Chapter 412 - 213 - 217

Analysis

This fourth bonus chapter of the week was also brought to you by Tyler L. of the USA! See you guys next week and enjoy the read!

When Baron Shazin and Baron Felim got the report from their messengers, they thought that something was off. A few days ago, the Norton Family forces passed through their territory to head towards the royal capital of Windbury City to capture the Second Prince. Right after that, they got word that Lorist wanted to meet with them and wondered what was up.

However, that didn't stop them from welcoming Lorist's arrival. But when the two barons saw the corpse of Blademaster Zarinan nailed upon a crucifix, they were stunned speechless.

This time around, Lorist came within a four-wheeled carriage upon which the crucifix was installed and had Blademaster Zarinan's corpse nailed upon it so that it could be paraded around as he traveled. Since the Blademaster's corpse had already been embalmed, it wouldn't rot within the next two to three months.

"Locke, it's a little too excessive for you to be doing this, right? After all, he's a rank 3 Blademaster and is even considered to be a quasi-Sword Saint. Nailing his body on the crucifix is a little in bad taste..." Baron Felim said as he looked at the body.

"Chack, I've never treated him as a Blademaster. He's but a lowly assassin that was sent to kill me. Since he can disregard his reputation as a Blademaster and sink so low to carry out an assassination, I can naturally treat him as a common assassin since he failed," Lorist said disdainfully. Baron Felim's full name was Felim Chalvode, and Chack was his nickname.

"I heard your family forces suffered huge losses, right?" Baron Shazin asked. He had seen Blademaster Zarinan twice before and knew that his abilities far exceeded those of Blademaster Louinse. It was said that Louinse wouldn't be able to last more than 100 strikes when fighting against Zarinan. Additionally, when Baron Shazin was still serving as a Gold ranked knight of Duke Loggins, he had been toyed with by Blademaster Louinse twice when they sparred and could only endure the anger he felt at him, so he can only imagine how much stronger Blademaster Zarinan could be.

Lorist sighed deeply before he said, "This old fellow killed up to 500 of my good men and 11 Silver ranked family knights. Even Potterfang and Josk were injured heavily and I had to heal for two months myself. That's why I've decided to no longer let the Second Prince off on this matter. I nailed the old guy on the crucifix so that I can spread the word about how the Second Prince actually used an underhanded method like assassination against me by employing a Blademaster so that everyone else can see that he isn't fit to be king. That way, even if I capture him, the Norton Family won't be considered to be rebelling against a royal family."

"So what if you capture him? The reputation of a king-killer is definitely not something you want to bear..." Baron Felim said worryingly, with good reason. Even if the Second Prince did not deserve to be a king, he was still technically one and in Grindia, killing a king brought no good reputation to a noble family.

"It's fine. I will first imprison him for a period of time and send him to be judged by the Second Highness of the Andinaq Kingdom since his family is the rightful successor to the Krissen Imperial Family. This is their family matter," Lorist explained his decision, to which the two barons thumbs-upped in agreement.

"This method of yours is savage. Not only does it leave nothing to be criticized, it also allows you to get your revenge. The Andinaq Royal Family hates the Second Prince to the bone because if the Second Prince and his associates did not raise the banner of rebellion, the great empire wouldn't have perished and shattered just like that. If the Second Prince falls into their hands, it would already be considered humane if he was simply hanged to death," praised Baron Felim.

Baron Shazin pointed at the corpse of the Blademaster and asked, "Locke, are you going to march into Windbury City just like that? Do you need any help from us?"

Lorist sighed and said, "Hennard, Chack, you idiots... The reason I'm here is to ask you to mobilize your forces..."

Baron Shazin's full name was Shazin Hennard and he had no other nickname. Before this, he used to be one of the five Gold ranked knights serving Duke Loggins and even led a military campaign against the Norton Family. Ever since he was captured by Lorist, his fate took a completely different turn.

Baron Shazin was stunned by what he heard and asked, "Why do you need us to do that?"

"Didn't you three other families say that my forces swept the land barren without leaving even a single commoner for you to take? I'm presenting a huge opportunity to you guys now yet you're still unable to see it... What can I say about you? During this excursion of my family to capture the Second Prince, do you think anyone within the Winston Province can stop our advances? What are you doing sitting and watching by the sidelines instead of reaping some benefits for yourselves?! Send your soldiers to raze the place you idiots! People, money and food, they're all up for the taking!" Lorist exclaimed with an annoyed look.

"Ugh..." Baron Felim had already understood Lorist's intentions. But with a face blushing with embarrassment, he said, "Locke, it's not that we don't want to mobilize our forces... It's..."

"It's alright. I understand your concerns. You're just worried about the two Frontier Legions stationed at Pedro City, right? I heard that you sustained some losses the last two times you sent your soldiers to the Winston Province," Lorist said with a laugh. After that, he waved to Howard and said, "Howard, bring me the map of the Iblia Kingdom."

"He's called Howard and is also my disciple like Reidy. His father is Potterfang, which the two of you should be acquainted with. Right now, he has just awakened his Battle Force and is accompanying me as an attendant, so look after him for me, alright?" Lorist said as he introduced Howard to the two other barons.

"That's a given," said the two barons in unison. Hennard even took out a jeweled sword and gave it to Howard as a meeting gift.

As Baron Felim himself didn't have anything fitting to give, he started suggesting that Howard and his illegitimate daughter meet up sometime. He praised his daughter to the heavens and said that she was not only beautiful but also obedient. And given their similar age, with her being 15 that year, one year younger than Howard, the baron thought they would be a good fit. Even though she was only the baron's illegitimate daughter, she was also included in the registry of the Felim Family.

The more he got to know Howard, the more Baron Felim liked him. In stark contrast to the rough and quiet Reidy, Howard looked more refined and had an intelligent and calm aura. As Baron Felim had been looking for a suitable husband for his beloved daughter, he found Howard to be the ideal candidate, given his Gold ranked knight father and his status as Lorist's personal disciple. With his looks and charisma being better than most, Howard's future was sure to be a bright one and the baron felt that having his daughter marrying Howard would be a great idea.

Howard himself was dumbstruck by that as he didn't expect to be introduced a wife just because he was asked to fetch a map. He so embarrassed by Baron Felim's actions that his face was completely reddened as he panicked on how he should respond. In the end, Lorist saved him from the predicament and said, "Alright, Chack, finding a son-in-law is not an urgent matter. Perhaps you would want to discuss this with Potterfang when we finish things over here since Howard and your daughter are still young. If both of you agree, then maybe we can let them be engaged first. It won't be too late to officiate their marriage when they reach 20."

Baron Felim said, "She's not that young. When my daughter was born, her mother was only 16..."

Hennard and Lorist both shoved a middle finger in Baron Felim's face as they both thought that it was far too predatory of him to lay his hands on a 15-year-old girl, causing him to be completely speechless.

Lorist then proceeded to spread the map of the Iblia Kingdom open before tapping on the two provinces belonging to Duke Fisablen and said, "Duke Fisablen was originally the second son of a viscount from the Wild Husbandry Province. After that, he joined the army and was promoted to be the commander of the Frontier Legion for his stellar military achievements and at that time, the Frontier Legion was one of the largest cavalry armies set up to defend the northeastern plains of the empire from the grassland barbarians with a force numbering up to 25000 soldiers. When Duke Fisablen became the leader of that legion, he expanded it greatly and gained a huge victory over the grassland barbarians around 34 years ago, allowing the empire to establish the Eastwild Province, earning himself the rank of the duke in the process. The Eastwild Province was also made the hereditary dominion of the Fisablen Family.

"Given that the Frontier Legion had around 78000 soldiers, rivaling the army of the empire itself, the duke was always under strong suspicion from the central powers of the empire. As such, the duke could only focus his efforts on managing the Eastwild Province and the Wild Husbandry Province to protect his own family. During the civil war of the empire, the Second Prince went to the Eastwild Province to see Duke Fisablen and subsequently took his daughter's hand in marriage, thus securing the support of the Fisablen Family for himself and cementing the foundations of the Iblia Kingdom.

"After the formation of the Iblia Kingdom, the Second Prince paid no heed to the livelihood of his subjects and stubbornly sent his soldiers to attack the Melein Duchy, but was eventually defeated at the hands of the Fiercegale Legion of the Melein Duchy. Not only did the Second Prince suffer a huge loss, the battles also completely ravaged his Southern Province. Under such circumstances, the Second Prince borrowed three divisions of cavalry troops and took the opportunity to cause trouble when our northbound convoy and the Andinaq Kingdom were marching through the Madras Duchy. In the name of defending the Madras Duchy from the invasion of the Andinaq Kingdom, the Second Prince used his forces to swallow up the the Madras Duchy's Delamock Province.

"However, he didn't expect that the whole situation would take a completely different turn when Duke Madras signed a peace treaty with the Andinaq Kingdom all the while he turned against the Second Prince and defeated his troops at the battle at Kobo City. Having no choice but to retreat from Delamock Province, the Second Prince took the chance to occupy the dominion of the Duke of the Northlands after my family defeated Duke Loggins.

"Only after occupying the dominion of the duke did the Second Prince have some territory under his direct control. That's also why he left the Iblia Kingdom's Southern Province, which is to say, the three southern commanderies, and the Winston Province where the royal capital of Windbury was, uncared for. That's because the three commanderies were already a wasteland and to recover it was to put in lots of funding and effort to resist the attacks of the Melein Duchy's soldiers. To the Second Prince, that was not a worthwhile endeavor, hence his willingness to leave the provinces be.

