But the Baron Camora of now was on the verge of death, unconscious and unresponsive.
Lorist summoned the Duke's estate steward and a few servants. After a few questions, the inside story of how Baron Camora came to be tossed into the dungeon by Duke
As it happened, the four thousand troops sent to attack the Norton Family were completely wiped out. Of the two Knights, one was dead and the other captured. The Duke, burning with humiliation and rage, seized Chevani's property and drove his family into the streets to beg. Next, Baron Camora went to the Norton Family to bring back the captured Knight Hennerd and those Silver Knights as criminals for punishment, but Lorist refused. Instead, citing the principle that Knights could not be insulted, Lorist released Hennerd and the Silver Knights.
After returning, Baron Camora received a thorough scolding from the Duke, who deemed him incompetent. When Hennerd and those Silver Knights returned, they rallied two regiments of the Northland army—five thousand soldiers—and forcibly occupied the manor castle at Cherry Blossom Ridge to defend themselves. This drove the Duke into a furious, helpless rage, and he laid all the blame on Baron Camora.
Around this time, the slave trader the Duke knew arrived in high spirits. The Duke had no slaves on hand, so in a moment of desperate inspiration, he ordered the city's beggars, landless peasants, and unemployed to be rounded up and sold as slaves to the trader. He even recalled Chevani's family, specifically ordering that they not be missed.
However, the Duke's personal guards could not locate Chevani's family. Upon inquiry, they learned they had been secretly sent out of the Northland by Baron Camora long ago. They reported this to the Duke. Meanwhile, Baron Camora himself was unlucky. He was rushing to the Duke's estate, intending to stop the Duke from issuing such an absurd command—once word got out, the Duke's reputation would be completely destroyed, and he would lose all support.
Even so, upon hearing the guards' report, the Duke was already seething. When he saw Baron Camora arrive to dissuade him, he erupted on the spot. He stripped Camora of his Baron title and ordered him thrown into the water dungeon, to be left to starve to death...
After waving away the steward and servants he had summoned for questioning, Lorist shook his head and sighed: "Duke Lukins has truly gone mad. But those guards weren't lying—they really were secretly looking after Baron Camora. Otherwise, he would have starved to death long ago. Reddy, give those guards five gold Forts each, as a reward for their care of the Baron. Also, ask them if they're willing to bring their families and join us. It's to spare them from the Duke's wrath when that fool returns."
"Yes, my lord." Reddy left.
Henned sidled up to Lorist: "Lorist, are you eyeing Camora? Let's get one thing straight. I'm taking him back to the Cherry Blossom Ridge estate castle..."
"Oh, give it a rest..." Lorist glanced at him. "Taking him with you would be a waste of his talents. You'd just use him as a steward, you know it. I think highly of him, and I'll make use of him. He might even have a chance to become a proper landed noble."
Henned fell silent. Now he knew Lorist was a Count, not a Baron like himself anymore. As the former deputy to the Northland Legion's commander, Knight Chevani, he was quite familiar with Camora's abilities. He knew that without Camora's diligent work in logistics and supply, the Northland Legion would have struggled to reach or maintain a strength of over twenty thousand men. So he didn't look down on Camora the way the other Golden Knight, Tabek, did.
But now Lorist had set his sights on Camora and intended to recruit him. After a moment's thought, Henned decided it was better to let it go. No need to offend the golden thigh he was clinging to over one Camora.
"Fine, Camora can be yours. But you owe me compensation," Henned said, unwilling to let the matter drop entirely.
"Get lost. Compensation? Tell me yourself how many favors you've already taken from me. Your forces grew by over two thousand men, plus all that iron armor you got from me..." Lorist ignored him.
"Haha, we're friends! Why keep score between good friends? Talking about money is so crass. I want a person—a woman. How about that?" Henned said with a cheeky grin.
"A woman? Which one have you got your eye on now?" Lorist asked curiously.
Henned glanced left and right to make sure no one was nearby, then leaned in to whisper in Lorist's ear...
