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Princess Sylvia

Hi guys! Here's the first regular chapter of the week. I apologize for not being able to fulfill the promise of 1 sponsored chapter last week; my studies turned out to take longer than I expected.

After releasing regulars for this week (sponsors if I really can find the time), I am considering taking one to two weeks off translating to focus entirely on my tests, so I hope that I have your blessing! However, if time allows, I will also release some surprise chapters if I can to keep you guys from your TRL-reading withdrawals (no promises though ><)!

Soon after, Count Kenmays came to visit again and from the size of his escort, it could be inferred that he was planning to spend winter at Gildusk City, Duke Loggins's dominion.

"Lord Baron Norton, this time, I have received the order of our king to invite you to Gildusk City to attend the new year's celebration and matters relating to marriage..." said Count Kenmays in a formal tone.

Given that Lorist had not bothered to pay the Second Prince a visit yet, his title of a count was not recognized and the Second Prince still considered Lorist to be a baron. Additionally, even though the Norton Family's dominion was technically within the area of the Iblia Kingdom, Lorist had accepted the title from the Andinaq Royal Family.

Lorist's hand shook and he almost spilled the macks in his cup onto the table before him. Just a few days back, he had blessed the marriage of Lundmorde and his seven wives. But now, Count Kenmays was going to talk to him about that again, causing him to wonder if karma is here to bite back at him.

"Come and have some hot drinks, my friend. Tell me, what's our king up to this time? For him to have a count to come talk to me of matters relating to marriage... It seems that the family of the bride is quite influential," Lorist said as he invited Count Kenmays to try the macks he had just made.

"Even though I know this messenger duty will be a pain in the butt, I have no choice but to carry it out. The Second Prince has written me a personal letter and it's a pretty long one at that," complained the count as he relaxed himself by pacing about.

"Aren't you gonna address him as 'His Majesty the King'?" Lorist said as he snickered.

With a smug tone, Count Kenmays said, "Does he behave like one to be deserved to be called that? Ptooey! Definitely not!"

"I don't understand why the Second Prince bothered to write you a letter just to have you come over here... Instead of being so roundabout, couldn't he have just written me a personal letter?" Lorist said, annoyed.

"That's because he has his pride, you know. You've already refused his invitations a number of times, even though most of those invitations were also made through me... Now that the Second Prince has such a strong army, his arrogance has gone through the roof. If you had refused his personal messenger outright, how would he be able to step down from the humiliation? Apart from punishing you with his soldiers, he has no other way to save his face.

"Quite a number of other nobles within the Northlands can't wait for you to start fighting against the Second Prince so that both of you will end up crippled. That would be the ideal outcome for them. The might the Norton Family had shown two years back made quite a deep impression in their hearts. To those nobles, they can't wait for the hungry wolf that was the Second Prince to fight against the Family of the Raging Bear and wear each other out."

Pausing to take a sip of macks, Count Kenmays continued. "The Second Prince understands that as well and even though he has an army of 56000 troops, if he can't make your family submit to him, the other nobles will remain loyal to him only on the surface. Even the taxation orders he issued recently was resisted by those nobles, some publicly with most others doing so behind his back. Even so, the Second Prince still wouldn't dare to antagonize your family which is famed for having defeated the duke in one fell swoop.

"The reason he wanted me to pass his message to you on his behalf was because he knew that the relationship between our two families decent. He wants me to encourage you to at least visit him once at Gildusk City so that he doesn't have to lose face over this issue. The other reason was because he wanted to check on my family's might. I'm sure the rumor of my family's formation of a 30000-strong force has already reached his ears. That's why his messenger was accompanied by many other attendants who snuck around in my army camps and even gathered information in the taverns. Did he think I wouldn't notice?

"You wouldn't even be able to imagine the expression of the Second Prince's messenger when I told him straight up that my family formed the force to defend against unpredictable mountain barbarian skirmishes. Hehe, it's still funny now that I think about it," said Count Kenmays triumphantly.

"Haha, every noble in the Northlands know that you have good relations with the barbarians. Your trade with them and have exclusive monopoly on the goods the barbarians produce, causing many merchants to be incredibly jealous. Nobody would believe that the barbarians were the reason for the formation of your army," Lorist said as he shook his head in laughter.

"It's their problem whether they believe it or not. That will be the official reason used by my family anyways. Also, here's the letter the Second Prince wrote to me. Read it yourself," said the count as he brought out a thick bunch of beastskins and handed it to Lorist.

In the letter, the Second Prince expressed his greetings to Count Kenmays as well as his feelings of apology towards the Norton Family after he recounted the death of their First Young Master, who was Lorist's elder brother, Gold ranked knight Abelyde, who had so valiantly fought and died for the Second Prince. He sincerely requested Count Kenmays to invite the current head of the Norton Family, Baron Norton Lorist, to attend the new year's celebration he would be holding at Gildusk City. He added that he heard that Lorist was single and that he would be willing to introduce Princess Sylvia to Lorist and encourage them to form union in marriage.

"Huh? Who's this Princess Sylvia? I thought the Second Prince only had three illegitimate daughters who are not of marriageable age yet," Lorist said curiously.

"Tsk tsk tsk..." Count Kenmays clicked his tongue. "The Second Prince has truly went out of his way to make a huge offer for your family's sake and even put Princess Sylvia on the table! To be honest, Locke, you really should head out and see the world instead of staying cooped up in your dominion, ignorant of all else that is going on like a little bug in a small corner.

"Princess Sylvia is one of the most prominent roses of our Iblia Kingdom and is even known as the brilliant pearl of the grasslands," Count Kenmays said grandiloquently.

"Never heard of her," Lorist said.

"You..." Count Kenmays was speechless as he turned to Lorist and stared at him. "As expected of a bug. Do you know who Duke Fisablen is?"

"I do," Lorist said as he nodded honestly.

"Duke Fisablen has 3 sons and 1 daughter. That daughter of his is the beautiful queen of our Iblia Kingdom and is also the Second Prince's wife. Duke Fisablen's eldest son passed away at a young age, leaving behind his only daughter, Princess Sylvia. She is the beloved granddaughter of the duke and is the only niece of our queen and was given the title of a princess by the Second Prince. Do you understand now?" Count Kenmays said angrily as he schooled Lorist about the princess.

"Gosh, why are you so agitated?" Lorist asked in confusion.

"You wouldn't understand... Princess Sylvia is the goddess that holds an absolute place in my heart. With the incredible beauty and impeccable bearing she showed during the time I was fortunate enough to see her at Windbury City, she has made a lasting impression in my heart and I always find myself missing that mysterious, forlorn smile she showed at that time, as well as her enchanting, emerald-green eyes," Count Kenmays described.

"And then you proceeded to expel your desire and lust for her onto the noble ladies you met with in secret, right?" Lorist interjected.

"You..." Count Kenmays was struck speechless yet again.

"Since you're still single, I'm sure that you can afford to ask for Princess Sylvia's hand in marriage given your family's influence," Lorist said nonchalantly before he took another sip of macks.

"Sigh, you wouldn't know..." Count Kenmays said, crestfallen. "That time I met her was already four years ago. Back then, she was only 16 and was already one of the most beautiful women I've seen my whole life. A family with a merchant background like mine definitely wouldn't impress her one bit. She is the glowing pearl of Duke Fisablen and according to some of the rumors told by the princess's handmaidens, the princess had always wanted to be wedded to a peerless hero since long ago. Do you know why so many young knights were willing to follow the Second Prince to the battlefield? They wanted to rack up some achievements there so they can gain the favor of the princess."

"Oh, so there's something like that going on, huh..." Lorist said, before he suddenly thought of something. "I thought the Second Prince was a person who was too lustful for his own good. How could he bear to not touch a person as beautiful as Princess Sylvia?"

Count Kenmays looked around the study to make sure there wasn't anyone else near by. Even though he ascertained that only Lorist was within the room with him, the count still lowered his voice as he said, "The Second Prince doesn't dare. It's no secret that his relationship with our queen is not that good and the both of them have various affairs of their own. However, if he ever dares to stain Princess Sylvia with his filth, then it will be the end of him as Duke Fisablen will definitely not forgive him.

"Let me tell you something. The Second Prince and the queen have never really bothered with one another and they both lead their own private lives. The Second Prince has three illegitimate children while the queen has given birth to two children, both of whom are not the Second Prince's offspring, and they are being raised by the knight families of the duke himself. There was once when the Second Prince went to the duke to request for aid against Duke Melein who had crippled his forces badly. In the end, he was locked up together with the queen and Duke Fisablen didn't let either of them out until the queen had gotten pregnant with a successor.

"You must understand how painful it must be for them to be forced to have intercourse despite their hatred for one another. Even so, the duke steeled his heart for the sake of the continuation of the royal bloodline Iblia Kingdom and even provided some sexual stimulants for them. This was also the reason the duke lent the Second Prince his three Frontier Legion units to the Second Prince to fight against the Madras Duchy.

