Chapter 145: Departure

The September dawn cast a shimmering golden mantle over the Morgan Hills and the Black Forest.

Lorist stood by the road outside the south city gate to see off Baron Camorra. One after another, the newly freed Silver Knights approached, bowing respectfully to Lorist before leading their squires and personal attendants to stand aside with their mounts, waiting for their companions to assemble before setting off on the journey home.

Baron Camorra watched the growing crowd of Silver Knights not far off, his expression dark and troubled. At last he could not hold back a sigh. "That move of yours was truly masterful. I know full well that once they return, they'll stir up a tremendous upheaval among the Northland Corps and the Duke's domain. But I've thought about it all night and there's nothing I can do about the situation. Sigh… His Grace the Duke… he made a mistake. Without the Northland Corps keeping things in check, I'm afraid the Northland will be thrown into turmoil from now on…"

Lorist let out a soft laugh. "The age of chaos has long since arrived—how could the Northland hope to avoid strife? Ever since I traveled from Morant City back to my family's territory, I've seen more than enough of war and smoke, of corpses and starving dead, of bandits rising like swarms and refugees wandering everywhere. I once believed the Northland, protected by its natural barriers, would be able to maintain its own peace—a haven of prosperity even amid these troubled times. Unfortunately, I was wrong. It was only after setting foot in the Northland that I discovered it is worse than the world outside. War rages everywhere, and the flames of battle burn on every horizon. You can even hear on the wind the wailing of the dying and the weeping of the innocent…"

Lorist's smile faded. "As the Grand Duke of the Northland, the man who created the Northland Corps, he bears the responsibility of quelling the Northland's wars, restoring its peace, uniting all the territory's nobles to face outside threats together, and making the Northland a place of refuge that others would envy. But what did your Duke do? He turned the Northland Corps into a vicious hound at his side, a tool for hoarding wealth. He squeezed so many valuables from the Northland's lords—so where did it all go? It was squandered on revelry and maintaining a lavish lifestyle, without the slightest benefit to the Northland…"

"I sometimes find it laughable. On what basis does your Duke presume to establish the Duchy of Lukins in the Northland? Ambition is no sin—the mistake is having ambition without the courage to match, and without any self-awareness. Who would support him? Even if every lord currently bows and scrapes before your Duke, it is only because of the Northland Corps. No one wants an incompetent, talentless, and virtueless overlord squatting on their heads. This time your Duke smashed his head bloody against our Norton Family. His expeditionary force was utterly annihilated, and the Northland Corps suffered devastating losses. This should have been the time to comfort the soldiers, ransom the prisoners, and learn from the lesson…"

"But what did your Duke do? His head is full of gold coins, his heart fixated on gold coins, and he even turned his fury on the soldiers who served him with utmost loyalty. Does he truly think that money is his? Unreasonable, heartless, without a shred of honor, paranoid and tyrannical. Lord Camorra, is such a Duke truly worth your loyal service? I suspect that when faced with a choice between a bag of gold and your life, your Duke would choose the gold without the slightest hesitation and leave you to die. I feel it is a great waste for you, Lord Camorra. You are a man of talent. Your Duke may have elevated you from humble origins, but he merely used you—he never truly appreciated your abilities…"

"Furthermore, you were right to accuse me—I do have selfish motives. Giving Sir Henned and the others their freedom was precisely to send them back to cause your Duke some trouble, and to keep the Northland Corps so occupied that they can no longer aim their spears at the Norton Family. Without the Northland Corps as his crutch, I'd like to see how your Duke plans to set his eyes on my gold coins. You know as well as I do—all of those valuables are my spoils and war trophies, and I intend to put them toward developing and building up the family's territory. While the outside world is engulfed in war and flame, I will turn our Norton Family's lands into a paradise…"

"Developing and building up territory isn't just about having gold coins—you'll also need a great deal of manpower and resources…" Baron Camorra cut in. Having spent so long being lectured by Lorist with no way to retort had left him feeling thoroughly stifled, but now they had finally reached a subject he knew well, and he could not help feeling delighted. "You have more than enough gold coins, but you lack the ability to convert that gold into supplies. What you need most urgently is a trade route for external commerce, and you need a peaceful, stable environment to build up your family's territory. Otherwise, no matter how firm your guarantees, they'll all end up as empty words."

