No one would have thought that Northwild Town, with a population of less than thirty thousand, would collect nearly two hundred thousand gold Forde in advance payments alone. This not only covered the funding for rebuilding the entire town's residential district, but also provided ample funds for public service facilities such as the elementary school, public square, fountain, gardens, roads, drainage, and city wall defenses — leaving Steward Sperl overjoyed.
He had discovered that, since labor and building materials didn't require significant expenditure, nearly half the profits would flow into the family's coffers. If a single small town's redevelopment could earn the family over three hundred thousand gold Forde, then the fifteen towns across the Fengle and Xing'an Plains were expected to bring in over four and a half million gold Forde…
Steward Kedan, who oversaw all the town redevelopment across the family's territories, was far less optimistic. After conducting detailed investigations, he submitted a report to
Steward Kedan's investigation attributed the population growth to two factors. First, over the past decade, the peace within the family's territories had led to a significant rise in birth rates, with most families having two or three children. Second, the continuous establishment of workshops and factories across the family's holdings made it easy for young laborers from the surrounding villages to find work in the town. He recommended merging the thirteen villages previously under Northwild Town's jurisdiction into seven, and converting the freed-up farmland into small farmsteads modeled after the town's residential renovations, to be sold to the subjects.
The subjects of the Fengle Plains really did have money — Steward Sperl was right. The four-story apartment-style buildings with units of eighty to one hundred and twenty square meters, priced at only around twenty gold Forde each, saw surprisingly few buyers. Instead, the three-story pointed-roof houses with attics, a small garden in front, and a courtyard in back were in desperately short supply despite costing over sixty gold Forde each. There were only nine hundred and sixty units — two hundred and forty forming a small neighborhood, and four neighborhoods making up a larger community — and this community's properties sold out almost immediately.
Steward Kedan believed that in most towns across the Fengle Plains, families had members serving in the family's armed forces. The generous benefits, lavish rewards, and tax exemptions for their dependents meant their annual household income exceeded ten gold Forde, giving them considerable confidence when purchasing homes. Some even bought two properties, planning to use them when their children returned to get married. As for the wealthy subjects running workshops and businesses, they snapped up even the commercial district storefronts and the pricey plots in the upscale residential area.
Lorist accepted Steward Kedan's recommendation to merge the thirteen villages under Northwild Town into seven and convert the freed farmland into small farmsteads for sale, but rejected the proposal to upgrade Northwild Town to a city. On the Galentea Continent, a city designation required a population of at least fifty thousand, along with adequate public service facilities and a complete administrative apparatus. When the rebuilding of Northwild Town was completed in two years, its population would only be around thirty thousand, and Lorist did not foresee significant population growth in the following years — some residents might even migrate elsewhere.
The entire Northland was about to become the territory of the
Having dealt with administrative matters, Lorist rushed without pause to the eastern region of the Northland, where the newly formed Hunting Cavalry Legion was now stationed. The legion commander
Being able to build a sixty-thousand-strong Hunting Cavalry Legion within a single year and bring the First Regiment to combat readiness left Lorist quite satisfied. Currently, the Northland operated under a strict policy of allowing entry but no exit, meaning the Fisablen family could not learn that Lorist had assembled another light cavalry force. When the Flying Tiger Legion and Rock Legion launched their offensive against the Iblia Kingdom and the Fisablen family clashed with them in South Province and Winston Province, the Hunting Cavalry Legion would serve as a dagger thrust into the Fisablen family's rear — sweeping through Muyuan Province and pinning the Fisablen family's forces in East Wasteland Province and the Great and Little Jinchuan regions, seizing the initiative on the battlefield in one decisive stroke.
After departing from the Hunting Cavalry Legion, Lorist went to inspect the Flying Tiger Legion and Rock Legion, both of which had returned to the Northland. Having captured the imperial capital, the Flying Tiger Legion had fought across a thousand miles while the Rock Legion had executed a daring amphibious landing. Their military achievements and reputations were resplendent, and most importantly, their casualties had been remarkably light. Both legions were now resting and refitting upon their return, and next year's invasion of the Iblia Kingdom would see them once again serving as the family's main striking force.
