Chapter 431 - 313 - 318

Closing Act

In front of Lorist stood a short old man. While he looked rather unassuming, there was a shred of hatred that could barely be seen between his brows. The old man was breathing incredibly heavily with a terrified look. Lorist had been able to receive the tens of lightning-fast strikes he had launched. Not only that, he had not expected Lorist to get off his mount to strike at him first.

"Who... Who are you?" asked Blademaster Danhema as he struggled to stabilize his breathing.

Denhema was quite informed about fighters within his league within the Union but he had never heard of such a young blademaster. Most people who managed to make it to his rank rank were middle-aged men of at least forty to fifty years. Only a swordsaint could possibly revert to a slightly younger look after breaking through, but there were only three or four swordsaints on the entire continent. They either started their own sword schools or were hailed as national treasures. Which one of them would actually bother to visit Morante?"

"Hehe, who am I, you ask? I am the Northlander bumpkin that's been causing you guys so much trouble. You guys really are full of shit, you know that? Is twisting the narrative and pushing all the blame on me really that fun? You even had a crowd surround this place and wait for us to walk to our deaths. Is this what Morante has become? All the praises I hear belie what this place truly is. When we return, we'll make sure that all the continent's nobles know how low the Union nobility is!"

Two guards struck at Lorist during his speech, but their bodies joined their brothers regardless.

Danhema leaped forward and roared, "In your dreams..."

When the blademaster jumped forward, Lorist was still recovering his posture. The blademaster was fully intent on taking advantage of the situation and launched into another flurry of attacks.

"Old guy, I think practicing how to ambush others should be what you ought to do from now on," said Lorist with a cold smile as he took a few steps back and allowed the sword in his hand to dance and intercept his opponent's attacks.

Clang clang clang clang! Yet another chorus of blades resounded in the area.

"It's my turn now, old man," taunted Lorist.

His words had barely left his mouth when his sword began pelting the man like waves of rain in a thunderstorm.

Danhema already felt that he was in a bad spot. He had thought that Lorist was merely a rank 2 blademaster like himself, but the fact that Lorist was able to launch a counterattack despite having just parried his own was evidence to the contrary.

This is no rank 2 blademaster, he's at least rank 3!

Each and every of Lorist's strikes struck ethereally. Even though the silver moon was shining brightly in the sky, the blademaster saw nothing but sword strike after sword strike, more than he could parry.

"Wait... Wait a second!" cried Danhema, struggling to hang on.

Lorist did not pay the pleading any heed and pierced his sword into the old man's left shoulder. A kick followed his blade, and his blade his kick. Before the old man could recover, the second strike leveled Lorist's blade on his neck.

"What did you want to say?"

Danhema pressed against his injured left shoulder.

"Ki-kid... You've won. I've lost completely, so you may leave now..." said he, venom in his eyes.

"Hehe."

An insidious smile crept over Lorist's face as he giggled.

"Did I need you to remind me of that? Anyone with eyes that can see already knows the result."

"Sp-spare me... I promise that the guild will no longer press this matter," said the old man stubbornly.

"I'm sorry, but if there's anything that I fear, your guild is definitely not it," said Lorist.

He flicked his wrist and Danhema's head tumbled to the ground like so many flakes of ash.

Lorist pointed at the nearest guard.

"Kill!"

"Kill!" roared Blademaster Shuss, Baron Felim, and Baron Shazin in unison as they leaped off their mounts.

The 30 plus guards on Lorist's side followed quickly behind and slaughtered away at the guards. The first carriage entered the passageway with the second following behind. Josk was visible on it with his green bow outstretched. Bolt after bolt of green lightning flashed from his direction. It nailed guard corpses to the ground one after another.

The road ahead was finally unobstructed. Many Rosanji guards cast away their weapons and ran away like rats. Those that did not escape ended up on the ground, unmoving. Lorist grabbed the side of a carriage and flipped himself onto it.

"Let's go!" instructed he.

Sounds of bumbling carriages could be heard throughout the way to Hidegold Bay. Blademaster Mike stood in front of the hotel with his legs shivering and his hands cold, watching the carriages disappearing between the buildings.

What a close call that was! To think I thought of a ferocious tiger like him as a gentle lamb... I thought the only blademaster the group had was the rank 1 blademaster. I even attempted to stop them because I suspected them of burning down the storehouses...

Even though House Mireitas and the Rosanji Merchant Guild were at odds, the act of burning the stored food caused the citizens of Morante to lose much of their reserves. The price of food would surely rise yet again, worsening the food crisis for everyone.

Even though he sounded like he cared about Lorist and the gang's safety, it was naught but an excuse so he could hold them back and let the big-seven guilds deal with them when they return. That way, the issue would be addressed without involving the house.

Fortunately, they didn't do as I said... Otherwise, it would only end badly for me. I didn't think the normal-looking count could actually defeat Rank 2 Blademaster Danhema in a few moves... Come to think of it, the others preparing to leave before the count started fighting seemed to anticipate the result. They seem oddly confident about their chances. If I'm not wrong, the gold-ranked barons were whispering about a bet on how many strikes it would take Blademaster Danhema to be defeated...

The group consisting of one rank 2 blademaster, one gold-ranked swordsman, tens of silver-ranked swordsmen and more than 400 Rosanji guards could not even hold up against the charge of a small group of ten-odd people and even suffered heavy losses. Blademaster Mike looked at the corpses littered all over. Not all were dead, but none were saveable.

Thank goodness I let them leave, thought Blademaster Mike in relief.

The hotel's manager came over and looked at the bloody pool of corpses before he sighed.

"Even so many of the guild's guards weren't able to stop them?"

The blademaster shook his head.

"It's not that they didn't try. The Northlanders are far too powerful. Even Blademaster Danhema was killed in a few bouts. Without him, the rest of the guards were no more than a bunch of panicking pigs at a slaughterhouse. Either way, the Rosanji Merchant Guild is done for."

Lorist arrived at Hidegold Bay and lead the carriages to the port. On the way, he had Lundmorde arrange a few carriages filled with firewood prepared as a surprise gift for their pursuers. It was a shame that the Moranites' focus of the night was on the food storage area's blaze -- no one witnessed Lorist's slaughter. After the first assault, however, not a single person dared to give chase, so Lorist's carriages went to waste.

When everyone got on board the ship, Lorist penned a letter each for President Peterson and Academy Head Levins and had the port supervisor send the carriages and horses back to Dauslyke after tipping him a small sack of gold Fordes. With the carriages on their way back, Lorist set sail for Silowas.

Seeing the skies above Morante tinted red, Lorist could not help but snicker. Count Kenmays, Baron Shazin, and Baron Felim all revealed hints of smiles on their faces as well. While their trip to Morante was full of dangers, they managed to leave completely unscathed, and that was certainly something worth celebrating.

Beside Lorist, Josk mused, "Milord, I really don't know what you're so glad about. Even though you've lived in Morante for ten years and are practically half-Moranite, you were chased away during your two recent visits."

"Oh..."

Upon being reminded of that, Lorist was no longer able to smile fondly at his memories of the city. He gave Josk a hateful glare.

Before Lorist even got two full days' rest after arriving at Silowas, Count Kenmays suddenly got the impulse to go to the imperial capital for a vacation. Lorist was incredibly troubled as Queen Carey was the current ruler of the kingdom. If he traveled there just like that, it would be akin to jumping into a trap. In the end, he could only send Blademaster Shuss and 500 guards along to protect him, Baron Shazin and Baron Felim on their trip to the capital with Baron Fenston at Jillin Harbor accompanying them as a guide.

This time around, the three nobles did not bring their loved ones with them, lest they have to fight their way out of a predicament once again. Lorist worry was unwarranted, fortunately. He received news soon after their arrival that the three were fitting in lie fish in water. He even heard tell that Count Kenmays had obtained the queen's favor with his adept way with words. Not only did he become one of the queen's honored guests, she even organized a few paradise gatherings for the three. They were indulged in so much pleasure that they almost wished they would not have to return.

During that time, Lorist was busier than ever before. The big-seven guilds had returned to Morante and sent the Peterson Merchant Guild's vice-president to Silowas to meet with Lorist. Firstly, the vice-president expressed his deepest apologies for Lorist's recent experience and mentioned the way the big-seven guilds had dealt with Marquis Bejisanro.

Given that the marquis had defended his son's criminal deeds and tainted the reputation of the Union, Marquis Bejisanro was stripped of his title as well as his position as chief speaker of the sub-council. Not only that, his guild was fined heavily for using old and expired wheat to make ale, putting the citizens' health at risk. The guild was basically no more and Marquis Bejisanro had little choice other than suicide to relieve him of his pain and shame.

Hmph, the big-seven are merely splitting the spoils among themselves, Lorist winced, I bet they see the Rosanji Merchant Guild as a fat, juicy pig waiting to be slaughtered. I was just the unlucky fellow that happened to be at Morante to provide a reason for them to carry out their scheme. Even if the Rosanji Merchant Guild didn't dream of a seat on the high council, they would've been fed on sooner or later...

After discussing the guild's fate, the vice-president began to voice his objections to Lorist's actions. He was of the opinion that Lorist should be held accountable for setting fire to the food storage area. After all, the 800 thousand citizens of Morante relied on it for sustenance, and torching the whole area was really over the board.