"Additionally, within the Winston Province, apart from Windbury City, the rest of the land belonging to the Second Prince had long been sold away, and the lack of his own land there prevented him from raising an army. That's why after he took over the duke's dominion, he stayed there without returning to the royal capital and used the food and resources he took from the Delamock Province to form the First Legion of the Iblia Kingdom before he jumped right back into the game of war and domination.

"But what the Second Prince shouldn't have done was to anger us, the Norton Family, ultimately causing all his efforts to go to waste. He had to run all the way back to the royal capital with tens of guards and even sent his Blademaster to assassinate me. How truly shameless of him.

"Judging by how Duke Fisablen stationed his Frontier Legion, he must've already filled up the vacancy left by the three cavalry troop divisions he lent the Second Prince. Right now, the Frontier Legion should have a full 78000 soldiers with 43000 of them stationed in the Eastwild Province alone.

"Duke Fisablen also stationed two cavalry divisions at the border between the Eastwild Province and the Wild Husbandry Province and another division at Eastriver Citadel as the main force to resist the attacks of the grassland barbarian hordes. Additionally, there's also another division of soldiers stationed at the border of Eastwild Province and Southern Province. The moment the forces of Duke Melein invades the three southern commanderies, the cavalry divisions would be able to react immediately to defend against the invasion before more reinforcements arrive.

"Even though the Second Prince was willing to leave the Southern Province and Winston Province unattended, Duke Fisablen definitely wasn't. If the two provinces get conquered by an enemy, then the Wild Husbandry Province and the Eastwild Province will be under threat from both sides, and that would spell the beginning of the end of the Fisablen Family. But the most laughable part was that even though the Second Prince didn't care for the two provinces at all, he still refused to hand control of them over to the duke. It is apparent that he distrusts his father-in-law greatly. Otherwise, the Iblia Kingdom would've been far more stable even if the Second Prince was a puppet ruler.

"The soldiers Duke Fisablen stationed at the Wild Husbandry Province numbering around 35000 was led by the duke's adopted son and Blademaster, Viscount Kristoph. Given that the Wild Husbandry Province wasn't the main site of conflict with the grassland barbarians, only one cavalry division was stationed there at the border of Eastwild Province which also serves as reserve troops just in case reinforcements are needed. The remaining 25000 men was instead stationed at Pedro City within the Winston Province. The moment word of conflict within the Winston Province breaks out, the two cavalry divisions stationed at Pedro City will take immediate action and be able to reach any location in the Winston Province in five short days.

"By the way, I heard that the two of you suffered some losses from the cavalry divisions stationed there during your last two attacks, right?" Lorist ended his long-winded explanation by asking the two barons his question with a smile.

Baron Felim nodded with his face flushed red and said, "The first time my family sent the troops there, we encircled a bastide manor and began our siege. But after four days when victory was almost ours, we got ambushed in the middle of the night. Only half of our 2500 soldiers returned alive."

Hennard added with a tone of dissatisfaction, "The second time around, I sent out my soldiers as well along with Chack and managed to conquer two dominions. Just as we were about to continue, we encountered the two Frontier Legion cavalry divisions. Our combined forces number 15000 men and theirs being around 20000, and we weren't worried about facing them in an open field battle. But they resorted to hit and run tactics by assaulting our camps and destroying our supply lines, using the mobility of the cavalry troops to their utmost advantage to harass us, forcing us to have to retreat. After that, we saw that our supply lines weren't able to keep up with us, so we had to abandon our spoils and return as quickly as possible without any gains. That attempt alone cost us two families up to 3000 troops..."

Baron Felim added hatefully, "Even though our two families did manage to cause them around 3000 casualties, both attempts ended in our failure and that's why we gave up on attacking Winston Province. If we don't solve the issue of the two cavalry divisions at Pedro City, then we will not be able to enter Winston Province as we please."

Lorist clapped his hands as he exclaimed, "That's exactly it! This time, I have come here to discuss with you on how to get the pain in the neck out of your way. The Norton Family will be mobilizing 24000 soldiers to head to the royal capital to capture the Second Prince and I believe the two cavalry divisions there will make their move the moment they receive the news. As long as we are able to catch the two cavalry divisions by surprise and defeat them, Winston Province will be free for us to roam and we can take whatever we want."

"Alright, I'm in. I'm going to rally my troops now," Hennard said.

"Wait a second," Lorist said. "This time around, we're facing off against the cavalry divisions of the Frontier Legion that specializes in mobility. I'm sure that you've seen my forces. Apart from the carroballista units, the rest of them are all cavalry troops. Originally, I wanted to move as quickly as possible as I hoped that we can arrive at the royal capital before the enemy is able to react, allowing us to capture the Second Prince without any sort of warning. Additionally, we can also retreat without being harassed by the two Frontier Legion cavalry divisions.

"However, during the past two days, I have a feeling that I should just exterminate those two legions in one go. That way, not only can I stand up for the two of you, I can also show Duke Fisablen that the four families of the Northlands is not something that should be messed with. Two days ago, I received a letter from that Kenmays fellow and he said that the sale of salt to the Wild Husbandry Province got into some trouble. So, I want to teach Duke Fisablen a lesson and show him our might."

"Alright then. I'll send out 8000 cavalrymen and all of them are my elite troops armed with new equipment," said Baron Felim as he made his decision. His total troops numbered 15000 and the 8000 cavalrymen among them were already considered experienced veterans.

Hennard gave it some thought before he said, "Then I'll send out 12000, all of whom are also fitted with new equipment. The only thing is I don't have that many cavalry soldiers..."

Even though Hennard had reorganized the original Northland Army into a force of 24000, he only had one division of cavalry troops.

"Alright, that makes 20000 troops. We only have to wait here another two days. I've already ordered my family's knight brigade and one carroballista brigade to rush over here. Coupled with the 2000 guards I have with me, we will have a total of 28000 soldiers. By that time, we will trap the cavalry divisions of the Frontier Legion and bash them up. They will not be able to escape even with their increased mobility. Also, you guys should send out more scouts to secretly take note of the movements at Pedro City. As long as the cavalry divisions make their move, we will follow straight behind and let them have a taste of being ambushed," Lorist decided.

Royal Capital

Hey guys, sorry the first regular chapter of the week came later than usual. The lack of a win10 delete confirmation dialog actually caused me to accidentally some of my own notepad archives of previous translations and they were gone when I cleared my cluttered recycle bin. Fortunately I was able to restore it through manually copying from online backups of different formats, but it took some time to get things back into order.

Important note: Some people might find the language I've used in this chapter a little offensive, and there's even a TL note I inserted at the part where it begins. Feel free to suggest better ways of stating what I stated without being too offensive if I did a bad job at it and I will change it.

On the 4th day of the 5th month of Year 1772, the Norton Family of the Northlands suddenly deployed 24000 elite family soldiers to encircle the Royal Capital of the Iblia Kingdom, Windbury City. They declared that the reason for that was to capture the king of the Iblia Kingdom, the Second Prince Iblia of the former Krissen Empire, for his underhanded actions of sending a Blademaster on an assassination attempt against the leader of the Norton Family, Count Norton, who had been entitled by the Andinaq Royal Family.

The regiment of soldiers defending the city discarded their weapons and surrendered wisely, mainly because of the disparity of their forces against the Norton's with every one of them knowing that they had no odds of success to begin with. Additionally, the garrison forces of the city were far too weak compared to the Norton Family forces, and it was especially apparent when the 1000 or so carroballistas were pushed near the city walls, causing all the garrison soldiers to lose any hope of defending the city altogether.

Lastly, the garrison force's leader made his decision after the Gold ranked knight, Fiercetiger Loze, gave his ultimatum. According to Loze, if the garrison soldiers don't give up all resistance, the forces of the Norton Family will not let the family members of the soldiers off even if they die in battle. He advised the soldiers who decided to resist to take their family members' well-being into consideration.

After the Norton Family forces entered the city and strictly forbade any traffic into or out of it, the Second Prince who was hiding within the Rose Palace heard about the commotion. It was as if a lightning bolt had crashed down on him during a sunny day. He was already incredibly worried about how Blademaster Zarinan still hadn't returned yet and felt a bad omen welling up in his heart. Despite that, he still believed that his teacher wouldn't lose since he was a quasi-Sword Saint. At most, he was probably just injured after the assassination attempt and was resting up somewhere else.

But little did the Second Prince expect that as he waited impatiently for the Blademaster's return while paying attention to any rumors of misfortune befalling the leader of the Norton Family, the Norton Family forces began their attack on the royal capital. The Second Prince was so greatly shocked that he killed the maidservant who had delivered the news to him and stripped her bare to put her clothes on himself and secretly left the Rose Palace while crossdressing to head to the commoners' ghetto.

Hiding among the poor commoners was indeed a rather good idea as the Second Prince understood that the soldiers of nobles weren't interested in the dirt poor commoners and usually swept the business area of the city clean first before going for the middle-class citizens and other rich nobles within the city. But the Second Prince underestimated how 'morally bankrupt' the forces of the Norton Family were as they took not only the money and resources but also considered the lowly commoners to be a great resource to develop the Northlands with. As long as the commoners receive their farmland and settle down nicely at the dominion, they would turn into one of the most loyal defenders of the Norton Family.

