Warhammer Divine Throne

Chapter 795: Chapter 352, Commoners and Nobles (2nd Update!)

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Late autumn, the first snow dances, inside the high tower is a harmonious scene.

Laine, Surya, and the Lake Fairy sit around a small table, a hot pot is placed in the middle. The newlywed couple sits on one side, while the Lake Fairy sits on Laine’s left side rather than opposite them.

”Not as simple as imagined?” Laine asked puzzledly, holding Surya. He hadn’t been in Brittania for long and wasn’t familiar with some customs yet.

”Laine, you’re from Nord, in Nord or the Empire, how does a peasant become a noble?” The Lake Fairy asked with a smile on her stunningly beautiful face. She sliced beef, prawns, and chicken, dipping them in sauce and placing them into the hot pot. The Goddess doesn’t really need to eat; she avoids meat and only eats some fruits and tastes fruit wine and grape wine.

The Goddess does this merely to show closeness.

”Three channels, same as the Empire.” Laine raised three fingers.

”The first is to enter school or Church to study as an apprentice (ascetic study). Imperial nobles regularly visit various academies and the Church to scout for outstanding attendants and courtiers. Although schools always recommend based on piety and loyalty, many excellent students are chosen by nobles, becoming their attendants and gradually promoted to stewards or even courtiers. When a courtier accumulates enough qualifications or achievements, some nobles choose to grant them a noble identity, although this way incurs significant costs, payable only by self-cultivating farmers, wealthy farmers, merchants, and shop owners among the civilians.”

”The second way is to join the army.” Laine extended his second finger: ”Lords always need an excellent army to defend their territories. Civilians can enlist every year. Enlisting involves initial training, and those who endure become reserves, awaiting the opportunity to be supplemented as town garrison soldiers, and then continue waiting for the chance to become official soldiers.”

”Official soldiers are assigned to Swordsman Corps, Crossbowman Corps, Long Spear, or Long Halberd Corps. They continue fighting bloodily until they accumulate achievements and strength to become Great Swordsmen. Great Swordsmen enjoy double salaries and well-maintained barracks as living quarters. The most excellent among them are promoted by nobles, becoming military officers or knights, thus entering the noble class. Some military officers may even be knighted and become imperial generals.”

”The third way is to find a way to become a Knight Apprentice to a knight. Knight Apprentices learn and manage a knight’s day-to-day life. After several years, outstanding Knight Apprentices may be promoted to Knight’s Squires, who start to gain certain status. They accompany knights on battles and earn distinctions. Exceptional Knight’s Squires have the chance to become Apprentice Knights, fight on horseback, and await titles of noble knighthood, becoming Ranger Knights, thus entering the noble class.”

”So that’s how it is!” Surya’s eyes lit up; she looked at her husband with admiration: ”Laine, you must have taken the third path then?”

”Ahem, no, I’m a foster child of the White Wolf Knights, naturally qualifying as Apprentice Knight. After earning honors in the Battle of Lapland, I directly became a Ranger Knight.” Laine replied somewhat awkwardly.

This is the backdoor noble families leave for their offspring; noble offspring tread a different path. They receive superior training from a young age, and upon graduating from court or school courses, noble offspring either become Apprentice Knights or Pistol Cavalry (also regarded as a form of Apprentice Knight).

”Laine, my champion, if I didn’t help you, you now should be a company commander in the White Wolf Knight Order, living in White Wolf City, waiting for orders from White Wolf Yurik, fighting long-term battles against the Beastman Tribe in Drakwald Forest and Chaos Warbands in the Brass Mountain Range, right?” The Lake Fairy said with a beaming smile, her fingers interlocked, laid on the table.

”Most likely, then I would need to fight for another ten years, accumulate battle merits, and see if Boris Prince-Elector is willing to grant me the title of Baron. Then accumulate another thirty to fifty years of battle merits...maybe eighty years, to see if I can be promoted to Count.” Laine lamented: ”That’s probably how it is, or even longer, my Lady, Surya, you both know how the Empire is about seniority and rank. I have no qualifications, even if I accomplish great feats, the rewards I actually get are minimal.”

This is how the Empire’s ascension system works. Although, unlike Brittania, where peasants almost never become nobles, for the Empire’s civilians, it often takes more than one generation of effort, usually three generations, to become nobles.

”Minimal?” Surya sweetly leaned against her husband’s chest, thinking her luck was really good.

The Lake Fairy looked at the happy state of the female knight, feeling a bit uncomfortable, let out a soft hum, and her restless legs under the table adjusted her sitting position.

”The achievement of the subordinate is the achievement of the superior, the error of the superior is the responsibility of the subordinate.” Laine calmly said: ”The Empire and Nord don’t have the knightly path or the teachings of the Lady. Since I was eighteen, I’ve made countless achievements, but eventually only rose from Ranger Knight to Kingdom Knight, thanks to the relative fairness of the White Wolf Knight Order, which only values Martial Valor.”

Surya understood Laine’s point; in the Empire, there’s no such thing as the knightly path.

”That’s the Empire.” The Lake Fairy boasted with a hint of pride on her face: ”My champion, you chose correctly.”