I even wanted to set the whole of Morante on fire. Burning only one storage area is relatively calm even for me. Also, the food over there was used for paying the crowd to stick at the hotel, so if I didn't burn it, I would still be in trouble, he laughed.

As expected, the vice-president began to lay out his demands after finishing his complaints. He hoped that Lorist could supply the Union with food, as much as possible, to relieve the food crisis, even if it would cost them more. Lorist instantly shook his head. He could not help since his own dominion was rather tight on food.

He did give the vice-president a suggestion, however. They could target Andinaq's food supplies. Two years back, the second highness had prepared a large amount of food to feed his army. But after obtaining large amounts of resources following the occupation of Frederika, there was no need to touch his stockpiles, most of which still lay in their silos, completely untouched.

During the past two years, the campaign against Redlis also went rather well and further filled their stockpiles. If the Union was willing to spend lots of money to purchase food, the hedonistic princess, Carey, would be more than happy to oblige and sell off all the extra food, relieving the Union's crisis. As for transport, as long as they could get the food to Jillin Harbor, Lorist would be willing to offer his own transportation fleet to help out with the effort at a discount price.

The vice-president was so racked with joy that he did not even stay for his welcoming banquet and left for the imperial capital immediately.

Twelve days later, the vice-president returned and reported that he had successfully made a deal with Andinaq and had purchased over 5 million Pors of food, more or less 250 million kilograms, and would be tasking the Norton house's transportation fleet to send everything to Morante.

The fleet returned in the 9th month from their first trip to Morante. Onboard were a handsome couple, Blademaster Claude and Instructor Anfya, as well as three other instructors from Dawn Academy, two of whom were Lorist's former course mates.

Count Kenmays, Baron Shazin, and Baron Felim had finished their month-long vacation at the imperial capital and were sailing back to The Northlands aboard Northsea at the same time.

Ridden with Matters

Here's the first release of the week.

Lorist started working again the moment he returned to the dominion. Being the dominion lord was akin to having work that he could never finish. Despite only taking his three friends to Morante for a short trip, a mountain of paperwork had piled up on his desk. Even though most of the matters had already been dealt with, Lorist still had to sign off on the orders to acknowledge that he had been informed.

Blademaster Claude and Instructor Anfya refused his offer to accompany them around The Northlands. They requested only that he give them a guide to take them and the other Dawn Academy instructors around so they could search for a place to build the new academy.

Lorist had initially wanted it built at Northsea, but when Count Kenmays, Baron Shazin, and Baron Felim found out about Claude's intentions, they all fought for the opportunity. Count Kenmays was especially vigorous in his temptations. He mentioned that if they were unable to find a suitable place at the Nortons' dominion, they could build it anywhere they wanted in The Northlands and everyone would chip in to support the endeavor.

The Nortons' dominion alone had over 1.2 million people. Coupled with the dominions of Count Kenmays, Baron Shazin, and Baron Felim, The Northlands' population was around two million. If Dawn Academy were to rebuild there, there would be no shortage of students. Even if only one student in a thousand qualified, they would still have at least two thousand new entrants each year.

The dominions' citizens were quite well-off. All the houses within The Northlands had followed in Lorist's tracks and focused on developing their dominions instead of reaping their citizens like crops. This allowed most of the families in their dominions to be able to afford sending their children to school.

Additionally, the one resource all the houses lacked was talent. The Dawn Academy was one of the few multi-disciplinary academies in the world and was ranked in the continent's top ten. Their students were usually skilled in more than just combat. If they were to start a new branch in The Northlands, they would probably be able to supply most of the area's demand for talent. Cultivating in-house talent would greatly benefit everyone, in the long run, so Count Kenmays and the others were incredibly supportive of the idea.

At the end of the 10th month, the academy's expedition returned to Firmrock, followed by Count Kenmays, Baron Shazin, and Baron Felim. It had been decided that the academy's new grounds would be at the foot of Bing Mountain. It was not in any of the houses' territories, nor had it seen even the slightest development.

The location had likely been picked exactly because it was completely undeveloped. With how focused the four houses had been on developing their lands, a patch of land would only be undeveloped if it wasn't in anyone's territory. Not only was it out of anyone's jurisdiction, it was also right in the middle of the four dominions.

Claudes explanation for his choice naturally didn't touch on this factor, however. He explained his choice as resulting from a desire to be able to draw from the populations of all four dominions, which naturally made the spot he chose the best choice.

The four dominion lords had a lengthy discussion and finally agreed to cede portions of their territory around the location Claude had chosen, which added up to roughly a barony's worth of land, to the academy. A mutual treaty was signed soon after, and the land officially belonged to the academy. They also gathered a million gold Fordes between them for the academy's construction. Half of the money came from House Norton, with House Kenmays paying three tenths, and Barons Felim and Shazin each contributing one-tenth.

When that matter was concluded, Blademaster Claude and his group returned hurriedly to Morante to prepare for the move. House Norton's transportation fleet would be incredibly busy in the following year and they would have to spend one whole year to fully transport everything the academy had to The Northlands. After all, rebuilding the academy in completely was a time-consuming job. Lorist estimated it would take about two years before the academy was ready to start accepting applicants.

When Lorist tired of dealing with paperwork, he placed his feet on his desk in frustration. His mind soon wandered to matters of less consequence.

Why do the transmigrators in other novels just focus on killing and fighting all day? They usually only need to give out vague instructions and their minions will take care of all the troublesome bits -- without needing any supervision. The commoners in their dominions also seem to behave like NPCs all the time; they do what they're told without causing any trouble...

Lorist read the document on his desk a second time, slightly slower than the first time. His brows furrowed, but he eventually drew a circle on it and wrote two lines of words inside: 'Guilty as charged. Sentenced to Death'.

This was the first case of murder within the dominion. To think that something like this happened after only a few short years of life without worry for food or wear. The case involved two neighbors that partnered up to start a snack stall. They very quickly began to make a good profit, and in just two years they wealth had become quite impressive. The happiness didn't last, however.

One of the two started an affair with the other's wife. When the other found out, the cuckolded man strangled his former friend, neighbor, and business partner to death. He tossed the corpse into the nearest well to cover up his misdeed.

The case would have gone unnoticed had the man not got together with dead man's wife openly shortly after the incident. Additionally, the neighbors soon discovered the corpse and notified the police, who quickly put the puzzle pieces together and arrested the couple, still insisting that the man had fallen into the well and drowned. In the end, it was the former security chief of Whitebird Town, now the head of law enforcement, Kriston, that found evidence pointing to murder.

The case was actually rather simple. Victims of drowning usually had lungs full of water, but this corpse's lungs were empty, which indicated that he was dead before he entered the water. When asked why they strangled the man before tossing him into the well, the couple admitted that if they had not done so, the man would have been able to call for help. Additionally, he was rather good in water and would not drown that easily. Since it was the first murder case in the dominion, the criminal couple was sentenced to death and Lorist was the one who would have the final say on their fate.

Sigh, this is troublesome! To think that a dominion lord would have to deal with so much stuff.

Lorist recalled that when Kriston had come over to report the case, he had mentioned that the house lacked investigators. Even though every town or settlement had their own police units, they could only deal with simple cases like brawls and robberies. They would only make a mess if they tried to deal with more complicated crimes. Additionally, according to Kriston, several underworld organizations had begun to take root in towns around Salus and Felicitas. The house had to take measures to keep them from becoming a threat.

Not only that, Kriston even suggested that the house come up with a new set of regulations that could accommodate the dominion's rapid development. Before this, the traditional laws of administration the house used to govern had been sufficient. But with the population approaching 1.2 million, a new set of laws was required to ensure everything stayed in order.

It all caused Lorist to do nothing but sigh all the time.

I've never read about transmigrators having to deal with troublesome stuff like this... In the webnovels I've read, they would be able to construct a 250-kilometer-long 50 meters high and wide wall with only 30 thousand people, and to it all in just three months! Some even camped at a small town and ambushed a force of a 100 thousand! One could even pay 3000 silver taels for a single meal and not have to bother with the change...

Compared to them, am I not actually super weak?! Those people can have huge harems with hundreds of beauties without any issues, yet a few women are already more than I can handle!

During the past two months, Lorist had gone to Maplewoods once as well as Nico Academy. When he got back to Firmrock Castle, the three Dinas were jealous and pinned Lorist down together to get their share of his attention and energy. Arriotoli's young aunt, Dilianna, even wanted to bear Lorist a child so she would have something to lean on when she gets older. Arriotoli on the other hand had her own goals. She wanted to push her younger sister, Fennazali to the position of the household matron. She felt that Irina, merely a maidservant, was far beneath her younger sister. The scholar at Nico Academy was completely absorbed in her research and had willingly given away her claim on the position. Her aunt had a rather dark history, so she wasn't fit to compete either. Her younger sister was as pure as jade and had offered her first time to Lorist. Being a mere concubine was out of the question, so, since there was no one to claim the position of household matron, it seemed only natural that she be the one to take it.

