Strategies and Plans
Hey guys, here's the second sponsored chapter of the week also brought to you by Sebastian S. of Germany. Enjoy the read!
After receiving the report on the successful occupation of Kobo City, Charade spent 29 days to lead the convoy and the 100000 plus vagabonds from Vanades City over to Kobo City. That level of efficiency truly surprised Lorist as they had managed to traverse a distance of over 340 kilometers within a month with more than 100000 people.
Charade's method was simple: apart from the resources they transported as well as the elderly and children who rode carriages straight to the destination, he had 7 temporary campsites set up along the 340 kilometer route from Vanades City to Kobo City with each camp having 1000 transport carriages. Each camp would then focus on shipping the people from one camp to the next camp and the carriages would return to the camp to fetch the next batch, allowing everyone to travel using carriages by taking turns, shortening the length of transport as a whole by magnitudes.
The Second Highness's near 10000 Royal Defense Guard soldiers occupied Vanades City after that and headed for Kobo City with the aim of procuring some food.
Lorist on the other hand didn't mind that request at all since the city had more than what they needed. After making an inventory of the warehouses within the city, they found roughly 150 million kilograms worth of food, much to the awe of the rest. The Delamock Province did indeed live up to its name as the largest warehouse for food of the former empire. With that amount of food, there was no longer any worry for the harsh season that was to come and the people of the convoy and the vagabonds would spend it within Kobo City.
However, the Second Highness's plan to borrow some food was stopped by Charade, who said, "While lending you some food is fine and dandy, you should at least have some kind of mortgage, right? Even if you're of the royal family of the Andinaq Kingdom and have the status to rule the country, you must still act according to the nobles' traditions and customs. Surely you aren't going to think that we'll just hand out whatever amount you specify, right?"
In actuality, the Second Highness was currently even poorer than the convoy and Charade's actions were made on purpose to cause him some trouble. Even so, the Second Highness did not get mad over it and merely returned to Vanades City with a smile. Ten days later, he came back to Kobo City and shipped a large bunch of resources to them. Upon seeing those resources, Charade wanted to cry, but he didn't have any tears to shed.
Those resources were in fact the stuff of the merchants at Vanades City that Charade himself had wanted to acquire for a third of the market price. However, the Second Highness was even worse as he had taken the resources in the name of 'confiscating enemy goods' and used them as a mortgage for the food he was about to borrow. In the end, the Second Highness left Kobo City with 50 million kilograms of food and continued to have people transport the food out of the province despite the harsh winter weather.
Curious about why the Second Highness was in such a rush to ship the food, Charade went to ask Lorist privately about the matter.
Lorist's explanation was simple: the Second Highness wanted to recruit more soldiers to prepare for war.
Taking a beastskin map of the Andinaq Kingdom out, Lorist explained that when spring comes next year, the Second Highness would face two huge battles. Naturally, one of them would be the retaliation of the Madras Duchy. Lorist then pointed at the border between the Redlis Kingdom and the Andinaq Kingdom and mentioned that he had heard about the First Prince's signing of a peace treaty with the Four Allied Duchies and that the First Prince still had quite a huge military force at his disposal. With his insatiable personality, he would definitely turn to the Andinaq Kingdom as his next unlucky prey.
"Thanks to you," Lorist said as he looked at Charade and laughed, "the Second Highness managed to resolve the issue of the problematic nobles within his kingdom and stabilized the kingdom's situation and began production and development. If they can be left at peace for two to three more years, the Andinaq Kingdom will definitely rise to be a local hegemon. If we give them another 10 years to develop, the Second Highness's dream of reuniting the empire might even be possible.
"What the Second Highness lacks most now is time. So far, he's employing the strategy to conquer more land step by step in the north and defend his territory in the south. As for the First Prince's Redlis Kingdom, the Second Highness will leave the borders of the two kingdoms under the care of the Fiercegale Legion. However, given that the Fiercegale Legion has been mobilized for many battles over the years and given that they've had to weather the Second Prince's attacks, they've incurred quite a huge loss themselves. The Second Highness must replenish the soldiers of the Fiercegale Legion so that they can continue to defend the border in the long term, hence the need for more food supplies as well as equipment.
"As for the Madras Duchy, the Second Highness would definitely love it if he could conquer it. However, even though he has the will to do it, he's far from having enough military strength to take it. His plan right now is to first take the Yungechandler Province so that he can contact the Four Allied Duchies to hopefully gain some support while he suppresses the forces of Duke Madras over here. That way, he can take over the whole duchy after two years of preparation."
Charade looked at the map in deep thought before he suggested, "Milord, why don't we stay here and don't leave and have the Second Highness give Delamock Province to our family? In exchange, we can help the Second Highness take over the Madras Duchy. It's a win-win solution that I believe the Second Highness would be happy to agree to."
Flabbergasted, Lorist stared at Charade for a while before he asked, "Are you the only one who has this notion or does the rest think so as well?"
Charade gave it some thought before he said, "Two days back when I was on the walls to check out the condition of the defensive fortifications of the walls, I saw a bunch of vagabonds gathered up near the moat of the castle, so I went down to see what was going on. They were actually telling stories and folklore about the Delamock Province and Kobo City. The moment I heard that the province has tons of farmland and that was the reason it was the greatest producer of food in the former empire, I was moved. If we can take over this province, it would definitely be a great help to the family!"
Lorist laughed bitterly as he shook his head before he said, "Don't daydream so much in the future. Good things like this don't really happen."
"Why? Even if the Second Highness refuses to give the province to us, we can at least ask for the area around Kobo City since it was taken by our forces. That way, we can have the 100000 vagabonds begin farming and make a firm footing for our family within the Delamock Province," Charade said, still not satisfied without an explanation.
"Sigh..." Lorist said after he took a deep breath, "Brother Charade, your vision of things to come is too optimistic. The Second Highness will definitely not give us Delamock Province nor Kobo City, even if we help him take over the entire province. Even if we forcefully occupy a place, it would not be recognized by the Second Highness.
"Had the Second Highness been a king that was content with what he had and didn't yearn for anything else, then what you think might have a possibility of coming true. However, it can be seen that he's a person who's full of ambition given that he wants to reunite the former empire one day. That's why, even though he's willing to give the whole of the Northlands to our family, he definitely won't let us touch Delamock Province.
"If you study the map properly, you'll start to understand the strategy of the Second Highness. Why did he leave so many nobles alive within the two provinces of the Andinaq Kingdom? The reason is simple: the two provinces are to be buffers to resist the First Prince's attacks and he wouldn't bat an eye even if they are ravaged from the battles that go on there. However, when you sweeped the Welbassia Province, the Second Highness didn't say a single word and let you hang all the nobles over there. That's because he wants to take the whole of the Welbassia Province into the direct control of the Andinaq Royal Family and use that as the basis for the restoration of his family's power. He will definitely not enfeoff any part of that land to any landed noble.
"Now, take a look at the map of the Madras Duchy. Essentially, the Yungechandler Province is already under the Second Highness's control. Even though the province is desolate and barren right now, the Second Highness has already eliminated the 20 plus noble families here using treason as an excuse for their punishment and left only 7 dominion lords who were earnest and willing to follow the orders of the Second Highness and serve him.
"Why would the Second Highness kill off so many nobles in the Yungechandler Province all of a sudden then? That doesn't fit his usual way of doing things. That's mainly because he wishes to also take the whole province into the territory of the royal family. Next, he will have to face Duke Madras and the Seamountain Legion which is currently at Sidgler Province. Given that the Sidgler Province is under total control of the duke without any other landed noble based there, as long as the Second Highness can take this province, he will start to deal with the other landed nobles at Delamock Province.
