Chapter 312: End of the Song

Standing before Lorist was a thin, elderly man who appeared ordinary, yet bore a hint of vicious cunning between his brows. At this moment, he was gasping for air in great heaves, his face a mask of shock and uncertainty. Lorist had withstood dozens of his lightning-fast killing strokes in succession, only being forced off his mount — something his ambusher had never anticipated in his wildest dreams.

"You… who are you?" Great Swordmaster Tang Homer struggled to steady his breathing. As a second-rank Great Swordmaster, he was familiar with every Great Swordmaster patronized by the large, medium, and small merchant guilds within the Commercial League, but he had never heard of such a young Great Swordmaster. Generally, those who advanced to the rank of Great Swordmaster did so at forty or fifty years of age at the earliest, typically middle-aged or already old. Perhaps becoming a Sword Saint could restore one's youth, but how many Sword Saints were there on the entire Galentea Continent — three? Four? Either they ran their own sword academies or their respective nations treated them as mascots and national treasures, coddling them lovingly. What Sword Saint would ever bother coming all the way to Morant City to cause trouble…

"Heh, who am I? I'm the bumpkin from Northland you've all been mocking," Lorist said coldly. "You can twist the truth, sling mud at us, and curse us to your hearts' content, can't you? You even had people blockade our inn and dare us to come out and die. So this is Morant City? Seeing it truly is believing. When we return, we'll broadcast your conduct to every noble on the entire continent — let them all know exactly what sort of people the nobles enfeoffed by the Commercial League really are!"

Two sword slashes, swift as a brushstroke. The two guild guards who had rushed at Lorist from behind, hoping to take advantage of his standoff with Great Swordmaster Tang Homer, were cleaved in two, reduced to four pieces.

Great Swordmaster Tang Homer charged forward in a frenzy, cursing through gritted teeth: "Don't even think about it—"

Those two guild guards had attacked Lorist from behind. Lorist ducked low, then executed a technique that seemed to close the distance to nothing — his figure flickered and reappeared behind the two guards, and his blade cut them down with a casual sweep. It was the exact moment when new force had yet to be born and old force was already spent. As a second-rank Great Swordmaster renowned for his vicious cunning, how could Tang Homer let such an opening pass? He unleashed yet another round of lightning-fast chain attacks.

"Old man, you've spent your entire life perfecting ambush tactics, haven't you…" Lorist sneered, his feet retreating rapidly as his longsword danced in a defensive wall, sealing off every angle of Tang Homer's furious assault.

"Clang clang clang clang clang…"

Yet another violent burst of sword strikes rang out.

"Old man, now it's my turn." Lorist shifted from defense to offense, his sword coming down like a furious storm, a tornado sweeping across flat ground, striking directly at Great Swordmaster Tang Homer.

Great Swordmaster Tang Homer now realized the situation was dire. Moments ago, he had thought this young man before him was, at best, a Second-Rank Great Swordmaster like himself. Who could have guessed that after enduring two rounds of his lightning-fast swordplay, he still had the strength to launch a counterattack? After parrying only a few strikes, he knew he had kicked an iron plate. This was no Second-Rank Great Swordmaster—this was clearly a Third-Rank Great Swordmaster! Every strike was like a leaping antelope, leaving no opening. The silver moon was supposed to be hanging in the sky, yet all he saw was a sky full of flashing blades, impossible to block...

"Wait, wait... Agh!" Great Swordmaster Tang Homer parried desperately left and right, but Lorist ignored him. One thrust pierced the old man's left ribs, another sent his longsword flying, and a final blade came to rest against his throat.

"Old man, what were you saying...?" Lorist asked.

Great Swordmaster Tang Homer pressed a hand to his wounded side, his face a mask of venomous hatred. "I... I concede. You win. You can go now..."

"Heh," Lorist sneered coldly. "Did you need to tell me that? Anyone with eyes can see it."

"L-Let me go. I... I swear the Losange Chamber of Commerce won't pursue this matter..." The old man tried to feign a remnants of toughness.

"Sorry, but there's only one thing I'm not afraid of in this world, and it's your Losange." Lorist flicked his wrist. The head of Second-Rank Great Swordmaster Tang Homer flew high into the air. Lorist pointed his sword at the chamber of commerce guards who stood stunned, having witnessed Tang Homer's decapitation, and bellowed, "Kill!"

"Kill!" Great Swordmaster Hughes, Baron Shachin, and Baron Philim charged into the crowd on horseback. Immediately after, more than thirty guards followed, sweeping through the clustered chamber of commerce forces and scattering them like chaff in the wind. The first carriage rolled into the passage, the second carriage following close behind. On the carriage, Jossick's green longbow cracked like thunder. Bolts of green lightning flew from his hands; in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen armed guards who were stubbornly resisting had become ghosts beneath his arrows...