"Just last year, the queen gave birth to a boy who is destined to be the successor of the Iblia Kingdom in the future., However, that child is neglected by both the Second Prince and the queen and was only brought up by his nursemaid. It was like the Second Prince and the queen had fulfilled their duty by giving birth to him and left him to fend for himself. Right now, the one in charge of raising the child is Princess Sylvia."

"Hehe, nobles truly are a confusing bunch!" Lorist exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Count Kenmays said before he scratched his head in thought, only to slightly comprehend the meaning of Lorist's statement.

"Don't forget that you're part of that bunch as well," Count Kenmays said in annoyance.

"I'm different from you lot. I'm a proper landed noble and my family has hundreds of years of tradition and virtues which we hold very highly," boasted Lorist.

"Tch, don't think that I don't know that you have something going with that scholar Miss Telesti. I could tell from a glance by the way you looked at each other," Count Kenmays said as he exposed Lorist's affair and dispelled his claims of virtue.

Pointing at the Second Prince's letter, Count Kenmays said, "Well, you should at least give me some face this time around and pay a visit to Gildusk City, even if it's only for the sake of meeting Princess Sylvia. The Second Prince said that he would encourage the union of the both of you. If you can pick this rose for yourself, you'll definitely profit big time and have Duke Fisablen at your back. That way, the Second Prince will really cease to be a threat to you."

"I won't go," refused Lorist flatly as he thought, hmph, with my power and might, why would I need Duke Fisablen's support? He's looking down on my family a little too much.

"My friend, can you at least tell me the reason for your refusal? After all, the Second Prince did invite you sincerely for a number of times already. It'll be a little too much to refuse without a good reason, right?" Cout Kenmays said as he couldn't figure out what Lorist was thinking.

"If you're worried about the two Blademasters by his side, you don't have to. The Second Prince only wants to use his Blademasters to teach your Gold ranked knight subordinates a lesson using 'educating' them in battle as an excuse. However, they won't go too far since the Second Prince only wants to show off the superiority of his Blademasters to suppress the ambitions of the other nobles by reminding them he that has the might to keep them under control.

"In my case, I didn't bring any of my knights there, so the Second Prince couldn't use that as an excuse to teach me a lesson. Naturally, you would want to bring some of your Gold ranked knights with you for safety, so you just have to endure it for a bit while you're there. With me there watching over you, you have nothing to worry about. I promise that you won't regret this trip. Even if you don't kick it off with Princess Sylvia, I can still introduce you to many beautiful and great noble ladies. Even though they're far from Princess Sylvia's level, they are cute and gentle all the same and are very adept at soothing your mental scars by spending a sensual time with you through the cold, lonely night," said Count Kenmays with a teasing and magnetic tone in his attempt to entice Lorist to go to Gildusk City with him.

Laughing out, Lorist said, "My friend, thank you for your kind intentions. However, I have my own reasons for refusing your offer. Perhaps you are unaware of it, but while you spend your time enjoying magnificent wine with those fine noble ladies as you witness the beautiful snowflakes fall from the sky with music playing in the background, I will be bringing my knights with me at great risk to fight for our lives within the wilderness of my family dominion..."

Seeing the count's surprised look, Lorist continued. "My friend, where do you think the 1 million kilograms of magical bull meat came from? You should ask your barbarian friends about the magical beast wave, they should know about it. Every winter, there are almost 1 million magical beasts that come from the wilderness into my dominion to lay our yearly farming efforts to waste. That is why we were willing to trade metal armor with you for huge amounts of food."

"Magical beast wave? I think I've read about it from some book before," Count Kenmays said. "I think I read a journal written by someone who traveled around the Northlands before. That book described that during winter, huge numbers of magical beasts from the wilderness would travel to the wildlands of the Northlands, causing the people there much fear and grief. Our family however has never noticed such a phenomenon during our time in the Northlands, so I thought that it was just something the writer of that journal made up. So, the magical beast wave only passes through your family's dominion and not the whole of the Northlands..."

"That's right. For two years back to back, my family forces have been busy fighting against the magical beasts in the wildlands for domination and this year won't be any different. I will have to leave in another 20 plus days, so, I hope that you understand that I have no choice but to refuse your offer. As the dominion lord, I can't stand back and party when my soldiers are out there fighting against those ferocities. I must stand there at the frontlines with them so that my forces will have the courage and morale they require to hold on," Lorist said with a solemn expression.

"Your family forces must suffer quite a huge casualty yearly, right? Should I skip out on the celebration as well and see the beasts for myself then?" Count Kenmays said after he gave it some thought.

"While I appreciate your kind intentions, it's best if you forget it. It's nothing but a barren wasteland with us having nothing but dried rations to eat and icy-cold water to drink, not to mention the freezing weather. In the darkness also lurks countless other magical beasts and you'll never be able to imagine how it feels to be chased by tens of thousands of those red-eyed magical bulls as well as the sight of those 6-meter-tall mammoths that crumble our formations. Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine! However, I have no choice. This is the dominion of my family, and, by extension, the territory of humankind. The Norton Family will not allow the beasts to roam free within our lands!" Lorist proclaimed.

"It's especially tough because we can eat nothing but dried preserve food. The moment we light campfires to cook meat, we will attract the carnivorous magical beasts like the magical wolves and panthers, causing us to be unable to sleep well at night! Winter is definitely not a good time for the people of our dominion!"

Count Kenmays lost all interest in going along all of a sudden. While he personally didn't mind the cold, not being able to eat and sleep well was something he would never be willing to subject himself to at any cost. He then said, "I guess it's better for me to go to Gildusk City and enjoy some fine food, wine and music. That kind of lifestyle definitely suits me better..."

Lorist laughed out as he said, "No worries my friend, this is but the burden the Norton Family has to bear. Back then, our ancestor pledged to protect the borders of the empire. Naturally, as his descendant, I must carry out my responsibilities according to that pledge. That is the ultimate calling of our family which we will not abandon. As your friend, I only hope that you can remember that I am engaging in bloody fights against the magical beasts while you enjoy your time during winter. That much is enough for me."

"No worries, my friend, I will definitely spread the heroic tale of the Norton Family to the rest of the world so that they don't forget the contributions your family has made to protect the borders of the empire," Count Kenmays said as he thumped on his chest to reassure Lorist.

Chapter 185 Count Kenmays's Letter Prev ChapterNext Chapter

Hey guys. This was supposed to be last week's second regular chapter, but I was unable to complete editing it in time, hence the delay. Also, a small announcement: as I have mentioned before, I will be taking a 2 week plus break and will be back earliest by the 25th of May so that I can focus fully on my exams. I know it'll be difficult to go 2 weeks without chapters, that added to the decreased release frequency lately, but I still ask for your understanding regardless.

That aside, when I return, while it might take 1 or 2 weeks for me to get back up to speed, I believe I'll be able to get back to the former 6 chapter a week (2 regular 4 sponsored) like before, so look forward to it!

For those who are taking tests as well, good luck!

"Those magical bulls lowered their heads and stared with their glowing red eyes as they roared and rushed over with crazed frenzy with a cold glint emanating from their horns, furiously ramming against the mud walls reinforced by ice. The ice cracked all over as a result and the mud walls started to shake, but the soldiers desperately stabbed towards the crazed bulls from the walls with their pikes. For every bull that fell, many more rushed over. From a higher vantage point, one can only see nothing but bulls, constantly rushing over. The way they covered the wide expanse of land gave off a feeling of pressure and despair..."

Count Kenmays paused to take a sip of amber-colored fruit wine before he continued to tell the others present about his imagining of the scene of the Norton Family soldiers battling against the hordes of magical beasts. Next to him listening to his story were tens of elaborately dressed noble ladies who were completely absorbed in the count's tale.

"One particularly huge magical bull rammed harshly onto the tough face of a shield, causing it to rupture into pieces with the shield-bearing soldier being knocked flying into the air. By the time he landed, he had already lost consciousness and fainted. Beside him, a few other soldiers managed to stop the bull's charge using their pikes to stab at it. However, with a twist of its body, the bull shattered the pikes with relative ease. It was at that moment when a horn signal was blown, causing the soldiers to breathe a sigh of relief. This was the signal to retreat to the second line of defense, which prompted some soldiers to fend of the remaining bulls as their injured comrades made their way up another tall stone wall.

"This stone wall was far larger and tougher than the wall at the first line of defense and many ballistas were also installed on this wall. After the order to fire was given, bolt after bolt as long as pikes were fired, causing the bulls at the front to fall, much to the soldiers' delight. But at that moment, another loud roar resounded from the distance and out came several gigantic animals around 6 meters tall from the snowstorm. Each of them had thick fur and two large, curved tusks sprouting from either side of their mouths as well as a long and strong trunk. With each step they took, they left a deep imprint onto the snowy ground."

Currently, the count was at the duke's mansion at Gildusk City which had been taken by the Second Prince to be used as his own residence.

It was the last day of Year 1770 on the Grindian Calendar. The Second Prince and his queen were receiving the coming of the new year with the other nobles of the Iblia Kingdom by having a grand celebratory banquet.