Even so, the crossdressing Second Prince's mustache drew much attention to him, but the Norton Family soldiers did not recognize the king of the Iblia Kingdom and were only mildly curious about the crossdressing man. Some of them believed him to be some kind of pervert while some gay soldiers wondered if the crossdressing Second Prince was someone with similar inclinations... (Translator's note: Please tell me if the language I'm using here is offensive or not. I apologize in advance if it offends anyone and will gladly change it if any of you have some suggestions. As much as I don't want to cast people of any demographic in a bad light, it is against my translation principles to censor the work by explicitly removing all reference to the author's original wording, so it would be helpful if any of you know of a better way to describe these terms than how I did it.)

At that moment, a few Norton Family soldiers with an unhealthy enthusiasm for conducting searches even prepared to feel the Second Prince up to see if he did indeed have any balls, with some of the gay soldiers jumping excitedly, wanting to do the same, and were ready to bring the Second Prince to 'interact' in the nearby cabin. Faced with the thought of his rear orifice possibly being compromised, the Second Prince finally caved and loudly declared himself to be the king of the Iblia Kingdom and requested to be treated accordingly.

But nobody paid any heed to what he had to say and only focused on his fair and unblemished skin that was a consequence of his pampered lifestyle. To some of the sexually excited soldiers, the Second Prince was practically a gift from heaven! These ravenous family soldiers seemed to stare at the Second Prince with glowing-red eyes and disregarded what he had to say entirely. It was only after they had released their pent up desires that they bothered to listen to the gasping Second Prince who still insisted he was the king.

The Second Prince was then brought before Loze and Malek in that state. After getting a few other nobles to confirm the identity of the naked Second Prince whose backside was still mildly bleeding, the usually loud Loze was completely speechless and could do nothing but look for a few herbalists to give the Second Prince some treatment.

After getting word that the Norton Family forces invaded Windbury City, the two Frontier Legion cavalry divisions stationed at Pedro City made their move under the order of Viscount Kristoph and arrived at Windbury City three days later, trapping the Norton Family within the city.

Viscount Kristoph was still rather clear-headed as he didn't launch an assault on the royal capital right away and only used the better mobility of his troops to keep the Norton Family forces stranded within it. While he wasn't confident that his two divisions would be able to take on the forces of the Norton Family in an all out battle, Viscount Kristoph was assured that he would be able to stop the Norton Family forces from leaving with all the wealth and resources of the royal capital.

Five days passed without confrontation, but Viscount Kristoph was not impatient in the least. To him, the longer it dragged on, the better it would be for him. Firstly, he understood that the food supply within the royal capital was limited with most of the food of Winston Province within the hands of the noble families. He believed that when the food within the city runs out, the Norton Family forces would no doubt crumble and he would be able to obtain victory easily. Secondly, he had already sent a messenger to Duke Fisablen and the duke himself would be leading two other cavalry divisions over in another five to six days. That way, the Norton Family won't be able to retreat even if they wanted to like a turtle trapped within an urn.

But Viscount Kristoph didn't expect that on the next day itself, the Norton Family forces mobilized an entire army as if they were preparing for an open field battle. The viscount thus positioned one cavalry division directly facing the Norton Family forces with another at its flank in preparation to intercept the Norton forces before engaging their flank with the true aim of harassing and slowing down the enemy's progress.

But then, the blaring of the horn made Viscount Kristoph realize that his two cavalry divisions were the ones that had fallen into a trap. As the soldiers closed in on each other on the battlefield, the two cavalry divisions were eventually encircled and pushed into a tight corner outside the walls of Windbury City by the forces of the Norton Family, the Shazin Family and the Felim Family that numbered almost 50000 soldiers.

Seeing that his cavalry divisions had been forced into a corner by the forces of the three families of the Northlands, sealing off their attacking capability in the process, the viscount ordered his men to begin digging trenches on the battlefield. This time around, he understood that he was in deep trouble as he had already lost the perk of mobility that allowed the cavalry soldiers to soar to their utmost battle potential. To make a path of survival for himself, Viscount Kristoph decided to to lead the charges himself. But all three of this surprise attempts were shut down completely by the incessant longbow and carroballista fire, causing him to have no choice to retreat with his forces having suffered huge casualties.

Looking at his soldiers who had lost all morale, Viscount Kristoph made yet another decision. He stepped on the battlefield alone with sword in hand and requested a duel, with the request that if he won, he hoped that the three families of the Northlands will allow the remaining 14000 plus soldiers of his to leave while he would be willing to submit to the three families and accept whatever treatment. However, if he lost the duel, he would order his cavalry soldiers to surrender unconditionally.

Even though Hennard and Baron Felim expressed their vehement objections, Lorist still agreed to Viscount Kristoph's request and decided to take the viscount on himself.

Viscount Kristoph who was a rank 1 Blademaster quickly realized with despair that he wasn't a match for the young count of the Norton Family, whose swordplay was cold as winter, which caused him to feel as if he had been tossed into a land filled with snow. Lorist's sword strikes were like ephemeral snowflakes that were able to enter the smallest gap in one's defenses. Even though they looked light and weightless, when the viscount's sword clashed against Lorist's, he felt as if he was being pushed back by the great earth itself. He finally believed the rumors about how Blademaster Zarinan failed his mission and was killed himself despite being sent to assassinate Count Norton.

Viscount Kristoph who had painstakingly withstood more than 200 strikes eventually had his sword knocked away by Lorist, causing him to disheartenedly order his soldiers to surrender without resistance. The remaining 14000 cavalrymen complied with the order and became the prisoners of war of the Norton Family.

After the defeat of the two cavalry divisions that were causing Lorist quite some concern, he kept his promise and ordered his two carroballista brigades to help the Shazin and Felim families sweep clean the castles and estates of the other nobles in the Winston Province. Lorist insisted that they prioritize taking food as only with it can the dominion truly be stable. He said that the Norton Family would be willing to buy the food the two families took at two times the market price.

After entering the royal capital, the first thing Lorist did was to check out the Second Prince who was walking with his lower body exposed. That was the first time the two of them met face to face and after Lorist heard about his encounters, he lost control of his laughter and said that the Second Prince had it coming for him as this was all his own fault in the first place. Lorist didn't care about the cold, venomous gaze the Second Prince gave him. The Second Prince spat on the ground and left without a single word.

During his occupation of Windbury City, Lorist made a few orders that many found to be weird. Firstly, he still paid his respects to the queen of the Iblia Kingdom who stayed within the Rose Palace and even ordered his guards to keep the place safe and secure. Secondly, apart from the few food stores belonging to the royal family, Lorist didn't touch any of the assets of the other nobles or tycoons within the city and didn't even make a single threat.

Thirdly, the Norton Family also didn't engage in any large-scale moving of the commoners and only brought away a few tens of thousands of poor commoner work smiths from the commoner area of the city, causing some of the nobles to sigh in relief, as the Norton Family was willing to 'do them a favor' to move the poor commoners out of the city for them, which many of the nobles considered praiseworthy.

The only part of Lorist that dissatisfied the nobles within Windbury City was their perception of his short-sightedness from how he held his grudges deeply. Lorist erected a tall pillar in the central plaza of the royal capital and installed the crucifix bearing Blademaster Zarinan's corpse upon it with the reason that the Blademaster listened to the Second Prince's order and attempted to underhandedly assassinate the leader of the Norton Family. That caused the nobles who once felt pride in having a rank 3 Blademaster protecting their city to feel gravely insulted and humiliated.

On the 19th day of the 5th month, Duke Fisablen who was leading two more cavalry divisions as reinforcements received word that Viscount Kristoph had already been taken captive. After hearing about how two of his other cavalry divisions had been completely wiped out, the duke stayed at Sunset Lake Town which was 50 kilometers from Windbury City and no longer pressed forward. Instead, he even set up a defense line and sent a messenger to the royal capital to meet Lorist.

When Lorist met the messenger, he expressed that he had no intention at all to exterminate the Iblia Kingdom and said that the reason for his actions was his personal grudge with the Second Prince, as was apparent from his polite treatment towards the other nobles of the royal capital without the slightest ill inflicted upon them. After that, he brought the messenger to meet with the queen who was staying at the Rose Palace and the messenger confirmed that she was indeed the daughter of Duke Fisablen. The queen of the Iblia Kingdom still lived as freely as ever and wasn't the slightest affected by the events of the prior days. She still had the mood to invite the other nobles within the city to grand balls and parties to make merry.

Despite that, Lorist rejected two requests the messenger made. The first concerned the payment of ransom for the release of Viscount Kristoph and the 14000 plus soldiers. Lorist said that Duke Fisablen should only begin to negotiate for their release after the forces of the Norton Family makes its way back to the dominion since it was rather inappropriate to hold such discussions at the moment given that the military campaign was still ongoing.

The second request concerned the fate of the Second Prince. Lorist insisted that he would not agree to releasing the Second Prince but promised that he would only imprison him without letting any harm come to him since he doesn't want the Norton Family to be tainted by the reputation of a king killer. As for the lack of a king for the Iblia Kingdom, Lorist stated that it was not his problem to worry about as he was only a count of the Andinaq Kingdom and that he wouldn't interfere with the official affairs of the Iblia Kingdom since he only bore a personal grudge against the Second Prince.

The messenger was flabbergasted as he had never heard such shameless reasons ever before throughout his whole career. When he broke out of his stupor, he said that everything about the Iblia Kingdom directly concerned Lorist, from the matter with Duke Loggins all the way to the Second Prince himself.

