Although Qilin Port was the only port city the former Krisen Empire had along the northern Cursed Coastline, it was not large in scale — home to only around twenty thousand people, with incomplete harbor facilities. After the Kingdom of Andinak was established, it inherited the former Krisen Empire's tradition of neglecting maritime trade. For a time, because overland routes were disrupted by the Empire's civil war, ships had come and gone to Qilin Port in great numbers, and the port enjoyed a period of prosperity. However, when the
Once the smuggling ships stopped coming to Qilin Port, all that remained was the seafood market — the largest fishery trade center in the entire Kingdom of Andinak. Each evening, Qilin Port's fishermen would return and sell their catch to fish merchants in exchange for gold coins, while the merchants would pick out the more prized fish and rush them overnight to the dining tables of the Andinak Kingdom's gourmand nobility.
In the past, the fishing crews organized on Silowas Island had also brought their catch here to trade, suffering the full brunt of the fish merchants' price gouging. But the island's fishing fleet now sometimes couldn't even bring back enough in a single day to sustain the sixty thousand soldiers of the Rocksteady Corps stationed there. Any surplus catch was either cured into salted fish or sun-dried into jerky — there was no longer any need to visit Qilin Port's seafood market. The only remaining connection between Silowas Island and Qilin Port was a single ferry that made the round trip once every three days.
South of Silowas Island, Lorist had intended to sell his territory's goods into the sphere of the Commercial Alliance through the Peterson Trading Society. But he had never expected that the Glass War would drastically shrink the Alliance's sphere of influence, not to mention leave it hostile to every neighboring state. Trade routes were severed, and the Peterson Trading Society was severely weakened — struggling just to survive, with recovery likely two or three years away.
And from the Northland to Silowas Island, the entire stretch of coastline along the way was part of the northern Cursed Coastline — all shallow waters and treacherous reef zones, with absolutely no harbors where sea vessels could dock and land. That was precisely why Lorist had set his sights on Qilin Port. If Qilin Port could be brought under his family's jurisdiction, Lorist was confident that within just a few short years he could develop it into a major commercial seaport, and through it extend trade routes southward into the Kingdom of Redelis.
Lorist dispatched Governor Hansc as an envoy to the imperial capital, ostensibly to express concern for His Majesty the King — that is, the Second Prince — and his unfavorable situation trapped in the Kingdom of Redelis. In truth, he was volunteering to contribute to the Kingdom's war effort and rescue the Second Prince from encirclement. Of course, there was no such thing as a free lunch. If the
Originally, Lorist had wanted Qilin Port to become a direct fief of his family. But after further thought, he realized such a condition would be very difficult for the Second Prince to accept, so he stepped back a step — gaining jurisdiction over Qilin Port would suffice. If the capital agreed, the Norton Family would send troops to seize Campona Province and reestablish contact with the Second Prince. He had not expected, however, that Marquis Redder, who was managing state affairs in the capital, would flatly reject Lorist's demands and even order Qilin Port's garrison to be on heightened guard against any Norton Family armed forces.
Had such an order been given covertly, there would have been little Lorist could do. But it so happened that several knights tasked with escorting Governor Hansc back and delivering the orders to Qilin Port, acting out of personal spite, issued the order right in front of the Governor — commanding the garrison to allow not a single Norton Family soldier to set foot ashore. They had intended to humiliate the Norton Family. And in doing so, they gave Lorist exactly the justification he needed to press the matter.
The garrison previously stationed at Qilin Port was the Third Regiment of the Royal Guard Reserve First Division of the Kingdom of Andinak. Its regimental commander, Golden Knight Finman, had once led troops to the island of Shilovas under the pretense of assisting Viscount Yaslan with tax collection, when in reality he had gone to extort and fleece the locals — only to run straight into Lorist and get thoroughly thrashed. Although the Second Prince later rescued him, he worried that Lorist would not let the matter rest, so he withdrew the Third Regiment and reorganized a two-thousand-strong Qilin Port garrison.
As a local defense force, the Qilin Port garrison was treated like a stepchild. The two-thousand-strong roster was never filled to capacity. The weapons issued were spears and wooden shields. There were a total of three leather armors — all tattered and worn — and only the garrison captain and his two deputies were equipped with them. As for the funds allocated, the garrison members' pay came and went month by day. Those guards spent every day hovering around the seafood trading market, because that was the only place where they could scrounge up a little extra income.
Lorist was genuinely curious how Marquis Redder, all the way back in the imperial capital, could have so much confidence that the Qilin Port garrison would pose a real threat to Norton Family forces and effectively prevent a single Norton soldier from setting foot ashore.
At that moment, Lorist was already standing on the Qilin Port docks. Behind him, a thousand-strong bodyguard battalion was disembarking and forming ranks. Nearby, nearly a hundred soldiers from the Qilin Port garrison stood around laughing and watching the spectacle. The only thing in their eyes was envy of the excellent standard-issue equipment worn by the bodyguards. Not a single one of them harbored any delusions of trying to stop the Norton Family forces from coming ashore one by one.
