Judging purely by appearance, Grand Duke Nikolas, president of the Mayflower Trading Company, was arguably the ugliest of all the trading company presidents. He had a long, horse-like face, tiny eyes that he habitually squinted when sizing people up, giving off an air of cold scheming and ill intent—like encountering a venomous serpent blocking a mountain path. No matter who you were, you'd instinctively tense up and stay on guard.
This was probably the main reason Grand Duke Nikolas kept losing to Grand Duke Comberland of the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company in every election for the Commercial Alliance's supreme governor. After all, Grand Duke Comberland had a dignified, righteous-looking face. Everyone who saw him felt he was someone you could open your heart to, someone trustworthy and worthy of admiration. Just on appearances alone, he was countless times more approachable than Grand Duke Nikolas. Nobody liked dealing with a venomous serpent.
But those who truly understood Grand Duke Nikolas knew he was a genuine genius, and his personality was nothing like his appearance. He was equally sincere and amiable to everyone—whether servant or noble, Grand Duke Nikolas treated all with the same respect, never differentiating based on status or rank. Among all the trading companies in the Commercial Alliance, the Mayflower Trading Company's people were the most loyal. Only by getting to know Grand Duke Nikolas could people truly overlook his appearance and be won over by his charisma.
Right now, Grand Duke Nikolas was leaning over a table studying a map, occasionally closing his eyes in thought. The
Captain of the Guard Cyrus quietly pushed the door open, carrying two letters. "Your Highness, these are battle reports from the Lindsayton Fortified City. The front-line situation is trending toward calm—the Norton Family seems to have abandoned the idea of taking the fortress, as they haven't used their cannons against it for three days. The other is a secret report from
"Oh?" Grand Duke Nikolas raised an eyebrow, took the two letters and examined them carefully. Then he walked to the map and pondered for a moment before widening his eyes. "Cyrus, activate the evacuation plan. We need departure preparations completed within three days."
Cyrus was taken aback. "Your Highness, the front lines are going well. Why do this?"
The evacuation plan meant abandoning their entire trading company territory in Feltonba Province. For the Mayflower Trading Company, this was an enormous and extremely costly contingency plan. Five years ago, the Mayflower Trading Company had traded the glass formula in their possession to Grand Duke Comberland in exchange for Feltonba Province as their trading company territory. Over these five years, they'd fought wars while developing the territory, investing vast sums of money and effort. They'd only just settled in and begun to see results—and now they had to give it all up. For the Mayflower Trading Company, this was an almost impossibly difficult decision to make.
"Are the front lines really going well?" Grand Duke Nikolas let out a cold laugh. "Go make the preparations. If we don't start now, I'm afraid the entire trading company won't be able to leave at all."
"Yes, Your Highness." Cyrus withdrew. He was the type of knight who would execute orders resolutely whether he understood them or not.
But soon, the Mayflower Trading Company's vice president, Count Abraham, arrived after hearing the news. "Big brother, what's going on? You sense the situation is turning bad?"
Grand Duke Nikolas nodded, his face showing exhaustion.
"But didn't Grand Duke Comberland tell us to hold for a month and a half, and then he'd bring his army to reinforce us? Besides, the situation at Lindsayton Fortified City is going well right now. The Norton Family's cannon fire has no effect on the fortress walls. We can easily establish a standoff with the Norton forces at Lindsayton and wait for reinforcements to arrive."
"Second brother, it's not that simple." Grand Duke Nikolas shook his head. "That old fox Comberland doesn't have good intentions. Think about it—he knew long ago that sandbags could withstand cannon fire, ever since they ransomed those Invincible Fleet sailors. But he only told us after our territory was attacked by the Norton forces. Right now, the hilly region has only Lindsayton Fortified City left as a defensive anchor. Once it falls, there's nothing but open terrain ahead of the Norton cavalry. They'll sweep right through, and our Mayflower Trading Company will be finished. We won't be able to leave even if we want to."