"Food is the most important resource for war to a kingdom after all. Without food, a kingdom wouldn't be stable at all. The Second Highness had once got the short end of the stick in the past because he lacked exactly that resource. As the province that produces the most amount of food in the former empire, there's no way that the Second Highness will let it fall into the hands of any other noble and he'll also wipe out the noble families within this province while he's at it. Either that, or he'll move the nobles that join his side to the Sidgler Province. Now, take a look at this again. If these provinces all fall into the hands of the royal family, what do you think will happen?"
Lorist took out a map of the former Krissen Empire which was divided into three kingdoms and seven duchies and drew a line across the Welbassia Province within the Andinaq Kingdom, the Madras Duchy's Yungechandler Province and the Delamock Province before he drew a circle on the Northlands.
Charade was confused as he pointed to the Northlands and asked, "What's with that circle?"
"Did you forget what the Second Highness said? When he eliminates the Madras Duchy and takes over the land up to the border of the Northlands, if us, the Norton Family, manages to take over the whole of the Northlands, he will grant me the title of the Duke of the Northlands in the name of the Andinaq Royal Family. That circle represents our family," Lorist replied.
"Under such circumstances, where do you think the Second Highness will turn his soldiers to next?" Lorist asked Charade.
Charade pointed to the Iblia Kingdom and said, "The Second Prince."
Lorist nodded and continued, "Right. This is also the other reason why the Second Highness definitely won't give the Delamock Province to us or any other noble. Only when the province is under the direct control of the royal family would he be able to move manpower and resources to the frontlines effectively. The Delamock Province and the Iblia Kingdom is split by the Sanderson Hill Range. As long as the Second Highness mobilizes his troops, he'll be able to easily breach into the territory of the Iblia Kingdom and there's no way the Second Prince will be able to hold out for long.
"We all know that the Second Prince mainly relied on his father-in-law, Duke Fisablen who commands the Frontier Legion of the former empire to establish the kingdom. If the Second Highness launches an expedition against the Iblia Kingdom, there's no doubt that Duke Fisablen will mobilize the Frontier Legion in response. That is when the Second Highness can rely on us, the Norton Family. If we deploy our soldiers from the Northlands, and coupled with the assistance of Duke Melein, Duke Fisablen will be assaulted from three fronts and be forced to order his men to retreat and sit still as he watches the Second Highness sweep past the Iblia Kingdom without being able to do a thing."
Understanding what Lorist was going to say next, Charade recited the inevitable moves the Second Highness would take. "If the Second Highness really manages to defeat the Iblia Kingdom, then the plan to reform the empire will take form and he will definitely order us to face off against Duke Fisablen while he would force the Four Allied Duchies to return to the empire. After that, he'll rally up forces to eliminate the Redlis Kingdom of the First Prince and nobody would be able to stop him. The Second Highness will thus be able to complete his ambition to reunite the empire and take the throne as the next emperor and be remembered as a heroic legend in the history books...
"The Second Highness is really playing a big game here. He has already made up his mind to use us to face off against the Frontier Legion of Duke Fisablen so that we wouldn't be able to play a bigger part in the reunification of the empire so that he doesn't have to reimburse or reward us for our troubles... He's really calculated that far ahead in his plans..." finished Charade before he sighed.
Lorist smiled and said, "This is his master plan. With everything being done so openly, he's made it so that others can have nothing to say about it."
"Then, don't we have any way to glean more benefits for ourselves in this situation?" Charade asked, dissatisfied.
Lorist shook his head and explained, "From the Second Highness's request to borrow food from us, you should be able to understand this. The Second Highness could have taken all the wealth within the radius of Kobo City to trade them with us for food. However, he chose to use the stuff he took from the merchants as mortgage instead. Even if we are able to conquer the Delamock Province, by the time the Second Highness defeats Duke Madras, what would we do if he orders us to leave the Delamock Province and hand it back to him?
"Should we disobey? Or rebel? Does that sound realistic? Don't forget that the 100000 plus vagabonds we have were originally citizens of the Andinaq Kingdom. If you have them start working away here, the Second Highness can take them back into his kingdom with but one order and no one will give so much as a damn to us because we are not the rightful rulers of this place. Only if we bring them back to our dominion can they truly become the subjects of the Norton Family.
"The Norton Family doesn't lack land at all. Don't forget that the principality the Second Highness gave us is currently unmanaged and unutilized as well. The highest priority for us now is to bring the vagabonds back to our dominion. Don't think that our convoy's escort is that mighty; in actuality, it's still far from the truly elite armies out there. The main reason they were willing to join the convoy and follow us in the first place was because they wanted a chance to allow their families to live peaceful lives in the Northlands. If we lead them into battle for the sake of land that doesn't rightfully belong to us, would they be satisfied? And how would we reimburse these brave warriors for the casualties they sustain? No one is truly an idiot, you know.
"In fact, I think that the Second Highness would be more than eager to have us stay behind at Delamock Province. That way, he can clean up the nobles in this area without staining his reputation like you did back in Welbassia Province. He'll also be able to force us away after that using all sorts of reasons and excuses. What's worse is that he can legitimately order us to support him in battle against Duke Madras.
"I don't wish for the forces of the Norton Family to become fodder for the enemy for the sake of the Second Highness's ambitions. In actuality, many others will be able to figure out his moves just like we did based on the placement of his soldiers and manpower. If he wants to succeed, he'll have to see if the other powers will give him a chance. I bet that during summer next year, the Madras Duchy will definitely turn into a chaotic battlefield. If our convoy doesn't leave by spring, we'll definitely be dragged into the conflict as well."
Lorist then stretched out his finger and pointed at the location of the Iblia Kingdom on the map.
"You're saying that the Second Prince will mobilize his forces to attack the Delamock Province?" Charade asked.
"It's not just an assault. He'll definitely want to occupy the whole place," Lorist replied. "I just said that no one's really an idiot, and neither is the Second Prince. Anyone can see what the Second Highness is planning with his obvious movements. Even if the Second Prince can't, Delamock Province is still akin to a juicy piece of meat. Do you think that with his greedy personality, the Second Prince wouldn't want to give that meat a huge bite? Even if it isn't him, I'm sure someone else will be thinking the same thing.
"Before this, the Madras Duchy had managed to keep the Andinaq Kingdom out of the province. However, now that the duchy had suffered quite a loss, someone will definitely persuade the Second Prince to join in the fray. Think about it, before this, the Second Prince was planning to borrow some food from the duke. Now that he can get the food as well as the land that produces it, do you think he wouldn't jump for the opportunity?"
"Locke, who is the someone you keep referring to?"
"Those who don't wish for the Krissen Empire to be restored as well as those who don't want the Second Highness to come into power."
"Didn't the Second Prince just incur a loss not long ago? Where would he find enough soldiers to attack the Delamock Province with?"
"He can just borrow them. Don't forget that his father-in-law, Duke Fisablen, owns the Frontier Legion which has not seen battle and has had quite a lot of time to recuperate and prepare themselves. The Second Prince just has to borrow 30000 of the 78000 soldiers to be able to conquer the Delamock Province."
"How are you so sure that the battle here will break out next summer instead of spring?"
"The Second Prince still won't be able to get enough food for his army during spring. After harvesting the wheat during summer, he'll definitely mobilize his forces right away."
"It truly is a shame to give this place up... Such a big food-producing province..." Charade said before he sighed.
"This place is kind of overrated if you ask me. Aside from being able to produce food, what else is it good for? There's no horse-breeding going on here nor are there any ore mines. The biggest disadvantage of this province is that it's completely sealed off from the rest of the world," Lorist said as he shook his head in disagreement.
"Sealed off? How so? This place is directly connected to the Northlands and the Iblia Kingdom. And past Vanades City, it is connected to the Sidgler Province and the Andinaq Kingdom. Other than that, the Four Allied Duchies can be reached through the route through Yungechandler Province. It seems pretty connected to me," Charade said curiously.