Lorist nodded and broke into a smile. "You're quite right. We're doing our best to build up the territory right now…"

He pointed at Rock Fortress behind him. "You must have seen it — this is the result of our recent construction efforts. Even though we've been fighting nonstop, we haven't halted our building. Gold coins can't turn themselves into supplies, and the Norton Family doesn't have a reliable external trade route. But don't forget — merchants chase profit. Once word spreads that the Norton Family has money and needs supplies, merchants will come knocking with goods to trade. I believe that as long as you put in the effort, there will always be good results."

Sir Henned, accompanied by two squires and four personal attendants, was the last to ride out through Rock Fortress's southern gate. He rode up to Lorist, gave Baron Camorra a slight nod, then performed a knight's salute to Lorist. Turning his horse's head, he gave the mount a gentle squeeze with his legs. The horse let out a neigh and galloped off down the long road. The Silver Knights nearby all mounted up with their respective entourages and followed behind…

Baron Camorra let out a long breath. "I should take my leave as well… I just hope they don't cause too much chaos when they get back."

"If things don't work out, look after yourself — the Norton Family will always throw open its doors to welcome you…"

This was an open invitation to switch sides. Baron Camorra froze for a moment, opened his mouth as if to say something, but thought better of it and said nothing. He mounted his horse, waved to the four guards who had escorted him here in the distance, cracked his whip, and rode off in a cloud of dust.

Lorist made his way leisurely up to the battlements, where he found Joester leaning against the crenellations, gazing at the fading trail of dust in the distance.

"Not leading the training today?" Lorist asked.

"No. I had Pete take them," Joester replied.

Pete was a wandering knight recruited at the recent jousting tournament. His real name was Pieck Priest, but he went by Pete. He was quite famous among the wandering knights of the Northland — only twenty-five years old this year, a second-stage Silver Knight. He had also been the winner of the archery competition at the tournament. It was Seadkamp's mention that the family had a Gold-tier marksman that had truly won Pete over, and he was successfully recruited.

Joester had once praised Pete in front of Lorist, saying he was the most talented archer besides himself. At the time, Lorist had cursed: "Damn, are you praising him or just showing off?"

"Here…" Joester handed over a thick piece of beast-hide paper.

"What is it?"

"Something Knight Henned shoved to me before he left. He didn't say a word."

Lorist unfolded the beast-hide paper. It was a hand-drawn map, with a rope bridge, a castle, manors, cities and towns marked on it, alongside rows of numbers written in neat columns.

The more Lorist looked, the wider his eyes grew, until he finally burst into hearty laughter.

"It's just a military deployment map. Why are you so happy?" Joester said.

"It's not just that…" Lorist was delighted. "Jo, take a look — we don't need to worry about Duke Lugins sending troops against us again. The rope bridge checkpoint, the fortress castle, and the capital Gildusk — these three places alone would require three regiments of the Northland Legion to garrison. Three manor castles and seven towns would need ten squadrons to defend. Heh, so the duke was using the Northland Legion as a garrison force for his territory. I can't believe he actually came up with that…"

"The Northland Legion had over twenty thousand men. We wiped out more than four thousand of them, leaving just over seventeen thousand. Subtract the twelve thousand five hundred needed to garrison their positions, and the most they could muster is about five thousand. They already lost four thousand — would these five thousand still dare to come at us? Even though that lousy grand duke still has evil intentions, even if he could assemble an expeditionary force, he'd need someone to lead it. Henned won't be willing to serve the duke anymore — he might even stab the duke in the back. Tabek will be bedridden for another year, and those two gold-tier knights can't leave either. Heh, the duke wants to deal with our Norton Family, but he just doesn't have the strength."

