Chapter 424 - 273 - 278

Before the Expedition

Here's the first chapter of the week! Some patrons may have noted that they aren't able to access the patron posts. We believe that it's because Patreon is taking a little long in processing the payments for the month, and it's said that it may require a number of days to process properly. As such, we will be sending our patrons a link where they can read the early access chapters as usual until the issue is resolved. Many thanks for your patience and understanding!

The thunderous roar of the cannons rang out once more. The roughly 60-meter-long Windstorm looked like a fire-breathing beast. Smoke burst out of the ship like large white thorns each time the cannons roared. Small blurry black shadows flew away over the ocean as well. A cliff several hundred meters away shuddered as the shadows vanished into its face. Shortly after a single, massive piece broke loose and slipped into the ocean.

Schwoop! Senbaud popped open his telescope for a look; only to be flabbergasted at what he saw, mouth wide open. The sight before him had greatly exceeded what he imagined to be possible. He'd never dreamt that Lorist's bronze cannons would actually be that mighty, so surprised was, in fact, that he was completely speechless.

After a good while, Senbaud snapped out of the stupor and said with an excited expression, "Mi-milord... With a warship like that, I can guarantee you there isn't a single fleet on Grindia's oceans able to rival us."

"Good," said Lorist absentmindedly as he nodded, still pondering the two reports he had read the day before.

The report that Lundmorde had sent made Lorist come to a frightening conclusion. Other than the eventual extermination of the Teribo kingdom, which was already long set in stone, of the eleven nations that reinforced the allied army, at least four or five of them, apart from the Urubaha and Teria duchies, would also be wiped out.

That was to say, after the War of Glass, the territory of the Union would grow up to five-fold and become one of the three top superpowers on the continent. That assessment was made only based on the territory they conquered, and not their military or economic influence. The area they would control would eclipse that of the now-defunct Krissen Empire and they would be the third largest nation on the whole continent.

As long as the Union was given a few more years to 'digest' and put the territory they conquered in check, even if the second highness successfully reunited the empire, the situation would no longer be the same as it was a century ago when the empire was at its prime and used its military might to suppress the development and growth of the Union. In fact. The Union might return the long-owed 'favor'.

What surprised Lorist the most was the fact that the Chikdor Merchant Guild actually made the Urubaha duchy their own dominion.

It was good news for him since that meant that the guild had truly given up on the notion of conquering Silowas. Lorist realized after checking the map that the guild's decision was a rather well-informed one. With the territory of the Urubaha duchy, the guild would be better able to exert control on the trade routes at the south of Grindia near the Golden Coast without having to waste resources going to war with House Norton.

"Milord, Milord!" called Senbaud for a good while before getting Lorist's attention.

"What's wrong?" asked Lorist.

A little embarrassed, Senbaud said, "Milord, I was thinking of going there directly to see the cannons fire. Is that okay with you?"

Lorist laughed and said, "Senbaud, you're now the captain of the Windstorm. You can do whatever you want, as long as you don't sink the ship. Go ahead and check the ship all you want and familiarize yourself with its handling. It's your responsibility as a captain and you don't need my permission to do so."

When the 24 bronze cannons mounted on the Windstorm first fired, the recoil from the shots caused quite a few cracks on the ship, allowing seawater to start filling up the ship. It took quite a while before the ship was brought back to the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay and the flaw corrected. By the time Senbaud familiarized himself with the ship's handling, Lorist was already ready to depart for Silowas.

After another two volleys of test cannon fire, Senbaud returned to the deck of the ship with a look of joy and excitement.

"Milord, this ship is fantastic! It's just as agile as it is swift. Apart from the Flying Fish of Dawn, I doubt there's another ship that can catch up to the Windstorm. Coupled with these godly bronze cannons, this ship will be completely invincible. I don't think any ship will be able to even get close to the Windstorm."

Windstorm was based on the Flying Fish of Dawn. She was around 60 meters in length and roughly eight to ten meters in width, with a height of roughly 11.7 meters. The ship had four decks. The bottom deck contained the ballast, the one above it was for storage, followed by the gun deck which was fitted with 24 bronze cannons in total. The uppermost deck was the main deck and contained the captain's cabin and crew living quarters.

Apart from the 24 cannon operator teams, numbering 120 men, the Windstorm's full complement held another 128 sailors. It needed 52 men to form a skeleton crew, any less and the ship couldn't be sailed. Not only that, the ship could ferry another 200 marines. Whether it be ranged or close combat, the Windstorm had them covered. It was no wonder Senbaud thought that no ship could possibly take their own out.

Lorist laughed and said, "There are five other similar ships being constructed at the shipyard now. I believe that by next year, you'll have six Windstorms at your disposal. Once that happens, our cannon fleet will truly be known as invincible. Even the Union's 'Invincible Fleet' won't be able to match our own."

Senbaud scoffed, "Hmph, Milord, the so-called 'Invincible Fleet' at Hidegold Bay only relies on their numbers to oppress other fleets. They won't be able to keep up with Windstorm, even if we only considered speed, in actual combat circumstances. We'll be able to sink those modified merchant vessels easily with the cannons on board."

Senbaud was correct. The Union's warships were like floating castles. They had sacrificed any semblance of mobility for defense. While they wouldn't have a problem at the calm seas of Hidegold Bay, the ships were liable to be toppled by strong winds in other places like the Sea of Greed.

"It's good that you're that confident, Senbaud. When you test the ship out at sea, make sure to note down any weaknesses or shortcomings you notice so we can adjust accordingly for the five ships still under construction. Once they are complete, the construction crew will move on to their next project. They are to build a 120-meter-long five-masted warship and arm it with 60 cannons," said Lorist.

"What? There can actually be a ship that big?" asked Senbaud as he swallowed a nervous gulp, "Milord, I will definitely work really hard for you, so please let me command that ship when it's complete..." (Editor's note: Puppydog eyes)

...

A week had quickly passed and Lorist was about to depart for Silowas on the Windstorm. Right before he left, he held a meeting with the high officials of the house in the main camp at the bay.

"Terman, I will leave the security of Firmrock, Salus, Redriver and the grazing plains at the western Northlands to you, understood?"

"Yes, Milord," said Terman as he saluted respectfully.

"Waxima, Loze has irresponsibly tossed his two spear cavalry divisions to you, so I have no choice but to trouble you to manage them."

"Milord, I don't really mind it. It's not the first time this happened anyway," replied Waxima.

Everyone present burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Pete," Lorist said, trying to bring the situation back on track, "have your mounted archer brigade defend Hidebull. Even though the mountain barbarians haven't caused any trouble in recent years, it's best if we remain vigilant."

"Understood, milord," said Pete with a bitter smile.

His superior, Josk, was just like Fiercetiger Loze: he also loved to follow his lord along on one adventure after another, frequently leaving the mounted archer brigade under Pete's care.

"Pajik..."

"Milord, please give me your instructions," said Pajik as he came to attention.

"From today onwards, you will be Belnick's right hand. Pass control of the second local defense brigade to your second in command and help Belnick with the reorganization of the third local defense brigade as well as the formation of the fourth and fifth brigades. The brigades will be consolidated into the first local defense division with Belnick as its commander and you as the vice.

"Yes, milord," said Pajik as he saluted. This was akin to a promotion for him.

Belnick stood up and asked, "Milord, where will the first local defense division be stationed?"

Lorist pointed at the map of the dominion behind him and said, "The first local defense brigade will be stationed at Firmrock castle and the second brigade at the citadel at Tortoise Hill. After reorganizing the third, station them at the port city. The fourth and fifth still have to be trained for at least three months in military regulations after their formation. Use them as reserve troops for now and have them stay at the training camp until we return from the expedition."

Lorist didn't have much of a choice. Of the 60 thousand laborers whose term of service was ending at the end of the year, 50 thousand had already chosen to remain within the dominion. Some even wanted to return home and fetch their families. Even though the house had already begun to develop Redriver, they would only be able to settle a portion of their new subjects. Even so, there were far too many youths among the laborers that fit the criteria to join the army. Apart from the expansion of the heavy-armor and spear-cavalry divisions over the last six months, there were still more than ten thousand youths who wanted a place in the army. Those who were accustomed to water had been transferred to the marine training camp while the rest were stuffed into the local defense division.

Supervisor Spiel stood up and said, "Milord, our treasury has already dropped below a million gold Fordes. Continuing to expand the house's forces will only make our financial situation worse. We're starting several massive development projects in the coming months and I fear we'll be out of money by the fifth or sixth month."

"That won't be a problem," Lorist said as he waved, "In the coming months, our house will gain a huge sum of money. It will be more than enough to cover our expenses. Oh, and Supervisor Spiel, I leave you in charge of the products we intend to let the salt merchant committee sell on our behalf. It will bring in quite substantial profits as well."

"Understood, Milord," said the supervisor worriedly as he sat back down.

"Supervisor Boris..."