"What I meant by that was that the Delamock Province is only accessible from the territories within the former empire. Look at our family dominion over here," Lorist said as he brought out a map of the Northlands, "If we can find a bay where we can build a harbor somewhere at the Bladedge Mountains and develop our marine corps, we will have access to the sea routes and be able to reach our other dominion, the island principality that used to belong to the Second Prince. From that island, we'll be able to travel to the port at Tim's dominion as well as Morante City. From Morante City, we can travel to the Relic Islands and the Romon Empire. The degree of connectivity is quite high and we can go many places from there. Now, you understand why I'm so fixated on bringing the convoy and the vagabonds back to the family dominion, right? Over there awaits our lands which we will develop into a haven for ourselves and our people!"
"Locke, you're far more far-sighted than any of us can aspire to be..."
"Naturally. Haha, now you know why I'm the dominion lord and you all are my knights."
"Locke, don't get too full of yourself. I was just trying to butter you up with some flattery. To think that you'd actually take it all seriously..."
The Long Wintery Night
Hi guys, a little sorry for the late release. Managed to crop up some time in the last minute to get the third sponsored chapter of the week done. This chapter is also brought to you by Sebastian S. from Germany. Now, off to work on the first regular chapter of next week for me! I hope you enjoy the read.
Lorist put the ink-dipped pen down and looked at the crystal sandglass on his table. It was already around five at dawn, but the sky outside the windows still seemed rather dark. Past the green glass windows, he could see dense amounts of snow, each probably the size of a goose's feather, falling gently down to the ground. It has already been snowing for three continuous days and a huge pile of snow had gathered outside.
On Lorist's table were stacks of wordy beastskin documents which were mostly written by him throughout the night. When he was talking to Charade recently, it suddenly occurred to him that he still didn't have a comprehensive plan to develop the family dominion. His dominion was located at a rather desolate piece of land; while that allowed the advantage of having to defend only the Firmrock Castle to prevent the rest of the dominion from being embroiled within the flames of war, it cost them isolation and impermanence in the minds of others, both of which stemmed from not having a proper method to communicate with the outside world.
The Northern Highlands was wide with a very sparse population and spanned an area of roughly three to four times that of the Delamock Province with only less than a million inhabitants. Even the southern area of the Northlands which was the most prosperous and under the control of Duke Loggins only had around 40000 citizens at most. The main factors that had held back the development of the Northlands were the inconvenience of travel and transport as well as the lack of manpower.
From the map, it could be seen that the Northern Highlands is not situated to the north most point of the Grindia Continent. Instead, it was located at the mid-upper part of the continent. The center of the continent was considered by its inhabitants to be the Magical Dragon Mountains, which incidentally, happened to be the intersection point for three mountain ranges.
The reasoning behind the place being called the Northlands was because it represented the furthest north humans have ever developed and settled themselves in. If they wanted to go even further northward, they would have to cross the Magical Dragon Mountains and according to the maps, beyond that was the long-stretching wilderness which humans have yet to set foot on.
However, the word 'highlands' in the 'Northern Highlands' was used in a slightly different sense from the conventional meaning. Even though the Northlands is also considered a highland area, the elevation of that place relative to the rest of the flatlands of Grindia was only around 100 meters with little difference in terms of climate and weather. In actuality, in the Grindian Basic Language, 'highlands' didn't refer to the elevated terrain of the Northlands but rather its ruralness and wildness relative to the other civilizations on the Grindia Continent and it was used in a derogatory sense.
According to Lorist's plan, as long as he was able to bring the 70000 plus members of the convoy as well as the 100000 plus vagabonds back to his homeland, he would be able to alleviate the manpower crisis of his dominion and bring in huge waves of development and progress. If he was able to accomplish that, as long as he guarded Firmrock Castle tightly, he would be able to develop his dominion amidst a time of chaos without having to worry about the conflict and battle going on outside.
Personally, Lorist approved of the Second Highness's ambition of reuniting the empire. However, he wasn't inclined in the slightest to join in the effort and he didn't really care for the title of the Duke of the Northlands the Second Highness had promised him either. To him, there wasn't a point even if he managed to conquer more land as he would still be locked within the Northlands as long as the upstream and downstream passes at Metropoulos River were blockaded.
In the end, Lorist was forced to place his hopes with the western coast of his family dominion where the Bladedge Mountains was located. He refused to believe that he wouldn't be able to find a single place where a seaport could be built. If he does find one, the family would be able to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the other powers from the sea routes which were far more convenient to traverse than the land routes. He could even have his armada ship more vagabonds to his dominion for more manpower and citizens instead of using the convoy method which still hadn't completed its first run after one whole year of traveling.
Lorist noted down the stuff he intended to implement on those beastskin documents, among which included research into making proper glass, improving metallurgy, foraging for more mines, constructing cities, preparing farmland, establishing transportation routes, training elite troops and so on. Right now, the forces of the convoy and the dominion combined had around 70000 men. Lorist was prepared to lay off many youths from his forces so that they can become the main source of manpower for the development of the dominion's many infrastructures.
For the sake of ensuring the safety of the convoy and the vagabonds on their journey to the dominion, many youths were enlisted into the escort force. Lorist believed that he only had to retain a fraction of that force and reform them into an elite fighting force. With every soldier having at least Iron ranked Battle Force capabilities, even if he had only 20000 soldiers, it would be more than enough to ensure that the Norton Family dominion can be kept untouched from the conflict in the outside world.
Lorist made a mental note to himself that In another few years, when the family dominion has established a proper foundation, he would then think of expanding his influence to cover the whole of the Northlands. He recalled that he read some book in his past life that had a saying that went like this: 'without a stable foundation, no matter how magnificent the building constructed on gravel, it wouldn't to be able to weather a gust of strong wind and would collapse without question', much like the Yongle Emperor who strengthened the defense of his nation and expanded the growth of crops.
He then raised his pen and started writing down a few other things that he'd like to try to make when he returns to the dominion, namely, gunpowder and catapults. With castles being all over Grindia, using only ballistas for sieges was not the ideal solution. With armaments like gunpowder-powered weapons and catapults, however, he would have a much easier time attacking traditional castle fortification structures around the continent.
For example, Charade was only capable of conquering over 100 castles within the Welbassia Province because he had the support of the carroballista unit and the longbowmen troops. He also had the captives he caught along the way serve as troops to take most of the brunt of the enemy's retaliation. Lastly, the landed nobles within the province were not that strong in the first place, resulting in only a little more than 10000 of the captive troops ending up as casualties along the way.
Lorist himself also had a few experiences in siege warfare, but mainly, he relied on surprise attack tactics and night attacks to succeed. The only time when those tactics failed him was during the battle against Wildnorth Town. If he succeeds in developing those weapons, when the dominion is built up to a point for him to start stretching his claws out from the Northlands, tightly-fortified structures like the Lichtana Citadel would no longer prove to be an obstacle.
Ever since he returned to the dominion during the 3rd month and inherited the title of the dominion lord, Lorist had been going to and fro settling various matters without having the opportunity to sit down and quietly ponder on the future developments of the dominion. Only when he was cooped up within his residence waiting for winter to pass did he have any time to properly draft out his plans.
After looking through some of the beastskin documents within his hands, Lorist gave it some thought before he appended a few more rows of words on one document: cultural education, basic Battle Force training and papermaking.
Cultural education was rather straightforward as it only involved teaching the general populace to read and count. Even though many people knew how to speak the Grindian Basic Language, most of them couldn't read as they did not recognize the characters. As most of the inhabitants of Grindia were of the peasant class who only had to work physical labor to ensure that they were able to sustain their families, they didn't have the ability nor awareness to let their children receive good education, and that situation continued within families for generations to come.
As for basic Battle Force training, while the dominion of the Norton Family was rather huge, it was constantly under threat from magical beasts and the mountain barbarians from the Magical Dragon Mountains. Only when the citizens of the dominion awaken their Battle Force at the basic level would they have a means to defend themselves. Other than that, people with awakened Battle Force tend to have better health and vigor with higher life expectancy. To the Norton Family, it was a rather fast method to develop the dominion.