All the family knights present were excited, except for
The Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion now had men but no catapults, which was precisely why Ovigis was in such a foul mood. He simply couldn't understand why Lorist would give away the Thunderbolt Catapults, even to allied families. These were the family's most devastating weapons — the march to the imperial capital had proven that. Every fortress and castle along the way had been unable to withstand the stone shot from the Thunderbolt Catapults, each one pounded into rubble. Without the catapults, who knew how many loyal family soldiers would have to sacrifice their lives to capture those heavily fortified strongholds.
Lorist gently patted Ovigis on the shoulder. "Haven't you noticed that your catapults were shooting shorter and shorter distances toward the end?"
Ovigis nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. I noticed that the stone shot, which could normally reach four hundred meters, only managed about three hundred meters by the time we reached the imperial capital to fight the Royal Guard Legion. I always assumed it was because the stone shot wasn't uniform enough."
Lorist shook his head. "No, the problem is with the catapults themselves. Their launching mechanism relies on spring steel plates, and spring steel has a fatigue limit. After testing, Master Julian's refined spring steel plates will deform and twist after approximately one thousand firings. The deformation is usually invisible to the naked eye — you can only see it once you disassemble the mechanism. Once the spring steel plates deform, the catapult's range will keep shrinking, and the only remedy is to replace the plates.
Your Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion traveled a thousand miles on this campaign and performed magnificently. These catapults need inspection and maintenance after such a long expedition, but Baron Kamora of the Military Logistics Division argued that maintenance would cost more than simply replacing them with new ones. He suggested giving the old catapults away as goodwill gestures — after all, those three allied families had long been requesting that our family supply them with these weapons. Turning them over before they reach the end of their service life, in exchange for funds and goodwill, is the best possible use for these Thunderbolt Catapults. So I accepted Baron Kamora's recommendation.
Go see Baron Kamora — he's already prepared five hundred brand-new catapults for you. However, next year when we attack the Iblia Kingdom, after achieving our objectives, your Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion will mostly be serving in a defensive capacity for the bulk of the time. And even after the campaign ends, your catapults will have to remain with the Guard Battalion responsible for garrison duty."
"Then will we be getting another batch of new ones?" Ovigis asked hopefully.
"No, I'll be giving you something far superior to catapults. But mastering those weapons will require tremendous effort and hard work on your part — they're not something you can pick up easily. It'll take extensive training and practice. But I guarantee that once you see their power, you won't be able to put them down."
What Lorist was referring to were the bronze cannons intended for land use. He had originally wanted to equip all the legions with them immediately. However, he discovered that equipping the family's armed forces with bronze cannons was somewhat cost-prohibitive — the expense was simply too high. Every shot fired was money burning away! Moreover, the Thunderbolt Catapults currently in the family's arsenal were already the most advanced projectile weapons on the continent. Unlike cannons, which cost several large silver coins per shot, catapults could use stones gathered on-site — nobody treated those rocks as precious commodities.
Some time ago, Master Hiede, Master Falin, and Master Julian had received their letters of ennoblement and were so moved they could have wept. As if injected with adrenaline, they had thrown their entire beings into innovation and production. They then submitted a report to Lorist, stating they had discovered a new bronze alloy that, if used to manufacture cannons, could reduce costs by a third while potentially improving performance. They were currently in the midst of intensive trial production, and once successful, it would mean that the resources needed for two bronze cannons could now produce three.
In truth, the cost of bronze cannons themselves wasn't particularly exorbitant — it was the gunpowder and projectiles they fired that were incomparably more expensive than the stone shot used by catapults. Lorist's most pressing hope was that gunpowder costs could be drastically reduced, but this remained a pipedream. Professor Bob in the gunpowder laboratory still hadn't found a substitute for saltpeter and could only rely on accumulated manure to slowly collect crude saltpeter for purification, keeping gunpowder prices prohibitively high.
The new bronze alloy discovered by Master Hiede and Master Julian caught Lorist's attention for only one reason — not the reduced cost of bronze cannons, but the reduced weight. This made it feasible to mount them on war chariots for rapid movement and deployment on land. Lorist was certain that once Ovigis saw the cannons, he would forget all about the Thunderbolt Catapults and wouldn't cling to them the way he did now.