"So that means we won't be fighting anymore?" Joester asked.

"Perhaps. The Kenmays family turning their focus toward the eastern region of the Northland is also a show of goodwill — a willingness to reconcile with us. You already know Duke Lugins's situation. Once Henned and those knights return, there's bound to be a huge uproar. The Northland Legion will be in a state of panic, and a mutiny might even break out. The duke will be overwhelmed and too busy dealing with his own mess to worry about us. Before he stabilizes the Northland Legion, there's no way he'll send troops against our family.

"Generally speaking, we should have a period of peace ahead of us. But we can't let our guard down. Viscount Kenmays still harbors a grudge because we seized his hidden stash. Given the chance to bite us, to trip us up, he certainly won't let it pass. As for Duke Lugins, he's a madman. We can't predict what he'll do next using the logic of a normal person. He might very well rouse the entire Northland Legion for gold, abandoning his own stronghold just to fight us to the bloody end.

"So we must remain battle-ready, stay vigilant at all times, and be prepared for anything. Oh, and Jo — I'd like to leave Castel Fortress for a while. While I'm gone, this place can only be entrusted to you. That's the only way I can be at ease." Lorist looked at Joester as he spoke.

"Where do you want to go?" Joester asked.

"I want to find the caravan. Ever since I received the letters from Raul and Mord, I've been very worried. I'm afraid something might have happened to the caravan — I can't sleep well at night. There's this constant uneasy feeling in my heart, so I want to use this brief window of peace to go look for them…" Lorist gazed into the distance as he spoke.

"Then who do you plan to bring along?" Joester asked again.

Lorist thought for a moment. "I'll just take Pat. Everyone has their duties. I'll have Paul Bins take over Pat's management of the recruits' camp. Only Pat can be spared to leave."

"No way…" Joester shook his head. "If you only bring Pat, that's just two people — it's not safe. Think about it: Raul and Mord set out with twelve men, and now only the two of them are left. The dangers were far too great. How about this — since you want me to stay behind, I can agree to that, but you have to take the archer cavalry squad with you. With Pete and the others by your side, I'll be at ease. If you refuse, I'll pack my bags right now and go with you."

Lorist sighed helplessly. "Fine, fine — I'll take the archer cavalry squad. Happy now? Really, you should know that with my abilities, under normal circumstances there's no real danger. Don't you think bringing the archer cavalry squad will be too conspicuous?"

Joester replied with a grave expression, "My lord, the world outside isn't safe right now. With just two people, trouble will surely find you. But if you have the archer cavalry squad, it's the trouble that will steer clear of you. That's the only way you'll have a smooth journey and find the northbound caravan quickly."

Lorist nodded. "Fine, you've convinced me. Have the guards inform the archer cavalry squad to prepare. We set out tomorrow morning."

...

The Zha district, the Northbound Caravan's main camp was located in the central area of this tent settlement.

Inside the large command tent, everyone was downcast, brows furrowed with worry...

"Exactly why would the Madras Grand Duke refuse us entry? They even dispatched the Iron Guard Legion to seal the border, not allowing a single person to pass?" Shrade asked, looking around at his worried colleagues.

Bodfenger pondered before replying, "We don't know for certain. Nadergas City is barely over a hundred li from the Madras border. Normally, we could enter their territory through Fort Lecita. But when our vanguard arrived, they found Fort Lecita heavily guarded, as if facing a great enemy. The guards refused us passage, and a few days ago, they even brought in the Iron Guard Legion. When we attempted negotiations, their Legion Commander sent a deputy to state that unless we take a different route, they would not allow our caravan to enter the Grand Duchy."

Shrade had a splitting headache. Actually, everyone understood the reason for the refusal; they were just reluctant to say it directly out of consideration for his dignity. This was the aftermath of his armed caravan rampaging through the Kingdom of Andinak. He had executed and confiscated the properties of over eighty territorial nobles. The reputation of "Demon Shrade" had long spread far and wide. The Madras Grand Duchy was no exception. Upon hearing he would lead a caravan through their territory, no one dared let him in. What's more, nearly one hundred thousand refugees trailed behind his caravan. If the Northbound Caravan were allowed through, it would be like a locust plague; everything along the way would be swept clean.