Lorist was rather troubled by Arriotoli. He couldn't be too hard on her, but he also couldn't let her prance around like she owned the place. Despite his displeasure at her behavior, however, he had to admit that he was rather satisfied with Fennazali. The younger Dina did not have any ambition at all, she was perfectly satisfied with having a stable life, her nightly activities with Lorist was a bonus.

Unfortunately, she would not stay the same forever. People grow and change over time. Lorist's maidservant, Irina was the boss of Maplewoods, where she resided -- nobody dared to go against her wishes. Lorist now understood why she was so insistent on staying there. If she had followed Lorist around, she would only be a concubine. But at the bastide, she called the shots. Lorist really could not imagine that the timid and shy maidservant Irina used to be actually had such ambitions.

Irina was now 27 and in the prime of her youth. She was incredibly proactive in bed and did her best to pleasure Lorist as best she could. Perhaps because she had birthed two of Lorist's children, she was no longer as timid as she used to be. She had even displayed coquettish behavior and thrown tantrums, not to mention requesting gifts from him.

All that aside, Lorist was most troubled by their two sons. The younger was one and a half years old and could still not walk on his own. Apart from being unable to sleep without Irina by his side, however, he had no discernible faults. The elder son, Waldbeck, on the other hand, was eight and behaved as domineering as a child his age could. It was especially the case given his status as Lorist's firstborn and the first in line to become his successor. The child was spoiled so heavily that he had become a little dictator. He insisted on having his way no matter what and would threaten to throw massive tantrums if his whims weren't catered to. Lorist had tried to tolerate Waldbeck's behavior the best he could, but when he saw the young kid grope a maidservant's rear through her skirt, he lost it. He caught the bastard and gave him such a thrashing that his rear was swollen like a bubble for a whole week.

It provided Lorist a momentary sense of relief but only added to his trouble thereafter. Besides the fact that Irina cried the whole day, the child burst into tears whenever he saw Lorist after that day. He even refused to call Lorist his father. Whenever he looked at Lorist his eyes would hide a glint of hatred in their corners. Lorist decided that the kid could no longer stay at the bastide the day he first noticed the glint. He could not let the kid become the same kind of incompetent brat Lorist had despised so much as he grew up. He would not let his children undo his work and ruin the house he had shed so much blood and sacrificed so many lives to get to where it was today. He felt like a failure of a father, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. The house always required his unwavering attention so had never managed to spare the time necessary to take care of his children. As a result, his children's upbringing and education had been neglected.

He decided to visit Irina and the two sons, apart from also seeing the illegitimate child of his elder brother, Helias, who had been sent to be raised by Knight Pajik's family with the knight his adoptive father.

Helias turn twelve after the new year and would leave Knight Pajik's home according to the long-standing agreement. He was to be sent to Nico Academy for a few years of study before returning to Lorist's side when he turned 15. From there on Lorist would cultivate the child himself. He would be allowed to choose either to train in Crimsonblood Battleforce, the house's technique, or walk the same path Reidy had.

Lorist visited Helias and was surprised to see that his nephew had grown to become a handsome and magnificent young man. Not only was he talented, he was exceedingly polite. House Norton would have yet another talented individual if Helias was cultivated with proper care. In the future, he might even be on par with Howard in terms of abilities.

It was a shame that Knight Pajik was in seclusion for his preparation to break through to the gold rank. Otherwise, Lorist would have wanted to have Waldbeck put under his care as well. But after giving it some thought, he gathered that he could not rely solely on Pajik for raising his children. Additionally, Pajik's house was within the bastide and Waldbeck did not fear the couple as much as Lorist would like. He had to find an even more strict person to take care of his little troublemaker.

After a long time spent pondering, Lorist remembered Iron-faced Malek, a gold-ranked knight that was as good as emotionless. According to Loze, Malek's wife had a similar demeanor and was also incredibly strict with her children. The two sons and the daughter they had were prime examples of what children ought to be. Lorist decided to let Malek's wife take care of Waldbeck for four years until he turns twelve and would leave for Nico Academy. He would complete his studies there in three years and finally serve by Lorist's side.

Lorist wrote a letter to request Malek's return from Silowas. When Malek returned Lorist made his request, to which Malek eagerly agreed. He did not take any nonsense from either Irina or Waldbeck and soon left to return to his manor in Salus.

Malek's wife was waiting for him when he returned him.

"This child is an orphan of one of my deceased comrades," he explained as he tossed the kid through the door, "He's incredibly naughty and lies all the time. He constantly claims he's hour dominion lord's heir. I was worried for his sake, so I decided to bring him back here and instill some discipline in him."

His wife believed the story and took hold of Waldbeck. Malek didn't say anything else, nor did he waste his time at home. He turned around and returned to his post on Silowas right away. On his departure, the young master kept crying about how he really was the dominion lord's son and wanted to return home. Malek's wife, however, took it as a sign of the kid's intention to escape and gave him several thorough canings. Waldbeck was so frightened he nearly lost his voice and quickly fell in line.

The matter at Maplewoods was a damper on Lorist's mood, especially the way Irina had glared at him when he took Waldbeck away and how she refused to sleep with him. In the end, he left with a stomach filled with anger. Before he departed, however, he told Irina that if she insisted on Waldbeck's return, he would lose his place in the line of succession. The threat struck home and, though she cried unendingly, she didn't dare to go against Lorist's decision anymore.

Lorist went to Nico Academy, but Telesti refused his advances as well. She argued that she wanted to focus on her research and on managing the academy, and had little time for Lorist and his petty distractions. So, instead, he sent most of his time there with his two daughters for a few days. He returned to the academy a day after he left to drop Helias off before leaving for Firmrock with a heavy heart, only to realize the Dinas had been awaiting his return, filled with jealousy.

How do other transmigrators manage their harems? I have only five women in three different places, and it's already more than it's worth. It's even worse now that I have children. Even though I'm incredibly busy and unable to spend time with my children, those breeding stallion transmigrators always have at least ten beauties waiting for them. How do they manage it? There's a saying that goes, 'three women are like 500 ducks'. Wouldn't a whole harem with more than ten beauties be far worse? Seriously, how do those transmigrators do it?

Lorist continued to daydream with his feet on the desk as Howard entered the room. Seeing Lorist's posture, he sighed.

"You're a noble, Milord, a dominion lord! You should behave accordingly! The way you're sitting is not acceptable at all!"

"Save it," Lorist interjected, "Only you would come in without knocking. By the time others finish knocking, I would be in the proper posture. Tell me, what's going on?"

"Well, I just received word from a messenger of House Kenmays that Princess Sylvia is in The Northlands. She will arrive at the dominion around noon tomorrow," replied Howard.

Reasons for Coming

This is this week's second release. Enjoy!

Oh, Princess Sylvia? Does she need anything? thought Lorist.

"Howard, how many years are left until our agreement with Fisablen expires?" asked Lorist, thinking that some change must have happened to the agreement.

"This year's transaction was completed without incident and next year's will be the last," replied Howard.

Time really flies. So it's already been four years since the agreement was signed, huh?

"What have House Fisablen been up to over these years?"

Howard shook his head.

"The salt merchant committee's largest target market is Wild Husbandry, Milord. The governor is Viscount Kristoph, and our informants are well aware of the situation. They were unable to infiltrate Eastwild, however. It's where the duke himself is, and his security is far greater. We were only able to get very rough and vague bits of information. The house has tried sending a group of spies into the province disguised as merchants before as well but they were quickly chased out.

"We did manage to learn that Duke Fisablen reformed his two legions and reorganizes the garrison force. Currently, the two legions total 46 thousand men. Coupled with the three garrison divisions he reorganized, his local defense legion, and personal guard regiment, he has a total force of 136 thousand people. The three garrison divisions are stationed in Wild Husbandry, Eastwild, and Southern respectively.

"Not only that, the Skywolf Legion commanded by Viscount Kristoph and the Tigerhowl Legion at Wild Husbandry launched large-scale military efforts against the grassland barbarians. According to the salt merchant committee's reports and Furybear's informants, almost a hundred grassland barbarian tribes have been eliminated. More than 150 thousand have been taken captive, most of whom are women and children. Duke Fisablen had his officers take the women as their wives. Apparently, everyone ranked squad leader and above were allowed to take a wife and a concubine."

Lorist sat down properly and asked, "How much is the three provinces' population?"

"Eastwild and Wild Husbandry's population is less than 800 thousand and the desolated Southern has only 160 thousand. Our forces alone have almost 300 thousand people."

Lorist waved his hand.

"Their house is far from being able to compete with us. Our next targets should be the Madras duchy and the Iblia kingdom. We'll rest for another year before we launch another campaign.

"I didn't think Duke Fisablen would be able to assemble such a large force. That old fox is definitely wary of us. It seems we will have to focus on gathering intelligence from Eastwild soon."

Princess Sylvia arrived on time, and as expected, Count Kenmays was present during the welcoming.

After the princess and her cohort settled down, Lorist arranged for a magnificent feast to welcome her.

The two hadn't met for several years and Princess Sylvia had grown even more beautiful in the meantime -- like a flower just blooming, the beauty of which was so glaring that nothing could obstruct it. Amidst her hopeful stares hid her sweet smiles. Even Lorist was unable to resist the dreamy allure of her emerald-green eyes.

