Chapter 416 - 233 - 237

Breaching Five Camps in the Night

Hi guys, here's the first regular chapter of the week. By the way, Prince_99_Hearts has just joined as my editor for TRL, and this chapter was edited by him! Let's give him a warm welcome to the team!

"Sigh, we couldn't buy any horses... I didn't think they would be in such short supply in the imperial capital. Over the last couple of days we only managed to buy a few dozen horses. We had to pay double the market price for them, and they are all being used by milord to pull the carriages," grumbled Freiyar as he prepared the bonfire.

Josk said, "We didn't plan well enough. We thought that we would be able to buy some mounts when we came here, but we forgot that the imperial capital doesn't breed horses at all. Add to that the fact that the Second Highness's six legions require lots of horses, a shortage is unavoidable. I didn't think that we would actually have to walk back..."

"We've only traveled around fifteen kilometers, even after walking for the whole day. I estimate that we can move another 30 or so kilometers tomorrow. That's rather bad for us. Since we're used to traveling around the Northlands on horseback, this pace feels slower than a snail's by comparison. Milord, should we head to the nearby residents of the nobles to buy some horses and carriages to travel faster? Since Silowas Island still needs to be developed, I think these carriages will be useful for transportation," Els suggested.

The group had left the capital and traveled for half a day when Freiyar instructed them to set up camp. The order came just as the sky began to darken. Thanks to the extensive training they had received, the 500 or so soldiers from the Local Defense Brigade settled down quickly. Surprisingly, the ones to complain were among the knights. Els, Jim and the others were used to traveling on horseback rather than marching. They grumbled while sitting by the bonfire. They had been able to sit in the carriage on the way to the imperial capital while escorting the Second Prince, but now they had to travel back by foot.

It was mainly because Lorist had bought a few thousand books in the imperial capital and intended to transport them back. Even though they had around 20 carriages, apart from the ones transporting food, all of them were filled with books. There wasn't even a horse to spare for Lorist; he, too, had to travel by foot.

"Very well, we'll take a detour tomorrow and head towards Doni River. From there, it will only take another day of walking for us to arrive at Dasanba Town. Over there is the main jetty of the Doni River where we can take a boat to travel along the river to the shores of Domesger City. From there, we'll only need to travel another two days to reach Jillin Harbor and get on our ship back to Silowas Island," Lorist announced after he took a look at the map.

"Then, do we still need to purchase carriages when we pass by the other dominions?" Els asked.

"Forget about carriages. It's fine to just get some horses that your subordinates can use to scout ahead so they can alert us if there's any danger," Lorist said.

"Hah, milord, with our force of 500, which dominion lord in the whole of the Andinaq Kingdom will have the guts and might to provoke us?"

Everyone laughed out loud at the comment.

It was true. The nobles of the Andinaq Kingdom had already been made incredibly subservient by the Second Highness. Most of their family forces had already been drafted into the reserve army. It would already be impressive if they managed to have more than 100 soldiers garrisoning their dominions. As Karitoke had mentioned, as long as they didn't encounter the Second Highness's army, Lorist would be able to go anywhere within the kingdom with his force of 500 Local Defense Brigade troops without fear of being obstructed.

"Milord, why can't we sell the horses we have in the Northlands over here? I feel it's a good idea. There's obviously a market for it," Howard said.

"Hehe..." Lorist laughed as he stroked Howard's hair, "It's not bad that you managed to come up with that idea. Under normal circumstances, that idea of yours would be a good one. But you forgot to consider one extremely important factor: who are we to do business with? Even though the Second Highness requires a huge number of mounts for his army, he doesn't have the ability to pay for them. The 300000 soldiers have already stretched his finances to the limit. He definitely doesn't have any gold coins remaining to pay for the horses. If we were to bring horses from the Northlands here, we would only get an empty promise from him. Something along the lines of reimbursing us after he reunites the empire…"

"Alright guys, let's take a rest a little earlier. Howard, heat some water up for us to soak our feet in. There's still a long way to travel tomorrow," Lorist said.

The night passed rather uneventfully. On the next day, they continued their travels almost immediately and only managed to obtain 7 mounts after traveling through four dominions along the way. Among these were old horses that were around 15 to 16 years old.

Els had laughed bitterly as he said, "Milord, are we buying these horses for them to spend their retirement back at our dominion?"

During the evening, they managed to arrive at Dasanba Town, which was within the dominion of Count Santos. It was rumored that the count was currently the legion commander of the Local Defense Army's Third Legion, and was at the border of the Redlis Kingdom. The one in charge of Dasanba Town was one of his trusted aides, Old Sunny.

Supervisor Sunny was incredibly respectful to Lorist. Any count with an escort of 500 fully-armed soldiers was definitely deserving of such respect. According to him, Dasanba Town was one of the most important river crossings within the Andinaq Kingdom. Mainly because it served to transport huge amounts of supplies and resources along the river to the frontlines at the border of the Redlis Kingdom. It greatly decreased the expenditure of manpower and pack animals on the task.

That's why Lorist was able to obtain the supplies he needed there. He was also able to purchase a carriage. As for the boat towards Domesger City, Old Sunny said that he could help Lorist with one of his connections -- a regiment captain in charge of the supply lines -- and ask him whether he could help out.

When he heard that Lorist was willing to pay 800 gold Fordes for the transport of his escort soldiers and the 20 carriages, Regiment Captain Holson was more than willing to help out. He even ordered the supplies that had just been loaded onto the ships be moved back onto the shore. In total, around 10 boats were emptied for Lorist to use for the trip to Domesger City.

When Lorist asked Holson whether that would affect the transport of supplies to the frontlines, the captain replied without a care in the world, "No worries. It's extremely common for delays upwards of a few dozen days to occur and traveling to Domesger City and back only takes around 8. Additionally, we can also transport some supplies from there to here, so nobody would complain about it."

When the captain heard Els complain that they weren't able to purchase any horses along the way, he laughed and told Lorist and Els that it was because they didn't have the right connections. He brought the two of them to the transportation convoy's camp. He quickly closed a deal with the person in charge of the convoy for the purchase of around 120 mounts for only 1000 gold Fordes. Even though they were not good war horses, they were more than fit for the task of pulling carriages.

Captain Holson's efforts were not in vain. He pocketed an additional 200 gold Fordes from the transaction. However, he would have to provide four more empty boats for the transportation of those horses.

Els asked him curiously, "How would you explain the disappearance of so many horses from the convoy to your superiors?"

Captain Holson laughed and said, "There are plenty of excuses we can use ranging from sickness, drowning, ill-fitting conditions, startled horses, and more. Any of these reasons would be enough to quell any suspicions people might have. The matter will be forgotten in a month. As for the lack of horses, they can just report it and ask for replacements. Naturally, that 1000 gold Fordes would have to be split up to quite a few people as well..."

Els contemplated what he heard solemnly. When he returned to their camp, he told Lorist, "Locke, I finally understand why you don't think that the Second Highness can unite the empire with only 300000 soldiers. Given the way his subordinates act, he wouldn't be able to do it even if he had twice the number of troops."

After another four days, Lorist and the rest arrived at Domesger City. Having paid the remaining 500 gold Fordes, Lorist parted with Captain Holson with a handshake and a face full of smiles. Soon after, he entered the city to go on a shopping spree. After another day spent resting, the group departed for Jillin Harbor. It would be only another day or two before they could to head out to sea.

In the evening hours, Jim, and two other guards who had been scouting, reported, "Milord, a dust cloud has built up behind us and it seemed like a regiment of troops are heading our way. There is an estimated 3000 soldiers and they will reach us in another ten minutes or so. Should we make way for them to pass?"

Lorist looked in the direction Jim mentioned. Not far from them he could see a dust cloud approaching.

Freiyar rushed over and said, "Milord, the troops are coming for us. Looking at how quickly the dust cloud built up, they must be engaging in a full-on charge. There isn't anyone apart from us on this path; there's no doubt that we are the targets of those soldiers."

Lorist hurriedly pointed at a small mound on one side of the main highway, and said, "Get the carriages up there first and build a defensive perimeter immediately!"

The mound wasn't that high. It was only about 30 meters tall, and dotted by a random assortment of trees. By the time Lorist and the rest got on top of the mound, the soldiers in the distance had arrived. Indeed, they had come for Lorist's troupe. Upon seeing Lorist and the rest heading up the mound, they slowed down and encircled it, seemingly intent on keeping Lorist and the rest up there.

Dulles used his sword to chop down a few of the trees, which was then carried away by a couple of the soldiers to be made into wooden barricades. Wiping the sweat off his forehead, Dulles asked Lorist -- who was also chopping trees beside him, "Milord, the soldiers beneath the mound are equipped with the Royal Family's Local Defense Force's equipment. Did the Second Highness send them here to hold us hostage?"

Lorist laughed bitterly as he shook his head, and said, "I am not too sure about it either. The Second Highness can be considered to be a formidable person and should not do something this irrational. I've already defeated a Blademaster right before his eyes, so he must be aware that cavalry troops like this wouldn't be able to stop me. Even if they managed to kill you guys, they'll still have a hard time getting their hands on me. And the moment I return to the family, I'll definitely mobilize my troops to avenge you. Should that happen, he'll have to forget about reuniting the empire entirely. It'll already be his good fortune just to be able to resist our assault. I don't understand what it is that made him take this move."