"Awaiting your instructions, milord," said Supervisor Boris, the ex-manager of House Kenmays.

"As Knight Charade is not with us, I will leave civilian affairs in your care. From this year onwards, we will collect tax from the Felicitas and Salus settlements, and I hope you can take care of them."

"Rest assured, milord. I will definitely do my best," said the supervisor.

"Old Man Balk, the factories and workshops of the house will be left in your care."

The old man stood up and replied, "Don't worry, Milord. I won't disappoint you."

"Shadekampf, you're someone who's followed me for a long time. I will leave you with the management rights to the development of Redriver. Don't let me down."

"Understood, Milord," said Shadekampf.

It was apparent from his fit and healthy look that he had made good progress with his training during the recent years.

"Supervisor Kedan, Supervisor Hansk will be following me back to Silowas to take care of the mess over there. So, there are various tasks in the dominion that you will have to oversee."

"Milord, you don't have to be worried as long as I'm here. However, I wonder if we really don't need the second highness's permission to go on an expedition against the Hanayabarta kingdom. After all, it's a sovereign kingdom we're talking about," said Kedan.

All of those present knew of Lorist's intentions. Not one felt it weird. If Lorist really endured it and didn't take any action, he wouldn't be fit to be the leader of the household.

However, Supervisor Kedan's worries were well-founded. If the enemy were nobles on roughly the same standing, there would be no need to inform anyone about the attack. However, Lorist planned to take on a whole kingdom, and according to proper regulations, Lorist had to at the very least inform the second highness so that he could lodge an official diplomatic complaint on behalf of his vassal with the Hanayabarta kingdom. Only if the complaint didn't receive a satisfying resolution would the Norton House or the forces of the Andinaq kingdom be allowed to take revenge against the Hanayabarta kingdom for their misdeeds.

Lorist shook his head and said, "We don't have the time to waste on that. Besides, the second highness is currently in the Redlis kingdom and might not even bother with small matters like these. If we really choose to wait, I don't know how long it will take for us to hear anything. Look at the case of the Peterson Merchant Guild, didn't they also conquer the Teria duchy without informing the Union beforehand?"

"But, Milord, those of the Union are nothing but tycoons without proper tradition and protocols. It's no surprise that they act the way they do. On the other hand, we're a house that has a history of a few centuries, so some basic protocols will have to be observed. Going on an expedition against a kingdom is no small issue, so it's best to first have the agreement of a senior noble. Otherwise, we could be considered to be disrespectful to those above us. As this matter concerns the household name, I hope that milord will give it more consideration," advised Supervisor Spiel as well.

"That's enough," Lorist said with a solemn face, "I understand that you guys are worrying on behalf of the house, which is commendable behavior. But did you take into account how the household knights of our house who were captured by the slavers feel? Every day of inaction means a day of torture for them. Another day where they'll have to risk their lives. If we really wait for the agreement of the second highness, it will come soonest after this year. Perhaps, we might not even get anything by the end of the next year.

"Also, has the Hanayabarta kingdom had any interactions with the Andinaq kingdom in the recent years? Did the Andinaq kingdom officially recognize the Hanayabarta kingdom as its own nation?

"Don't forget, our target this time is not a kingdom, but only a band of pirates and slave traders who happen to control a port city. Remember, there has never been a Hanayabarta kingdom. We are only taking action against the slavers who have attacked Silowas to save our subjects and members of our household. The Hanayabarta kingdom is naught but a shallow and deceitful construct made by the enemy to fool others. They were never a proper nation.

"Remember this! Those who slight the Nortons shall be put down, far as they may be! Understood?"

"Yes, milord! Those who slight the Nortons shall be put down, far as they may be!" called out the ones in the tent in unison.

...

Eight days later, Lorist arrived on Silowas. Potterfang received him with a group of other household knights.

"How many ships do we have now?" asked Lorist. That was the issue he was most concerned about at the moment.

"Milord, Blademaster Engelich, Josk, and Fiercetiger Loze has so far expropriated more than 30 ships. Together with our own ships, we already have enough to transport more than 20 thousand people. The Peterson Merchant Guild sent us a letter that stated that they can lend us 14 ships, four of which are large-class merchant vessels and another ten being middle-class ships. However, those ships would only arrive at the end of the 8th month," reported Potterfang.

"Alright," said Lorist as he nodded. It seemed that Engelich and the rest only had to expropriate another 50 to 60 ships to have enough to transport all 30 thousand plus soldiers of the dominion to the Hanayabarta archipelago. By the end of the 9th month, they would be able to depart.

"How's the morale of our forces? What sort of thoughts do they have on our upcoming expedition?"

"Milord, everyone is enraged about what happened to our island. Even though the second batch of soldiers to arrive didn't see it for themselves, they share the feelings of the first batch who came over to do the cleanup. All of them believe we should teach the slavers a harsh lesson."

"That's great. We must ensure that our morale stays high. Intensify their training while we wait for more ships to arrive so that they will be properly prepared for the actual battle," instructed Lorist.

"Yes, milord."

Money of All Things Comes the Fastest

Here's the second chapter of the week! Enjoy.

On the 31st day of the 8th month, Lorist got disembarked from the Flying Fish of Dawn and was received by Potterfang and Supervisor Hansk at the port.

"The haul wasn't bad this time around. We got 17 ships in total, five large-class long-distance merchant vessels and 12 middle-class armed ships. All of them belong to the slaver fleets of the Hanayabarta kingdom. One of them was transporting smuggled goods, which Supervisor Hansk will make an inventory of, and their other two fleets were ferrying around a thousand slaves. They had all been purchased from the Golden Coast. We will let them work on the island for a period of time before we release them," said Lorist.

"Alright, Milord," replied Supervisor Hansk.

"There are also more than 200 slavers on the ships. Potterfang, send someone to question them before hanging them. As for their sailors, hang those who don't behave. As long as any of them are subjects of the Hanayabarta kingdom, make sure not to let them off, understood?" instructed Lorist casually, deciding the fate of more than a hundred lives without a single care in the world.

"Understood, Milord," said Potterfang, before he turned around and barked a few orders. Soon, a few silver-ranked knights brought a regiment of soldiers with them to the ships that t had just been taken.

Lorist had been rather anxious recently. When he couldn't calm himself down, he would set sail for the Sea of Grief to join Engelich and the others expropriating ships. The Sea of Grief was largely empty, however. It was no surprise since the ships came from somewhere else after all. Lorist had already expropriated most of the smuggler's ships, and even those who managed to evade capture did not dare to sail in the area anymore.

Frustrated and annoyed, Lorist traveled straight to the trade route near Hidegold Bay where the ships of the Hanayabarta kingdom would pass through with the Flying Fish of Dawn and Windstorm. As expected, there were far more ships there for their taking. The slaver nobles of the kingdom mostly had their own fleets, with the larger ones having roughly eight ships and the smaller ones had two or three. Within half a month, more than 40 ships were successfully taken. As long as the Flying Fish of Dawn managed to line up to the enemy ships, with Lorist's presence there, the ship would no longer be able to escape. The Windstorm also finally got her chance to test out the might of her cannons. More than seven ships that attempted to sail away had been sunk by the Windstorm with relative ease.

"Milord, all the troops to be deployed have made their way to the island," said Potterfang.

"Okay. The coast is filled with the ships of the house, so I already had a hunch about that," said Lorist.

"However, I realized that many of our soldiers are not used to the ship motions. Many of them get seasick because they are not used to spending extended periods of time at sea," said Potterfang.

"We don't have a choice. Have some herbalists cook up more medicine for seasickness and give each soldier one bottle of it," Lorist came up with a less-than-ideal solution, "Is there anything else?"

"Milord, the 14 ships the Peterson Merchant Guild lent us has also just arrived. President Peterson even wrote you a letter. Also, Knight Lundmorde sent us an update on the conflict between the Teribo kingdom and the Union as well as the second highness's battles at the Redlis kingdom," said Supervisor Hansk as he took out a letter.

As he opened it, Lorist asked, "What did the report say?"

"The Teribo kingdom is no more and the Union has won. Also, the second highness suffered a huge loss at the Majik Province," Potterfang replied, "I placed the report in your tent, Milord."

"Oh," Lorist said, before putting aside the matter of the report as he started to read President Peterson's letter.

Apart from asking how Lorist was doing, the president briefly described the victory and the following changes coming to the Union. One of the most important things he stated was the fact that the Union has been set back rather heavily after eight months of war with the Teribo kingdom. Even the Peterson Merchant Guild, one of the big seven guilds of the Union, had suffered huge losses in terms of might and business. It has been one of the toughest ordeals they have ever faced.

This was different from the resistance of the invasion of the Krissen Empire. Back then, the Union had allies all over that supported their cause. The various neighboring nations all understood that if the Union fell, they would be the empire's next targets. That was why they supported the Union as best as they could and forged very close ties. Even if the Union suffered heavy losses from a Krissen invasion attempt, they would recover rather quickly in the coming years with trade between the other nations.