The path ahead was clear. Many chamber of commerce guards had dropped their swords and fled, scurrying like rats. Those who hadn't escape now lay on the ground. Lorist grabbed the shaft of the first carriage and vaulted aboard, shouting his command: "Move out!"

The rumbling wheels of the caravan began racing toward Hidden Gold Bay.

Great Swordmaster Mac stood at the inn's main entrance, watching the caravan recede into the distance. His hands and feet had gone ice-cold, and his legs wouldn't stop trembling. That was close — he had nearly mistaken a tiger feigning sleep for a docile sheep, thinking that these Northland nobles' only military asset was that first-rank Great Swordmaster who reeked of killing intent. He had wanted to detain these Northland nobles because he suspected they had sent people to burn the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce's granary. Although the Mileidas Family and the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce didn't see eye to eye, the burning of the granary had practically deprived Morant City's commoners of their cheap grain, and the Commercial Alliance's food crisis would only grow more severe.

Though his words had sounded noble, Great Swordmaster Mac knew that his earlier speech about safeguarding these Northland nobles' lives had been nothing but an excuse. He had simply wanted to detain them, and once the Seven Giants returned, he could hand them over for judgment. That way, the burning of the granary would have a perfect explanation, and the Mileidas Family would remain uninvolved.

Who would have thought that the unassuming Count Norton would cut down the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce's Second-Rank Great Swordmaster Tang Homer in just two or three exchanges? He recalled that after the young count had engaged Tang Homer, everyone in the departing caravan had waited at their ease for the outcome. They had seemed supremely confident of victory — those two Gold-rank Knight Barons had even been whispering a wager on how many moves it would take to bring down that Second-Rank Great Swordmaster.

A Second-Rank Great Swordmaster, a Gold-rank swordsman, dozens of Silver-rank swordsmen, and over four hundred chamber of commerce guards — yet they couldn't stop a charge by a few dozen people. The losses had been catastrophic. Great Swordmaster Mac stared fixedly at the carnage-strewn courtyard before the passage entrance, where two or three hundred Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce guards lay in twisted heaps, some still drawing faint breath but clearly beyond saving.

Thankfully, he had stepped aside and opened the gate rather than trying to force them to stay, Mac thought with relief. The inn's head steward walked over, surveyed the blood-soaked pile of corpses, and sighed. "Even with that many Luoshanji guards, they couldn't stop them?"

Great Swordmaster Mac shook his head. "It's not that they couldn't stop them — it's that these Northland nobles are too formidable. Even Great Swordmaster Tang Homer was killed in just a few exchanges. Without him, the remaining guards performed worse than a bunch of pigs. In any case, the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce is finished..."

By now, Lorist had reached Hidden Gold Bay and was directing the carriages toward the Peterson Chamber of Commerce's private dock. Along the way, he had Lunmert arrange several cargo wagons loaded with firewood, hoping to give their pursuers a nasty surprise. Unfortunately, tonight the entire population of Morant City had their eyes glued to the burning grain warehouses of the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce in the southern suburbs. Lorist and his people had already butchered the chamber of commerce guards who tried to block their path, and no one had the nerve to give chase. The several carriages Lorist had prepared for ambush and the follow-up blocking arrangements all turned out to be wasted effort.

Everyone boarded the ships. Lorist wrote another letter on the dock for President Peterson and Dean Levins, ordered the dockmaster to return the carriages and mounts to the Dosleg Grand Hotel, rewarded him with a small pouch of Goldfords, and then boarded his ship and commanded the sails raised to set out for Shilowas Island.

Watching the receding silhouette of Morant City and the southern horizon stained red by firelight, Lorist couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter. Count Kemmes, Baron Shachin, and Baron Philim all broke into smiles as well. This trip to Morant City had been fraught with peril beyond measure, but the fact that everyone had pulled out unscathed was indeed cause for celebration.

Josk muttered from the side: "My lord, I really don't know what you're so happy about. You keep saying you spent ten years studying in Morant City and are practically half a native, but the last two times we went there, we were chased out both times..."

"Lorist immediately stopped laughing. Humiliated and furious, he shot Josk a venomous glare.

They had barely been back on Shilowas Island for two days of rest when Count Kemmes suddenly took it into his head to tour the former imperial capital. Lorist had a splitting headache over it — as the royal capital of the Andinaque Kingdom under Queen Kyrie's rule, going there openly would be walking straight into the lion's den. In the end, he had no choice but to let Count Kemmes, Baron Shachin, and Baron Philim form a party, dispatch Great Swordmaster Hughes with five hundred guards as escort, and then request Baron Fenstone, the governor of Chirin Port, to serve as their guide to the capital.