Freiyar and Josk approached and the former said, "Milord, we have surveyed the terrain of the mound. The slope that connects to the main road is the easiest to scale. We're currently stationing the carriages in rows in that direction to set up a defense line. After that, we'll install the barricades and dig some trenches. That should be enough to defend against the assault of the cavalry.

"Over there to the left is a cliff roughly 10 meters high. It'll be impossible for the cavalry or infantry to scale, so we don't have to station anyone there for now. On the right is an uneven slope which is difficult for cavalry to surmount but possible for infantry troops to traverse. I've already stationed around a company of 100 men there, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Behind us is this small forest. We're currently felling the trees to clear up the landscape so we can aim and shoot. We'll use the logs to build a few defensive walls, as well as prevent the enemy from using the forest as cover to attack us. However, one bit of bad news is that there is no water source in the area, and the water supply we have remaining will only last us two days at most. If the enemy decides to attack with fire, we will definitely be smoked to death," Freiyar said in a serious tone.

Josk added, "Milord, I made a rough estimate just now and found that the enemy has around one regiment of cavalry. The regiment should be around 2500 strong. Apart from some who are stationed at the cliff at the left side of the mound, the remaining ones have formed a semicircle around the front of the mound with the intention of stranding us up here. I suspect that they are waiting for more reinforcements to arrive before they start their assault. I suggest that milord breach the encirclement first and leave us here to defend against the enemy. As long as milord is able to make it back to the dominion, then the enemy's plans will definitely fail."

Lorist shook his head and said, "Since I brought you guys here, I will definitely bring you back with me. I do not have the guts to return to the dominion alone. Els, when it gets dark, bring Jim along with you to the cliff off to the left. Capture one of them alive for some questioning."

"Yes, milord," Els replied.

Under the starlit night sky, a number of light sources could be seen illuminating the area around the mound. Both the Norton Family soldiers and the cavalry of the Royal Family's Local Defense Force had some bonfires lit to alert them of any sudden movements or assaults by the other.

It wasn't a hindrance to Jim and Els, however. They managed to sneak into the enemy's ranks when they weren't paying attention, and soon returned with a prisoner.

Els carved a thick wooden branch into a chopstick with his dagger in front of everyone else, and threatened the prisoner with a similar fate if he didn't start talking.

The frightened soldier quickly spat out everything he knew.

"What?! You said that you came on the orders of Count Aslan to keep us here? So, he'll be leading two regiments of infantry troops over and will arrive in another two days?"

The situation was now clear. Gold ranked knight, and general of the Local Defense Force, Count Aslan, the elder brother of Viscount Aslan, whom Lorist had ordered to be beheaded, had personally mobilized his troops to kill Lorist. It was fortunate that Lorist took a detour and traveled to Domesger City by boat, causing Count Aslan to head to the wrong location. Otherwise, Lorist would have encountered them three days earlier. A fight to the death would have been raging already.

Currently, the orders the regiment of cavalry troops had, was for them to hold Lorist and the rest in place until Count Aslan arrives with his two regiments, totaling around 5000 soldiers, before beginning their assault. Count Aslan had left the banquet early, so he wasn't aware of Lorist beating Blademaster Climonto. He believed that his three regiments -- totaling around 7500 troops -- would have no trouble preventing the escape of even a single soldier.

Lorist spat out the grass stalk in his mouth, and said, "Since he wants to play around, I'll make sure to give him a good time."

Even though the sky was still rather dark, dawn was just on the horizon. It signaled the beginning of yet another day.

The troops patrolling at the foot of the mound looked upwards and managed to see the blurry silhouettes of the Norton Family soldiers as well as their gleaming spearheads illuminated by the torches.

"Alright, let's head back. It's time for our shift change," said the squad leader.

Behind him, sounds of water sprinkling on the ground rang out. The squad leader didn't mind and merely commented, "Can't you dismount if you want to pee? Lazy ass..."

Following that, he caught a whiff of blood in the air. Noticing that something was amiss, he turned back immediately, only to see a blade entering his line of sight...

Everyone was shocked when they saw Lorist kill off the whole patrol troupe with only one strike. The enemy didn't even have a chance to cry out. Following that, Lorist mounted one of the horses, and pulled his sword out of the body. He tossed the corpse to Jim and Els who were behind him. They laid the body down quietly and the three began their slaughter. The most shocking part of it was that the enemy wasn't aware of this attack at all. Not even a single one of them uttered a cry when they were killed. The speed, accuracy, and ferocity of Lorist's strikes caused the ones hiding in ambush to shudder.

That was the fourth patrol troupe, and they had gathered up to 80 war horses already.

"Alright, everyone. Mount up immediately. Those who still don't have a horse should continue to hide in ambush. We've already made preparations to kill our way into the enemy camp. Don't forget to light a fire. Freiyar will make his move when he sees the flames."

The cavalry regiment had set up five camps around the three sides of the mound. Each camp had around 500 soldiers. The patrol groups of 20 that circled the mound didn't expect that Lorist and the rest would slip down from the side of the cliff to begin their counterattack.

"Kill!" Lorist roared as he charged head-first into the first enemy camp. He was followed by Josk, Els, and the rest, who worked hard to carry out Lorist's plans. They set the fire, captured mounts, and killed the enemy.

Following the consecutive deaths of two Silver ranked knights at the spearpoint of Lorist's pike, the soldiers of the first camp completely crumbled. They ran with all their might towards the second camp with their equipment and hair all messed up. Lorist and the rest followed behind them and began their slaughter once more when they reached the second camp.

At that moment, the third to fifth camps were already alerted and began to react. A hundred and twenty cavalry could be seen charging towards the second camp to reinforce it. However, they didn't expect that halfway in the middle of their charge, sounds of killing would ring out behind them. Freiyar lead 400 Local Defense Brigade troops into the fifth camp. The cavalry troops that were not mounted were not able to defend themselves in the slightest, and the fifth camp crumbled almost right away.

By then, the second camp had already been breached. Lorist continued chasing the few hundred bare-footed soldiers towards the third camp. Freiyar, opposite him, was already succeeding in his assault on the fourth.

The sky soon brightened, and Freiyar rode to Lorist's side excitedly, and said, "Milord, it's our win! Victory! Milord, we breached five camps in one night and not a single enemy escaped. The surviving soldiers have all been captured. We also got most of their war horses."

"Are our casualties bad?"

"Around half of the Local Defense Brigade troops were incapacitated, with 147 of them dead and another 120 or so injured. The losses were suffered mainly during the final confrontation when the last of the cavalry managed to band together and launch a counterattack. After all, the Local Defense Brigade troops are only used to fighting defensively. Assaults like these are not their forte," Freiyar explained.

"Let's clear up the battlefield for now, we still have some work to do. Why don't we give Count Aslan a meeting gift?" Lorist said hatefully.

Investigation

Enjoy your second regular chapter of the week! There won't be a chapter tomorrow cause I have a small test to take. Cya guys again on Friday/Saturday.

Twelve days later, Second Highness Auguslo brought a regiment of soldiers to that unnamed mound.

The corpse of the grandiosely dressed Count Aslan was laid before him. If one paid closer attention to it, one would realize that the head was separated from the rest of the body. The corpse had been left as it was for ten days; naturally it had begun to smell.

The Second Highness waved one hand repeatedly in front of his nose in a futile attempt to disperse the odor, before he said, "Alright. Carry it away."

Even though his voice was soft, the ones present at the scene understood the Second Highness's temperament well. They could tell that the Second Highness was at his boiling point. His rage was ready to explode at any moment.

Two guards lightly moved the corpse of Count Aslan and brought it out of the large tent.

"Marquis Reid, tell us the results of your investigation," instructed the Second Highness.

"Yes, Your Highness," said Marquis Reid. He stood up and stopped at the center of the tent with a large stack of beastskin documents in his arms.

Marquis Reid was one of the first to arrive at the scene. He was in charge of accommodating deserters, investigating the reasons for defeats, and burying the corpses of the dead.

He flipped open his documents, and began his report. "This time around, Count Aslan mobilized three regiments of troops, numbering 7500 soldiers in total, on this long-distance excursion of his own accord. He reported it as a long-distance training drill.. In actuality, he had intended to catch up to Count Norton's troupe to avenge his little brother, Viscount Aslan.

"However, it ended in the most tragic manner possible: with Count Aslan's death. More than 1600 casualties were suffered by the cavalry regiment; 800 are dead, and another 600 are missing in action. There are also another 200 or so deserters from that battle who later returned to us. Additionally, they lost most of their mounts as well.

"The two infantry regiments with 5000 soldiers suffered around 1400 casualties, with another 2000 or so missing, and a further 1500 who fled the battlefield, and have mostly returned. It's worth noting that they were only faced with the 500 men brought along by Count Norton. The battle commanded by Count Aslan can be considered to be a tragic loss indeed."

Thump! The Second Highness threw his fist on the table and said, "7500 soldiers... Let's forget about the fact that Count Aslan acted on his own accord for now. They only faced an enemy of 500; they outnumbered their enemy 15 to 1! And yet, they still lost. Is that an indication of the incompetence of the Royal Family's Local Defense Force? How will I be able to reunite the empire with troops like these?! Is this really my army?! They're nothing but helpless sheep!"

The tent was completely quiet. Everyone within had their heads lowered while they listened to Second Highness Auguslo's complaints.

After venting his anger for a good while, he finally calmed down.