Lorist on the other hand argued against it by citing that the Norton Family had carried out its duty to protect the northern borders of the empire without any intention of partaking in the political affairs during times of war. However, the Duke of the Northlands and the Second Prince overestimated their abilities and instigated the conflict themselves, causing the Norton Family to have no choice but to retaliate. But arguing like that with the messenger was to no end and there was no real need for them to waste their breaths on semantics.

As for the matter of the Iblia Kingdom's vacant throne, Lorist suggested that the queen's son who was staying at Duke Fisablen's be made king after the forces of the Norton Family retreat from Windbury City. That way, Duke Fisablen himself could use the ascension to make himself a regent for the young king and take control of the Iblia Kingdom entirely. He also added that as long as Duke Fisablen didn't mess with the four families of the Northlands, they could no doubt have a peaceful relationship.

After the messenger left, Lorist stayed within Windbury City for a little more than ten days before he led his forces back to the Northlands. Baron Felim and Baron Shazin on the other hand returned with a haul full of stolen goods and practically swept clean almost two-thirds of the whole Winston Province. The endless chain of carriages carrying food, wealth and other resources was so long that it almost seemed like a flowing river. Apart from those, they even forced up to 200000 commoners mostly belonging to the nobles of the Winston Province to move into the Northlands with them.

One day after the Norton Family left the royal capital, Duke Fisablen led his soldiers to retake Windbury City. Two months after the three families of the Northlands moved their newfound resources and commoners back to the Northlands, the duke who had just taken control of the city could no longer withstand the incessant bickering of the nobles there and casually gave the right to rule to his own daughter, the queen of the Iblia Kingdom, before hurrying back to the Eastwild Province.

This time around, the three families of the Northlands truly made a big haul from razing the Winston Province. Apart from the gains reaped from Windbury City that belonged solely to the Norton Family, the rest of the pillaged resources and citizens who were moved were divided equally among the three families. Lorist gave the responsibility of looking after the commoners and their loot to Malek and Fiercetiger Loze before he left by himself to head to Firmrock Castle ahead of the others because Telesti was about to give birth.

Arrangements

Here's the second regular chapter of today, hope you all enjoy the read!

Even though Lorist left for three whole months and only just returned to Firmrock Castle right when Telesti was about to give birth, he had almost constantly had his guards send some gifts and love letters to her during his absence. That was why Telesti forgave Lorist for breaking his promise easily, much to Lorist's relief, as it wouldn't do her any good to receive any kind of shock just before giving birth.

When Charade entered the study and saw Lorist laughing out loud, he asked curiously, "What are you so happy about?"

Lorist waved a letter in his hand with a smile and said, "I just received news that Duke Fisablen ran back to the Eastwild Province. The letter states that ever since the duke was made the regent of the Iblia Kingdom, he had been busy arguing with the other nobles all day long and didn't have time to do other things, with several of his new policies secretly resisted by the other nobles. In the end, this Blademaster duke could no longer deal with his huge workload and eventually resigned from the position of the regent of the kingdom and left the capital, leaving only one cavalry division to guard it. Currently, the head of the Iblia Kingdom is that beautiful queen of theirs."

"That poor old guy must still don't know that this was all planned by you," Charade said as he shook his head. "When I first heard the messengers tell me that you didn't allow our family forces to raid the city's other nobles of their wealth and resources and your good treatment to the queen, I knew you were up to something. It was when you let our family's two carroballista divisions help Hennard and Felim's families sweep the rest of Winston Province clean without killing the nobles that resisted us that I confirmed my suspicions and understood that your target was Duke Fisablen himself all along."

"No, you're wrong about that. In actuality, I wasn't directing these troubles to anyone in particular. It was that old duke who made the jump into that pit of mess himself. When we mobilized the soldiers this time around, I made it really clear that we were only there for the Second Prince himself and didn't have any intentions of going against the other nobles of the Iblia Kingdom and didn't stop them from spreading the reputation of our family as bandits throughout the whole continent."

Lorist stood up before he reached for a small barrel of fruit wine and took out two silver cups. After he poured the wine, he handed Charade one cup and said, "Try it. We got this from a vineyard within the Winston Province."

Charade tasted the wine and praised its deliciousness. "This tastes rather good. Then again, Locke, I'm really confused by what you're doing. Even though you didn't take anything from the nobles in the royal capital, you still helped Baron Felim and Henard pillage most of the nobles within the Winston Province. Aren't those two actions a little contradictory?"

"Hehe..." Lorist giggled as he said, "Not at all. What you don't understand is the type of people the nobles of the Iblia Kingdom are. Initially when the Second Prince found his kingdom, he used his authority to entitle others and enfeoff them land to sell noble titles, causing most of the land within the Winston Province apart from the royal capital to be sold away and tens of new noble families to appear. That's why the Iblia Kingdom has the most landed nobles compared to the other powers nearby.

"The Second Prince relied on the funds he gained from selling titles and land to build an army to attack the Melein Duchy. But little did he know that he would proceed to suffer huge losses over the next two years, with the battles he fought turning the whole Southern Province of his kingdom into a ravaged wasteland. The nobles who had bought their titles could also foresee their stark future and had long escaped to the royal capital to protect their wealth and also to pester the Second Prince to be responsible for the damage he caused to the Southern Province.

"During the previous year, as the Second Prince wasn't able to borrow any soldiers from Duke Fisablen, he still had to give some kind of satisfying resolution to the nobles who stayed at the royal capital. That's why he decided that he would try to conquer the Madras Duchy's Delamock Province and move the dominions of the nobles within the royal capital there while trying to make a small profit for himself all the while resolving the food debt he owed Duke Madras.

"You'll understand after taking a look at this map. Given that the Delamock Province is well known to be one of the largest food producers of the former empire, do you think the land of Winston Province which is situated right next to it will be any worse? In actuality, the Second Prince lacked the power over his subordinate nobles unlike Duke Madras, and wasn't able to stop the nobles he entitled from doing whatever they wanted after they were enfeoffed their land within the Winston Province. Hence, the nobles stopped focusing on planting food because it was unprofitable and instead started up all kinds of fruit wineries and plantations. That's why after the Southern Province of the Iblia Kingdom was rendered useless, the Iblia Kingdom began to lack a good food source, with most of the food being within the hands of the nobles of Winston Province. The high price of food was solely the fault of those nobles.

"And given the high price of food, the nobles of Winston Province took the opportunity to stockpile more and more of it while trying hard at the same time to prevent other sources of food from entering the kingdom so that they could profit by maintaining the high market price of food. That naturally incited the envy and jealousy of the nobles of the ravaged Southern Province, causing much conflict to manifest between the two factions. That was also one of the main reasons why the Second Prince was so reluctant on returning to the royal capital as he couldn't be bothered to mediate between the arguing nobles.

"That's why when word of our three families attacking the Winston Province spread to the royal capital, the nobles who stayed there actually cheered for our arrival because that meant that the Winston Province nobles that they envied so much would finally be getting the short end of the stick. That is also the true intention behind my actions. Initially, I even felt that we needed to mow down the number of nobles of the Iblia Kingdom just like what you and the convoy did when you passed through the Andinaq Kingdom. Through hanging all those nobles, the state of the kingdom became far more clean and stabilized.

"However, if we do that, we would only be doing a favor to the people in power of the Iblia Kingdom. In the case of Duke Fisablen, if he manages to tidy up the four provinces of the Iblia Kingdom, his power and influence would no doubt multiply by a few times. By cleansing the Iblia Kingdom of the extra nobles, we would be making a larger enemy for ourselves instead and I definitely wouldn't do something that foolish.

"That was the reason for my explicit instructions to the Felim Family and Hennard's forces to not kill the nobles they pillaged and only take all their food and movable assets as well as their commoner subjects so that the Winston Province nobles would be on bad terms with those at the royal capital. If I raided the nobles at the royal capital, all the nobles would be united in their hatred towards us. But now that I didn't touch those nobles at the royal capital, surely they will be jumping with joy at the losses of the nobles of Winston Province.

"There's no doubt that the nobles of Winston Province hate the fact that we've moved their commoner subjects away the most. Without them, they will not be able to gather wealth and plant food. And given that the Northlands had a natural border, which is Metropoulos River, there's no way that they will be able to retaliate against us. If they want more commoners, they will have to take them from other people. But since I have moved the poor commoners away from the royal capital, those nobles won't have anyone to rally. That means that they will have no choice but to prey on the Delamock Province of the Madras Duchy which is just nearby.

"The last time the Second Prince attacked Delamock Province, the ones who funded that operation were the nobles of the Southern Province who stayed at the royal capital with the Winston Province nobles only reluctantly providing small amounts of food and few soldiers to fulfill their obligation. So naturally, if the nobles of Winston Province wish to attack Delamock Province, they will receive strong objection from the nobles of the Southern Province.

"In the past, the suggestions of the nobles of the Southern Province would frequently be met with objection from those of the Winston Province. And back then, the Southern Province nobles were unable to compete in terms of military might with the Winston Province nobles and could only endure. But right now, the two noble factions are roughly on equal standing and anything the Winston Province nobles propose will definitely be opposed by the nobles of the Southern Province. That's why when Duke Fisablen made himself the regent of the Iblia Kingdom, he realized that the division between the two noble factions caused him to be unable to get anything done, as the order to deploy soldiers couldn't be passed. It was actually rather smart of him to resign from the position of the regent and head home right away.