During the banquet, Princess Sylvia announced the reason for her trip. She was here to negotiate the next arms deal between the two houses and to invite Lorist to the knighthood tournament her father was organizing at Iblia's royal capital during the 5th month of the next year. The tournament was to identify talent for the kingdom. The princess was sent specifically to request Count Norton's attendance.

When Lorist heard what she had to say, the first thought he had in his mind was that it was a trap. Everyone within Iblia knew that House Norton had led the three other houses of The Northlands to conquer Windbury City, capture the former king, the second prince of the Empire, Iblia, and send him to Andinaq's capital where he was finally sacrificed during the third prince's burial. Lorist couldn't help but feel suspicious of the invitation.

He was not afraid of an attempt on his life -- he would be able to escape unscathed without issue. Besides, as the leader of House Norton and the most powerful count in The Northlands, he would definitely bring with him a legion and Blademaster Shuss would he attend the tournament as well. Lorist was confident that he could fight his way out even if he fell into an ambush.

However, Lorist found that participating in the tournament would be incredibly boring. Frankly speaking, he believed his combat abilities had long surpassed those of most other knights., with the exception of Duke Fisablen, a rank 3 blademaster, who would probably last a few hundred bouts. Lorist would rather stay within the dominion and enjoy his time at his own leisure. Lorist was rather lazy for some reason and did not feel like leaving the dominion for the tournament.

Lorist did not refuse the princess's invitation outright during the banquet, however, even though Count Kenmays said that he would. Princess Sylvia did not take his comments to heart and merely expressed her welcome to the count, before turning to look at Lorist with hopeful eyes. Lorist could only put it off by promising that he would go along if the house did not require his presence at the time.

The princess pouted and threw a small tantrum at his answer. The banquet fell into a slightly awkward mood. Lorist was left with no choice but to end the banquet early.

As the host, Lorist was expected to invite Princess Sylvia into his study for a good conversation. He only made his invitation out of obligation, but he did not think that she would roll her eyes and walk towards the study without saying anything. She was followed by her teacher, Blademaster Xanthi, and the busybody Count Kenmays.

In the study, Count Kenmays plundered the wine stash as usual. Blademaster Xanthi sat on the couch in the corner, drinking the cup of tea Howard poured her. Princess Sylvia stood in front of Lorist's desk and stared at him with angry eyes.

Gosh, this is going to take a while, smiled Lorist bitterly, "Your Highness, please calm your anger. Look at all this paperwork on my desk, I truly am really busy!"

"Hmph!" snorted the princess before she turned around and ignored Lorist.

"By the way, Your Highness, I brought some souvenirs back for you from my last trip. I hope you like them," said Lorist with utmost reverence.

He hoped his offering would calm the princess' seething wrath.

In the drawer at the left of the table were five intricate boxes decorated with purple silk. The one at the bottom was the largest, which Lorist took out and opened, revealing a black-colored velvet cushion on which a platinum necklace was placed. At the center of the necklace was a thumb-sized emerald of immense clarity and glow. The necklace was accompanied by a matching pair of earrings and a jade bracelet.

The jewelry instantly caught the attention of Princess Sylvia the moment it was brought out; even Blademaster Xanthi could not help but walk to the princess's side to inspect the ornaments for herself.

As expected, women are a little like the dragons of legend: greatly attracted to shiny objects.

"Gosh, Locke, where did you get these babies from? They look like priceless heirlooms!" exclaimed Count Kenmays.

How should I respond to him? thought Lorist, rubbing his nose, This is one of the spoils I got from Hanayabarta. It used to belong to the queen consort.

There were four more boxes in the drawer, but the items he just brought out were the most valuable of them all. They were worth around 200 thousand gold Fordes. Had it not been for Princess Sylvia's alluring green eyes, Lorist would have forgotten about the emerald jewelry entirely.

Well, I better not say that I looted them from the corpse of a queen consort...

The jewelry in the four other boxes was also taken from the dead bodies of the other concubines. That was why Lorist hesitated to gift them to his lovers.

"Well, I robbed someone and got them," said Lorist.

Well, the target of my robbery was a whole kingdom, but some things are better left unsaid.

"Huh? Do you think me an idiot?!" Count Kenmays said angrily, "What kind of idiot would wear something that precious in broad daylight? Something like that would be precious family heirlooms that wouldn't ever see the light of day!"

"Seriously, I kid you not," Lorist said with sincere honesty, "I robbed a whole kingdom."

"Only the dead would believe you," Count Kenmays retorted, "Let's see what you have in the four other boxes in that drawer of yours, shall we?"

While the jewelry in the boxes were not as complete as the emerald set, they were still incredibly precious. Count Kenmays, Princess Sylvia, and Blademaster Xanthi were all filled with awe and amazement.

"Locke, my friend,... I would like to..." stammered Count Kenmays.

"Fine, pick the one you like. Oh, and, Blademaster Xanthi, feel free to choose one box as well. Everyone who saw these boxes get one. Is that fair enough?"

Lorist knew perfectly what the count was getting at, so he gave the boxes away generously. After all, the jewelry in the other boxes was only worth a few tens of thousands of gold Fordes, a far cry from the emerald set. The main factor of Lorist's generosity, however, was still the fact that the items had been looted from corpses, which was somewhat of a taboo for him, probably because of how he was brought up in his previous life. Count Kenmays and the rest, however, did not pay that any heed.

Princess Sylva really did not think that Lorist would give her such an expensive gift. With a face full of smiles, she said, "Elder Brother Locke, thank you so much for your gift. I love the emerald jewelry a lot."

"Great, as long as you stop being mad at me," Lorist smiled.

Lorist prepared to refuse the invitation for next year's knighthood tournament while the princess was still in a good mood.

"Well, Your Highness, I'm worried that I will be a little busy during the 5th month next year, so..."

"Locke, I'm already 24 this year..." muttered the princess shyly.

Oh? So what if she's 24? I'm already 34, thought Lorist thickly.

"Oh, the last time I met you, you were only 20. It's already been four years, huh? Time really flies. To think that you already broke through to the two-star gold rank! You really are talented. You should be able to reach three-star gold rank by the time you're thirty," praised Lorist.

"I'm going to be 25 next year, so my grandfather is organizing a knighthood tournament, for... You know... Do you understand now, you blockhead?!"

Princess Sylvia stomped on Lorist's foot.

"Ouch!" cried Lorist.

Princess Sylvia took the box and left.

Blademaster Xanthi got in front of Lorist and said with a slight smile, "That lass has been training hard in seclusion for four whole years and finally broke through to the two-star gold rank. Not only that, Duke Fisablen is organizing a knighthood tournament for her sake, yet she came all the way here to inform you. You don't need me to spell it out for you, do you?"

Seeing the blademaster leave the study, Lorist looked at Count Kenmays but only saw a bumbling drunk gulping down wine with abandon.

"What are you looking at?! I... I didn't think that th-the princess would actually fall for the likes of you!" barked the count with eyes bloodshot with rage.

"Me...?" mumbled Lorist as he pointed at himself with his finger.

"Yes, you! Don't you get the hints she's practically laying out for you?! The princess was right, you really are a blockhead!" Count Kenmays exclaimed, "Even though I'm far more handsome than you are, and have a better demeanor and aura, the princess still fell for you."

"Hey, I'll duel you with one hand behind my back. I can mop the floor with you after only three moves," Lorist retorted as he limped to the couch and reached out for his feet, "Darn, that lass's stomp sure was heavy. It still hurts even now."

"Hmph, you deserve it for being so dense. Her Highness already made it clear that the reason the duke is hosting the tournament is that she's already 24."

"Wait, so you're saying that the tournament's for picking a fitting suitor for the princess? Isn't that basically dueling for her hand in marriage?" asked Lorist.

"Dueling for her hand in marriage? Yeah, to think that you could put it so succinctly, blockheaded as you are," said the count as he nodded.

Lorist said curiously, "Isn't the princess the beloved granddaughter of Duke Fisablen? Why is there a need for her to find a suitor in such a roundabout way? There's no need for a knighthood tournament to be organized just for this, is there?"

Count Kenmays leered at Lorist.

"Once a bumpkin, always a bumpkin. Do you think that a person with the status of the princess can find a suitor that easily? Let me tell you, the matter of her marriage is far more complicated than our own. Even though there are many who strive for her favor and affection from all noble ranks, can a proper suitor be determined only based on that? The Iblia kingdom has a few dukes among their peerage as well, but are they qualified to marry the princess just because of that? Most of them are mere honorary nobles. Even a prince would not stand a chance.

"A person like Duke Fisablen has to take the matter of Princess Sylvia's marriage with great consideration, in terms of status, household might, and most importantly, how good a fit the couple is for each other. Otherwise, the couple would become a laughing stock for the other nobles. Given the princess's status, the ideal candidate for her husband would be someone who is in line to succeed a duchy, or a throne to the kingdom, or even a very powerful noble like you. Heck, when I look at it that way, you are qualified to be the princess's suitor after all."

"But... I'm older than her by ten whole years," mumbled Lorist.

"What's the problem with that? Do you know that Duke Melein's daughter was wedded to the third prince despite there being a 14-year age gap? 14 whole years!" exclaimed the count.

"Duke Melein's daughter and the third prince?"