"But didn't Grand Duke Comberland say in his letter that even if Lindsayton falls, we can mobilize our settlers to dig trenches on the flatlands, set up sandbag emplacements, and build defensive positions to keep resisting? As long as we hold out until Grand Duke Comberland's reinforcements arrive, our trading company territory will be safe and sound—" Count Abraham said urgently. He had no desire to abandon the territory he'd finished developing—it was the fruit of five years of blood, sweat, and tears.
"Once Lindsayton falls, the Norton cavalry will pour down from the hills. On the flatlands, we simply cannot stop them. Our settlers have no military training, and hastily dug trenches and sandbag walls won't withstand a charge from a professional army. The Norton forces will sweep across the plains, and our people and property will suffer massive harm. So we'd be better off just leaving—let them fight it out to the death here, and we won't be part of the chaos."
"But big brother, Lindsayton Fortified City can't be that easy to take, can it? Hasn't it already withstood the Norton Family's cannon fire? We've all seen the terrain there—there's no way to take it except by direct assault. Didn't you say the Norton Family has never been willing to pay heavy casualties to capture enemy fortresses? Perhaps they'll think better of it and redirect their attack..." Count Abraham was still clinging to hope.
"Have you forgotten that Grand Duke Norton is a newly promoted Sword Saint?" Grand Duke Nikolas shook his head. "Lindsayton can withstand cannon fire with sandbags, but what can withstand a Sword Saint's charge? If Grand Duke Norton had stayed in Morant City, I'd be quite confident—the Norton forces' fierce attacks would just be a feint, nothing more than a plundering raid. But with Grand Duke Norton personally leading the army, I don't believe he's just here to loot some gold and silver."
"No... surely not..." Count Abraham's face was filled with shock. "Grand Duke Norton is a Sword Saint! How could he possibly take the field personally for an assault? If we asked the Storm Sword Saint, Master Maglut, to charge enemy formations or fortresses, he'd fly into a rage, saying we were insulting a Sword Saint. We might even suffer for it..."
"People are different, and Sword Saints are no exception." Grand Duke Nikolas chuckled. "Can the Storm Sword Saint be compared to Grand Duke Norton? His relationship with us is purely financial—we're just paying him to keep the kingdoms of the central south in check. Grand Duke Norton, on the other hand, fought his way up with his family's forces to earn his current achievements and position. If it weren't for him, the Andinak Kingdom would have been destroyed by our Commercial Alliance long ago. What can the Storm Sword Saint compare to him in?
The Commercial Alliance spent such a huge sum to have him tie down Grand Duke Norton—and what did he do? In their Sword Saint duel, both emerged without a scratch. He was clearly just going through the motions for us. The first time they fought, both were injured, but the second time—a formal duel—not even a broken skin between them. How is that possible? Only a fool like Comberland would let himself be extorted by the Storm Sword Saint, making him a territorial grand duke and letting him slip beyond our control.
Other Sword Saints might refuse to participate in battlefield assaults and close combat out of concern for their status and dignity, but Grand Duke Norton is different from the rest. He fought his way up from the bottom with his family's forces. When cannons fail to work, I'm certain he'll lead from the front personally to take Lindsayton. Ten years ago, perhaps the Commercial Alliance could have sacrificed dozens of Sword Saints and nearly a hundred Gold Swordsmen to set a trap and bring him down. But the Alliance can no longer afford such a price..."
Count Abraham rose to his feet, his expression pained. He understood now that Grand Duke Nikolas's decision on the evacuation plan was final. All the development plans in Feltonba Province had been the crystallization of five years of his effort and passion. To abandon them now truly broke his heart. But he had always trusted his big brother's keen instincts. If Nikolas said they had to evacuate, it meant he didn't believe the Commercial Alliance's army could withstand this Norton Family assault.
"Big brother, once the preparations are done, where will we evacuate to? And even if you save the Mayflower Corps, Grand Duke Comberland will still blame us for losing the territory. He'll strip us of command of the Mayflower Corps, and we'll end up like the Forde Trading Company, the Livord Trading Company, and the Vesia Trading Company—pinning all our hopes of reclaiming our territory on the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company..."
"You think we're going to the Two-Headed Dragon Trading Company's territory?" Grand Duke Nikolas stared at the map in a daze for a long while before answering. "We're not going to their territory. We're heading south—to those southern provinces. That's where the Mayflower Trading Company truly belongs."