He said to Marquis Reid, "Please continue. Let others hear how in the world this battle was lost so that they may learn from this incident."

"Understood," Marquis Reid said as he flipped open another file, "According to my investigations, when Count Aslan heard that Count Norton would be leaving the imperial capital, he brought three regiments of troops to set up an ambush further ahead. But he didn't expect that Count Norton would suddenly change course and head to Dasanba Town to take a boat towards Domesger City."

"Based on the testimonies of the two company leaders from the cavalry regiment that had escaped, it is confirmed that the order Count Aslan gave them was to hold Count Norton's troupe back until the count himself caught up with the other two infantry regiments. Only after that would they launch the main attack.

"From a tactical perspective, Count Aslan's subordinates were rather serious and didn't have any intention of underestimating the enemy. However, Count Aslan feared that he might alert Count Norton to his intentions, so he didn't send anyone to keep an eye on the latter's forces. It was a grave mistake that caused him to be unaware of Count Norton's detour, causing his efforts of mobilizing his three regiments to hide there in ambush to go to waste.

"When he realized that Count Norton had traveled by the river, there was already a distance between them that would take two days of travel to make up. Count Aslan was forced to order his cavalry regiment to go to obstruct them ahead of the rest of the troops. This is one of the more traditional military approaches."

"But Count Norton was incredibly alert. The moment he discovered the cavalry regiment, he ordered his troops to back up onto a mound nearby. We can still see the many defensive fortifications the Norton Family forces made over here. However, he didn't think that the cavalry regiment wouldn't attack him and instead set up camp beneath the mound since they were only sent there to stall him.

"According to the cavalrymen that fled the battlefield, they set up five camps. Each contained one company of 500 men. Apart from the side of the mound with a cliff, they set up camps all around it to semi-circular formation, and sent out smaller groups to patrol the perimeter to ensure that the Norton Family forces wouldn't launch a surprise attack at night.

"The cavalry regiment was correct to take those actions. But they didn't expect the Norton Family forces to use that unguarded cliff to descend and sneak into their campgrounds, take out their patrol troops, and launch their attack during dawn on the two flanking camps before eliminating those in the middle. The resting soldiers were caught completely off-guard and couldn't resist at all. In the end, the cavalry regiment, without any mounts, eventually crumbled.

"After defeating the cavalry regiment, Count Norton did not let up just there. He used the time when Count Aslan was traveling to the mound with his infantry regiments to head to Jillin Harbor and the nearby dominions to purchase up to a thousand cows and mules to deal with the infantry regiments when they arrive."

Marquis Reid then took out a few more documents. "These are the testimonies of one regiment captain and a few other company leaders. They said that by the time they arrived here, it was already the afternoon. They did meet a few of the deserters and already knew about the defeat of the cavalry regiment. At that time, Count Aslan was in a rather sour mood. He ordered the deserters to be given 50 canes because he thought that they were the main reason for the defeat of the regiment."

"At that time, everyone including Count Aslan believed that the Norton Family forces had already escaped. They set up camp without paying much attention to their defenses, only to suffer an ambush by Count Norton in the middle of the night.

"This time around, Count Norton had the cows and mules they purchased doused with oil and covered their eyes up with grass. Additionally, he had short swords and daggers fastened to the bodies of the animals before setting them aflame and sending them into Count Aslan's camp. The infantry troops that were stunned awake were shocked to be greeted with the sight of flaming bulls and mules running wildly towards them. They instantly crumbled.

"Initially, Count Aslan had wanted to gather what remained of his troops to form a defensive line, but Count Norton didn't give him any chance to do so during the assault. One of the escaped soldiers mentioned seeing Count Norton himself rush over and behead Count Aslan after trading only two blows. After which the soldiers Count Aslan had gathered either kneeled and begged for mercy, or ran for their lives.

"I have to say, I am impressed. Count Norton's use of those flaming animals to crush a camp 5000 soldiers is a stroke of genius. He managed to gain victory with the smallest possible casualties. After that, he brought the head of Count Aslan with him but didn't enter Jillin Harbor. Instead, he got onto a ship at the coast around ten kilometers away from Jillin Harbor. He left Count Aslan's head on a branch somewhere near the beach.

"When the First Reserve Legion, stationed at Jillin Harbor, received news of the battle and sent out a regiment of troops to the coast, it was already too late. Count Norton and his men had long set sail. According to some of the tracks left at the coast, I believe the missing soldiers from the cavalry and infantry regiments must've become captives of Count Norton, and are being transported to Silowas Island."

After finishing his report, Marquis Reid placed the stack of documents in his hands on the table right in front of the Second Highness, and headed back to his seat.

The Second Highness proceeded to inspect the documents. Marquis Reid's work was very thorough; not only did he get the testimonies of the soldiers who had been fortunate enough to survive, he even drew a map that detailed the terrain of the mound and marked locations where the Norton Family forces and the cavalry regiment were stationed, as well as the route the Nortons took to breach the five camps of the cavalry regiment. Count Aslan's and his two infantry regiments' route was also shown on it. The map allowed one to grasp the situation clearly at a glance.

Having seen the documents, the Second Highness stayed silent and tapped the table with his finger repeatedly.

Everyone within the tent felt as if their hearts were beating according to the rhythm of the Second Highness's finger tapping. They all understood that the tapping meant that the Second Highness had already made his decision and no one would be able to change his mind.

The tapping sound sped up gradually, until it suddenly stopped. The tent was permeated by a still air of quietness. The others waited with puffed out chests and solemn expressions.

"Davey Copperfield!"

"Yes, Your Highness... What is your will?" asked the handsome man that appeared before Second Highness Auguslo.

As the vice captain of the Second Highness's personal guard, he would follow his lord along every time there was an excursion.

"Bring one group of the guards back to the imperial capital and pass on my orders. Have the Royal Local Defense Force's First Legion send out a regiment of troops with you as the commander to thrash the Aslan Family dominion and completely exterminate their family. The men of the Aslan Family shall be sent to join the suicide corps and given a chance to atone for their crimes with their achievements. The women shall serve as prostitutes for the soldiers at the military brothels," announced the Second Highness coldly.

The people within the tent broke into chatter. They were all shocked at the Second Highness's ruthless decision, despite the fact that Count Aslan used to be one of the most-favored generals of the Second Highness.

"Your Highness..."

Quite a number of nobles stood up and begged for mercy on the Aslan Family's behalf.

"Sit back down!" roared Second Highness Auguslo all of a sudden, "Viscount Aslan had committed serious transgressions. He was a tax collection officer I had appointed, and yet he kept me in the dark about his corruption. He had been executed before my eyes, so I pitied him and decided to put the matter behind me. Who would have known that a general like his elder brother, Count Aslan, would mobilize the troops to exact his personal vengeance and cause us to suffer so many casualties... Is he treating my soldiers as those of his family?!"

"These actions are the reason why I have stripped Count Aslan of his title and taken back his county. I will not allow something like this to happen again. Do you guys have anything to say about it?" asked the Second Highness domineeringly, "If he had won that battle, I probably wouldn't have held him responsible. But look at this... What kind of battle is this? 7500 men, all from my main army, defeated by a mere 500 of the Norton Family! This is the epitome of incompetence and idiocy! Perhaps I should even thank Count Norton! He was the one who spared me the future failures of Count Aslan in the war to reunite the empire..."

"Davey, I have given you the role of eradicating the Aslan Family because the kingdom's treasury is in a financial pinch and is unable to provide funds to replenish the Second Legion that Count Aslan has irrevocably crippled. Go carry out your mission. After that, you will take Count Aslan's place as commander of the legion and reorganize it. I will send you more men and horses from the reserve legion to make up for the ones we lost.

"Understood, Your Highness! Please be assured that I will definitely not let you down," said Davey before he bowed and left in high spirits.

"The rest of you can leave. Glacia, please stay back for a bit," said the Second Highness, waving his hand.

He patted on his forehead as if it was hurting really badly.

Once everyone had left the tent, only Lorist's elder cousin, Gold ranked knight Glacia, and Second Highness Auguslo remained. When Lorist arrived at the imperial capital, Glacia, who had been made the captain of the newly-formed knight brigade, had been training with her knights outside the city, so she had missed her chance to meet Lorist.

Glacia walked to the back of the Second Highness and began to massage his temples.

"Aug... You're worn out. You should take better care of your own body, you know..." she said.

As the Second Highness's lover, Glacia understood what he was worried about the most. However, it wasn't appropriate for her to say much given her status as one of the Norton Family. On the one hand, she had her cousin, Lorist, on the other, she had her lover, Auguslo. Her unique position put her in quite an awkward situation.

The Second Highness held the hand that was massaging him, and pulled the woman into his arms.

"Glacia, head to Silowas Island on my behalf and meet your cousin, Locke. Help me explain to him that this incident was definitely not what I had intended, and that Count Aslan acted on his own accord. Also, tell him about the judgment I passed on the Aslan Family. I hope that will be enough to quell his anger."

"My father's health is already at its limits, and when he passes away, we will have to begin the effort to reunite the empire. I hope that Locke can come over to give me a hand in that. After all, he's quite adept at coming up with unexpected tactics. I've realized that no one can compete with him in that regard. If he's not willing to do so, at least get him to promise that he will keep Duke Fisablen's army in check so that the old guy doesn't leave the grasslands to cause me trouble.