While the weather outside was harsh and cold, it was nothing but warm and comfort within the mansion as the various fireplaces and steam pipes within the walls continuously gave off heat to keep the temperature from plummeting. Elegantly dressed noblemen and noblewomen could be seen all over the mansion, with some of them talking in low voices in smaller groups and others trying hard to expand their network of acquaintances as they awaited the chime of the clock that signified the coming of the new year.

It was at this time that Count Kenmays fulfilled his promise with Lorist to spread the heroic tale of the resistance of the Norton Family soldiers against the magical beast wave to his audience who comprised mostly of beautiful noble ladies.

"These great magical mammoths continued their charge despite the fact that there were countless ballista bolts buried deep within their skin. When they neared the walls, they flung their trunks around furiously and smashed against the ballistas, causing the soldiers operating them to be tossed into the air. The formation had completely collapsed and the soldiers could only fend for themselves by running all over the place in panic while the magical mammoths easily caught up with them and stomped at them with their feet, turning the unfortunate soldiers into flattened meat pies on the white, snowy ground."

"That's horrible..." muttered one of the ladies who was huddled up and shivering with a few other noblewomen.

At that moment, a voice rang out from behind the count. "My dear Count Kenmays, what tall tale are you telling now to frighten these beautiful ladies?"

Count Kenmays hurriedly stood up and put down the silver cup he held and bowed respectfully. "Greetings to Your Majesty, the king and his beautiful queen, as well as the goddess which will always have a place in my heart, Princess Sylvia. Your humble servant pays his respects."

The noblewomen who were listening to the count's story also hurriedly made their greetings one after another.

The Second Prince revealed a gentle smile and hurriedly asked them to drop the formalities while the queen merely kept her mouth shut and nodded coldly towards them. Princess Sylvia who stood behind the queen smiled as she curtsied to return their greetings.

"I seem to have heard you describe a huge battle just now. What epic poem might that be from, Lord Count?" asked the Second Prince casually.

"Oh, no, my king. What I was describing was not from a poem at all. It's a true story. As I enjoy this peaceful night with these beautiful ladies here, the soldiers of the Norton Family are engaging in a bloody battle within their dominion against the magical beast wave," replied Count Kenmays.

"Magical beast wave? The Norton Family? Can you tell me more about this?" asked the Second Prince as he narrowed his eyes with scorn.

The queen then interjected. "Are you referring to that Baron Norton who has refused the kind invitations of the king for a few times? It's as if he doesn't even have any respect for our king..."

The Second Prince's face twitched as he laughed awkwardly and said, "If his dominion is truly facing a wave of magical beasts, then I suppose he has no choice but to refuse my invitation. I believe that when his dominion calms down, Baron Norton will definitely come forward to me to pay his respects. Isn't that so, Count Kenmays?" As he asked that question, he glared at the queen furiously. The queen on the other hand merely humphed and turned her face towards the roof without even caring about the Second Prince's glare.

"Naturally, my exalted king. Baron Norton expresses his regrets for being unable to attend the celebratory feasts of the past few years as well. During every winter, his dominion will be assailed by the magical beast wave and he has no choice but to remain there to keep things together. It was definitely not his intention to neglect Your Majesty's invitation.

"Personally, I've read about the magical beast wave from a book titled 'The Northlands Journal' written by Count Fogland. According to him, the magical beasts travel from the mountainous wastelands to the wildlands of the Northlands every winter. However, since I didn't witness this for myself when I moved to the Northlands, I believed that this phenomenon no longer occurred.

"It was only recently that I found that it was because of the Norton Family's resistance against the magical beasts that they didn't spread to the rest of the Northlands. I've asked a few older Northlanders and they said that the magical beasts that the Norton Family face number up to one million," Count Kenmays said as he improvised to make his words sound more convincing.

"I see... My Lord Count, please greet Baron Norton and his soldiers on my behalf and tell them of the respect I have for them for facing off against the magical beast wave. It's about time now and I should head to the main hall for the countdown to the new year. I hope the rest of you beautiful ladies will have a pleasant night. We'll take our leave now, see you during the ball," said the Second Prince politely towards the others.

However, Princess Sylvia stepped forward and asked, "Lord Count Kenmays, can I make a request of you?"

"Why, naturally, princess. Your will is my command. As long as it is within my capabilities, I will definitely fulfill your request," Count Kenmays said as he bowed deeply while the other noblewomen looked at the princess curiously.

With a slight blush on her face, Princess Sylvia said, "It's like this... Even though I just heard about those bloody battles between the Norton soldiers and the beasts, I've never actually seen a magical beast myself and don't know how they look like. If it's possible, can you write a letter to Baron Norton and have him send over a few magical beast carcasses to satisfy my curiosity? I understand that the beasts are the spoils of battle for the Norton Family, so I'm willing to offer 100 gold Fordes to them as reparation for the beasts. I wonder if this is too much to ask..."

"Oh, it's definitely fine, my goddess. Beloved princess, your request is but a small task for me to accomplish. I believe that Baron Norton will also be happy to comply and send a few beasts over as your new year's gift. Please rest assured, I will send my messenger there first thing tomorrow morning to fulfill your request," promised the count.

"Thank you for your trouble, Lord Count. I will take my leave now," Princess Sylvia said before she curtsied and left.

"We should head to the main hall as well. The clock is about to ring at midnight," Count Kenmays said to the other beautiful ladies there.

"Shouldn't you be following that goddess of yours? Why are you mingling with mere mortals like us?" mused a voluptuous lady unhappily. It was apparent from her expression that she was a little jealous of the attention the count showed Princess Sylvia.

Count Kenmays held that woman by her waist as he smiled and said, "Goddesses are only to be worshipped and put on a pedestal. On the other hand, you, my darlings, are far more suitable for a mortal like me, isn't that right? Us mortals should hang together to find our own happiness..."

The clock in the main hall sounded loudly as the snow continued to paint the lands in white, indifferent to the coming of the new year.

...

As the nobles were celebrating the new year at Gildusk City, Lorist was laying flat on a snowy slope with his men, spying on the rear of the magical beast wave.

"Milord, this year's wave seems to be half of last year's. There were only around 70000 magical bulls which were lured into the Crewe Circular Gorge this time and that's even less than half the number of last year," Josk said. Being a stellar marksman, he was easily able to notice the difference with his sight when compared to the rest.

Lorist nodded and said, "We should leave now. Otherwise, the magical wolves and panthers that are circling around in this area will come for us. There should be only around 500000 magical beasts remaining. Order Dulles to bring his three carroballista brigades to exterminate the bulls at the gorge as soon as possible before heading to the fourth sector. We will meet up there. We must force the remaining magical beasts to stay within the Felicitas Settlement so that the magical beast wave will not show up next winter."

15 days later, Lorist brought around 30000 family soldiers to the central town of the fourth sector to build three ice walls around it so that they can use the town as a stronghold to wipe out the magical beasts there.

Knight Waxima, who was stationed to guard Firmrock Castle, sent a few soldiers to escort a messenger to Lorist.

"You are the messenger sent by Count Kenmays and came all the way from Gildusk City?" Lorist asked the man whose nose was bruised either from a fall or the extreme cold and wondered what prompted the count to send a messenger to him in that kind of weather.

"Yes, yes I am... Milord, here is the personal letter of the count," said the messenger as he shivered and labored to take out a letter from his breast pocket.

After reading it, Lorist felt like screaming out in anger. Despite knowing that I'm fighting for my life here, that Kenmays fellow actually wants me to send some carcasses over there for him to show off to the ladies? And what's this about sending the carcasses as a new year's gift for Princess Sylvia? He really has nothing better to do, huh...

Wait a second, Lorist thought, as his lips curved into a sly smile.

"I apologize, mister messenger. I'm sure you've seen that this is already our last line of defense with only three layers of walls. With the magical beasts almost at our doorstep, I really can't afford to send any of my men to fulfill the count's request. How about this, I have to trouble you to return and have someone from your dominion come over. My soldiers will move the carcasses in front of Firmrock Castle so that your men can transport it to Gildusk City, is that okay?" Lorist said with a troubled expression to the messenger.

"Is that so..." said the messenger with a sullen look. Normally, it would only take five to six days to travel from Gildusk City to Firmrock Castle on horseback. The snowy weather however caused it to take more than 14 days. The messenger and the rest were already really worn out from the long period of traveling and really didn't feel like returning again after asking for someone to come.

Lorist on the other hand fully understood why he was so bothered.

"How many people came with your group?" Lorist asked.

"Seven of us, with 10 horses. The rest are waiting at Firmrock Castle for the reply," said the messenger.

"How long did it take you to travel here?"

"14 days. We even lost one horse on the way."

"It must have been tough for you to have to travel in this weather to send this letter. But as you can see, we really can't spare anyone else. Count Kenmays also said in his letter that you would cooperate with us in any way you can so that the carcasses can be transported to Gildusk City as soon as possible. The quickest way for that to happen is for you to find more men from your dominion to transport the carcasses there. I will have my men prepare a sledge for you so that your horses can drag you back to your family dominion. I believe this mode of travel will be much faster. Also, I'll give you five gold Fordes and two gold Fordes to each other person in your group for your troubles. I really have to thank you for your effort to deliver the message in this weather."

