"Your Highness, could you give us an overview of the Madras Duchy's strength?"
The
Lorist stood up and moved the table in front of him aside, then hung a large beast-hide map together with Reidi so that everyone in the tent could see it. It was a map of the Duchy of Madras, which Shrade had ordered enlarged and redrawn from a smaller map overnight.
"Your Highness, this way please." Lorist handed a thin wooden pointer to the Second Prince.
This method of presentation was quite novel. The Second Prince took the thin wooden stick and quickly understood its purpose — one end was thin and the other thick. He walked to the map and began his instructional briefing.
"The Duchy of Madras is made up of three provinces. Yungeshandra Province borders the Andinak Kingdom to the south and leads to the Fakel and Sabaji Duchies to the east. As you can see from the map, most of this province consists of hilly terrain and the Egret Lake marshlands. There isn't much arable land — only thirty-five fief lords.
Draimek Province is the largest province in the Duchy of Madras. It borders the Northland across the
After Grand Duke Madras established his duchy, he reassigned a batch of fief lords to Draimek Province. Now there are nearly a hundred fief lords in the province, with only
Finally, in the west, there is Sidagle Province. This is Grand Duke Madras's original stronghold, connected only to Yungeshandra Province by road. After transferring all the original fief lords to Draimek Province, the entirety of Sidagle Province falls under the Grand Duke's direct administration.
The Duchy of Madras currently has an estimated population of over 1.7 million and employs the garrison conscription system. All fief lords and their towns rely on garrison soldiers as their primary defense force. In the event of a major war, the duchy draws garrison troops from across the land to form temporary corps and sends them to the front lines.
In addition, the duchy maintains two standing corps. The Sea Mountain Corps is the Grand Duke's original personal guard corps, totaling twenty-four thousand troops. Well-equipped and stationed year-round in Sidagle Province, it is the corps most trusted by the Grand Duke.
The other is the Iron Guard Corps, currently blockading the border and garrisoned at Lichtenana Fortress. It has a total strength of twenty-eight thousand and claims to be the most defensively capable corps under heaven..."
The Second Prince said with a bitter smile to everyone in the tent, "Actually, the Iron Guard Corps earned its fame at my father's expense. In the fourth year of the civil war, the wavering Grand Duke Madras was persuaded by others to finally declare the establishment of his duchy. At the time, I was leading the White Lion Corps in a counterattack against the First Prince's forces, while the Gale Corps was assisting Grand Duke Meleian in driving the Second Prince back in defeat. The situation was excellent — we all believed it wouldn't be long before the rebellions of both princes were quelled.
But no one expected that at that very moment, Grand Duke Madras would declare his independence, demand neutral non-involvement, and seal off the border. This cut off all contact between the imperial capital and the four central grand dukes, severing material support from the central regions and grain supplies from Draimek Province. The situation at the front deteriorated rapidly, and we had no choice but to shift from offense to defense, retreating step by step.
Under these circumstances, only breaking through Grand Duke Madras's blockade could give the Empire new life. My father led the Royal Guard Corps of over sixty-three thousand men and swept through Yungeshandra Province. But when they attempted to advance into Draimek Province, more than sixty thousand soldiers were halted before the gates of Kobo City.
At that time, the defenders of Kobo consisted only of locally conscripted garrison troops — a total of just over eight thousand. Yet these garrison soldiers held firm and repelled the Royal Guard Corps's assault. My father laid siege to Kobo for six months without making any progress, and in his fury, he coughed up blood.
When reinforcements from the Second Prince's faction arrived and the Grand Duke's Sea Mountain Corps attacked from behind, my father was forced to retreat. Of the sixty-three thousand soldiers who had marched out with the Royal Guard Corps, fewer than twenty thousand made it back.
Of the eight thousand garrison soldiers who had held Kobo, fewer than one thousand survived. The overjoyed Grand Duke Madras bestowed upon them the title of Iron Guard Corps and expanded the unit using those garrison veterans as its core, declaring it the foremost defensive force under heaven.