"Also, I'm sure you've heard Marquis Reid mention that it's possible that the missing soldiers have been captured by Locke and transported to Silowas Island. Help me see if we can get those soldiers back. Given the state of the treasury, we won't be able to afford their ransom, so I can only make it up to him after reuniting the empire...

Glacia stretched out her hand, and stroked the slender face of her lover.

"Alright, I will make my way to Jillin Harbor and get a ride to Silowas Island as soon as possible. I will do my best to do your bidding, so make sure you watch out for your own health as well," she said.

...

The decision to use the flaming animals to attack the camp was a result of a flash of inspiration from Lorist. Back then, he recalled one of the stories his grandfather from his past life told him. It was about the 'Fire Cattle Columns' tactic devised by Tian Dan during the Warring States period[1].

It was a shame that the cows and mules Lorist purchased for a high price didn't even amount to a thousand. It forced Lorist to pick out 500 war horses that were in better condition than the rest, and have the other horses made into fodder alongside the cows and mules.

Fortunately, when he arrived at the mound, Count Aslan believed that Lorist had escaped with his troops. It meant that he didn't pay attention to his camp's defenses and only set them up half-heartedly. As a result of the shabbiness of the defenses, the 2000 plus flaming animals simply crashed through in a frenzied stampede. They crippled the two 2500 soldier regiments almost instantly.

Lorist brought only 200 men with him to follow the animals into the camp. Apart from Lorist's killing of Count Aslan, the other soldiers didn't have to fight at all. Most of the two infantry regiments' casualties were caused by the stampeding animals. There were even five or sixOf the Norton family's soldiers who got injured when they tried to help the enemy soldiers out.

After obtaining victory, Lorist sent Els and the rest to book a few ships in advance at Jillin Harbor and have them stop at the coast around 10 kilometers away from the harbor. He would load up the 2000 prisoners there. Before leaving, Lorist realized that the head of Count Aslan was still hung at the front of his mount. He felt it wouldn't be of any use even if he took it with him, so he casually found a tree branch and impaled the head on it. It was left there just like that.

Upon returning to Silowas Island, Lorist found a plot of land there to build a graveyard for the soldiers who had bravely sacrificed themselves, and arranged for a burial ceremony to be carried out. Afterwards, he would have to wait for the ships from the Northlands to transport huge amounts of supplies over.

During the time Lorist was at the imperial capital, Charade -- with the aid of Old Hugo and Hector -- had already completed most of the development plan for Silowas Island. All that was left was for Lorist to approve the plan.

However, when Charade heard about Lorist's ploy involving the flaming animals, he was so pissed that he nagged Lorist about it non-stop. 2000 cows, mules and horses cost roughly 20000 gold Fordes. Charade criticized Lorist for acting like a spoiled rich kid by using 20000 gold Fordes to eliminate only 5000 enemies. It truly was wasteful beyond measure. He even mentioned that Lorist should've bribed the enemy soldiers with 4 gold Fordes per person. That way, they would no doubt tie Count Aslan up themselves and bring him before Lorist.

As Lorist was bickering with Charade about the matter while going through the development plan together, Jim entered the room and reported, "Milord, your elder cousin, Glacia, is here..."

Discussion

Here's the first bonus chapter of the week, courtesy of Joshua L. from the USA. Enjoy the read!

Lorist did not currently live at Whitebird Town. According to the development plan Charade drafted, the whole of Whitebird Town would be shifted 1000 or so meters to the east. The original location of the town would be further developed into a proper port,true defensive walls. At the moment, Whitebird Town was far too close to the jetty for the Norton family's plans. They wanted to turn the place into a central maritime transfer point. It would, however, require that the port be expanded. The temporary wooden jetty also had to be exchanged for a stone one.

Charade's plan involved building up the residential and business areas of the new Whitebird Town, before moving the townsfolk over, after which the old houses would be demolished. These steps had to be completed before the expansion of the port could proceed, including the construction of the walls and defensive fortifications. As a result, Lorist could only stay within a temporary log house located at an ad-hoc army camp near the town.

"Agh... That hurts! Let go, Glacia! I'm Count Norton, the leader of the family! I order you to let go!"

The moment Lorist returned to his room, his ear was given a harsh pinch by Glacia.

"I'm currently educating you as your cousin. That has nothing to do with your status as count or family leader," Glacia said.

How does that even work?!

Lorist looked around, stunned, before he shouted, "You guys, scram! What are you looking at? Don't tell me you've never seen an elder sister teaching her little brother a lesson? Howard, you stay. Make my beloved cousin a pot of macks."

After that, Els, Josk and the rest left the house, chuckling. It was not everyday that they got to see Lorist get the short end of the stick. The matter would almost undoubtedly be spread around the grapevine of the soldiers who had nothing better to do in their free time.

"That's enough, sis. It's about time you let go. Sheesh, you didn't give me any face at all even though I was in front of my knights... I'm already an adult, and you're also not the snotty blonde lass from before. Act your age," Lorist said.

"You were the snotty brat, not me. Let's not forget that you were quite the crybaby too. I still remember that you would cry out almost instantly whenever I pinched you like that," Glacia said as she loosened her pinch on Lorist's ear, "Even though the family dominion was within the desolate Northlands, the days when we lived at the bastide was fun. I still remember that I would visit the family dominion every summer with my parents. My mom definitely wasn't too keen on those trips. The distance we had to travel was too great. Each trip would take us at least two months..."

"Well, it's definitely much better right now; we've built a port at the family dominion. It'll only take around ten days for us to travel from there to Silowas Island," Lorist said.

"Tell me, Locke... What have you done after you took the position of family leader? What changes have there been in the dominion?" Glacia asked.

Lorist began to describe the occurrences and changes within the family dominion of the past few years, such as the new family mausoleum at Whitedeer Mound, the resistance the family put up against the magical beast wave, the construction of Firmrock Castle, the development of the Felicitas and Salus settlements, the defeat of the Second Prince, as well as the alliance formed between the Nortons and the other three great families within the Northlands.

Glacia looked a little down as she muttered, "I really want to go back to the dominion to take a look... A dozen of years have passed just like that..."

"The family will always welcome you, Glacia. Oh, I almost forgot about the main issue. Tell me frankly, is the Second Highness going to deal with the Norton family next?" Lorist asked as he poured a cup of macks and handed it to Glacia.

Glacia glanced at Lorist from the corner of her eyes and said, "Why, aren't you a bold one... The moment I returned to the imperial capital, I heard of your heroic exploits... From beheading Viscount Aslan to defeating Blademaster Climonto at the banquet His Highness had organized for your sake... You truly didn't even bother to consider his standing, did you? Had it not been for the fact that you brought the Second Prince before him, greatly contributing to the kingdom, His Highness would've turned on you right away.

"ANd before I'd even had enough time to digest what I heard, I heard about your defeat of 7500 elite soldier from the Royal family's Local defense Force. And that with only 500 family soldier no less! You even managed to kill Count Aslan, and left his head impaled on a branch at the coast as a show of might to us. You're really over the top... I already don't know what I should say to you, my little cousin. You're too different a person from what you used to be in your childhood..."

Lorist snickered before he said humbly, "People always change. That aside, I'm no way as mighty as you have praised me to be..."

Glacia stretched out her hand to pinch Lorist again. "Which one of my statements did you mistake for praise? I only know that you're becoming wilder and wilder. Locke, the way you handled this matter was too audacious. It will easily put our family at the center of the storm. The other nobles will start to see us as a threat..."

"Glacia, it's fine. You don't have to worry. The family is strong enough now, so we don't have to fear anyone," Lorist interjected.

Glacia breathed a long sigh and said, "Locke, since you're so confident about it, there isn't much that I can say. His Highness did not mean to blame you for this matter. He told me to notify you about how he dealt with the Aslan family as well as his hopes that you will give him a hand by helping him to strategize during the unification war."

After hearing Glacia explain the actions Second Highness Auguslo took against the Aslan family, Lorist gasped.

"Isn't that a little too harsh? The Aslan family will never have a chance to rebuild themselves ever again. No, wait... Glacia, why do I have a feeling that the true purpose the Second Highness eliminated the Aslan family was to take their wealth for his own use?"

Glacia nodded helplessly when she heard that.

"No way... Are the kingdom's finances that bad? Then why is the Second Highness so hell-bent on reuniting the empire? Can't he focus on ruling the Andinaq Kingdom properly first? He should settle the commoners down and strengthen the kingdom before trying unification again." Lorist said, expressing his shock and confusion of the Second Highness's intentions.

"Glacia, I really don't understand why he's in such a rush to reunite the empire. Having 300000 soldiers under his command was already a big enough mistake. There is no way that the six provinces of the kingdom can afford to sustain that many soldiers. I believe that the Second Highness should've emptied the savings of the royal family on those troops... And the costs will only rise even further when the war starts. How will the Second Highness deal with the logistics issues, as well as the pension and reimbursement for the dead soldiers?"

Seeing Glacia shrug, Lorist widened his eyes in realization, "No way, is he counting on raiding the territories he conquers for resupplication?"

Glacia nodded helplessly once again and said, "Locke, I know all this sounds ridiculous to you. But the kingdom truly has no better option to pick. What would you think if I told you that in actuality, the kingdom cannot even sustain one legion of soldiers?"

Lorist shook his head and said, "Impossible. There are six provinces within the kingdom. How is it possible for the kingdom to not be able to sustain even one legion of troops?"