On Grindia, the common paper that Lorist was so accustomed to seeing in his past life was nonexistent and the only thing they had to serve the same purpose were beastskins, which were used ever since the days of the magical civilization. According to the legends, the magi used beastskins to make magic scrolls to record their arcane texts and grimoires. That was because only beastskins could contain the magical power that were embedded within the words of the magi. That's why the magi did not consider developing a cheaper and easier to produce material to write on for the common people.
Making beastskins was a simple and widespread process. However, large numbers could not be made as it was also incredibly tedious. Firstly, the skin of an animal had to be cut into a rectangular shape before being dipped into water for a whole day before it could be cleaned and dipped into a kind of limestone solution for more than ten days, with it needing to be beaten and stirred in the solution three times a day. That process had to be repeated three times and after 30 days, the skin would be brought out to be dried and the blood vessels and other unnecessary parts on the skin had to be scraped off manually with a small knife, leaving behind only a thin membrane which had to be immersed into a liquid grass mixture for another two days. After that, it had to be dried but not under direct sunlight before it would be smoothened and fastened to a wooden rack for three more days to be firmed. Lastly, it had to be cut into a document form factor.
This was also the reason why books on Grindia were so expensive. If Lorist intended to improve the cultural education of the citizens within his dominion, he had to first find a way to make writing material that was easier and cheaper to produce. The family would never have enough funds to let everyone use beastskin for their studies after all. In Morante City, the daily newspaper they had would be returned to the publishers so that the beastskin may be washed and cleaned for new content to be printed upon it. They would be reused until the beastskin itself spoiled from wear.
If he could make the kind of paper that was widely available in his past life, not only would he be able to further the education level of the citizens within his dominion, he could also sell the paper to the rest of the continent as the staple product of his dominion.
It was Lorist's long held belief that there was no empire nor family that would last thousands of years undefeated. The common folk of Grindia normally distinguished themselves by the place they came from instead of their nations. For instance, Lorist was from the Northlands while Charade was from the Teribo Kingdom. Lorist felt that if he could let the people of the convoy feel a pride in being the subjects of the Norton Family, he believes that the glory of the Norton Family will be able to be passed down for generations to come.
Lorist's plan for that was to use long term propaganda and indoctrination to make the hearts of the convoy members and the vagabonds stay loyal to the Norton Family. The Han Dynasty of ancient China was able to achieve such a feat, resulting in the Chinese people also being known as the Han. Lorist wanted to try to emulate them so that the folk within his dominion would be proud of their rulers and call themselves Nortons instead of Northlanders.
However, that would only take form after a very long time. Lorist thought that maybe he could even dramatize and immortalize the journey of the convoy in the history books so that the generations to come would be able to empathize with the hardships their ancestors had to weather to arrive at the Norton Family dominion. Even though Lorist had many plans to go about that, he still required easily-produced paper to be able to jump start this operation. That's why, researching how to produce paper was a rather high priority for Lorist.
As he was the owner of a small workshop back in his past life, Lorist was well-trained in many crafts such as glass working, designing and even making collecter ship replicas. However, Lorist had no proper idea on how to make paper and only knew the basic principle and materials required to do it without understanding the exact process. Thinking of the difficulty of the task he was about to undertake, Lorist sighed and thought, I guess I'll have some craftsmen work on it by trial and error when we arrive at the dominion... I'm sure they'll succeed one day...
The door of his room was knocked on lightly, prompting Lorist to say, "Come in."
Reidy pushed open the door and came in with a basin of warm water and said, "Milord, you got up quite early today. Even though it's already six in the morning, the sky outside is still as dark as it was during midnight."
Lorist washed his face and said, "Reidy, even though the weather is like this outside, you must not slack off on your training and continue working hard indoors. Training one's fighting skill requires constant practice and intense dedication. You're already at the Two Star Iron rank this year. I hope that you'll be able to break through to the Silver rank in another two years."
"Yes, milord. I understand," Reidy said.
"Alright. Do I have anything else scheduled for today?" Lorist asked.
After giving it some thought, Reidy replied, "Yesterday, Knight Charade said that you wanted to join him to patrol the residential area of the vagabonds."
"Oh, then bring me my breakfast at seven thirty. After finishing my meal, I'll go meet up with Charade," Loirst said.
"Yes, milord," Reidy said before he left.
Usually, from six to seven thirty, it was Lorist's morning training session. After training in the Aquametal Technique for one Major Cycle and moving his body for a bit, his time was up.
To Lorist, the most difficult part for his training right now was the fact that he wasn't able to grasp the progress of his own cultivation. In his past life, he didn't even reach the Dark Stage of the Aquametal Technique. Given that he didn't understand what laid beyond and didn't hear much about it from others either, he could only rely on himself to slowly find the proper way to progress in his training. Right now, even though he understood that he was in the Dark Stage, he had no clue at which point of the stage he was at. For example, back when he was at Maplewoods Bastide after he laid with Irina, he suddenly felt a rush of power that made his body feel light and refreshed. While he did not completely understand what had happened back then, he reasoned that he must've progressed a little further in the Dark Stage.
Sometimes, Lorist also felt that using Battle Force to train in his ancestral technique was a little ludicrous. However, he hasn't noticed any glaring disadvantages with that; in fact, the rate at which he progressed in the Aquametal Technique felt a little too fast. Lorist was quite confident in his current abilities and most Gold ranked fighters could no longer match up to him. However, he still didn't have the opportunity to spar against a Blademaster properly. Lorist was eagerly anticipating the chance to find out how he would hold up against a Blademaster in a proper fight.
Given that the Kobo City wasn't big, it was filled to the brim by the people of the convoy and the vagabonds. Fortunately, the Second Highness had transported a third of the food away, emptying near a hundred warehouses in the process. Coupled with the broad drying fields for the food within the city, it was just barely enough to accommodate the whole group of people.
It was still snowing and Lorist and Charade both wore a black leather mantle as they walked along the road that the patrolling soldiers had cleared up to the camp of the vagabonds.
"Locke, how did you get the idea of setting up the tents within the snow houses? Not only is it quite warm inside, that method of yours solved the problem of the vagabonds' housing almost right away. The snow houses are also cheap and easy to build, it's far too convenient," Charade said as he walked. "Did you know that if we used logs to build temporary houses, the gathered snow on the roofs would eventually collapse the whole structure? That would also require us to have people periodically clean the snow off. I didn't expect that the snow houses didn't have that sort of problem and if we pat the snow tight, it will further reinforce the structure as well."
Lorist replied, "Don't you remember that I bought lots of books during my time at the Dawn Academy? When you were busy looking for people to fine, I was reading. I learned this method from the journal of an adventurer who had lost his way in the wilderness and he used this way to survive the harsh winters. I didn't know whether that account was real or not nor did I know how effective it would actually turn out, but I drew a design anyway and you really managed to implement it..."
"You..." Charade was struck speechless. "How could you simply draft out something like that?! Good thing you were lucky this time. If the designs didn't work, it might've cost us some lives..."
Lorist laughed and said, "I was just messing with you. It's your fault for looking down on books like these and saying that the authors made the stories up to make a quick buck and refuse to even give the authors a chance. Let me tell you, that book was a proper biography and it was the work of the most prestigious adventurer around one hundred years ago, Carmen Pride. The designs I gave you were copied from that book. Some time after that book was published, some experts even tried experimenting with snow houses according to the design he provided and found that they indeed did have an insulating effect."
"..."
After a while, Charade asked, "Locke, in another few days, it will be the 36th day of the 12th month, which is the day of celebration for the new year. Do you have anything planned for that?"
