On June 4th,
"Greetings, esteemed Count
Schwert stepped forward to receive the gift list and placed it on the small table beside Lorist. Lorist glanced at it and saw a lengthy catalogue of gift items — jewelry and accessories, fashionable clothing, fine swords and famous armor, quality wine and health supplements, and four prize Zeno warhorses. He estimated the total value at somewhere between twenty and thirty thousand gold Fordes. Back in the day, he had risked his life working in
"Please, have a seat." Lorist gestured. "As the eldest young master of the Chikde Trading Company, Lord Seriham has graced Shilowas Island with his presence. May I ask what brings you here?"
Seriham smiled bitterly. "Count, you must already know why I'm here. I'll be frank — because of my third brother's reckless actions, he offended you and the Norton Family, causing you to view our trading company as an enemy. Meanwhile, our company was caught up in the war between the Commercial Alliance and the Trinbo Kingdom and couldn't mend relations with your family in time, which only deepened the misunderstanding between us and resulted in immeasurable losses for our company...
I've come to pay my respects to the Count in the hope of ending the hostility between our two sides and restoring friendly relations. I also ask the Count to show mercy to the members of our Northern Merchant Fleet who have fallen into your family's hands. The Chikde Trading Company is willing to pay a ransom for their release. Count, please do not refuse my request. Your Norton Family destroyed the Haneabada Kingdom and liberated over four hundred thousand slaves — that was an act of great mercy. So please don't make things difficult for those sailors and crew members who went to sea to earn a living for the sake of their families...
To them, joining the fleet was just a job — a way to feed their families. They have loved ones waiting for them to come home. Count, if you have any grievances, please tell me. The Chikde Trading Company will do its utmost to provide compensation. My greatest purpose in coming here is to beg you to grant them their freedom and let me take them back to see their loved ones..."
Lorist watched with amusement as this eldest young master of the trading company — only a few years older than himself — stood before him and spoke at length. He was remarkably forthright and sincere in his manner, making it easy to feel a sense of closeness and goodwill toward him.
"Please sit down, Lord Seriham." Lorist again invited the eldest young master to take a seat. "I imagine you understand why I've been targeting your company. In fact, you know full well that the Norton Family and your trading company are in a state of war — it's just that neither side has formally declared it. And this war was started by your company."
"Count, just call me by my name, please. I'm not worthy of 'eldest young master' or 'lord.'" Seriham cupped his fists in a salute. "I understand. Besides ransoming the Northern Fleet's sailors and crew, my other purpose is to end the hostility between us. The Chikde Trading Company has no wish to go to war with the Norton Family...
I'm sure the Count is aware that our company's previous interest in Shilowas Island was to obtain territory for the trading company. But now that we've secured the Uriba Mountains as our territory, the main cause of hostility between us has been eliminated. I've come here to ask the Count to forgive our company's offense against your family, so that both sides may live in peace once more, and no more innocent blood need stain the sea."
"Seriham, you say you don't want innocent blood to stain the sea — but do you know that the blood of innocent subjects on our Norton Family's Shilowas Island has dyed the entire island red? Do you know why the Norton Family sent troops to destroy the Haneabada Kingdom?" Lorist asked, his expression gravely serious.
"Count, I understand. My third brother, in his drunkenness and frustration, inadvertently revealed intelligence about your family's territory while in the Haneabada Kingdom. But it truly was an unintentional mistake. My second brother and I have always opposed the Northern Strategy that my third brother championed. For our trading company, Shilowas Island is far too distant from the southern waters we traditionally control — apart from being an island, it wasn't suitable as territory for our company.
Moreover, we were in the midst of the Glass War at the time, so the Northern Strategy was shelved indefinitely. This put my third brother in a foul mood, and he went out to sea to clear his head. That's how he ended up getting drunk at the welcome banquet in the Haneabada Kingdom and spilling his grievances, inadvertently revealing the true state of affairs on Shilowas Island. As a result, the slave traders and slave-hunting brigands of the Haneabada Kingdom set their sights on the refugees on Shilowas Island — something we never could have predicted...
This isn't us shirking responsibility. When our company's Northern Fleet failed to return at the end of last year, we were already alarmed. It wasn't until March of this year that we learned your family had destroyed the Haneabada Kingdom and that our Northern Fleet had fallen into your family's hands. My father personally went to question my third brother. My third brother had no recollection of it at all, but his personal attendant remembered that my third brother had gotten drunk at the banquet and grumbled about the company not following through on the Northern Strategy.
As punishment, my father gave my third brother two slaps across the face and ordered him to report to the Uriba Mountains to clear farmland. My father said that since my third brother had inadvertently caused losses to your family, all the ships of our Northern Fleet that fell into your family's hands would be gifted to your family — we only need the crew members returned.
