"Your Highness, good news — Great Swordmaster Hughes has returned..." Genorio rushed into the study clutching a strip of gray-white silk, a message carried by homing pigeon from the Silovas Islands.
Four years ago, Great Swordmaster Hughes had stationed himself on the Silovas Islands. To break through and advance in rank, he ventured alone into the mountain wilderness of the islands to train in seclusion, leaving word that he would not return until he reached the rank of second-rank Great Swordmaster. Though Lorist had worried about him, the subsequent two-year campaign against the Central-Southern Four Duchies and his lack of time to visit the Silovas Islands afterward had caused him to completely forget about searching for Great Swordmaster Hughes. Now hearing of his return, he was naturally delighted.
The letter was jointly signed by Baron Hickde, Governor of the Silovas Islands, and
It was said that Great Swordmaster Hughes had already advanced to second-rank two years ago. To stabilize his realm and gain insight into the natural world, he had remained in the deep mountains for an additional two years. This time, as he emerged, he happened upon the magical birds attacking the mining team and lent a helping hand. In a few days, Great Swordmaster Hughes would set out for Northland to pay his respects to Lorist.
The
Hughes, on the other hand, had started as a slave gladiator. His cultivation had been forged through life-and-death battles in the arena, and the murderous killing intent that saturated him was the heaviest Lorist had ever encountered among Great Swordmasters. Despite being only first-rank, he could hold his own against second-rank Great Swordmasters. Now that he had advanced to second-rank, he added no small amount of high-end combat power to the Norton Family. At the very least, for Reidi, Great Swordmaster Hughes was the best sparring partner at this stage.
...
Tagel walked into the study, carrying a thick stack of letters and documents. "Your Highness, there has been a dramatic shift in the Central-South war."
"What happened?" Lorist asked.
The war between the Forde Commercial Alliance and the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance had dragged on for over four years. The past two years had remained much the same — several nations bordering the Chicked Trading Company's territories on the southern Golden Coast were locked in a tangled conflict with the alliance led by the Qigeda Kingdom. Ironically, the Commercial Alliance itself, after absorbing three neighboring countries, had stabilized its defensive lines, and its borders with the central-southern kingdoms appeared as calm as if no war were taking place.
"At the far south, the Roman Empire and the Havistan Khanate have reached a ceasefire agreement. The war between the two great powers has subsided. The Havistan Khanate suffered a slight loss, ceding a small portion of the former Kelia Kingdom's territory to the Roman Empire. The two nations have established the Kaisarubi River as their boundary."
Tagel glanced at the documents in his hand and continued his report. "The Qigeda Kingdom has absorbed seven surrounding nations that were raided by the Commercial Alliance's armies, doubling its territory to become a country roughly the same size as the Roman Empire. The remaining thirteen nations in the central-south finally woke up to the reality of what was happening, suspecting a conspiracy. They broke into fierce conflict and internal strife with the Qigeda Kingdom, and the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance dissolved.
The Commercial Alliance announced a peace agreement with the Qigeda Kingdom, recognizing the seven newly absorbed nations as Qigeda's territory, along with provisions for opening trade routes, jointly resisting foreign enemies, and more. Additionally, the Commercial Alliance appears to have approved an interest-free loan of fifteen million gold Fordes to the Qigeda Kingdom to develop its newly acquired territories. Since our intelligence operatives have been unable to penetrate either side, we don't have definitive information...
The remaining thirteen kingdoms in the central-south have now split into two factions. Five kingdoms bordering the Commercial Alliance have declared the formation of the Morencik Kingdom Alliance and intend to send envoys to negotiate a ceasefire with the Commercial Alliance. They apparently believe they can no longer resist the Alliance on their own and must unite for self-preservation, unwilling for the war to continue.
The eight kingdoms closer to the south have formed an anti-Qigeda alliance and coalition army led by the Jekano Kingdom, firmly opposing Qigeda's absorption of the seven neighboring nations. They have appointed Prince Yorksem, the eldest prince of the Jekano Kingdom, as the coalition commander and raised an army of one hundred and forty thousand to attack the Qigeda Kingdom. The Qigeda Kingdom has marshaled one hundred thousand troops under Grand Duke Fosta to battle the coalition in the former Oderma Kingdom. The two sides have fought two major engagements with mixed results.
Of note, our family's Knight Lomerd is currently serving alongside the coalition commander Prince Yorksem. Also, the Commercial Alliance has not sent troops to aid the Qigeda Kingdom as per their agreement following the outbreak of hostilities between Qigeda and the eight southern kingdoms. Instead, it has dispatched envoys to mediate, hoping both sides will cease fighting and restore peace to the central-south..."