But the War of Glass was a different beast altogether. Even though the Union was technically the one that was attacked, their enemy was the simple-minded Teribo VII. It was incredibly unlucky of the Union to get an enemy like that who managed to change the perception other nations had of the Union. He turned the Union from the victim to the aggressor.

To the neighboring nations, the Union, which no longer has an enemy to worry about at the north, had begun to use their superior might to suppress the smaller nations around them. Many believed that the War of Glass was started as an excuse for the Union to begin their monopoly on the glass trade.

The truth of the matter was not important to those onlookers. What mattered was the situation before their eyes. The Union's deployment of troops at the capital of the kingdom, Feyers, and their declaration of the extermination of the Teribo kingdom was seen as excessive by the neighboring nations no matter how much of a fool Teribo VII actually was. The formation of the allied army of eleven nations was more of a precaution for the Union's ambitions than a way to earn a quick buck at Teribo VII's expense.

But nobody would've expected how the War of Glass actually came to a close. Just as the military historians who studied the conflict had described, there were no open field battles or sieges. Apart from raids, military mobilization, assassinations, and counter-assassinations the armies of both sides had stood each other off without any large-scale conflict for more than six months. Right after that, however, seven of the smaller nations were exterminated out of nowhere.

This was a war-laden with deception, scheming, transactions, threats, assassinations, surrenders, and betrayals, as one military historian described. The truth was not far from his writings. Nearing the end of the war, two smaller merchant guilds worked together and supported a rival military faction in one of those nations financially and held their countrymen at ransom, causing the reinforcements that nation sent to the allied army to have to retreat to capture the king and surrender him to the Union in exchange for the lives of their family members.

President Peterson understood that even though the War of Glass had ended with the Union's victory, the aftereffects were only just beginning to show. On the bright side, the Union did manage to successfully implement the nobility system. After swallowing the territory of seven neighboring nations, the Union became the third largest nation on the continent and had more than enough land to enfeoff.

But as a consequence, the remaining neighboring nations of the Union steeled their guard against the Union. Not only were the various trade routes of the Peterson Merchant Guild affected, some nations even levied sanctions against any and all trade with the Union or imposed heavy taxes on any trade carried out by the Union.

Given the situation, the Peterson Merchant Guild had begun to face serious trouble. Even though they managed to get a dominion for their guild, it cost them rather a lot. Not only did they have to start new trade routes, they also had to reestablish their trade deals, settle down their new subjects, develop their dominion, and form a new combat force.

That was why President Peterson expressed his hopes that he could delay his payment to the Norton House for a year and a half, and even wished to purchase the military equipment of the house with a loan from them. The president said in the letter that the old method of trading goods was also no longer possible as many of their trade routes had been cut off all of a sudden. Also, with the inflation of prices, the house would also no longer be able to obtain the food they needed through them, given that the price of food had quadrupled after the war.

"How much money does the Peterson Merchant Guild owe us?" asked Lorist.

"Milord, they still owe us 320 thousand gold Fordes for the magic beast fur deal. Originally, they were going to pay us back with food, but they delayed the payment because of the war. As we happened to be attacked at Silowas at the same time, we agreed to let them postpone payment. Other than that, they also ordered more than 10 thousand sets of military equipment worth 540 thousand gold Fordes," Supervisor Hansk recalled the details of the trades at his fingertips, "Milord, what did the president say? When will they guild pay us back the money?"

"See for yourself," said Lorist as he passed over the letter of the president.

Supervisor Hansk's paled as he read the letter.

"Milord, there is no way we can accept the request of the guild this time around. If they delay for another year and a half, our house will run out of money. Supervisor Spiel has already made clear estimates that the funds of the house will run out by the 6th month of next year at the latest. We were hoping that the payment from the guild would relieve us of the burden imposed on us by the development projects within the dominion. If this is the case, there's bound to be chaos in the dominion soon..." said he.

Nodding, Lorist said, "It's fine, I have some plans in mind. I will draft a reply for President Peterson's letter. Supervisor Hansk, there should be around ten thousand gold Fordes' worth of goods on the ships, so go make an inventory of them. We must use whatever we can right now."

The supervisor rushed to the ship.

Potterfang could no longer stay quiet and said, "Milord, is the house in that much financial trouble?"

"That's right. Had it not been for the release of the laborers this year who have finished their term and the attack we suffered at Silowas, we might have been able to survive longer. The new products we just released might even help us out quite a bit on that front," Lorist said as he smiled bitterly, "But I didn't think that so many of the laborers fit the criteria to join our forces and actually want to. While refusing them is easy, it's a huge waste. I was under the impression that the Chikdor Merchant Guild wanted to attack Silowas, so I agreed to the expansion of our forces.

"With so many new soldiers who we have to provide with adequate training and gear, the cost of maintaining them will only continue to rise. That is especially the case with the marines' and sailors' training. The cost of training the Windstorm's cannoneers is roughly 30 thousand gold Fordes already.

"The Hanayabarta kingdom's attack on Silowas only served to worsen our situation. The pension we have to pay for the dead soldiers is quite substantial. The expedition against the kingdom will also likely cost us hundreds of thousands of gold Fordes. Supervisor Spiel is correct, the house will be bankrupt by the 6th month of next year."

"Is there nothing we can do, Milord?" asked Potterfang.

"Well," Lorist said as he waved the letter of President Peterson around, "Originally, I intended to take advantage of the merchant guilds that want to form their own forces to protect their own dominion. But given how long the War of Glass has dragged on, the guilds have also lost far too much. Even the Peterson Merchant Guild, one of the big seven, is finding the recent days tough, so the smaller guilds are even further out of the question. If we want to dabble in this business, we'll have to wait three years, at least, for the guilds regain their momentum."

Potterfang breathed a long sigh at the news. Given that he was a man of the military, all he could be worry about the financial situation of the house.

Pog, I have a question for you. Do you know which method is the easiest to make money with?" Lorist asked, much to the surprise of Potterfang.

"Umm," Potterfang hummed, before he finally replied, "Isn't it dealing in military gear? I've often heard Knight Charade say that the military business is extremely profitable. That was what the northbound convoy relied on as well along the journey."

"No," Lorist said, shaking his head, "The best method is raiding and robbing the landed nobles. Do you remember the time we defeated Count Cobry and occupied his city? I returned to the dominion first whereas Charade and you guys stayed for three months. You did business with the local nobles and didn't even make more than a million gold Fordes of profit.

"But after that, the convoy traveled to the Andinaq kingdom. Even though the convoy was exploited by the second highness, you guys used your might to wipe out two-thirds of the nobles there and managed to pilfer 5 million gold Fordes' worth of goods. If we didn't use that money for anything, our knights would be able to live lives of luxury for a few lifetimes.

"But I invested the money in the development of the dominion and strengthening the forces of the house. With that, we managed to exterminate the magic beast wave that had plagued the dominion for more than 200 years and provided a safe environment for our troops and subjects to live in. We also started many factories and workshops, as well as villages and institutions of study. We'll also be launching a proper academy soon.

"Other than that, we also managed to find a location to build a port at the Bladedge mountains and built up our port city, all the while converting part of the dangerous Blackmud Marsh into farmable land. The dominion was only able to flourish because the house invested so much money in it. The annual spending of the house is easily over a million gold Fordes. All the profits we reaped are also invested for further development, like the case with the 2 million plus gold Fordes we made from the military equipment deals with our three allies.

"Had it not been for the slavers' attack on the island, I might have deployed you guys against the Madras duchy. That's because there aren't any richer forces near the Northlands that we can raid. Originally, I intended to attack the Sidgler province's Platinum Beach before launching an ambush on Duke Madras' lair and making off with his riches. We could have used the money we gained from that expedition to solve our crisis.

"Don't look at me like that, Pog. You are one of my most-trusted knights, and that's why I'm willing to be so frank with you. I made that plan to give our forces a chance to engage in actual battle as well. You should know best that good soldiers aren't the result of training, but participation in real battles. Other than that, the Madras duchy is hostile towards us, so we have a good reason to go to war with them. Profiting off their riches was only a minor goal of the plan," said Lorist as he laughed.

"But now that the Hanayabarta kingdom has come knocking on our doors, we'll let Duke Madras off the time being. After all, his dominion is at Sidgler, and it's not like he can move away all of a sudden. We can be sure that there will be more chances to attack him. To be honest, I'm not that worried about our financial situation right now. The Hanayabarta kingdom is bound to have much more riches than the Madras duchy, given that the slavers must have made huge profits over the dark trade of people. I would definitely be glad to use their ill-deserved wealth for a greater purpose."

Lorist revealed an insidious smile as he said, "Potterfang..."

Potterfang stood at attention and said, "Milord, please let me know of your will."

"Remember, the main priority of the expedition on the Hanayabarta kingdom is the rescue of our men from the slavers. After that comes sucking their wealth dry to relieve the financial crisis of our house. As for our soldiers, we should spread the propaganda that we are taking righteous vengeance against the Hanayabarta kingdom for wronging us. Let them know that we are sailing to free our comrades. That way, our soldiers won't feel like they are pirates or bandits, understood?"