After that battle, the Empire was severely weakened. Short of military provisions and supplies, it had no choice but to contract its defensive lines. This gave the First Prince the opportunity to send a flanking force around the defenses to attack the imperial capital. Though I rushed back with my troops and destroyed that force, the capital was already half-ruined — its former glory reduced to smoke and ashes, refugees everywhere, the people suffering terribly...
From this perspective, Grand Duke Madras was the true culprit who drove the Empire toward disintegration. I only hate that I was powerless to bring him to justice. Now he has deployed the Iron Guard Corps to blockade the border once more, aiming to use these hundred thousand refugees to destabilize the Andinak Kingdom again. The more chaos we suffer, the more peacefully he can rest.
Therefore, we must seize the time while we still have grain and send these hundred thousand refugees to attack Lichtenana Fortress. Even if we cannot capture it in the end, as long as the refugees are consumed in the attempt, it will save us a great deal of trouble.
The Kingdom has over 1.5 million civilians who have just settled down and resumed production. We have no choice but to sacrifice them..."
Lorist smiled and stood up, interrupting the Second Prince. "Your Highness, there is no need for that. We don't need to attack Lichtenana Fortress either. In fact, time is on our side. There are many ways to save these hundred thousand refugees. I won't gamble their lives away..."
The tent immediately erupted in discussion. The hundred thousand refugees had already become the caravan's greatest burden, their stored grain being consumed like water flowing away. Though the Second Prince's idea of sending the refugees to attack the fortress was cruel, many considered it the only viable solution.
"Do you have a better idea? Would you care to share?" The Second Prince looked at Lorist in surprise, unable to understand why Lorist claimed time was on their side.
Lorist took the thin wooden pointer from the Second Prince's hand, walked to the map, and tapped it. "Here. It seems you've all forgotten about Egret Lake. It's the largest inland lake in the Empire and the natural boundary between the Andinak Kingdom and the Duchy of Madras.
Let me address the first problem — the lack of grain. But there are fish in the lake! Why not fish? Besides fish, there are plenty of edible water plants and wild vegetables in the water. We can rely entirely on these catches, mixed with wild vegetables and a small amount of grain, to fill the refugees' stomachs.
Previously, fishing was forbidden because this lake was the border between the two nations. But do we still need to worry about that now? Even if the Duchy of Madras sees us fishing, they won't interfere — as long as we don't approach their shoreline.
Everyone knows that two months from now, winter will arrive. When the bitter cold sets in, ice will stretch for a thousand miles and snow will fill the sky. Once Egret Lake freezes over, do we still need to worry about Lichtenana Fortress? We can cross the lake from any direction and head north toward the Northland. That is why I say — time is on our side."
The moment Lorist finished speaking, the atmosphere in the tent became electric. Of course! Why hadn't anyone thought of that? Once the weather turned cold and the lake surface froze, anyone could cross. Why fixate on the supply route below Lichtenana Fortress? And everyone knew their grain reserves could only last about three months, but Egret Lake had fish and water plants — couldn't those serve as food too? Such a large lake, where fishing had been banned for so long — the harvest would surely be abundant. Forget one or two months; they might even have enough grain for half a year.
The Second Prince clapped Lorist warmly on the shoulder, beaming with delight. "As expected of Count
"Your Highness, just call me Lorist. All this 'Count, Count' business is too formal," Lorist said with a laugh.
"Very well, then I'll call you Lorist, and you should call me Oro," the Second Prince replied.
"Fine, Oro. I'll need your help with the fishing. Send over some small fishing boats and nets. I'll have my people start building boats and weaving nets right away — the sooner the better. That way, we can dry the catch into fish jerky while the weather is still good for long-term preservation," Lorist said.
The Second Prince nodded. "Good. This is important — you've thought it through thoroughly. I'll go handle it right away."
Lorist grabbed the Second Prince's arm with a laugh. "No rush. I'm having a banquet tonight and was hoping Your Highness would attend. I'm planning to promote and recruit some family knights, and I'd like Your Highness to serve as a witness."
The Second Prince was momentarily stunned, then broke into a laugh. "Good! I'll bear witness to the might of the Norton Family's Roaring Bear Knights."