Lorist's sudden generosity surprised the messenger and he suddenly felt energetic and forgot about the cold altogether. However, he still asked something before he left. "Milord, how many people should I bring over to transport the carcasses?"

Lorist stretched out a finger and said, "One thousand men with horses should be sufficient. There are many carcasses and I'm prepared to send one of each magical beast to your count."

Five days later, the magical beast wave arrived at the central town of the fourth sector and began to make its way towards the walls of the town with abandon. However, the three thousand plus steel ballistas installed on the walls caused one beast to fall after another, covering the land with more and more dead magical beasts. Even the hundreds of magical mammoths collapsed under the incessant fire of the ballistas.

When the last single-horned magical rhinoceros fell, the family soldiers dropped their weapons and started cheering. Lorist and the other knights were smiling at the sight too. The magical beast wave had finally been annihilated, removing the threat that has bothered the family for hundreds of years.

"Dulles, regroup your carroballista brigades and replace the broken ballistas. We will be heading out to wipe out the remaining carnivorous magical beasts.

"Fiercetiger Loze, escort the carroballista brigade with your heavy-armored cavalry brigade and help them out with the extermination of the carnivorous beasts. Terman, your knights will head out together as well.

"Josk, bring your mounted archers to secure the area around the Crewe Circular Gorge and Maplewoods Bastide. I don't want a single beast to escape and return to the wilderness.

"Pog, your two heavy-armored brigades will stay guard here and protect the area to ensure that the people collecting the magical beast carcasses don't get attacked by the carnivorous beasts.

"Charade, I'll leave the collection of the carcasses for you to manage.

"Yuriy, after taking care of the carnivorous beasts with your light cavalry scout brigade, make your way to the first sector and try your best to round up the beasts that escaped their doom and minimize the damage they can cause to our farming efforts next spring."

After giving the chain of orders, Lorist recalled Count Kenmays's letter and asked Els to come over. "Els, pick some magical beast carcasses and remove the ballista bolts from their bodies and make the wounds look like sword and spear wounds instead. Make sure that nobody will find out that the cause of death for the beasts are from the ballista fire. You may even embed some broken swords and spears into their bodies to make it seem like it took us a lot of effort to exterminate these beasts. After that, send these bodies to the empty space in front of Firmrock Castle and wait for the men of Count Kenmays to collect them."

Els laughed out loud before he said, "Locke, are you up to something devious again? Alright, leave the shady stuff to me. I promise that nobody will be able to find out about this..."

A New Sea Port

Show TL Note

And here you have it, the first regular chapter of the week! We're also approaching the 200th chapter soon, what a milestone! It's already been almost a year since I started this project. Either way, it is my honor to be able to continue translating and I hope I will have your continued readership. That's all and enjoy the read!

After 28 days of difficult hauling, the carcass delivery team finally arrived at Gildusk City. Part of that was thanks to Lorist's considerate and appropriate preparations by tying up the frozen carcasses securely onto the sledges so that they could be transported more easily. Otherwise, it would've taken far longer for Count Kenmays's order to be carried out if they had resorted to normal carriages.

One panicked lookout guard blew the horn accidentally at the sight of the arrival of the team and woke the whole of the city, causing many to flock to the square outside the duke's mansion to take a curious look.

Over 200 magical beast carcasses of roughly 40 different types were arranged into a few rows at the square, the most eye-catching of which being the four-meter-tall mammoth carcass which radiated a tense air of savagery. Had it not been for Lorist's worry that the city gates wouldn't be able to let a bigger carcass through, Lorist would've sent them a mammoth that was over 5 meters tall.

Count Kenmays was so excited that his face flushed red as Lorist truly had gave him a lot of face by sending over so many carcasses per his request and even wrote him a personal letter. Apart from stating that he had sent the carcasses as a gift to Princess Sylvia, Lorist said that he would leave the rest for Count Kenmays's keeping. The moment he finished reading the letter, the count instantly came up with a few ways to use the carcasses to improve his relationship with the other beautiful noble ladies and expand the Kenmays Family's network.

The Second Prince walked forward with the queen and Princess Sylvia along with a large group of nobles and observed the magical beast carcasses up close. As the rest of the nobles were chattering about, the Second Prince was instead observing the wounds on the bodies of the magical beasts.

"Count Kenmays, where is the person in charge for the transport of these carcasses? Call him over so that I can reward him. Now that I've seen this, I forgive Baron Norton for refusing my invitation. It seems he has indeed been busy battling magical beasts. That person in charge should be aware of the situation of the battle, right? Have him brief me on it," instructed the Second Prince.

Count Kenmays held his chest and saluted as he said, "I deeply apologize as the ones who transported the carcasses were the soldiers of my family and not those of the Norton Family. According to my messenger, the Norton Family could not even send out so much as a guide as almost all of the soldiers of their family are caught up in the massive battle."

"Oh, I see. Then it's fine," said the Second Prince, a little crestfallen.

"My Lord Count, I'd like to have that huge snow leopard and those two green-colored winter wolves. Oh, and that antelope over there catches my eye too. I wonder if you would be so kind to part with these carcasses..." Unlike the Second Prince, the queen was instead intrigued by the furs of the beasts.

"My beautiful queen, your servant will be more than happy to satisfy your demand. However, that white snow leopard and antelope is meant to be a new year's gift from Baron Norton to Princess Sylvia, so it is truly not my decision to make. As for the two winter wolves, I shall present them to you as a sign of my apology, my beautiful queen," Count Kenmays said apologetically.

The queen merely nodded before heading to Princess Sylvia and whispering something to her.

...

The Second Prince sat in his study with a middle-aged man standing before him.

"Did you manage to find out about it?" asked the Second Prince.

"I have, my king. That messenger said that when he met with the baron, he was leading his family soldiers and building a defense line at the plains using frozen ice walls to stop the charge of the magical beasts. The messenger reported clearly that all of the Norton Family soldiers were stationed at that defense line to the point that they couldn't afford to send even a single one of them to help out with the transport of the carcasses. That was why they messenger had no choice but to return to the dominion of the Kenmays Family to arrange for another transport convoy to complete the operation," replied the man respectfully.

The Second Prince then tapped on the table with his finger in deep thought.

"Your Majesty, the messenger also said that he had estimated that the soldiers at the defense line numbered only around 30000 people. He was quite worried that a small number of men as that would be unable to withstand the assault of the magical beasts."

"Oh, are you certain?" asked the Second Prince as a gleam shone through his eyes.

"Yes, Your Majesty. That messenger has long worked to deliver messages for the count and he is already used to the sight of their own troops of 30000 plus men training. That was why he was able to get a rough estimate of the number of soldiers of the Norton Family."

The Second Prince pondered for a while before changing the subject. "Have you seen the magical beasts at the square just now?"

"Yes, I have. The fatal wounds on the beasts' bodies were probably the cause of their deaths. That mammoth I saw seemed to have been struck by 3 ballista bolts before being attacked by infantry troops all over and collapsing with the fatal strike possibly coming from a spear thrust by a Gold ranked knight from the look of the wound on its forehead. I also noticed traces of blood at the bottom of the feet of the mammoth and that could be an indicator of the price the Norton Family paid to take down the beast.

"Those magical bulls also have sword and spear wounds on them, leading me to conclude that the Norton Family possibly does not have that many ballistas. Apart from the mammoth and a few larger magical bulls that have ballista wounds, the other magical beasts seem to have been killed with swords, pikes and axes. However, the smaller magical beasts looked like they were killed by a longbow instead," the middle-aged man expressed his detailed observations.

The Second Prince asked another question, "Have you found out where Baron Shazin obtained so much salt from?"

"Your Majesty, Baron Shazin purchased around 5 million kilograms of food from the duke's dominion during the 9th month of last year and shipped those to the Norton Family's dominion. That's why I suspect that the salt was produced in the land of the Nortons as there is a coast near the Bladedge Mountains. Also, the only parties that are selling salt are Baron Shazin and Count Kenmays. Both of them have good relations with Baron Norton and have a history of trading with their family."

The Second Prince stood up and started walking in circles in his study.

"Three years ago, the Norton Family's 40000 plus forces raided the duke's dominion and even defeated the Allied Noble Army led by Duke Loggins at Firmrock Castle in one fell swoop, thus forcing around 200000 citizens of the duke's dominion to move into their own. Ever since then, they have cast a strong presence on the tides of the Northlands...

"Ever since my arrival here, I've felt a little unsettled by the Norton Family's mysterious attitude. Not only did he decline my invitation and refuse to obey my orders, he even accepted a title from the Royal Family of the Andinaq Kingdom! That is outright treason! Even though I now command the First Legion, I still don't dare to prod the bear that is resting at a corner of the Northlands, because I'm worried that the army that I've toiled so hard to build up would end up in shambles in the aftermath of the conflict with the Raging Bear and allow others to have an opportunity to take a bite at my expense...

"On the other hand, I'm worried that if I allow the Norton Family to settle down their 200000 new citizens in peace, they would grow stronger gradually. However, today's news has made me really glad. Hahahaha..." The Second Prince started laughing out maniacally without warning.

