Chapitre 64: Chapter 64: Guest IV
The Royal Capital soon approved the Territorial War between the two families. Not a single deviation occurred in Herbert's plan and it almost made him feel uneasy. Everything had been going so well that it made him think that there was something wrong.
Regardless of his gut feeling, the skirmishes at the border had soon become full-blown fights. As a third-party observer, he was naturally far away from all of the fighting and had merely been cheering on the Hawkwood soldiers from the safe confines of the Hawkwood Manor.
Because they had been well prepared, the mobilization speed and the logistics were well taken care of, this had already taken the Oxswrod army by surprise which had pushed them back behind their original defensive lines. However, the Oxswords weren't pushovers either. They soon got their forces sorted and launched a counter-attack which stalled the advancement of the Hawkwood army.
In Herbert's eyes, this wasn't a problem. Since he could already see the next phase of his plan in the middle of being implemented, he couldn't be happier.
With the territorial war in full swing, Herbert had received news from his spies that the Oxsword Viscount had decided to increase the taxes to an unbearable degree. This enraged the populace but at the same time, with proper war propaganda, this did not escalate.
Normally, with all this chaos and despair, the church should have taken on an aggressive role to induct even more believers when they are at their lowest point. However, because Herbert had sent a special man deep into the enemy line, he was able to disrupt their mode of operations.
Although he was a descendant of the Antzmind family, Clive had a mutated bloodline ability which caused the people around him to have a good impression of him once they meet. In the original flow of events, his son who had been raised by the church as an orphan would have used this ability to increase the number of believers in the church. This type of power didn't have that much use during combat, but it was indispensable in building up the foundation of any force.
In this time when people are in dire need of help, Clive, who had taken on a different identity, had splurged and managed to take hold and win over the hearts of the people by giving them aid in their darkest days.
His aid work ranged from giving them jobs, selling grain at a low price, and even providing food to the hungry. This man who seemed to have the same heart as the Sword Saint had eased the people of their worries.
His actions didn't go unnoticed by the church, but since he had a mysterious background, the forces of the church didn't immediately become aggressive toward him, rather, they became amiable and attempted to forge connections with him.
However, under Herbert's instructions, he had kept a safe distance between them. He knew that his goal was to pretend to be a neutral party and increase his fame by being someone who can make the lords who deal with him prosper. By doing so, he would slowly erode the influence of the church on this territory and make other lords lower their guard toward him in preparation for his future operations under Herbert's command.
As a person from modern society, Herbert knew that although the nobles seem to have an important role in maintaining the peace and stability of the territory, it was the commoners who toiled every day that gave the territories the basic ability to function. They were the lifeblood of any country and he knew that even if the nobles did hold power, their power would mean nothing if they could not eat.
Without the common citizens, who would toil in their vast fields? Who would they tax? Who would they rule over?
With sufficient understanding, Herbert knew that there was a significant gap that he could make use of in the entirety of the Lionstone Kingdom. And it was through there that he intends to pursue power.
Since his plans had been moving ahead fairly well, he had temporarily lowered his guard but he remained vigilant. Because he knew that even with all of his scheming, he still needed to be wary of any sudden changes that could potentially ruin his plans. After all, he had not yet forgotten the shock that he felt when he tried to use his bloodline against Ingrid.
So far, things never went as planned when he had been going against Ingrid. And although he wasn't technically going against her right now, he couldn't help but feel that her existence was somewhat of a jinx.
Eventually, as the days continued to pass by, the plan was able to progress without any major issues. However, just as he thought that everything was going to be fine, it was at this moment that Herbert finally understood why he needed to be patient. After all, the current situation was only the result of his accumulated effort.
Whatever came next had almost caught him unprepared, but since he was able to get wind of it early, he had managed to prevent anything disastrous from happening. Just when the plan was about to reach its climax, a surprise guest suddenly appeared and intruded on his little play. This came in the form of an ordinary piece of paper that had suddenly come out of nowhere.
Once he had read this surprising piece of information. He knew that something big was going to happen, especially when he saw that the sender of the letter was a spy that was located in the western region of the country.
"As expected, the Rozenbloods wouldn't sit still. They would certainly mind it if the Ravens of the north had started to expand their nest and disrupt their little Rose garden of the west."
As he slowly read the letter, his eyes widened, he didn't understand how things had gone wrong so fast, so quickly. It didn't take long for him to send a servant to call for Ingrid.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone