Inspection
"Gossip is a very dangerous tool. We should be more wary of the gossiper than the gossip they bring." ~ Tarkel
Lundmorde hadn't told his wives that he was collecting information for the house. What Lorist wanted was current news and details about the situation and movements of the surrounding nations. The most crucial information he required was the military deployments and other movements of those nations. However, the reports from the newspapers of Morante Tarkel brought over were merely gossip and hearsay. They mostly contained odd erotica and chivalric romance without a trace of actual political information.
There were twelve issues of a small tabloid called 'Moonlit Tales' included among the things sent back. They contained twelve chapters of a serial erotica with a female protagonist whose husband was a sailor. The story was roughly about how after the protagonist's husband set sail, twelve handsome and rich princes on white horses showed up out of nowhere. The novel described in detail the protagonist's complex emotions and psychological state. After the protagonist spent night after night in debauchery with the twelve men, she made up her mind to run away from home with one of them. However, another prince who deeply loved her was jealous and hateful. After killing the lucky man, he committed suicide. Given how the situation changed, the remaining ten princes left the protagonist. All she could do was sit by her windowsill alone day after day, waiting for her husband's return.
Pfffft!
Lorist was having breakfast when he decided to browse the tabloids. The moment he read about the twelve nights of pleasure, he spat all the food in his mouth out immediately. Fortunately, he had been eating alone. It would've been far too rude otherwise.
Isn't this plot far too ridiculous? I even thought it would be that kind of stereotypical story where the protagonist would gradually get to know the twelve princes and they would seduce her one after another and mate like rabbits. The author even described every interaction as peaceful and moving and also flushed out the protagonist's state of mind. The readers no doubt had no choice but to join in. I didn't think there would be such a twist. This erotica changed into tragedy in a flash! It's just like having a bucket of cold water dumped on you just as things are getting exciting! It's like being rendered impotent all of a sudden! The author's kidding, right? I wonder how many people curse their name for this kind of ending...
He imagined at least one of Lundmorde's wives actually read stories like this as a hobby. It seemed there was a good chance he would be cheated on. However, he did wonder why Lundmorde was sent to the frontlines. While he was a two-star silver rank, his swordsmanship was nothing of note. He was only good as a second rank herbalist. Perhaps the Union had quite a lot of casualties, hence their need for Lundmorde's talents as a herbalist.
Putting aside the matter of Lundmorde's conscription, the conflict between the Union and the mid-southern nations was big enough news itself. The only thing was he lived too far to the north and couldn't get first-hand information on the situation. Formerly, the reports Lundmorde collected for the house would be sent through Peterson Merchant Guild when their trading fleet headed to Silowas. Needless to say, it was a rather time-consuming process; at least half a month would have passed by by the time the reports made their way to The Northlands.
The house had trained messenger eagles and established a communications system but Lundmorde wasn't equipped with similar facilities. The messenger eagles couldn't carry too much, they were difficult to train, and there were people who yearned for such eagles. The house had once tried to supply Lundmorde with an eagle. But nobles from the Union had forcefully bought the eagle in less than three days. Fortunately, it flew back to The Northlands soon after. As for Lundmorde, his house in Morante was ransacked for days on end until the nobles were sure the eagle hadn't made it back to Lundmorde.
After finishing breakfast, Lorist had Jinolio call Tarkel.
"You should send someone to Morante to teach Lundmorde's wives the proper method to collect reports and information instead of collecting and sending back a random assortment of gossip and advertisements and stuffing rotten yammer, thinking they can pass it off as the real deal," Lorist said as he pointed at the documents, "Just look at this report here, it's basically nothing but Union propaganda about how the conflict broke out because of the mid-southern nations demands for the Union to hand back the territory they occupied.
"The the mid-southern nations' army would have to be insane before they'd make those kinds of demands. Those eradicated nations have long lost the successors to the ruling families. These merchants are truly far more ruthless than nobles. What's the point of reforming those nations if the successors are no longer there? Also, would the Union really agree to spit out the meat it has swallowed? There must be some other reason for the war. Not only are we unable to gain anything from these tabloids, they're just spewing crap to trick people into buying them."
"Very well, Your Grace. I'll send someone. I was just thinking of sending some people to Morante to find out why Lundmorde was conscripted," Tarkel said some hesitation, "But Your Grace, what's that about 'yammer' Do you mean yam?"
Lorist gave it some thought and came up with an explanation. "Back when I was studying at Morante, I heard my neighbors talk about this merchant at the nearby crop market who would stuff rotten yams that wouldn't sell among the good ones. That's how that saying came about."
Tarkel said with a look of admiration, "Your Grace, your wisdom stretches far and wide."
Lorist's face reddened slightly.
"Spare me the flattery and just focus on your job. Send someone to Morante to teach Lundmorde's wives how to collect proper information while investigating whether Lundmorde was forcefully conscripted or whether he offended someone he shouldn't have. Or, the Union has entered a state of general mobilization because the start of the conflict went rather badly. Make sure to find out about the circumstances that led to the war. As for Lundmorde, I believe he's been sent to the frontlines to serve as herbalist for the injured, so he shouldn't be in immediate danger. However, it's best if the people you send can find him quickly and serve as his guard."
"Noted, Your Grace," Tarkel said as he turned to leave.
Lorist stopped him.
"Wait, Tarkel," said he with a furrowed brow, pacing around the tent non-stop until Tarkel felt dizzy from following Lorist with his eyes.
"Since the break-out of war a month ago, has the second highness made any moves? He should be the one most delighted by this turn of events and start something huge in the meantime. It's extremely weird that he hasn't made any moves yet. His silence is far too weird. I'm not used to
"Your Grace, the first thing we did after we received word of the war was check on the second highness. We set up three messenger eagle stations around the capital, but all three report nothing out of the ordinary. The second highness hasn't acted at all, neither has the imperial local defense legion nor Whitelion received any orders. I just sent someone else to confirm. We should hear from him in a few days."
"Very well. I know how meticulous you can be. Go about your business and make sure to keep an eye on the second highness. I'm worried this king is up to something no good again," praised Lorist with a satisfactory nod.
The first thing on his itinerary was the visit to Jaeger's camp. He would then head to Goldridge to check on the mining facilities' construction and the early mining operations. He would thereafter travel to Northsea before finally heading to Bladedge Mountains. He would visit Nico Academy to check on Telesti and his two beloved daughters and head to the gunpowder research laboratory, the black iron refinery and the weapons forgery. It would be the start of the 8th month by the time returned to Firmrock after the whole trip.
Lots of construction was going on at Moonspring, situated along the way to Goldridge. The town was located beside the lake where the 100-thousand-strong barbarian army had been defeated. It would be the supply point for Fort Goldridge and the mine. As the lake was shaped like the circular moon, Lorist named it Moonspring, so the new town under construction came to be called Moonspring as well.
The first stages of the road construction from Moonspring to Goldridge was already complete. It was a road half a meter above the Black Forest's ground level, wide enough for four carriages to cross side by side. The road was built so the house could send reinforcements to Fort Goldridge in case of a barbarian army attack. The path still required some time for the clay and stones to be made secure and strong. Not only would it have to be flattened and leveled well, they also had to prevent it from collapsing in heavy rainstorms during the rainy season.
It took less than half a day to arrive at Fort Goldridge. Even though the trip was uneventful, the sites along the way were rather garish given the heads staked along the branches of the trees. According to one of the supervisors in charge of the construction project, the captive barbarians often tried to escape during the first month of the project. There would be more than a hundred barbarians captured daily and they were beheaded and had their heads staked through the tree branches along the road as a warning for the other barbarians who were considering a desperate escape. The captives only started behaving more obediently after about four thousand of them were killed.
Having been a dominion lord for more than a decade, Lorist was cold enough to no longer be bothered by such things. He pretended that he didn't see the heads at all. Jinolio, however, was but a 16-year-old boy. He hadn't seen such a harrowing sight ever before and shivered on the back of his horse. Lorist gave him a glance.
"Puff your chest out and sit tight. This is nothing worth mentioning or being afraid of. If you've seen the sea of corpses of the poor folk of Silowas left behind by the horrid slave traders and the human head pyramid I erected on Hanayabarta, you will not mind something like this."
"Yes, Your Grace," said Jinolio as he sat straight up. Even though he still felt a little apprehensive about looking at the heads, at least he was no longer shivering.
Belnick came to greet them with a regiment of troops. Fort Goldridge's basic construction was done and the rest of the work was progressing smoothly. According to Belnick, the fort and walls' construction was proceeding incredibly well without any interruption by the mountain barbarians. Perhaps after the extermination of their army, they had learned the true might of House Norton and no longer dared to cross them lest disaster befell them again.
Spiel was still at the gold mine busying himself over designing a better set of protocols to regulate the mined gold. Grandmaster Sid, on the other hand, had left two months ago, leaving his eldest son in charge of the development of new mining facilities and ways to transport the mined ore.
Satisfied with what he saw, Lorist left for Northsea after resting for two days.
