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Suggestion

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A storm raged outside the window.

It was already the middle of the 3rd month. On Grindia, this was the start of the rainy season. The season lasted for nearly two months in the south of the continent. The Northlands was in the middle of the continent, however, and thanks to the naturally barrier of the Magical Dragon Mountains, not much of the weather from the south existed there. The Northlands only had 20 days of rain during the rainy season.

Lorist had already returned to Fimrock Castle and left Potterfang to deal with what was left of the duchy. After becoming Duke of The Northlands, he had to act the part per his subordinates' advice and not lead the charge every time there was a battle. All he had to do, and should do, was ensure the house was heading in the general direction of his goals. The details were up to the household knights and officials.

Nowadays, there were 16 gold-ranked knights serving the house. Had it not been for the fact that Duke Madras had a rank 2 blademaster by his side, Lorist wouldn't have bothered to be present for the operation. His desire for absence was because his presence made him miss Dilianna's delivery date. When Lorist was enjoying the service of his two new companions, the young aunt of Arriotoli gave birth to another child for the house at Firmrock.

Lorist looked at the map for a good while as Charade instructed Howard to get two more candles.

"Locke, are you still worried about the operation? Firmrock Legion has already occupied Kobo and cut off the supply lines of our hundred thousand or so enemies. From the successful occupation, we discovered they had planned to ship another batch of resources to their camp before the rainy season but were unable to do so before our arrival. I'm sure the soldiers of the duke's army will be worn out and starving by the end of the season. They won't have any option other than surrender."

"I know the situation in the duchy is mostly set in stone," Lorist answered, shaking his head, "I've already ordered Tigersoar to head west after the rainy season to force the enemy to surrender. I'm sure you've also read Pog's report that we've already taken control of their supplies when we conquered Kobo. They were only unable to launch a counterattack to retake the city because the season is already upon us.

"I know the enemy we have to face is the 60 thousand men of Seamountain Legion. Originally, the garrison of Kobo and Vanades each had another ten thousand men. There are also 20 thousand troops stationed at Sanderson Hills, not to mention the 10 thousand private troops of the nobles. It's clear as day they're trying to fight back with the coming of spring in one decisive battle, but we didn't even give them such a chance.

"Without their supplies, the duchy's troops will struggle to survive. I expect what remains of their supplies and workhorses will probably last them through the season. I didn't intend for Tigersoar to fight them when I deployed them. I already wrote to Loze and told him his main purpose was to keep the enemy trapped in their camps. Since the harvest season follows directly on the rainy season, I definitely won't allow them to start harvesting crops to get out of their predicament.

"According to our plan, Tigersoar will keep the enemy in camp while Hennard brings the Shazin forces to encircle the seven citadels at Sanderson Hills. Without supplies from Kobo, the 20 thousand soldiers will have to surrender in at most two months. House Kenmays' forces will also head to Sidgler to take Firmrock Legion's place so the latter can return to Silowas for the next phase of our plan. As for House Felim's light cavalry legion, we will leave it to them to exterminate the nobles in Delamock that still resist. Given most of the Madras nobles have already fallen into our hands, I'm sure it will be an easy task for Felim."

Charade flipped open another folder.

"Locke, Firmrock Legion captured 38 landed nobles in total during the capture of the duke's mansion in Edelise. According to a list with their respective titles, there are members from 63 houses of the duchy. It should've been more than 80, but the second prince took out 20-odd houses when he stormed Delamock. The nobles that participated in the banquet at the mansion can't be considered the duke's confidants. The people he truly trusts probably serve Seamountain Legion and the garrison forces. We better be wary when dealing with the aftermath to prevent anyone from putting up a last stand.

"Also, even though the nobles of the houses trusted by the duke didn't attend the banquet, the female and younger members of those houses did and have also fallen into our hands. There are around 100 noble ladies and young masters from these houses among those we captured. Perhaps, we can use them as bargaining chips to get their houses. As long as they give up resistance, we will allow them to leave the duchy with their wealth and family members go wherever they want. I believe it'll rid them of any desire to resist."

Lorist nodded.

"Alright, do so. I'll write a letter to Pog, Loze, and the rest to cooperate with you. Let's obtain victory at the smallest price possible. I hope the situation can be settled before the 6th month."

"Locke, would the second highness have any objections to us letting the nobles loyal to the duke go?" asked Charade.

Even though the second highness was the former king of the Andinaq kingdom in name, the knights of the house addressed him as 'His Highness' instead of 'His Majesty', and Charade was no exception.