In truth, regardless of whether my third brother leaked information about Shilowas Island, no one can deny that the slave masters of the Haneabada Kingdom were already eyeing the two hundred thousand-odd refugees in the southwestern provinces of the Andinak Kingdom. Your family recruited fifty to sixty thousand refugees to develop and build up the island, and sooner or later that would have attracted the attention of those slave traders and brigands. My third brother merely said some inappropriate words at an inappropriate time and place. He was simply venting his frustration — it was not a deliberate act targeting your family."
"You're quite the talker..." Lorist shook his head, looking at the round-faced Seriham. "A year has passed, and we can no longer determine whether your third young master's actions were intentional or not. The slave traders and brigands of the Haneabada Kingdom attacked Shilowas Island and turned it into hell. And the Norton Family repaid blood with blood — we sent troops to destroy that wicked kingdom and cut off the heads of every one of its citizens, piling them into a monument of skulls as a warning to others...
Capturing your Chikde Trading Company's Northern Fleet served two purposes. First, the Norton Family and your company were in a state of hostilities. Your third young master harbored ill will toward our family and coveted our Shilowas Island, wanting to turn it into your company's territory to achieve your so-called Northern Strategy. Second, your company's Northern Fleet happened to arrive at Nubite Port right after we had taken the Haneabada Archipelago. To their credit, they had the sense to lay down their arms and surrender without putting up a futile fight, so I only planned to have them serve three years of penal labor.
The Norton Family is not unreasonable, nor do we bully the weak. We love peace, but we do not fear war. Your Chikde Trading Company wishes to end the hostility and war between us, and I agree with that idea. But you must first show us the sincerity of your apology. You started this war, and you don't get to decide when it ends. Right now, I'd very much like to know what price the Chikde Trading Company is prepared to pay."
Seriham sighed and rose to his feet. In early March of this year, over a dozen commandeered medium-sized sailing ships that had been released by the Norton Family arrived at Hidden Gold Bay. Nearly a thousand newly freed slaves disembarked, bringing with them a horrifying piece of news: the Haneabada Kingdom had been destroyed by the Norton Family, and the Norton Family's young Count had ordered the execution of every citizen — from commoners to nobility — and used one hundred and seventy thousand severed heads to construct a massive pyramid of skulls at Nubite Port...
The news sent shockwaves throughout the entire Commercial Alliance, and as more commandeered ships and freed slaves arrived, the story spread in every direction. Before long, the Norton Family's reputation skyrocketed — though not entirely for the better. They became infamous far and wide for their brutality and ruthlessness.
In the history of warfare on the Galentea Continent, the sacking of cities and the killing of prisoners was not uncommon, but there had never been a case of an entire kingdom being wiped out. The Norton Family's massacre was nothing short of appalling — utterly savage. Not even the scholars and experts writing the continent's war histories or the reporters from Morant City's major newspapers dared venture to the Haneabada Archipelago to see for themselves, fearing that the ruthless Norton Family soldiers would lop off their heads and add them to the pyramid of skulls...
However, when an old alumnus of
So the reporters pooled together and chartered several formerly commandeered ships to make the trip to the Haneabada Kingdom. The round trip took a month and a half, and upon returning in May, they wrote a flood of dispatches. The newspapers were filled with accounts of how the Norton Family had fallen out with the Haneabada Kingdom, how they had mobilized for war, how they had landed, and how they had captured the royal city. These reporters and scholars toured the Haneabada Archipelago and received a warm welcome and hospitality from the current island governor, Shikde, who also put in a few good words for the Norton Family.
However, every newspaper ultimately published sketches of the giant pyramid of skulls, describing its creation and structure from every angle. Of course, the articles lavished praise on Governor Shikde's tear-jerking tale of kneeling for seven hours before Count Norton's tent before the Count finally relented and pardoned over twelve thousand young women — which, from another perspective, only served to underscore the Count's iron heart and cruel nature.
All these newspapers were delivered into Lorist's hands by Lunmud, a Norton Family knight and spy who ran a pediatrics and gynecology clinic in Morant City and was still smarting with resentment. After reading through the newspapers, Lorist paid them little mind. He had anticipated this kind of reputation when he gave the order — sometimes the more brutal you appeared, the more you could shake and terrify your enemies. Lorist very much wanted to know whether, in the future, any enemy would still have the courage and confidence to face the Norton Family's military forces head-on...