He was surprised to find that Kenmays was still loitering around the city when he arrived. Kenmays also excitedly informed Lorist that he had just purchased 6 LLDM class vessels as well as 18 MAM class vessels in the name of the salt merchant committee for the fleet he was building. He was also setting up a firm for the committee in Northsea which included an office and a storage area. However, he did complain about how he couldn't buy ownership over property and only the rights to use them, making it so that he had to request official permission to even renovate the buildings as well as being taxed heavily on an annual basis for usage of the land.
Lorist shrugged and answered that he didn't have a choice since it was the land of House Norton. As the inheritor of the position of house leader, he alone had no rights to sell the rights of the house's land to others, so selling the rights to use the land was a compromise he had to make. The house would still retain ownership over the land whereas those who bought the rights to use the buildings or land could continue about their business without affecting the development of the dominion.
Kenmays however quickly and acutely noticed the hidden implications in Lorist's words, which reminded him of the two special sectors at the southern part of The Northlands where land was sold exclusively to nobles. He found another lucrative business model and pestered Lorist to talk about it in detail with him, but Lorist didn't have time to entertain him. So, he sent Kenmays off to look for Kedan after agreeing that he would consider Kenmays's plan to develop the real estate industry in the seven towns of Felicitas.
After checking on the reorganized Northsea Fleet and the shipyard at Bullhorn Bay, Lorist headed to Nico Academy. Telesti had already heard of the news of Lorist's marriage with Sylvia that would take place during the 11th month. Even though she insisted that she would remain single given her oath to the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, Siminglyde, she did bear Lorist two cute daughters. The position of matron of the house was within her arm's reach, yet she had refused Lorist's marriage proposal and pushed Lorist to Sylvia instead.
It wasn't known whether she was regretting her decision or reeling from the shock of the reality of her lover's marriage to another woman. During Lorist's five-day stay at the academy, Telesti behaved completely opposite her usual distant and cold demeanor and pestered Lorist every single day, causing him much physical and mental fatigue. But given that he understood what Telesti was worried about, Lorist tolerated her antics and treated her kindly. He also promised that he would construct a manor at a scenic location near Nico Academy for her to keep as her own private land.
After leaving Nico Academy, Lorist went to Bladedge Mountains. His first stop was Professor Balbo's laboratory. It was the main location where the cannons were being tested. The brigade of three thousand guards was secretly stationed there to master the secret weapons of House Norton: the bronze-cannon carriages. Unlike the bronze cannons issued to Northsea Fleet, these cannons designed for land use were far lighter and were mounted on a steel carriage frame. Each carriage would be pulled by two horses, allowing the cannons far greater mobility and swifter reaction to orders than the catapults of Thunderbolt Brigade.
Major Jim, who had just recovered from the backlash he suffered when attempting to break through the gold rank, and Vice Major Paulobins who used to serve in the first local defense brigade would be in charge of the bronze cannon brigade. It was too bad for the both of them that it took three whole years for the cannon designs to be revamped and perfected. Through test firing on various different terrains, they also developed fitting orders and protocols, but the war with House Fisablen ended just when they were ready to be deployed.
Lorist also felt that it was a huge shame since these land-based bronze cannons cost the house almost five million gold Fordes to realize. So far, there were a total of 200 of those cannons and three thousand guards. That was the unit that the house spent the most on, and they were also the most powerful force among all others. Lorist believed that when they were finally deployed on the battlefield, no enemy would be able to resist their thunderous assault.
"The black iron refinery should be further down. Grandmaster Sid wrote me a letter saying that there was a surprise waiting for me there. I can't wait to see what it is. Let's go, Jinolio," said Lorist after he bid farewell to Jim and the rest.
"Yes, Your Grace."
The Oddity of the Second Highness
"I find it amazing how people can change their behaviour. One day you mean something in their lives, and the next its like you don't exist." ~ Second Highness
Grandmaster Sid's surprise didn't really shock Lorist much. The experienced smith had developed another type of steel he had named Sid 303. Lorist noticed Sid was gradually developing the traits Ciroba had when it came to naming things after himself in an attempt to be remembered for generations to come.
According to Sid, Sid 303 boasted the best elasticity of all the steel types they'd been using so far. It was extremely suited to fashion spring plates and ballistae arms. And the results of their experiments showed ballistae made with the new material could be fired even further with even more force. The maximum range was at around 400 meters.
Lorist also realized that Sid was really intent on having him replace the arms of the ballistae with his new material, but he refused in the end. So far, the house's carroballistae were still far ahead of the other factions'. Even if other people could obtain a few, they would still be unable to forge similar steel arms. There was no need to spend unnecessary funds to upgrade them. But even so, the new material was still a decent step forward in their overall technological advancement.
As opposed to Sid's disappointment, he was more interested in the new forging kilns that allowed for the creation of the new steel. After two years of experimentation, the grandmaster had finally managed to come up with flame-resistant bricks he used to make a kiln that could refine black iron in extremely heated conditions. Sid 303 was created precisely through those kilns. After black iron was sent into the kiln and melted, Sid performed numerous tests by adding in various different metals before finally coming up with the recipe for the new material. To be more precise, Sid 303 was an alloy of different metals.
As Lorist wasn't educated in the ways of metallurgy, he wasn't interested in hearing Sid's lecture about the crucial points to look out for in forging metal. Instead, he found it a huge shame that the people of Grindia didn't use any form of coal or petroleum. He didn't know whether it was because they hadn't discovered other sources of fuel because logs were far more readily available. Grindians used mainly wood and charcoal for metallurgy and when they needed to raise the temperatures, they would resort to powdered fire crystals, but the temperature wouldn't stay high for long. That was one of the reasons Grindians couldn't develop their technology quickly.
"Grandmaster, I'd like to ask you about the compact crossbow you showed me. I wonder if there're any improvements that manage to lower the production cost?"
An awkward expression appeared on the grandmaster's face.
"Apologies, Your Grace. As the cost of producing the compact crossbows was too high, the moment the house canceled their order, Grandmaster Fellin and I stopped researching it. I was busy testing new steel alloys while Grandmaster Fellin was caught up with a huge order of 20 thousand longbows. We were both far too busy with other things..."
The construction of each standard longbow took up to two years. The wood required would have to undergo multiple rounds of soaking and drying and it was a really cumbersome process overall. Lorist recalled the longbow order was made for the local defense brigade's longbowmen. Given how the two grandmasters must have presented the compact crossbows after they did their best and exhausted every idea they had to improve it beforehand, he could understand why they weren't willing to continue pouring their efforts into its development.
"I recall you mentioned the reason the cost was so high lay with the materials, right? Given the variance in elasticity in the steel you used to produce, only a small portion could be used. Their small size meant a lot of materials would be wasted after making the small individual parts. Those were the factors that inflated the cost, right?"
"Indeed, Your Grace," Sid admitted, "Because of the unstable kiln we used back then, the steel we produced would vary in some form or another even if identical ingredients and amounts were used. Additionally, the elastic nature of the steel isn't obtained simply just through repeated forging. For instance, while we can fashion mithril into steel, the material would lose its elasticity after forging, so it's not easy to find materials suited to make compact crossbows, hence the immensely high cost. Out of ten forging attempts, only one or two would be successful."
"Since that's the case, now that you've developed this new kind of steel, why haven't you considered using it to make compact crossbows? Since Sid 303's recipe is already set and stabilized, making mass production possible, I suppose this could greatly decrease the production cost."
Sid appeared stunned before he snapped with ecstasy.
"That's right, why didn't I think of it?! I was too fixated on the carroballistae I forgot the house was looking for a weapon to replace longbows... Your Grace, I'll look for Grandmaster Fellin right away and improve the compact crossbows immediately..."
"Wait, Grandmaster Sid, there's something else," Lorist said as he stopped the man, "Go discuss with Grandmaster Fellin. If the elasticity of the steel material really is this amazing, see if you can fashion it into a bow which can be wielded and fired on horseback. Then, compare it with the longbows we use. Since Jaeger was just reformed, we require a weapon that can be fired on horseback and isn't inferior to longbows."
"Understood, Your Grace. We will come up with a weapon the house can use soon. We'll work till our deaths if it means we can be of use to the house!" said Sid excitedly.
Lorist facepalmed as he watched Sid's figure disappear into the distance. To be frank, he wondered if he had set the technological tree in the wrong direction. Ideally, he would've liked to develop firearms. But nobody was willing to get into researching them. Sid and the rest were going further and further on the path of cold projectile weapons like crossbows to the point they managed to come up with new highly elastic steel, yet they weren't willing to foray into the field of firearms at all.
Nowadays, the carroballistae of House Norton already stood at the forefront of ranged weaponry thanks to Sid and the rest's efforts. But now, they were going far deeper down that path and even researching how they could improve bows and crossbows to increase their power and range. Even though he had already provided some concept drawings and designs of firearms, the grandmasters showed no interest. He wondered if he should start a new research division specifically for firearms research, but the number of talented people required wasn't easy to find.
