In truth, the process of
On the twenty-first day of the seventh month of the year 1789 by the Galentea Continent's universal calendar, the Grand Duke of Northland, head of the
Subsequently, Lorist personally went to Maple Manor and rescued the
Departing from North Sea City, retaking Poplar Town, then proceeding to Maple Manor and stopping by Nico Academy to visit Teresi and her daughter, Lorist spent only one night before heading straight for Bedrock Fortress. When passing through the seven towns of the Fertile Plains, Lorist only showed himself beneath the city walls before pressing on to Bedrock Fortress. After occupying Bedrock Fortress without a drop of blood being shed, Lorist then dispatched the regiment of the Hunter Cavalry Corps that had accompanied him on the march to various parts of Northland, announcing his arrival.
But the first person to bring Lorist bad news was Shward of Cherry Ridge Manor. He rushed to Bedrock Fortress overnight and told Lorist something that sent him into a towering rage: the artillery training base in the Blade Ridge Mountains had been discovered by the Great Swordmasters who had been searching Northland for traces of Lorist. Because the base was heavily guarded, the Great Swordmasters mistakenly believed that Lorist was hiding there to recuperate from his injuries, and had launched an attack on the base.
Lorist's face turned ashen as he watched Shward present the damage report: of two hundred bronze cannons, one hundred and forty-one were lost; of the two hundred cannon crews comprising two thousand guardsmen, one thousand three hundred and seventy-seven were killed or wounded; a guard sentry battalion responsible for perimeter defense suffered eight hundred and twenty-four casualties; Commander
When Lorist heard Shward report that the Blade Ridge Mountains' Ironforge weapons production base had also been searched — and that even Master Sid's darksteel refining base and weapons research institute, as well as Master Falin's crossbow manufacturing workshop, had been turned upside down by garrison soldiers accompanied by several Great Swordmasters, with numerous weapons and crossbow design blueprints stolen — he could no longer contain himself and kicked the desk in front of him crashing to the floor.
"Who — who gave them the order to dare search our family's most classified production bases?" Lorist's eyes burned red with uncontrollable fury.
"It — it was Steward Hanks. He ordered the garrison soldiers to lead the Great Swordmasters there. He said he had no choice — those Great Swordmasters had taken Lady Elina and the Second Young Master hostage, and he was forced to comply. He said that since Your Highness could not possibly be in the Blade Ridge Mountains, letting the Great Swordmasters search there in vain wouldn't matter...
Furthermore, he said the family spends one million to one and a half million gold fordes there every year, making it the biggest drain on the family's finances, and the accounts were unclear and kept secret. Going forward, the Blade Ridge Mountains would fall under the original family territory and be under the Eldest Young Master's jurisdiction. As steward, he absolutely could not allow such corrupt practices that bled the family dry, and he would personally audit those production bases' account books when time permitted.
It was when the Great Swordmasters discovered the artillery training base and the gunpowder laboratory that Lord Jim refused their search orders and clashed with them. After dozens of soldiers were killed and wounded, he drove off the Great Swordmasters and the garrison soldiers who had led them. This was what drew the Great Swordmasters' suspicion toward the artillery training base.
Three days later, fourteen Great Swordmasters attacked the artillery training base. Lord Jim had long since prepared defenses, ordering the bronze cannons positioned on the hilltops. The very first volley killed three Great Swordmasters and left four more gravely wounded. The remaining Great Swordmasters had no choice but to retreat with their wounded. But in the dead of night, they launched another surprise assault, breaking into the valley and going on a killing spree. With seven Great Swordmasters, there was simply no way to hold them off. In retaliation, they even sawed through the barrels of the bronze cannons..."
"Where are those Great Swordmasters now?" Lorist truly wanted to kill someone at this point, a suffocating rage building in his chest. This three-thousand-strong artillery battalion had been his trump card — held in reserve to deal with enemies who were similarly equipped with catapults and steel crossbows as long-range weapons. Every nation on the Galentea Continent was now pouring resources and enormous wealth into developing catapults, and the Norton family had been a step ahead, having already built bronze cannons. But Lorist had never imagined that a single mishap would decimate the artillery battalion he had painstakingly amassed...
