightly armed cavalry, and the quality requirements for war horses are not high. But the standard war horse that Charlotte is talking about here is different.

The so-called standard war horse refers to a war horse that must be capable of being used by heavy cavalry, and this kind of war horse is one by one, which means that extraordinary cavalry can be formed.

Not to mention the dragon scale horse, everything in this world is mixed with dragon blood, and the same is true for dragon scale horses, this thing can no longer be measured by ordinary war horses, it can be called a monster.

This kind of war horse is not available to many advanced knights. 100 horses...... They are all males, even if there are many horses in the Grand Duchy of the North, and the family is big, it is not something that can be easily taken out casually.

Not to mention that this is still what the neighbors want, and Castre's relationship with the Grand Duchy of the North has always been delicate, not without border conflicts...... If you really provide so many horses, in a sense, it can even be called yes

"Rivals". The big opening, Charlotte is the standard lion wide opening. Of course, she herself was also the number she said later, and she didn't expect the other party to agree at all, so she could get it and get it, and in the end, even if she could get three hundred standard war horses, one or twenty dragon scale horses that could be used as stallions, she would be content.

Hearing Charlotte's words, the brows of the Northern Envoy furrowed. Charlotte saw that the other party turned her head and muttered something in the northern language with the members of the delegation who were traveling with her, and there were even a few arguments in it.

It wasn't until a moment later that the northern envoy saluted Charlotte again and replied respectfully, "We understand, Lord Earl, and we have agreed to your terms." Charlotte: ...... Well?

That's what you promised? Really agreed? Her expression was inexplicable, and for a while she couldn't tell whether it was the envoy from the north who was tricking her, or whether the conditions for her lion to open her mouth did not exceed the bottom line of the other party's heart.

A thousand standard war horses, that's a thousand standard war horses! If extraordinary equipment is difficult to build, then qualified war horses can only be said to be even more difficult to find, and a thousand extraordinary cavalry is enough to turn a secular war around.

Not to mention 100 dragon scale stallions, if they were really provided to Charlotte, then in a few years, maybe Castel's cavalry troops would be humanoid Gundam!

"Oh? Lord Hamid? Are you serious? Does your decision represent the Grand Duchy of the North? Charlotte asked.

Although the envoy from the north agreed, she didn't believe that the other party would really agree to her request so easily!

It's either a fraud, or something else! The envoy of the northern realm bowed slightly, and replied: "Of course, honorable earl, although your request is rather harsh, in order to show sincerity, the northern realm is willing to agree to your request, which is also the decision of His Majesty the Grand Duke. ”

"It's just...... We also have a precondition, or more precisely, a deal, or an invitation. "Sure enough, there are conditions...... Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, then asked with a quiet smile, "Oh? What conditions? The Northern Emissary took a deep breath and bowed respectfully to Charlotte again.

Under Charlotte's slightly surprised gaze, I saw him stretch out his right hand, crookedly draw a circular cross symbol on his chest, and his pious expression was quite exaggerated: "Praise the holy, honorable Earl, as you can see, I am actually a devout believer in the holy, not only me, but in fact, His Majesty Stefan Sobiesky, the current Grand Duke of our Northern Frontier." ”

"Your Majesty has long admired the teachings of the Holy Court, and has always wanted to accept the faith of the Holy Court as the official faith of the Grand Duchy, but you also know that the faith in our northern realm has always been chaotic, and the faith of the old gods is difficult to break......"

"His Majesty the Grand Duke has great admiration and admiration for you, especially your devout belief in the royal court, and your status as a saint on earth has long been famous in the north."

"His Majesty would like to ask for your help, inviting you and the priests of your realm to visit the Grand Duchy, and sending experienced priests to assist the holy faithful of our northern realm in spreading the faith of the Holy Court......" Charlotte was even more surprised to hear the messenger's words.

She had a lot of speculations about the conditions of the Grand Duchy of the North, but she didn't expect that she would be invited as a guest and spread the faith of the Holy Court!

"Thank you for the invitation from His Majesty the Grand Duke, just ...... I'm just a small earl, and my Castel church branch has only one first-order priest, so why didn't His Majesty ask the clergy to send a priest to us? ”

"As far as I know, there are many priests and even priests in the church who are quite interested in spreading the faith in the north." Charlotte asked quietly.

The envoy from the north saluted respectfully and said, "Your Majesty, my Majesty is asking for the faith of the Holy Court, and those priests and priests of the Ecclesiastical State, where can you, the holy lady who walks on the earth, better represent the teachings of the royal court and are more acceptable to the believers and the people?" Hearing his words, Charlotte raised her eyebrows slightly, thoughtful.

She understood the deeper meaning of the messenger. The Grand Duchy of the North, though it wishes to make the Holy Court its official religion, probably does not want to be subject to the strict control of the Church like the Eunet Nations.

The beliefs in the north are chaotic and not conducive to rule, before it was only a tribal alliance, but now after feudalization, religious conflicts are becoming more and more serious, and the beliefs of the old gods with various bloody and brutal doctrines are no longer suitable for the requirements of the new era.

At this time, choose the Holy Court for good teachings

It is only natural that the "Orthodox Church" will rule stably as an official faith. However, while religion can hold its rule, it also competes with the ruling class for power, and the upper echelons of the Grand Duchy of the North do not want to see that happen.

That's why instead of asking for help from the clerical powers, they found Charlotte. After thinking about it, Charlotte smiled and said: "I know what His Majesty the Grand Duke means, it is not difficult to send priests to assist in the mission, and I will also consider the matter of invitation, but I'm afraid it's not now, at least within half a year, I'm afraid I won't have time to leave the Crescent Kingdom." ”

"Of course, Lord Earl, it would be best to be able to invite you as a holy woman, even if it is inconvenient for you, if you can send some Northland priests that you recognize, you can do the same." The messenger said respectfully.

Negotiations with the Northern Emissaries went much smoother than Charlotte had imagined. After clarifying the main content of the ransom and reparations, Charlotte ended the meeting, and the rest of the details were left to the cabinet of the Earl's Court to negotiate with the envoys from the north.

The emissary from the north retired, leaving only Charlotte and Sebas back in the council chamber.

Looking at Charlotte, who was deep in thought, Sebas couldn't help but say, "Master, you...... Do you really want to promise the Grand Duchy of the North, accept their invitation, and help them spread the teachings of the Holy Court? ”

"Why not, just send some priests to preach, and just in time, you can also send away those energetic church priests in the territory who have nowhere to vent." Charlotte laughed.

After speaking, she smiled again and said, "And...... Don't you think this is also an opportunity? The faith in the north is already chaotic, even if we add a little private goods to the priests we sent, it should be okay. Sebas's eyelids jumped: "You...... You mean, are you going to take the opportunity to spread your faith in the North?! Charlotte smiled: "If you can, why not?" Listening to Charlotte's words, Sebas's eyes moved slightly, thoughtfully.

After Charlotte finished speaking, her eyes swept around again and asked, "Speaking of which...... What about Nice? I didn't seem to see him much after coming back this time? Sebas's expression suddenly became strange: "What the hell is it...... If I'm not mistaken, he's probably playing peek-a-boo with Lord Jurst right now...... "Charlotte: ......?"