"Your Highness, in October and November, the shipment volume of various daily necessities and goods produced across our family's territories has tripled compared to the previous two months. Perhaps it's because winter and the rainy season are approaching—the private shipowners from the southern seas know this will be their last purchasing run of the year, so the types of goods they're procuring have shifted toward high-end products and luxury items. In just these two months alone, our family's total revenue exceeded three million gold Forde.
On top of that, the four hundred thousand winter garments made from magical beast pelts sold out in
Manager Sper's face wore a broad smile, radiating pure happiness. He finally understood why
That was just the profit from commercial trade, but the greater benefit was the revitalization of the family territory's industry and commerce, which had been sluggish for the past two years. Every workshop and factory, spurred on by the enormous volume of merchandise orders waved about by the Norton family, was operating at near-full capacity. This in turn drove prosperity across all sectors of the family's territory. Manager Sper understood clearly that by year's end, the family's various income streams would see another significant jump.
Lorist had little to add. He simply instructed Manager Sper to strictly control the quality of goods—don't let one bad apple spoil the entire batch. At the same time, he called for a strict admission system for the workshops and factories that were rushing to set up operations in the family's territory due to the improving market, to prevent any single industry from becoming oversupplied, leading to cutthroat competition that would destroy the healthy development of the entire sector...
Manager Sper withdrew respectfully. Next was Admiral Sembawood of the Northern Sea Fleet, who had come to bid farewell. At year's end, the Northern Sea Fleet would escort a transport convoy of nearly a hundred ships to the Qigeda Kingdom to fulfill the supply agreement signed with the Mermaid Trading Company. They would return around April or May the following year, laden with specialty goods and raw materials from the southern continent. For the Norton family, this was essentially a commercial pioneering voyage.
Though the southern seas were calm, the rival Qikede Trading Company and various pirate bands still posed a considerable threat to the Northern Sea Fleet's transport convoy. This time, Sembawood would lead twelve thunderbolt warships to escort nearly a hundred large ocean-going merchant vessels to the Qigeda Kingdom. The round trip would take over two months—something of an adventure and a trial run, testing the Northern Sea Fleet's military dominance over the southern seas.
After Sembawood came
These were indeed two pieces of welcome news. Lorist now had quite the large family—three sons and three daughters were already recorded in the family registry, and that didn't even count the second son he'd had with Irina that was adopted by Cousin Krishia, or the son and daughter that the eldest Miss Aridori of the Dina Barony had borne him. The headstrong Aridori had given both of her children the Dina surname and entered them into the Dina family genealogy. It wasn't like Miss Teresti, whose two daughters bore Nico's surname but were still recorded in the Norton family registry. Still, Lorist could claim to have single-handedly reversed the Norton family's sparse lineage through his own efforts—a truly joyous occasion. For this, he specially opened two bottles of fine wine and celebrated with Fatty Shi.
Fatty Shi had come to report on the sale of farmsteads around Thomas City and Gypsy City. Thirty thousand households—nearly one hundred and forty thousand Morant residents—had obtained farmsteads in the vicinity of these two fortress cities through cash or credit. The cash portion alone—half the proceeds from selling these farmsteads—had brought the Morant City Autonomous Committee nearly two million gold Forde in revenue. Combined with the Norton family's loans, the committee was now truly flush with funds.
"...Currently, the faction led by Ledos within the Morant City Autonomous Committee is pushing to further strengthen the armed forces of the soon-to-be-established Free Alliance. They propose forming four additional Free Corps—two to be stationed in Morant City, and the other two dispatched to the Chrisdol Hills, with one garrisoned at Albany Port and the other organized as a light cavalry regiment responsible for patrol and watch duties across the Chrisdol Hills..."
