Chapter 257: The Reason for Not Coming
Viscount Vitorino Dennis of Pointe City was a Silver Knight.
At the nobles' meeting held in Wushan Castle last month, he had personally attended and even pledged to lead elite troops against the Polish Thieves Group.
Luo Ning had not expected his absence and sent someone to investigate. That was when he discovered the reason for Vitorino's failure to appear.
A massive sea monster—an eight-meter-long sword shark—had suddenly appeared in Dennis Port, wreaking havoc on merchant ships and causing dozens of casualties.
To resolve the crisis swiftly, Viscount Vitorino led his elite knights aboard a warship to hunt the creature. However, the sword shark punctured the hull, causing the vessel to sink gradually. If not for the monster's reckless charge onto the deck, where it was ultimately slain by the combined bombardment of Vitorino and his men, the outcome could have been disastrous.
Although victorious, Vitorino and his knights suffered severe injuries. The viscount himself had a large chunk of flesh torn from his thigh and was now bedridden in his castle.
It was evident that he could not participate in the campaign against the Polante Bandits.
Not only was he incapacitated, but his elite knights who had fought the sword shark were also too injured to fight.
Defeating a Level 5 monster at sea was undeniably perilous.
Yet, Ronin remained skeptical. He suspected that the entire ordeal might have been fabricated—perhaps no sword shark had ever terrorized Dennis Port, and this was merely an excuse for Vitorino to avoid the war.
He sighed. Vitorino's absence meant the loss of two valuable high-end combat forces.
But what could he do?
Ronin couldn't just fly to Pointe City on his dragon to verify whether Vitorino was truly bedridden. Even if he found the viscount alive and well, he had no authority to compel him to the battlefield.
On the battlefield, Luo Ning was a commander. Outside of it, he and Vitorino were both viscounts under Wushan Castle.
Besides, Pointe City was far wealthier than Wubei Territory.
Still, to demonstrate loyalty to Wushan Castle, Vitorino had sent a reinforcement force of 300 men to the Stone Territory as scheduled.
Ronin had yet to assess the quality of these troops, but their sheer numbers were impressive, making them the largest noble contingent.
Compared to Vitorino, other nobles were far less "generous."
Apart from the nearly bankrupt Baron Conor, who led a mere three-man team, the other barons and pioneer knights fielded forces of 30 to 50 men at best, with many mustering only a dozen or so.
Ronin, atop his Cloud-Stepping Horse, surveyed the disorganized noble camps scattered outside Stone City. He frowned.
Could such an army even be considered combat-ready?
A horse galloped toward him. Rognar dismounted and reported.
"Sir, I inquired about the situation in Pointe City. The leader of their contingent is Mahamet Lev, a knight appointed by Viscount Vitorino. He is a Bronze-level knight."
"He has two mid-level knights and five junior knights. The rest are ordinary infantry and archers—no cavalry."
A Bronze Knight was respectable, but the rest of the force left much to be desired.
"Rognar, why do you think Viscount Vitorino refuses to join this war?" Luo Ning asked.
He had his own theories but wanted an outsider's perspective.
Rognar hesitated before replying, "He likely sees no benefit in it. The more he invests, the greater his losses."
"Explain why he believes there's no gain," Ronin pressed.
Rognar smiled awkwardly. "It's probably related to your father, Earl Wiggins."
He then shared his insights.
In short, well-informed nobles—including Vitorino, Marvin, and German—were aware that Earl Wiggins held a stake in the Chishan Town iron mine.
If Wushan Castle reclaimed Chishan Town in this war, it would not remain under Corian's management.
Given Wiggins' nature, he would likely claim the mine—and possibly the town itself—as his own.
Hearing this, Luo Ning sighed.
Vitorino and the others had been Wiggins' longtime subordinates and understood his mindset well.
However, they miscalculated one thing—Wiggins had no interest in managing Chishan Town. Instead, he planned to hand it over to Ronin.
Under these circumstances, the potential rewards for nobles supporting the war were limited.
For many, the only tangible benefit would be plundering battlefield spoils.
Other rewards—such as gaining military experience, reputation, or influence—meant little to smaller nobles compared to actual wealth.
If they were unlikely to receive a significant share of the spoils, and what remained was negligible, why would they commit elite forces?
Instead, they sent token contingents, mostly composed of conscripted serfs, led by a handful of knights, merely to fulfill their feudal obligations.
Marvin and German, however, were exceptions.
Marvin's second son, Rognar, served under Ronin, who was leading the war effort. As his father, Marvin naturally had to support him.
As for German, Ronin had saved his son and daughter's lives. Additionally, at a banquet, he had eliminated the threat posed by Lei Sen. In gratitude, German provided additional troops.
"So, in the end, our main force will be the three knight groups from Wushan Fort, Wubei Territory, Muma City, and Hushang Town, totaling over a dozen knight squads," Ronin concluded.
"A dozen squads are more than enough, my lord," Rognar assured. "The enemy is estimated to have at most one knight order. We have the advantage."
"Perhaps."
Ronin waved his hand dismissively. "Inform the team leaders. Now that we've gathered in Stone Territory, we'll move together starting tomorrow. Once we reach Stone City and join Toru, Corrine, and Philip, we'll convene a war council."
"At your service, my lord!"
Ronin assigned the task to Rognar, as he was well-connected, unlike McKeon, Rydar, and Joffrey, who had little experience dealing with high-ranking nobles.
Returning to his tent, Ronin summoned Redal, Macon, and Elrond.
In this war, Wubei Territory's high-end combat power would no longer remain hidden.
But for the iron mine in Chishan Town, it was a price worth paying.
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