Glacia said with a solemn expression, "It's like this... There hasn't been any trade between the Andinaq Kingdom and other territories since its founding almost a decade ago. As the nation that bears the legitimate legacy of the Krissen Imperial family, the kingdom has been put under embargos, both publicly and secretly, by the Forde Trade Union. The products we managed to sell using our smuggling channels would also have their prices forcefully lowered greatly, and smuggled imports of the kingdom cost more than ten times the market price.

"Without trade, there is naturally no profit. The tax the kingdom collects is also incredibly limited, with most of it being paid in goods rather than gold. Also, at the Great Andalou Plains where the kingdom is located, even though it used to be the trading center of the empire, a vagabond crisis has emerged after the civil war. Everyone there lives in extreme poverty now. It was only after our family convoy brought those vagabonds away, and cleared out the nobles of the original three provinces of the kingdom five years back, that the Second Highness was able to stabilize the kingdom.

"After that, he emerged victorious from the First Prince's assault and forced him to hand two provinces over to the kingdom, as well as Yungechandler Province from the Madras Duchy. Even though the kingdom now controls six provinces, it's completely drained of resource. The past few years could be considered rather peaceful, but the tax we collected was only in the form of food. What the kingdom actually needs are war horses and iron ores.

"Not one of the seven iron mines of the empire falls within the borders of our kingdom. The Redlis Kingdom and the Iblia Kingdom each have two of those mines. Of the four great duchies, the Farkel Duchy owns two while the Handra Duchy owns only one. With the embargoes in place, we aren't able to trade our own produce for the other resources we need. Agricultural development requires huge numbers of metal farming tools. The kingdom has been forced to make do with wooden ones instead, despite the greatly inferior productivity.

"It's not that the Second Highness doesn't want to rule the kingdom properly; as things stand now, he just can't. During the past few years, the First Prince, king of the Redlis Kingdom, drove up to 400000 vagabonds over our borders. Coupled with the trouble-making deserters and the armed vagabonds, the Second Highness had no choice but to recruit them into the army to ensure the peace of the kingdom.

"Take, for instance, the Fiercegale Legion. Even though it was considered one of the three main armies of the empire, they had begun to become more independent after being outside of the Second Highness's jurisdiction for such a long time. The Second Highness was forced to disband them and absorb those troops into the Local Defense Force to prevent unforeseen changes from surfacing. Unfortunately the move was misunderstood by others.

"As the reorganizations progressed, the number of soldiers only grew. If the army is disbanded and the troops are let loose within the kingdom, there would be no doubt that it would fall into a state of chaos and confusion. We must give the 300000-strong army a goal, something to fight for. That is why the Second Highness brought out the unification war: to raise the morale of the troops.

"In actuality, he is only targeting the Redlis Kingdom this time around. As long as the kingdom can absorb the Redlis Kingdom, then many of our problems would be solved in one go. Not only would the Andinaq Kingdom be able to obtain some much-needed resource, the Second Highness would also be able to take the first steps to building up our own market and economy so that we would no longer be affected by the embargoes of the other powers. As for the other duchies, the Second Highness thinks that there's no need to mobilize the troops against them. He believes that the dukes will submit themselves to him once the Andinaq Kingdom gains a stable footing. Once they do, the reunification of the empire will truly be something that is within our means to achieve.

"Locke, the First Prince is undoubtedly the Norton family's enemy. Had it not been for his rebellion, my father, our Third Uncle and the First Young Master wouldn't have died. The deaths of our loved ones are inextricably linked to the First Prince. The Second Highness intends to make the First Prince pay, and I think you should give him a hand with that. He really admires you and even said that your tactics and strategies somehow always manage to catch the enemy off-guard and bring you victory. It was like that five years ago, and it still is today," Glacia said, giving Lorist a pleading gaze.

Shaking his head, Lorist said, "Glacia, since His Highness has already finished reorganizing his 300000-strong army, why didn't he launch the attack immediately? Instead, he's put the matter aside for almost a whole year now. This delay has allowed the Madras Duchy and the Redlis Kingdom to make more than enough preparations at their respective borders to defend against him. Tell me, why is that so?"

"Sigh... Isn't it because the Third Prince hasn't passed on yet? Even though he's been in a critical condition a number of times, he still manages to live on. If the Second Highness engages in his expedition now, given how far from the imperial capital he would have to go, he would inevitably lose his control and influence. If the Third Prince suddenly regains consciousness and does something against the Second Highness's favor, it would be too late and he will lose everything..."

"Haha," Lorist laughed. "Even though you're in the loop, an outsider like me is able to have a clearer view of the situation. Glacia, you trust the Second Highness way too much. That's why you believed the excuse he gave you. It would cost at least fifty to sixty thousand gold Fordes each year to sustain a 300000-strong army. With a huge spending like that, why can't he just form a standing army? If we take into account the cost to supply 300000 soldiers with weapons and equipment, the Second Highness has invested at least 1 million gold Fordes already. It's too big of a waste to spend that amount of money on military forces alone. With that kind of money, what's stopping him from developing the kingdom properly?"

"But, I've already seen the tax records of the kingdom. Each year, we collect less than 40000 in trade taxes, while sustaining an elite standard legion would cost more than 100000 gold Fordes," argued Glacia stubbornly.

"Glacia, if the Great Andalou Plains was only good for agriculture, there is no way that the imperial capital would be situated there. If you read more, you'll find that the Great Andalou Plains used to produce a good amount of gold nuggets. It's even known as the 'home of gold nuggets'. It's able to produce tens of thousands of gold Fordes' worth of them each year. In actuality, the embargo is nothing but a joke. Merchants crave profits, and if an opportunity is profitable enough, they would definitely carry it out even if it would cost them their heads. The kingdom would definitely be able to get the resources it wants if it tried. If it really couldn't, how is the Second Highness able to supply the 300000 troops with weapons and equipment?

"I believe that His Highness is actually just going with the flow and utilizing the advantageous standing he has now. He's always been incredibly ambitious. The reunification of the empire is his ultimate goal. Just compare our family dominion with the kingdom. Which do you think has it worse? Despite that, our family put our priorities on development, and within a mere five years, the dominion changed radically. Our family might increased to the point that we were able to defeat the Second Princes 100000-strong army in one fell swoop. That's why development is the only correct path to grow one's might. Having a strong force is but a means to an end," Lorist said.

"Forget it, Locke. I don't want to argue with you about this. His Highness doesn't intend to force you into this either. If you don't want to help him, then at the very least, the family forces at the Northlands should pay attention to Duke Fisablen. He will definitely pose a threat in the unification war, so you can do at least that, right?" Glacia said, switching to plan B.

After circling around in the room for a few moments, Lorist agreed to the request begrudgingly.

"Another thing. Hand the soldiers of the Royal family's Local Defense Force back to me. You better not have any plans for them," Glacia said.

"Fine, you can bring them away," Lorist said reluctantly. "But I will need you to compensate for that. You have to pay at least 100000 gold Fordes for their ransom."

Glacia glared at Lorist and said, "Dream on. I don't even have a copper coin for you."

"Then I won't be able to explain this to my knights. I originally planned to use them as laborers after bringing them here to Silowas Island," Lorist said as he shrugged.

Enraged, Glacia grumbled, "They are the soldiers we've taken so long to train... And you plan to use them as mere laborers?! No way. I will be bringing them back. If you need manpower, go find some yourself. There are tons of vagabonds at the southern and eastern provinces."

"Will the Second Highness agree to that?"

"Of course. In fact, he would be more than glad for you to take the vagabonds away."

"How about this, Glacia... I will agree to let you bring the prisoners away, but you must promise me that our recruitment of the vagabonds will not be obstructed in any way. Also, ask the Second Highness to let us recruit some administrative officials from the imperial capital. The family dominion needs more talent," Lorist said.

"Deal!" Glacia agreed without the slightest hesitation.

Glacia was in a rush to return despite having spent only one night on the island. However, there were only three small ships at Silowas Island, so transporting the 2000 or so prisoners back would take quite a few trips.

After sending Glacia off, Lorist said to Charade, "I will have to make a trip to Morante City."

"For what?"

"I want to buy boats and order a huge amount of food," Lorist replied.

Heading to Morante City

Second bonus chapter of the week, also thanks to Joshua L. from the USA. Have fun reading!

"How many ships do you intend to buy?" Charade asked.

Since the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay could only produce seven ships a year, they had no choice but to buy more ships to meet their needs. Currently, there were two whaling boats and one three-masted sail-powered warship -- which had Lorist designed -- under construction. Lorist wanted a dedicating whaling and fishing fleet that could provide seafood products for the family. The fleet would consist of around seven whaling ships. The Northlands' coasts had yet do be developed, so the ocean there was still rich with all sorts of resources. It was easily one of the most important locations for the family.

In addition to the whaling and fishing fleet, the family would also require a strong armada to keep the coast safe. There hadn't been any sightings of pirates or other potential threats, but the family dominion had to be reinforced to keep it safe. Lorist planned to test the three-masted warship's range and offensive capabilities once it was completed. He planned to build a further five warships over the following three years. He wanted to use this small fleet to police the coastal area and keep it safe for further development and transportation.

This meant that the shipyard's schedule was already full. The construction of another shipyard at Silowas Island was planned, but it would only be capable of building smaller fishing and transportation vessels. At best it would be able to do maintenance and repair work on the larger family ships. It would only be finished in two years, anyway.