After leaving the black iron refinery, he checked on Ironforge Castle. It was the central weapons production plant the house had set up at Bladedge Mountains. The weapons and equipment produced at Sid's would be sent north for polishing and inlaying to make the standard equipment set used by soldiers. It was a huge production plant manned by three thousand workers. Apart from bearing the burden of providing armaments to the house's forces, they were also tasked with providing arms for the house's allies.
The person in charge, Baron Camorra, had been waiting outside for quite some time. So far, the most important assignment Ironforge Castle had been given was the production of the 60 thousand sets of light cavalry armor Jaeger required. The armor was based on Sid's latest designs, with some adjustments after surveying the Jaeger's men and considering their suggestions. Sid basically redesigned the whole thing and made quite a number of changes. The armor's color was also changed from black to grey.
Last year, Camorra was in charge of logistics and support during Iblia's conquest and had performed wonderfully, earning Lorist's praise. Even though the war was now over, the large defensive infrastructure projects had just been started, so Camorra's duties as chief logistics officer were yet to finish. Though his job did get much lighter as the situation wasn't that urgent. Camorra appointed an aide and had him stay in Windbury while he made his way to Ironforge to welcome Lorist for the inspection.
By the time Lorist made it back to Firmrock after the inspections concluded, it was already the 7th day of the 8th month. After visiting Howard at the training grounds, he went to his study and noticed Charade was waiting for him on the sofa with another huge stack of documents. This time around it was mostly about Northsea's and Jaeger's budgets. There was also another letter addressed to him sent from Roaring Bear. It was actually a correspondence from Sylvia. She mentioned that she loved the scenery around Cherry Blossom Ridge, which he had given her as a gift. There were a few things she wanted changed, so it would take a few more days before she returned.
"Have the invitations been sent?" asked Lorist as he signed the documents.
On Grindia, noble wedding invitations usually had to be sent out half a year before the wedding. It was especially so for someone of Lorist's status, being head of House Norton and Duke of The Northlands. Not only would he have to notify all the house's vassals, even the entire kingdom's nobles had to be invited. It wasn't an issue of familiarity, but rather of noble pride. Fortunately, the second highness had wiped out most of the peerage a few years earlier and left barely any remaining. For once Lorist was thankful to the second highness. He didn't have to worry about having to interact with nobles with whom he wasn't familiar.
As the wedding would take place in the 11th month, the messengers had to be sent out at the end of the 6th or the beginning of the 7th. Some powerful nobles on Grindia notified their guests almost a year in advance because of the time needed to travel across the continent. Additionally, the guests required time to prepare a wedding gift. However, it wasn't too troublesome in Lorist's case since House Norton's sphere of influence mainly covered the northeastern area of the empire.
"Most of the invitations were sent successfully. However, only a few nobles from the capital will attend. Almost all the nobles the second highness entitled claimed to have too much to do and expressed their regret. They did say they would send gifts to congratulate Your Grace's marriage, though," replied Charade.
"Did the second highness have anything to say?"
"That's actually the weirdest part," Charade said with a furrowed brow, "Our messenger couldn't meet His Majesty. The messenger said after the palace staff received the invitation, he was told to rest at an inn and await news. But when evening came, someone was sent over to relay that His Majesty was far too busy with other matters and wouldn't attend. He did mention that he would send messengers over to give his blessings. It really made me wonder after hearing what I did from the messenger. I can't help but think the second highness is up to something. What could take up so much of his time that he couldn't even spare any time to attend your wedding? Also, the kingdom seems rather quiet, as if His Majesty went into hiding. He actually didn't even meet our messenger face to face. Talk about being rude..."
Lorist put down the documents in his hand.
"I wonder if you've heard news of the Union going to war with the mid-southern nations? Lundmorde was conscripted and sent to the frontlines as well. It'll take more time for us to gather reliable information. However, what rouses my suspicion is how the second highness is laying low despite the situation. There doesn't seem to be any abnormality in the capital at all. Logically speaking, His Majesty should be taking the opportunity to rub more salt in the Union's wounds. he's always been all about reuniting the empire, and now the Union occupies quite a number of the empire's provinces, why is the second highness letting such an opportunity go? I can't figure it out. It all seems too weird."
"Ugh... I haven't heard of this at all. Oh well, it's got nothing to do with us anyway," Charade said as he shook his head, "We're too far away from the Union, it's no surprise the news is delayed. However, the second highness's two legions should be standing off against the Union at the border, so he should have received the news long ago. If it really is as good an opportunity as you suggest, then it truly is weird that he hasn't made any moves. Hey, do you think he isn't in the capital? That'd explain how he didn't show up to meet our messenger."
Lorist looked stunned. What Charade just said seemed to set his thoughts down a completely different path. He pulled on the bell rope to summon Jinolio.
"Jinolio, send someone to get Tarkel."
Tarkel soon showed up.
"Tarkel, send some messages through our eagles to the capital. Order our informants to investigate how long it's been since the second highness showed up in front of anyone. Who is in charge of the kingdom right now? Find out if anything odd is going on in the palace."
"Understood, Your Grace. I will get to it immediately."
Three days later, Tarkel met with him once more.
"Your Grace, here's the report our informants sent back. It's been more than a year since His Majesty appeared publicly. According to the maidservants, they haven't seen him for quite some time now. However, they did confirm that he's been residing in a section of the palace guarded by his personal guard. Nobody's been permitted to disturb him. Word is that he's been afflicted with some weird disease, hence his self-imposed seclusion. However, the palace supervisor and the three other ministers were allowed to see him. There were some documents signed during that time and the manner in which matters were dealt with largely stayed the same. So, the kingdom's situation has remained stable."
"A weird disease?" Lorist wondered as he stroked his chin, "Impossible. What kind of disease can make a three-star gold-rank fall so sick? It's almost impossible. Maybe he was poisoned or assassinated?"
Tarkel gave it some thought.
"Assassination doesn't sound too probable. Otherwise, the kingdom would've fallen into chaos long ago. It doesn't seem like poison either. If that were the case, the palace would be hiring lots of herbalists just like when the third prince was poisoned. All the herbalists in the kingdom were summoned to the palace. However, there's one thing worth noting. Your Grace's cousin sister, Glacia, seems to have lost the highness's trust and has been relieved of her duties. Currently, she's living alone in her private residence."
"Oh?" Lorist mused with a furrowed brow, "Is this true?"
"It is. Miss Glacia didn't seem willing to divulge any details. She did say she would travel to The Northlands and attend the wedding, though."
Lorist paced around, head lowered, and wondered about how odd it all was.
At the very least, it's certain the second highness is staying in the palace. Whatever, there's no point wracking my head. The truth will come out one day and I'll know up to what the second highness has been.
"Leave it be for now. Have our men watch the palace and report anything out of the ordinary immediately."
"Understood, Your Grace."
Carriage Track
Here's the last release of the week! Cya guys on Tuesday as usual!
On the 17th day of the 8th month, Sylvia, Fennazali, Dilianna, Daisy, and Maria returned to Firmrock.
Back then, the The Northlands' south was the most prosperous area and Duke Loggins and the other Northlander nobles had built lots of mansions there. After the dominion relocation, the whole of The Northlands had fallen into House Norton's hands and the manors consequently ended up Lorist's property.
After settling on the plan of developing The Northlands, 27 of the mansions not too important to the plan were set for demolition, leaving only eleven known for their magnificent scenery. Lorist allowed Sylvia and his four concubines to take their pick.
Cherry Blossom Ridge was known as the most beautiful manor in The Northlands. Every year after the rainy season, flowers would bloom all over the hill, decorating the trees and coloring the air with fragrance. Heaven on earth. When the breeze rustled the leaves, flower petals would scatter all over, creating a rather dreamlike scenery. Even though Sylvia missed the blooming season, the trees full of cherry blossoms made her unable to keep her excitement in check. Cherry Blossom Ridge used to be where Count Shazin Hennard shacked up with his five concubines, though, so she decided to renovate the castle to better suit her tastes.
With Sylvia yammering on about the manor and the beautiful sights and the four concubines, who'd also picked manors with which they were satisfied, they soon engaged in a boasting match, much to Lorist's dismay. In the end, he had the five women leave the room for peace and quiet using his work as an excuse. However, before they left, they complained that calling Gildusk City of the Roaring Bear was a bad idea, and that the way laborers built the city referred to it, Ragebear, was far easier on the ears.
"Ugh... Does City of the Roaring Bear really sound that bad?" asked Lorist as he shrugged to Charade.
"Well, it's a real mouthful no doubt. It does sound a little weird," opined Charade honestly.
The names Lorist came up with were usually rather subpar.
"But why would the laborers come to refer to it as Ragebear?"
Lorist was really curious about this. He felt City of the Roaring Bear sounded far more cultured and refined.
Have you forgotten about the skyward-facing raging bear statue in the central plaza? The plaza is known as Ragebear Plaza and it didn't take long for Ragebear to stick as the city's name. In fact, apart from referring to the city in front of Your Grace and in official documents, all the knights and officials simply call it Ragebear. It much simpler and more convenient."