"Your Highness, those Great Swordmasters left Northland back in May. Steward Hanks provided them with transit documents. There were seven men and three women in total, two of whom were wounded, and one who was likely so gravely injured that she did not survive. They also had over forty attendants. They departed Northland by ship from North Sea City, and the vessel they took was not one of our family's. All we know is that they headed south, and their current whereabouts are unknown," Shward answered.
Lorist stroked his chin. So it turned out that during the year he had spent recovering at the hunting lodge in Baron Diner's territory, not a single Great Swordmaster had come to check on him because they had all converged on Northland searching for his whereabouts.
"How many blueprints were lost from Master Sid's place?" Lorist asked.
"...blueprints, plus design plans for sixteen types of standard armor, and the blueprints for the standard crossbows newly equipped to the Hunter Cavalry Corps. Many more were weapon design blueprints that Master Sid had drawn up but which had already proven to be failures. In total, fifty-seven blueprints vanished. The only good news is that Master Ulian's material formula records were all preserved intact and not lost — presumably because whoever took the design blueprints couldn't understand them." At last, Shward had some good news for Lorist.
Lorist let out a sigh of relief. This was a blessing in disguise — he would far rather lose the design blueprints than have the material formulas fall into someone else's hands. Without the material formulas, even possessing all of Master Sid's wildly imaginative weapon and armor design blueprints, it would be exceedingly difficult to produce the same equipment. After all, every one of Master Sid's designs was developed based on materials that the Norton family could currently forge. Without those materials, the weapons and armor he designed would never achieve their intended performance.
"How are Cilvia and the others?" Lorist asked.
"Your Highness, the Madam, the four concubines, and both young masters are all well. They asked me to relay that you should not worry about them — handle the family's territorial affairs first. Madam Cilvia said they would spend the summer at Cherry Ridge Manor before returning to Angry Bear City," Shward replied.
Lorist nodded. "When I regained consciousness last year, I heard that Genorio and Master Hughes had lured the Great Swordmasters' attention by leading the guard unit back to Northland. Back then, Reidi and I were both worried about him. Why didn't he come with you to see me this time?"
"Master, Little Junior Brother is currently stationed at Cherry Ridge Manor, assisting me in investigating internal instability within the family and identifying all of Steward Hanks's accomplices. His duties are too demanding for him to come pay his respects. Please don't blame him, Master."
Lorist chuckled. "It's fine — you've all done well this time, and Genorio did an excellent job too. Why would I blame any of you? I heard that when you were at Angry Bear City, those Great Swordmasters once infiltrated the inner residence, and you took up a sword and held your own against one of them to a standstill. Is that true?"
Shward scratched his head sheepishly. "Master, I was actually the one who got the worst of it. I injured my right hand, which was why I had no choice but to drag Genorio over to help me write and review investigation reports. Who asked him to have such beautiful handwriting? I know my swordsmanship is only around Gold Two-Star rank at best. Being able to hold off a First-Rank Great Swordmaster was all thanks to your blessing.
That time, six Great Swordmasters came to probe the inner residence of Angry Bear City, wanting to see if there were any clues about Your Highness. Also, because Your Highness had already become a Sword Saint, they were extremely cautious in their probing and had no intention of harming anyone. At the time, besides Master Hughes, there were also Grandpa Ingerlick and Master Cindy — they were the ones who drove off those six Great Swordmasters."
This was one of Shward's virtues — he never shifted blame onto others, never claimed undeserved credit, and remained genuinely humble. Lorist thought for a moment and said, "Shward, now that the artillery training base has been hit hard — Paul Binns killed, Jim gravely wounded — the aftermath needs someone to clean it up. I want to appoint you as the commander of the artillery battalion to re-establish it. I'll have Master Sid replenish the damaged cannons, and you can select the cannon crew members yourself. What do you think?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Shward snapped to attention and saluted. "However, could the family's internal security affairs be handed over to Genorio?"
Lorist shook his head. "Genorio is still young, and his cultivation hasn't reached the necessary level. The family's internal security affairs are complex and demanding — handing them to him would delay his cultivation progress. Better to keep him at my side. Do you have anyone else to recommend?"