Lorist thought for a few moments in silence before he said, "Sigh, on that day last year, we spent the whole night at the Red Grace Inn with the rest of our buddies, but right now we're so far away from them at Kobo City. Fate truly is unpredictable. Do you have any good ideas for the celebration?"
"You're right, none of us last year would have even imagined that we would be here today, leading so many others towards the north... I'm thinking that since we have an abundance of food now, it's better if we give them something extra to eat for the festive celebration. Also, let's throw in 500 grams of meat per person with another cup of ale while the kids can have some sweets and cookies instead. What do you think?" Charade asked.
Lorist nodded and said, "It's really thorough of you. Let's do it your way. If the snow stops falling, we can even organize some physical activities for them and let them spend the new year in happiness."
Raising his head and looking at the dark, gloomy skies, Lorist muttered, "After another month of waiting, we can finally resume our journey home."
Gentle Spring Rain
Here's the first regular chapter of the week. Enjoy!
"No, Uncle Locke... I took a wrong step just now... Let me redo it..." The one who said that was Pog's beloved daughter, Alisa. She was currently playing a game of magical beast chess with Lorist.
Magical beast chess was a game on Grindia that was similar to monopoly. The chessboard depicted a confusing maze where several hundred magical beast-shaped pieces were placed. The boss of the dungeon was represented by a red dragon piece in the middle of the maze. The players on the other hand were knights whose movements were restricted to the number of the dice roll during each player's turn.
It differed from monopoly in that players required good arithmetic ability to play the game because each piece had a 'score'. For instance, if a knight with a score of 10 encountered a magical goat piece which had the number 5 carved underneath it, then the knight would kill the goat without taking any damage and the knight's score would become 15 as a result. Consequently, if a knight with a score of 10 encountered a magical wolf that had a score of 9, the knight would be able to defeat the wolf but its score won't be the sum of those of the two pieces. Only when the score of the knight is double that of the beast would the knight be able to absorb the complete score of the piece it defeated. Instead, when the battle scores of both pieces were close, the knight would only get to add the difference of the knight's score and the enemy piece's score. In the case of the knight with score 10 and the wolf with score 9, the knight would end up with score 11 after defeating the wolf.
There were many junctions in the maze, each of which were guarded by various magical beasts. Hence, every choice had to be made based on evaluating the battle potential of one's piece so that it would survive and arrive at the middle of the maze to defeat the red dragon. That was why magical beast chess was also known as the dragon-slaying game.
Just now, Alisa had picked the wrong direction and encountered a magical tiger. Given that her knight's score was 37 while the tiger's score was at 42, that meant that the young girl's knight had become the prey of the ferocious tiger, resulting in Alisa having to start all over from the beginning of the maze and return all the monster pieces her knight had defeated back to their original positions. However, she wasn't satisfied with the result and wanted to roll her move back.
Lorist pinched on Alisa's face lovingly and allowed her to take back her move.
Sitting on a chair near the window was the girl's elder brother, Howard. At that moment, he was intently reading a book he had took from the bookshelf nearby. In the middle of that room sat the Gold ranked mercenary Freiyar's two twin sons who were stacking up blocks in an attempt to build a castle while chewing on some snacks.
Right now, Lorist was being hogged by Alisa as the both of them hadn't met for more than six months ever since Lorist left the convoy to travel to the dominion. During all that time, Alisa had missed her kind uncle that would spoil her from time to time. Other than that, given that it was snowing rather heavily and she wasn't able to go out to play within Kobo City, the girl brought her two playmates, Freiyar's twin boys, to play within Lorist's wide room which was located at the top floor of the castle every single day.
Initially, Potterfang and Freiyar were worried that their children would bother Lorist and wanted to stop them. However, Lorist halted their attempt as there wasn't much to do during winter and having a few children play around in his room helped liven the atmosphere. Given that he had others working on most of the tasks of managing the convoy and the vagabonds, Lorist didn't have much to do other than showing his face to the people from time to time.
He also took the opportunity to test if Howard had neglected his studies during the northbound journey. To prevent the other children from feeling bored, Lorist even had some craftsmen make a few toys based on those he saw in his past life so that the children would be kept humored and busy, indirectly converting his room into a children's playground.
A few knocks could be heard on the door to Lorist's room. The one who came in was Patt.
"Milord, Knight Yuriy has just returned and Sir Charade requests for your presence for a meeting at the great hall," Patt said.
"Uncle Locke, since you're busy, let's stop playing for now," said Alisa before she stood up and tossed her chess pieces and scorecards back onto the chessboard before Lorist even said a word.
"You feisty girl, I would've won in another two moves. You're sneaking your way out again..." Lorist complained.
However, Alisa paid him no heed and cheerfully went to the corner where the twin brothers were and shook her head as she commented on how crude-looking the castle they were building looked.
"Let's build a garden instead," said Alisa before she started taking the castle apart.
The two brothers were pissed at her actions and started quarreling with Alisa.
After exiting the noisy room and walking downstairs with Patt, Lorist asked, "What did Yuriy say about it?"
"Yuriy said that the road is still in bad condition for traveling as it is still very wet and muddy. The mud would reach all the way up to one's shin. Well, that much is a given since the snow's just starting to melt and the spring rain isn't helping the mud dry either. There's no way that we will be able to cross with our carriages. Without ten or more days of blazing sunlight, the road will not dry up quickly enough for travel," Patt replied. "Also, Yuriy said that he went to the river nearby and asked an old boatman there who said that there is no way to cross the river before the 25th day of the 2nd month because a lot of ice pieces will be flowing down from upstream and blocking that part of the river. It won't be able to clear up until the end of the 2nd month."
"Sigh, I guess there's still another month of waiting... If I have to stay here any longer than that, moss and rust will start to form on my body. Since we're not able to continue our journey yet, why did Knight Charade ask for me?" Lorist said.
"I'm not too clear about it myself. He said that he had something he needed to discuss with you..."
...
In stark contrast to Lorist's lax schedule, Charade was incredibly busy most of the time. The management of the 70000 plus convoy members and the 100000 vagabonds were all rested on his shoulders and he would be troubled by even the smallest squabbles and conflicts day after day. Even though he had more than 50 officers he picked during the course of the journey helping him out with the matters, he was still bothered by many other things that required his personal attention, causing him much frustration.
"He's not willing to hand it over? On what grounds? Send the patrol guard over there. I don't care if he used to be the town mayor. Give him ten harsh canes! I don't care if he's older than 80! If he goes against our regulations, he has to be punished! And it's his fault if he dies from it! Whoever sympathizes with him can buzz off along with that old guy! We don't need to feed a useless parasite like him! Quick! Ten canes, that's an order!"
Lorist and Patt could hear Charade's roaring as they descended the stairs to the third floor and wondered what could possibly make him so furious.
When they arrived at the hall, they saw the officer Charade had chased out of the hall run out in terror with Charade fuming with rage.
"What's going on?" Lorist asked.
"It's nothing big... An old guy past his seventies old insisted that he used to be a town mayor in the past and picked two females from the vagabonds to become his maidservants and even took ten percent of the supplies we handed them from those who used to be his townsfolk! Didn't we just carry out a cleanup and check of the camps recently? It was then we noticed that he had stockpiled huge amounts of resources which he took from others. Just when we were about to confiscate them, he started an outburst because he thought that we would let him have his way given his age. That's why I ordered him to be caned ten strokes so that he would remember this lesson. He thinks he still has any status over others despite being a vagabond, how ridiculous," Charade said.
"Wouldn't it be easier for us if we just hanged him? I mean, given his age, he's nothing but a burden and will only consume our supplies without contributing. What say you, milord?" said the seated Yuriy as he sipped on some hot tea.
Lorist thought for a bit before he said, "Forget it. Since Charade has already handed down his punishment, there's no longer a need for that. However, make sure to kick out these sneaky and cunning parasites who only take and don't give by the time we leave lest they spoil the community spirit we have. Just leave them here to fend for themselves when we depart."