"Fine," Lorist conceded, "I admit I don't really have that good a naming sense. Let's just call it Ragebear from now on. It's not like I really care whether it's the name I came up with or not..."
"Your Grace, 'tis but a small matter rectifiable with a notice. On the note of what we just discussed, the relocation of Ragebear Knights' camp to Firmrock, I wonder if there's anything we missed?"
The original location of Ragebear Knights' camp was Bladedge Castle, built atop the two flattened hills near Northsea. It was built there to protect Northsea and reinforce Tortoise Hill Fort and Hidebull Fort in case of a barbarian invasion. But the barbarian army had been defeated and there was no way they would make it into the dominion for the next decade or two. So, stationing Ragebear Knights in Bladedge Castle was a huge waste. Since Lorist was going to move to Ragebear soon, Firmrock would be left empty, the perfect place to put the knights.
Lorist ticked the document and signed his name.
"Have Terman bring the knights over and move the local defense brigade from here to Bladedge Castle. Only start moving on the 15th of the 9th, though. There are still some officials in the midst of moving to Ragebear. I leave it all to you."
Charade nodded. "No problem. Many departments have already started. One month will be more than enough time for the move."
"By the time we reach Ragebear, preparations for my wedding with Sylvia must begin. We'll also have to receive lots of guests. I hope you're well prepared."
"Don't worry, Your Grace. We've planned everything already. Those involved know what they're doing."
A knock landed on the door at that moment. Jinolio walked in.
"Your Grace, Baron Hansk requests an audience."
Hansk rushed into the room angrily.
You're doing this cause I went against your marriage, right? You even wanted to marry a woman from an enemy house! Even though there are so many women in this world, you decided on the most unsuitable one possible! As a loyal servant of House Norton, going against you is the right thing to do! I didn't think you'd not only ignore my warnings but also strip me of my position! Ridiculous!
Hansk was going to give it to Lorist. He was prepared on having an argument even if he would anger Lorist more and be demoted even further. As a loyal servant of the house, he would let everyone see how far he was willing to go for the sake of the house.
"Greetings, Your Grace," said Hansk as he made an official's salute.
"Supervisor Hansk, I was worried about you all this time. Now you've come, I can finally rest assured. Come, sit down. Are things at Silowas taken care of?"
Lorist smiled warmly as if he didn't see any trace of anger on the man's face. He didn't refer to him by his title of baron and instead called him supervisor like he did in the old days to express familiarity.
"Jinolio, serve Supervisor Hansk some tea."
"No need, Your Grace," Hansk replied with a straight face, "I have settled matters with Governor Hector. I only came back to make my report now because I was waiting for him to arrive."
"Very good. Supervisor, I know it must have been really tough on you to be away from home for so long. Why don't you take some time off?"
"Your Grace, serving the house is what I ought to do. I'd like to know what the house has planned for me."
"Well, we already have all The Northlands. In the coming two years, we will develop it as a whole. Look here, Supervisor."
Lorist pointed to the map hung on the wall.
"Only by building roads can we move towards wealth. With better and more efficient transportation, The Northlands can be unified as a strong unit. Not only will the transportation of resources be secure, good roads will also enable us to send forces swiftly to any part of The Northlands. Here is plan. We will invest a million gold Fordes into this project. The house's future depends on this undertaking. There is no more suitable person to whom to give such a heavy responsibility than you. You've been transferred from Silowas to take charge of this project."
It was a complete checkmate. The infuriated Hansk looked half as angry as before in a mere moment.
So Lorist didn't transfer me to punish me... Instead, he's going to entrust me with such an important task...
He glanced at Charade, sitting on the sofa, and made a stiff smile.
"Your Grace, this huge task doesn't really need me, does it? I'm sure Baron Charade here can..."
"No, he won't do!" Lorist exclaimed.
Charade rolled his eyes.
"To be frank, he doesn't even qualify. This is a matter that concerns the dominance of our house over The Northlands. An undertaking that will ensure peace and safety for a century to come! While Baron Charade is great at dealing with administrative tasks, he's not nearly as experienced or reliable as you when it comes to managing huge projects! And of the other officials, Spiel is good at dealing with money but not construction. Kedan is also foreign to it. In fact, the only better fits would be Hector and Boris.
"But think about it, you're a senior and Hector your aide. As for Boris, I can't trust him fully. He used to be someone of House Kenmays, after all. Even though he's been rather loyal, we can't be sure. This is something that will affect our house for the whole of the next century. How can I leave it in their hands? Someone suggested Shadekampf, but he's one of my servants, he isn't as qualified as you. I've always felt you're the best candidate."
Hansk was smiling so bright his face was full of flowers. Lorist managed to instill in him a sense of pride and isolation felt by those on the top. Who could take care of such an important project if not he? Though the anger had long faded, he still felt he should at least try to act humbly.
"Your Grace, you hold me in too high regard. Actually, I think anyone else can do just as well. It doesn't have to be me. Shadekampf and Boris both have experience developing transportation networks. They might be more appropriate."
Lorist shook his head.
"Hansk, this project is more complicated than you think. If it's a simple matter of building roads, anyone can do it. But the road the house wants to build is the first of its kind. It hasn't ever been built on before, not once on the entire continent. It will be remembered by historians and books will be written about this historic project for generations to come. I insist you take charge."
Huh? Building a simple road will leave my name in history? How's that possible? At best, it'd just be a passing mention in the chronicles of the house. On the xth day of the xth month of year X, Supervisor Hansk concluded the project to develop the transportation system for the whole of The Northlands and allow for better resource transportation and so on... Is it really such a big deal?
Seeing Hansk befuddled, Lorist laughed.
"Hansk, just look at this design."
After squinting and looking for a moment, he finally noticed something odd.
"Your Grace, why is there a wider and smaller side even though the road only stretches in one direction?"
"Hehe Supervisor Hansk, this is a new invention, the carriage track. Come have a look. I have a model."
The wall between the room next to the study had already been knocked down. The other room was renovated into a display room. When they entered, they saw a huge sand table occupying half of the room. It was a sand table depicting The Northlands. Hansk could recognize Firmrock, Maplewoods, Northsea, the southern part of The Northlands… He found it odd that there were still wires circling the map.
"Look, these are the carriage tracks I mentioned," said Lorist as he pointed at the 'wires'.
Upon closer inspection, Hansk realized they were not mere wires. Instead, they were parallel wires separated into segments by smaller wires intersecting horizontally. Ugh, my eyes are really starting to fail me. I really need to get Master Mancheny to fashion me a pair of glasses. I heard they help vision a lot. Even Boris had quite a few made and wears them all day...
"Your Grace, what will the carriage tracks be good for?"
He couldn't understand their purpose no matter how hard he tried.
"This is an invention of Grandmaster Julian's. It was designed to be used for mining by sending mined ore to the surface on minecarts without relying on people or animals. It greatly decreases the cost of mining. It's a rather great idea; I've decided to use it elsewhere as well. After two years of experimentation, we finally have a sample and a model here. According to our estimations, if The Northlands relies on these tracks to ferry goods or passengers, the cost of transportation can be decreased by as much as two-thirds. It will multiply our efficiency several times over."
Lorist took a model carriage.
"Look, Supervisor. These carriages' wheels are not made of wood, but a round metal frame. The carriage wheels fit snugly in the tracks. Now look, when I connect all four carriages and give it a slight push..."
"But Your Grace, these carriages can travel on the ground without the carriage, right?"
"It's different. Not nearly as efficient," Lorist explained, "On the tracks, it just needs four horses to pull four carriages, on land, however, each carriage needs four horses. The speed is also inferior and it needs twelve more horses for the pulling. Before he repair our roads, traveling to the southern part of The Northlands on horseback takes at least two days while traveling on foot takes around six. It doesn't even take into account interference from the weather. If you bring along four carriages, you'll also have to hire coachmen to take care of the carriages and horses. It will also take at least four days. But with these tracks, with a resting station every 20 kilometers, you can make the same trip in less than a day.
Hansk wasn't an idiot, he quickly realised how much cheaper this system was. He still had two questions that bothered him, though.
"If the wheels are changed into round metal frames, won't it impact its movement on land? Also, would the round frames affect the tracks after being used on land? How will we maintain the tracks? The costs involved seem rather high."
Lorist nodded and picked up two circular metal objects.
"Your concerns are justified. But I've already considered them. Look at these. They are tires made of resin. They're elastic. If the carriages are to be used on land, we will fit them with these tires. Not only can it absorb some shocks, it can also prevent wear and tear on the metal wheels. The only problem is the slightly high cost. Each costs a large silver. But there are also other ways such as tying wood or vines to the wheels. While they aren't shock absorbent, they're good enough to prevent damage from friction."
Lorist then slipped the metal wheel models into the tires.
"Just like that, As for track maintenance, don't worry. Unlike our highways, we'll correct tolls from those who use the tracks. Given the immense cost and time savings, the merchants who use it will be more than happy to pay the toll. Naturally, it can't be set too high either. It must be based on the number of carriages and horses. I estimate we can make the money we spent on the tracks' construction in about three years. Each set of tracks can also be used for around a decade, so the toll collected in the last seven years will be pure profit.
