When
After warnings went unheeded, facing nearly a thousand cavalry charging on horseback, the Norton Family soldiers guarding the camp launched a counterattack with steel crossbows without hesitation. Under the storm-like barrage from five hundred single-wheeled steel crossbow carts, the nearly thousand light cavalry only lasted five volleys before being completely annihilated before the refugee camp...
At this moment, the Royal Guard Second Legion and the Bedrock Legion were engaged in a war of words. Bodefang righteously declared: "Those who ignore warnings and approach within two hundred meters of the refugee camp and Kilin Port will be killed without mercy!"
Meanwhile, the envoy sent by the Royal Guard Second Legion was red-faced with anger: "We have a hand-written order from the Capital's Chief Minister to take over Kilin Port. Your Norton Family not only refuses to cooperate, but also forcibly occupies Kilin Port and attacks our legion soldiers. Does your Norton Family intend to raise the banner of rebellion?"
Bodefang sneered: "Open your dog eyes and look! This is an official letter from Baron Finston, the castellan of Kilin Port, inviting our Norton Family's armed forces to garrison Kilin Port for three months. How is this forcible occupation? Precisely because the frontline war situation is unfavorable and refugees are everywhere, Baron Finston invited us to garrison out of concern for Kilin Port's safety. Yet at this very moment, those in power in the capital rejected our Norton Family's request to go to the frontlines and serve the kingdom. It truly makes us wonder what exactly is in your heads?"
"His Majesty the King is trapped, yet you seem unconcerned. From Yunge Shandela Province, your Royal Guard Second Legion dallied for over a month before reaching the capital. Instead of immediately setting out for Campana Province to break through the blockade and re-establish contact with His Majesty, you diverted the bulk of your forces here to seize Kilin Port. Am I crazy, or are you? Is Kilin Port that important? Will occupying Kilin Port save His Majesty? I'd really like to know what scheme you're cooking up."
"The Commercial Alliance sent troops to occupy Campana Province and dispatched small forces to infiltrate the two southwestern provinces. The capital not only failed to counterattack but ordered garrisons everywhere to abandon most fortresses and withdraw to preserve themselves, allowing those Commercial Alliance scum to run rampant across the kingdom's territory, killing, burning, and committing every atrocity, forcing our citizens to abandon their homes and become refugees! Yet you're unwilling to let our Norton Family take them in. What exactly are you trying to do! His Majesty entrusted the kingdom's administrative affairs to you out of trust, and this is how you repay him?"
The envoy, questioned by Bodefang until he had no answer, pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead: "My lord, those lords in the capital have their own views. Although His Majesty is trapped, he still has over a hundred thousand elites under his command; he won't fail so easily. Kilin Port is, after all, the kingdom's port; entrusting it to private armed forces would be too great a loss of face for the kingdom. The lords in the capital sent us here precisely for this consideration. Now you can hand Kilin Port back to us; with us here, there's no need to worry about Kilin Port's safety."
"Then how do you account for the thousand cavalry you sent today to attack our refugee camp?" Bodefang pressed his advantage, unwilling to simply hand over Kilin Port's defenses.
At that moment Lorist strode into the command tent, and Bodefang hurried to his feet and saluted.
"We can hand Kilin Port over to you, but we intend to set up a refugee camp on the beach three or four li outside the port to gather the displaced. We each mind our own business, and neither side interferes with the other. Tell the people behind you: as long as you don't infringe on the Norton Family's interests, the Norton Family has no intention of becoming your enemy. Naturally, you are also forbidden from stepping foot inside the perimeter guarded by Norton Family armed forces — violators will be killed without mercy!"
The envoy, having secured Lorist's promise, left in high spirits to make his report. As for the thousand cavalry who had died two days earlier probing the Norton Family's forces, no one gave them a second thought now. Securing Kilin Port was the prize; if a few thousand more men had to die, the bigwigs in the imperial capital would consider it a trifle. What mattered was that their objective had been achieved.
"My lord, why give up Kilin Port?" Bodefang asked, unwilling to let it go.
Lorist pulled out a newspaper and tossed it onto the table before him. Bodefang unfolded it — the
"The
"Look at the next headline…" Lorist said.