"South?" Count Abraham was puzzled.
"Yes, south." Grand Duke Nikolas answered with certainty. "Remember the letter Grand Duke Chickted sent half a month ago? It said the Chickted Trading Company would declare independence from the Commercial Alliance before the end of the year, establishing the Chickted Kingdom. I initially thought Grand Duke Chickted wrote that letter to provoke the Commercial Alliance and show off in front of us. I even wondered why he sent it to us instead of directly to Grand Duke Comberland.
But considering this attack by the Norton Family forces on our territory, I finally understand why Grand Duke Chickted wrote to me. He was warning me to prepare early—extricate ourselves from this whirlpool and head south. The Chickted Trading Company is alone in the south; he needs allies. There are too many provinces down there for him to swallow on his own, so he hopes our trading company will also go south, break away from the Commercial Alliance, establish our own kingdom, and support each other..."
Count Abraham was nearly dumbstruck. "No way—from just that one thing in the letter, you've connected all these dots..."
Grand Duke Nikolas stood and pointed at the map. "It's simple. Once the evacuation preparations are complete, you'll first take our people to Kasiloda Province under the pretext of a scorched-earth strategy—that is, evacuate the women, children, and elderly away from the front lines to protect them from the Norton forces. If the Norton forces take Lindsayton and immediately advance on Tanarig Province and Seluniga Province, then their target is clearly these four provinces—to sever the Commercial Alliance's north-south connection. So we must leave Kasiloda Province immediately and head south. Once in the south, we can establish our own kingdom, send envoys to the Norton Family to negotiate peace and a ceasefire. I'm sure Grand Duke Norton will be only too happy to let our Mayflower Trading Company go."
"Can the southern provinces really hold off the Norton Family's forces?" Count Abraham asked.
"Of course," Grand Duke Nikolas replied. "The southern provinces are out of the Norton forces' reach. Grand Duke Norton has only one goal: the Commercial Alliance. Our breaking away from it would be wonderful news for him—it would further divide the Commercial Alliance, crush the morale of their armed forces, force them to sue for peace, and pin them down in one corner so they can no longer threaten the newly formed Free Alliance. So if we want to leave the Commercial Alliance, now is the perfect time. Heading south—it's the Mayflower Trading Company's best opportunity to establish an independent kingdom."
Count Abraham straightened up and bowed with a solemn expression. "I understand, big brother. I'll go prepare everything."
...
When
"Your Highness, we can't get past the road on the small stone hill up ahead. Lindsayton has deployed over a hundred catapults and more than a hundred garrison crossbow carriages behind its side wall on this approach. No matter which direction you take along the stone hill road, you're within Lindsayton's long-range attack range. The only way through is to accept massive casualties and force our way along the road to the fortress gate. But getting people through is useless—the gate area is equally a solid stone fortress, and infantry alone can't take it. Siege engines and cannons can't get through the road in front of the side wall either—the moment they appear on it, they'll come under fire from the fortress..."
Schwad gave Lorist a detailed briefing of the battlefield on the sand model. Lorist couldn't help but marvel at Lindsayton's formidable terrain and clever design. A mountain fortress like this was easy to defend and nearly impossible to attack—during the age of cold weapons, it was the very definition of an impregnable castle.
"Let me handle it." Lorist decided to personally assault the Lindsayton Fortified City. What seemed like an insurmountable natural barrier to the family soldiers was, in the eyes of a Sword Saint, no different from a town on flat ground. However, this decision was met with near-unanimous opposition from the family knights present. They didn't doubt Lorist's skill or ability—but as the Northland Grand Duke, the Norton Family head and Sword Saint personally taking the field to assault an enemy fortress made them, the Family Knights, feel deeply ashamed.
"Don't worry—I'm not going alone. Reidi, El, take a few agile knights with me and bring extra explosive charges. Once we're on the wall, we'll focus on destroying their long-range weapons. Meanwhile, Schwad will command the Powder Corps to push through the road on the small stone hill and reach the fortress gate. The sooner you take the gate, the safer we'll be. That's my decision. This is an order." Lorist said firmly.
...