"It seems that the Norton Family also has to deal with the magical beasts! Their 40000 plus troops three years back are only left with less than 30000 now. I wonder how many more men they will continue to lose for the rest of the winter. With the magical beasts attacking their dominion yearly like that, there is no way they will be able to settle the 200000 citizens down. That's why they have resorted to increasing their salt production to trade it for more food and even decided to sell off the precious weapons and metal armor of their family just to be able to sustain their population...

"I've never heard of a dumber dominion lord all my life. He truly is an embarrassment to us nobles. I've never understood why the Raging Bear chose to hide in a corner like a frightened turtle, but now I see that it was because they have took on a burden they couldn't sustain. Hehe, they think they can protect their dominion with only Firmrock Castle? In actuality, we don't even have to attack them up front. We can instead choose to surround them and cut them off from the outside world so that they lose access to food and sustenance. I'm sure that they will crumble after 6 months of encirclement, unless, they resort to cannibalism... Otherwise, they will be groveling before me to ask to be spared... Hahaha..."

"Your Majesty truly is wise," praised the middle-aged man.

The Second Prince continued in circles within his study before stopping entirely and said, "Have Viscount Zinderson visit the Norton Family's dominion again as my messenger to plant a spy there when the snow melts around the 15th day of the 3rd month. You will pretend to be a normal attendant and try to uncover more details about the Norton Family to see if they are truly crippled by the onslaught of the magical beasts."

"Your will is my command, Your Majesty," said the middle-aged man before he left.

...

On the 15th day of the 3rd month within the grand hall of Firmrock Castle, Lorist delivered his speech of gratitude to his knights and administrative officers. "During the 5th month last year, we were seated here within this exact hall when we laid out our plans for the rest of the year. However, it's only the 3rd month right now and we've gathered here once again. 'Why is that so?', some of you may ask... That's because we have already persevered through the long and grueling battle with the magical beasts and have eliminated the magical beast wave! From today onwards, we will be able to live calm and peaceful lives...

"I thank you all for your sincere efforts. As for the brave soldiers who have sacrificed themselves for this endeavor..." Lorist proceeded to bow deeply to the knights and the officers of the family, who quickly got up and returned the bow.

"Norton... Norton... Norton..." A chant started to brew within the hall.

Lorist waved both his hands downwards to gesture for the chant to quiet down for him to continue his speech. "For the past three years, we have been dealing with the magical beast wave as well as developing the dominion. During this time, we have constructed new houses, roads, and even started multiple factories. We have developed the empty wasteland from nothing into the one we see today. As your dominion lord, I feel proud for all of your achievements and the talent you all have."

The hall once again erupted with applause.

"That's why we will begin mass agricultural development in Felicitas Settlement, beginning first with building the irrigation, thus fulfilling one of the family's promises to our citizens by assigning them some farmland so that they can start their peaceful and blissful lives here with us," Lorist announced.

Reidy and Patt stepped forward and hung a huge map in the middle of the hall.

"Now, I will brief you all on the focus of the family for the coming years," Lorist said as he took a small wooden stick and walked towards the huge map.

"As everyone of you know, the Northlands is rural and isolated from hugely populated areas. Originally, there were only two routes in and out of the Northlands and a new suspension bridge at the eastern Northlands have also been built recently. Despite that, one of the routes at Metropoulos River has been sealed off by Duke Madras, preventing anyone from crossing the river there. That can be said to be our fault as the northbound convoy did indeed act a little out of hand while crossing the duchy," Lorist joked.

Quite a number of ex-convoy members within the hall laughed out loud as well.

"With the crossing point downstream blocked off, the Northlands only has two exits. However, we must be aware that both of these routes head towards the border of the Iblia Kingdom. For example, even though the Kenmays Family controls the suspension bridge at the east, they have to face the pressure of the troops of Duke Fisablen's Frontier Legion and arm themselves as a precaution.

"As for our family, we have never really placed our interests in these routes as it would take far too long to reach the central nations of the Grindia Continent by traveling on land. There are also too many variables to look out for using that mode of travel. I trust that all of you don't want another experience of traveling with a huge convoy.

"For now, we will focus our attention towards the sea. Look over here. If we are able to find a suitable place to build a port at the Bladedge Mountains, we will be able to form a trading fleet and have access to the Madras Duchy, the Andinaq Kingdom, the western part of the Redlis Kingdom, the Lormo Duchy, the Hanayabarta Kingdom as well as reach Morante City within one month of travel using a sea route. We can even reach the Relic Islands as well as many other nations that are near the coasts.

"However, we still haven't been able to locate a suitable place to build a port at Bladedge Mountains. But, that doesn't mean that there isn't one within the dominion. Look at this map here," Lorist said before he instructed Reidy to hang out a different map.

"This map details the most dangerous terrain within the family dominion: Blackmud Marsh," Lorist said.

The people within the hall gasped in unison before they began to chatter.

"Everyone, please quiet down. Perhaps some of you have heard that anyone below the Silver rank should not even enter the marsh. That is in fact true because there are savage magical beasts living within the marsh such as Ironspine Crocodiles. Only blade glows of Silver ranked fighters can injure those beasts. But, if you take a closer look at the map, you will realize why I chose Blackmud Marsh to be where we build our port."

Lorist pointed at a spot on the map with his wooden stick and said, "This here is the Azure River. It stretches from the depths of the Magical Dragon Mountains to the ocean coast and splits the marsh into two parts. The marsh on the side of our dominion is only a fourth of the whole Blackmud Marsh. And over here near the border of the marsh and Bladedge Mountains is a bay. That is the perfect place for us to build the port!

"In actuality, after doing some research on the documents archived by the family, the real Blackmud Marsh is actually on the other side of the Azure River. It is because during winter, the ice that forms on the river often blocks off the river opening to the sea, causing the overflowed river water to flow onto the bank of the Azure River on our dominion's side frequently, eventually turning that part of the dominion into part of the marsh.

"Right now, we will try to change the marsh on our side for it to serve as a home to our port. Near the river is a tortoise-shaped mound which we call Tortoise Hill. We will build a wall from Tortoise Hill all the way to Hidebull Mound to connect those two places. That way, no magical beast or barbarian will be able to pose a threat to the family.

"After that, we will build an embankment along the Azure River all the way from the Tortoise Mountain to the border of the Bladedge Mountains to prevent the Ironspine Crocodiles from attacking that wall as well as the river from overflowing. Upon completion of the embankment, the rich land around the Blackmud Marsh can be developed into rich farmland and a thriving port city..."

Development Plans

Show TL Note

And here's the second regular chapter of the week! Enjoy the read!

"Milord, I have a question..." said Supervisor Hansk who was the head of the allocation department as he stood up. "If we were to build a 10 plus kilometer wall and another embankment that stretches around 50 kilometers, as well as build a port and clear out the magical beasts within the part of the Blackmud Marsh near our dominion, this will be a huge undertaking and will definitely span a long time. How much manpower and resources does the family plan to invest and where would we get all these resources?"

Lorist nodded towards Supervisor Hansk before pointing the wooden stick to the map of Blackmud Marsh. "I have come up with this plan with the future of the family in mind. To realize this plan, we will have to rely on everyone's efforts. Not only that, this plan will even affect the prosperity of the family for the coming hundreds of years. Once we achieve it, our family dominion will no longer merely be in a rural corner of the Northlands and will be the main cornerstone for humanity's venture into the wildlands and unknowns.

"This plan to build a port will definitely have a long term effect on the family's development. As for manpower and resource allocation, the family is definitely committed to it. We will support this venture with all we can regardless of the cost. No matter how long it takes, we have to complete this venture. Now, may I have Grandmaster Ciroba and Mister Zanben stand up for a bit..."

At the back of the hall, Grandmaster Ciroba and the slightly tanned Zanben both stood up.

Telesti had gotten two maidservants to take care of the grandmaster perhaps due to her pity for his experiences. Because of that, Grandmaster Ciroba looked rather well and no longer shivered in absolute terror when he saw Lorist like before. Even though he still seemed a little stiff, it was quite commendable of him to be able to retain his calm when faced with the many curious stares of others within the hall.

As for Zanben, the former talented slave laborer among the 2000 plus laborers bought by the Kenmays Family that was promoted by Telesti, he had already gained Lorist's trust after his involvement with the construction of the defense infrastructures of the many towns and villages within Felicitas Settlement. That was why he was allowed to attend the family meeting along with Grandmaster Ciroba. But because it was his first time, he felt a little unnerved being the center of attention.

"I must first thank Grandmaster Ciroba and Mister Zanben for their efforts of surveying the land from Blackmud Marsh all the way to the bay at Bladedge Mountains which took up to half a year. Even though they have experienced some potentially life-threatening experiences, their efforts still resulted in the culmination of the method and procedures of this development plan.

"From today onwards, I intend to form a construction department headed by Grandmaster Ciroba with Mister Zanben as his aide to manage this huge project of constructing the sea port. The other departments of the family shall aid and cooperate with them in all construction-related matters," Lorist said as he waved his hand to gesture for Grandmaster Ciroba and Zanben to sit back down. Since they were already introduced to the others within the hall, there was no longer a need for them to remain standing.