Amid all this turmoil, the Chikde Trading Company had remained silent, quietly watching the situation unfold. When the Northern Fleet failed to return on schedule at the end of last year, the company had sensed something was wrong and sent several ships in succession to search for them — none of which came back. In truth, these search vessels flying the Chikde Trading Company's flag had encountered Dawn Academy's patrol ships, the Flying Fish and the Storm, in the Haneabada Archipelago. Three were captured and two were sunk, so not a single one made it back to report...
It was only when ships and newly freed slaves began arriving that the company finally learned what had happened. The Norton Family's capture of the Northern Fleet was not much of a secret on the Haneabada Archipelago — many captains and crew members aboard the commandeered ships knew the details, and a single inquiry was enough to obtain comprehensive intelligence.
The only consolation for the Chikde Trading Company was that the Northern Fleet's personnel had suffered no losses. They had fallen into a trap and been forced to surrender, and were reportedly transported to Shilowas Island to serve as penal laborers. Now, no one in the company dared mention the Northern Strategy — not even its originator, the third young master, Murebak. Had he known the Norton Family possessed such power, he wouldn't have dared advocate seizing Shilowas Island even under threat of death. The Haneabada Kingdom was a kingdom, after all. Setting everything else aside, it had fourteen Great Swordmasters, yet the Norton Family had still toppled it without breaking a sweat. The entire kingdom's one hundred and seventy thousand citizens had been beheaded and their skulls built into a pyramid — a piece of news that had kept the third young master's blood running cold ever since.
When the head of the Chikde Trading Company learned that it was his precious third son, Murebak, who had leaked the news of Shilowas Island recruiting refugees for development — thereby luring the Haneabada Kingdom's slave masters into a coordinated attack on the island — he slapped Murebak hard twice and ordered him to report to the company's territory in the Uriba Mountains, forbidding him from leaving. After that, the company's senior leadership convened to discuss how to end hostilities with the Norton Family, ransom the Northern Fleet's personnel, and find ways to build goodwill with the Norton Family. And so it was that the eldest young master, Seriham, undertook his journey to Shilowas Island...
"Count Norton, the Chikde Trading Company is willing to spend two hundred thousand gold Fordes to ransom all members of our Northern Fleet as an expression of our apology to the Norton Family. Furthermore, we wish to purchase fifty-six thousand sets of standard equipment from the Norton Family — model Fine Iron 107, at your listed price of eighty-nine gold Fordes per set. No discounts needed. The transaction will be completed over three years, with payment made in full in person each time. What do you think?"
Seriham sighed inwardly. Had it not been for the discovery of the former Uriba Grand Duke's treasury in the Uriba Duchy, which yielded nearly six million gold Fordes in spoils, the Chikde Trading Company would have felt utterly destitute even after obtaining its territory. Setting everything else aside, the Northern Fleet's sixty-odd ships alone were worth nearly a million gold Fordes. Add to that the spices they carried, the funds for purchasing grain, and other goods and merchandise — all seized by the Norton Family — and the company's losses amounted to over one and a half million gold coins. And now they had to pay a steep price to ransom the personnel. If they had known it would come to this, they never would have started it...
Lorist tapped his fingers on the small table beside him, deep in thought...
"You've seen the Peterson Trading Company's catalogue of standard equipment?" Lorist asked.
"Yes, Count. We also know that this standard equipment is produced by your family, and that both its design and defensive capabilities surpass those of the Vesia Trading Company's products. We have obtained the former Uriba Duchy as our company's territory, and we plan to reorganize the duchy's two mercenary corps into a single regular garrison force of forty-eight thousand men to defend against land-based threats. We are willing to entrust this arms deal to your family as a gesture of our company's goodwill."
"Furthermore, Count, our company is willing to relinquish the maritime spice trade route to the Shaiisya Kingdom and transfer it to the Norton Family. In the future, whenever our company needs spices, we will come to Shilowas Island to purchase them from your family. Oh, and there's this — it was my third brother's key asset for implementing the Northern Strategy. With this floating pontoon dock, the Cursed Coast of the Northland will no longer pose an obstacle to ships making landfall."
Seriham produced a document and presented it. Schwert accepted it, gave it a cursory inspection, and then handed it to Lorist.
Lorist opened it and found a diagram of a long, mobile pier made up of individual pontoon modules stretching across the shallow waters and reef zones. Just as Seriham had said, with this, the Cursed Coast of the Northland would indeed no longer pose an obstacle for merchant ships making port. Even on days with heavy storms, the modular pontoons could be drawn back to shore to avoid the waves, or they could even be anchored to the reef rocks and filled with earth to form a permanent dock...
Lorist finally broke into a smile. "Very well. I agree to reconcile with the Chikde Trading Company and lift the state of hostility and war. From this day forward, both our sides shall live in peace."
(To be continued.)