"Get lost. If you've got something to say, just say it straight. A grown man shouldn't be so disgusting, whispering like that — honestly, I don't even know how you became a knight..." Lorist shoved Henned away.
"All right, all right. What I want is the Duke's favorite mistress. But you've got to do me a favor first — have someone pretend to escort her away, and I'll ambush them on the road and rescue her back to
"Lying badly wounded at Sakura Ridge, instead of bouncing around all over the place..." Lorist was giving his permission.
Two days later, in a guest room of the Grand Duke's manor.
Baron Camora sat up in bed, looking at Lorist with great surprise. "How did you get here?"
Lorist smiled, calm and breezy. "Why couldn't I come? The Duke personally rode out and rallied the Northland lords to wage war against my family. Then I realized his Grand Duke territory was practically empty, so I came over for a stroll..."
Baron Camora slumped back onto his pillow as if all the fight had gone out of him. "The Duke is far too stubborn. I warned him again and again not to tangle with the Norton Family. Why on earth won't he listen..."
"Don't worry about your madman of a Duke. A sane person can't reason with a lunatic. He's already stripped you of your barony and thrown you into the water dungeon to starve you to death. If those guards hadn't taken pity on you and sneaked you food now and then, I wouldn't be able to see you when I came. Stop overthinking it — just rest up and recover. In another two days I'll be mustering my forces to go meet your Duke. When that time comes, I'll take you with me," Lorist said.
"Wait — wait a moment, Lord Norton. You've already seized the Duke's territory. Why would you leave? This is the most prosperous and wealthy heartland in all of the Northland. Are you really willing to give it up?" Camora asked.
"Heh heh..." Lorist chuckled. "One's in the far south, the other's in the far north — a messenger would need five days just for a round trip. Occupying the Duke's territory would be equivalent to splitting the Norton Family's forces in two. I won't be that reckless. The Norton Family doesn't have enough strength yet, and I have no interest in the entirety of the Northland for the time being. As for what you called the most prime region in the Northland, heh. It won't be anymore in the future..."
"My lord, Knight Fairley has arrived," Reddy reported, entering the room.
"That's all for now, Camora. Get some proper rest and recover your health. Once we return to the family's territory, I'll have work for you. If you need anything, just tell the guards — don't hesitate." Lorist waved Camora off and left.
The audience chamber of the Grand Duke's estate.
"Fairley, how are the mood and morale of the relocated villagers and artisans? Have they caused you much trouble?" Lorist asked.
Fairley shook his head. "My lord, the villagers have been fairly cooperative. It's actually the ones taken from the towns — the skilled craftsmen — who've been causing more of a stir."
"Is there a reason for that?"
"My lord, you may not know this, but Duke Lugins imposed a tax on the farmers in his territory equal to sixty percent of their harvest. For the farmers, the remaining forty percent was barely enough to feed their families. They typically only ate two meals a day. Half of the livestock and poultry they raised belonged to the Duke outright. The other half they could sell, but after paying the exorbitant taxes on the sale, what little income remained had to go toward buying salt and other necessities of life. Their existence was extremely harsh. When we appeared and paid cash on the spot for their livestock and poultry, and then provided them with three meals a day once we hit the road, they were the quickest to believe our promises and the most willing to follow our orders."
Knight Fairley took a sip of tea and continued his report. "Upon receiving your orders to raise another garrison unit for maintaining order, Malek and I decided to recruit from among these relocated villagers. The villagers signed up for the selection process with great enthusiasm. The new garrison unit is now fully assembled. They've been equipped with spears and leather armor — more than sufficient for maintaining guard and order along the march."
Lorist nodded. "You and Malek have done well. I'm very satisfied. The reason I had you bring five thousand mounted garrison troops here was to have you replace Knight Ross, who's been guarding Frestech Fortress. There are still three to four thousand Northland Army soldiers holed up inside the fortress. Knight Ross has two companies of iron-armored lancers camped right in front of the fortress, facing them off in a standoff."