Lorist once again pointed to the map with the stick and said, "For the next five years, we will work on gaining control of this part of the Blackmud Marsh to set up the foundation for the plan. There will be three main components which we will have to focus on. The first component is the completion of the initial stages of construction for the citadel at Hidebull Mound as well as the foundations of the 20-kilometer wall from Tortoise Hill. The surrounding area of Tortoise Hill will be cleansed and a defense camp will be set up there.

"The second component is to build a path from the middle of the Blackmud Marsh connecting it to the Highlands over here.

"The third component concerns the Bladedge Mountains. We will start collecting rocks and earth here to fill up the gullies and the swamp around the parts from Bladedge Mountains to the place where the Azure River meets the ocean. By filling up the reefs and connecting them to the bay, that place will be able to serve as the departure point for the ships of our family."

Lorist then shook his head and laughed bitterly before he said, "There is no doubt that this undertaking will cost us lots of manpower and resources. However, as long as we take this first step and continue down the journey, there will be a day when we complete it. No matter whether it will take 10 or even 20 years, we must definitely achieve that milestone! As long as we have this port, we will definitely have a bright future ahead of us!

"Old Man Balk, your task this year will be really important. Not only do you have to gather up the carpenters who have experience building ships to begin research and development into constructing large sea vessels, you also have to head to the Black Forests to find some wood that will be suitable material for those ships and have them dried in the shade. The moment we connect the Bladedge Mountains and the sea port with the highland hills, you will have to find a suitable spot to build a shipyard. I hope that by next year, we will be able to use the bay to begin training our sailors and navy troops."

Balk stood up and said confidently, "Please be assured, milord. I will definitely complete this task. It is also my earnest wish to one day see the magnificent sight of the ships flying the Norton flag being sent out to sea..."

Lorist laughed out loud said, "Things occur because people act. That day will definitely come. As long as we put in effort, there is no unachievable goal."

Lorist turned his attention back to the map and said, "As for the future plans of the family, I'm sure that all of you are aware of the three components I've just mentioned. As for our security during the development process, I will have the carroballista brigade be the main force to defend us from the Ironspine Crocodiles in the marsh. I will also have all the Silver ranked swordsmen and knights form smaller groups to escort the carroballista brigade when they travel.

"Since the roads within Felicitas Settlement are almost completely built, I will use the 30000 plus laborers there as manpower for the three main components of the plan. Apart from some of them whom I will assign to help out with the mining efforts, the rest of them will all be sent to the Blackmud Marsh."

"Wait, milord, you seem to have forgotten a key point," said the human resource department head, Supervisor Kedan, as he stood up.

"What's wrong?" Lorist asked.

"Milord, some time back, you have promised the laborers that you would free them after three years of labor. And that term will end by the 5th month of this year. We will have no choice but to let them go," Kedan reminded.

"Ugh..." Lorist said as he facepalmed. "I apologize, I have indeed forgotten about that. Thank you for your reminder. That means that they only have two months of service left?"

"Yes, milord. Should we extend their term by one year?" Kedan suggested.

"There's no need. We must definitely not go back on our word. This is a matter that concerns the reputation and prestige of our family and we cannot treat it lightly. For now, have the laborers finalize the construction of the roads at Felicitas Settlement and carry out the final touches. After that, let them take a break," Lorist said.

"However, milord, some laborers already have their family members moved into the dominion by us, and a good number of them have decided to remain within the dominion and also hope that they can bring their families here. Others who have awakened their Battle Force also want to join our family forces," Kedan said.

"Hmmm, then let those who want to remain do so. You will be in charge of registering the family members of the laborers who have decided to stay that come into the dominion. Now that the Felicitas Settlement has a stable foundation, let's allocate some farmland and houses to these laborers and treat them no different than we would our own citizens. Help those with other skills find jobs as well and we can also offer loans to those who wish to start their own production workshops. Remember, don't look down on them just because they have been our prisoners, okay?" Lorist reminded as he made his decision.

"Milord, what about those who want to join the family forces?"

"Take them in as long as they satisfy the Battle Force requirements. The Iron ranked ones can first be accepted into the new recruit camp for three months of training before being assigned to more specialized units according to their individual skills."

"Milord, I was just about to report to you that from last year to now, the new recruit camp has produced around 5000 soldiers with awakened Battle Force apart from those who were disqualified because they couldn't keep up. All of them are eager to be enlisted into our official forces," Belnick said as he stood up.

Even though Lorist specified that the formal soldiers of the family had to have at least Iron ranked Battle Force, 75 percent of the 16 brigades of the family don't meet that requirement with most of them still being at the Bronze rank. That's why he had no choice but to have the respective leaders of the brigades organize regular training sessions every day so that they rise up to the Iron rank as soon as possible.

When the family forces were first reorganized, there were around 10000 youths around the ages of 20 who have been removed from the forces because they didn't meet the minimum Battle Force requirement. They were subsequently sent to train within the new recruit camp. Surprisingly, many of them awakened their Battle Force within a short half year.

After some consideration, Lorist felt that there wouldn't be a point for those soldiers to remain within the new recruit camp and decided that it would be better for them to be assigned to other units.

"How about this," Lorist said. "Since the carroballista brigades will play a huge role in the development of Blackmud Marsh, we will expand it by two more brigades into a total of 5 with a soldier count of around 15000 men, essentially making it a complete division. Gold ranked knight Mons Malek, you shall pass on your duties on managing the patrol companies of the seven central towns of Felicitas Settlement and take up the position as commander of the carroballista division with Dulles as your second in command."

The emotionless Malek stood up and said, "Yes, milord."

Dulles also stood up at the same time. He understood that his Battle Force was still at the Three Star Silver rank and he also had some trouble controlling and disciplining some experienced soldiers within the three brigades he commanded. Given that complaints of discontent were already floating around among his troops, there was no way that he would be able to shoulder the burden of the two additional brigades. The reason Lorist appointed Iron-faced Malek to become the commander of the new division was probably because he had heard of such troubles and decided to reinforce the discipline of that unit.

That was why Dulles didn't feel at all discouraged by Lorist's decision. In fact, he was even a little thankful. "Milord, I will definitely help Knight Malek to the best of my ability in the management of the carroballista division."

Lorist nodded and said, "It is one of the main forces of the family troops and I have high hopes for you all."

"It is in safe hands, milord," Malek and Dulles said as they saluted.

Lorist then turned to Belnick and said, "If the number of laborers who want to join the army is enough for two brigades, make one brigade of armored pike cavalrymen and another brigade of heavy-armored infantry soldiers. However, make sure that they receive the basic three month training and understand the regulations of our army well before assigning them to their respective units."

"Understood, milord," Belnick responded.

Potterfang and Loze also stood up and said, "Thank you, milord."

"The two of you will have to work hard too. Pick a few experienced soldiers from your troops and have them serve as instructors in the new recruit camp to help Knight Belnick with training the fresh recruits. Pog, I am especially satisfied with the attack formation you devised with small teams of ten. However, you still have to practice and improve upon any weaknesses you may find."

"Yes, milord. I will work hard on it," Potterfang replied.

"Alright. Back to the main topic. Since we're no longer able to utilize the manpower of the 30000 prisoners, we will have to turn to our own people. I hereby order that our family forces who are off-duty to work in shifts of three months to develop the Blackmud Marsh. Whether they be of the main family forces or the local garrison forces, they have to participate in this endeavor. The garrison of each village and central town will have to take turns to work there. Naturally, the soldiers of the main family force will have to serve too as this concerns the future of the whole dominion," Lorist said.

"But, milord, why don't we just recruit laborers from the citizens of Felicitas Settlement? It won't be hard to find 100000 free laborers from our 500000 citizens. They'll work as long as we feed them well," Terman said as he felt that letting his knights work as measly laborers was extremely demeaning.

Lorist's expression turned sour right away. He gave everyone within the hall a look before turning his attention back to Terman. "I hope that all of you can understand a simple principle. The forces of the Norton Family is not a tool we use to oppress our citizens, nor are they superior to those citizens who are not enlisted in our forces. Instead, they are their protectors. They should be the ones whom the citizens of our dominion place their trust in as well as the ones who pave the way for the development of the future of the dominion. Additionally, they are the most reliable force available to the dominion lord who are willing to even climb mountains of blades and enter seas of fire to achieve the lord's goals. In other words, they are the most resilient executors of the lord's will.

"Now, do you still honestly think that serving the family by contributing to the construction work is an insult to your personage? My hope is that everyone within the dominion, no matter they be family knights or family soldiers, will become the constructors of our own home so that tens of years later in the future, you all can be proud of the prosperous cities and rich farmlands and stand tall when you tell your children and grandchildren that it was you who had turned the wastelands into the grand spectacle they see before them. It was you, who have put in your efforts in turning the Blackmud Marsh into the haven they live in.

"As your dominion lord, I will also accompany you and work alongside you at the development site itself just like any common soldier so that I can make my own contributions to the family's future."

"Milord, you don't have to say anything else. It was my mistake. I will definitely strive towards becoming one of the constructors of the dominion's future myself," Terman said as he sat back down in shame.