"Hold on—aren't Ledos and his people being a bit too hasty?" Lorist asked. "Everyone knows Albany Port is nothing but ruins right now. Didn't Ross the Fierce Tiger just send a letter complaining the other day that they're still having to order soldiers to help the refugees at Albany Port build wooden shelters for the winter and reconstruct the docks so supply ships can dock? It's a ruin without even a city wall—do they really need to send an entire corps to garrison it?"
Once the Free Alliance was established and broke free from the Commercial Alliance's control, as soon as that news reached them, it would be like kicking a hornet's nest. The Commercial Alliance would very likely assemble a massive army to invade the Mana Hill Plains. They would absolutely not allow some Free Alliance to carve Morant City and the Mana Hill Plains out as an independent entity.
The Chrisdol Hills held no real strategic value for the Commercial Alliance. Once they took Morant City and the Mana Hill Plains, the Chrisdol Hills would naturally fall into the victor's lap. So compared to the Mana Hill Plains and Morant City, the Chrisdol Hills were actually the safest place. The committee's real scheme was to recall the Fort Pegasus Legion and position them on the Mana Hill Plains front line. That was their true reason for planning to replace the Fort Pegasus Legion's garrison with a newly formed corps of negligible combat strength.
Lorist shook his head. "Tell Ledos there's no need to rush into expanding the armed forces. In reality, even if the Commercial Alliance reacts after the Free Alliance is formed, they'll come after our family's forces—more precisely, they'll come after me. As long as I'm here, they won't attack the fortress cities on the Mana Hill Plains."
"Your Highness, you mean..." Fatty Shi was beginning to understand.
"The Storm Sword Saint." Lorist tapped the table surface. "Until that old coot recovers from his injuries and makes his comeback, the Commercial Alliance's forces won't dare act rashly. Only when he comes out and pins me down will the Commercial Alliance launch a full-scale assault on the Mana Hill Plains. I estimate it'll be around August next year before the Storm Sword Saint challenges me. Last time we took Morant City, that old coot fled too quickly—otherwise it wouldn't be so troublesome now."
With the withdrawal of the Andinak Kingdom's noble coalition forces, the seizure of several Mana Hill Plains fortress cities by the Free Corps, the Norton family's redeployment of forces, the Bastion Legion's return to the family territories, and the Fort Pegasus Legion's capture of the Chrisdol Hills—Lorist didn't believe the Commercial Alliance was oblivious to all these changes. He even suspected that everything happening in Morant City, including the plans to establish the Free Alliance, had already been discovered by the Commercial Alliance. Though the Commercial Alliance had foolishly sent several batches of spies to their deaths before, they still had deep roots in Morant City. After years of operation, if they limited themselves to passing along intelligence rather than pulling stunts, it would be easy enough.
If the Commercial Alliance had indeed learned the true situation in Morant City and learned of the plot by Lorist and the Morant City Autonomous Committee to establish the Free Alliance, then their continued inaction was worth deep consideration. After much deliberation, Lorist could only conclude that the Commercial Alliance was waiting for the Storm Sword Saint's return to neutralize the threat of himself, the newly ascended Sword Saint. Only then could the Commercial Alliance's forces launch their assault without hesitation, reclaiming the Mana Hill Plains and Morant City and strangling the Free Alliance in its cradle.
"I understand. The key to this war lies in Your Highness's duel with the Storm Sword Saint," Fatty Shi said.
"No, the duel between me and the Storm Sword Saint isn't important," Lorist said. "The key is the decisive battle between our family's forces and the Commercial Alliance's forces."
Lorist explained: "The Storm Sword Saint and I merely cancel out the deterrent force on both sides. The Commercial Alliance doesn't have to worry that I'll fly into a rage and assassinate their leadership, because I in turn have to worry about the Storm Sword Saint conducting similar operations against our own leadership. Under such circumstances, the Commercial Alliance's forces, with their advantage in high-tier combat power, can easily seize the initiative on the battlefield. Even if our family's forces are equipped with more formidable ranged weapons, facing the personal assaults of those Sword Saints and Golden Swordsmen, there's not much we can do..."