"If Duke Fisablen had been more ruthless, he could've killed off all the nobles who opposed his will and could possibly maintain his grasp on the kingdom and push it towards a direction he had hoped for. It's a shame that the old man didn't do so, perhaps because he lacked the courage to do so or he was too self-aware about the reputation of his family and understood that an act like that would make the Fisablen Family public enemy number one, causing him to be willing to give up just like that and head back to his own domain.

"As we are too far away from the Winston Province, it wouldn't be appropriate for us to set our sights on it, at least not before we have control of the whole of the Northlands. That's why it is my intention to cause as much chaos there as possible. With Duke Fisablen now gone, there's no one powerful enough to stifle the conflict between the two noble factions and war would surely break out. It won't take long until we see soldiers facing off against each other. By then, we only have to watch them kill each other off from the sidelines."

After Charade heard everything, his eyes were completely dazed before he said, "Locke, I didn't expect that you would change so quickly after becoming a dominion lord. Your thoughts stretch further and further away into the future and you're even able to predict things to such an extent now..."

Lorist shrugged as he said, "I had no choice. I only found out that nobles don't just organize hunting events or mess around by organizing dance parties and hooking up with other beautiful noble ladies all day long after becoming a dominion lord myself. Instead, I have to constantly worry about the affairs of my family and consider its future, the livelihood of the commoners as well as being responsible for my knights and subordinates. There is also much deceit and vested interests among the interaction with other nobles, so if I don't consider my options thoroughly, I will no doubt be taken advantaged of badly. Circumstances have forced me to change my way of thinking."

Finishing the wine in his cup, Charade wiped his mouth before he said, "Alright, stop complaining already. You've been doing a great job and the family's future is looking brighter than ever. Back to the main topic, why have you sought me out so urgently?"

Lorist pointed to a thick stack of beastskin documents that were on the table and said, "At the end of this month, the near 40000 poor commoners we moved from WIndbury City and the 70000 plus commoners from the Winston Province will arrive at our dominion and I will leave their affairs to you. Settle them down at Salus Settlement since they're lacking people over there. This new influx of commoners should satisfy the need there.

"Alongside the commoners are the 15000 prisoners of the Frontier Legion. Duke Fisablen will definitely not give up on these soldiers as the total population of the Wild Husbandry Province and the Eastwild Province numbered less than 500000. Had it not been for the refugees of the ravaged Southern Province that made their way to the duke's dominion, he wouldn't have been able to build up a full army within these few short years. This time around though, the soldiers we captured were all elite soldiers and not the 30000 who were lent to and wasted by the Second Prince years ago, so the duke will definitely pay for their ransom to get them back.

"I won't be letting the captured soldiers into the central part of the dominion, so I will leave it to you to arrange for them to work on building the roads and other infrastructure in the Salus Settlement. As it's a waste to just let the elite workforce leave like that, when the messenger of the duke comes to negotiate for their release, do your best to postpone it so that we can squeeze as much work out of them as possible."

Charade almost burst out laughing as he said, "Locke, you're getting more and more crafty for you to want to utilize the slightest bit of manpower like that... If Duke Fisablen knows about this, there's no doubt that he would cough out blood in anger. Alright, I understand your intentions well so leave it to me. I will make sure that the duke pays a handsome sum to get these soldiers of his back."

Lorist circled around his study as he stroked his chin before he said, "Duke Fisablen doesn't have that much money and his adopted son and treasured general, Viscount Kristoph, is still in my hands as well as his 15000 soldiers. I suspect that he isn't able to afford a high amount like this. That's why I've decided that I won't demand money from him but livestock instead. The Wild Husbandry Province and the Eastwild Province produce the most livestock among the other provinces of the former empire with over half of the market share in livestock controlled by them, as summarized by the records of the Morante City market research report.

"Previously when you guys killed off so many nobles of the Northlands, didn't you make lots of vacant lands? We can use those lands as our family's pastures. If we take one cow for each prisoner we have, we'll be getting at least 15000 of them already. I wonder how many cows should I charge for Viscount Kristoph's release... Definitely not less than 10000. Just place the cows we get within the western area after we get them and convert that place into the largest pasture in the Northlands."

Charade nodded and said, "So far, the only place that produces livestock within the dominion is Maplewoods Bastide with them having up to 2000 cows and sheep. Even though some commoners have begun rearing livestock within the Felicitas Settlement, most of them are sheep and they number only up to a few hundred, which is considered to be really small-scale. Had it not been for the meat we got from the extermination of the magical beast wave, the family dominion would have run out of meat a long time ago. This idea is not bad as the western area of the Northlands is not too dangerous and suitable for the livestock to graze in."

"Then it's decided. Also, our three families had taken quite a huge amount of food with us this time around and our family got a share of around 32.5 million kilograms alongside some other valuables. I have decided to use this food to stabilize the situation of Salus Settlement and I'll leave the handling of the food to you. Since Hennard and the Felim Family don't lack any food, they're willing to sell their share to us according to market price, and I've already agreed to that. I'll leave the rest to you then," Lorist added.

"Alright, I already have the gist of it," Charade said before he took the related beastskin documents on the table into his hands. "Locke, how many days is it until Telesti gives birth?"

"Perhaps within a few short days. I estimate it to be around the 11th or the 12th day of the month," Lorist said as he looked at the window outside.

"Are you going to treat her properly and accordingly?" Charade asked.

Lorist shrugged his shoulders and said, "What choice do I have? You know well that I've proposed marriage to her multiple times over but she always turns me down with the excuse that she has taken an oath of celibacy to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Siminglyde and will stay unmarried for life. I hope that she'll change her mind after giving birth to this child..."

"Oh, thinking back to that year when we set out from Morante City towards the Northlands... It has already been five years, huh... You're already 29 now and it's about time you formed your own family as a dominion lord. Miss Telesti is definitely a rather good fit to be your official wife, so you had better try harder to persuade her," Charade said as he sighed.

Lorist nodded and sent Charade out when he was about to leave. When he opened the door however, he saw Howard standing outside and snickered before he said, "Fatty, by the end of this year, Baron Felim will be coming over to spend the winter and his 15-year-old daughter will be coming with him..."

Stunned, Charade said, "Baron Felim? He's only 35, right? How would he have a daughter that young? And he's still not married yet, right?"

Lorist laughed out loud and said, "That's his illegitimate daughter and I heard that the child's mother was only 16 when she gave birth while Baron Felim himself was only around 18..."

"What a savage!" Charade cursed loudly, despite the envious look he had on his face. "But what does his daughter have anything to do with him coming over to spend winter?"

Lorist looked at the blushing Howard before he said, "The baron has taken a great liking to this young one and wants to bring his daughter over here for them to meet. If they get along, he'll negotiate with Potterfang about their engagement."

Charade laughed out and said, "That's a great thing, Howard! Congratulations for getting a wife even though you only accompanied milord for such a short trip! I think you should join milord on more trips in the future as well..."

Unable to resist being poked fun at by the two, Howard turned and left, leaving Lorist alone with Charade to laugh out loudly by themselves.

The Decision of the Duke

Here's the first sponsored chapter of the week courtesy of Tyler L. from the USA and Paulo S. from Brazil! You have my heartfelt gratitude!

On the 13th day of the 8th month, Lorist's daughter was born and Telesti, who had just become a mother, named her child Nico Olijess, and there was nothing Lorist could do about it. Even though Lorist had wanted to discuss with Telesti about their formalized relationship and status, Telesti rejected that suggestion and insisted that she would be living by herself.

"Locke, I understand your intentions," said Telesti gently with her daughter Olijess in her embrace. Her child was of far more importance to her than Lorist currently. "I think that this arrangement is pretty good as it is. Don't tell me that you won't acknowledge her as your daughter just because we are not married. To be honest, I'm just a scholar and am not fit to become the wife of a dominion lord, because that position comes with responsibilities like dealing with other nobles and the such. In the future, I will have to focus my attention on the formation of the academy and I'm already satisfied now that Little Oli here will be succeeding the name of the Nico Family."

Having not been able to convince Telesti who wouldn't budge even the slightest, it wasn't as if Lorist could throw a tantrum in front of the mother and daughter and could do naught but leave.

Amidst his frustration, Lorist took his sword and looked for Viscount Kristoph whom he imprisoned. Right now, only that rank 1 Blademaster could qualify as a suitable sparring partner for Lorist. After enduring around 100 strikes from Lorist, Viscount Kristoph wisely conceded his loss. After taking a towel from Howard, he asked, "What's up with you today? You seem much wilder than usual..."

"It's nothing, I'm just a little troubled by something on my mind. Also, I'm going to make a trip to Maplewoods Bastide two days later. Do you want to tag along?" Lorist asked.

Even though Viscount Kristoph currently had the status of a prisoner of war, he was still allowed to leave Firmrock Castle as he pleased. Apart from being forbidden to return home, he was allowed to act as other nobles would.

"Forget it, I think it's better if I stay here. I've been wanting to have some free time to meditate on our duels and I don't want to follow you along just to be your training dummy all day long," said Viscount Kristoph as he rejected Lorist's offer.

Since he had expressedly denied the offer, Lorist didn't force him to go along with him. After that, he went to the rear mountain of the castle where a new training facility was built and saw Reidy training in the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique which Lorist had taught him within a small stone house.