"In actuality, you're not entirely wrong, Terman. I have no doubt that many others will have the same opinion you did and question why I don't just use the citizens as my workforce instead," Lorist said with a solemn voice. "It's not that I didn't think about it. However, the citizens of Felicitas Settlement has just managed to settle down and wouldn't be able to handle the additional burdens this project will place on them. We, the Norton Family, can't just make decisions based on what we see now. I'm sure you all know that since the magical beast wave is eliminated, we must proceed to develop farmland at the settlement to be able to sustain the food consumption of the dominion.

"Starting from next year, we will start collecting taxes from the citizens that settled there. That's why, we must also work harder to ensure that they can begin their peaceful new lives here without a hitch. Apart from criminals and prisoners of war, the Norton Family will not use our own citizens as free laborers. While we can offer to pay them to work on the construction when most of the farming is done, we will definitely not force them to work as unpaid laborers so that they don't feel like second class citizens of the dominion. That is a small insistence of mine as the dominion lord."

The hall quieted down before erupting into a torrent of applause.

"Milord, we are grateful for your benevolent intentions," said the family knights of common birth like Potterfang as they stood up and saluted Lorist in unison.

"Alright, now that the general direction of progression for the family's development has been decided, let me brief you all on the specifics. There will be an administrative department formed for each central town of the seven sectors of Felicitas Settlement. These departments will collectively form the administrative institution of the family dominion which will be led by Knight Charade with Butler Boris as the vice head. Other than the seven central towns, the Maplewoods Bastide and the rear city at Firmrock Castle will also fall under the jurisdiction of the administrative institution.

"Mister Camorra, please stand up," Lorist said.

The current vice head of the human resources department, formerly known as Baron Camorra, stood up.

"I hereby appoint Mister Camorra as the main supervisor of the military resources department. From today onwards, the management of the military provisions will be done separately from that of the citizens. The military resources department will be in charge of the allocation of weapons and equipment, food and other consumables as well as the benefits and salaries of our family soldiers. As you all know, Grandmaster Sid has just developed a set of metal armor that is far superior to that of the Whitelion Legion. Therefore, Mister Camorra's first assignment will be handling the replacement of the Whitelion Legion equipment of the family forces with the new armor across the various brigades of our forces. I hope everyone will be patient as well, your turn will definitely come," Lorist said as he laughed.

"Alright, meeting adjourned. The various department heads and brigade leaders will have to stay back for a little longer. The rest of you may rest today and tomorrow and we will set out to the Blackmud Marsh the day after. Let's all put in our fair share of work as one into the development of the dominion for the prosperity of the family."

"Yes, milord!"

The Ultimatum

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Here's the first bonus chapter of the week thanks to the support of Thomas A. from the USA! Enjoy the read~

Viscount Zinderson departed from Gildusk City on the 15th day of the 3rd month as the Second Prince's messenger. As the snow was still melting, the roads were muddy and hard to traverse and he arrived at Firmrock Castle by the 23rd day of that month. At that time, Lorist had already brought around 40000 of his forces to the Blackmud Marsh to begin gathering stones and earth in preparation for laying the foundations for roads to be built there.

Charade, who was in charge of various miscellaneous tasks at Firmrock Castle, received Viscount Zinderson. Upon hearing that he had come as a messenger of the Second Prince, Charade asked him to rest for a few days so that he could contact Lorist and ask him to return.

On the morning of the 25th day of the 3rd month, Lorist was standing before the carcass of an Ironspine Crocodile that was almost ten meters long and inspecting that beast's weakness. The crocodile's body was impaled with more than 30 iron ballista bolts and it was one of the largest they have encountered during the past few days. Even though it had sustained the strikes of more than 30 bolts, it still struggled intensely like a lively tiger and rushed towards the carroballista brigade with its fangs and claws bared.

Had it not been for the good fortune which allowed one of those bolts to pierce through its tail and nail it on the ground almost 30 meters from the carroballista brigade, that reptile might have began a massacre at the defense lines of the brigade. It was not until the crocodile breathed its last breath that everyone let out a breath of relief.

"Milord, look. This Ironspine Crocodile died because of this bolt that pierced its lower jaw into its head. At that time, it was nailed to the ground at its tail but it was still rushing forward with all its might with its head raised, allowing us to fire a bolt to its underjaw. As for the 30 plus bolts on its body, even though they did injure the beast, they weren't fatal nor effective and only served to provoke it further. We were quite lucky this time around to have not lost any men to this ferocious beast," said Malek, who was the current commander of the carroballista division.

"During the past few days, we've killed around tens of those crocodiles and even the largest one was only 5 meters long and died from 5 ballista bolts. We were too careless and thought that those crocodiles were the worst the marsh could throw at us and that there was nothing to worry about. To think that an even larger one showed up... It seems that our steel ballistas won't be that effective against these larger ones. The bolts on its body seem like small toothpicks," Els described the situation imaginatively.

"Given the size of Blackmud Marsh, there might just be crocodiles that are even larger than this. Milord, even though this one is already around 2 meters tall, I've read in the family records that they can be as tall as 5 meters as well. I wonder how long would a crocodile of that height be... I heard they were essentially as large as a small mound," said Patt worryingly.

Lorist nodded and said, "That said, the development of the marsh must continue. We must best the obstacles no matter how large they may seem. However, I will be wary of your warnings as well. To be honest, even I didn't imagine that we would have so much trouble with the beasts given that we have our steel ballistas. Reidy, make a trip to Grandmaster Fellin's and ask him if he can construct an even larger steel ballista for use against these Ironspine Crocodiles. It doesn't have to adhere to the strict military standards of those used in the carroballista division, so it's fine if it takes more time to operate. I only need it to have at least twice the power."

"Yes, milord. I'll depart right now," Reidy said before he left.

"Alright. Malek, have someone deal with this carcass. Even though it looks ferocious and savage, its meat tastes pretty good, you know. Tell the rest that we're having crocodile meat today. Don't forget to keep the leather as well. This leather is the ideal material for the leather armor of our navy troops," Lorist instructed. "Also, tell the others to pay attention to pay attention to their safety when they work later. It's okay for them to work at a slower pace. If the sky starts darkening, have them stop for the day lest they be ambushed by crocodiles."

"Alright, milord. I will caution them well," Malek replied.

At that moment, Jim brought a few others over. He was currently a regiment leader of the guard division. "MIlord, Knight Charade sent someone over to pass the message that Viscount Zinderson has come to visit again as the messenger of the Second Prince and he hopes that you can return to Firmrock Castle sooner."

Huh? Lorist was a little shocked as he thought, what's the Second Prince up to again? Even though I've already refused him so many times, he still hasn't given up. Isn't he worried that I will once again refuse him this time around? I have no time for the silly games of nobles. How annoyingly persistent.

After a pause, Lorist said, "Have Viscount Zinderson stay there for a few more days. I will head there within two days."

...

"My deepest apologies, Viscount Zinderson, for making you wait for long. I've really been far too busy with various matters."

Lorist only made his way back to Firmrock Castle on the 28th day of the 3rd month. Without bothering to take a bath to wash off all the sweat and dust from traveling, he met with Viscount Zinderson right away.

"I suppose it's understandable. After all, your family must be busy fending off the magical beasts during the whole winter. To be honest with you, Baron Norton, I have seen the carcasses of the magical beasts back at Gildusk City and I truly express my deepest respects to your family's efforts. It's no wonder the Norton Family is also known as the Raging Bear of the Northlands. Only a family like yours can bear *Ryogawa: pun unintended* to resist the fierce assault of beasts like that," Viscount Zinderson praised.

"I appreciate your compliment. Might I enquire why you've made your visit?" Lorist asked, not even bothering to put up with the pleasantries and going straight to the point.

"Oh. This time around, I have come on His Majesty's behalf to deliver a letter to you and inform him of your response. The letter is here with me and I believe he expressed his worries and concerns for your family's heroic battle against the magical beasts within it," Viscount Zinderson said as he passed the letter over.

Lorist received the letter with a smile and said, "Oh, isn't it a little too much to send a viscount like you all the way here for a small task like this? Couldn't he have sent a normal messenger? It's a little bit of overkill for His Majesty the King to send you here just to deliver a letter."

Viscount Zinderson mocked himself in a joking manner and said, "Oh, Lord Baron, you truly give me too much credit. I'm merely an honorary noble and not a landed noble like you. Also, I don't really have much on my plate, so doing various errands for the king is the least I can do."

"Lord Viscount, you're being far too humble," Lorist smiled before tearing the envelope open.

Sol! This Second Prince must have gone crazy. There's definitely something wrong with that head of his!

Even though Lorist felt like cursing out loud, since Viscount Zinderson was right in front of him, he had no choice but to resist the urge.

The tone of the Second Prince in the letter was unlike the pleasant one within his previous letter. In fact, the Second Prince launched into three demands straight away.

First, Lorist was to head to Gildusk City before the 5th month to meet the Second Prince to pledge his allegiance to him and present a fitting gift as a sign of respect.

Second, the Norton Family must pay 500000 gold Fordes to the Second Prince as a punishment for the disrespect they have shown the Second Prince.