"Milord, I understand. Like you said, those who slight the Nortons shall be put down, far as they may be! We are going to punish the darned slaver nobles and slave traders. Reaping their wealth is only par for the course and not our main goal."

"Good. Potterfang, tell me more about the report Lundmorde sent. How did the second highness lose that badly?"

"Well, after the War of Glass, Teribo VII went insane and killed himself. Many nations that sent forces to join the allied army were also swallowed up. Two of the nations, in particular, was ended by the very soldiers they sent out as reinforcements, so I suspect something along the lines of bribery went on. They actually captured the leaders of their nation and surrendered them to the Union. Right now, the Union has the third largest territory of all the nations on Grindia, and they have incurred the caution and suspicion of their neighbors.

"Lundmorde says that the price of goods in Morante right now is incredibly high. The ale at the Red Grace Inn that costs only two coppers is worth ten coppers right now. Also, Lundmorde asked for a raise, he said he wouldn't be able to feed his family otherwise.

"As for the second highness's loss, Lundmorde only found out about it after he read the Morante Daily. According to the paper, a new military strategist called Zitram or something emerged among the nobles of the Redlis kingdom. He used the second highness's carelessness to bait his forces into a low-lying area and destroyed a dam nearby. As a result, the second highness's army has been wiped out. Even though it's said that the second highness managed to escape alive, his army of 70 thousand is almost completely decimated. He's sworn vengeance against the man.

Battle on Shore

Here's the third chapter of the week.

Ship sails fluttered noisily, filled by the strong ocean winds. A circle of 137 ships of all shapes and sizes slipped over the water.

Whale Island VIII was one of these ships. It had originally been a whaling ship, but the whales had long been eradicated. It underwent extensive modification and was now a large-class fishing ship. She was part of a fleet of eight, all of whom were former whaling ships, that fished for the house.

Whale Island VIII's cabin was tightly packed. More than ten household knights were seated shoulder-to-shoulder. They were listening to Potterfang's brief on their strategy for the upcoming attack on the Hanayabarta kingdom.

A hand-drawn map of the Hanayabarta archipelago hung on the cabin wall. The room was illuminated by slightly over ten thick cow-fat candles.

Potterfang held a thin wooden stick in his hand as he continued the brief.

"Apart from the main island of the archipelago, there are another 27 islands of different sizes. The ones we have to watch out for are the eight right next to Nupite, called the Seaweed Islands.

"According to some slaves, the Seaweed Island Major is the dominion of Baron Sinyada. There is a plantation there were more than 400 slaves toil away with a security squad of roughly 30 people. As for the smaller ones, they're too small to be enfeoffed as a proper dominion, but sometimes, the slaver nobles will travel there for a vacation. As long as we pay attention to the shorelines of those islands for the presence of ships, we'll be able to determine whether there is anyone there easily. Regiment leader Polant, you are assigned to take those islands and leave a regiment of troops on the large one to settle the slaves down. Tell them that we, House Norton, have come to liberate them. As for the guards, if they're not helpful or cooperative, hang them."

"Roger that, sir," said a big-bodied silver-ranked knight as he stood up.

Potterfang continued to wave his wooden pointer stick the map as he said, "After the Seaweed Islands come the Twin Pomfret Islands. They are roughly of the same size, about the size of a viscounty each. Like the largest island, these also have slaver noble manors with roughly 800 slaves on each island and another security team of approximately a hundred people. Leddings, take the western Pomfret Island and Grey will take the eastern one."

"Understood, sir," said two silver-ranked knights in unison.

"Following that we have the Twinhead Tortoise Island and the Fallen Feather Island. The twinhead tortoise island has two dominions on it; one belongs to a viscount and the other to a baron. In both dominions are slave-run manors. The fallen feather island, on the other hand, has a county on it that even has a castle. Rumor has it that the slaver count would occasionally travel to the island to stay a few days at his castle. Morse, the Twinhead Tortoise Island will be yours to take care of.

"Zigda, I'll leave the Fallen Feather Island to you. I will also send out a regiment of wheelbarrow-ballista troops to assist you. According to the slaves, that count is also guarded by a blademaster. If you do see the slaver count on the island, don't be rash lest you suffer huge casualties. Just send someone to report to us and we'll take care of the blademaster, understood?"

"Yes, sir," replied the silver-ranked knight Zigda.

"Lastly, we have Goldshark Island and Duck Island. These two islands are angled together like a V-shape funnel, and at the innermost point between the two islands lies Nupite. Goldshark Island belongs to a duke. Fiercetiger Loze, sweep Goldshark Island clean with one division of heavy-armored troops and another regiment of wheelbarrow-ballista troops."

"Alright," responded Loze with a smile.

"Ovidis..."

"Reporting for duty, sir!" exclaimed Ovidis as he stood up suddenly.

"Your Thunderbolt Brigade shall fight to occupy that corner of the island after Loze's attack. Over there is an ocean channel roughly 160 meters in width which you must seal up so that the ships docked at Nupite won't have the chance to escape. I will assign a brigade of heavy-armored troops and another brigade of wheelbarrow-ballista troops to aid you in your endeavor so that the enemy won't get the chance to get off their ships and attack you on land."

"Sure thing. Not one of the enemy ships will be able to leave the port," promised Ovidis.

"Malek, Duck Island is a little larger than Goldshark Island, and there are two counties and one viscounty there. You will be responsible for occupying the slave-run manors there."

"Roger," replied Malek.

Potterfang began waving his stick again as he continued, "Between Duck Island and the main island is a reefy area, so we won't have to worry about the enemy escaping from there. From the map, you can see that the bay at Nupite resembles a huge wine barrel. All we have to do is seal the main and sub routes, the ships in the port will definitely be unable to escape.

"I'm leaving that task to the Oceanic Legion. Senbaud, Milord said that you only need to sink around ten incoming ships to clog up the routes. Remember, it is crucial that you do not let the enemy ships get close, understood?"

Senbaud nodded in agreement.

"Apart from the units who will conquer the eight islands, the remaining ships should all circle around the reef area opposite of Duck Island and get onto the shores of the main island. Milord will personally lead that unit. As there is roughly a kilometer between Nupite and the coast we will be docking at, all troops are to get into defensive formations promptly once they're on the shore. When all the troops are properly deployed, we will commence our attack.

"Yuriy, your light cavalry scout brigade won't be participating in the attack on Nupite. Since your troops are cavalry units, take a detour and make your way to the rear of the city immediately and occupy the hilly area there. That is the crucial route from the port to the Hamidas, the royal capital. Occupying the route will allow us to stop our enemies from getting any news of what's happening at Nupite and also seal off the land-based escape route for the slavers. Josk, Milord ordered you to follow Yuriy and the rest to back them up."

"Roger that," said Yuriy and Josk in unison.

"Milord, do you have any more instructions?" asked Potterfang as he turned to Lorist, who sat in the corner.

Lorist got off his chair and said, "Potterfang, you've been incredibly thorough with your attack plan, so I won't need to comment much. I will, however, remind you all of two things. First, we're here to save our people and avenge the deaths of those who were killed, but we're not here on a suicide mission. Even though the forces of the house are incredibly strong, it won't do for us to be careless.

"The slavers of the kingdom are incredibly rich, so they've no doubt hired quite a number of blademasters. According to the captives, Nupite alone has close to 20 blademasters. That's why all of us have to exercise extreme caution. Make sure to stay in formation to avoid any unnecessary casualties. Let the wheelbarrow-ballista units, Blademaster Engelich, and I deal with the enemy blademasters.

"Second, the Hanayabarta kingdom has more than 400 thousand slaves. Those slaves will be our main source of aid. Make sure to tell them that we're here to liberate them and that they will regain their freedom as long as the slavers are defeated. We have to treat them well. They will be our guides.

"Alright, if there are no other questions, go back and make your preparations. The fleet will set sail shortly. Remember the main reason for our attack on the kingdom: those who slight the Nortons shall be put down!"

All of the knights stood and saluted as one, thumping their right fist on their left chest as they chanted, "Those who slight the Nortons shall be put down!"

The blow of a horn could be heard across the wide and expansive sea as one ship after another raised their sails and headed to the southwest.

...

A horn blared not far from Nupite. It warned of an attack. Panicking droves of enemies could be seen in the distance through the telescope. They didn't know how to respond and had no choice but to pace around in terror. There had never been an invasion in the decades the Hanayabarta kingdom existed. The local guards to no longer knew how to react properly. They were so used to dealing with nothing but weak, helpless slaves that they couldn't deal with an organized force anymore.

The Windstorm had already turned to the side, aligning the cannons on her left to the mast-filled shores of the port before firing. Any ship that raised their sails would be torn apart without question nor mercy.