But someone did try to ram an egg against a rock. Two knights in half-plate armor burst out of a small tavern on the dock, shouting and stumbling toward the crowd reeking of alcohol, demanding that the disembarking bodyguards immediately board their ships and leave, setting foot on Qilin Port's docks was strictly forbidden.
Lorist tilted his chin upward. Several bodyguards stepped forward, seized the two drunkards, and dragged them down to the dock, where they were promptly and soundly beaten. Before long, the pair were crying out for their mothers.
"Make them confess why they tried to obstruct Count Norton's travel. Was it an assassination attempt or some other sinister plot? Have them write out their confessions and press their fingerprints, then throw them into Qilin Port's dungeon. Now, follow me to the city lord's manor — I want to see that order from the imperial capital," Lorist said.
As a noble, traveling with an escort was perfectly proper and within his rights. Although Lorist had brought a thousand-strong bodyguard battalion and a full regiment of fifteen thousand men, that only proved the Norton Family was wealthy and powerful, and that the Count, being fearful of assassination, had simply brought along extra family guards for protection. There was nothing improper or rule-breaking about it. So long as he did not harass the local populace and purchased or arranged his own provisions, it was entirely reasonable conduct.
This was precisely the loophole Lorist was exploiting. As for the order from the imperial capital forbidding a single Norton Family soldier from setting foot ashore — that was purely a joke. The Norton Family had not raised an army in rebellion. So why would you forbid Count Norton from bringing bodyguards on his travels? Were you trying to harm him? It made no sense logically or emotionally. Even if the matter were brought before the Second Prince himself, Lorist was guaranteed to win.
As the city commander of Qilin Port, Baron Finston had always been quite satisfied with his position. He had not wasted the large sum of money he had spent bribing the Second Prince's close associates to secure it. As a noble, Baron Finston had always believed that only a fool would try to squeeze money solely from his own fief. How large was a baron's fief, after all? He knew full well how little there was to extract from those impoverished subjects. Investment yielded returns, and rather than pouring funds into the grueling work of developing his territory, it was far better to spend money purchasing an official post — that was where the real profit lay.
Having served as Qilin Port's city commander for only five years, Baron Finston had already recouped his initial investment many times over. His earnings had exceeded his expenditure by several fold. Now he was mulling over the idea of assembling a small fleet of seven medium-sized armed warships, purchasing luxury goods and fashionable garments from
However, Baron Finston had his troubles too. A couple of days ago, a baffling order had arrived from the imperial capital, demanding that Qilin Port reinforce its garrison and strictly guard against the Norton Family's armed forces on Shilovas Island.
Baron Finston was convinced that the powers-that-be in the imperial capital had gone completely mad, biting anyone they could get their teeth into. The king himself was trapped in the Kingdom of Ridelis, the situation at the front was extremely dire, yet here they were still trying to pressure the Norton Family. Recalling that the Norton Family had recently dispatched envoys to the capital, Baron Finston was fairly certain that those envoys had offended some of the capital's powerful nobles — either the gifts hadn't been delivered properly or some conflict had arisen.
Baron Finston very much wanted to toss the order into the wastebasket, but after some thought, he put the document away. The order wasn't the only thing from the capital — six knights had been dispatched along with it. They were not only to take command of the Qilin Port garrison but also to expand it into three battalions of a thousand men each, totaling three thousand.
Baron Finston decided to let those six knights do as they pleased. He had no money and no equipment to provide anyway — just the meager monthly salary budget allocated to the garrison. He was rather curious to see what kind of miracles those knights from the capital could conjure up. Besides, was the Norton Family someone you could push around? His trusted agent had recently traveled to Morant City and brought back a newspaper bearing a shocking report: the Norton armed forces had marched against the Kingdom of Haneabada, not only toppling that slave state but beheading all one hundred and seventy thousand of its subjects and stacking their heads into a massive pyramid.
Baron Finston believed the news at once — it was no fabrication but the plain truth. As Qilin Port's city commander, he had also received a secret order from the king, conveyed by a palace guard, to monitor Shilovas Island and the Norton Family's movements and report anything unusual to the imperial capital. This arrangement had lasted until the Second Prince's military expedition the previous year, after which all communication had ceased. Nevertheless, Baron Finston had not forgotten his duties. The sailors and captains who made the three-day round-trip ferry runs were his trusted eyes and ears, and the intelligence they gathered about Shilovas Island was being stockpiled, ready to be presented once the king returned from his campaign.
When Shilovas Island was attacked by pirates, the place had become hell on earth. The ferry heading to the island at the time was also caught up in the carnage, but fortunately the captain reacted quickly — after losing three sailors, he managed to pilot the ferry back. Qilin Port had been thrown into chaos, terrified that the pirates would turn around and sweep through the port. They maintained strict defensive vigilance for over a month, until the Norton Family's armed fleet docked to procure supplies and provisions. Only then did the people of Qilin Port learn that the pirates had retreated and that the remnants had been wiped out by the Norton Family. Shilovas Island had been retaken.