Bodefang lowered his gaze and saw the sub-headline: COMMERCIAL ALLIANCE REORGANIZES NEGOTIATION DELEGATION, PREPARES MISSION TO ANDINAQ KINGDOM — DAWN OF PEACE REAPPEARS. The article below analyzed that, after the allied forces took the Fadeliga capital, the Second Prince's whereabouts remained unknown, but reliable intelligence claimed the King of Andinaq had fallen gravely ill, preventing him from appearing on the battlefield. Now that the capital had fallen, this new War God would surely soon fall into their net.
The reporter argued that the Commercial Alliance had sent troops into Redlis Kingdom's Campana Province precisely because this Andinaq War God, relying on a massive force of three hundred thousand, had continuously threatened the Commercial Alliance and refused to accept the fact that the Duchy of Rulm had been placed under Commercial Alliance administration. To sober up this young king, the Commercial Alliance had dispatched troops to Campana Province to show him what the Commercial Alliance's strength truly meant.
The remaining garrison forces inside the Andinaq Kingdom numbered less than a hundred thousand — enough for defense, but insufficient for offense. The Commercial Alliance believed this great war had dragged on too long, so they had already assembled a negotiation delegation prepared to depart for the Andinaq capital to discuss the terms of peace…
"Understand? Those bigwigs in the imperial capital have their eyes on Qilin Port not because they want to grab some territory like us, but because they're worried that their reception of the Commercial Alliance's negotiation delegation might be leaked, saddling them with the label of traitors. I'd really love to see the look on the Second Prince's face when he finds out about his ministers' private schemes..." Lorist said mockingly when he saw Bodefang finish reading the newspaper.
"My lord, do you think those people in the imperial capital know that the Second Prince has been defeated and his whereabouts are unknown after the fall of Fadeliga's capital?" Bodefang asked.
"I'm not sure either, but those people in the imperial capital are definitely in cahoots with the Commercial Alliance, or at least have a tacit understanding — they're screwing the Second Prince together. For now, let's take a step back and see what they're really up to. You see the paper says the Commercial Alliance is organizing a negotiation delegation to visit the Andinaq Kingdom; the most convenient way is to sail straight to Qilin Port, land here, and reach the imperial capital. That's why those bigwigs in the capital value Qilin Port so much they'd dispatch nearly half the Royal Guard's Second Legion to force us out. Given the situation, I don't want to fall out with these idiots, so let's just endure it for now."
The Norton Family's armed forces straightforwardly handed over Qilin Port's defenses to the Royal Guard's Second Legion, then withdrew west to re-establish a large camp on a beach three to four li from Qilin Port. They gathered the fleeing refugees and built a simple pier on the beach to send them directly onto ships bound for Silowas Island.
Ten days later, the reinforced Oceanic Legion intercepted two ocean-going merchant ships on the sea twenty-odd li from Qilin Port. On board were precisely the Commercial Alliance's negotiation delegation that had departed from Morant City and their attendant guards. Interestingly, the originally arrogant and haughty delegation members became remarkably obedient the moment they heard it was the Norton Family's Oceanic Legion — answering every question with a smile, stating they had been invited by certain bigwigs in the imperial capital to discuss the war that had occurred in the Redlis Kingdom and seek a path to peace.
Senbaud reported to Lorist the intelligence obtained from questioning the negotiation delegation. Lorist stroked his chin and pondered for a long while, then instructed that the delegation be released. He also ordered Bodefang to cease recruiting refugees and the entire army to withdraw back to Silowas Island, leaving not a single soldier in Qilin Port. At the same time, he released the already reorganized Qilin Port garrison to return and report to Baron Fenniston.
"My lord, we're no longer involving ourselves in Qilin Port's affairs?" Governor Hansk of Silowas Island asked.
Lorist nodded: "The current situation feels extremely strange to me. If our family's armed forces remain in Qilin Port, we might become a thorn in everyone's eye. Better to yield completely and see what they want to do. Intercepting the Commercial Alliance's negotiation delegation was just a greeting — a show of our Norton Family's presence — so the delegation knows that no agreement on Andinaq Kingdom's affairs can bypass us."
On August 20th, the imperial capital dispatched an envoy to Silowas Island bearing a document requiring Lorist's signature. Lorist picked it up and glanced through it — it was a proposal. Since the former king Auguslo, the Second Prince, had been defeated at Fadeliga's capital in the Redlis Kingdom and his whereabouts were unknown, a country cannot go a day without a ruler. Therefore, all the nobles of the Andinaq Kingdom had signed proposing that Princess Carey temporarily ascend the throne and sign a peace agreement with the Forde Commercial Alliance to end this desperate war.