Led by a middle-class ship at the front, up to a hundred household armed ships of various sizes took a turn around the Windstorm, avoiding the reef area and heading straight for the shore up front.

The city's bells rang with ever-increasing urgency and the city, so famed for its ability to deal with slaves, erupted in a frenzy of panic and terror. Cries and curses streamed incessantly into Lorist's ear.

The Windstorm's cannons let out yet another round of thunderous booms. Lorist could hear that the twelve cannons on one side of the Windstorm did not fire all at once; instead, they were divided into three firing groups that alternated. Each volley was shot by four cannons. It ensured that there were cannonballs flying towards the city at all times.

The ship shuddered momentarily - it had beached. Lorist leaped from the ship and, despite still being quite a distance from dry land, found that the water only came to his chest. He could hear countless splashes behind him as he started wading to shore.

Standing on the shore, Lorist turned back and saw the water-splashed soldiers of the house. He could see heavy-armored troops jumping off another ship that had just reached the shore, but the wheelbarrow-carroballista troops were troubled about what to do with their weapons. While they could jump straight into the sea like the others, they couldn't actually toss their wheelbarrow-ballistae off the ship.

Lorist stopped a guard beside him.

"Go tell them to have four ballista troops to get off the ship first before lowering the wheelbarrow-ballistae down and carrying them to the shore," he said as he pointed to the ship.

"Understood, Milord," said the guard before he dashed away.

Another sounding of the horn could be heard as thousands of people rushed out of the port in the distance. They began charging to the troops forming up on the beach.

"Get into formation!" (Editor's Note: Get to the shingle at the top of the beach!)

Every single disembarked troop hurriedly assembled into a square formation, each contained about 100 people. The formations lined up side by side, forming a long rectangular defensive line. The soldiers still jumping off the ships scrambled to get into formation as well. They didn't even bother to shake off the water or twist it out of their clothing. In the blink of an eye, more than ten square formations stood in front of Lorist.

The people rushing out of the port were less than 200 meters away. They didn't expect that Lorist's troops would be able to assemble so quickly. They thought they would be able to catch them off guard and push them back into the sea. However, by the time they arrived in front of the enemy, the ones rushing at the front had begun to hesitate. Even though they were still approaching, they did so warily, with careful steps.

It seemed that those who had arrived were a group of hurriedly-assembled slavers. Their armor and weapons were hastily put together. As Lorist swept his gaze past the enemy fighters, his view suddenly stilled.

Among the ranks of the enemy stood about a hundred men wearing the armor of the Norton troops. It was obvious that they were the ones who had been part of the attack on Silowas and had taken the armor off the dead of the third local defense brigade.

"My soldiers, do you see them over there? Those fellows are wearing the armor of our comrades! What do you think we should do?" Lorist called out in a clear voice for his men to hear.

A commotion broke out among the troops before a thousand voices began to chant the same thing: "Kill! Kill them all!".

Lorist drew his longsword and pointed it at the enemy.

"Then, kill them as you please! Avenge our fallen comrades!"

Leaping to the very front, Lorist rushed towards the enemy ranks. The distance of roughly 200 meters was closed almost instantly. With a great howl, Lorist thrust himself into the forest of spears. He swung his longsword and lopping enemy heads off with abandon. Blood splattered all over as man and horse crashed to the ground and the enemy formation fell into disarray.

Countless corpses lay unmoving on the ground as cries of pain resounded nonstop. Lorist moved wherever he pleased amidst the enemy -- none of whom were able to match his sword as it cut them down. He left a river of blood in his wake. The moment Lorist spotted an enemy wearing the armor of the Norton soldiers, he would give pursuit relentlessly until the enemy was felled by his sword.

A sword strike like flowing water flashed in the corner of his eye and appeared in front of him a moment later.

"Oh, a blademaster?" he said excitedly as he parried the strike.

The longsword in his hand blurred out of existence as he launched into a storm of attacks, pressing on against the old blademaster with a goatee. The Hanayabarta kingdom was not short on blademasters who craved the high pay offered by the slavers. Lorist resolved himself to kill as many as he could to minimize the casualties of his troops.

Clang-clang-clang-clang! Sounds of clashing swords echoed across the beach and out over the ocean.

"Ugh," grunted the old man.

He rolled his eyes the moment his throat was slit. Blood poured nonstop from the gaping hole.

"Sol, can you even call yourself a rank 1 blademaster with those skills?" commented Lorist in an aloof tone.

The goateed blademaster must have been one of the weakest of his rank, for he had only been able to take twelve of Lorist's strikes before being felled.

Two roars rang out beside Lorist with no warning. Turning around to look, he could see a dark-skinned burly man and another old gloomy-looking guy rushing towards him with their swords.

"Ah, two more blademasters have come. Hehe, just in time!"

Lorist as he rushed to cross swords with them.

The pudgy dark-skinned man's strikes carried with them lots of weight. Given the obvious and glaring horizontal and vertical strikes, the man had to be one that walked the path of brute force. The gloomy old man, on the other hand, excelled in sneak attacks. He launched careful strikes behind the huge dark-skinned man. The two were a rather good team.

However, it didn't take long for Lorist to get a good grasp of their attack pattern. The two blademasters struggled more and more under Lorist's flurry of strikes as time passed. It wasn't long before the huge blademaster sustained two injuries and was slowed down substantially.

"Arrgghh!" cried the huge blademaster the moment he suffered yet another cut.

This one chipped off a good chunk of flesh and revealed the bone beneath.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, the gloomy blademaster ducked behind his huge partner and shoved him straight at Lorist before turning tail in an attempt to escape. Lorist sidestepped the huge man and pushed his sword through the back of the gloomy-looking blademaster.

The dark-skinned man chuckled as he said, "Haha, that old dog actually tried to abandon me and run... I bet he didn't think that he would be the first to die instead... Hahaha, come, just end it for me already..."

Lorist furrowed his brow and asked, "Aren't you all rank 1 blademasters? Why are you so weak?"

The dark-skinned man smiled in a weird manner before he said, "We were satisfied when we reached the rank of blademaster and began to enjoy life as we pleased. Over here, I fooled around with more than ten women every single day! How would I have the time to train with my sword?

"That old dog over there likes young girls, what a messed up fellow. As for that one," he paused as he pointed at the first blademaster to die by Lorist's sword, "That fellow loves food and men the most."

Lorist came to understand that the blademasters that accepted the Hanayabarta kingdom's offer were all those who no longer intended to continue their training. They weren't the least bit as strong as Lorist had imagined them to be and were a far cry from the rank 1 blademaster of the Dawn Academy, Instructor Claude, or Viscount Kristoph of House Fisablen. The main difference between the blademasters of the kingdom and those other two was that the former wanted to enjoy their lives rather than continue to toil hard until they broke through to the next stage.

"How many of you are there?" asked Lorist.

"Four," said the dark-skinned man without needing further elaboration on Lorist's part.

"Remember to not walk the wrong path in your next life," said Lorist before he strode past the man, lopping his head off.

Lorist looked around trying to spot the last blademaster but only saw emptiness all around him. Nobody dared to get close to the body of the blademasters around him.

Even though the battle on the shore was still being fought, the Norton forces were obviously holding an advantage. Even though there were quite a number of gold-ranked swordsmen among the enemy, the discipline of the Norton troops allowed them to hold their formation. All of the corpses littering the shore were those of the slavers.

Ah, there he is, thought Lorist the moment he saw a distinct sword flash in the distance.

Engelich was caught up in battle with another old fellow dressed in black scale armor. From the looks of it, Engelich seemed to be on the losing end.

Lorist rushed there promptly, but still managed to cut off the heads of two gold ranks along the way.

"Engelich, you're far too lousy. I've already killed three blademasters myself, yet you were unable to take care of even one. It seems that I will have to school you hard in the future, lest you embarrass the Norton name."

Engelich said as he breathed raggedly, "Milord, did you not see that the guy over there is a rank 2 blademaster?"

"Oh, no wonder you weren't able to take him on. Step back and let me at him," said Lorist before he jumped forward with his sword.

The old blademaster wearing the black scale armor was terrified the moment he heard that Lorist had slain three blademasters. He tried to escape immediately. Just as Lorist was about to give chase, he heard a loud cry.

"Fire!"

Several loud twangs rang out. A moment later the retreating blademaster let out a cry of pain. He looked just like a wild hare that had been nailed to the ground with an arrow. There were two iron bolts piercing through his back and more than a dozen on the ground around his body.

The wheelbarrow-ballista division's troops had finally managed to get into formation on the shore. Their first target was the old blademaster that had been battling Engelich. They had been unable to fire any earlier because Engelich was engaged in close-combat with the blademaster. They released their bolts without hesitation the moment the two parted, however.

With the four blademaster completely wiped out, the remaining slavers cast their weapons aside and ran back towards the city. They weren't fast enough to evade the ballistae's fire, however, and were nailed to the ground one after another.

"Blow the horn to get into proper formation! We'll launch our attack on the port right away!" instructed Lorist.