What intrigued Lorist wasn't the rate at which Reidy progressed in his training of that new technique but rather how it didn't have any effect whatsoever on Reidy's Silver ranked Battle Force. Unlike Lorist, Reidy's Battle Force didn't get sucked into the meridians or his dantian. No matter how Lorist pondered about it, he could only hypothesize that it was due to the difference between the two techniques with the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique being more stable and peaceful as opposed to the Aquametal Technique's overbearingness. Another possible reason was the fact that Reidy was already firm in his Silver ranked Battle Force before he began to train in the new technique whereas Lorist began training in the Aquametal Technique when he was at the Iron rank. Due to the stability of Reidy's Battle Force, it was possible that it took priority over the first stage of the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique which was still unable to shake the stability of Reidy's Battle Force.

Lorist had Reidy sit cross-legged before he sat behind him and placed both his palms against Reidy's back. As Reidy activated the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique, Lorist inserted some of his own internal energy into the flow to aid him. The advantage of that was that Lorist would be able to reinforce Reidy's sensation of internal energy flowing within his meridians while being able to grasp Reidy's status and progress while he trained in the technique.

After a minor cycle, Lorist retracted both his palms and confirmed that the state of Reidy's body was more or less as he had predicted. After he began training in the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique, even though he still had his Silver ranked Battle Force cultivation, Reidy was no longer able to progress in Battle Force training. In other words, he would forever stay at the One Star Silver rank and wouldn't be able to break through to the next stage.

The first two stages of the Dan Ocean Ki-Refining Technique mainly concerned the familiarization of the circulation of a minor cycle within the 12 standard meridians and the expansion of thereof. The main focus lies in cultivating the ki and storing it up. The truly difficult parts of the technique only starts at the following three stages with the third stage focusing on the opening of the 8 extraordinary meridians and the connection of thereof with the 12 standard meridians so that the internal energy in one's body can flow in a major cycle. The full attainment of training at the third stage would signify that one has already reached the peak of the Bright Stage, with the fourth stage of the technique signifying one's venture into the Dark Stage, and the fifth stage of the technique being at the legendary Transformative Stage. To use a Battle Force analogy, a person at the Transformative Stage would probably be at the level of a Sword Saint.

In actuality, Lorist wasn't looking forward to his trip two days later to Maplewoods Bastide. Ever since the assassination attempt he suffered last year, he hasn't gone there to visit his treasured son yet. But he still had to since he received a report from Old Man Balk about the completion of the shipyard as well as the argument between the work smiths on what kind of ship to build first, hence necessitating Lorist's personal visit for a decision to be made.

Lorist told Reidy to stay there and continue his training as he would break through to the second stage in another three months. Since Lorist already had Howard by his side during his visit, there was no need for Reidy to serve as his attendant during that time.

The moment he arrived at Maplewoods Bastide, he was received happily by Irina. Despite that, his two-year-old rowdy son had completely forgotten about his own father. Not only did he cry when Lorist tried to hug him, he even crawled over to give Lorist a bite as he felt threatened when Irina, his mother, had her attention focused on Lorist, causing Lorist to feel incredibly mixed feelings.

Lorist felt that he hadn't treated the mother and son well enough and decided to have the two follow him back to Firmrock Castle to live there with him. At least that way, that child of his would not forget who his own father was that easily. But Irina was as stubborn as Telesti when it came to that regard and refused vehemently to leave Maplewoods Bastide, causing Lorist to have no choice but to give up on the notion.

After spending two days at Maplewoods Bastide, Lorist headed to the Bullhorn Bay. Bullhorn Bay was the name for the bay at the intersection the Bladedge Mountains and the Blackmud Marsh and it was called as such due to it being shaped like the horn of a bull. Initially, it was only a term which the prisoners who worked there referred to the bay with, but eventually it stuck and the family adopted the name formally and used it in its maps.

The Bladedge Mountains and the Blackmud Marsh had already been connected and it no longer took more than a day to travel from Maplewoods Bastide to Poplar Coast. When Lorist arrived at the passthrough at Bladedge Mountains, he saw Grandmaster Ciroba, who was currently placed in charge of the development of Blackmud Marsh, and his assistant Zanben, seemingly measuring something halfway up a hill with some other people. After seeing Lorist and the others, they hurriedly rushed over.

"What are you guys doing?" Lorist asked as he dismounted.

After the passage of a few years, Grandmaster Ciroba no longer wet himself when he saw Lorist like before. On the contrary, he was extremely grateful that Lorist had given him an opportunity to utilize his talents as a development project on the scale of the one at Blackmud Marsh was not something any other kingdom or nation could afford to undertake and fund given the chaotic conditions of a time of war. Grandmaster Ciroba was certain that once the project was completed, his name as a great architect would forever be imprinted upon the annals of history and he believed that to be his true calling.

However, as he had treated Lorist like a demon in the past and had wet himself quite a few times when he first met him, Grandmaster Ciroba still felt rather awkward when he faced Lorist. So, he instructed his assistant Zanben to do the talking.

After bowing with respect to Lorist, Zanben said, "Milord, we are seeing if we can build a citadel halfway up the hill here and are measuring the total surface area available."

"Oh?" Lorist mused as he looked at the surroundings and thought, this is indeed a rather good spot. Originally, that place used to be a high peak up a mountain but now, it seemed like it was cut in half by a very large blade with the peak having broken off into multiple rock formations that filled the bottom, becoming part of the path itself. By building a citadel there, not only could they oversee Blackmud Marsh, they could also seal off the path from Bladedge Mountains to Poplar Coast. Given the terrain, the citadel would be easy to defend but hard to conquer. As long as a division of soldiers was stationed there, the safety of the construction of the port city would be assured.

"Not bad, you have truly thoroughly considered your plan," Lorist praised.

"Milord, so far we're still in the planning stages and we're still considering whether we should also excavate half of the neighboring mountain connect it with this one. By doing that, we can increase the surface area and also have the water source at the mountain behind be used for this citadel. However, by doing so we'll be effectively doubling our workload and we're currently debating whether it's worth the effort," Zanben added.

Lorist nodded and said, "I have great faith in your abilities and trust that you will make the best choice in the interests of the Norton Family. I'll leave this decision in your hands and won't butt in."

"Milord, there is however one thing we must get your word on," Zanben said as he stepped forward. He pointed at the sea and said, "Milord, in the original plan for the construction of the port city, we were prepared to reclaim the reef area of the sea but after a year of surveying the territory under the leadership of Grandmaster Ciroba, we realized that landfilling the reef area which can be tens to hundreds of meters deep is not a worthwhile effort. Not only would the operation be on a very large scale, it would also leave the safety of the port city at risk in the future. I believe we should keep the reef area as it is and only fill out the area near the shipyard and build two jetties that stretch into the deeper parts of the ocean. That is already enough to satisfy the need for the family's fleet..."

"How about this, I will be at the shipyard during this period of time, so, summarize your thoughts and suggestions about the project tonight and send it to me in a report alongside the original blueprints and plans for the port city. I will gather the others from the other family departments for a discussion before I make a decision," Lorist said before he nodded towards Grandmaster Ciroba and headed straight for the path to the shipyard.

The shipyard was located at the deepest part of the bay and the land behind it was filled with huge, dried timber. Old Man Balk brought a few other woodworkers with him and guided Lorist into a wide hall, within which was a huge water tank in which tens of miniature model ships of different designs and sizes floated.

Old Man Balk pointed at the floating models and said, "Milord, these models here include most of the boat types In Grindia, but we were unable to decide on which we should construct first. Some think that we should begin with a warship while others think that a merchant vessel would be a good choice. That's why we have asked milord to come here to make a decision."

Lorist shook his head and said, "So far, our family still hasn't established a sea trading route yet so there's no need for a merchant vessel. However, warships take a long time to build given how complicated they are, and we don't really need it that soon. For the first ship to be built for the family's navy, it should be one that we can use to train in the sea with."

"But, milord, there isn't a ship specifically designed for training..." said the oldest work smith as he stood forward.

"If there isn't, you can always design one yourself. The requirements for a training ship is simple. It only has to be middle-sized, have a couple of ranged weapons and be easy to handle and control. There's no need for it to be too fast or tough and it only needs to be able to resist stormy weathers and travel further into the ocean. The main purpose of the training ship is to familiarize our navy marines with life out on sea as well as train them in several other seafaring skills so that they can develop basic combat ability on sea. You may discuss the specifics according to the requirements I've stated and begin designing the ship accordingly. Can you achieve at least that?" Lorist asked.

"Milord, I guess we can try," said the old worksmith as he looked at his other partners and nodded.

"Then it's decided. Go have a discussion and make a blueprint and model for me to inspect. I will be staying here for the time being until you come up with a design I'm satisfied with," Lorist said.

...

On the windy grasslands where cows and sheep could be spotted grazing stood a huge and majestic citadel that looked like a crouching, fierce magical tiger from afar.

That was the control center of the Eastwild Province and it was the main base of the war god of the Frontier Legion, rank 3 Blademaster Duke Fisablen. It also served as the main camp for the Frontier Legion and it was called the Crouchtiger Castle.

Currently, Duke Fisablen had a face reddened with anger with the silver cup in his hand crushed into an unrecognizable ball of metal. No matter who one was, if one received a chain of bad news throughout the whole morning, one would definitely be put in a bad mood. One of those reports even shook the war god duke to the core.

Within the hall stood tens of the duke's family knights who were all silent and unmoving. Not one of them were willing to appease their lord as there was nothing they could do about their duke's current temper but brainstorm on how to resolve the current predicament.

"Grandfather, what's going on?" asked Princess Sylvia as she walked into the hall dressed in valiant hunting garbs. Her presence brought relief to those family knights as the duke would definitely not lash out angrily in the presence of his beloved granddaughter.