The reason Charade asked for the meeting was to discuss the matter of the departure with Lorist. Unlike Lorist who wanted to return to the dominion as soon as possible, Charade was relieved to hear that they had to wait at least another month before they could start their journey again. Given that there was much to prepare for the journey including repairing the carriages, letting the horses warm up and preparing the clothing and food supplies for more than 100000 people, the convoy and the vagabonds couldn't just leave on short notice.
The other important factor was that Charade intended to transport the remaining 85 million kilograms of food back to the dominion, which would undoubtedly displace some people who were originally traveling on carriage, resulting in a slower traveling speed overall.
Lorist was quite troubled by that as he preferred to return to the dominion earlier rather than spending more time to bring the food with them. However, the figure that Charade told him instantly convinced him.
Charade said that during the two and a half month stay at Kobo City which numbered roughly 80 days, the 170000 or so people at Kobo City had already consumed more than 15 million kilograms of the food stored there. If they didn't bring the food back with them to the dominion, a food shortage would no doubt occur within three months of their arrival. Charade believed that the food reserves back at the dominion would definitely not be able to accommodate the huge influx of people.
Lorist felt that Charade's reasoning was rather sound as well. He recalled that Supervisor Spiel had reported to him that the food reserves at the dominion amounted to roughly 30 million kilograms and the laborers at the construction site also relied on the food there as well. Now that the Wildnorth Town had been abandoned, the yearly food produce of Maplewoods Bastide only amounted to about 4 million kilograms of food. If they did not bring the food in Kobo City back, the convoy members and the vagabonds would no doubt have to starve within six months of arriving at the dominion.
"Let's bring the food along," Lorist said helplessly. Suddenly recalling something else, he said, "Don't forget that it will be quite troublesome when we attempt to cross the river. Since we still have to wait for a month, have the work smiths make some small boats and planks which we can use to make a floating bridge for the crossing."
"Are you referring to the Locke Fishing Boats?"
"Well, something like those. However, since we need to transport the carriages across as well, the floating bridge has to be around 5 meters wide and each boat has to be filled with two layers of green clay. Also, the distance from one bank to another of the river is roughly 300 meters, so make enough boats so that the bridge can stretch long enough to the other side," instructed Lorist.
...
On the 10th day of the 2nd month, the Second Highness once again rushed to Kobo City despite the rainy weather. He came for two reasons: to borrow more food and to request Lorist to delay his departure until the 5th month after the harvest of the winter wheat.
The Second Highness's reason for his request was so that Lorist would be able to guard Kobo City as he brought his troops to suppress the landed nobles of Delamock Province so that they wouldn't give him trouble during his battle with Duke Madras. He was confident that he would be able to completely take over Delamock Province and have Duke Madras bow down before him.
Lorist refused it immediately and said that he hadn't contacted his family since the 9th month of last year and couldn't bear to stay any longer. Ever since the winter passed and the spring rain started falling, he was already rather impatient about leaving for his dominion. He apologized for not being able to accept the request of the Second Highness.
Lorist then mentioned that when the convoy departed, he could hand control of Kobo City to the Second Highness who only had to have around 10000 of his Royal Defense Guard soldiers stationed to protect it. Lorist also insisted that he believed that the nobles of Delamock Province definitely wouldn't act recklessly. As for the matter of food, Lorist was willing to hand 10 million more kilograms of it to the Second Highness as an early celebratory gift for his defeat of Duke Madras.
However, no matter what Lorist said, the Second Highness merely furrowed his brow and said that if he had to use 10000 soldiers to guard at Kobo City, he wouldn't be able to muster enough military strength to face the Seamountain Legion and that the best method to overcome that was to have Lorist leave at least half of the convoy's force there while he leads the rest of the convoy back to the dominion.
Lorist still refused nevertheless and insisted that he had promised every person of the convoy to lead them home and that he wouldn't leave a single one behind. He was obligated to fulfill his oath and there was no reason for him to leave his soldiers there either as the city was not part of his family's dominion anyway and he had no obligation to guard it.
In the end, the both of them parted on bad terms.
Seeing the silhouette of the Second Highness leaving in the distance, Lorist nudged Charade with his elbow and said, "Now, you understand, right? If he doesn't give Kobo City to our family, any other benefits he promises will merely be shallow ones. You can already see how hard he tried to convince us to stay without mentioning anything about that."
Charade laughed bitterly before he said, "I think we have to hasten our preparation work and leave as soon as we can. I suspect that the Second Highness came to ask us to stay because he received word of the Second Prince's eventual campaign on the Delamock Province. That's why he hopes that we will be here to block the Second Prince so that he has enough time to rally his forces. Perhaps, the Second Highness might even be hoping that our forces and the Second Prince's soldiers would wipe ourselves out so that he can reap all the benefits."
"Your analysis is correct," Lorist said as he nodded. "I also think the same. That's why he's unwilling to station his own Royal Defense Guard soldiers here. I refuse to believe that having 10000 men here would affect his battle against the duke anyway. Didn't you read the letter Els sent to us?
"During winter, the Second Highness didn't sit idly at all. With the 50 million kilograms of food he got from us, not only did he replenish the numbers of the Fiercegale Legion to 56000 people, he also managed to expand his Royal Defense Guard into a 83000-strong force. Other than that, he also renovated the Lichtana Citadel and formed a 20000-strong garrison army there. Only idiots would believe his claim of not having enough soldiers. Even if he can't send his Royal Defense Guard out, what about his garrison army? Does he take us for fools?"
"I feel that the Second Highness is a little too ambitious. Even though we've helped him out so many times, he was willing to give us the short end of the stick without batting a single eye. Does he think that we wouldn't be able to grasp his true intentions?" Charade said emotionally. "Compared to him, you are too soft, Locke. Sometimes, I really don't understand why you're so kind to the point of being taken advantage by others. You should know that you're a dominion lord now and no longer just an instructor of the Dawn Academy. You should act with pride and dignity."
Lorist laughed out loud and recited a saying that Charade found to be very weird. "Being cold and calculative doesn't necessarily make one a hero; being kind and considerate doesn't make one any less of a ruler..."
Lorist then turned and started walking towards the castle as he asked, "Do you feel that following a dominion lord like me or a hero like the Second Highness is better?"
"Oh, you must've read that saying from some obscure book again. It does sound pretty insightful though," Charade said as he hurriedly started walking to keep up. "Needless to say, of course I'd follow you! You're my little brother Locke, so I have to make sure you don't screw up and become a joke of a dominion lord! Also, I'd never join the Second Highness no matter what. Otherwise, I might end up helping him count the money he got from selling me out without the slightest clue! How bad for me would that be?!
"I only feel sympathy for the former students from our academy and some other Silver ranked knights that decided to join his side... Even though our convoy didn't suffer any major losses for more than half a year of traveling, within ten days of joining the Second Highness, so many of them had died... Also, Locke, I think you should remind your cousin sister Glacia that she definitely wouldn't stand a chance to become the queen or empress given the Second Highness's ambition and personality..." muttered Charade nonstop.
Lorist sighed and said, "Fatty, you have so much to say, don't you? It's alright. Everyone has their own path and even if we try, it would be incredibly hard to change the paths they've set their minds on. I'll definitely remind my cousin sister of that. As for whether she'll take my advice to heart, that's up to her."
River Crossing
And here's the second regular chapter of the week. Second Highness's douchebaggery intensifies!
On the 18th day of the 2nd month of Year 1768 of the Grindian calendar, the vanguard of the northbound convoy led by Fiercetiger Loze and the light cavalry scouts led by Yuriy started leaving for the Metropoulos River ahead of the rest towards Baron Silas's dominion where the crossing point was located at. They planned to build the floating bridge there and set up their camp before receiving the rest of the convoy and vagabonds and help them with crossing the river.