Lorist had obtained six whips during his initial excursion to Silowas Island. Most of the ships had belonged to the youths of the noble families that had occupied Seaview Manor. One of the ships had belonged to Viscount Aslan. All of them had been taken by Lorist as his spoils of battle. The two smaller vessels would be used as ferries from Silowas Island to Jillin Harbor. The four survey ships and two whaling ships would form a small convoy to ship cargo from Silowas Island to Bullhorn Harbor.

Since the development of Silwoas Island required huge amounts of support from the main family dominion, there was a need for a large maritime convoy. Given that the family only had one shipyard, at Bullhorn Harbor, Lorist could only purchase more transportation vessels. Given the prevalence of shipyards at Hidegold Bay near Morante City, they would definitely be able to get some ships there.

"I'm not too sure myself. I'll Decide once I've checked out the prices over there," Lorist replied.

"This will definitely be a huge expenditure... The family administors won't be too happy about it!" Charade exclaimed.

As the former chief supervisor of the Norton family, Charade was well aware of the financial situation of the family and the status of its administration. Thanks to the raids and skirmishes conducted by the convoy during their travels, in addition to the complete sweeping of the duke's dominion, the family's finances had once peaked at more than 4 million gold Fordes. It was a staggering figure that could even rival the treasury of a kingdom. It was enough to allow Lorist and his knights to abandon their duties, and bask in hedonistic pleasures, for more than 200 years.

However, Lorist had spent much of that sum on the development of the dominion and the improvement of the family's military strength. The elimination of the magical beast wave, the settling of the vagabonds, and the development of the Felicitas and Salus settlements cost up to 1 million gold Fordes. In addition to that, the development of Blackmud Marsh was estimated to cost the family another million. There was also the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay, the refinery at Bladedge Mountains, the ballista workshop, and the military arms production plant. Together, they easily cost over 500000 gold Fordes.

As for the development of Silowas Island, after some discussion, Lorist approved the plan and allocated up to 800000 gold Fordes to Charade. Lorist's intention to purchase more ships would also cost him quite a lot. One ship would easily cost up to 5000 gold Fordes. The family would be left with only 500000 gold Fordes, 300000 of which would be spent on the military and administration. For that, Charade grew incredibly worried.

"There's no need to worry about our finances," Lorist consoled with a smile. "Right now, the development of the Felicitas and Salus settlement is nearing its end. Based on the estimated amount of tax we will collect this year, the family would be able to pay off our military and administrative costs and still have some left over. The factories that were started not long ago are also starting to turn a profit, with the family gaining a few thousand gold Fordes from that alone in the previous year. It's estimated that the figure will grow up to 20000 gold Fordes this year. It will greatly alleviate the family's burden.

"In terms of investment, the area of Blackmud Marsh near our family dominion is already within our control. What we will have to focus on later is the construction of the levee along the river and the port city, the cost of which has already been accounted for during the planning stages. As for the workshops we have at Bladedge Mountains, the family has already profited quite a bit from them, and they don't cost much to maintain. They only need around 30000 gold Fordes each year for research and development.

"Our investment in the salt merchant committee with the other three families of the Northlands also brings us tens of thousands of gold Fordes annually. The military investments the family made during the recent years also only went into the formation of our own Local Defense Brigade and Navy Marine Brigade. The rest of our forces are fully-equipped already. We only have to pay their salaries. On that front, the military costs of the family will decrease by at least 100000 gold Fordes. I predict that the earnings from the two settlements alone will be enough to cover our military and administrative costs in the future."

"That's impossible," Charade said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Even if we deduct 100000 from the cost, the expenditure on our military and administration costs at least 200000 gold Fordes. The family dominion's income won't even come close."

Lorist laughed out and said, "How is it impossible? The citizens on Silowas Island alone number more than 12000, and they were able to pay 5000 gold Fordes per year during the past few years when the tax rate was 50 percent. Almost every one of them paid half a gold Forde as tax. Now consider the settlements in our dominion which have a combined population of more than 800000. If each person paid a quarter of a gold Forde as tax, it would easily add up to 200000. Not to mention that we will get even more the year after that.

"Also, it's not like we're spending our money without getting anything back. Even though the purchase of ships at Morante City will cost a huge sum, as long as we are able to sell off the furs we've collected over the years from exterminating the magical beasts there, there's no doubt that we'll be able to gain another million gold Fordes in profit. We also have some smoked magical beast jerky and whale meat, both of which are hot-selling products. It won't take long for us to get the money we spent back."

"Oh, why did I forget that we can engage in trade?" Charade said, smacking his forehead with his palm, "Even so, Locke, your release of the captured Local Defense Force troops will cause our hands to be tied when it comes to developing the island. We will definitely require a lot of manpower. Are we really going to recruit vagabonds? What if the Second Highness doesn't agree?"

"He should be happy to let us do so. Glacia herself said that the Second Highness is also troubled by the vagabonds. He has to spend lots of food to keep them fed every month. Since our recruitment of the vagabonds will relieve him of that burden, there's no way he will stop us from doing so. In another two days, Glacia will come over with a proper permit, so don't worry," Lorist said after giving it some thought.

"According to our estimations, if we want to complete the initial development of Silowas Island within two years, it will require more than 30000 able-bodied workers. So far, we have to work on the move of Whitebird Town, the expansion of the port, the construction of the walls and defensive fortifications, the renovations of Seaview Manor, the reconstruction and agricultural development of the seven villages, the construction of the citadel for the Third Local Defense Brigade, and the construction of the levees along the coast will require an immense amount of manpower..." Charade said.

After shaking his head, he continued, "The development of Silowas Island is too big an investment. According to our vagabond recruiting principles, we will have to take in the family members of the laborers as well. Bringing the whole family over will only increase the expenditure of money and food on our part. Locke, you will have to buy enough food during your trip to Morante City as well. Soon, the produce of the island will no longer be able to sustain the people here..."

Lorist thought for a while, before he said, "I forgot to ask Glacia the last time about something. I heard her mention that the harvests of the Andinaq Kingdom are rather good during the past few years. As most of the taxes had been paid in food and other local produce, the Second Highness has a huge amount of it. I will see if I can buy some from him. I'm sure he'll be glad to oblige us. Even with that, we will still require a lot more food, as much as possible."

"Why's that so?" Charade asked.

"It's simple. Right now, the Second Highness is just waiting for the Third Prince to pass away. According to Glacia, it seems that the Third Prince will not live for another three months. The moment he dies, the Second Highness will launch the unification war. If something unforeseen happens, it will greatly destabilize the Andinaq Kingdom. If the war continues for a long time, I'm afraid that it'll be a repeat of the civil war of the Krissen Empire. The kingdom's subjects will be unable to farm in peace. When that happens, our stockpiles can be used to feed the refugees."

"Do you really hold the Second Highness in such low regard? If you ask me, with 300000 soldiers, even if he can't reunite the empire, it should still be enough for him to sweep over half of it. People's opinion of the Second Highness will change and his reputation will soar. There won't be anyone capable of resisting his assault," Charade said.

He couldn't understand why Lorist belittled the Second Highness so much.

"I don't know how to put it into words... It's more like my intuition is telling me that he will not be able to succeed. I'm not too sure why I feel like this myself. Whatever. Let's not talk about these matters anymore. If the Second Highness agrees to let us recruit talent at the imperial capital as well as some vagabond workers, who will you delegate this task to?" Lorist asked.

"There will be a ship arriving from the family dominion soon, and Supervisors Kedan and Hansk will be on board. I plan to have Supervisor Hansk stay on the island to help me out and send Kedan along with Hector to the imperial capital. They will be able to handle it with Glacia and Karitoke's help. As for the recruitment of vagabonds, perhaps I may go to the eastern and southern provinces for a look myself," Charade said.

"Is that so... Then I will have the 500 guards that are on the way report to Jim. They'll take care of your safety. I will travel on the Flying Fish of Dawn with Josk, Els and Dulles, as well as ten guards, to Morante City. The matters on Silowas Island will be left in your charge.

"Also, you should talk with the Second Highness about the food purchase. Grandmaster Sid's eldest son will also be coming over to survey Silowas Island for mineral resources. It's already the 11th month, so don't let him travel too deep into the mountains, lest any dangers befall him. Make sure he stays put throughout the winter, and only allow him to begin surveying with some guards next year after winter."

As Lorist patted on Charade's shoulder, he suddenly recalled something, "Ah, don't forget to write your father a letter. I will bring it to him."

"For what?" Charade asked.

"To order glass, of course. Isn't your father the distributor of glass? If we purchase them in bulk from him and transport them back to the dominion by sea, that would save us lots in shiping costs. You should know that a sheet of green glass that sells for a few coppers in Morante City will cost one large silver in the Northlands. Right now, many of the people within our dominion are still using wood for windows. I've decided that the first thing we will import after the formation of the trading fleet, will be glass," Lorist explained convincingly.

Charade laughed and said, "Alright, I will give the letter to you tonight. When are you leaving?"

"Perhaps in another two days. At any rate, I will still have to wait for the ships to arrive here at Silowas Island first. They will be bringing over 500000 gold Fordes and some sample magical beast furs during this trip. I will take 100000 gold Fordes with me to purchase the ships and other stuff. The rest will be left here for you," Lorist said.