Later, when the Norton Family's forces massed a huge number of soldiers and warships on Shilovas Island, Baron Finston realized just how formidable the Norton Family's military power truly was. Then those soldiers and ships vanished without a trace. Two months later, the ships returned, laden with vast quantities of supplies. Although the ferry captains and sailors were forbidden from setting foot on the island, they could still gauge just how enormous those stockpiles were and how many tens of thousands of personnel had been present.
This was why the imperial capital was so wary of the Norton Family's armed forces, ordering him to keep watch over their movements. Baron Finston recalled an old rumor: it was said that Count Norton had fallen out with Count Yaslan, one of the king's most beloved generals. Count Yaslan, acting behind the king's back, had mobilized nearly ten thousand troops to besiege Count Norton's five hundred men — only to suffer a crushing defeat and lose his own life in the process. The king, in a fury, had seized Count Yaslan's properties and exterminated his entire clan, yet could do absolutely nothing about Count Norton.
So when Baron Finston heard his servant's report that Count Norton had come to the city lord's mansion to request an audience, he keenly perceived Lorist's intentions. Not only did he welcome Lorist with great enthusiasm into his study, but he also proactively produced the sealed command document and handed it over to Lorist, while bitterly mocking and denouncing the utter stupidity and wilful ignorance of those powerful nobles in the imperial capital.
Lorist toyed with the command document in his hands, smiling. "Since the Imperial Capital has ordered Kilin Port to expand its garrison, and Kilin Port currently lacks the means to support it, then the Norton Family is willing to exert itself for the Kingdom and assist in the formation of the Kilin Port garrison. What do you think of this, Baron?"
"Wonderful!" Baron Finston appeared overjoyed. "The Count is loyal to the Kingdom and acts without regard for personal gain or loss—it's truly admirable. I shall entrust the Kilin Port garrison to you."
"Even if I take the Kilin Port garrison to Shilovas Island for three months of training, that would be acceptable?" Lorist asked.
"Of course, it's acceptable. Since everything is entrusted to you, it naturally follows your will. I've long heard that the Norton Family's armed forces are exceptionally elite. This is a perfect opportunity to have you reorganize this garrison. To tell you the truth, the current Kilin Port garrison is rather unsightly. They're quite skilled at bullying commoners and peddlers, but turn into cowards at the first sign of blood in battle. If you intend to train them and need to beat or execute anyone, feel free—these bastards could certainly use it. Know that on one occasion alone, I received over twenty complaints about the garrison in a single day, sending me scrambling all over, cleaning up after them from dawn till dusk..."
Seeing Baron Finston's expression of profound gratitude, Lorist laughed heartily. "Actually, there's no great secret to training and boosting combat strength. Provide adequate pay and rations, ensure they're well-fed and clothed, give the soldiers good equipment, and train their battle capabilities so they no longer see themselves as expendable cannon fodder. At the same time, educate them on strict military discipline and instill in them the honor of being a soldier—their combat strength will naturally improve. Here's what we'll do: while the Kilin Port garrison undergoes training on Shilovas Island, I will have my family's forces take over the city defenses of Kilin Port. It just so happens I brought a legion with me on this trip. Let them garrison Kilin Port for three months. How does that sound, Baron?"
Baron Finston secretly grumbled. *Which noble travels with an entire legion? Armed parade, is it? Must be awfully rich to waste money like that—a legion of over ten thousand men, how many gold coins does it cost daily?* Outwardly, however, he wore a beaming smile. "That is truly excellent. I was just worrying about Kilin Port's defenses once the garrison leaves for Shilovas Island. With your legion here, my mind is at ease. But Count, Kilin Port's populace is weary, and I'm afraid they cannot bear the burden of supplying your family's legion. Could you perhaps station fewer troops?"
Lorist smiled and shook his head. "Baron, it's no trouble. You only need to provide the food and fodder for the three thousand garrison troops. The rest will be borne by our Norton Family. In truth, we have another purpose in stationing a legion here. I hear there are many refugees within the Kingdom's borders currently. We plan to take in these displaced people and bring them to the Northland to cultivate the land, thereby also lightening the Kingdom's burden a little."
Baron Finston's face was full of admiration. "The Count is truly unmatched in benevolence and righteousness! To be willing to take in those fleeing refugees and give them a chance at survival makes you a true pillar of the Kingdom. Good, I will immediately issue a city lord's decree, formalizing your family's takeover of the Kilin Port garrison and inviting your family's forces to garrison the port."
Lorist nodded. Since Baron Finston was being so cooperative, there was no need to make things difficult for him. "Baron, in the future, if you have any matters where you need the Norton Family's assistance, we will do our utmost. This is the personal promise of Norton Lorist."
"Thank you..." This time, Baron Finston was genuinely overjoyed.
On July 3rd, Kilin Port was taken over by the Norton Family's armed Bedrock Legion.
...(To be continued.)