Lorist burst out laughing. This was truly the greatest joke of all. No one could have imagined such a bizarre turn in the Central-South war — it was enough to leave anyone dumbfounded. Originally, twenty-four central-southern nations had banded together to resist the Commercial Alliance. Who would have thought that the Qigeda Kingdom would play the role of the traitor, secretly colluding with the Alliance and swallowing seven neighboring nations in one fell swoop.
Those nations had finally realized the truth but then split into two camps. One faction decided that since they couldn't win, they might as well surrender, and began negotiating peace with the Commercial Alliance. The other faction, burning with humiliation and rage, turned against the Qigeda Kingdom. Setting aside the greater enemy of the Commercial Alliance, they insisted on crushing the traitor Qigeda first. And now the very Commercial Alliance that had been their enemy stepped forward to play the benevolent mediator, appealing for peace with bleeding-heart rhetoric...
It was simply too ridiculous. No one could have predicted that the four-year war between the Commercial Alliance and the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance would end like this. If they had known it would come to this, they could have sat down and negotiated from the start, accepted a few losses, and avoided four years of devastating casualties only to end up at the negotiating table anyway.
After laughing for a while, Lorist stood before the map of the Galentea Continent hanging on the wall and, following the notes Tagel had brought, sketched out the shifts in the central-southern situation. Looking at the Qigeda Kingdom's territory now forming one enormous contiguous block on the map, Lorist couldn't help but marvel inwardly — this was an extraordinarily brilliant, far-sighted strategic plan, executed over a period of four years.
"Your Highness, what is it?" Tagel asked curiously when he saw Lorist standing silently before the map for so long.
Lorist shook his head and snapped back to attention. "Do you see? Just as you once said, the war between the Commercial Alliance and the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance was one great conspiracy, and now the conspiracy's endgame has revealed itself. The Qigeda Kingdom has also leapt to become a major power on the Galentea Continent. Whoever orchestrated this was a long-term thinker — truly a genius strategist..."
"But Your Highness..." Tagel said with some reluctance. "Don't you think the Qigeda Kingdom's absorption of the seven neighboring nations was a bit too hasty? The forced annexation is exactly what aroused the suspicion of the remaining central-southern nations, sparking conflict and war. This seems to contradict the deep foresight shown at the start. The Qigeda Kingdom could have used a slow-boiling-frog approach, gradually digesting its gains rather than provoking such consequences."
"No, you're wrong," Lorist said. "Your scenario has a prerequisite — that the war between the Roman Empire and the Havistan Khanate continued. Then the Qigeda Kingdom could have employed a conciliatory approach, gradually bringing the seven surrounding nations under its control and creating a fait accompli. But the Roman Empire and the Havistan Khanate have already ceased hostilities. Once they recover, there's a strong likelihood they'll turn their attention toward the central-southern nations.
Under those circumstances, the Qigeda Kingdom had to seize the time to integrate the strength of the seven surrounding nations and rearm itself to resist invasion from either the Roman Empire or the Havistan Khanate. That is why it forced the annexation. And the Commercial Alliance clearly has deep ties with the Qigeda Kingdom — their refusal to send troops was the greatest help they could provide. Even if they had sent forces to aid Qigeda, as long as the coalition of eight kingdoms fought to the death, the war would have dragged on endlessly, draining Qigeda's military strength for nothing.
Precisely because of this, the Commercial Alliance stepped in as a mediator to bring both sides to a ceasefire. This was the most advantageous choice for the Alliance as well. First, it bolstered the Qigeda Kingdom, allowing it to emerge far more powerful after absorbing the seven nations, capable of single-handedly resisting the two great southern powers — rather than the previous arrangement of several nations forming a coalition under Qigeda's leadership. After all, a clenched fist is always far more powerful than five spread fingers...
The second benefit was that, if the mediation succeeded, the eight kingdoms of the coalition would forever regard the Qigeda Kingdom as their mortal enemy, while their hostility toward the Commercial Alliance would ease or disappear entirely — after all, an enemy is never as hateful as a traitor. While propping up the Qigeda Kingdom, the Alliance simultaneously created an enemy for it, ensuring the two sides would keep each other in check and preventing Qigeda from growing strong enough to become a future threat to the Alliance.
In this war between the Commercial Alliance and the Central-Southern Kingdom Alliance, it may seem like the Qigeda Kingdom reaped the greatest reward — absorbing seven nations and becoming a major power on the Galentea Continent. In truth, it was the Commercial Alliance that profited the most as the fisherman in the chaos. Not only did it absorb three more countries, but it also forced those central-southern nations to open their trade routes, achieving its pre-war objectives. The kingdoms of the central-south, meanwhile, became the losers — fractured into factions, riven by contradictions, and no longer able to unite against outside threats as they once had."
Lorist clicked his tongue. "None of them are easy to deal with. Not a single fool among them. Tagel, increase surveillance and intelligence gathering on the Commercial Alliance and the Qigeda Kingdom. See if you can identify who the mastermind behind this is..."