"The three princes of the former empire also faced the same problem and weren't able to find suitable suitors. With the reputation of the first and second princes being rather bad, most powerful nobles weren't willing to form a marriage union with the imperial family, and the noble houses that were willing to do so did not even qualify given their low status. That was why the first and second princes had illegitimate children that further tainted their names. When the third prince was 30 years old, Duke Melein's daughter had already matured into a fine woman and the Melein household was willing to form a union with the imperial family. That's why the third prince was chosen to become the rightful heir to the empire. It was also because of that matter that caused the first and second princes to be dissatisfied with the manner in which succession was decided, as there was precedent where former emperors inherited the throne without empress consorts."

"Why were the powerful nobles not willing to be united with the imperial family?" asked Lorist, confused.

"It's simple. They would be ostracized by the other noble houses. After all, the imperial family is always at odds with the rest of the aristocracy, and those who side with the imperial family are also regarded in the same light. The imperial family is always hoping to strip away the powers of the noble houses so they don't become strong enough to threaten their rule. When the imperial family is strong, noble houses would ally together to protect their own interests. Not only that, should a mighty noble house unite with the imperial family, the influence of the imperial family would be further expanded and threaten the interests of the other noble houses. The final reason is that a noble house would be involved in the matters of the imperial houses, just like Duke Melein who was forced to participate in the civil war on the side of the third prince. To protect the rightful heir to the imperial throne, the Melein house had put in lots of resources and sacrificed much of their vitality, causing them to now be too weak to even protect themselves," explained Count Kenmays in detail.

"Then, what if the duke isn't able to find a proper suitor during the knighthood tournament?" asked Lorist again.

Count Kenmays shrugged and said, "Then, the matter would be even easier to deal with. The victor of the tournament would be a fitting compromise even if his status and family is relatively low. But, the catch is that the husband would effectively be married into the Fisablen house, and their descendants would bear the name of Fisablen as well.

"That's why, Locke, don't let the hopes and deep feelings the princess has for you down. No matter what, you have to attend the knighthood competition during the 5th month next year! Don't let the princess get married to some powerless lowborn!"

Huge Purchase

The third release of the week is served.

"Duke Fisablen has made Princess Sylvia his representative to sign the trade agreement with House Norton to purchase 70 thousand sets of Rider Gear Number 103, 50 thousand sets of tessellated warrior armor, and various other products of daily necessity for a total of 1.27 million gold Fordes," announced an old goateed supervisor.

He passed the list in his hand respectfully to Howard, who then passed it on to Lorist.

Lorist stared at the list for a good while before he looked at Princess Sylvia, who was sitting by his side.

"Your Highness, the trade deal we have with House Fisablen will only conclude next year. You've signed it yourself, so I'm sure you haven't forgotten about it, have you?" inquired he.

"Even if I discount your new order, each set would still cost around 65 gold Fordes. 70 thousand sets would amount to 4.6 million. The tessellated warrior armor would cost 35 gold Fordes each, for a total of 1.8 million for 50 thousand sets. The daily products you've ordered amounts to 8 million. Your Highness, can you tell me how Duke Fisablen plans to pay for all this?"

"With horsehoof gold," the princes explained, smiling.

Horsehoof gold?! thought Lorist, surprised.

Horsehoof gold was the standard currency of the grassland barbarians. Normally, they only bartered among their own tribesmen, but when there were large purchases to be made from merchants not from their land, they would use horsehoof gold. The exchange rate for each piece of horsehoof gold was 100 gold Fordes.

Even if House Fisablen eradicates 100 tribes of grassland barbarians, it wouldn't be able to gather that much money. I don't see why the barbarians haven't been hunted to extinction long ago if that really were the case. Then again, given how House Fisablen has occupied the grasslands for decades, it's not surprising for them to have at least that much in their treasury...

So, the matter I should concern myself with is why they are buying so much equipment at this kind of time? What is that old fox, Duke Fisablen, planning?

After finishing his train of thought, Lorist asked the princess, "I heard the duke has already formed two legions of 92 thousand men each. The speed with which our house has been supplying the equipment wouldn't hinder the growth of your army, and given the quality of our products, I doubt you would have so many wear out and spoil during your battles with the barbarians. Can you tell me the real reason why House Fisablen wishes to purchase 70 thousand more?

"Forgive my frankness, Your Highness. It's not that House Norton is unwilling to agree to this deal but it's obvious that Duke Fisablen is trying to expand his military. Even though your house already has two standing cavalry legions, the purchase of another 70 thousand sets of rider armor foretells the formation of yet another. As your neighbor, it's inevitable for us to be wary of your movements. I don't wish to meet you on the battlefield but before we know who the duke's target is, we cannot agree to your request."

Princess Sylvia chuckled.

"My grandfather was right. He said that if I didn't tell you the real reason, you wouldn't agree to the trade. House Fisablen has no wish to change the present or the future of Iblia. He might have wanted to make my younger brother, Hollycost, the king in the past but ever since he was diagnosed with congenital heart disease, my grandfather has cast away all such thoughts."

Hollycost truly was Iblia's legitimate heir. As the king, Second Prince Iblia had gone to Duke Fisablen to request support for amassing his army to storm the Madras duchy. But it ended up with him locked up together with the duke's daughter, the current queen of Iblia. Both were drugged with aphrodisiac to produce an heir, Hollycost.

It was common knowledge that the marriage between the second prince and Duke Fisablen's daughter was purely political. The second prince was known to be rather lecherous, even during the days of the empire, while the duke's daughter was also famed throughout the grasslands for her promiscuity, to say the least. Each had their own personal life, the two didn't interfere with each other's. The queen had given birth to two illegitimate children, while the second prince sired three out of wedlock.

In the end, the duke was no longer able to bear the state of affairs and forced the couple together and used an aphrodisiac to stimulate their 'interactions'. However, when Hollycost was born, the second prince did not even acknowledge his existence. He considered him a product of his drug-infused passion. Hollycost was left behind at the Fisablen house and was raised by Princess Sylvia.

"Oh? What condition does Little Prince Hollycost have?" asked Lorist with surprise.

"Prenatal heart disease," Princess Sylvia, sighing, "My grandfather deeply regrets it and insists it was his fault for forcing the king and queen to mate under the influence of aphrodisiac. It probably was one of the factors for Hollycost's condition. The herbalist said that it would be hard for him to even live past 20. Even doing activities like reading for long periods are dangerous for his health. This is a condition he was born with, and there's no known way of treating it."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke. She had raised Hollycost with her own hands, so finding out that he had such a disease was no small shock to her.

"My apologies, Your Highness," consoled Lorist.

"It's no big deal. I'm already used to it," the princess said as she received a white cloth from Blademaster Xanthi, "Supervisor Polo, please bring the map over."

Polo was the goateed old man. He was also the supervisor for the princess's trip. Upon hearing her summons, he hurriedly brought the map over and held it open with the help of another maidservant on the other side.

It was a complete map of the northeastern grasslands, and easily one of the most detailed Lorist had ever seen. Even every spring on the grassland was marked.

The northeastern grasslands were described by some geography books as starting at the foot of the Magical Dragon Mountains. It was the northeasternmost area ever settled by humans on the continent. It had relatively level terrain and was almost five times The Northlands' size. It was said that one would require a whole month to travel from the southernmost part of the grasslands to the northernmost part on horseback.

Just like the mountain barbarians living in the Magical Dragon Mountains, the grassland barbarians were the northeastern grasslands' biggest pests. They had branched off from the mountain barbarians some time ago and turned into nomadic, herding tribes. From a young age, members of the grassland tribes would be taught horse-riding, herding, hunting and raiding the others living near the grasslands to obtain manpower and resources. The mounted barbarians were called 'the dread riders of the grasslands' and were the most elite warriors of the tribes.

They were quite a problem for Winston and Southern before the empire. Their largest invasion involved more than 100 thousand riders. They managed to make their way into the Great Andalou Plains and across Egret Lake, causing the nobles nearby to hide in their castles, unable to resist the horde at all. They had to watch helplessly as the horde crossed their lands. It was one of the worst incidents, but it was also their last moment of glory.

Following the empire's formation, the founding emperor, Krissen I, led his armies across the grasslands. After half a year of war with the barbarians, suffering huge casualties, he successfully managed to eliminate 100 thousand. He conquering what was now Wild Husbandry in one fell swoop and isolated the barbarians from the rest of the empire. Besides Eastwild, he made sure to station soldiers around the borders to ensure that the barbarians would never again encroach on imperial territory.

When Duke Fisablen did the same and conquered the barbarians again, they no longer had much vitality left in them. Apart from occasionally raids on with about 20 thousand riders, most of the time the grassland barbarians would be engaged with the two divisions of cavalry troops the duke had stationed there. Even during the civil war barbarians were unable to cross the borders defended by House Fisablen's troops.

Princess Sylvia stood up and walked to the map.

Stretching out a finger, she declared with pride, "During the 21st day of the 6th month this year, House Fisablen's 70 thousand elite soldiers successfully eliminated more than 200 thousand of the Hubet tribe's members. They suffered only 18 thousand casualties and conquered the greater and lesser golden creeks. My grandfather announced that the unified area will be a new province, named Goldcreek. The province will be ruled by our house now on."

