The baron was about to say something more, but his mouth was cut off halfway through."Lord Louis!" A hearty voice suddenly interjected.A young noble, all smiles, came forward, his face full of flattery: "You are now my biggest idol in the North!"Before he finished speaking, another person squeezed in, a middle-aged noble dressed in a brocade robe with shiny hair."Would your Lordship honor my territory with a visit someday? We will surely prepare the best wine and the most tender roasted venison!"Immediately after, as if a dam had been opened, more people continuously surged over.One by one, they came with fawning smiles, holding wine glasses, surrounding Louis to greet him, toast him, and hand over name cards.The Southwest Baron could only watch helplessly as he was pushed out by the crowd, his expression a bit awkward.Louis, however, maintained his polite smile, responding to the greetings while mindful of the distance between them."Thank you for the praise, I will certainly pay a visit when I have the chance.""Your Lordship flatters me, I also greatly admire the demeanor of my predecessors."Every sentence was watertight, neither too close nor too distant.But there were simply too many people, and no matter how calm and thorough he was, he was quickly becoming overwhelmed.Just then, a neatly dressed attendant quietly approached and whispered in his ear: "Lord Louis, the Duke requests your presence.""Please excuse me." Louis seized this opportunity and gracefully took his leave.Thus, amidst the admiring gazes of the crowd, he was led by the attendant out of the banquet hall and towards the Duke's reception room.Duke Edmund was already sitting there, accompanied by more than a dozen nobles with impressive auras."Louis, let me introduce a few people." The Duke smiled and began, introducing them one by one to Louis: "This is Earl Albert, and this is Earl Grant..."Everyone was quite famous in the North; these people must be the 'Heavenly Dragons' of the North."A descendant of the Calvin Family is indeed no mediocrity." Albert's first sentence carried a hint of appraisal. "There are many who can fight these days, but few are as outstanding as you.""Did you really take out a Snowsworn outpost with only about a hundred men?" Earl Grant, who was next to him, continued.Louis calmly replied: "It was mainly good luck; I dare not take credit.""Hmm, well-spoken." Earl Grant snorted, "Much better than some hot-headed youngsters who start telling stories as soon as a battle is over."Duke Edmund observed this, feeling even more satisfied.He smiled lightly and took the opportunity to say: "I invited him here today also hoping that he can integrate into our Northern circle sooner."The nobles exchanged glances, a hint of surprise in their eyes.This young man... didn't he just win a battle?Although it was indeed impressive, the Duke seemed to be taking it too seriously.But everyone present was Edmund's vassal, so naturally no one would openly contradict him.Earl Albert thought for a moment, then simply raised his glass, his tone hearty: "Though young, his future is boundless. It seems we will have another excellent companion here."Louis smiled and raised his glass in return: "Thank you for your kindness; I will not fail to meet your expectations."The few of them smiled and nodded, and after some pleasantries, the conversation slowly shifted direction.The nobles began discussing the most pressing issue—winter."This year's winter snow will probably come early. My territory's houses are only [N O V E L I G H T] half-repaired; I don't know how many more people will freeze to death.""That's easy to solve. Just buy more slaves from the South when spring comes.""It's just that slaves are getting more and more expensive; I'm afraid we won't be able to afford them in the future.""Hahaha, at worst, we can go North and bring back some barbarians.""That won't do; barbarians are hard to manage."...The nobles spoke back and forth, discussing serious issues with a light and casual tone, as if they were talking about a few domesticated animals.Louis did not interject, only listening quietly, but his expression grew increasingly gloomy.He could not escape the problem of winter either.The victory at Qingyu Ridge brought him new land, which naturally made him very happy.But behind this reward lay three times the territory, several times the population, and countless problems.Moreover, this year's situation was somewhat special; a large-scale war had just taken place, and resources would only be scarcer.He knew very well that if preparations were insufficient, after one winter, it wouldn't be a few people dying under his command, but thousands upon thousands of lives.However, the Red Tide Territory could still cope. Thanks to smoked fish and this year's harvest, they could temporarily maintain basic sustenance.The houses were also sufficient, and there were even geothermal vents in the territory, so people wouldn't freeze to death for now.But those newly taken over areas...The commoners wore thin linen clothes, and the roofs were still rotten. A heavy snowstorm could very likely be a disaster.These old nobles spoke lightly, but their families had been cultivating in the North for many years, with deep foundations.One cold winter would not cause them severe damage.And they didn't care about the lives of the common people at the bottom.If the population was insufficient in the spring of next year, they would just spend money to buy more from the South.Hey, the slaves are full again.This was much easier than maintaining the slaves' survival.But Louis couldn't be that cold-blooded yet; he still wanted to save more people.Prepare more food, repair more houses, prepare more firewood.But such a challenge would require a lot more effort.Just as Louis was silently pondering the way out for his territory, the nobles' conversation took another turn."Those pioneering nobles are really a joke, all of them good-for-nothings.""Fighting only causes trouble, and territorial development only burns money. Many of them died in this war, though.""Hmph, good riddance." One person sneered, "It saves us the trouble of cleaning up after them."For a moment, a few echoes of agreement softly resounded in the reception room.No one noticed that Louis, sitting quietly to the side, was one of the so-called "pioneering nobles."But his expression did not change; he simply quietly picked up his cup and took a small sip of wine.Indeed, Louis was different from those people; he was not the useless person they spoke of, doing better than most Northern nobles.Precisely because of this, they forgot that this young man was originally just a "new noble" who had been "exiled.""But not all pioneering nobles are useless." Earl Albert glanced at Louis and casually added.Duke Edmund smiled, seizing this opening to bring up something he had prepared to inform everyone about in advance."Speaking of pioneering," he said casually, yet in a way that commanded attention, "there's been some movement from His Majesty's side recently."Everyone paused slightly."His Majesty intends to expand southward in a few years, targeting those small countries in the Southeast." Edmund whispered, "He wants our North to provide some knight reinforcements."As soon as he finished speaking, the air instantly tightened."It's us again?" Earl Grant frowned, "We can't even finish our own wars.""Exactly. The Southerners only suck our blood." Another noble complained.

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