"Yes, Your Highness." Tagel snapped to attention.
...
Genorio entered the study holding an invitation bordered with gold thread. "Your Highness, Duke Kaims has sent an invitation, asking you to attend his summer retreat banquet at White Sand Beach in the Sidagle Province on the fifteenth of August."
Lorist recalled that Kaims had once mentioned building a luxurious palace-style estate near White Sand Beach, turning it into a resort destination for the nobility to spend their summers. It seemed the estate was finally complete, which was why invitations were being sent out. He should show his face — it was only June now, with over two months to go, and he had nothing pressing. It would be a good chance to relax and let Princess Sylivia and his four concubines bring the children along for a trip as well.
Lorist nodded. "Very well. Send him a reply saying I'll bring my family."
"Very good, Your Highness. But shall we take a ship?" Genorio asked. There were two routes to the Sidagle Province, seat of the Kaims family — one overland through the Dremak Province, and the other by ship directly from North Sea City to White Sand Beach.
"Let's take the land route. We can stop by Baron Dina's fief on the way."
The previous July, the female knight Alidori had given birth to a son for Lorist. She had named him Dina Triek and written to Lorist saying she would raise Triek to become the greatest knight of the Dina family. Lorist was helpless against his lover Alidori and could only silently wish his bastard son well, hoping he would grow up healthy under his mother's iron hand... It was conveniently on the way, and he could visit Alidori and the boy.
"Understood. When does Your Highness plan to depart?" Genorio asked.
Before Lorist could answer, hurried footsteps rang out and Schwade burst into the study. "Your Highness, something has happened! Count Lawell and his family have been taken hostage by a mercenary company..."
Count Lawell? Who was that? Lorist was utterly bewildered.
Fortunately, Schwade saw Lorist's confusion and explained the situation in a few quick sentences.
This Count Lawell was not a member of the Norton Family. He was a merchant from the imperial capital who had purchased a honorary count's title from the
Count Lawell had moved to Northland five years ago, purchasing a plot of land in the nobles' second district and building a medium-sized estate as his family's residence. At the same time, he had partnered with others to invest in several consumer goods workshops in Northland, and he opened a Weist Trading Company dealing in leather goods, alcohol, and daily necessities.
Two years ago, when Grand Duke Fisablen and the Snow Salt Trading Company had placed enormous procurement orders with the Norton Family, the workshops Count Lawell had co-invested in had received a substantial share of the pie, filling his coffers. Count Lawell and his partners then began aggressively expanding production capacity, opening over a dozen more workshops of the same type and spending large sums to poach skilled workers and technicians from other operations, preparing to capture the largest share of the consumer goods pie in this year's procurement orders.
What they hadn't anticipated was that in January, Lorist had announced the Fisablen and Snow Salt procurement orders — not only was the total value half of the previous year's, but the consumer goods portion was minuscule due to the large purchases of the previous two years. Count Lawell and his partners were dumbfounded, and they were far from alone — many other merchants in the same situation were crying out in despair.
Just as Lorist had pointed out, Northland's market was limited to the surrounding provinces. Other regions either hadn't been opened or couldn't absorb that volume of goods even if there was a market. Overproduction with no buyers would inevitably trigger a severe economic crisis.
Workshops could be shuttered and workers laid off, but the capital invested had become stagnant inventory with nowhere to go. For most Northland merchants, they faced an agonizing choice: either dump their goods at fire-sale prices to recoup a fraction of their costs, or hold onto them and try to sell over the course of decades...
At that point, Fatty Shrade had begun a comprehensive restructuring of all the mines, factories, and workshops in Northland, shutting down a great many operations producing the same goods, absorbing the unemployed workers, and redeploying them — effectively stabilizing the family's internal economic order. Regardless, this premature economic crisis, while devastating for the investing merchants, had not caused significant hardship for the family's common subjects.
Count Lawell had chosen to stockpile his goods, believing he still had his trading company to sell them off gradually. But misfortunes never came singly — a mercenary company he had hired to venture deep into the Black Mud Swamp to hunt iron-spine estuarine crocodiles had suffered heavy losses. The mercenary captain demanded compensation and subsidies for the casualties, but Count Lawell had no money to spare at that point and refused. The two sides clashed, and in a rage, the mercenary captain took several mercenaries and seized Count Lawell's entire family as hostages, demanding a ransom for their release...
"Your Highness, Baron Ovikis has already led the Royal Guard Battalion to surround Count Lawell's estate, and Lord Shrade has rushed over as well. However, the mercenaries insist that Count Lawell pay the ransom and are demanding our people withdraw, claiming this has nothing to do with the Norton Family..." Schwade reported.
Lorist silently picked up his sword. Genorio hurriedly brought his coat and draped it over his shoulders.
"Let's go have a look," Lorist said.
...