...

Three days later, the Flying Fish of Dawn spread its sails and headed for the distant south.

On the way there, it encountered many other ships of various sizes, ranging from fishing boats to some smaller merchant vessels.

According to Captain Wilson, the former Krissen Empire didn't prioritise the sea, nor did they form any sort of proper fleet, mainly because the coastlines along the north weren't suited for port construction. Jillin Harbor was already the northernmost port of the empire, and it couldn't support the docking of larger warships or merchant vessels. The coast was just too shallow. It didn't help that the other harbors within the territory of the empire were owned wholly by the dominion lords, who relied on them to increase their own personal wealth.

Lorist recalled Tim, whom he had met a few years back during the northbound journey. He wondered how the man of illegitimate birth, whom he had made into Viscount Tebri, was doing. But Lorist remembered that Charade mentioned that they had managed to get the Peterson Merchant Guild to cooperate with Viscount Tebri before leaving with the convoy, and even helped them build a garrison regiment. Lorist felt that Tim should be doing quite well and realized that he could also ask him about some news on the Peterson Merchant Guild. Lorist would definitely require the assistance of the Peterson Merchant Guild on this excursion of his to Morante City.

"Head to the dominion of Viscount Terbi," Lorist instructed.

A week later, the Flying Fish of Dawn appeared near the coasts of Viscount Tebri's dominion. Dulles and Els had been there a number of times with Charade. They recognized the port of the dominion quickly and even saw the castle in the distance on a hill that flew the flag of the Tebri Family.

Only two small supply boats could be seen at the port. No ships belonging to the Peterson Merchant Guild could be seen. Wilson instructed his crew to approach the port before stopping entirely.

In the distance, the blowing of horns could be heard. After a few moments, a squad of garrison soldiers arrived, led by an old, white-haired knight.

"Ah, it's Old Gemors! We've dealt with him before," cheered Dulles and Els.

Lorist had heard Tim say that Old Gemors was the only surviving knight of the Tebri Family. However, he hadn't personally met the old knight before and only saw him now that he was around 60 years old.

Despite his age, Knight Gemors's vision was still in a good condition. He recognized Dulles and Els right away, and dismounted to give the two a hearty hug, before saluting Lorist formally. But after he heard that Lorist wished to meet Tim, he apologized and said that the viscount and his wife had left with their three children on the Peterson Merchant Guild's convoy for Morante City to spend the winter there.

What? Tim already has three children? thought Lorist with surprise.

Old Knight Gemors expressed his gratitude for Tim's marriage which was arranged by Lorist years prior. The couple got along really well and birthed two sons and one daughter within the span of six years. Currently, the wife of the viscount was pregnant yet again. Because of the successful dealings with the Peterson Merchant guild, Tim earned quite a bit of money as well, and managed to get the Peterson Merchant Guild to buy him a house in Morante City on his behalf.

Because of his wife's fondness of Morante City, the couple basically spent more than half of the year there. They would only return to the viscounty during summer and head out for Morante City again when winter came.

Lorist said, "Then forget it. We were just about to head to Morante City anyway. Give me the address of the viscount. I will pay him a visit once I'm there."

Old Knight Gemors wrote down the address and handed it to Lorist. After noticing the swallowtail flag of the Andinaq Kingdom being flown on the Flying Fish of Dawn, Gemors asked, "Lord Count, are you a noble of the Andinaq Kingdom right now?"

Lorist nodded. Upon seeing the awkward expression on the old knight's face, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Please forgive my rudeness, Lord Count. It's better if you fly the flag of your own family, or even the Tebri Family's. But it's best if you don't head to Morante City with the flag of the Andinaq Kingdom. The folk there don't really like it when ships of the Andinaq Kingdom enter Hidegold Bay," said Old Knight Gemors.

"Oh..." Lorist mused, before he sunk into deep thought.

At Sea

Hi guys, sorry for not being able to post yesterday. Had to attend a family function, so I'll try to make it up this week by doing an extra bonus chapter. This will start as the first regular chapter of the new week.

By the way, as Prince was editing this chapter, we came across in an interesting dilemma when it came to coming up with a term for the Sea of Grief. So, we decided that we would be giving the readers more interactivity by allowing you guys to decide on what to call certain things when the differences are not so clear cut, through Strawpoll! I will include a transcript of our discussion about the term, so for those of you who'd like to be more involved in the translation process, please read through it and vote for your term of choice in the strawpoll link below!

Link to discussion transcript.

Link to the Strawpoll.

The number of ships the group encountered grew as they got closer to Hidegold Bay.

"Milord, we should arrive at Hidegold Bay in three days. We'll have to keep our guard up for the rest of the journey," Captain Wilson said.

"What's wrong?" Lorist asked.

"Milord, this part of the sea is called the Sea of Grief. It is well known as one of the areas where pirates are most active. It is better, even for fishing vessels, not to approach it. This part of the sea is not within the patrol area of the Forde Trade Union's Invincible Fleet; so acts of slaughter and robbery are as common as the clouds. It could take mere moments for someone that had just asked for help to turn into the coldest and most savage pirate that could kill without batting an eye. There have even been some captains and crews that would sink to carrying out robberies here to make up for fruitless ventures elsewhere.

"When I used to work as a captain for a transport vessel, it was here where I suffered a huge loss. I remember that I had once seen a half-sunken transport vessel with several women on board shouting for help. I didn't suspect for even a moment that they might actually be pirates. I thought I could profit some from salvaging the cargo, and headed over. It wasn't until I had brought the ship in close that I saw up to a hundred pirates waiting to ambush me. Thankfully, I didn't resist. I surrendered quickly, and was spared by the pirates," Wilson described in detail.

"Sea of Grief? Does that grief refer to the merchants' grief?" Lorist asked.

"Precisely so. This sea can be considered to be one of the three main forks. To the west, this leads out to the Hanayabarta Kingdom and Shyarsia Kingdom. Those two kingdoms are both island-based. The Shyarsia Kingdom is the top producer of spices, and the Hanayabarta Kingdom thrives off the slave trade. Port Nupite has one of the largest slave markets in the world. To the south of this area is Hidegold Bay. And to the east is Armatrin Harbor of the Lormo Duchy, which used to be where people smuggled goods into the Krissen Empire. Currently, the Sea of Grief also connects to our family's sea route further north," Captain Wilson said after he had scoured his memory about the area.

"If this area is such a crucial location, why didn't the Forde Trade Union's Invincible Fleet place it under their jurisdiction?" Lorist asked.

"Milord, the Invincible Fleet isn't too suited to venturing too far. Given the poor wind-resisting capabilities of their ships, they will easily flip over and sink given the wind speeds over here. Actually, the Invincible Fleet's main objective is the protection of Hidegold Bay from the pirates as well as the Golden Trade Route that leads to the Golden Coast of the Romon Empire. The winds there aren'st as strong as they are here, so they allow the Invincible Fleet to operate to their full potential," Captain Wilson said.

"Then, are there any strong or influential pirate bands over here?" Lorist asked again.

"No, Milord. This is the truly laughable part of the Sea of Grief," Captain Wilson said as he chuckled, "Whilst the Sunny Seas has nearly a thousand variably sized islands, the Sea of Grief has no such places for pirates to make their hideouts. There was once a band of pirates, known as the Seadragon Pirates, that attempted to take control of the area and divide it up into various territories. It didn't take long for them to get chased off by the Forde Trade Union, the Hanayabarta Kingdom, and the Shyarsia Kingdom's fleets. They would definitely not allow anyone to establish dominion over the waters here.

"That's why they ignore the smaller-scale activities of the pirates here. The ones sustaining losses are those smaller merchant guilds or owners of smuggling ships. The moment the large merchant guilds' convoys' safety is threatened, the authorities will intervene and wipe out the pirates.

"As for the captains that venture into the Sea of Grief, apart from being wary of pirates, there are some that would take up piracy themselves when they see a fitting target. The Sea of Grief is a place where countless crimes and sinful deeds can be committed, with the evidence of such deeds easily buried within the depths of the ocean..."

"Whoa..."

After listening to Captain Wilson's description, Dulles gasped, before letting out a long sigh.

"Wilson, you're not joking with me, right? The seas here look really calm. Look at those ships over there that are traveling without causing any trouble. It's completely different from the chaotic mess you described earlier. Aren't they doing perfectly fine over there?"

"Hehe," Old Jack, the quartermaster, laughed, "Sir Dulles, it's precisely because they are traveling in a large group that they aren't praying on, or being preyed on by, others. If they were any fewer, they would've launched their attacks long ago. The captain of that fleet over there is no idiot. He's worried that if he attacks other people's ships, his fleet would sustain casualties and fall prey to others. That's why, the more ships you have traveling together, the safer it will be. You may not know it, but quite a number of ships had been on our tail just now. We've managed to shake them all off, however."

"There were people eyeing us?!" Lorist exclaimed, "Why didn't I realize it at all?"

"Milord, look at the cargo vessel roughly 100 meters to our left. There's no doubt that the crew there has malicious intentions. If we were traveling in a straight line, you'd notice that the vessel is constantly turning on an intercept course. If we were on a similar cargo vessel we would have to slow down if they were in front of us or turn away. They would easily board and rob us otherwise. However, this baby of ours won't be so easily dealt with..."