"This is why I said this undertaking will be forever enshrined in history. The tracks are a never before seen method of transportation. I am sure it will be honored greatly in the annals of history. It was after much consideration that I decided to task you with this huge undertaking. There's no better person. Any thoughts?"
"Your Grace..."
By now, Hansk was remorseful and moved.
"I pledge I will complete this glorious task! Please rest assured, Your Grace. I won't disappoint you."
"As expected of one of the pillars of House Norton!" Lorist praised, "Then I shall delegate this task to you. The design, monitoring, and engineering departments are all prepared and ready. You can start tomorrow."
"There's no need to wait for tomorrow. I'll start immediately! This is too important to delay, even if for just a day!"
Hansk was filled with a sacred sense of duty. He bowed respectfully before turning to leave in large steps.
War in the South
"The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting." ~Unknown
"Aren't you being a little too sneaky, Your Grace? You're obviously trying to get him out of the house's central administration, yet you made it sound so appealing, what with his name being remembered across the centuries and how the project will heavily affect the house's future..."
Charade spoke while stretching after Hansk had marched out proudly.
"To be honest, we already have the departments ready for the project. We just have to carry it out according to the plan. Hansk's presence won't make much of a difference. We could easily put your name on the project instead. I'm sure he won't take to this kindly when he finds out."
"So would it be better to get into a huge argument instead? Didn't you see how jumpy he looked when he came in? If I really got into a fight now, it would unnerve the other officials, especially the older ones. I have to leave him some face either way," Lorist said with a shrug, "The old officials like Hansk think the house has reached the peak of its power. Now they think they've succeeded, they just want maintain the status quo, hence their vehement objections to the new policies. They believe stability is paramount, they don't understand we're still in an era of war. If we don't advance, we will begin to lag behind. The house might have control over The Northlands and influence over five other provinces but our enemies aren't going to sit around and do nothing. The old officials can't really see what's going on. They think we're safe.
"Hansk is the head of the officials and he is the leading member of the status quo faction. He thinks I don't know it, but the officials he promote are mostly those born in Maplewoods. He believes the older generation are more reliable even if they don't really qualify for their positions. He's also really apprehensive towards migrants. As a result, a lot of our policies and their execution are being held back because of friction in the administration. I'm sure you've read Tarkel's reports. The exposed corrupt town mayors of three towns in Felicitas were all people from Hansk's faction.
"Most of the officials who objected to my wedding with Sylvia are also from Maplewoods. At first, I didn't really mind it because I thought to have multiple factions in the house was nothing surprising. I was going to leave it unattended as long as it didn't affect our operations. Had it not been for Kedan's reminder, I wouldn't have been made aware of how influential Hansk has become. With but a call from him, two-thirds of the officials responded. He was the best person to be sent outside to supervise the construction project. Even if he knows my true purpose, he still has no choice. After all, I didn't lie when I said this plan will indeed be a huge development never-before-seen. His name will be chronicled in our history along with the never-before-seen carriage tracks."
"Your Grace, don't forget we've planned most of the development for The Northlands. With our 800 thousand captive laborers, the project will take at most three years. What will you do with Hansk when he comes back?"
Lorist smiled.
"Don't worry. Winston and Delamock are under our control. The two provinces will also require development. At the very least, carriage tracks must be laid to increase resource transportation efficiency. It is also the key to keeping hold of the provinces. After these two, there will still be our allies' territory in Southern and Sidgler. Hansk will be forgotten by the time he returns in no less than a decade. I'd like to see how much of a chance he stands in returning to the center of the administration."
Charade had his mouth agape for a moment before he forced himself back to normal.
"Locke, you're becoming more and more a real duke."
"I suppose I should take that as a compliment?"
Lorist laid back into his chair.
"In a flash, 14 years have passed since I returned to the north. People will change one way or another. If my old self from 14 years ago showed up in front of me now, I doubt I'd recognize myself. The citizens of Wildnorth were revolting and when I brought our forces to attack the town, I couldn't press my assault when I realized the ones guarding the walls were women, the elderly, and children. It ultimately resulted in my failure to take the walls. But now, I can order my soldiers to behead more than 100 thousand captives without batting an eye!
"What does it mean to be a noble? I came to understand it only after serving as a dominion lord for a decade. One cannot change the world with hot-blooded passion alone. You will be changed by the world instead. In my case, all I wanted was to defend my territory. But after being forced to retaliate against our enemies over and over again, I had you guys go around conquering with me, ending with the whole Northlands becoming our territory. Now I've taken the title of Duke of The Northlands, I realize I'm sitting at the edge of a volcano. If I don't expand and progress, all that awaits me is doom and ruin."
A knock on the door interrupted Lorist's long-winded dissertation. Jinolio entered and announced, "Your Grace, Sir Tarkel is here to see you."
Tarkel brought with him lots of information about the war between the Union and the mid-southern nations.
"Oh, so it was the mid-southern nations' army that loosed the first arrows, he? The Union is the retaliater?"
Lorist had thought the Union had lashed out first because the mid-southern nations tried to seal off their trade.
"Indeed, Your Grace," Tarkel said as he handed over a newspaper.
"This was the first large-scale conflict that had occurred between the two sides during the 11th month. The mid-southern nations' army attacked a Union camp. After killing around three hundred, they occupied the site. The Union promptly retaliated and the two sides struggled for control of the camp for more than 20 days before they retreated to their respective camps when winter came."
"How did their negotiations go down?" asked Charade.
"It wasn't conclusive. Three months ago, Falik Chronicles published some rumors about the negotiations," Tarkel said as he searched for the paper in question in stack.
"It says that the mid-southern nations demanded trade tariffs on any trade done by Union in their territories be raised from ten to twenty percent. The Union refused and requested the original conditions to be reinstated, which the other side refused in turn."
"How's the war looking?" asked Lorist.
"Here's a report Lundmorde wrote before the conflict broke out. As you predicted, he had been conscripted because there was a lack of herbalists on the front. Though he's on the front, his life is in no danger. We also sent two silver-ranks to serve by his side as his bodyguards."
Tarkel handed Lorist a few more letters.
Lorist browsed them quickly. In them, Lundmorde stated that -- apart from his bad luck that forced him to leave his seven wives unattended -- he was also worried about his 16 daughters. He asked Lorist to adopt them in case of his untimely death, as well as pensions for each of his seven wives so they could live out the rest of their lives without worry.
Just as Lorist was getting rather pissed at reading Lundmorde's pointless ramblings, the writer finally got to the point. Lundmorde summarized the situation after the war and said he noticed something odd. The two sides seemed to be putting on a show in that they didn't really go all out, both sides held some of their forces back. A few of the big-seven didn't even deploy their troops to the frontlines, and the mid-southern nations also seemed content with the situation. They bother to press the attack. The forces would be comprised of the armies of a few duchies or kingdoms and they would fare horribly against the Union's properly prepared defenses.
"The army's general is Duke Lorf Fustat, a rank 1 blademaster," Lorist muttered, "Sounds familiar. I think I've heard it somewhere before. Tarkel, do you have any information on this blademaster-duke?"
Tarkel shook his head.
"No, Your Grace. The mid-southern nations are too far away and we haven't yet been able to set up our informants there."
Charade answered after a moment's hesitation.
"I know him. He was in Morante 15 or 16 years ago. He was only a Marquis back then and was at the one-star gold rank. He was there to take the most beautiful girl of Dawn Academy as his wife, a girl bearing the name of Windsor..."
Lorist felt a rush of emotions as the painful memories buried in the depths of his psyche resurfaced. He recalled the moonlit night when his first love stood by the side of the middle-aged gentleman, leaning in his embrace and speaking intimately. His heart was being shredded as he struggled to make it back to his quarters. The next day, the middle-aged gentleman showed up and politely asked him to leave the girl's home. While Lorist didn't remember how he looked, he did remember the golden phoenix badge he wore on his chest.
The girl was Lorist's first love in both his lives. He wondered if the elf-like girl who danced under the moonlight was doing well. She was the one who wedded Duke Lorf Fustat. Sixteen years had passed without a word from her, and time had healed his wounds and almost wiped his memories. He looked gratefully at Charade. Given that Tarkel was there, Charade had reminded him who the duke was in such a roundabout way. Alongside the recollection, he also remembered that Duke Lorf Fustat was no simple noble. Back then, he had ruined Lorist's plan of restoring his first love's noble house to glory and ended up winning the hand of his lover.
After reading through the rest of the squabbles between the two sides, Lorist furrowed his brow.
"This is really odd. Duke Lorf Fustat shouldn't be this incapable. As the general of 200 thousand, how is he held back by such simple defenses? If we were faced with something similar, we'd wipe it out in three days..."