Karman

Here's the fourth release of the week! Enjoy the read while I torture myself over my upcoming tests :)

A large number of people could be seen at the plaza next to the port in the distance. However, when Lorist rushed over there, the group of people merely stirred slightly before stepping aside to make a path while looking with an odd gaze of wonder and envy. Their tattered rags made their identity clear; they were slaves.

Lorist found it weird that so many slaves were gathered at the port and wondered why they had done so. However, Lorist was a little slow to arrive. The guards of the port who had been busy frightening the slaves at first had cast away their armor and entered the inner walls of Nupite before hurriedly closing the gates.

It didn't take long for another wave of pained cries and moans and a few streaks of smoke coming from the distance to take Lorist's attention. A large group of enslaved women and children were despairing on the bridge near the port, where another 17 to 18 small speed boats could be seen carrying huge linen sacks that were set aflame.

Lorist quickly understood the reason for the women and children's cries. Those slaves had been chained to the port and were unable to move away from where they were. They could only stare as the linen sacks burned brighter and fiercer and await their death with despair.

Some of the slaves wore expressions of grief while others looked as if they were finally going to be liberated from their life of suffering. There were also those who were coughing nonstop for inhaling too much smoke. One huge, scarred man seated at the frontmost part with a burning sack behind him called out to his family and implored them to stay strong and live.

Like a huge bird, Lorist dashed his way to the burning speedboats. The moment he set foot on the deck, a waft of smoke rushed into his nostrils.

Good Sol, these sacks have all been doused with oil. No wonder the fire's so strong.

Without hesitation, Lorist used a long stick he picked up by the side of the port to push the sacks into the ocean, causing one cheer after another to resound along the bridge. A few other soldiers and knights made their way to the bridge and helped their lord save the slaves.

The household knights easily cut the slaves' chains with their silver blade glows, allowing those who had barely just survived to reunite with their families.

"Sir, good Sir..."

Lorist turned around and saw the man with scars all over his body holding two children around ten years old come to him and prostrate himself as he said, "Thank you, Sir, for saving our lives."

Lorist stepped back and said, "Stand up, you don't have to thank me in this fashion. House Norton forbids slavery. You are free."

On Grindia, prostrating oneself with all limbs flat on the ground was one of the most extreme forms of submission. It was normally reserved for sacrificial ceremonies to the gods. It just so happened that the Hanayabarta kingdom mandated that the slaves show them the same degree of respect to sate their egotistical cravings for power.

The huge man looked flabbergasted as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"We... we're free?"

Lorist nodded.

"That's right, you are free. However, you will still have to be monitored temporarily so that you don't cause trouble for our operations. We are in the midst of a war, so you will only regain true freedom once I defeat the slavers and slave traders."

The huge man straightened his back and hugged his two children, crying.

"We're free... We're finally free..."

Lorist took a good look at that man and his two children. The older one was a boy around the age of twelve while the younger child was a girl of around seven. She was dressed just like a boy, however. Her hair was incredibly messy. Lorist assumed it was a protective measure to ensure her safety.

"Sir, apologies for showing you my unsightly form," the huge man said after a good long sob, "Can you tell me your name, Sir? I will definitely not forget my debt to you."

"We are House Norton from the Northlands, also known as the Roaring Raging Bear," replied a guard beside Lorist proudly.

"Northlands... Norton... Raging Bear?" the huge man mused, "Ah, I know. You're here to exact revenge. No wonder your armor looks so familiar. A fight broke out over one of your armor sets and some people even died as a result."

"Oh, what are you called?" asked Lorist, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm called Karman, Sir. I come from the Romon Empire," replied the huge man respectfully.

"The Romon Empire? Wow, that's quite far. Stand up. Tell me how you came to be a slave in the first place," said Lorist.

"Thank you, Sir," said Karman as he stood up, "I used to be an apprentice attendant to Count Bilop. The count angered the prime minister and was stripped of his dominion and attacked by the empire's army. After the attendants and guards were captured, of which I was one, we were sold off as slaves. It happened about 19 years ago. I was just 15 at the time."

"You've awakened your battleforce?"

"That's right. Had it not been for that, I wouldn't have been able to stay alive for so long. It's only because of my battleforce that I was considered in a much better light and even allowed to bear two children," replied Karman.

"Then, why were you chained up over here?" asked Lorist.

"Look," Karman said as he pointed at the Windstorm near other sunken ships in the distance, "Is that ship one of your family's, Sir?"

Lorist nodded.

"That ship's far too powerful! The ten of the royal family's patrol ships were sunk in mere moments. The remaining ones don't dare to engage it. So, one of the people in charge came up with a ploy to dump flaming piles on the speedboats and have them sail towards your ship. They wanted us slaves to paddle the boats in exchange for the safety of our families..."

Lorist felt a chill run down his spine and relieved that he had made it in time to stop the enemy's plan. Over 30 flaming boats ramming into the Windstorm would be something terrible to behold.

"Search all the ships around the port and capture anyone on board and bring them here. Kill anyone who resists," instructed Lorist to the guard nearby.

"Sir, the crews of the royal patrol fleet have already retreated behind the inner walls. Their ships have long been evacuated," said Karman.

"Aren't there still people on the other merchant vessels? Everyone must come here to be screened," said Lorist with satisfaction.

The 200-odd ships would become his property soon. They alone were easily worth more than a million gold Fordes.

"Karman, tell me more about the incident regarding the armor of our troops."

"Did the slavers attack your dominion three months ago, Sir?" asked Karman.

"That's right. They attacked one of our island dominions."

"Sir, the garrison troops of your dominion were really amazing," Karman praised, "I still recall that more than 20 guards from this port joined that attack and only three of them came back. Even though they managed to gain quite a bit of coin, they only managed to get one breastplate from your troops. After they returned, the three fought over who should take possession of the breastplate without end. Due to being excessively drunk, a fight broke out and it ended with two dead and one heavily injured. The injured one died two days later from excessive blood loss, so the leader of the guards took the breastplate for himself.

"I was among the slaves who were tasked to deal with the corpses, so I got a good look at that breastplate. The moment I saw your troops wearing armor of the same design, I knew you were here to take revenge. However, Milord, there seemed to have been lots of people who were captured during their attack. I recall seeing tens of thousands of enslaved people. We were wondering where they came from in the first place."

"Only a part of the people captured were subjects of my dominion. Most of them are refugees who were brought in to develop our dominion. It was precisely because of their presence that the slavers decided to attack us. Karman, many of our troops were captured as well. Do you know where they are being held?" asked Lorist.

"I seem to have heard something about it before," said Karman in deep thought.

"Bali. Bali, come over."

Karman called out to a slave behind him.

A thin young man around the age of 17 came forward timidly and asked, "You called for me, Uncle Karman?"

"Yes. Bali, do you remember seeing a group of weird-looking slaves at the port two months ago?"

Bali nodded.

Karman continued, "Think hard about this. Why did those slaves strike you as weird? Also, where were they taken?"

"Oh, they looked a little too prideful to be slaves. Many of them were injured and some were even outright cursing, saying that their lord would come to save them and kill all of the slavers without question. The leader of the guards here was present at that time and attempted to use his whip to teach them a lesson. But the slavers said that those slaves were for the Hamidas Dueling Grounds and that the guard leader would have to pay for the losses should the slaves be injured. In the end, the guard leader took his anger out on us and even gave me a few whips," explained Bali.

"Hamidas Dueling Grounds?" mused Lorist with dread.

What Karman said proved Lorist's fears to be right.

"Sir, perhaps, only a few of your soldiers are still alive. The Hamidas Dueling Grounds is nothing short of hell. That place hosts the crying souls of the dead slave gladiators. The slavers love performances like those the most. They love to see magic beasts tear helpless slaves apart and pit one group of slaves against another until one side is completely wiped out.

"There is usually a 'show' once every ten days, but those shows are relatively small scale with only a little more than ten dying each time. Every month, however, there would be a large-scale battle with more than a hundred slaves participating for the slavers' entertainment. Last month, they held one of those shows to celebrate the founding of the kingdom. I heard that up to a thousand slave gladiators died during the fights."

Lorist fumed.

He said with bloodshot eyes, "Very well... For every one of our troops that died at the Hamidas Dueling Grounds, I will have ten slavers buried with them. If one of my household knights die, I will sacrifice ten of those slaver nobles to appease their souls."

"Milord," a heavy-armored soldier called out as he rushed over, "We have already sealed off four of the city gates, but there are lots of ballistae on the walls that caused us a small number of casualties. Blademaster Engelich sent me here to ask you when we will begin the siege."

Lorist raised his head and looked at the distant inner walls upon which many people were gathered.

"Are there that many ballistae up there?"

"We estimate at least a hundred," replied the soldier.

Even though Lorist was still feeling seething anger after finding out where his troops and knights were sent, he didn't let his emotions affect his decision to order the troops to attack the walls immediately.