"What we need to do next is strike at the enemy's main camp that attacked our
"My lord, please rest assured. I will complete the mission." Knight Fairley snapped to attention and saluted.
Three days later, Tiger Ross returned with his two iron-armored lancer brigades to the Grand Duchy's capital of Girudusk.
"Let's go. It's time we set off to meet the last big battle before we head home." Lorist mounted his horse and addressed Erle, Ross,
The mysterious gray-cloaked figure of Knight Hennead, his face wrapped and hidden, glanced back at the Grand Duke's mansion that had already been reduced to a hollow shell and said, "Locke, why don't you just set a fire and burn this place to the ground?"
"There's no need for that. I'll come back and haul away whatever the Duke fills it with whenever he gets around to it. If I burn it down, he'll just move elsewhere — what a hassle that would be." Lorist said with a smile.
Today was the day they would withdraw from Girudusk. Lorist flicked his riding whip and pointed ahead, saying to Knight Hennead, "There are seven more lords' fiefs along our route. Since they chose to side with the Duke against my Norton Family, I see no reason to let them off the hook. We'll sweep clean all the way through — same terms as before. Hennead, have your men take the manor castles and towns, and I'll send Dolles's war chariot corps to assist you."
—clan-armed Northland Army soldiers. They truly were not suitable candidates for siege warfare.
Seven days later, Lorist's army arrived at the River Somme.
The River Somme was merely a small river in the Northland, originating from Mount Bin and flowing southward to join the Mitobulo River.
After crossing the River Somme, one more day's march would bring them to the Rock Fortress.
"You've done well these past months. You effectively cut off the enemy scouts from probing our movements. What's the situation at the enemy camp now?" asked Lorist.
"My lord, we haven't done all that well. Before the end of April, we captured thirty-seven messengers, but most of the letters they carried were love notes from some knight or other—official documents were rare. The Grand Duke did write several reprimanding letters, though, blaming a few lords for not bringing troops to campaign against our Norton Family and urging them to muster their forces and join up as quickly as possible. All of those messengers were detained by us, however."
"By May, the enemy camp seems to have grown suspicious. Over the past few days they've been sending a great many scouts in our direction. Yesterday we ran into over a dozen of them. After a brief skirmish we couldn't hold them, and four escaped back. I believe the enemy now knows of our existence." Yuri hung his head.
"It's fine." Lorist patted his shoulder. "The battle will be decided soon enough. By the time they've figured something is wrong, it will already be too late. Don't worry—they won't be able to turn things around."
"What about Bodenfanger's side?" Lorist asked.
Yuri replied, "My lord, Lord Bodenfanger set out yesterday with the Heavy Armor Corps. Accompanying him are the Turman Knight Order and the Second Garrison Corps under Malek. They are scheduled to arrive at the Rock Fortress at the planned time, which is tomorrow noon. Oh, and this morning Lord Bodenfanger sent word that they captured Count Spencer and nearly a hundred of his men who were trying to return to their territory."
"Count Spencer? That old man threw in his lot with the Duke and was the first to attack our Rock Fortress. Why would he be heading back to his lands now? Never mind—have him locked up for the time being. We'll deal with him after the battle."
Lorist studied the map. "Give the order—everyone rest early tonight. Meals ready before dawn, march out at six. We need to reach the front of the Rock Fortress before noon."
"Yes, my lord."
…
On May 9th, in the 1,768th year of the Galentean Common Era, the famed Battle of Stone Fortress in the Northland commenced.
Before the fortress, situated in the Morgen Hills of the Northland, at noon.
The Norton Family forces, positioned to the southwest, launched the first assault. Bodenfanger led the Heavy Armor Corps, arranged in five large battalion formations. They advanced step by step toward the Lord's Alliance army, which had taken up a defensive position facing east.
The Alliance army, led by Grand Duke Lukins, numbered over forty-six thousand troops. The Norton Family forces committed over forty-three thousand. In terms of sheer numbers, the two sides were evenly matched.