No one present could help but gasp, especially Count Kenmays, who darted in front of the map immediately.

"You actually passed through the dense forests and Ghostshriek Cliff?! No wonder you were able to assault the golden creeks. House Fisablen literally struck gold..." stammered he.

While the terrain around the northeastern grasslands was mostly level, it was not without its hilly areas. The greater and lesser golden creeks were rather close to Eastwild but there was a natural barrier separating the two: the forests surrounding Ghostshriek Cliff. Once lost within, one would find it exceedingly hard to make it back out. Whether they be the barbarian riders or the cavalry troops of House Fisablen, going through the forests around Ghostshriek Cliff was nothing but a suicidal endeavor, and both sides viewed it as a natural, impassable barrier.

The greater and lesser golden creeks' are was famed for its gold. The magi had surveyed the area and recorded their finding in an atlas which was still passed down to the day. Gold was not a precious material during the magic civilization's era, however. Magic metals were far more useful and valuable. Even though they knew of the existence of the gold veins, no humans bothered to go mine them.

During the thousand-year dark age, the greater and lesser creeks became infested with barbarian riders that fought each other to conquer the place. In the end, the three greatest tribes managed to gain permanent occupancy. The Hubet tribe was one of the strongest, with around 360 thousand riders in their ranks. No one would have imagined House Fisablen would eliminate them in one go.

Lorist finally understood where the money came from. It was obvious that House Fisablen obtained more horsehoof gold than they could use as spoils. To think that house was busy conquering the barbarians and taking the golden creeks when the Nortons were exterminating Hanayabarta; it seemed their neighbors weren't slacking off.

"Locke, my friend, it seems House Fisablen is rich. Our salt merchant committee can increase trade volumes with them without worry. Did you know the golden creeks generate at least 1.5 million gold Fordes' worth of gold every year? That's 300 thousand gold Fordes more than our house makes in our best years!" Count Kenmays stammered.

Lorist looked at the map.

With Eastwild at the center, Goldcreek and Wild Husbandry are like two horns on its flanks. So the duke wants to purchase equipment for the new cavalry legion he's going to form in Goldcreek. The golden creeks' hilly terrain is more suitable for the settlement of normal humans than grassland barbarians. The grassland barbarians will never be able to enjoy the golden creeks again if the duke builds a few well places castles and citadels.

"My heartfelt congratulations to House Fisablen, Your Highness," Lorist congratulated, "I agree to the trade and will hasten the equipment's production to show our admiration. Please pass on my respects to the duke, especially for how he has not abused his power and stormed into the inner continent.

"To show my sincerity and concern for the brave soldiers of House Fisablen, I will donate a million gold Fordes' worth of daily necessities. I hope the duke will give them to the families of those who gave their lives during the campaign."

Donating a million gold Fordes' worth of goods was a rather generous move. Even Princess Sylvia was shocked.

"Thank you, Brother Locke..." she finally managed to squeeze out.

The agreement was signed soon after. Lorist promised to fulfill his end over two years. House Fisablen would also make a downpayment of 20 thousand horsehoof gold up front.

Only after the deal was signed and Lorist gave his word to participate in the knighthood tournament was Princess Sylvia relieved enough to travel around the dominion for leisure. She hunted, picnicked, attended dance balls, and fished in the sea until the 11th month before she left ever so unwillingly without forgetting to remind Lorist to be present for the knighthood tournament.

Charade Returns from Seclusion

Here's the fourth release of the week. Enjoy!

Lorist descended into his pool of work after sending everyone off. He did not expect that Senbaud would send over news about Shyarsia's submission. During the 9th month, Senbaud's Oceanic Legion was deployed against a Shyarsian fleet. But, after only a single volley of cannon fire, the kingdom raised the white flag immediately. They were apparently so terrified by the human-head pyramid that lost all will to fight.

Even King Lud III's cousin, the queen regent and heir to the kingdom, was poisoned by her royal uncle. She was decapitated and her head presented to Senbaud as an apology for their misconduct. The group that delivered the head also brought two million gold Fordes' worth of treasures and the king's seven-year-old younger brother from another mother, who was to serve as a political hostage.

How should I deal with this? thought Lorist in a troubled manner.

There was been no precedent for such a thing, a kingdom swearing fealty to a single independent noble house, a mere count no less. Others might not acknowledge it. However, given that Shyarsia was located on an isolated island, away from the continent, perhaps they had never seemed to be much in the eyes of the continental nobles in the first place. Add that that the Chikdor Merchant Guild had offered up their trade routes to Shyarsia, it was only natural for the kingdom to fall under the Nortons' rule.

Torin and Tok, the father and son pair, traveled with the transport ships this time. Torin reported Shyarsia's situation to Lorist in detail. He was of the opinion that the island kingdom was controlled mainly by the young king's royal uncle, Saham. The king was young and likely controlled by his uncle, a mere figurehead. It would certainly explain why he had such hatred for the man, besides the fact that it had been his uncle who'd murdered his mother.

The royal court is messy no matter where it is! thought Lorist, sighing.

"I do not want to be distracted by some Shyarsia's internal politics. I care only for their spices. Our people live a high quality of life, the common man has meat as his staple food. This is true for most of The Northlands as well. If we can obtain their spices, our profits will be immeasurable," declared he.

Lorist was prepared to form another maritime trading fleet to establish trade routes to Shyarsia as well as make it another market for the dominion's produce. The fleet would ship their products to the kingdom and bring back their spice. As for their internal power struggles, the house would not interfere as long as the kingdom could continue to supply spice.

"Milord, what do we do about the young hostage and the decapitated head?" asked Old Torin.

"Send the head back to the young king. This is such a waste of a perfectly fine crystal box. Of everything they could put in there, they chose a human head," complained Lorist with a wave of his hand, "Well, the hostage is still young, we'll put him in Nico Academy for a few years before we send him off to Dawn Academy. Whether he learns something is entirely up to him. We will make sure he lives without worries at the very least and give him pocket money equivalent to the salary of a gold-ranked knight. They did send us two million gold Fordes, after all, we shouldn't mistreat him. With him around, we'll have a contingency if something goes wrong in Shyarsia."

"Understood, Milord."

After dealing with matters, Lorist started planning where Tigersoar should train. The successful occupation of the greater and lesser golden creeks by the Fisablens made Lorist more nervous and alert; he could no longer tell whether his Tigersoar could rival the Fisablens' cavalry legions on the field of battle. In terms of unit type, their cavalry forces were standard cavalrymen akin to the Nortons' light cavalry scouts. They specialized in mobility and deftness. They could only be countered with heavy-armored units.

As for Tigersoar, even though they were cavalry too, they were mid- to heavy-armored ones whose defense capabilities rivaled that of the imperial family's royal knights. They were organized and focused on orderly formations and brute charging force. They used carroballistae for ranged attacks and steel lances for their charges. They also possessed mobile catapults for siege warfare. It was a shock unit that performed best on the open field.

If the legion was to be described as a long spear, the Ragebear knight brigade headed by gold-ranked knight Terman would be a huge hammer that smashed any formation they charged through. Their defensive capabilities were impressive beyond belief. Loze's Tigersoar troops were equipped with stainless steel plate armor, while their mounts wore steel plate for protection. Each person-and-mount pair weighed more than a ton. They were essentially the medieval equivalent of tanks. Only ballistae posed a threat to them, the normal bow weaponry and arrows couldn't do them any harm.

Had it not been for the fact that quick warhorses with great endurance were hard to obtain, Terman's knight brigade would have long expanded to a division of its own instead of the small 10-thousand-man unit it was currently. However, Lorist realized that when faced with the cavalry legions of House Fisablen, both the knight brigade and Tigersoar would find it hard gain the upper hand with charging tactics alone. The problem was that Duke Fisablen was no idiot. He was an old, cunning fox. He would no doubt use anti-cavalry tactics to suppress the Nortons' knight brigade and Tigersoar legion.

The duke used primarily light cavalry, so the knight brigade and Tigersoar cavalrymen would only be wasting their time if they tried to chase them down. In fact, if they tired their horses out, they might end up out-manoeuvred instead. But, if they did not pursue, they would be harassed and gradually worn down. Even if they didn't sustain huge casualties, it was still nothing to scoff at. As the saying went, 'one can be a thief for a thousand days, but none keep watch that long'. Being on high alert all the time would cause the troops' focus and morale to waver and they would become ripe for an ambush.

Since the best method against their cavalry is using light cavalry, should I form another legion?

Lorist discarded the idea soon after, however.

Princess Sylvia traveled around The Northlands for fun for a whole month, and per Tarkel's instructions, Furybear sent large numbers of agents posing as coachmen and servants to get in touch with the princess's cohort and gather intelligence. The endeavor proved quite fruitful. Amongst other things, they learned that Duke Fisablen had absorbed the captured barbarians into his forces. Thanks to their uptake, he had largely recouped his losses from the campaign.