None of the three — Count Kemmes and the two barons — brought their families on this trip. The idea was that in a worst-case scenario, they could fight their way out under the protection of Great Swordmaster Hughes and the guards. However, Lorist's worries proved entirely unnecessary. After about ten days, word arrived from the capital: those three scoundrels were thriving in the noble circles. Reportedly, Count Kemmes was eloquent and charming, winning the Queen's deep favor — he had even become her intimate companion. The Queen hosted several garden parties for these three nobles from Northland, and the three rascals were having so much fun they couldn't bear to come back.

But at this time, Lorist was far too busy to worry about them. The Seven Magnates of the Commerce Alliance had returned to Morant City, and they dispatched the Vice President of the Peterson Chamber of Commerce as their representative to Shilowas Island to meet with Lorist. First, the Vice President conveyed on behalf of the Commerce Alliance deep apologies and regrets for the treatment Lorist had received during his visit to Morant City, and relayed the Seven Magnates' resolution regarding the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce and Marquis Bejisanlo.

Given that Marquis Bejisanlo had indulged his son in committing crimes, bringing great shame upon the Commerce Alliance, the Marquis was stripped of his title, removed from his position as Chairman of the Alliance Parliament, expelled from the Alliance Parliament, and permanently barred from holding any public office within the Commerce Alliance. Secondly, the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce was ordered dissolved for brewing ale with moldy wheat and endangering the health of the Alliance's citizens, and was required to pay enormous compensation. In short, the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce was finished, and Marquis Bejisanlo had no path left but to take his own life.

Lorist curled his lip. This was nothing more than the Seven Magnates dividing up the spoils. There was no doubt that in their eyes, the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce was a fattened pig — raise it long enough and it's naturally time for the slaughter. He himself had simply been unlucky; what happened during his trip to Morant City happened to give the Seven Magnates the excuse they needed to strike. Even if the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce harbored no ambition to replace the Seven Magnates, a fat pig still has to be killed.

After discussing the fate of the Luoshanji Chamber of Commerce, the Vice President immediately lodged a protest with Lorist, arguing that he should be held responsible for the burning of the Luoshanji grain warehouses. After all, those warehouses were the lifeline for seven or eight hundred thousand commoners in Morant City — burning them all to the ground was a bit excessive.

Those grain warehouses were the payment owed to the commoners who had besieged the Dosleg Grand Hotel. Not burning them would have been asking for trouble.

Sure enough, after finishing his protest, the Vice President went on to propose that Lorist provide the Commerce Alliance with a shipment of grain — as much as possible — to alleviate the Alliance's food shortage, adding that a slightly higher price would be perfectly acceptable. Lorist shook his head in refusal, stating that the Norton Family's territories were also facing tight grain supplies and that he was truly unable to help.

However, Levins gave the Vice President an idea. The Kingdom of Andinac should have surplus grain. Two years ago, the Second Prince had stockpiled vast military provisions for his army of three hundred thousand. Later, when he launched a surprise attack on Fedelga, the royal city of the Kingdom of Redlis, he captured a massive amount of military supplies from the First Prince. It could be said that for the next two years, the wars the Second Prince fought in the Kingdom of Redlis were essentially fought using those captured supplies. The provisions transported from the Kingdom of Andinac only amounted to half that quantity.

Over these past two years, the Kingdom of Andinac had enjoyed good harvests because the war was being fought in the Kingdom of Redlis, and their granaries were once again full. If the Commerce Alliance was willing to spend money to purchase a large amount of grain now, the Queen Kari, famous for her love of enjoyment, would surely be delighted to sell off all her reserves. These provisions would definitely help alleviate the Commerce Alliance's food shortage. As for transportation, it was even simpler. Just get the grain to the port of Qilin, and Levins would be happy to have his own shipping fleet help transport it to Morant City, with a discounted freight rate.

The Vice President was overjoyed and didn't even bother with the banquet，excusing himself in a hurry to head for the Imperial Capital.

Twelve days later, the Vice President returned to Silovas Island and informed Levins that an agreement had been reached with the Kingdom of Andinac. They had purchased a total of five million bushels of grain, over five hundred million jin, and commissioned the Norton Family's shipping fleet to transport it to Morant City.

By the end of September, the family's fleet had completed its first transport mission and returned to Silovas Island. Aboard were also Great Swordmaster Kreud and Instructor Amphia, the married couple, along with three other instructors from Dawn Academy, two of whom had been Levins' classmates when he studied there.

At this time, Count Kemmence, Baron Shahin, and Baron Filim, after over a month of indulgence in the Imperial Capital, had finally returned. Everyone boarded the North Sea ship and set off back towards the Northland.

...(To be continued.)