"Order our troops to retreat to a safe distance. Form a defensive line to stop anyone from escaping. Order the wheelbarrow-ballista units to keep firing at the walls around four gates to put pressure on the enemy troops on the walls operating the ballistae. Since we've occupied the port area, have Ovidis's Thunderbolt Brigade come ashore for now. We'll let the enemies in the inner walls live for another day. We'll launch our attack tomorrow," instructed Lorist.

"Yes, milord," said the soldier before he ran off.

"Milord," said Potterfang as he came over.

"What's up with your situation?" asked Lorist.

"Yuriy and Josk have already begun operations with the light cavalry scout brigade. Apart from the ships that have docked, we had the remaining ones come over to the port over here. I've already had the battlefield cleaned up. We have around 300 casualties and more than 2000 dead enemies," replied Potterfang.

"Good. If Fiercetiger Loze, Malek, and the rest managed to conquer the eight islands, order them to bring their men here. Have all the slaves and captives brought over to the main island and leave a company of troops to defend each of the islands. Make sure to light a smoke signal the moment any enemy movement is noticed. Also, get Senbaud's Oceanic Legion to increase the patrols around the islands. Assign one brigade of heavy-armored troops and another brigade of wheelbarrow-ballista to him to deal with the remaining 19 islands. Have the slaves and captives brought over here as well."

"Understood, Milord," replied Potterfang.

"Sir, Sir..." Karman called out.

"What's wrong?" asked Lorist.

"Sir, can you give us a chance to aid you in any way? You've saved our lives and have given us our freedom. We are willing to form up and help you attack the walls. Sir, we are not afraid of death. As long as you give us some weapons, we will be more than willing to revolt and pay the slavers back for all the pains we've suffered."

Lorist shook his head.

"Karman, I appreciate your sentiment, but to be honest, you guys are not well-trained and have quite weak constitutions. It's not that I'm looking down on you guys, but sending you to attack the walls is nothing short of suicide. It is a sacrifice that will not bring us any benefit at all."

Karman's gaze dimmed as he understood that Lorist spoke nothing but the truth.

"However, there is a way that you can help me out," Lorist said as he pointed at the slaves gathered up near the port, "Organize them properly. We will need guides to show us the way to the palace's food stores so that we can get something prepared to feed you. I heard that there are more than 400 thousand slaves here in the kingdom. If I merely liberate you and leave you to your own devices, a food crisis would surely ensue.

"Find some more talented and trustworthy ones among the slaves and gather them up. I believe that you are more than capable of this. Form a temporary settlement to help us organize and deal with the slaves we rescue. Only after the slaver nobles are exterminated can we transport you lot back to the mainland and return you to your homes.

"Also, there's a lot of things I will need your help with. You guys can help us screen the slavers and determine which are worthy of death and help us find their hidden warehouses; you can also help with cooking… Support the injured instead of charging to your deaths. If you are willing, you are also free to follow us back to the Northlands to our dominion and start your lives there. Karman, are you willing to help me out?"

Karman bowed deeply and said, "Milord, it is my greatest honor to be able to serve you. I trust that the other slaves are more than willing to do so as well."

Hector and the Slave Camp

Here's the fifth chapter of the week~ I'll be taking a test early next week (well, tomorrow, to be exact), so expect updates to come around the latter part of the week. See you again soon!

Karman did not disappoint. He quickly gathered up the slaves at the port and began to set up camp. He also sent some slaves who were familiar with the islands and terrain to serve as guides and aided with the occupation of the warehouses in and out of the walls. He also managed to recruit other slaves to his cause and set up tens of youth slave squads numbering around a hundred men each to keep the camp in order. Not only that, he also had the women and children help out with other chores such as cooking food and making soup, greatly contributing to the Norton forces.

Being the most well-known slave trading area, Nupite was considered a rather large city, even though the inner walls weren't that large. Ever since the founding of the kingdom, the city's walls had never once been assailed by enemies, so the slavers and slave traders turned complacent and began expansive development at the outer part of the cities away from the defense afforded by the inner walls. They built mansions, manors, warehouses, and trade areas, all of which had fallen into Lorist's hands.

Countless slaves gathered together joyfully and the newly set-up camp continued to grow in size. The slavers and traders cried and cursed from the top of the walls as they watched one warehouse after another pried open and stripped bare.

At three in the afternoon, the guards on the inner walls began to throw flaming torches down to light up the houses built along the sides of the inner walls. Perhaps they had intended to use the flames to torch all that was outside the walls, but Lorist reacted quickly and had the slaves aid the family forces to set up an isolated area beyond which the fire could not spread just shy of the of the ballistae on the walls' range, thus foiling the enemy's plan. He had his own ballistae firing at the walls all the while, inflicting severe casualties on the those atop them.

In the evening, a group of soldiers Lorist sent out to scout brought some good news: they had found Hector, the chief secretary of Silowas, much to his surprise and delight. The slave camp they had built held around 80 thousand people, but that number was still shy of a third of the total slave population on the archipelago. There was little doubt that the population in the camp would grow explosively over the coming days, so Lorist was glad to hear that Hector would be able to return to his service and manage the area. Lorist had much else to do.

When the slavers attacked Silowas, Hector could have retreated to Farama Village first. But just as he was leaving Whitebird Town, a group of slavers was on their tail and Mayor Hugo brought ten or so youths with him to keep them at bay. Hector, on the other hand, was busy evacuating the panicked townfolk, which had cost him the time he needed to escape, leading to his eventual capture.

The only thing Hector could find solace in was the fact that he had moved his family members to the Northlands back when he thought that the Chikdor Merchant Guild would attack the island. He was glad he wouldn't have to worry about his family's safety. He had witnessed more than a few tragic moments, of families being broken apart, during his voyage to the kingdom.

To Hector, the slavers were nothing but uncultured beasts wearing the skin of men. They did not contain a single shred of humanity. Putting aside the slaughter of the elderly and injured before leaving the island, during the ten-odd days of sailing back to the Hanayabarta kingdom, they violated every single woman on the ships save a few nubile maidens picked and saved for the slaver nobles.

Hector, on the other hand, was rather lucky as his captors had noticed his talents during the voyage. Upon knowing that he was the chief secretary of Silowas and graduate of the Krissen Empire's Mobor Academy, the slavers did not treat Hector as they did the other slaves. Instead, they had him become a bookkeeper to handle the miscellaneous matters of a company at Nupite.

When the Norton forces took over one warehouse after another, Hector was flabbergasted. He had thought that Lorist would at most send a representative to ransom him and the rest of the knights. He didn't think that Lorist would be able to mount a full-scale attack in just three short months.

During the day, Hector continued his work in the warehouse as usual without knowing about the situation outside. It was not until he saw the troops dressed in Norton standard issue armor that he announced his identity and was brought before Lorist.

After some consolation and pleasantries, Lorist quickly assigned Hector some tasks. Hector felt his head numbing when he saw the thick stack of documents on the table and started to miss his job back at the warehouse.

"Milord, you've given me so much to handle, but do you have anything you want me to focus extra effort on?" asked Hector.

Lorist realized that he shouldn't have asked Hector to take care of every single matter, trivial or not, and said, "How about this... Just deal with the matters of the slave camp. The main priorities of the house are to rescue our knights and officials that were captured and avenge the deaths of our good folk during their assault. As an aside, we're going to glean as much wealth as possible from the kingdom to solve the lack of funds our house is facing.

"To be frank, this deployment is an incredibly risky endeavor. Apart from a few select high officials of the house, the rest are not aware that we only had little more than a week's worth of supplies before we took over the resources here. In other words, our fleet wouldn't have enough food for a return trip. Had we encountered misfortune on the way here, the tens of thousands of troops would very possibly perish.

"That's why, the forces will have to rely on this place to get our supplies, and it is crucial that we get the help of the slaves for this. I have declared that we came to take revenge on the slavers as well as to liberate the slaves of the archipelago, with the condition that they must first be organized. Otherwise, the whole situation would fall into chaos with vengeful slaves messing up our plan and causing a huge fiasco.

"The Hanayabarta kingdom has more than 400 thousand slaves, with more than 100 thousand located at the plains near Hamidas. The other 200 thousand are most likely located around the area of Port Nupite. Today alone, we have taken in more than 70 thousand slaves. Countless more are due to arrive in the next week. The key of your task is to manage them well enough so they can aid our forces in our expedition.

"Milord, I understand. I will definitely make sure that they're in good order," said Hector.

Lorist shook his head and said, "Hector, don't treat these slaves like normal refugees, that will be to your detriment. You can't allow the slaves to spend long periods of time in the camp with nothing to do. The key is to keep them occupied. The thing I'm most worried about is that these slaves will launch a revolt against the slaver nobles right away the moment they are freed, setting fire to the manors and mansions if they are unable to find their tormentors. This situation is so volatile that it may erupt at any moment."

Lorist handed Hector a document.