"Oh, my beloved darling, why are you here? I just got a few pieces of bad news in the morning that caused my mood to sour," Duke Fisablen said as he revealed a forced smile.

"Oh, let me see what they are about," said Princess Sylvia before she took the few beastskin documents that were on the duke's table and read them through. "A report from the Wessia Merchant Guild? They said that they will be changing their mining equipment for the following two years and will be willing to reimburse our family with gold Fordes? What does that mean?"

Duke Fisablen sighed before he said, "Sylvia, your uncle, the king of the Iblia Kingdom, actually sold the two crucial iron mines of the kingdom to the Wessia Merchant Guild and allowed them to manage them for up to 30 years. Within the whole of the Iblia Kingdom, only those two mines can easily produce good quality iron ores and they are the most important source of material for military equipment within the kingdom. According to the agreement the king signed in the past, one third of the produce from those mines would be provided to our Frontier Legion.

"Now that the mines are under the management of the Wessia Merchant Guild, even though they acknowledge the agreement with the king, the agreement only stated that they will provide iron ores and not manufactured military equipment. Their claim about changing their mining equipment is merely one of their lies. Even if they reimburse our family with gold Fordes instead of iron ore, what use would we have for them? Our family needs military equipment, not gold coins. Right now, we can't even purchase military equipment even if we have enough funds..."

"Grandfather, don't be so hasty. I know a place that produces great military equipment and I can get you in contact with the people in charge," said Princess Sylvia.

"And who exactly is that?" asked the duke with surprise.

"They're the Norton Family of the Northlands. The armor worn by their family forces are among the most impressive I've seen and boast incredible defense."

"The Norton Family? No way, they are our enemy. Not only did they imprison that uncle of yours who is our king, they even captured your Uncle Kristoph and 15000 other soldiers of the Frontier Legion. I'm already incredibly troubled about what price I should offer to ransom them back," Duke Fisablen said while shaking his head.

"Grandfather, I recall that the leader of the Norton Family said something like this. 'There are no eternal enemies, only eternal profits.' I think that even though you consider him an enemy, they might not see us in the same light. Also, it was uncle's own fault for setting his sights on the Norton Family in the first place even though they did not even provoke him in the slightest. They are merely abiding by their oath to defend their dominion and the border of the empire but uncle still wanted to conquer them and even sent a Blademaster to assassinate the leader of the Norton Family after his failure. That's far too underhanded and insidious of him.

"It was already quite merciful for the Norton Family to only capture him without hanging him straight away. Also, didn't he treat auntie quite well when his family occupied the royal capital? Godmother and I have seen Count Norton in person before and he even escorted us back home after defeating uncle's army. Just let me go to the Northlands for a visit for that purpose while I try to negotiate for the release of Uncle Kristoph and the soldiers too. What do you think?" Princess Sylvia persuaded her grandfather as she held his hand tightly in a spoiled manner.

"'There are no eternal enemies, only eternal profits', huh? Hahaha, that saying is rather interesting. Alright then, Sylvia. Go to the Northlands with Xanthi and see what kind of response the Norton Family will give us," said the duke as he made his decision.

Visit

Hey guys, sorry for the lower chapter count this week as I had to attend a neighborhood function during the weekends and only managed to work on one chapter during tha time. The second bonus chapter of the week was brought to you by Paulo S. from Brazil and Benjamin R. from France. Enjoy the read!

When Lorist received word that Princess Sylvia was on the way to Firmrock Castle with Count Kenmays, it was already near the end of the month and he had already stayed at the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay for almost an entire month. Currently, not only had the shipyard begun building three training ships and one survey ship, they were also researching an idea put forward by Lorist concerning speedy warships.

The current mode of battle used by nations with navy forces were only limited to traditional ship-boarding. For instance, when Lorist was studying in Morante City, he saw the fleet of the Forde Trade Union once. Their ships were basically like huge rectangular walls installed onto a floating bodies and during battles, two adjacent ships would only begin firing ranged weapons like ballistas and longbows when they were around 300 meters apart. And as the ships approached one another, the battle would shift to close combat between the two ship crews with the conflict only ending when one side was completely annihilated or forced to surrender.

It was too bad Lorist's experiments with gunpowder were unsuccessful. Otherwise, he could manufacture iron cannons and take the world of naval warfare by storm. As the owner of a workshop in his past life, Lorist was no stranger to line-of-battle ships and he could easily make tens of miniaturized ones easily. However, without any cannons at his disposal, those ships would only be useful as merchant vessels at most.

Despite that, Lorist still designed one three-masted line-of-battle ship with its focus on ranged weaponry and good mobility. As for the weapons, the steel ballistas and catapults could be installed on the ship for that purpose. The ship only had to avoid being approached by other ships at all costs and exterminate enemy ships by using kiting tactics.

"Alright, just design that ship according to my specifications for now. In terms of ranged attacks, if us, the Norton Family, claims to be the second best, I doubt anyone else would dare to claim to be the best. You must be at least that confident. After finishing the ship, I believe we can start running some drills. By then, we'll be able to see whether this type of speedy cruiser would be practical or not," Lorist said to the shipbuilders beside him.

"Yes, milord..."

After leaving the shipyard, Lorist returned to Maplewoods Bastide and spent three whole days with Irina while toying around with his slow-witted brat until he was satisfied before leaving for Firmrock Castle.

Before Lorist managed to wash off the grime on him that built up during the travels, Howard entered and informed him that Princess Sylvia had come over to visit. Having no other choice, Lorist could only wash his face and have a change of clothes before meeting his visitor.

Princess Sylvia only brought one maidservant with her on the trip and looked to be in an angry mood. The moment she saw Lorist, she began complaining immediately. After listening to her complaints for quite a while, he understood that Princess Sylvia had been shocked after the discussion with Charade. She believed that Charade's suggestion of three cows as ransom for each captured Frontier Legion soldier was far too ridiculous.

Lorist smiled warmly and said, "Since a princess like yourself had to make a visit over here personally, as a dominion lord, I will have to give you some face. How about this... Each Frontier Legion soldier's ransom will be only 1 cow, with a squad leader's ransom being 10 cows, a company leader's being 100 and a regiment leader's being 1000. As for Viscount Kristoph's ransom, it's up to you. Will that be acceptable?"

That was already incredibly magnanimous of Lorist as a mere 'favor' to the princess as the new ransom was only a third of the original one proposed by Charade. Princess Sylvia's face suddenly flushed red as she lowered her head and said in a shy tone," Thank you, Elder Brother Locke..."

Lorist didn't feel particularly deserving of that since this whole thing was nothing more than a good cop, bad cop charade he had planned with Charade beforehand. (Translator: No pun intended.) By giving Duke Fisablen this discount, the duke would owe the Norton Family a favor in the future. Additionally, it was even more significant since the one who made the visit was Princess Sylvia herself. As for how she addressed Lorist as 'Elder Brother Locke', there was nothing weird about it as she had been doing so when she was being escorted by Lorist on the way back to the Wild Husbandry Province some time prior.

This time around, Lorist intended to quickly settle this matter and send Princess Sylvia on her way back before taking a bath and checking out on Telesti and his daughter. As he had been gone for a month, he missed them quite a lot and he didn't really want to deal with Princess Sylvia anymore. Even though the princess was indeed the most beautiful girl Lorist had ever seen and was even considered to be a goddess by Count Kenmays, Lorist felt that she existed in a completely different realm from him. Psychological age aside, Lorist himself was 8 years Princess Sylvia's senior and he only considered her as he would a cute and energetic girl in the neighborhood.

However, Princess Sylvia didn't leave even after the matter of the ransom was concluded and even tried her best to loiter around. A little annoyed, Lorist smiled and asked, "Your Highness, do you have any other matters? If you do, pray tell. I will definitely help you out to the best of my ability."

Princess Sylvia let out a relieved breath and said, "Elder Brother Locke, this time around I didn't just come to talk about the matter of the ransom. I was wondering if you could sell some weapons and equipment to the Frontier Legion..."

"Huh?" Lorist mused, shocked. Princess Sylvia's request was completely out of his expectations. He gave it some thought before he raised his head to look at the princess and said, "As a friend of mine, I hope that you can tell me the reason you've approached my family to purchase weapons and equipment."

With a troubled look, Princess Sylvia said, "Originally, the equipment required by the Frontier Legion are sourced from the Iblia Kingdom for no cost as my grandfather had an agreement with the king that stated that a third of the produce from the two iron mines of the kingdom would be made into equipment by the facilities of the king himself and provided to the Frontier Legion.

"But we didn't expect that after the king was defeated by the Norton Family and fled to the royal capital, he actually rented the only two iron mines the Iblia Kingdom relied upon to the Wessia Merchant Guild for 30 whole years. Even though the Wessia Merchant Guild still acknowledged the king's agreement with my grandfather, they were only willing to provide us with a third of the ores themselves and not pre-made equipment and weapons because it wasn't explicitly stated within the agreement...

"And just before I came over to your dominion, we received a notification from the Wessia Merchant Guild that they had to use two years' time to change their mining equipment and could only reimburse us with gold Fordes worth the value of the iron ore they ought to be giving us. However, we don't need money and instead require equipment.

"The main enemy of the Frontier Legion are the grassland barbarians from the northeastern plains. Even though the quality of the equipment produced by the kingdom is rather low and caused it to wear and tear quickly, we were still able to sustain ourselves with the constant influx of new equipment. But without the iron mines, we can no longer make up for the broken gear and in the recent smaller skirmishes, our forces were forced to fight with incomplete gear against the savage grassland barbarians.