After Old Jack rotated the ship's wheel, the Flying Fish of Dawn swiftly traveled in a semi-circular arc, easily circling past the cargo vessel that attempted to cross their path and leaving them far behind not long after.

Cries and curse rang out from the cargo vessel behind them.

Old Jack laughed and said, "Milord, this ship that you designed is magnificent. It's able to travel so fast despite its size, giving it a speed easily double that of any normal cargo vessel. Others can only dream of catching us."

The moment Old Jack finished, Els patted on the mast harshly and said, "Old Jack, you shouldn't have avoided them like that. If they plan to rob us, let them come and see who's the one who gets robbed instead!"

Josk nodded in agreement.

Lorist laughed and said, "It's not a matter of who raids who, Els. Even if we managed to take control of their ship, we don't have anyone we can assign to control that vessel. If anything, it would do nothing but delay our journey. Forget it, we'll let them off this time. We'll teach them a lesson if we have a chance in the future."

On the 16th day of the 11th month the skies were cloudy with the winds blowing strong.

Thanks to the fins that stretched three meters deep into the sea at the bottom of the ship, the Flying Fish of Dawn didn't sway about in the waves like the other cargo vessels. Her sharp bow easily cut through one wave after another. She swam through the water like an agile fish. Given her fully extended sails, she truly seemed like a swift arrow traveling across the surface of the ocean.

The winds of the 11th month were incredibly chilling. One would feel as if blades were cutting across one's face when exposed to the winds without any covering. Lorist had Howard stay within the cabin while he stood at the helm and learned how to steer from Old Jack.

A cry from the lookout at the top of one of the masts could be heard as noon approached.

"A fleet has appeared 600 meters ahead!"

It was at moments like this that Lorist regretted not bringing spyglasses. It was an indispensable tool to sailors. It helped one detect enemies far earlier, and in doing so allowed one to react much faster to sudden developments. Instead, a lookout could only spot things happening 1 kilometer away at most. It was already quite formidable of the lookout to have been able to see the fleet 600 meters away given the cloudy weather.[1]

After a few moments, the lookout shouted again, "400 meters away, a large merchant fleet with 18 large transport vessels and 20 middle-sized transport vessels are heading south at half-sail."

Captain Wilson breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It's nothing serious. Normally, merchant fleets of that size belong to one of the seven great merchant guilds of the trade union. Given that they're traveling south, they should have the same destination as us -- Hidegold Bay. However, it's hard to identify what flag they're flying given the weather now. It'll take us another 30 minutes to approach them close enough to find out which merchant guild it is."

"200 meters ahead, a large merchant vessel flying a flag with a sword-impaled wine barrel, encased in a circular frame," the lookout reported after a while.

"The Chikdor Merchant Guild?" exclaimed Captain Wilson, "Old Jack, change course and overtake them by circling around them. Don't pass between their ships."

"What's wrong? Why do we have to take a large detour like that?" Els asked, displeased.

Captain Wilson laughed bitterly and said, "Milord, you should know about the Chikdor Merchant Guild, right?"

Lorist patted on Els's shoulder and said, "I know they are one of the seven largest merchant guilds of the Forde Trade Union. Initially, they were known as the Sword and Barrel. Their name only changed after Chairman Chikdor took control of the guild because he felt that it didn't sound too good. They are rather low-profile within Morante City, and not many would know that they are one of the seven largest merchant guilds."

"Milord, you are right. The Chikdor Merchant Guild is one of the hegemons on the ocean, having up to 100 large merchant vessels and countless middle-class cargo vessels as well as seven or eight shipyards. They have huge influence over the Invincible Fleet. They also engage mostly in purchasing loads of goods and dumping them in other lands. They mostly deal in wholesale distribution, so not many are aware of them.

"At sea, they control the routes that head to the Shyarsia Kingdom and Hanayabarta Kingdom. The Chikdor Merchant Guild purchases most of the spice produced by the Shyarsia Kingdom annually. The Hanayabarta Kingdom, on the other hand, use their immense profits from the slave trade to purchase luxury goods and daily necessities from the guild. The guild's formed four large merchant fleets that rotate every three months. They trade along the coast between Hidegold Bay and the Golden Coast."

Captain Wilson wet his lips with his tongue before continuing.

"Even though the Chikdor Merchant Guild doesn't grab much attention on land, they are incredibly domineering at sea. There have been instances where they caused trouble for smaller merchant guilds or individual ship owners. If it were the fleet of any other merchant guild, they might let us sail through their fleet. But this guild's fleets will only let you in to attack you once you're inside. They'll always leave the crew of the ships they attack right there, floating in the middle of the ocean."

"That's the reason why you had Old Jack sail around them?" Lorist laughed and said, "Alright, I trust in your judgment. Since our ship travels fast, we can easily lose them after circling around."

...

Within a lavishly-decorated cabin of the largest merchant vessel in the fleet, Chikdor Moribak sat down in troubled thought. The fleet had encountered a stroke of misfortune just before they could arrive at their home; they had gotten caught in a storm. While he wasn't worried that any accidents would happen, he was incredibly annoyed that the storm had delayed his return.

As the third-in-line for the position of the successor of the Chikdor Merchant Guild, he frequently found himself pondering on ways he could undermine his two brothers and gain his father's favor. For that, he even laboriously brought the fleet to the Shyarsia Kingdom to purchase spice. The old king had passed away in the first half of the year, and his successor wasn't too keen to let the guild continue holding a monopoly on the spice trade. The guild had no choice but to send someone with plenipotentiary powers to settle the matter.

Chikdor Moribak easily solved that problem. The newly ascended king suddenly fell sick and died, leaving his little eight-year-old brother to take the throne. The uncle of the king, who had profitable ties with the guild, was made regent, and the spice trade continued as usual.

Moribak believed that he had done pretty well and would definitely be praised by his father when he returned. However, he didn't expect that the days spent at sea would be so unbearable. The trip took three whole months. Each day at sea felt like a year to him. He couldn't eat or sleep well for a single day. Had it not been for the four trained slave girls he purchased at the Hanayabarta Kingdom, Moribak really wouldn't know what to do with all the time he had on board.

As if the delay caused by the storm wasn't bad enough, the fleet's ships were far shakier than ever. Just when Moribak wanted to relieve himself with the slave girls he purchased, he found that all four of them had become seasick and puked to no end. Moribak could do nothing but curse at the slave trader for lying to him.

Even though he claimed that they were trained, they still got seasick?! Ridiculous!

"Young Master, please be patient. We will arrive at Hidegold Bay tomorrow night. Just wait for one more day," the old servant advised.

All of a sudden, a commotion could be heard outside the cabin.

"What the hell is wrong with these noisy bastards?! Are they hungry for my whip?!" Moribak cursed before he exited the cabin.

"Young Master... Look! That ship is incredibly weird... It's traveling so quickly!" exclaimed one of the sailors as he pointed to the distance with a look of awe.

Moribak turned to look and was flabbergasted. All he could see was a weird-looking ship that swerved past them at a distance of roughly 60 meters. It quickly overtook the various ships in the fleet and approached the frontmost one.

"Young Master, that ship is traveling faster than 40 knots. This is the fastest ship I've ever seen," the merchant vessel's captain said. He had already served as a captain for the guild for more than 20 years.

"No way..." mused Moribak with shock, "Is it really that fast?"

"It is, Young Master. Please trust my observation. They are even able to travel at full-sail with the wind blowing so strong. That ship must have great wind-resistance capabilities as well as an incredibly sturdy build. Even though the ship's size is rather narrow, it can cruise incredibly stably, unlike our ships which will sway with the waves. The designer of that ship must be nothing short of genius. He has designed a magnificent horse that can race about at sea," said the captain.

Moribak didn't have a single doubt for the words of the captain. He trusted that the captain was a loyal man. Since that was the case, he felt that he should definitely obtain the ship for his personal use. As long as he could get his hands on that ship, he could bring it to the shipyards of his family. He could then determine what made it so fast, and use it to improve his family's ships. If he managed to accomplish that, his father would definitely be impressed.

At that moment, Moribak felt a burst of excitement build up in his heart, before he instructed his men to blow the horn and use flag signals to express his wishes to see the owner of that ship and ask the ship to approach his fleet.

However, after long moments of trying, the weird-looking ship didn't respond to their signals and went its own way. In a few moments, it shrinked into a small, blurry, dot before disappearing from sight altogether.

Moribak felt as if he had been smacked squarely in the face. He was incredibly furious. Never had he felt such humiliation before. There was actually someone who dared to refuse his well-intentioned invitation.

Very well, it seems that the ship is also heading for Hidegold Bay, Moribak thought, When I arrive, I will definitely seek you out and show you the 'warm hospitality' of the Chikdor Merchant Guild!

[1] Editor's note: This is an interesting error for an author to make. Barring special climatic circumstances like fog, choppy water, or a dark night, you should be able to see far further than normal. At the standard height of a crow's nest (around 30 metres for a ship of that size, perhaps a little more), you should be able to see about 20 kilometres out to the horizon. It should be easy to spot a ship of similar size (much less an entire fleet of them) at 12-15 kilometres. Even if we take into account the increased motion of the crow's nest (due to it's distance from the ship's centre of mass), it should still be easy to spot a ship at 5-8 kilometres, not the 600 metres the author suggests.

TL;DR, the author made a, rather interesting, mistake. You should be able to spot a ship (much less a fleet) at a far greater distance than 600 metres.