"Would paying a transit fee be out of the question?" Shrade asked, clinging to a sliver of hope.

Bodfenger looked at him and shook his head with a bitter smile.

"What if we split up into smaller groups? Could we pass as dozens or over a hundred individual horse-drawn merchant wagons, traveling under the name of the Andinak Royal Family?"

"It's useless," Termann interjected. "That adjutant from the Iron Guard Corps said they're planning to seal off the border for six months to a year. Forget merchant caravans—even ordinary travelers are forbidden from crossing."

"Sigh..." Shrade turned to an accountant he'd promoted from among their ranks. "How much grain do we have in reserve?"

"My lord, you swept clean the entire Virbassia Province, so the seized grain and fodder are enough to feed our caravan and the refugees behind us for three months. However, it's already September, and winter will arrive in a little over a month. The refugees still lack sufficient cold-weather clothing. If we don't make preparations for the cold in advance, once the snow falls, a great many of the old and weak among the refugees could die from the cold..." The accountant replied with a deep bow.

"Pass down the orders. The family armed forces keep their current provisions. Caravan personnel get three meals a day, but with rationed portions. The refugees behind us get two meals a day—one bowl of congee per person per sitting. As long as they don't starve to death, that's enough. Once the caravan sets out, we'll feed them properly so they have the strength to keep up. Lord Bodfenger, have the caravan's armed guards tighten control over the refugees—any resistance is to be suppressed immediately. Also, have the refugees dig shelters and gather firewood to prepare for winter. On top of that, we need to send out parties to purchase grain and clothing, just in case."

Shrade now ground his teeth with hatred toward the refugees trailing the caravan. If not for these refugees, how would the caravan have ended up in this predicament? They might have already reached the Northland and seen Lorist by now. He'd originally intended to bring all these refugees along to the Northland as well, but now he could only curse his own greed. Couldn't he have waited until the caravan reached the Northland before sending men out to gather refugees? It was his own fault that the caravan was now trapped in an impossible position.

"It's bad news, Lord Shrade!" Dolus of the War Chariot Corps burst into the main tent, gasping for breath. "Edemar and Wanpu have defected to the Second Prince. They even brought along two company-sized units of family soldiers..."

Both Edemar and Wanpu were among the old Dawn Academy students who had followed Shrade and Termann in organizing the caravan to the Northland, and both now held the rank of company commander.

Ever since the caravan's armed forces had swept through all the noble estates of Virbassia Province to seize food for the refugees, the Second Prince had effortlessly trailed behind with his own force of five thousand, reclaiming territories, resettling refugees, restoring order, and developing production. If not for him cleaning up the aftermath, the refugee column behind the caravan would have swelled far beyond a hundred thousand.

However, once the Second Prince learned that Bodfenger and the others were former officers of the White Lion Corps, he began frequently visiting the caravan's camp to make small talk and build rapport—only to be rebuffed one after another as Bodfenger and his men refused every attempt at recruitment. Shrade's convenient father-in-law, Inderic, was far more susceptible to the flattery and privately urged Shrade to pledge allegiance to the Second Prince, only to be thoroughly scolded for it. In the end, Shrade uttered a single sentence: "What if the Lord finds out..." Inderic, who feared Lorist to his very bones, immediately begged for mercy.

Having failed to win over the caravan's senior leadership, the Second Prince turned his sights on the old Dawn Academy students. In less than a month, seven of them had already been poached. But today's incident was truly a step too far—even two companies of soldiers from the caravan's armed forces, from the Norton Family, had been taken along.

"How outrageous! Mobilize the troops, besiege Nadegas City. If the Second Prince refuses to return our family soldiers, we'll declare war on him, then turn toward the imperial capital and reduce the entire Andinak Kingdom to rubble!" Shrade slammed his fist viciously onto the table...