With the four-way pact settled,
Lorist's demands of Baron Filim and Henne were straightforward: reorganize their family forces into a proper military unit, lead troops to tour the Second Prince's Winston Province when they had free time, relocate some common folk to the Northland, and eliminate a few short-sighted lords for some extra income. In short, they were to make sure the area around the Iblia Kingdom's capital never settled down, denying the Second Prince the chance to develop in peace and rebuild his army to threaten the Northland once more.
Baron Filim and Henne agreed to Lorist's demands without hesitation, but they also made a request of their own. They were full of praise for the
Lorist had originally planned to take the iron armor from the captured First Legion soldiers of the Iblia Kingdom and distribute some to the two of them. Unfortunately, Baron Filim and Henne turned up their noses at the shoddy equipment produced by the Second Prince's manufacturing workshops. They thought the iron armor's quality was mediocre, offering only marginally better protection than some leather armor. With the Norton Family's standardized equipment as a benchmark, they had grown too discerning to appreciate what they once would have coveted.
At this point, Count Kemmis also joined in, making the same request to outfit his own family's legion with standardized equipment. In the past, whether it was plate armor, ring mail, chain mail, or lamellar—as long as it was iron, he was satisfied. But after seeing the Norton Family soldiers all equipped with matching standardized gear, he felt his own family's forces looked like a band of beggars. Setting aside appearances, standardized equipment not only looked imposing and impressive but also gave soldiers a stronger sense of cohesion and identity, boosting morale tremendously.
Lorist was driven dizzy by their clamoring. He could only attribute all credit for his family's standardized equipment to Master Hede and offer a compromise: providing standardized equipment to all three families was out of the question, but Master Hede could design a new set of standardized equipment for each of the three families, with protection no less than that of the former Krisen Empire's White Lion Legion's standard iron armor.
The three were overjoyed. Lorist immediately shifted the conversation: "But how are we going to price this equipment? Even at cost, a single set would run forty to fifty Gold Forde. I can't just give them away for free."
When money came up, both Baron Filim and Henne pulled long faces. Baron Filim was somewhat better off—he had conquered two lords' estates and castles, and the plundered wealth was estimated at around a hundred thousand Gold Forde. But Henne was practically penniless. He could scrape together ten or twenty thousand Gold Forde at most, but anything more was beyond his means. He had originally hoped to storm the Grand Duke's residence and raid the Second Prince's treasury for a massive windfall, but he never expected Princess Sylvia and her Great Swordmaster nanny to be there. He and Sir Tabek both ended up as prisoners. Had Lorist not arrived in time, the two of them would still be under house arrest in the Grand Duke's residence.
By the time Princess Sylvia's entourage departed the Grand Duke's residence, there was unlikely to be much treasure left. Henne sighed heavily, his face clouded with worry. At that moment, Count Kemmis stepped forward with a plan for his unlikely brother-in-law.
Count Kemmis said, "What's the most profitable business right now? Arms dealing. All three of us previously bought large quantities of iron armor from the Norton Family. We can sell that armor off, use the recovered funds to purchase the new standardized equipment, and with a little buy-low-sell-high maneuvering—if Lorist isn't feeling too greedy and isn't trying to fleece us—we might even turn a nice profit."
This put both Baron Filim and Henne in high spirits, and they praised Count Kemmis for his sharp mind and keen vision. They then asked who they should sell the old iron armor to.
Count Kemmis said, "The best buyer would be Grand Duke Madras. His forces suffered heavy losses these past few years, and the Duchy of Madras has never had copper or iron mines. All his military equipment has been obtained at premium prices or traded for grain from the four great duchies of the central region. With those four duchies now focused on their own military preparations, Grand Duke Madras has been unable to complete the reorganization of his duchy's army. If we can make contact with him, I'm sure he'll offer a handsome price for the armor we have."
The three huddled together to discuss the matter at length and quickly decided to entrust the deal to the Snow Salt Trading Company as well. After all, the company was under Count Kemmis's management. Since they had just divided up the Grand Duke's territory, however, both Baron Filim and Henne were too busy to leave. They agreed to reconvene at Rock Fortress in one month, at which point Lorist would have Master Hede design a set of standardized equipment for each of the three families.