The grassland barbarians were practically born and lived in the saddle, so they required minimal training to be effective. House Norton's cavalry, however, had to spend long periods of time in training and had to make use of the best armaments to match these saddled-birthed foes. For the time being, apart from not having a reliable ranged weapon that could be used on horseback, the formation of yet another light scout cavalry legion might court the objections of the house's officials. After all, the combined expenditure of the Tigersoar, Firmrock, and local defense legions amounted to more than three million gold Fordes. Even with the wealth obtained from Hanayabarta, they could not afford to be so reckless with their spending.

It'll better to let Grandmaster Sid and the rest research better ranged weapons that can be used on horseback first.

Lorist was certain that his house would not find itself in conflict with House Fisablen within the next two years, he had, after all, just signed another trade agreement with them. Additionally, if he participates in the knighthood tournament the next year, a union of marriage might form between their houses. Should he take Princess Sylvia as his official wife, House Fisablen would become his unquestioned ally and their cavalry troops would no longer be a threat to him.

Speaking of Princess Sylvia, Lorist did not quite know what to make of her. Even though the house's officials were incredibly in favor of their union, with Governor Hansk and Governor Hector writing letters to encourage the marriage as well, Lorist couldn't help but feel a little weird about what was requested of him. He had always seen Princess Sylvia as an adorable and beautiful little sister. He had never imagined she would end up falling for him.

To Lorist, the only benefit of the princess's visit was that she caused the members of his harem, especially Arriotoli, to calm down. The elder Dina mistress had discovered that, be it status, looks, battleforce, aura or family background, neither she nor her younger sister could compare to the princess. They didn't even have the right to be jealous. It was also because of the fact that almost all the officials of the house supported a union between Lorist and the princess.

Arriotoli had no choice but to stop her efforts to push her younger sister to the position of Lorist's wife and the household's matron grudgingly. Shortly after the beginning of the princess' visit, she declared her entry into seclusion for training, she intended to break through to the silver rank and become her house's first female knight. Lorist was so amused that he almost laughed out loud. He had not heard of anyone who required seclusion to break through to the silver rank, only to the gold rank and above. The angered girl instantly leaped on Lorist and gave him a few harsh bites the moment she heard what Lorist said.

Despite his desire to accomplish something for the house quickly, there was not much Lorist could do, so he sent Fiercetiger Loze with his legion to hunt herbivorous magic beasts in the wildlands and had Blademaster Shuss follow along. He himself lazed around in Firmrock Castle for the utterly uneventful winter.

He felt almost a little depressed when he reflected on his thoughts. During the decade since he returned to the dominion, he had been busy nonstop. He was always tending to one matter or another. He didn't even have many a moment to spare for himself. But now that he had nothing better to do and had to spend the end of the year at the castle, he felt a little unaccustomed to all the free time. It was one of the reasons he had gone to Morante. Unfortunately, he would not meet the peers that had accompanied him again for the winter.

Lorist felt lonely and bored.

Had it not been for the three Dinas by his side, Lorist would have joined Loze in the wildlands.

Bored beyond his wits, he decided to sweep the dominion clean of the syndicates that had just started taking hold. It proved a rather simple job since most of the members were also waiting out the winter in their homes. As he dug out the syndicates' roots, he found that over 20 household knights were involved. He needed more proof to implicate them before he could take any further action, so they were marked for further investigation. Three silver-ranked knights ended up being expelled from the house and stripped their knighthood.

When Kriston, the head of law enforcement, made his report, he pointed out that those who joined the syndicates were mostly fighters that slacked off often on their duties or had too much time. Many were from knightly, or military families, or even from the families of household officials. Some retired warriors were also among their ranks. While they frequently caused small-scale trouble, they were careful to avoid causing huge commotions. Gradually, they had grown into a force that posed a threat to the civilians and had gained monopolies over sections of the economy.

Kriston believed the best method to deal with them was to come up with strict operating protocols and increase the training and authority of the police units.

Lorist left most of the work to Kriston and had him bring the protocols and regulations to Telesti. With so many scholars over there, they would be able to draft effective regulations for the house based on the ones of the old empire.

I bet the old guys at the academy would be interested in doing that, thought Lorist.

And so, Year 1776 of Grindia passed. Apart from the near two thousand criminals that were sent to the Hanayabartan archipelago, the rest of the dominion was bathed in prosperity.

After the 3rd month's rainy season, Fiercetiger Loze and his legion returned from the wildlands and brought more than 100 thousand magic beast carcasses. Lorist inspected the legion and found that the winter hunt had allowed their abilities to mature considerably, much to his delight.

The 4th month came with good news. Charade had successfully broken through to the gold rank. At the same time, Els and Pajik, who were both training at Maplewoods, had also become gold-ranked household knights. With the addition of these three, the house now had 14 gold-ranked knights.

The month was not without its setbacks, however. Pete and Waxima had failed to break through and would require another half a year to recover from the backlash. Dulles, Jim, and former bandit Ovidis, on the other hand, were still training.

The greatest benefit of CHarade's breakthrough for Lorist, however, was that he could take over the house's administration once again. The months of sowing Lorist had done with the Dinas had also finally brought about a crop -- Dilianna was pregnant.

When Charade was caught up with the year's developments, he was surprised to find out about the Dawn Academy. After all, he was also an alumnus. He praised Lorist's involvement to encourage the academy's move to The Northlands. According to him, it was 'an act that would change the course of history for the house for hundreds of years to come'.

As only Charade could, he immediately began his planning. They would first have to gather the manpower necessary to construct the academy. It had to be built as quickly as possible. He wanted the academy ready to begin recruiting and training new students as soon as possible.

As for Lorist and Princess Sylvia's marriage, Charade had a different take on the mater, a more conservative attitude. He believed that House Norton and House Fisablen's alliance would not be without its shortcomings. Instead, he was wary of why Duke Fisablen would make such a move in the first place. House Fisablen, which controlled three whole provinces, was a force to be reckoned with, after all.

On the 15th day of the 4th month, House Norton hosted yet another general meeting. As the household's chief knight, Charade outlined their goals for the year to come. Lorist's preparations to participate in the knighthood tournament was next on the agenda. He resolved himself to bring Princess Sylvia back to his dominion for good.

Viscount Eidis

And here's the fifth and last release of the week, guys. Hope you enjoy your weekend! See you guys again next week!

"I didn't think the Winston province would be more desolate than The Northlands. I see that you two ravaged the land quite thoroughly," said Lorist when he turned to Baron Felim and Baron Shazin, who were riding behind him.

"No, this is not our fault," Felim countered, shaking his head, "We haven't touched the province since you brought us to conquer the capital. You might not believe it, but half of the new civilians in our domains came of their own accord. Winston's nobles have caused such a huge mess that we don't feel the urge to get wrapped up in it at all. Many civilians ran from the province for the sake of their survival. We didn't even need to threaten them to have them come."

Shazin nodded in agreement. They were currently on their way to Windbury for the knighthood tournament. After looking around, Lorist recalled a line from a poem he had read in his past life: Whites of bones litter the wilds, not a single chicken chirps for kilometers.

Little more than a decade ago, before the civil war began, Winston was the fourth province in the empire to have a population of over 600 thousand. Despite having only a seventh of the area of The Northlands, the trade developments were well known across the empire.

The province used to be one of the empire's largest livestock markets, with merchants from The Northlands, Eastwild, Wild Husbandry, Southern and the seven central provinces all flocking to Winston and bringing with them lots of different products and supplies.

It was said that a baron in Winston was richer than a Duke in The Northlands. Not only was the saying a point of pride for the people of the province, it also signified the mocking manner the people there viewed Northlanders. After all, even though The Northlands was the largest province of the empire, it was the poorest.

The tides of time, however, turned the whole situation around. Only ten odd years had passed since Winston was at its peak, and it was now far more desolate than The Northlands had ever been. It was probably in part thanks to the second prince's rampant scouring of resources and his military failures, but Lorist's intentional encouragement for his allies to sabotage the vitality of the province certainly played the largest part. Those that controlled the province at the moment didn't have the might to mediate between the quarreling nobles -- battles raged without end.

Winston had been relatively peaceful during the last two months, however. No nobles had gotten caught up in any territorial disputes. It was quite obviously due to Duke Fisablen's deployment of two cavalry divisions to Windbury. With the one known as 'The War God' even when the empire was still around present, even the most arrogant nobles had to think twice before taking action. Most did not dare to make a move and were on their best behavior.

Since the reason for the duke's presence was nothing alarming, the nobles were content to wait out the months of the duke's stay before taking up the feuds once again. It was also a welcome reprieve for the nobles, most of whom had been exhausted from the years of conflict. They could make the best of the short break in hostilities to prepare for their new offensives. There were also those nobles confident in their martial prowess who wanted to show off in the tournament.

Rows of mounted troops continued to travel across the ruined paths of the province. Lorist brought with him an escort of 3000 men. Patt, who had been injured during the attack on Silowas, had spent a year in the local defense legion following his recovery and was transferred back to Lorist's personal guard to become a regiment leader. Patt had been rather fortunate despite suffering injuries. After he recovered, he managed to take the beauty Martha from Whitebird Restaurant as his wife. Too bad Lorist was busy at the Hanayabarta archipelago at the time, so he could only congratulate his old rival and playmate for settling down when he returned.