"It does seem weird, Your Grace," Charade said in deep thought, "I remember the weakest of the big-seven, Chikdor, took the Urubaha as its dominion. It is near the Golden Coast and is sandwiched between the Union and Tedanini Mountains as well as the 24 mid-southern nations. It's only separated by one duchy from Jigda. Since the mid-southern nations formed an alliance, why didn't they wipe out the guild's dominion right next to them? It really seems fishy."
Lorist pulled on a string to ring a small bell and Jinolio came promptly.
"Do you need anything, Your Grace?"
"Head to the accounting department. Bring me the trade records for merchant guilds Peterson and Chikdor," instructed Lorist as he took out a rolled-up map of the continent.
"Immediately, Your Grace."
The records were quickly brought over.
After a simple look-over by Charade and Tarkel, Charade said, "Peterson Merchant Guild's trade records have stayed the same over the past half-a-year. There's nothing unusual about their orders. They haven't requested any additional military equipment. The good news is they paid back more of the debt as well. They now only owe about 300 thousand gold Fordes. They'll clear the debt in another year."
Not satisfied yet, Lorist asked, "Did they not ask us to sell them more food?"
"No, Your Grace," Charade said with a shake of his head, "Over the last two years, the two southwestern provinces and the imperial capital reaped great harvests. The Union occupies a few provinces of the former empire that neighbor the two southwestern provinces, so it's likely their harvests went well as well. The Union's food shortage should've been solved."
"Your Grace," Tarkel interjected, "Chikdor has been increasing the volume of their orders. Apart from buying two-thirds of our spice, they also increased the amount of daily necessities and luxury products. Our informants questioned their sailors and have found they were transporting the goods to the Romon Empire and the Khawistan Khanate. They even praised our goods for being quick sellers. There isn't nearly enough to satisfy the demand."
"Did they ask us to sell them more weapons?"
"No," said Tarkel with a shake of his head as well.
"I smell a conspiracy."
Lorist stroked his chin in deep thought. "Look at the map. The southmost Romon and Khawistan went to war after 30 years of peace. This time, they worked pretty well together to wipe out Kalia between them first before going all out against each other. The 24 mid-southern nations also went to war with the Union. The flames of war burn all over the continent. The northern part of the continent where we are has stabilized somewhat. It's really odd when you think about it."
Charade, however, thought of another question.
"Kalia was wiped out even though they had a swordsaint, and that very swordsaint's whereabouts are unknown. I wonder if Romon and Khawistan's swordsaints forced him away..."
"Sir Charade, there are four known swordsaints on the continent, right?" asked Tarkel, "All are in the south. Apart from Romon and Khawistan's swordsaints, there's just the missing swordsaint and Jigda's, correct?"
Charade nodded.
"Yes. However, Jigda firesoar swordsaint is said to have been living in seclusion for more than two decades now. He hasn't shown himself to anyone and nobody knows whether he's still alive or not. The Krissen Empire used to have two but they fell during the century-long conflict with the Union. The Union also had a swordsaint, he died alongside one of ours. The Union ambushed and killed the other, but they paid a ridiculous price, setting the historical precedent of burying a swordsaint with hordes of blademasters."
Charade was quite well-informed about historical trivia like this.
"Alright, swordsaints are too far out from where we are right now. The conflict between nations is still rooted in the military might of each. Tarkel, I hope you will pick a group of reliable informants and send them to the mid-southern nations. We have to get a better understanding of the situation, especially anything relating to their elites, such as the army's general, Duke Lorf Fustat and his household. I don't mind if it takes some time. The war will not end quickly. Even though it's quite far away, I still hope we can gain a better understanding of it."
"Understood, Your Grace."
Before the Grand Wedding
"A successful marriage requires falling in love many times… Always with the same person. I suppose Lorist has failed already." ~ Charade, reading quotes in preparation for his speech at Lorist's wedding.
Regardless of how savage the war in the south was, it wouldn't affect the factions in the north. As some officials and knights had gladly put, the territory that used to be part of the empire had burned with the flames of war for decades after the three princes' power struggle. Now, it was finally the other nations' turn to suffer.
Lorist didn't feel inclined to focus on the two warzones. He was busy moving from Firmrock to Ragebear. Though he could order thousands of soldiers around without a problem, he was completely helpless when it came to dealing with household matters. Fortunately, Sylvia was around and performed as one would expect of the matron of the house. She coordinated the servants with great efficiency, keeping what should be kept and throwing out what wasn't needed. It didn't take too long for them to finish packing up and leave.
He praised her handling of the matter with admiration.
"I'm used to moving. This isn't anything to be surprised over," replied she nonchalantly.
On the 21st day of the 9th month, Lorist arrived in Ragebear with the administrative departments from Firmrock. From that day onwards, Ragebear was the Northlands' capital and the center of administration for the house. It was built on a flat piece of land with no difficult terrain or moas. A few hundred years earlier, there was a hill that wasn't taller than a hundred meters there. An unknown noble had built a run-down stronghold and made it his headquarters. After a few different owners, the cruddy place gradually developed into a large castle built of stone. It wasn't until later that House Loggins was entitled Duke of The Northlands and given a fief there. The first Duke Loggins didn't fancy living in the cold, lone castle and hired two well-known architects to build the largest city in the region with the castle at its core.
The city came to be named after the two architects and it developed into the first city to have a population over 100 thousand in The Northlands. As a result, the southern part of The Northlands became the most prosperous area of the province. Before Lorist returned to the dominion, it was the most prosperous and merry place to be. Compared to the magnificent city, Maplewoods in was but a little bastide in a little rural corner.
Duke Loggins only had himself to blame for making the wrong enemy. He had designated Lorist an easy and plentiful target on which to prey, resulting in the ultimate burial of his house. Following Duke Loggins's defeat, the regional capital attracted the ravenous second prince. The founder and ruler of the kingdom not only confiscated Duke Loggins's property, he also sent the duke to Windbury with the excuse of letting him stay there to recover from his sickness. The poor duke fell prey to bandits right after leaving The Northlands and his whole family was exterminated. Thus, a house of the former empire with hundreds of years of history met their demise.
When Lorist once again defeated the second highness and the 100-thousand-strong allied noble army of The Northlands, he formed the alliance of four houses and Gildusk became part of Baron Shazin's dominion, with the duke's manor falling into his hands. However, the capital of The Northlands had already been Lorist's two sieges. The rich had fled to House Norton's dominion. While Shazin did control the city, the income it generated wasn't much. Given that he didn't have enough money to sustain himself, Shazin didn't bother to take the extra mile in managing the place.
With the dominion relocation, Shazin's title was raised to that of a count and he moved his household all the way to Delamock, causing the capital to finally fall into Lorist's hands. Given its strategic location convenient for traffic, Lorist decided to move the headquarters there. He also ordered Grandmaster Ciroba to reconstruct the castle which had already stood for centuries and to revitalize it once more.
Lorist wasn't too satisfied with the first city blueprint of Ragebear Ciroba brought him. He had requested he design a city that could accommodate at least 300 thousand citizens. Even though the current population was less, he believed it wouldn't take long for it to turn busy after the house's various departments moved in.
Ciroba found himself was rather troubled because the city was originally designed to be only able to hold 100 thousand people. That was how wide the old city was. Lorist thus decided to have a central castle constructed at the center of the city as the main base of operations for the house and his residence -- just like Firmrock. The protected areas beyond the walls would be where the rich and members of the peerage would stay. As for the rest of the land, it would be split into plazas centered around business areas, military camps, and other facilities. As for commoner residences, they would be built outside the walls. That would essentially double the area of the city and avoid the trouble of having to reconstruct the city from the ground up.
Currently, the east of the city was already connected to the two special noble areas, separated only by a man-made canal three meters wide. Clouds of dust could be seen from a distance. It was apparent that the nobles who bought their land there were busy building their own manors. Carriages and people filled the streets and gave the city a merry atmosphere.
The duke's manor at the center of Ragebear had almost doubled in size. The old manor was designed with the concept of a garden in mind, but Ciroba had built a five-story-tall castle as per Lorist's request. The old and new designs were fused without damaging the gardens. Out of consideration of safety, Lorist's residence was built atop the hundred-meter-tall hill where a new castle was constructed. It was connected to the administrative center through the walls. It almost seemed like there was another citadel built within Ragebear itself.
By the time everyone had settled down, it was the start of the 10th month. Lorist saw himself becoming busier as he hurried around to welcome the nobles who had arrived at Ragebear early to attend the wedding. On the 17th day of the 10th month, Lorist's elder cousin, Gold-ranked Knight Glacia, brought her family along.
Glacia returned to The Northlands with her mother and two younger brothers. According to young Lorist's memories, his second uncle's wife, his aunt, was a sickly beauty. She looked more or less how he remembered, just much paler and older. She was still sickly as usual and feared cold winds or strong light. After a short chat, she retired to her chambers. Lorist really wondered how a person like that had managed to survive the turbulent times of civil war.
It was Lorist's first time meeting his two cousins, however. One of them was 28 and a two-star silver rank. He was obviously not as talented as Glacia when it came to training. The other was 22 and at the two-star bronze rank, a little worse than the former. Glacia claimed they were more academically inclined and would serve as officials in the future.