…
With this matter settled, Lorist was about to head back when he suddenly remembered a huge headache awaiting him. Princess Sylvia had declared she wanted to return to the Muyeyuan Province and had specifically asked him to escort her. If she wanted to leave, couldn't she just cross the Hendley Foso Bridge into the Second Prince's territory and go back on her own? Instead, she insisted on heading east through the Northland to cross the iron-chain bridge built by the Kemmis family. This meant Lorist would have to escort Princess Sylvia's group for at least ten days before reaching the Kemmis family's territory.
Wanting someone to share the burden, Lorist tried to rope Count Kemmis into helping with the escort. But Count Kemmis immediately begged off, claiming he needed to visit his cousin who had become Henne's woman and also comfort some old acquaintances living in Gildusk City. He would need to linger in the area for a while longer, leaving Lorist to handle the escort of Princess Sylvia's party on his own.
The column arrived at Gildusk City, and with El's guard battalion added in, over six thousand men essentially conducted an armed parade through the Northland. However, dealing with Princess Sylvia personally fell to Lorist alone.
Princess Sylvia's party numbered nearly four hundred. Among them were a small cavalry detachment of over one hundred and twenty fully armed riders, split evenly between men and women, all at the Silver rank in
In addition, there were over eighty four-wheeled carriages and two to three hundred servants, maids, and attendants—a grand entourage indeed. As befitting the travel arrangements for a noble of such high standing, it was only proper for Lorist, as a Northland lord, to provide a military escort as a show of respect.
Shortly after setting out, Lorist's expression changed. Along the road, he kept seeing his family's soldiers escorting groups of ragged people carrying simple bundles of belongings and pulling carts loaded with crude household goods toward Rock Fortress. Lorist couldn't hold back any longer. He stopped a small squad of family soldiers and asked what was going on.
The squad leader recognized Lorist and snapped to attention with a salute, visibly flustered by the honor. He replied solemnly, "My lord, these people are all prisoners of war…"
Lorist flew into a rage, pointing at the old people, women, and children in the crowd. "Are you blind? Who told you these elderly, women, and children are prisoners of war? Can they even set foot on a battlefield?"
The squad leader replied aggrievedly, "My lord, I had no choice. If I don't classify them as prisoners of war, the supply stations along the route won't issue rations. Where else am I supposed to get food for them? Besides, they do have a connection to the prisoners—their family members or relatives joined those Northland lords' allied armies and are now our captives. These people are worried about their loved ones' safety and volunteered to come with us as prisoners of war. Just a moment ago, they were cheerfully singing as they walked…"
"Uh…" Lorist was rendered speechless. The people he had seen didn't look coerced at all—they looked like they were cheerfully enjoying an outing. But from the squad leader's answer, Lorist detected something off. "Supply stations along the route? What's this about?"
"My lord, I don't know. The orders from above simply told our squad to escort these two hundred or so people to the main camp at Rock Fortress. Supply stations have been set up along the way where we can camp for the night and get food," the squad leader answered.
Oh, Lorist understood. It was just like the relay camps established along the route during the northern convoy's march. As for why supply stations had been set up, it was probably another large-scale population migration. The squad leader likely didn't know the details.
Lorist waved his hand, dismissing the squad leader to continue his mission. Then he called El over. "El, take some men and look into this. We only fought one battle—how did it turn into the same kind of total sweep of the Grand Duke's territory as when the northern convoy returned to the family lands? Find out what's going on."
El had barely left with a dozen guards when a pleasant, clear voice called out, "Count Lorist, what's going on with these people? Where are they headed? And what are your family soldiers doing with them?"
Lorist turned to see Princess Sylvia, her face veiled, riding a snow-white Chino steed accompanied by several female guards. She was curiously eyeing the people walking along the side of the road.
Lorist let out a deep sigh and spoke in a tone of compassionate benevolence: "Your Highness, ever since the Second Prince took control of the Northland, he raised taxes and squeezed the lords and common folk alike, leaving the entire region destitute. He went even further, plundering the people's remaining wealth to fund military preparations for his ambitions of conquest. The common folk of the Northland have been living in abject misery.
Now, upon hearing that I had defeated the Second Prince, these Northland folk were overjoyed, celebrating that the Norton Family had driven him away. But they worried he might return, and upon learning that our family territories distribute land and housing to new settlers while keeping taxes low, they packed their belongings and insisted on following our soldiers. They want to come to our lands to live in peace, security, and happiness.