Lorist chuckled and refused to sign. The envoy threatened that if the Norton Family refused to sign, they would be squeezed out of the Andinaq Kingdom's noble circles and receive no recognition from the imperial capital.
Lorist said that the Norton Family's liege lord was the Andinaq royal family — that is, His Majesty the King. Now His Majesty's whereabouts were unknown, his life or death uncertain. The Norton Family had no face to go serve another. Although Princess Carey also had Andinaq royal blood, she was far from qualified to become the Norton Family's liege lord.
The envoy left, but Lorist hadn't expected the subsequent developments to be so bizarre. Another half-month passed, and the intelligence and situation changes Lorist received left him dumbfounded.
The Redlis Kingdom was no more. Magik Province was annexed into the Duchy of Handra. Andewof Province, Podolorg Province where the Fadeliga royal capital was located, and Kanbona Province became the Forde Commercial Alliance's new territories — among them, Podolorg Province became the Vissia Merchant Guild's territory.
The former Redlis Kingdom's northwestern region and the Andinaq Kingdom's Hansdemos Province — the province where Baron Dina's territory was located — merged to form the Duchy of Zutram. Its Grand Duke was said to be a former territorial noble of the Redlis Kingdom who had once led a noble coalition army to defeat the Second Prince's 70,000-strong army using a flooding stratagem, and was hailed as a newly risen military master.
The two southwestern provinces formerly belonging to the Andinaq Kingdom also formed the Blitt United Duchy, governed by three Grand Dukes: one was the president of the Blitt Merchant Guild, a second-rate merchant guild of the Commercial Alliance; one was the leader of the famous mercenary band "Dragon's Claw" of the Commercial Alliance; and the last was a military noble of the Delia Duchy that had been annexed by the Commercial Alliance in the Battle of Glass — this time, he supposedly led troops on campaign and was the first to breach Fadeliga's royal capital, achieving great merit, and was thus enfeoffed as a Grand Duke.
The kingdom now retained only the Central Province where the imperial capital was located, Verbasia Province, and Yungeshendra Province gained from the Madras Duchy.
Now the Andinaq Kingdom's imperial capital had become a border city, bounded by the Flowing Water River to the east and extending straight to Qilin Port to the west. The most bizarre thing was that on the newly drawn map of the Andinaq Kingdom, Silowas Island wasn't included at all — meaning the Andinaq Kingdom under Princess Carey's rule didn't acknowledge the Norton Family as belonging to the kingdom. To put it bluntly, Lorist was now a "wild" noble — he had no liege lord.
"What the fuck is this situation?" Lorist scratched his head, unable to make sense of the current situation.
Bodefing and Governor Hanks, on the contrary, were quite delighted.
"My Lord, our current situation is just like the founding emperor of the former Krisen Empire back then — no one to restrain us. The Andinaq royal family's current actions amount to automatically relinquishing jurisdiction over the Norton Family, no longer acknowledging us as their vassals. Just like Count Krisen several hundred years ago. Though back then, Count Krisen was first exiled and then abandoned, and only then did he recruit troops in the Northlands and the Northeast to establish a powerful empire. Our situation now is much better than his was back then." Governor Hanks said happily.
"You're saying all the territories our Family has conquered by raising troops now belong to the Norton Family, and no one will jump out to accuse us of rebellion anymore?" Lorist asked.
"Yes, My Lord. Look — the Andinaq Kingdom doesn't even include Silowas Island on its map anymore. They clearly want nothing to do with us. With just one order from you, My Lord, I'll seize Qilin Port immediately and march on the imperial capital." Bodefing said.
"Can such a huge windfall really just fall into our lap?" Lorist stroked his chin. "Let's wait. Train our Family's forces properly first, then I'll decide who to strike first. Something feels off about this, Tarkel!"
"My Lord, I'm here." Tarkel entered from outside.
"The war in the Redlis Kingdom has already ended. Send Woribell's investigators to infiltrate the royal capital of Fideriga and find the Second Prince's whereabouts. I have a feeling the Second Prince won't fall that easily. Go search for him, so he doesn't suddenly appear out of nowhere to cause trouble when we're ready to move freely." Lorist ordered.
"Yes, My Lord." Tarkel replied, making a throat-slitting gesture. "My Lord, if we find him, do you want us to... do this?"
Lorist shook his head. "Just report back if you find him. Don't act on your own. That's not your call to make. Understand?"
"Yes, My Lord."
……(To be continued.)