"That's why, Elder Brother Locke, I hope you can lend a hand since the Frontier Legion is also defending the empire's borders just like what the Norton Family is doing and provide us with the armor and equipment produced by your family. The Fisablen Family and the Frontier Legion will definitely remember the kindness you show us..."

"The Wessia Merchant Guild?" Instead of answering whether he would agree to the princess's request, Lorist focused his attention on the Wessia Merchant Guild instead. "Weird, why has the Wessia Merchant Guild stretched their hands towards the Iblia Kingdom?" he muttered softly.

"Elder Brother Locke, you know about them? Oh, right, you mentioned that you studied at Morante City during your youth. Then you must know the merchant guild quite well then?" Princess Sylvia said after she heard Lorist's muttering with her keen aural sense.

Nodding, Lorist said, "That's right. I've heard of the Wessia Merchant Guild but I don't really understand them well, even though I was at Morante City for ten years. The Wessia Merchant Guild is one of the seven largest merchant guilds of the Forde Trade Union and they're ranked at third place. For a high up merchant guild like that, us mercenaries working at Morante City didn't have much interaction with them. However, they are most well known for producing good military equipment.

"You should know about Mizek Stainless Steel Armor, right? They're considered one of the armors with best defense around and are produced in the Temanda Kingdom. But the Wessia Merchant Guild holds all the rights to sell the 200000[1] or so units of armor produced yearly. It can be said that the Wessia Merchant Guild is one of the largest groups dealing and producing military equipment."

"No wonder..." Princess Sylvia mused with astonishment. "After we received the notification from the Wessia Merchant Guild, our family knights were all fuming with rage and felt that they were being duped by the guild and requested to be allowed to teach them a lesson. But my grandfather only laughed bitterly as he refused their request with the only reason being that the Wessia Merchant Guild was one of the seven largest guilds in the Forde Trade Union and that it wouldn't be wise to provoke them. If relations with them really turned sour, the trade they have with the Eastwild Province and the Wild Husbandry Province might be cut off and that would cause the lives of the commoners to degrade badly..."

Lorist smiled without saying anything else and thought that even though Duke Fisablen has a force of 70000 plus soldiers and controls two whole provinces, his true might could possibly not even compare to that of the Kenmays Family. The two provinces he controlled encompassed only grasslands from head to end with not even a single mine available. Even if the Fisablen Family wanted to develop their agriculture, they must first invest huge amounts of funds to set up irrigation infrastructure. And it didn't help that they had to rely on merchants from outside the dominion for even a single earthen pot and only had cows and sheep as well as their related products for export.

Currently, the salt merchant committee managed by Count Kenmays did not only deal with salt. They were also responsible for the distribution of the daily-use products produced by the Norton Family, especially at the provinces controlled by Duke Fisablen. Even though the products were varied and trivial, the quantity produced and consumed brought the Norton Family up to 3000 gold Fordes of profit yearly even though they only had 10% share of the salt merchant committee.

Had it not been for the fact that Duke Fisablen was a mighty rank 3 Blademaster with his famed and elite Frontier Legion, there would've been no way for the Iblia Kingdom to be founded in the first place. From Lorist's point of view, it was extremely simple for him to deal with Duke Fisablen. He only had to close the borders between the two provinces and the Iblia kingdom and prohibit all trading activities there. In two to three years, the Frontier Legion would collapse without so much as a single fight.

"Elder Brother Locke, you still haven't said whether you'll sell the equipment to us or not," Princess Sylvia reminded.

"Selling them isn't a problem. I'm just worried that your family won't be able to afford it," Lorist said with a bitter smile.

"My family has enough money and will be able to take out a few hundred thousand gold Fordes," Princess Sylvia said in a dissatisfied tone.

Lorist shook his head and said, "It's not that I'm looking down on your few hundred thousand gold coins, but I'm afraid that amount of money won't be enough to outfit even a division of soldiers..."

"Ah? Is it that expensive?" Princess Sylvia said, a little dazed.

"It's not a matter of expensiveness but rather whether it's worth this amount. Your Highness, I see that you're not too informed about weapons and equipment. How about this, tomorrow noon, I will hold a banquet to formally welcome your arrival to Firmrock Castle. After that, I will show those equipment I have for sale for you to pick. With Viscount Kristoph also attending, you don't have to worry about me giving an unfair price since he's quite well-versed in these things," Lorist said.

"I apologize, Elder Brother Locke. I didn't really do any research into military equipment, so please forgive me for my tone just now. I will leave for now, so see you tomorrow," Princess Sylvia said with her head lowered.

"No problem, don't take it to heart. See you tomorrow," Lorist said as he waved his hands generously.

After Princess Sylvia bowed and took her leave, she turned back and said, "Thank you, Elder Brother Locke. You're truly a good person."

"Huh?" Lorist mused. What's with that all of a sudden?

On the next day, after the welcoming banquet, Lorist brought Princess Sylvia and some others to the hall on the second floor where various armor and weapons were on display.

"Princess Sylvia, Blademaster Xanthi, Viscount Kristoph, the equipment my family has for sale are all displayed here and you may make your pick. However, the price tags listed beneath each item are only reserved for members of our alliance. If your family wishes to purchase them, the price will be 20% higher and that's already a huge discount I'm willing to make," Lorist said without holding anything back.

"Ah! 100 gold Fordes per set?! Isn't this the armor used by the forces of the Kenmays Family?" Princess Sylvia exclaimed with astonishment. As she had visited the dominion of the Kenmays Family before, she remembered the gleaming silvery armor rather well. At that time, she only thought that it looked rather good but didn't expect that each set would cost this much.

Count Kenmays nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness. This is indeed the armor set purchased by our family at that very price."

"Uncle Kris, I heard you say before that the metal armor provided to us by His Highness the king wasn't worth more than 10 gold Fordes each. Why are the ones sold by the Norton Family so expensive?" Princess Sylvia asked with a disturbed look. At that price, it would be exactly like Lorist had said: they wouldn't be able to outfit even one division of troops with armor.

As Viscount Kristoph had good understanding of military equipment, he laughed bitterly and said, "Your Highness, each set of armor sold by Count Norton here are all exquisite products with impeccable quality and defensive capabilities. Compared to these, the metal armor provided to us by His Highness is nothing but garbage, In other words, the metal armor we used was only slightly better than leather armor produced by our family and would spoil after only one year of wear. On the other hand, no matter which armor here you pick from, they will definitely be far better than those metal armor. If we care for them well, we might even be able to leave the armor for our children and grandchildren as family heirlooms."

Blademaster Xanthi nodded in agreement.

"However, our family doesn't have that much gold coins..." Princess Sylvia said as she hesitated.

"Please take a closer look at this set," Lorist said aptly as he led the others to a set of concise looking armor. "This set of armor was originally designed for my light cavalry scouts and comes with throwing weapons, a longsword and a pike. It's extremely suitable for your Frontier Legion's cavalry troops and is priced at only around 65 gold Fordes. Even though it's the cheapest armor we offer for sale, its defense capabilities are rather good and is only 20% weaker than the armor of the Whitelion Legion of the former empire. I think that this is more than enough for you to use against the grassland barbarians. If you don't have enough gold coins, I have another suggestion. You can pay us with cows and sheeps. What do you think, Your Highness?"

"Alright then, we'll trade the armor with you with livestock. If we don't have enough, we can simply rob more of them from the northeastern plains," said Viscount Kristoph excitedly without even waiting for the princess's agreement.

Three days later, Princess Sylvia left with Blademaster Xanthi, Viscount Kristoph and 3000 of the released Frontier Legion soldiers with the remaining 12000 only allowed to leave until the agreed upon livestock was delivered when they came to retrieve the armor and equipment they purchased.

"Good Sol, have you gone insane?" Charade said in one of his rare instances of swearing. "Are you going crazy along with the Fisablen Family? How can you agree so casually to accept up to 2 million cows and sheep for the ransom of their soldiers and the purchase 100000 sets of equipment? I don't think they have that much livestock themselves within their two provinces..."

"Viscount Kristoph said that he would lead his soldiers to rob the grassland barbarians for more cows and sheep," said Lorist lazily.

"Ugh..." Charade was stunned as he didn't expect that the Fisablen Family had that method to their disposal. "Even if they rob them, we won't have that much manpower to manage the livestock!"

"Hey, don't worry. The agreement states that they will pay in installments of 400000 plus cows and sheeps yearly for five years. We only have to leave around a few tens of thousands alive and kill some off to make dried meat and sell some away within the family dominion. I believe they will be sold out rather quickly since our dominion's population is already nearing 800000 and the demand for fresh meat will be high. As for the people required to manage the livestock, I've already discussed it with them and they said that they'll provide around 1000 households of herders, which equates to around 5000 people, to us and each household will be in charge of ten cows. By then, we can just set up a town at the west area of the Northlands for these herders to stay at and let them take care of up to 500000 animals."

Having heard Lorist's sound explanation, Charade left without saying anything else.

"Don't forget to close the door when you leave! I'm gonna take a short nap now, darn I'm tired!" Lorist said as he lifted both his legs and put them on the table before leaning back on his chair.

Bam! The sound of the door being slammed shut echoed throughout the room.

[1] The raws actually say that only 20 or so units are produced a year, but I suspect that it's a typing error by the author. So, I've taken the liberty to make the number a little more realistic.