Alas, there was nothing I could do—they came of their own free will. Look at them; they're all so happy. No amount of persuasion could convince them to turn back. Practicing benevolent governance is truly difficult—it brings far too many troubles to our family. For their safety, I even have to dispatch family soldiers to protect them and provide food. Wouldn't you say that a noble house as benevolent and peace-loving as the Norton Family deserves to be praised and celebrated?"
Nearby, Reidi and Pat couldn't hold back and burst out laughing…
Princess Sylvia stood stunned for a long while. When she finally came to her senses, she turned her horse and rode away, only a faint murmur reaching Lorist's ears: "Count Lorist, you really are thick-skinned… absolutely shameless…"
Lorist didn't blush in the slightest, letting out a hearty "heh heh heh" laugh.
…
El returned after just one day. "My lord, I ran into a messenger on the road."
The messenger said he was acting on the orders of Sir Bodfing, Sir Shrade, and Tiger Ross to deliver a letter to Lorist.
Lorist opened the thick letter and finally understood what had happened.
It had all started ten days ago. After the steel crossbow storm, the Northland lords' allied army had scattered and fled. To capture as many prisoners as possible, Tiger Ross,
Tiger Ross was furious. He called up a war chariot and steel crossbow battalion, unleashed a rapid volley that riddled the castle with holes, and stormed it in a single assault. He then hanged all seven lords who had resisted. He proceeded to strip that lord's territory bare as well—supplies, grain, valuables, everything was hauled back to Rock Fortress, and all the subjects were brought along.
It just so happened that Fatty Shrade had also arrived at the prisoner-of-war camp outside Rock Fortress. After discussing matters with Bodfing and Tiger Ross, the three came to an agreement: the family needed manpower to develop the Black Mud Swamp, and those Northland lords had all joined the Second Prince's allied army to attack the Norton Family. With the exception of Count Kemmis,
It just so happened that Lorist's orders to Tiger Ross and the others had been to pursue and destroy the remnants of the enemy—which made all those territorial lords fair game. If they were going to do it, they might as well do it thoroughly and root them out entirely. Lords who surrendered without resistance could be spared and brought back for Lorist to deal with personally. Those who dared resist would have their entire families hanged. At that moment, Fatty Shrade, Bodfing, and Tiger Ross had reverted to the same ruthless temperament they had displayed when the northern convoy swept through the Andinak Kingdom and exterminated its territorial lords.
Upon receiving the trio's joint communiqué detailing their resolution to exterminate the Northland lords and strip their territories bare, Yuri, Terman, and the others expressed their approval. The forces then split into four columns—under Tiger Ross, Wassima and Yuri, and Terman of the Knight Order—each bolstered by a war chariot battalion, and began sweeping across the entire Northland. They destroyed castles, burned towns and residences, and carried away all supplies and subjects.
Lorist had stayed in Gildusk City for a total of five days, including two days and three nights of unconscious sleep. It had taken five and a half days to travel from Rock Fortress to Gildusk. In the brief span of just over ten days since he had left Rock Fortress, the Norton Family had already eliminated all the surrounding lords. Now, the only ones remaining were a dozen or so territorial lords in the western Northland. In another half month, the Northland would have no other lords left besides the Norton, Kemmis, Filim, and Shahin families.
What a headache! Lorist tucked away the letter with a sigh. He understood why the messenger had been so delayed—after all, the three had privately expanded the scope of Lorist's orders to pursue and destroy enemy remnants, turning them into a campaign to eliminate all hostile lords in the Northland. So the three schemers had simply waited until the deed was done before letting Lorist know, hoping to avoid being stopped mid-campaign. That way, even if he blamed them, everyone would share the responsibility and no single person could be punished—safety in numbers. The late arrival of the messenger was entirely deliberate.
The problem was that all the Northland lords had joined the Second Prince's allied army—none of them dared refuse. Now that their main forces had been taken prisoner, the pitiful garrisons left behind in their territories couldn't withstand an assault from the Norton Family's forces. The purge had been thorough indeed.
Forget it—he would set the matter of those Northland lords aside and deal with it when he returned. What truly vexed Lorist was that the trio's resolution had been unanimously supported by everyone because every single knight under his command dreaded being sent back to the Black Mud Swamp for development labor. They were only too happy to go capture prisoners and relocate civilians. He had said the family was short on manpower—and now manpower was the last thing they'd be short of. What they would be short of next was food…
Lorist cursed under his breath: "Those bastards… they never let me have a moment's peace…"
…(To be continued.)