Eager to go see Baron Kamora and collect the new catapults, Ovigis saluted Lorist with a knight's gesture and hurried toward the tent's entrance. But then he seemed to remember something and came back. "Your Highness, I'm not sure whether the legion commander already reported this to you… I don't know if I should bring it up…"
"What is it? Go ahead."
"When the legion was still at the imperial capital, His Majesty asked the legion commander for some Thunderbolt Catapults. After the legion commander firmly refused, His Majesty brought several scholars and craftsmen to my camp and had them sketch the catapults' design and structure. Since he was His Majesty, I couldn't very well stop him. But afterward, the legion commander chewed me out, saying I shouldn't have let them into the camp. But he was His Majesty — I didn't dare refuse. I subsequently requested punishment and submitted a report, but I'm not sure whether the legion commander passed it along to you. It's been so many days and I still haven't received any punishment…"
Lorist laughed. Ross the Fierce Tiger had actually reported this matter to him, though he hadn't forwarded Ovigis's report — presumably to shield him. But Lorist didn't particularly care about the matter. When he had ordered Ovigis's Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion to deploy, he had accepted the risk of intelligence leakage. This world was not short of clever people; some could reverse-engineer the principles behind something new just by looking at it. It was like a magic trick — mysterious before it was revealed, but worthless once the secret was exposed.
Ovigis had been a bandit before, but before that, he had been a deserter — and before that, a squad leader in the former Krisen Empire's army. He harbored an innate reverence for the royal family. When the
"I see. Even if they've drawn the diagrams, they won't be able to build catapults like ours, because they can't get their hands on spring steel plates — and even if they could, they wouldn't be able to replicate them. This time I'll forgive you, Ovigis, but I don't want to hear about a repeat. Don't forget that you are a knight of the Norton Family. You needn't obey anyone's orders unless they come from your direct superior — not even if that person is the king himself. I entrusted the Thunderbolt Catapult Battalion to you because of your loyalty, courage, and diligence — not because of your timidity and caution…" Lorist said evenly.
Ovigis's face flushed crimson. He snapped to attention with a sharp click. "Your Highness, there will never be a next time. I give you my word."
"Good. Remember your promise. Now go see Baron Kamora."
After sending Ovigis away, Lorist felt somewhat vexed. That Second Prince was truly shameless — personally investigating his family's most powerful weapon, the catapults. Even if he couldn't build catapults like theirs, the underlying principles weren't hard to grasp, and Lorist was sure that knockoff versions would appear before long. The era of both sides in a battle hurling stones at each other was about to begin.
He had just sat down and taken two sips of the fragrant tea Schward had brewed when Tager appeared before him like a gust of wind. "Your Highness, it's bad — Lord Reidi is being pursued!"
Lorist looked up sharply. "What did you say? Reidi was traveling through the Four Central Duchies. His next destination should have been
"Er, well…" Tager said. "Your Highness, when Lord Reidi set out on his journey, it happened to coincide with the family's preparations to establish an intelligence network in the Four Central Duchies. So I asked Lord Reidi to do us a small favor — clear out a few local pests. In the Handra Duchy, when Lord Reidi made his move, he ran into an envoy dispatched by the Grand Duke of Fisablen. The envoy recognized Lord Reidi and identified him as a spy sent by our family. Lord Reidi killed the envoy in a rage.
He's now wanted across all four central duchies. Lord Reidi killed several of their Gold Knights, so the four duchies dispatched two first-rank Great Swordmasters, and the Grand Duke of Fisablen sent Great Swordmaster Xianti to avenge the envoy. Our intelligence operatives in the Four Central Duchies are completely unable to help Lord Reidi and can't intervene. All we know is that his last known trace was disappearing into the White Egret Lake marshlands…"
"Great Swordmaster Xianti? Hmph!" Lorist surged to his feet, fury blazing in his eyes. "Saddle my horse. I'm going to find Reidi!"
…(To be continued.)