Fatty Shi understood what Lorist meant. If, when the Commercial Alliance launched a massive attack on the Mana Hill Plains, the Norton family's forces adopted the same deep-trench, thick-wall defensive strategy, they could withstand the assault of the main army—but they wouldn't be able to defend against squad-level raids and night attacks by Sword Saints and Golden Swordsmen dispatched by the Commercial Alliance. This was a unique high-tier combat tactic that the Glass War had taught the Commercial Alliance. And apart from the Commercial Alliance, no other country could replicate it, because they simply couldn't muster that many high-tier combatants.
"If we'd known, we shouldn't have let the Commercial Alliance ransom those Sword Saints and Golden Swordsmen," Fatty Shi said in frustration. The Norton family still had fewer than twenty Golden Knights. Aside from the original sixteen Golden Knights, only Parker and Pete had been promoted in the past two years, plus the female knight Krishia who had returned to the family. Then there was Princess Silvia, who was also at the two-star Golden rank in combat force, but no one would agree to let the family's matriarch don armor and ride to the battlefield. As for Sword Saints, only Sword Saint Reidi and Sword Saint Hughes were truly loyal to the family. Fatty Shi's grandfather-in-law Ingerik was just along for the ride, and Sword Saint Xianti was even more of an onlooker.
"This is a report submitted by Tager regarding the Commercial Alliance's armed forces." Lorist pulled a thick blue folder from his desk drawer and tossed it onto the table. "While we were busy, the Commercial Alliance wasn't idle either. While mustering their forces, they also eased relations with the nations of the central and southern continent, signing several agreements unfavorable to themselves. And once again they trotted out the old refrain about the threat of Northern unification to the central and southern nations, painting themselves as the last line of defense against Northern barbarian invasion. So in the Commercial Alliance's eyes, we're actually Northern barbarians—no wonder they'd rather die than negotiate peace with us..."
Fatty Shi chuckled. "Is it working?"
Lorist flipped through the report and pointed to a specific page. "Apparently, the Commercial Alliance has assigned the former Camot Duchy—annexed territory near the Titanini Mountains—to the reconstituted Vesiya Trading Company as their domain. The Camot Duchy possessed a small iron mine in the central-southern continent, and the terrain was mountainous with dense forests. According to covert investigations by our spies, there was evidence that the Vesiya Trading Company had established a new production base in one of the valleys. They were using the same water-powered machinery as our family to forge military weapons, and had purchased a large quantity of iron ingots from the Dwarven Kingdom..."
"Those despicable, shameless merchants—their water-powered machinery was all stolen from our family's territory!" Fatty Shi cursed angrily.
Back when Lorist and the Storm Sword Saint had both sustained devastating injuries, the Commercial Alliance had dispatched many Sword Saints to assassinate Lorist. They couldn't find Lorist, but they turned the Norton family's territories upside down.
"The Commercial Alliance is so eager to prop up the reconstituted Vesiya Trading Company because their goal is rearmament," Lorist said. "This shows that when the Commercial Alliance's forces launch their attack, it will be a decisive battle—one that determines who becomes the victor controlling the Mana Hill Plains and Morant City. If the Commercial Alliance loses, it means the Free Alliance will have established a firm foothold, and we'll need no longer fear the Commercial Alliance's threats. But if we lose, then all the effort we poured into Morant City, all the massive investments here, will be for nothing. We'll have to slink back to the Northlands with our tails between our legs."
"Your Highness, do you have confidence in this war?" Fatty Shi asked.
"I don't know either," Lorist said with a rueful smile. "When it comes to war, where does anyone ever have a hundred percent certainty? All we can do is try our best to seize every opportunity for victory. But I believe our Norton family's forces will not be defeated. Compared to the Commercial Alliance's high-tier combat assault tactics, we're not without our own countermeasures. When the time for the decisive battle comes, the Commercial Alliance is going to be in for quite the surprise."
...