Count Kenmays came with a thousand guards, while Baron Shazin and Baron Felim each had 500 men. Due to Lorist's request, the three brought only cavalry guards. They were followed by Fiercetiger Loze and one of Tigersoar's heavy-armored cavalry divisions and two carroballista brigades, who maintained about a day's distance. Should anything unexpected really happen, the 20 thousand men would be able to respond in time.

"This place is far too run down. We've already traveled for three days, yet we haven't seen a single castle. Where have the darned nobles gone?" asked Josk, bored.

Shazin struggled to suppress his laughter.

"What are you laughing at, Hennard?" barked Josk angrily.

He was the baron's old opponent. Back when the Duke of the Northlands, Loggins, sent Knight Chevany to attack the Norton dominion, Baron Shazin, or Hennard, as he was known back then, was one of the commanders of the duke's forces. Even though Josk did not personally fight against the baron, he got to know him during the time the baron was held captive. The two had developed a strong friendship in the time since then and spoke informally in private settings.

"This is all your lord's fault," Shazin said, pointing at Lorist, "You'll understand once you ask Felim about it. Back then, Locke had us raid and pillage the whole Winston precisely to make the place barely habitable, especially the stretch of road from here to the capital. We swept the area a number of times. All the nobles whose whereabouts you wonder about, we hung them all. That's why so many commoners have been flooding into our dominions."

Josk didn't comment on Lorist's use of scorched-earth. Even though Windbury's nobles weren't worth much, standing behind them was Duke Fisablen, and Lorist could not be too careful when dealing with such a dangerous adversary.

"Be patient, Josk," Shazin consoled, "We'll arrive at Dawok tomorrow. It's Viscount Eidis's dominion. His castle is there as well. The last time we led our soldiers to storm the city, the viscount knew what was good for him and donated a great sum of money and food to us. Given his rather good reputation, we spared him and his dominion. I heard he's been developing quite well during the past two years, a rare breed of good noble in Winston. He doesn't have a good relationship with the queen, so he's allied with a bunch of nobles and has quite a bit of influence these days.

"We can have a nice, filling drink when we reach Dawok tomorrow, my friend. Then again, it's all Lorist's fault that we have to hold off on the road. Even I can't stand not drinking for that long, not to mention you. My mouth's felt so tasteless during the past few days, eating only bread and dried meat on the pretense of keeping vigilant. We're going to attend a knighthood tournament! Why does it feel like we're preparing for war?!"

Shazin's complaints displeased Josk.

"Come on, Hennard, Milord's doing this for your own good. This time around, we, the four houses of The Northlands, are attending the knighthood tournament together. Milord's being extra careful about this to make sure nothing goes wrong. Otherwise, Milord could've traveled with just Els and me. It's because we need to protect the rest of you that we brought so many men with us, yet you're here complaining ungratefully."

"You... And to think that I bothered to console you. Now, you're blaming me for this instead! It was you who brought the subject up in the first place," Shazin retorted.

The messenger they sent to the capital when they arrived at Dawok return at noon the next day. He brought with him the noble Duke Fisablen had sent as his ambassador, Count Richard.

Count Richard welcomed Lorist warmly before expressing that the duke was overjoyed for the participation of the four great houses of The Northlands in his knighthood tournament. Not only that, the duke was also willing to let the four houses be in charge of the south gate of the city's defenses.

Lorist only was only truly relieved when he heard the count say that. Duke Fisablen's suggestion was obviously made with the intent of easing the four great houses' suspicions. The gesture's implication was that Duke Fisablen only wanted to organize a knighthood tournament and was not plotting anything sinister behind the scenes.

Count Kenmays expressed his thanks to Count Richard and praised Duke Fisablen's open-minded approach, not failing to mention his admiration for the house. And so, the two launched into a chain of time-wasting pleasantries, which could not be avoided - it was what etiquette demanded. Even if one was annoyed, one must always retain a smile to show one's cultured demeanor.

In the end, Count Kenmays accepted the duke's suggestion and shook hands with Count Richard in an intimate manner, like long lost brothers who had just reunited.

Viscount Eidis, who had waited for a good while, approached them and expressed his welcome. He also greeted Count Richard and invited all of them on a tour of his castle. He also organized a welcome banquet.

Dawok was rather prosperous an populous, with an estimated population of 30 thousand. What surprised Lorist was that shops and businesses lined both sides of the main street, complete with large signs to attract customers.

Perhaps seeing Lorist's surprised reaction, Viscount Eidis explained that since the second prince set Windbury as the kingdom's capital, the trade routes to it were cut as soon as the civil war began. Additionally, the livestock reared near the capital made it stink of manure. The prince couldn't stand it, so he outlawed the rearing of any livestock near the city. With the ban in place, no one dared to get involved in the business but, the last couple of years without the second prince's meddling, along with the stability of the neighboring regions, saw a resurgence in the trade. Even with the nobles duking it out amongst themselves frequently, the province still frequently saw traders from the four central duchies.

It was too late to restart the livestock in the city itself, the high entrance fees saw to that. The Queen's tax collectors cut such a huge slice off the merchants' profits, that it was hardly worth it for them. Viscount Eidis, as he had done with Lorist's invasion, had seen an opportunity. He rushed to develop a livestock market and industry in his dominion and its prosperity has not waned since.

"Even though the livestock industry here is not that big, our market still wants for furs and beast tendons," said the viscount bitterly, "Such items are valued rather highly by the armies, they buy them in absolutely absurd numbers, which is why we have so many shops just to sell those two items."

Dawok's improving economy also attracted the envious glares and greedy eyes of many nobles, many of whom had already gotten into fights and skirmishes with the viscount a number of times. The viscount was forced to ally with a number of other nobles, whose interests aligned with the survival of Dawok, in order to protect his own. The success of his town was also one of the reasons for his fall-out with the queen. Once she became aware of his success, she sent a tax collector over with a demand for 70% of the town's profits. A demand the viscount naturally refused.

"That queen's so blinded by money she's gone insane! What sane person can make a demand like that?!" exclaimed Lorist.

"That's right," Viscount Eidis agreed, frustration infused in his voice, "Even though my dominion's prosperity allowed me to profit a little, most of the money I earn is invested back into its defense. The money goes in a huge circle and has yet to achieve anything productive. And that's not taking into account the time and effort I've had to put in to train the men that man the defenses! I'm so busy that I can't even afford a good night's sleep. I'm starting to wonder if developing my dominion was even worth it…"

Lorist couldn't do anything but sympathize with the viscount's troubles. Viscount Eidis would have thrived had they been in a time of peace and stability given his keen eye for business and benevolent attitude towards his subjects. Unfortunately, this was not a time of peace and not an era of stability. His prosperity served only to attract hungry wolves like moths to the fire, only these moths could bite against the fire and the wolves could do more than howl at the moon.

Dawok was originally just 100 meters away from the viscount's castle but given the rapid expansion of the town and increase in population over the years, Dawok had already connected with the castle. A wall had already had to be erected between the two. It had four firing posts similar to blockhouses around it. The design allowed the garrison to react equally quickly and effectively whether it was the castle or the town being attacked.

Eidis's castle had a century of history behind it. According to the viscount, his grandfather was granted the title for his military achievements and took root as one of the nobles of Winston. The castle was constructed by his grandfather, whose portrait still hung within, alongside one of his father.

Eidis joked that even though both his father and grandfather were well-known gold-ranked knights, he was only a two-star silver rank without any hope of breaking through to the gold rank. His father's fame was especially prevalent in Winston, but he had perished in the empire's last invasion of the Union. It was a matter from 30 years ago and the viscount had been only 16 when he became the house's head.

Lorist could see the portraits of the viscount's white-haired grandfather and his heroic-looking father dressed in knightly armaments in the castle's great hall. At the entrance of the hall, Eidis's wife, two sons, and daughter, as well as three other noble guests, received Lorist and the rest.

Lorist greeted the viscount's wife before he presented the gift he brought with him. Ever since he exterminated Hanayabarta, he was never short on precious gifts. As expected, the sapphire-embedded platinum necklace caused the other nobles to stare with utter awe. While the materials themselves were expensive in their own right, the craftsmanship was what gave it most of its value. In the days of the kingdom, unskilled slaves would find it very hard to survive after all.

After the viscount's wife expressed her gratitude, the viscount introduced Lorist to his two sons and seven-year-old daughter. His two sons were 24 and 21 respectively. The elder was a three-star-silver-ranked knight and the younger a one-star silver rank. All of the viscount's hope of the house having another gold-ranked knight lay firmly in his two sons.

The three nobles present were the viscount's allies whose territories neighbored his. Baron Klaus's dominion was a livestock breeding-ground, Baron Wade's was farmland while Viscount Zindler's produced mainly feed. All three of the nobles dealt in activities related to the thriving industry in Dawok, which made it easy for them to ally -- they had numerous mutual interests, after all.

During the banquet, Eidis requested that he, and his three allies, be allowed to travel with their group to attend the knighthood tournament. He was worried that he would face dangers on his journey to the capital, given his sour relationship with the queen. He had yet to decide to participate precisely because of that. But, if he could travel with Lorist, they would not have to worry about their safety. Should any mishap occur, they could still make it back to their dominion through the city's southern gate.

After some consideration, Lorist agreed. The banquet ended with the guests parting on friendly terms.