Glacia herself had changed a lot. Not only did she look much paler, she had also lost a considerable amount of weight. It didn't take Lorist long to pick up on something, so he asked her about the second highness. At first, she wasn't really willing to discuss the matter, but she later helplessly confessed that she had broken up with him. That was why she had lost her position as the leader of the city guard. She had brought her family back to the house and said she wouldn't go back.
Why? Lorist wondered, Why did the second highness break up with Glacia? Doesn't he know this means he will no longer get our aid? He might even be cautiously regarded as a potential hostile. Putting aside Glacia's father, who has loyally fought as an imperial knight and served as a brigadier-general before perishing on the battlefield, Glacia followed the second highness loyally for more than two decades as well... Not only did she charge into one dangerous battle after another, she was also his lover. How could the second highness put an end to such a long-lasting relationship?
Glacia didn't reveal any details no matter what. With a completely cold expression, she said that she was worn out and wanted to spend the rest of her life quietly. She had returned to the house mainly because of her two younger brothers, the imperial capital was not a good environment for them to grow and develop. Given how House Norton was at its peak, she wanted to entrust the elder to Lorist and send the younger to Dawn Academy. Though he was a little older than the rest, the youngest sibling was smart and curious and would definitely be quite capable in the future.
Lorist was still fraught with curiosity but there was no way he could force Glacia to tell him anything she didn't want. As for their quarters, Glacia could pick one of the six remaining manors. Even if she said she wanted to live in peace without agreeing to serve the house, she was still a gold-ranked knight and a member of the house, she deserved one of the manors.
Lorist didn't suspect for a moment Glacia was sent by the second highness to spy on him. Pulling off an act like breaking up to sneak into the house as a spy was nothing but a joke. He was sure the defeated look on her face came from true emotional shock. Otherwise, she wouldn't say anything like wanting to live in seclusion. The simple arrangements for the brothers were nothing about which to be suspicious either. The elder would join the local defense brigade while the younger would attend Dawn Academy.
Two days later, Lorist put the matter behind him. Apart from instructing Tarkel to send people to the imperial capital to find out the specifics, he was busy receiving the visiting nobles. There was one day he had to meet 16 different nobles… his face was sore from all the smiling. The date of the grand wedding had already been decided. It would take place on the 8th day of the 11th month. It was the reason for the sudden influx of nobles who came forward to present their gifts. There were also many merchants with honorary noble titles coming over to better their relations and ask Lorist construct two more special noble areas so they could buy land and build their manors there too.
When Charade came over, he told Lorist something to which he didn't know how to react. Some time earlier, the house had released a notice stating that honorary nobles from other nations could spend a sum to convert their honorary titles into those recognized by House Norton. However, given that the fee was rather high, many merchants were unwilling to pay. So, many of them cut corners by becoming honorary nobles of Andinaq because House Norton was also part of the nation. They headed to the imperial capital to purchase noble titles from the second highness which were half the cost of conversion, allowing the second highness to earn more than 100 thousand gold Fordes for doing nothing. It also made The Northlands see an influx of near a hundred honorary Andinaq nobles.
Charade said to teach those who cheaped out a lesson, the third special noble zone soon up for auction should only be sold to nobles that converted their honorary titles to those of House Norton. After all, those of the house should look out for themselves first, even if they were of the same nation. Naturally, while the other honorary nobles from the kingdom couldn't purchase any land, they could still buy smaller villas. It was the only way they could raise their status. It was a given that they would be inferior in comparison to those that purchased their own land to build their manors though and it was the lesson they would be taught.
Lorist agreed and left him in charge.
I wondered why there were so many new honorary Andinaq nobles lately. So they came over from the imperial capital, huh... Explains how there were more people than I could spare the time to greet...
During the last three days of the 10th month, Duke FIsablen's two envoys, Aridok and Napole showed up once more. They brought the duke's reply: the armistice would last for three years. The duke had already signed and sealed the document, but Aridok didn't seem happy. When he presented the document, he mocked House Norton for downgrading their mighty Firmrock to a mere garrison.
It seemed House Fisablen had realized the banners of Firmrock, currently stationed at the borders, had 'garrison' appended. In essence, House Norton exploited a loophole in their agreement, but House Fisablen couldn't do anything about it. Lorist wasn't embarrassed in the least. 'Firmrock had always been a garrison legion', were his words. Before the war, they had guarded Firmrock Castle. They were only moved to the borders to 'defend' them.
The two envoys didn't think Lorist would be so shameless as to insist that Firmrock was a garrison legion. Their faces darkened with anger. Apart from signing the armistice, they also came to carry out two instructions. The first was to negotiate the ransom of the 40 plus thousand soldiers of Third Frontier. Last time, they only managed to ransom the household knights and household members. Now, they believed that, since the armistice was signed, Lorist should allow the soldiers ransomed to reunite with their families.
Lorist refused without even thinking about it.
Are you kidding me? If I release the 40 plus thousand soldiers, Duke Fisablen can build another Frontier right away! There's no way I'd be crazy enough to agree!
Fortunately, the two envoys knew their request had touched Lorist's baseline and weren't too stubborn. The other mission was to visit Princess Sylvia. They said they had brought something to her per the duke's orders. Out of curiosity, Lorist sent for someone to bring Sylvia over and went to see what Duke Fisablen wanted to give her. He didn't think that after checking the three large, four-wheeled carriages, Sylvia would actually hug Lorist and start crying. The carriages carried all her possessions, ranging from the toys with which she played in her childhood, to clothes, other daily necessities, and the decorations she used in her quarters including even a small cushion and rug. Apart from that, a dozen servants came along and they were all those who had taken care of her since her childhood.
Sylvia resisted the urge to continue crying after a while before she thanked the two envoys and instructed the servants of the castle to bring the three carriages to the back. She brought out a sack of gold coins and heavily rewarded the dozen old servants, but she refused their request to stay and serve by her side before returning to the backyard.
Lorist had the two envoys taken care of after telling them they would be welcome to attend his wedding before rushing to the backyard. To his surprise, he found Sylvia starting a fire and tossing everything from the three carriages into it as she cried.
Lorist asked her what the stuff was out of curiosity.
She leaped into his embrace and whimpered.
"Locke, all I have right now is you..."
Feeling a rush of emotion, he finally understood what was going on and hugged Sylvia tightly.
The Wedding
"In marriage there are no manners that must be kept, and beneath the wildest accusations no criticism. Each is familiar with that ancient child in the other whom may erupt again at any moment. We are not ridiculous to ourselves; we are ageless. That is the luxury of the ring." ~ Empress Fisablen Sylvia on marriage in a letter to her daughter.
"Your Grace, word of Princess Sylvia burning all of the gifts Duke Fisablen sent has spread all over Ragebear. The knights and officials, as well as the landed nobles, are praising Her Highness. They all have good things to say about her becoming house matron," reported Charade the next day.
He himself found Sylvia's actions quite praiseworthy. Lorist didn't really know how to react. Human imagination was practically boundless. Sylvia had burned everything the day before to vent her feelings. She was torn when she saw Duke Fisablen send over everything she'd ever owned, as if he wanted them out of the house, as if he no longer acknowledged her as his granddaughter. Why hadn't even a single member of the House come over to attend the wedding if this was not so? She took it as an act of cutting ties with her. She was filled with grief and pain. In a fit of rage, she'd burned all the toys, clothes, and products she'd used since her childhood.
Since you won't acknowledge me, I won't acknowledge you. Let's burn it all so nothing remains to remind me of you. I'll have nothing to do with House Fisablen from now on.
After accompanying Sylvia for the night, Lorist had realized she was rather naive when it came to such things. She was like a ten-year-old lass, still immature. He could understand why this was the case, though; she had, after all, grown up in a very isolated and protected environment. She simply had no way to know the world's woes and the human mind. Which was why she had jumped to the conclusion that House Fisablen had been trying to cast her away.
He thought further than that, though. He was reasonably skilled at reading between the lines. He believed the duke had no intention to abandon Sylvia. Instead, it was meant as a reminder to Sylvia of the time she had spent in the house, to remind her of her origin. There was no need to send them over otherwise. The servants were also brought over so Sylvia would have people she could trust to help her manage her daily life. Additionally, there would be someone available to deliver any messages to the house. As for House Fisablen not allowing anyone to participate in her wedding, it was probably to avoid arousing the others' suspicion and to not put Lorist on alert. Unfortunately, the duke had not expected the usually intelligent princess to be ignorant when it came to emotional matters.
Lorist's stomach ached from his suppressed laughter, but he had to maintain his solemn facade and console the girl. When Duke Fisablen received word of what had happened from his envoys, he would definitely be dumbstruck and regret his decision.
Hehe, old fox, you didn't think there would be this kind of misunderstanding, huh? It'll be even harder when you come to clarify things later. While it's easy to stick and pull out a thorn in a person's heart, healing the wound left behind is not so easy.