Third, from that year onwards, the Norton Family must provide the Second Prince with 5 million kilograms of salt without any cost annualy.

At the end of the letter, the Second Prince stated that he was already unable to bear the Norton Family's refusals to his numerous gestures of goodwill. He stressed that if the Norton Family refused these demands of his once more, he would form an allied noble army and march towards the Firmrock Castle. He warned Lorist that the fate of the Norton Family hung on his decision to accept the demands or not and advised him to choose wisely.

Only a madman would dare to imagine that this would go his way. He must've received some kind of stimulation that prompted him to issue an ultimatum to the family like this. That letter was akin to a declaration of war as there was no way that Lorist would agree to those unreasonable terms. Where did that bastard gain his confidence from? His First Legion that has only been formed for one year? Hahaha...

Lorist raised his head with a cold smile and asked, "Lord Viscount, are you sure you want my reply to this?"

Viscount Zinderson nodded and said, "Yes, His Majesty stressed that I must have a reply from you before I return."

"Alright, please wait a moment," Lorist said before he sat down on his desk and quickly drafted a response.

"Tarkel," Lorist said as he pulled onto the rope bell to summon Tarkel into the room.

"The Lord Viscount has traveled far and must've suffered quite a bit to get here. Go get a few magical beast furs and give it to him as a sign of our gratitude for his troubles," Lorist instructed.

"Yes, milord," Tarkel said before he left.

Lorist handed the letter he wrote to Viscount Zinderson and said, "Please forgive me, Viscount Zinderson. The Norton Family's dominion is located in the rural, far ends of the Northlands and there isn't anything valuable that we can present to you. The most fitting gifts that I can think of are these furs which I present to you as an apology for not being able to offer anything better. I am also really sorry for the troubles you have went through to carry out this errand."

Viscount Zinderson happily accepted the letter and said, "Thank you, Lord Baron, for your gift. Actually, I do fancy these furs quite a lot."

...

Bam! The Second Prince smashed his chair right on his desk in front of Viscount Zinderson. On the desk was a beastskin which was Lorist's reply to the Second Prince's letter, on which only a single, huge 'Ptoooey!' was written.

The Second Prince was so mad that his face flushed completely red. The response he received was akin to a square slap in the face by Lorist. When he first saw the letter, he recalled the last letter Lorist wrote him which contained only the words 'Top Kek' which evoked a massively humiliating feeling in his mind and couldn't control his anger any longer, causing him to unwittingly stand up and smash his chair onto the desk despite being in the presence of Viscount Zinderson.

The loud bang snapped the Second Prince out of his fury. Even though the chair was completely shattered, the letter Lorist wrote was still in pristine condition, causing rage to well up in the Second Prince once again. However, he managed to suppress himself and waved towards Viscount Zinderson as he said, "Buzz off. And don't you go around blabbering about this."

Viscount Zinderson retreated with a pale face as he hurriedly said, "Yes, Your Majesty."

The only ones who remained within the study were the Second Prince and the man who had disguised himself as Viscount Zinderson's attendant during the visit to Firmrock Castle.

"How dare he... How dare the Norton Family disrespect me so dismissively? Do they think that they will be safe just because they have Firmrock Castle locking us out? Well, I will crush their naive dreams and will never forgive them. They will pay this price in blood. Only their fresh blood can wash away the humiliation I have received..." roared the Second Prince as he paced around in his study.

After a while, the Second Prince stopped in front of the silent man and said, "Tell me, what did you manage to find out during the visit?"

The middle-aged man bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, as you have predicted, the defenses at Firmrock Castle is extremely lax and I estimate that they have only 3 companies of roughly 1500 men defending that place. Three companies of troops are responsible for the defense of the front, middle and back walls of the castle respectively. Regrettably, I didn't encounter a single Norton Family soldier when I visited the taverns and inns over there. Apart from the walls and the army camps, the soldiers were not allowed to go anywhere else."

As the middle-aged man didn't know about Lorist's reorganization of the military structure, he could only see the Norton Family soldiers through the mold of the First Legion's organizational structure. He wasn't aware that almost all the family soldiers of the Norton Family had been deployed to develop the Blackmud Marsh and at least half of the soldiers defending Firmrock Castle had been sent away as well with their shifts rotating every three months.

"I've heard one of the tavern owners complain that after every winter, some magical beasts will remain in the dominion even if the wave has passed and that seriously affects the agricultural development and the spring harvests. That's why the Norton Family soldiers will still be occupied with killing the rest of the magical beasts. That's also where they get their source of meat. The tavern said that the effort usually lasts till the 5th month. I believe this year will be similar as well."

Apart from informing the family knights and administrative officers of the dominion, the development of the marsh to build a port was not publicly announced. The fact that the family soldiers were mobilized to work on the project also made the citizens within the dominion think that they were being deployed for the usual hunt for the magical beasts post the yearly wave.

"Your Majesty, I also discovered that the Norton Family's second line of defense, which are the garrison soldiers that are responsible for the security of the place, number only very few. Even the warehouses were only guarded by ten plus people each, far less than a usual squad. Additionally, behind Firmrock Castle, a new city has been constructed and is defended by only less than 300 garrison soldiers. Also, I used the excuse to visit the Martyrs' Graveyard to climb up a hill that was near the rear city walls of Firmrock Castle and discovered that there was not even one defense ballista atop those walls. It seems that they have lost a huge number of ballistas from their battles with the magical beasts."

The middle-aged man was indeed a talented spy. However, he didn't know that Lorist had actually reformed the command units of his forces with the smallest squads numbering only 10 men. When it came to keeping an eye on the warehouses, that arrangement was in fact ideal as before the reformation, the 100 plus men of each squad was far too large a number for a menial task like guarding a warehouse, resulting in many of them sitting around having nothing better to do. Also, almost half of the soldiers from the garrison regiment at the walls of the rear city of Firmrock Castle were deployed as laborers for the marsh development project with the middle-aged spy to know no better.

Thus, the middle-aged man took the drastically small number of soldiers there to be a sign that the Norton Family was extremely lacking in military might. The absence of any ballistas at the wall of the rear city also seemed to convince him further about the theory that the Norton Family lost a lot of men and equipment from battling the magical beasts. That's why he believed that the reason the Norton Family refused the Second Prince's demands was due to their pride as a noble family and not the fact that they could back themselves up in terms of military might.

"Hahahaha..." After hearing the conjectures of the middle-aged man, the Second Prince laughed out maniacally.

"After the winter harvest concludes in the 5th month, I want to deploy my soldiers in a campaign against the Norton Family," said the Second Prince coldly.

"Coincidentally, the various nobles of the Northlands will gather for their regular alliance meeting. At that time, I only have to announce that the Norton Family has disrespected me and showed signs of rebellion with Baron Norton's acceptance of the title granted by the Andinaq Royal Family as proof to declare war against their family with the aid of the noble alliance."

"Your Majesty, you should also be vary of Baron Shazin and Count Kenmays. Those two have had business relations with the Norton Family and they also have strong forces of their own. It's better if you be on guard towards them as well," reminded the middle-aged man.

The Second Prince nodded and said, "I am well aware of that. When they come to the alliance meeting, I will forcefully hold them back to make them contribute to the campaign. Baron Shazin shall give me at least 10000 soldiers and since the Kenmays Family has a force of 30000 men, they will naturally have to send 20000 of them to me at the very least if they want their count to survive that ordeal.

"There's also Baron Felim from the Family of the Pegasus. That guy also has quite a formidable force in his hands, so I'll have him send 5000 of them my way as well. Apart from the Norton Family, these three noble families are the most powerful ones at the moment. This time around, not one of them can hope to sit back idly and must all do their part in this campaign. Then again, Baron Felim has always been rather respectful towards me, so I might just raise his title after this campaign if he performs well..."

"Your Majesty truly is wise," praised the middle-aged man. "So, how many soldiers does Your Majesty plan to deploy against the Norton Family?"

The Second Prince fell into deep thought before he said, "This campaign will be a good chance to show off the prowess of my kingdom's army, the First Legion, to these backwater nobles. The First Legion shall deploy 50000 troops for this campaign and leave behind 10000 troops to guard the main camp. The remaining two regiments will be in charge of the supply lines."

"Your Majesty, isn't that a little too much for a small family like the Nortons?" asked the middle-aged man.

"You don't understand. The Norton Family doesn't even consider me a worthy adversary. But, we only need to lock them in their dominion for half a year to win without even engaging in a single battle with them. I'd like to see how the Norton Family plans to feed their 200000 plus citizens without access to food from outside their dominion. I won't be that stupid to have my First Legion attack the Firmrock Castle head-on and cause any unnecessary losses.

"The deployment of the First Legion is mainly to pressure Baron Shazin and Count Kenmays's forces to attack the castle in our stead. With the might of the First Legion, let's see how many nobles of the Northlands dare to hold any reservations about serving me. I hope that after this victory against the Norton Family, the situation of the Northlands will be able to stabilize, causing it to become a rich provider of food and soldiers for me in the future," said the Second Prince.

"Your Majesty truly is wise!"