Els also rushed to Kobo City to report to Lorist on that exact day. He had just recovered completely after resting for the whole winter at Vanades City and rushed there impatiently the moment he was fit enough to move with his four other guards. Els brought two pieces of intel for Lorist, the first being his sighting of the Second Highness's Royal Defense Guard unit that he encountered on the way back numbering around 10000 people that would arrive at Kobo City within two more days.
The second piece of information was about the Second Highness's mobilization of around 5000 laborers to begin construction of a citadel at the steep mountain path towards Lichtana Citadel which was within 5 kilometers of Vanades City.
Lorist took a look at the map and felt that something was up.
Charade, Potterfang and Terman proceeded to debate about the issue. Charade felt that the 10000 plus soldiers that were heading to Kobo City must be waiting to receive control of it from the convoy. Given that Kobo City was the central location of Delamock Province and is also a fortified city which was easily defended and difficult to take over, the Second Highness definitely wouldn't leave the city unattended. With the 10000 plus Royal Defense Guard troops, he should be able to hold off the forces of the Iblia Kingdom's Second Prince for a period of time.
However, not one of them understood the intent behind the Second Highness's citadel construction project near Vanades City. Practically speaking, he should reinforce and fortify the defensive faculties of Vanades City instead and renovate it into a fortified city. As long as they occupied Vanades City, they would be able to control the transportation route there and maintain the attacking initiative on the battlefield, allowing them to advance or retreat as they pleased.
In the end, they settled on Potterfang's guess. He believed that the Second Highness's construction of another citadel was to ensure that he had another place to retreat to. Other than that, the additional citadel could aid in restricting the enemy offense in that they would be able to prevent Vanades City from being completely surrounded. Another advantage that citadel offered them was that even if their forces weren't able to hold Vanades City, they would be able to retreat to that citadel. It also ensured that the Yungechandler Province which had just entered the control of the Andinaq Kingdom would be kept safe from enemy attacks.
Lorist could understand why Potterfang came to those conclusions. However, as the convoy and the vagabonds were about to leave Kobo City for the family dominion, Lorist no longer cared about what would transpire over there and felt that they should be more worried about the journey ahead of them.
Two days later, the troops the Second Highness sent arrived at Kobo City and Charade passed the defense of the city to them as well as the 10 million kilograms of food there.
Out of Lorist's expectations however was how the troops didn't increase the fortifications of the city; on the contrary, they proceeded to dismantle the fortifications. They spent around ten days to completely remove the defensive walls and ruin the tens of sentry towers before taking the food and leaving.
"Good Sol..." Charade cursed. "What a devious move... He's practically using our convoy as bait now..."
With a gloomy face, Lorist said, "We have to increase our traveling and transportation speed. It's fortunate that we sent some of us off a few days ahead of schedule. If we only started our departure now, it would've been too late. Order the light cavalry scouts to scan the area and watch out for the movements of the noble families within Delamock Province, especially the ones near the southern border next to the Iblia Kingdom. Transport the rest of the people and goods to the river crossing point..."
Nobody would've expected that the Second Highness would actually send his troops to render the strongly-fortified Kobo City useless. The road from Kobo City to the crossing point was around 150 kilometers long. Given the scale and size of the convoy which was hindered by the additional 100000 plus vagabonds, they would have to spend at least three months to travel that far under normal circumstances. With the crossing of Metropoulos River further bottlenecking their progress, it would take them even longer to arrive at the family dominion.
It was already near the end of the 2nd month and even if the Second Prince led his troops to attack Delamock Province one month later, it would take only 15 days for his troops to make their way from the border to Kobo City. When they notice that the city's defensive capability had been crippled, they would be faced with only two options: to advance towards Vanades City or to tail the convoy and attack them while they're stuck crossing the Metropoulos River.
Given the amount of resources the convoy had and the Second Prince's insatiable greed, it was easy to guess which choice he would make.
Lorist was currently filled with rage. He had been willing to unconditionally hand Kobo City to the Second Highness and even provide 10 million kilograms of food in hopes that he would defend the city and face off against the troops of the Second Prince, thus allowing the convoy more time to cross the river and arrive at the Northlands. However, he didn't think that the Second Highness would be that savage and sabotage Kobo City intentionally to put the convoy in further danger.
"Good Sol!" Lorist cursed towards the skies. In actuality, he wasn't afraid of the Second Prince's forces given the current military strength of the convoy. While it wouldn't be impossible for them to be able to completely fend off their assaults, if they were able to wipe out 3000 enemies, how would that justify their own losses of around 800 because of the Second Highness's actions? Even if they defeated the Second Prince, what benefits would they get? Nothing! They might even anger the father-in-law of the Second Prince, the mighty Duke Fisablen, as a result.
In truth, none of them were fools; Lorist wasn't one and neither was the Second Highness. The reason Lorist wanted to make his way out of the Madras Duchy was so that he wouldn't be taken advantage of by the Second Highness in the first place. He could also head to his dominion and start developing it as soon as possible. However, the Second Highness insisted on involving Lorist in this conflict in hopes that the convoy's forces would be able to buy him some time to prepare for battle and even hoped that the two clashing forces of the convoy and the Second Prince would result in heavy losses on both sides so that he could reap all the benefits easily.
As expected of a person who would do anything to realize his ambition! Lorist was forced to accept that he had miscalculated gravely and shouldn't have placed his hopes on the Second Highness in the first place. Now that the Second Highness had pulled a move like this, all the convoy stood to gain from it was losses.
"Heed my orders..." Lorist said after thinking solemnly for quite some time.
"Potterfang is to lead his heavy-armored infantry to reach the river crossing point as soon as possible and begin setting up camp as well as have some men start building some defensive fortifications.
"Loze, Terman and Pete will each lead the heavy-armored cavalry, knight brigade and mounted archers respectively to expropriate the carriages of the landed nobles of Delamock Province as well as some goat skin rafts and fishing boats. Try to get as many as possible. If anyone dares to put up any resistance..." Lorist paused, before coldly saying, "Kill them without question!
"After Malek leaves with part of the garrison legion, Freiyar will maintain the security and order of the convoy members and the vagabonds. If anyone dares to cause trouble, kill them off!
"Also, the work smiths must use whatever method they can to construct enough boats for us to make at least four floating bridges across the river. If we lack materials and tools for that, have Loze and his men be in charge of expropriating them."
Reidy recorded every order Lorist barked out on a piece of thick beastskin before handing it to Lorist to be signed. Patt dripped some hot red wax onto the location of the signature for Lorist to seal with his ring. After that, Patt rolled up the beastskin and put it into a silver tube and sealed it with more wax before stamping on the seal of the raging bear and handing the tube to the guards to be passed on.
"We have to hasten our plans as well. By the end of this month, no matter what, we have to finish moving the food within Kobo City and leave this place," Lorist said as he turned towards Charade.
Charade merely nodded.
...
By the time Lorist made his way to the crossing point within Baron Silas's territory, it was already the 6th day of the 3rd month. Apart from roughly a thousand troublemakers who were excommunicated from the convoy and the vagabond group, the rest of the people were traveling to the crossing point at that very moment.
Three floating bridges had already been built across the Metropoulos River with the fourth one being halfway done. On the opposite shore, a convoy camp could be seen and the convoy members who had arrived were already crossing the river using two of the floating bridges. The third floating bridge was being used to transport the resource-carrying carriages to the other side. The coachmen carefully led their horses and carriages across the river from the bridge.
"Milord, you should go rest at the bastide nearby," Potterfang said as he approached Lorist.
Lorist looked at the direction Potterfang was pointing in and understood that he was referring to Baron Silas's bastide. He then asked, "Where's Baron Silas?"
"Who?" Potterfang asked curiously.
"I was talking about the local dominion lord," Lorist replied.
Potterfang revealed a surprised look and pointed towards the port as he said, "He's over there..."