"Read through it," he said, "We have two warehouses' worth of linen cloth from our spoils. I have already instructed for it to be sent to the slave camp to be made into clothes for the slaves. I want to gain their trust and confidence, and show them that our efforts to liberate them are sincere, not some ploy to trap them.

"Doing so will also keep the slaves occupied instead of letting them dilly-dally around the camp with nothing to do. The latter is just a recipe for disaster. Some of the more ambitious slaves could use this chance to rally some minions and push the others in the camp around. The moment that happens, it will become a huge pain for our house. You should be aware that there are over 300 thousand slaves on the whole of the archipelago while our forces only number around 40 thousand.

"When you manage the camp, put your efforts into these few things. First, form a smith camp and have slaves with any sort of skill in crafting assigned there. Second, form a few patrol brigades from a few strong reliable youths to keep the order of the camps. Third, screen the slaves and pick out any bad apples, especially those that have oppressed other slaves on their masters' behalf. Kill those who have blood on their hands and put the others into a camp for hard labor. Those are the ones who will cause the most trouble.

"Additionally, make sure to pay extra attention to our captives. I will assign two heavy-armored brigades and one wheelbarrow-ballista brigade to you that will be in charge of watching the captives and our supply stores, and as a precaution against any form of revolt or chaos breaking out in the slave camp. Should that ever happen, mobilize those three brigades to quell any resistance. We must ensure that the slave camp is kept in order at all times.

"I've already instructed the Oceanic Legion to scour the surrounding islands. They will bring more captives and slaves here over the next few days. The population of the slave camp will easily shoot past 300 thousand. As it's already the 9th month and the harvest season, we should not waste the food planted around the island. You may organize some slaves to help out with the harvest, and if there are any who wish to stay on the island after this whole ordeal to make a life for themselves, we can promise them farmland here. They can settle down here as our subjects and enjoy a life of bliss and stability."

"Milord, are you saying that you're going to make this place a dominion of the house?" asked Hector.

"That's right," Lorist nodded and said, "I intend to exterminate the Hanayabarta kingdom and make this the overseas dominion of our house. After screening those slaves and rooting out the troublesome ones, you can assign those who are willing to stay back here on the archipelago to help us out. The house will provide them with living necessities as well as farmland and houses."

"What about the captives, Milord? How should we handle them? Let them work hard labor?"

"Hard labor? Hehe, only in their wildest dreams. They aren't even qualified for that," Lorist said as an insidious smile surfaced on his face, "Ask the soldiers of the house whether they're willing to let those murderers off after seeing the state of Silowas. Only humans serve hard labor, not animals. Let me be honest with you, Hector, I'm not going to spare a single soul of the citizens of the Hanayabarta kingdom, whether they be nobles or commoners. I will kill every single one of them to make an example for the rest of the world to see..."

Hector felt a chill down his spine from the seething killing intent radiating from Lorist.

"Milord, I understand that the slavers and slave traders are deserving of death. Their soldiers that have committed so many atrocities are no different either. But you can't kill the commoners, especially those innocent women and children... They of all people should not be your target to vent your rage on..."

Lorist smiled while shaking his head as his gaze turned ice cold. "Hector, I know you are a good man. But you've forgotten that the Hanayabarta kingdom is a nation built on the suffering of countless slaves. The commoners, including their women and children, are guilty by birth. While some of them did not personally take the life of a slave, it doesn't change the fact that they're benefitting off the blood and tears of the slaves. Now, the time of retribution is upon them. They will not be able to escape it."

"Milord, we have more men than woman and most of them are young and fit, can't we draft the female captives into a harlot camp to serve those slaves that serve our house? Also, if they wish to settle down here, they may take those captives as wives. Our soldiers will also need an outlet for their lust after all the killing, right? I think that at the very least, taking the female captives into the harlot camp as atonement for their sins is far better than killing them off just like that," suggested Hector as a compromise.

Lorist fell into deep thought and finally said, "You're right, Hector. I'll leave this matter in your hands. Remember, maintaining the order of the slave camp is of paramount importance."

"Understood, Milord. I will start working right away," said Hector before he bowed.

"Take these documents with you. Also, I will have Karman, who's in charge of the slaves right now, come see you. He's a slave himself but has a three-star iron battleforce rank. He's a trustworthy one and you can make him the leader of the slave patrol squads after they are formed. Tell him that if he manages to break through to the silver rank, I will take him in as a household knight."

"Understood, Milord."

Hector left hurriedly and would be busy for quite a while. Lorist sat down in his chair and breathed a relieved sigh.

War was not just about charging into enemy formations and slaughtering away. It was a complicated intertwined web of logistics, food supply, casualty management, defensive patrols, and stationing troops. Only when all those aspects are taken into consideration would the end result be a favorable one. While 40 thousand elite troops were more than enough to wipe out the Hanayabarta kingdom, managing the 400 thousand slaves was the key to realizing the goals of House Norton.

Potterfang entered the tent and said, "Milord, your instructions have been fully carried out. More than 2000 captives have been decapitated and their heads are already in the process of being embalmed. The headless corpses are being buried by the slaves. Also, the cremation of our dead troops by the pyre is also complete and their ashes have been gathered up."

Potterfang hesitated for a while before he continued, "Milord, I don't understand why you gave that kind of order. What would you do with the heads of the enemy? You also instructed Fiercetiger Loze to do the same and bring the heads with him when he comes over. What good will this do?"

Lorist smiled and was just about to speak when a guard rushed in from outside the tent and reported that an ambassador carrying a white flag had been sent from the inner walls of the city.

"I'll answer your question later, Pog. Let's see what those ravenous wolves have to say for themselves."

The ambassador representing the slavers in the inner city was an old man, who introduced himself as a viscount of the Hanayabarta kingdom with no hereditary dominion. In other words, he was merely an honorary noble who had been picked to be the ambassador after drawing an unlucky lot.

Lorist and Potterfang were seated within the tent and the old man began to make his objections heard.

"Do you know that your mobilization in our territory is an affront against peace and our kingdom? You have brought blood and fire with you and caused us nobles of the kingdom to sustain severe losses! This is not something we are willing to forgive and put behind us!"

Lorist laughed heartily before he stood up and said, "I'm sure you know very well who I am, where I'm from, and why I came. I'll get straight to the point. Since you lot were daring enough to attack my house's dominion, you better be ready to accept our retribution. Don't tell me that you're willing to reimburse us for our losses. To be honest, there's nothing you can do to make up for our losses unless you can revive the poor people you killed on Silowas."

Lorist patted on the shoulder of the old ambassador in a friendly manner.

"We are reasonable men. Since you're here as an ambassador, we won't harm a single hair of yours. Even though we're at war, we will treat ambassadors well, so you don't have to be so afraid. We'll definitely see to it that you'll make it back safe and sound. Tell those in the inner city to have a good meal and enjoy the night, since it'll be their last. It's best if you bathe yourselves properly too. That way, the weapons of my soldiers won't be dirtied when they cut you down tomorrow."

The old man shivered uncontrollably and forced himself to stammer out a response.

"We w-will not s-submit... We still have si-six blademasters... W-we can hold on u-until the f-forces of the k-kingdom r-reinforce us..."

"Ah, wonderful," Lorist said gleefully, "Just this noon, I killed only three blademasters, but it wasn't satisfying enough for me at all. I hope that your six blademasters can last longer and not let me down. As for that king of yours... Don't worry, he will be buried alongside you soon enough."

The ambassador collapsed and burst out into tears as he made his way back whence he came.

"Pog, bring some men with you and head to an empty lot of land outside the inner walls. Stack the embalmed heads into a pyramid. As for the heads of the four blademasters, put them up on a stake and display them in front of the head pyramid. Make sure to put some torches there so the pyramid can be seen clearly even at night," said Lorist.

"Milord, you intend to..."

"Don't ask, you'll understand it when it's done."

A hundred meters from the walls of the inner city, Potterfang cleared a piece of land and began to stack the heads on one another. Even though the plot of land was within range of the ballistae, and orders could be heard barked on the walls, they never fired. The threat of return fire from the wheelbarrow ballistae was too great. The guards could only wait to see what the Nortons were up to. It didn't appear they would be attacking anytime soon.

When the few carriages' worth of heads were sent over, some of the Norton soldiers with more courage than the others began to build the head pyramid amidst the silence of the night. It was so quiet that Potterfang was even able to hear the chattering of his own teeth. During the deathly silent hour, the construction of the pyramid took, not a single arrow was fired from the walls.

Ah, so this will terrify the enemy and greatly lower their morale, figured Potterfang.

At two in the morning, a guard rushed into the tent, woke Lorist, and reported, "Milord, the enemy has breached encirclement! All of them charged out from the rear entrance towards our defense lines without regard for casualties and attempted to escape! Our troops stationed there were unable to handle the sudden surge of fleeing people. Blademaster Engelich also called for reinforcements to help hunt down the escaping enemies."

Good Sol, to think that the structure would actually scare them shitless to the point of reckless escape, thought Lorist frustratedly.