Though the matter seemed relatively simple, word was that Sylvia had burned the duke's gifts in the name of House Norton and cut off all relation with House Fisablen. Many people praised her. There were no idiots; everyone understood the implications of leaving Firmrock at the borders of Southern and Eastwild as well as Jaeger's reformation. Even if they had signed an armistice, House Norton still considered Hous Fisablen an enemy. They were even preparing for the next war when the last one had barely ended. Naturally, Lorist didn't bother to correct the misunderstanding. In fact, he couldn't be happier. He just asked tarkel to watch House Fisablen's servants closely and make sure they didn't linger in the dominion. Given how Sylvia had already heavily rewarded them, even if they had been exiled, they should be able to start a new life somewhere else. If they really remained in Ragebear, it was a sign that they probably had other intentions. Lorist would not allow them to meet Sylvia, lest she pity them and allow them to stay at her side. It would only sow the seed of turmoil.
After sending Tarkel off, Lorist lay on the couch tiredly. Sylvia had been crying and couldn't sleep the night before. He had naturally lost his sleep as well.
"Sigh, tell me, how many nobles must I greet today?"
"None, Your Grace. I've refused all requests for audiences. You may rest."
Charade was rather considerate when it came to such matters.
"Thanks," Lorist said as he rolled on the couch to find a better position.
"I leave the rest to you. Also, the wedding is in seven days. Is everything in order?"
"Don't worry, everything's prepared. Will Your Grace stay here or travel after the wedding?"
Though the folk of Grindia didn't have a tradition of going on honeymoon, nobles would usually go for a trip. Normally, they would travel around their dominion. Some would travel to places with good scenery. Their trips were always expensive. There had once been a king who had spent three years on the road with his wife. He had traveled to nearly all the nations on the continent. It was recorded as the longest post-wedding trip in history.
"Well, I'll live in Cherry Blossom Ridge outside the city," Lorist said, "Winter will come soon. I'm too lazy to go around traveling. I'll spend winter on the estate and travel around the dominion with Sylvia come the 4th or 5th month while I check the defenses and troops. Since we don't have any major undertakings on the table for next year, we just have to keep our forces in shape, and my dominion secure. I leave the administration in your care."
Charade nodded.
"Very well. You ought to rest."
Lorist and Sylvia's wedding cost 1.37 million gold Fordes and was known as the most expensive wedding in the last century. The cost of the ceremony itself was around 100 thousand gold Fordes. The greatest expense was the gifts. To get all the citizens into a festive mood, all commoners received a gift bag including a small silver. Men would receive half a kilogram of meat and half a kilogram of wheat wine, women a set of fine cutlery or some other daily necessities. As for retired soldiers, they received meat, wine, and a large silver coin. That alone cost nearly 800 thousand gold Fordes.
Surprisingly, Spiel wasn't that stingy this time. The main reason was that the mining in Goldridge had begun. The income the mines brought the house was estimated at around two million gold Fordes. Secondly, House Fisablen had signed an armistice, and the resumption of trade on a large scale gave the house quite a boost. Lorist had also said that during the last three years the house had spent exterminating Madras and Iblia, the production of goods had been affected somewhat. The products that piled up in the warehouse couldn't be sold and the economy didn't look too good. So, giving them away as gifts would not only clear up storage space for new stuff to kick off the economy in the following year, it would also give the citizens who received the goods a taste of what they considered expensive. It would encourage them to spend their money acquiring the goods in the future instead of burying their wealth.
Spiel found Lorist's reasoning incredibly sound. Just like how the house was giving away meat and wine, a few years back, the house had traded weapons with House Fisablen for livestock and made the western area of The Northlands into pastures. They initially thought the citizens' demand for beef and mutton would explode. They hadn't thought that apart from the household forces, the commoners were exceedingly thrifty. They would more or less only purchase meat once a month for a taste. They were used to hardship and loved to store their money up for the future just in case of any emergencies. The low demand resulted in an explosion in the livestock population instead. They had soon run out of places to make pastures. So, the house slaughtered some livestock every year and made jerky for convenient storage.
Using the opportunity, House Norton conducted a detailed survey of the population. The survey revealed that the region's total population had grown to about 1.67 million. The Northlands now once again had the same population they had had during the empire's golden age. It was a really impressive figure. Though most of the population were migrants, it was only to be expected given how much damage the civil war had wrought on the empire, especially with the chaos caused by Duke Loggins and the other conflicts between the Northlander nobles.
There was nothing much to say about the wedding. The whole city was immensely decorated and there were seas of meat and wine all over. Though the permanent residents of Ragebear weren't too many, the ones invited to observe the ceremony filled the city. First, Lorist and Sylvia paraded in the streets in a grand carriage. They then hosted a large feast and ball in the castle for the nobles and household members. When the silver moon was high in the night sky, the couple took up their place on the stage. Bathed in silver moonlight and with the nobles present as witnesses, they swore their love and respect and recited their nauseating oaths. They exchanged rings and had a Church of the Wargod cardinal officiate their lawful wedding under the Wargod and Silvermoon Goddess' purview.
The wedding was planned to be an incredibly traditional one by noble standards. Lorist felt it was not all that different from weddings in his previous life, with all the associated routines and the bride and groom being ordered about by others. In his previous life, after he'd retired from the military he took over his father's little workshop and toiled to keep it running. By the time the workshop was running smoothly again, he'd realized he was already over thirty, so he had his relatives introduce one partner after another. There was even a month where he attended eight marriage meetings.
He had been rather optimistic at first and had hoped he could find a partner that shared his values. He soon gave up on the idea. The millennial women he met were very materialistic and talks about his car, house, and bank account were the focus of the conversation. In the end, he stopped being picky. After shacking with the one who would be his bride for two months, he got her pregnant and they soon got married.
His post-wedding life was plain, to say the least, and the couple didn't have many topics about which they could talk. It wasn't really a problem that his wife hadn't been a virgin. Most of the people in undergraduate studies probably messed around quite a bit anyway. He didn't have any specific requests, so he just went with it. The problem was that he and his wife held really different views. Though he wasn't really educated, he had served his country and shed blood and tears for it. Bur the contribution of which he was so proud was considered something only a fool would do by his wife. She believed he had wasted his most important years: his youth. If he hadn't enlisted in the military and actually picked up some real skills, he would've probably managed to develop his little workshop into a large listed company. They would have had enough money to emigrate.
Their first argument happened when one of his comrades came to visit him. It was his first time beating a woman in his life: he gave his wife a harsh slap. A cold war followed for half a year. They weren't willing to say a single word to each other. Had it not been for not wanting to hurt their daughter, they would've filed for divorce. The two slept separately, and, as a result, Lorist bed his secretary. Since the secretary, ten years his junior, was really open and didn't mind relieving him of his manly desires, he didn't mind doing it. She didn't have that good a relationship with her own husband either, anyway.
The flashback gradually faded. Right now, he had completely integrated into Grindia. Sometimes, he felt his past life was nothing but a distant dream he hadn't experienced himself. He was currently the head of House Norton, Duke of The Northlands, a duke of the Andinaq kingdom. He had hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers at his beck and call. And now, he had a beautiful, fairy-like girl bound to him in matrimony. Just like the netizens of his previous life would say, he was in the prime of his life.
After the wedding, Sylvia clasped his arm and took a walk across the venue. They received the greetings and congratulations of the household knights and officials, and the guests. She wore a blissful smile on her beautiful face and seemed more blinding than usual. When the midnight bells struck Lorist took her to their new room.
As opposed to Lorist, who was a little worn out from dealing with the pestering nobles, Sylvia was extremely serious. This would be the most important night of her life, the night she gave her innocence to her one, true love. Upon entering the room, to hide her anxiety, emotional turmoil, and fear, she looked for things to do. She made Lorist some macks, wiped the table, made the bed, and realized that she was sweaty all over by the time she ran out of things to do. She had her two maids prepare a bath. When she was bathing, she felt a little anxious about Lorist coming in with her, but also hoped e would at the same time. Her feelings fluttered with the contradictory notions.
Lorist, however, didn't give it that much thought.
You're already meat on my table. Delaying the deed won't help!
He let her go about however she wished. He felt physically and mentally worn out. Interacting with all those nobles had really taken a toll on him. Just like wearing a mask, he had to put on a hollow smile and think of something pleasing to say. It was far too troubling and tiring. Sometimes, he felt more willing to take on ten rank 3 blademasters at once than dealing with nobles. The former was probably much easier. The moment he thought about how he would have to deal with the nobles in the future as well, his head numbed. Sentiments what could be expressed in a few curt sentences took ages for nobles to express; they beat around the bush too much. Though he mocked himself from time to time, the nobles regarded him with caution in fear of offending someone with his status.
What's the point? It makes things difficult for everyone... Oh gosh, I'm tired... I suppose I ought to lie down for a bit...
When Sylvia had finished her bath, she saw Lorist snoring.
Bastard, this is the most important night of my life! How can you fall asleep?!
She stopped caring about hiding her body modestly and let her towel drop to the ground. She got into bed naked, bore her fangs, and gave Lorist's shoulder a harsh bite.
"Ouuuuch!"