Chapter 602 - 367: Zog Made an Offer That Couldn’t Be Refused

Chapter 602: Chapter 367: Zog Made an Offer That Couldn’t Be Refused

In the days that followed, events unfolded just as Zog had predicted.

After a relentless media blitz of smear pieces against Figxin and rebuttals to that very same material, the Sutton civil war finally blew up into a massive, sensational news story.

Figxin’s ideology and methods also became a focal point of public debate.

The ranks of both his supporters and detractors swelled rapidly.

Most of his supporters were commoners, which was understandable. Compared to the old regime, Figxin’s attitude toward the common folk was a quantum leap forward.

The detractors, naturally, were the beneficiaries of the old system. It was perfectly normal for them to object—Figxin was standing in the way of their profits. However, there was another group of opponents who were much harder to understand.

They were also commoners, yet they chose to become the nobles’ lackeys, barking that Figxin and his supporters were treasonous rebels who had no sense of gratitude. They claimed that the nobles giving people jobs was already a tremendous privilege...

In short, that was the gist of their arguments.

Not that anyone expected these people to change their minds from the start.

’You have to know who your enemies are and who your friends are. These people were even more of an enemy than the nobles themselves.’

The good news was that this group was not large in number. They just made a lot of noise.

This was the deceptive side of the internet—the feedback you see doesn’t necessarily reflect reality, because the silent majority doesn’t speak up.

So even though Figxin was hugely controversial online, appearing to be a figure of mixed repute, in the real world, he was absolutely crushing it.

Enthusiasm for enlistment was soaring throughout Sutton’s northern regions.

This was a complete change from before, when recruitment meant conscripting men or when people only joined the army to take a gamble because they couldn’t survive otherwise. Now, they were able to pick and choose from the best candidates.

They even set up relatively strict medical examinations and physical fitness tests.

Compared to the old standard for conscription, where you’d pass as long as you weren’t missing any limbs, the selection for the Northern Legion was considerably more difficult.

Besides height and weight, you couldn’t have any serious illnesses, and you needed to pass some physical fitness tests, such as long-distance running, sprints, push-ups, and pull-ups.

For the common people in Feilin, this threshold didn’t weed out many applicants. Most jobs were still primarily manual labor, so the average commoner was in decent physical shape.

Interestingly, it disqualified more Transcendents than Ordinary people, especially among the Mages.

Due to the unique nature of the Northern Legion, its demand for Transcendents wasn’t particularly high. Therefore, unless one was exceptionally skilled and could join through a special recruitment channel, they had to pass the physical test just like everyone else.

This was a complete departure from the traditional strategy of building tactics around a Mage Corps. In the Northern Legion, the Mage Corps was just one of many branches. It had its specialties, but it wasn’t so special that it didn’t have to keep pace with the entire legion.

For Mages who spent all year cooped up in their labs—shut-ins, to a man—and who would use Mage’s Hand for everything rather than lift a finger themselves, the physical test was absolute murder.

Zog had gone to watch the Mages’ physical tests in person. He had no real objective; he just went for the entertainment.

He watched Mages take more than five minutes to run a thousand meters, their strides degrading into a zombie-like shuffle by the end.

He saw them trip over their own feet attempting the long jump.

Their arms trembled like a butterfly’s wings during push-ups.

On the pull-up bar, they flailed like fish hauled out of water, thrashing wildly but unable to get any leverage.

’It was like watching a bunch of college students.’

And yet, the North’s actual university students—Mages from Hogwarts—performed quite well on the tests.

Because physical education classes at Hogwarts counted for academic credit.

As the Northern Legion’s ranks swelled, another important task was being advanced in parallel.

They were moving to abolish the privileges of the nobles in the North.

After a recent period of "cleanup," every noble family in the towns under Figxin’s control—an area stretching north from the plains of Delong Castle—was made to send a representative. They were all "invited" to Delong Castle.

They weren’t prisoners, in name, so their accommodations were slightly better. They were currently staying in private rooms at a newly constructed hotel in the city.

Zog’s plan was to develop Delong Castle into an industrial city and a transportation hub for the North. He anticipated many out-of-towners visiting on business in the future, so the city couldn’t remain as it was before, where you’d be hard-pressed to find even two hotels.

They were now nervously awaiting Figxin’s summons, left to speculate about the fate that awaited them.

If it were up to Figxin, he would simply confiscate all the nobles’ property and tell them to go find jobs and experience the life of the common laborer. Anyone who disagreed would be sent straight to the guillotine.

"Their lands are under our control, their private armies are either wiped out or captured, and even they themselves are under our control. We ’invited’ them, but everyone knows it’s house arrest. What is there to talk about? They have no right to negotiate," Figxin had said.

"No, it’s not that simple," Zog explained patiently. "Our negotiations with the northern nobles aren’t just for them. It’s a demonstration for the ones we haven’t conquered yet. We need to show them that while we intend to dismantle the old system, we aren’t trying to wipe them out completely. We’re leaving them an out. That way, most nobles won’t resist to the death."

"We aren’t afraid of their resistance."

"Yes, *we* aren’t afraid, but the commoners are. If they break up their forces and those Knights and private soldiers become bandits roaming the countryside, it will cause a lot of trouble. No matter how strong our army is, we can’t guarantee we’ll catch every last one. Even some of the defenders from Delong Castle managed to escape."