Chapter 419: Ismir
Time moved slightly backward.
In the Exile Lands north of the Northland, within a tribe where houses were piled together from pitch-black earth clods and wood, people had gathered densely at this moment, surrounding two bare-chested males locked in close-quarters combat at the center. They cheered and roared, like a pack of beasts congregating together.
Although the skin of these people all carried a bluish tint, their bodies were even larger than those of the already powerfully built locals. Their rugged faces looked as if they were covered by a layer of ice-hardened skin, and when they opened their mouths to roar, nearly bestial sharp fangs and canine teeth could be seen.
Even though these lives appeared almost like humanoid beasts.
They were indeed human, referred to by the Northlanders as the savages of the Exile Lands.
Of the two people fighting, one could be identified as a local merely by looking at his skin tone and build. The other had already completely shed the appearance of a Greenwood man and had become extremely consistent with the Northland style—Aen.
Rough skin and a robust physique, but because in recent years he had needed to train his body, handle political affairs, and balance the various noble factions, Aen’s appearance had gained a trace of age.
He fought this savage of the Exile Lands in the most primitive way possible. They used fists, teeth, heads, hands, legs, and knees, like two ferocious beasts entwined in combat, each determined to bite through the other’s throat, letting the spraying heat of battle warm the frozen soil of the Exile Lands.
The Northland’s cold winds cut to the bone, yet they still allowed humans to survive there and nurtured warriors belonging to the Northland.
And the Exile Lands north of the Northland possessed a deep cold that froze blood and souls alike, far beyond mere biting winds.
But those exiled to the Exile Lands were all of Northland bloodlines.
Those who had adapted to the piercing cold winds of the Northland always had some who could endure this extreme cold.
One survivor after another, generation after generation, eventually formed human tribes even within the Exile Lands.
This clan known as Icefang, although it only had a little over three hundred people, was indeed already the largest tribe in the Exile Lands.
Perhaps there were larger tribes farther away, but at least during the more than two months Aen had searched through the Exile Lands, among all the places he had traversed, Icefang truly had the greatest number of people.
The three-year unification war of the Northland, even though it had been orchestrated by Aen, involved real deaths.
The Northland had already been poorer than the Greenwood, and after those three years of unification war, its population had sharply decreased to three hundred thousand. These remaining three hundred thousand people all migrated westward within the Northland.
There stood the capital of the newly established Kingdom of Ismir—Platinum City.
The surname Ismir was also called the Northern Giant Dragon because of Aen.
—
As the kingdom’s capital, Platinum City was naturally the most prosperous place in the Northland. Yet in the east, a Giant Dragon Mountain Peak had appeared in what had once been open land. Cold energy spread from it, infecting the surrounding region and making crops—already difficult to grow—completely impossible to cultivate.
Thus, for the sake of survival, the Northlanders in the east could only gather toward Platinum City.
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After they all left, the eastern part of the Northland was emptied. With no people moving about on that land, could it still be considered territory ruled by the kingdom?
A kingdom needed more subjects to proclaim its lands.
Thus, the savages of the Exile Lands became Aen’s target.
The Northland had mercenary organizations, but they did not exist in the form of mercenary taverns. Instead, like Comrades Groups, they operated under their own names, each seeking out strongholds, either operating independently or cooperating with local lords. Compared to the mercenary taverns of the Greenwood, they were far more independent.
Aen naturally knew that such looseness had some impact on maintaining order in the Northland.
But Zeke told him, “Our Northland’s resources are barren. No noble would be willing to take out their own resources to support these mercenaries. If mercenaries are maintained through resources, they will sooner or later rebel because they cannot eat their fill.”
“If they rebel against the nobles of the newborn kingdom, that is rebellion against the kingdom’s political system, even if they only took up arms because they could not eat.”
“But rebellion is still rebellion, and once they rebel against the kingdom, there is only a dead end left for them.”
“So rather than restraining them, it is better to give them a bit of freedom. Whether they can eat their fill depends entirely on themselves. If they cannot survive within mercenary organizations, they can choose to leave on their own, become bandits, or actively submit to nobles and become private troops.”
“With such limited freedom acting as a buffer, no matter what, they cannot pose a threat to the king of the kingdom, because this life is one they chose themselves.”
“Moreover, because the kingdom exists, they always have a way out—for example, joining the king’s army. Thus, they will sing your praises as a benevolent king.”
Aen accepted Zeke’s advice, and thus the Northland-style mercenary organizations came into being.
And such mercenary organizations, at the beginning of this year, presented a special piece of cargo to him, the king.
It was a savage woman from the Exile Lands who was carrying a child.
The mercenary organization had originally not wanted to accept Aen’s gold coins, because they believed Aen was a benevolent king and the hope of the Northland. Offering slaves to Aen as an expression of loyalty was only proper.
But Aen still gave them a sum of gold coins.
Aen said, “I have felt your loyalty, but just as you said, I am your king. Since you have rendered merit, I, as king, must reward you. This is not a reward for your loyalty, but because you worked hard and brought value, and therefore you must receive a corresponding return.”
“And your loyalty is not only to me, but also to the newly born Kingdom of Ismir in the Northland. What I and the kingdom can give in return for your loyalty is to let you live better lives. Therefore, after your labor brings value, obtaining sufficient reward is also the kingdom’s response to you.”
Thus, that Northland warrior, as strong as a bear, cried like a three-hundred-jin child.
Aen’s reward was extremely generous, because the savage woman he brought was indeed worth such a reward.
“There is mana within her body,” Zeke told him. “She is still human, of course, but she has been polluted by external mana. This mana will not cause any harmful effects—setting aside the issue of unattractive appearance—and it allows them to endure extreme cold better and become stronger.”
Aen said, “Then if such magical humans were sold to the Greenwood, they should be able to exchange for quite a lot of York Gold Coins, right?”
The Northland was very poor. Even the poorest Wallace Territory of the Greenwood dared to mock the Northland’s poverty. Because of this, Aen yearned to earn more York Gold Coins.
That represented food.