”Yes, I think I chose correctly.” Laine lowered his head, knowing the Lake Fairy harbors many thoughts and intentions regarding him, yet he always believed that his alliance with the Lake Fairy is ultimately a win-win situation.

Only after truly experiencing this stringent system, did Laine understand how difficult it is for civilians in the Empire or Nord to become nobles. Typically, if one starts off as a lowly tenant farmer (with a knife and a dog), it’s virtually impossible to become a noble within one generation. This often requires three generations of accumulation.

For example, the first generation of farmers joins the army, becomes a Swordsman, and gets injured in battle, receiving a large pension and honorably retiring. Then, his son can relatively receive some military education and use his father as a springboard to directly enter the army for service.

The second generation starts as soldiers, earning recognition and military merits in some major battles, becoming Great Swordsmen, enjoying double the salary and better living conditions within the barracks. Naturally, they are qualified to send their children to military schools for education and training (in Brittania, this means as sergeants).

The third generation finally yields fruit; relying on their father’s position and income as a Great Swordsman, they can become Knight’s Squire, equip themselves with knightly gear, or inherit their father’s position, earn merits, and be promoted to the lowest rank among the nobles—a knight (in Brittania, to become a knight and shake off peasant status requires a King’s Order + Lake God Witch’s decree).

Of course, there are always some ”exceptions” in the world. Here, we speak of normal conditions, like Huameisi, there are Divine Favored or extraordinarily powerful individuals who can leap three ranks consecutively. Such people are never scarce but cannot be seen as the norm.

So then, for someone like Laine who is a Kingdom Knight?

The titles in the Empire are even harder to climb. For a Kingdom Knight to rise to Baron within a generation is nearly impossible; typically, it takes three generations. From Baron to Count could require a century of accumulation and coincide with major wars; due to Laine’s exceptional battle prowess, this process may be relatively shorter, but as Laine quipped, thirty years of accumulation is the minimum.

Nord shouldn’t think about it at all; a Lord remains a Lord for life, and just holding onto one’s territory is good enough.

”By the way, Surya, you still haven’t told me why Duchess Huameisi can’t pass on her duchy title even if she has children?” Laine thought the conversation had strayed far. He cradled the voluptuous female knight in his arms and asked jokingly, ”Isn’t Huameisi’s husband a noble?”

Laine recalled the famous ”one-drop rule” where in the United States, if a person has even a drop of Black blood, they are considered Black and still face discrimination. For this world’s nobility, it’s the same; only nobles and children of nobles are perceived as nobles.

”No, first of all, Huameisi has never married. Besides, even if her husband were a noble, her children would still be peasants and unable to inherit the title.” Surya shook her head: ”The duchy title of Duke of Leonais is destined to not be passed down.”

”Why?!” Laine was perplexed; Huameisi is already a noble, and finding a noble husband wouldn’t work either?

”Haha, you are somewhat unaware, Laine.” The Lake Fairy laughed: ”In Brittania, whether a person is a noble depends on their family’s genealogy.”

”Family’s genealogy?”

”The Lady is right. The entire family’s genealogy is traced from that person, five generations. If all relatives within those five generations are nobles, then he is considered a noble; otherwise, he is a peasant.” Surya used a spoon to scoop up a piece of beef and placed it in Laine’s bowl: ”Duchess Huameisi is a noble specially conferred by the Lady and the King, but her father was a minor tax officer, her mother a shepherdess; she is only and solely a noble herself. Her children remain peasants; the Lady’s favor extends only to her, not her descendants.”

”Hahaha~” Laine covered his face with his hand, suppressing a rueful smile: ”Lady, your rules are really strict.”

”These aren’t my rules; they were established by Arthur and his son Lewis.” The Lake Fairy feared Laine’s misunderstanding and shook her head repeatedly: ”This is beyond my jurisdiction, divine matters are for divine beings, and mortal matters for mortals.”

Laine understood that throughout Brittania’s history, the five peasants who ascended to nobility have in some way alarmed the Lake Fairy, and faced with the Goddess’s oracle, the Masters Knights couldn’t very well oppose it.

”Well... then I should count myself as a noble. My foster father is a noble, my Godfather is a Great Noble, my father... could be the most esteemed noble of all.” Laine suddenly remembered something, and he addressed the Lake Fairy: ”My Lady, if I plan to offer a few peasants the chance to ascend to nobility, would you be willing to assist me?”

”You want to start this?” The Lake Fairy narrowed her eyes, her exquisite face still bearing a slight smile: ”Setting such an example isn’t easy.”

”Laine, I’ve already discussed this with my father; he and I will both support you in this endeavor!” Surya was the first to express her stance.

”Across the entire Kingdom, no more than three places a year, awarded to exceptionally outstanding peasant soldiers, exceptionally outstanding ones, how about it?” Laine finally revealed his ambition before his wife and the Lake Fairy: ”To inspire peasants’ enthusiasm, they ought to have some hope, with you, Lady, overseeing it all.”

”Hmm~” The Lake Fairy intentionally left it hanging before saying: ”My Champion, between us, what need is there for any separation? If you think it’s possible, then do so. I will support you.”

Seeing the Lake Fairy relent, Laine felt relieved.

The insurmountable chasm between nobles and peasants must be breached.

This is the most crucial step in revitalizing the Kingdom!