Lorist turned his head to look only to see a high wooden frame where four to five corpses could be seen hanging in mid air.
"Whose work is that?"
"Yuriy and Loze," replied Potterfang.
"Why?"
"That dominion lord didn't allow us to build the floating bridges and said that a hundred kilometers within the range of the crossing point was his territory and that we had to pay if we wanted to cross the river. Angered, Yuriy and Loze hung him up right away and occupied his bastide in the meantime."
Lorist was speechless as he thought, yet another fellow who has a death wish... Is he blind? Did he not notice the number of soldiers we had? He still thinks that it is peacetime within the empire and that nobody dared to offend nobles... To think that he insisted on collecting toll instead of withdrawing back into his bastide to defend it... It's his own fault for being so money-minded to the point of being willing to risk his own life for it.
Yuriy and Loze were not the most diplomatic if Lorist's men. One was among the earliest followers of Lorist since the days of Dawn Academy and the other was a person who had just been given the moniker of 'Fiercetiger' by Lorist. Given that they had hung more than 100 nobles as they traveled through the Andinaq Kingdom, they had long lost all respect they had for nobility. Since Baron Silas was considered to be a subordinate of Duke Madras, he was considered to be an enemy and Yuriy and Loze didn't have the slightest reservation about sending him to the gallows.
"Whatever... Get him down from there and bury him. Since we knew each other, it wouldn't be right to leave him hanging so unsightly like that."
"Yes, milord."
After another ten days, Loze, Terman and Pete returned. It was already their third expropriation run and they had long taken whatever they could from the nearby territories. So, they had to venture further this time around and brought back around 1000 huge carriages as well as more than 100 goat skin rafts and tens of small fishing boats along with 200 or so resource-filled carriages. These were all the loot they obtained from wiping out three noble families that dared to resist.
Lorist noticed that the rafts and boats they got as well as the ones the work smiths constructed were sufficient for six floating bridges, so he stopped the passionate Loze and gang from any further expropriation attempts. He also allocated more carriages to Charade so that he could increase the rate of sending the rest of the people to the other side while also letting the soldiers rest for two days. After that, they only had to make the wooden planks to quicken the construction of the floating bridge.
On the 18th day of the 3rd month, Yuriy rushed to the port and told Lorist something surprising. On the 12th day of the 3rd month, the king of the Iblia Kingdom, also known as the Second Prince of the former empire, Krissen Iblia, proclaimed that on the grounds of sending reinforcements to the Madras Duchy to defend them from the Andinaq Kingdom's invasion, he would send his 70000-strong force to attack the Andinaq Kingdom's forces through the land of the Madras Duchy.
This time, the Second Prince borrowed three armies from his father-in-law, Duke Fisablen. Combined with his own garrison army as well as the subordinate nobles' soldiers, he managed to rally up 70000 men and led them into the Delamock Province.
"Sol, where did he get so much food to sustain an army like that? Aren't they only beginning to harvest the winter wheat?" Lorist asked curiously, before he came to an instant realization. "Darn! They're getting more cunning one after another! He's planning to rob the food of his enemies' forces to sustain his own army!"
However, Lorist wasn't too concerned about the Second Prince's army because the construction of the five floating bridges had already been completed with the 6th already in the works. The convoy members and the vagabonds that were still on their way no longer had to wait and could cross over to the camp on the opposite bank to rest right away.
The only thing that troubled Lorist was the 60 million kilograms of food. If each four-wheeled carriage carried 1000 kilograms of food, then 10000 of those carriages could only transport 10 million kilograms of food each round, meaning that they had to make six trips to and fro the river to completely ship everything to the other side.
Lorist called for Potterfang and had him lead the heavy-armored infantry soldiers to the opposite bank first so that they could guard the camp over there. As the people and supplies they had increased, it was already beyond the ability of Terman's knight brigade and one company of light cavalry scouts to maintain security over there.
Potterfang however expressed his worries on how he wouldn't be able to defend against the Second Prince's forces' attacks after he moved the heavy-armored infantry to the other side of the river.
Lorist merely laughed out loud and said that there was currently no need to worry about the Second Prince's forces as the Second Prince was planning to get more food to sustain his own army, so there's no way he would be able to catch up to the convoy at the river so quickly. Even if he did send some forces over, it would only be a small squad at most. With Loze's three regiments of heavy-armored cavalry guarding the place, the small group of cavalrymen the Second Prince would hypothetically send posed no threat whatsoever.
"Also, when you cross the river, conquer the town on that side as well. Get that viscount... Erm, what was he called again... Something-wof... Well, just hang him in front of his town," instructed Lorist.
"If I may ask, milord, why? It's just a shabby old town," Potterfang said curiously. Ever since the convoy arrived and started building the floating bridges and transported their supplies across, the people of that town merely stayed cooped up within without even bothering to send someone over to ask about the situation, causing Terman's knight brigade to not even bother to go check that town out.
"The messengers you guys sent from the convoy were accused of being bandits and most of them were killed by the garrison soldiers of that town with only five of the messengers managing to escape. Back when I crossed the river to seek out the convoy the last time, I've already hung the garrison soldiers that were collecting toll at the customs point nearby. Today, I feel like pulling out the roots of that damned place once and for all," Lorist explained.
"Your will is my command, milord."
The moment Potterfang and his troops crossed over to the other side, they launched into a full-on charge and managed to conquer the town without a single casualty. After half an hour, Potterfang grabbed a horse and rushed back without delay.
"Milord, that shabby town didn't have many people there at all. I heard that Viscount Darwof brought the men of his town to join up with Duke Loggins's forces to attack the Norton Family... I believe that transpired more than a month ago..."
"What did you say?" Lorist was so shocked by the news he almost jumped in response. Was the duke unable to accept his loss? Did he start plotting against us again?
"Order Yuriy to mobilize the light cavalry scouts to gather some information about the situation within the Northlands. Also, have Jim bring a squad of men there to check out on the family dominion. Since he used to be a mercenary, he should be rather well-versed with the terrain of the Northlands. Patt, you should follow him there as well," said Lorist as he calmed down and realized that there wasn't a need to be so disturbed at all.
Lorist himself understood how well-defended the Firmrock Castle was. Additionally, with Divine Marksman Josk guarding the place, he felt that he didn't have to worry much about their safety. Additionally, the route heading towards the middle of the dominion that the duke's men used previously had already been destroyed, so there was no way for them to attack the Norton Family dominion without first going through Firmrock Castle. Is the duke seriously going to challenge Firmrock Castle with the farmer soldiers of his junior nobles? Hehe, what a joke...
Lorist felt that he should first get a better understanding of the situation and come to a decision when the rest of the people and supplies get sent over to the other side. I definitely have to give that dogshit of a duke a serious slap in the face. For him to dare to provoke me again... Does he think that I would only defend without taking the initiative to attack?
This time, Charade employed the same method he used to send the people from Vanades City to Kobo City. He set up multiple convoy camps spread out 50 kilometers from each other along the route to Metropoulos River from Kobo City that acted as interchange stations and the carriages only had to travel to and fro between their stations to transport the people and resources to the next stop. Before long, they were able to begin crossing the river right away.
On the 3rd day of the 4th month, the light cavalry scouts sent to check out on the Second Prince's troops had returned with the news that the Second Prince's forces were busy harvesting the winter wheat while suppressing the resistance of the nobles within Delamock Province. So far, only a fraction of the nobles in that province still survived. Most others had already been hanged by the Second Prince on the basis of collaborating with the Andinaq Kingdom and refusing to send reinforcements to aid Duke Madras's ally, the Second Prince himself.
On the 5th day of the 4th month of Year 1768 of the Grindian calendar, Lorist himself was one of the last people to cross the river and he ordered for the six floating bridges to be destroyed. Thus, the convoy and the vagabonds finally made their way to the Northern Highlands.