In reality, when nearly a thousand longbowmen from the Grand Duke's Northland Corps unleashed three volleys of arcing shots at the approaching Norton heavy infantry, only to discover their arrows were ineffective against the standard heavy armor worn by the White Lion Legion soldiers, the entire Alliance army was thrown into panic. They swarmed about like headless chickens in complete disarray.
Lorist immediately ordered Pete's mounted archer squadron to dismount. Together with a thousand longbowmen from the accompanying Hennede contingent, they also began suppressing fire using arcing shots. After just three more volleys, the Alliance army had suffered devastating casualties.
The Turman Knight Order and three battalions of Tiers the Tiger's iron-armored lance cavalry seized the opportunity to charge. Faced with the rolling advance of the iron cavalry and the knights, the Alliance army collapsed before even engaging in proper combat.
Baron Philim Chalvode of the Pegasus Family was the first to turn his horse and flee with his men. One after another, the various lords followed suit, turning a pitched battle into a rout and pursuit.
The entire Battle of Panshi lasted three days — the Norton Family forces pursued the retreating Alliance lords for the full three days, though most of them still managed to escape. The sixty-odd lords who had followed Grand Duke Lugins to subjugate the Norton Family represented two-thirds of all the Northland's lords. After the battle, eleven lords perished in the fighting and flight, sixteen were taken prisoner by the Norton Family, and the rest escaped successfully.
Northland Grand Duke Lugins, shielded by his Northland Legion's deputy commander, Golden Knight Bitesen, fled eastward all the way to Count Lopez's fief under the Kenmais Family. But Knight Bitesen was riddled with arrows — man and horse alike — by Pete's mounted archer squadron, dying a heroic death on the field.
The Battle of Panshi Castle saw the Alliance lords' forces suffer over eight thousand casualties with more than thirty thousand captured, while fewer than fifty lords and knights fell in battle. The Norton Family achieved a sweeping victory with negligible losses, their might shaking the entire Northland.
From April fifth to August twenty-seventh, a four-month-long campaign of transportation and population migration finally drew to a close. Countless supplies and provisions poured into Norton Family territory, and more than three hundred thousand relocated personnel entered Panshi Castle.
Only after learning that the Norton Family had finally sealed its borders and turned inward did Grand Duke Lugins — who had been hiding in the Kenmais Family's castle through the end of August — finally return to his Grand Duchy under Viscount Kenmais's escort.
Upon returning to the Grand Duchy, the Duke beheld a scene of utter devastation — a hundred li of barren, uninhabited land; village after village along the route reduced to ashes; the Grand Duke's manor stripped bare of everything; and a flood of nobles and subordinate officials swarming in to demand compensation for their losses. The Duke was so enraged that he vomited three mouthfuls of blood, lost consciousness, and fell gravely ill, never to recover.
Viscount Kenmais let out a long sigh of relief. "Grand Duke Lugins is finished."
With that, he departed in triumph. From that day forward, the Kenmais Family would no longer heed the Duke's commands.
To be continued.
P.S. I'm deeply grateful to all my readers for your support, rewards, and recommendations — I truly appreciate your generous love. Honestly, I'd like to update more often, but after sitting at a desk for nine hours straight during the day, this is all I manage to write. If I forced myself to go two more hours, I could probably squeeze out another thousand-plus characters and split it into two chapters. But since you're all paying to read now, I can't phone it in, so I think keeping each chapter at four to five thousand characters is the better approach. My fingers are painfully slow, and I truly can't type fast enough to produce extra chapters — I'm really sorry about that. Please bear with me.
It's not a matter of simply typing out however many characters I can and posting it as an update. Every time I finish writing, I still have to go back and check against the outline — make sure I haven't gone off-topic, that there's no filler or pointless fighting scenes. All of that has to be cut and rewritten...
As for the map, I won't be uploading it. The computer I use is ancient, and I drew it on paper for my own reference to avoid mistakes in the writing. If anyone's knowledgeable about this sort of thing, please leave me your QQ — I can describe what the map looks like and have them put it up...
Thank you all once again...