"Your Highness, I believe Criminal Director Baron Criston would be a very suitable candidate."
Lorist's interest was piqued. "Why do you say that?"
"Your Highness, I believe the family's internal security affairs are about weaving a web of vigilance across the family's territories, preventing and guarding against threats to the family's territorial safety. I came to deeply appreciate this after I took over internal security. Unfortunately, this time there wasn't enough time — Steward Hanks struck at exactly the right moment, because I had been on the verge of cleaning up and investigating the garrison forces and town defense units, but I was just one step too late. That was my fault.
Baron Criston is responsible for the patrol teams and criminal investigations across all the family's towns, so our work overlapped. He had warned me beforehand that many town garrison units harbored deep discrimination and bullying toward new immigrants — that this trend was deeply abnormal. But I didn't take his warning to heart, and disaster followed.
The patrol teams in the family's various towns are also an important component of internal security. Having Baron Criston handle only criminal work across the family's territories is something of a waste of his talents. Since Your Highness has asked me to recommend a suitable candidate, Baron Criston is the only one I can think of." Shward's expression was solemn — this was a decision he had arrived at only after careful deliberation.
"I understand. When I return to Angry Bear City, I will summon Baron Criston," Lorist said with equal gravity.
On the twenty-fifth day of the seventh month, Lorist arrived at Angry Bear City. The city gates were thrown wide open, and Lorist's cousin Chrissa, serving as the new commander of the First Imperial Guard Corps, led her subordinates in formation to salute Lorist. Subsequently, the Bedrock Legion disarmed the Imperial Guard regiment stationed at Angry Bear City and took them into custody, leaving only Chrissa to accompany Lorist to the central castle and the city lord's mansion.
She expressed strong protest against the soldiers being disarmed and detained.
"Should I perhaps also generously reward them — hand out gold coins, wine, and meat, and even give each of them a beautiful woman for their enjoyment? Reward them for opposing my authority as head of the Norton family? Chrissa, you are my cousin, and I'm glad you've emerged from the shadow of your feelings and are willing to serve the family. I'm also grateful for everything you did for Cilvia and the others, stopping a civil war within the family's territories. But there are circumstances you don't understand — what you think benefits the family actually causes even greater harm. I've been holding back my fury, because right now I really want to order every last rebel beheaded..."
"No! Locke, you can't do that. The soldiers were only following orders — they are loyal..." Chrissa cried out, unable to comprehend why Lorist was so furious.
Lorist shook his head with a bitter smile. "Chrissa, the soldiers of the Bedrock Legion, the Flying Tiger Legion, and the Hunter Cavalry Corps are loyal. The Imperial Guard soldiers only follow orders — whether they're truly loyal is another matter entirely. You should understand that almost all Imperial Guard soldiers were once our family's enemies and prisoners of war, conscripted only after years of forced labor. For them, this is essentially just a job that puts food on the table.
Because of our family's generous treatment of soldiers, they gradually develop attachment and loyalty during their service. Whether it's the Bedrock Legion, the Flying Tiger Legion, or the Hunter Cavalry Corps — if a legion commander disappeared, most of the mid- and senior-level officers were replaced, and then they received orders from someone else to march on the family's capital and prepare to attack — I guarantee you that if I didn't personally deliver that order, whoever gave it would die a miserable death. No one would believe them, and the soldiers would spontaneously arrest those rebels on their own.
But here, without the family's official mobilization seal and without anyone sent to explain, some random nobody off the street could use a supposed order from the missing commander to take control of the legion and replace all the mid- and senior-level officers. Rather than saying these soldiers were following orders, it's more accurate to say they had no brains at all. Didn't they think about how unreasonable this was? Knowing full well something was wrong, they still followed erroneous orders. Do you honestly think such soldiers are loyal to the family?"
Chrissa was rendered speechless. After a long pause, she asked, "Locke, then what will you do with the First Imperial Guard Corps soldiers?"
Lorist was silent for a moment. "They can't stay in Northland. I'll have them and their families relocated to the Pasture Plains — either they retire or their military status is downgraded and they're reassigned to a garrison legion."
...