...
That evening's banquet was lively and lavish. Not only did every member of the caravan receive a small portion of wine and meat, but even the hundred thousand refugees were allowed to eat their fill.
A total of forty-eight meritorious personnel were inducted as knights of the Norton Family. What displeased Shrade was that among the seventy-some names on the list, twenty-six had refused to become Lorist's family knights. Their reasons were all the same — they had already promised the Second Prince that after escorting the caravan to the Northland, they would join the Andinak royal court. Among them were seven former students of Dawn Academy.
Lorist didn't mind. Everyone has their own path, and you can't force a melon to be sweet. The ones he valued — Rod Wells, Mons Malek, Zeno Farea, Dolus, Lunmerd, and the rest — hadn't left, and that was what mattered. But this meant that of the thirty-seven former Dawn Academy students who had set out with the group, after Ziwos's death in battle, sixteen had gone to the Second Prince, and only twenty-one had become Norton Family knights.
Shrade, along with
First, Rod Wells and Zeno Farea, both Gold-rank fighters, stepped forward to swear their loyalty. Next came Mons Malek, Dolus, Lunmerd, and nineteen other former Dawn Academy students. Finally, more than twenty Silver Knights promoted for their achievements stepped forward. Most of them were family knights whose lords had been exterminated by
After their loyalty to the Norton Family was sworn, Lorist beckoned to
Lorist stepped forward and gently patted Jim on the shoulder. "Jim, you've been with me for some time now. Though you still carry some mercenary habits, your loyalty, diligence, and courage are truly outstanding. Would you become my knight and fight beneath the Norton Family's Roaring Bear banner?"
"Of course I would!" Jim answered without hesitation, then looked at Lorist with a confused expression. "Milord, why are you asking me this?"
Elle and Botefinger burst out laughing beside him.
Reidi walked over and kicked Jim. "Fool! The Milord wants to make you a family knight — get on your knee and swear your oath at once!"
"Really?" Jim jumped up with excitement. "Milord, can I really, truly become your family knight?"
Lorist nodded with a smile.
Jim hurriedly straightened his attire — not that there was much to straighten. He knelt on one knee before Lorist and was just about to swear his oath when Reidi slapped his forehead and cursed, "Idiot! Not that knee — the other one goes down..."
The standard posture for a knight's oath required kneeling on the right knee, with both hands or one hand placed on the left knee.
Jim blushed and switched knees, then swore his oath with the same solemnity as the knights before him: "I, Jim, swear my loyalty to the Norton Family. I will follow Milord Norton Lorist, serve faithfully, and uphold the honor of the Norton Family knights. I shall be the sharp blade in Milord Lorist's hand, fighting beneath the banner of the Roaring Bear until my last breath."
Lorist solemnly drew his sword and struck Jim twice on each shoulder. "Rise, my knight."
Botefinger took the silver Roaring Bear badge from Pat and pinned it to Jim's left chest, then embraced him tightly. "Welcome to the family, my brother."
The newly inducted knights were drinking freely and laughing loudly...
Lorist raised his cup and walked over to the Second Prince to toast him. He noticed Krisha nearby, tears streaming down her face...
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's happy for you. So many talented people have joined your banner — the Norton Family's revival is just around the corner," the Second Prince explained, not without a trace of envy.
"Ha ha, Your Highness, you've poached plenty of people from me. I've lost more than twenty knights." Lorist raised his silver cup to the Second Prince and took a sip. "Oro, when you head back later, take them with you."
"Why? Don't you need them to help escort the caravan to the Northland?" the Second Prince asked.
Lorist shook his head. "There's no need. I can't delay their prospects. The Andinak Kingdom you're governing now is in ruins and needs all the help it can get. Let them join your ranks early so they can earn their merits. A trip to the Northland with the caravan would cost them too much time. Besides, I've just recruited so many family knights and will be reorganizing the caravan soon — they'd have no place in it anyway."
The Second Prince didn't put on airs. He nodded and said, "Very well. I'll take all of them with me when I leave."
...