"Don't care about him. Even if he sees those nobles as traitors of the empire for joining up with Duke Madras, there's no point in us sacrificing our house's troops to exterminate them. If the second highness wants to punish them, he'll have to catch them himself. Since there's nothing in it for us, we're not obligated to do anything."

The ten-odd years of experience as a dominion lord had familiarized Lorist with the norms of the world and the nature of his position. Causing trouble for the royal family is the favored pastime of almost all landed nobles.

"Understood. But what do we do about the 38 captured nobles?" snickered Charade.

"For the noble houses of the old Krissen Empire, those above the title of viscount will be demoted one rank. Don't bother with the barons. There's no way they can be demoted further. After you're done with the demotions, move their dominions to Winston. As for the nobles Duke Madras entitled, we don't have to acknowledge their peerage. Just release them and confiscate two-thirds of their assets. Let them leave with the rest and go wherever they desire," replied Lorist.

"Whoa! Then we won't have many landed nobles left! I've already estimated we'd only have around 20 houses left," Charade exclaimed, looking at his list.

"Locke, what do we do if the nobles close with the duke insist on keeping their titles and dominions?" continued he.

"Well, tell them they can remain nobles with a one-rank demotion as long as they become our vassals. We'll accept their pledge of allegiance if they can prove their worth. Duke Madras was no fool, and anyone he prioritizes must be capable to some degree. Perhaps, some of them might prove rather useful."

Lorist gave it some thought before added, "Also, House Yujink and House Sabri don't need to be demoted or moved. Just have them become vassals. Their dominions will have to be adjusted, though."

House Yujink and House Sabri were the houses of the two beauties with whom Lorist had spent that pleasurable night. Thanks to letting their daughters warm Lorist's bed, the houses wouldn't be punished and survived the transition to another lord smoothly with minimal losses, much to many's envy. At the same time, it showed the leader of House Norton, the Duke of The Northlands, was a person who cared for relationships and connections, instead of being cruel and heartless.

Charade tried to stifle his laugh as he commented, "I heard it gave you quite some trouble back then."

Lorist stroked his nose awkwardly as when he returned to Firmrock Castle from Edelise, he brought the two beauties along. It naturally enraged Arriotoli.

"We sisters and our aunt are already your women, and our aunt even birthed you a son! Yet, you used attacking the Madras duchy as your excuse to skip my aunt's delivery and even dare to bring two beauties back with you?! Do you think I'll just sit quietly and accept this?! I'll show you what I've got, you shallow, superficial bastard!" she had said at the time.

"How did you resolve it?"

Charade was rather curious about the matter. Even though Arriotoli was a jealous and envious woman, the household knights and officials had a rather good impression of her. Mainly because of the effort she put in to become a silver-ranked knight, as well as how she only kept her tantrums between her and Lorist. On one occasion when she tried to pitch her sister as the matron of House Norton, she made sure to ask the officials and knights about their opinions on the matter. But when she learned that it wouldn't work, she dropped it without complaint instead of pestering Lorist.

"Nothing much. I just agreed to move House Dina's dominion to Delamock and take it as our vassal," Lorist said with a troubled smile, "I also promised I would bring the two sisters with me during my excursions in the future. They said it was necessary to stop me from bringing back more beauties after every trip."

"Hahaha," laughed Charade heartily.

Lorist got a bottle of fruit wine and poured Charade some during their little interlude.

"Oh, Milord, Knight Malek sent a report that requires your attention. He requested to be held responsible for the revolting citizens' massacre in Edelise," Charade said as he took out a piece of beastskin from his blue folder, "It arrived yesterday afternoon. Take a look."

Lorist gave it a quick glance before he did something that surprised Charade. He set the report on fire using a nearby candle and let it burn.

"Locke, what are you doing? We have to archive it," said Charade, stunned.

"No," Lorist said, shaking his head, "Not this report. No record will be kept of the revolt. I'll also reward Knight Malek and have him give me a list of people who managed to contribute to its suppression. This matter was dealt with swiftly. I've long told you that as Edelise has been the headquarters of House Madras for more than 40 years, the citizens are no doubt very closely tied to it. Having only ten thousand men stationed there is a little too careless. Had Malek not steeled himself and cut the root of the problem away, we would've been chased out of the city. If that happened, I have no doubt the whole of Sidgler would have joined in.

"Apart from Edelise, House Madras didn't enfeoff any other noble house land within Sidgler and instead constructed around 40 farmland manors and took in 200 thousand people. Among them are the family members of Seamountain Legion troops. It's the reason they are the most elite among the duke's troops. It's as if Duke Madras kidnapped their families. If they don't perform well, their families will pay the price. They were forced to give their all and fight to their deaths.

"According to the name list of the legion, which we got from the duke's mansion, I've already had Furybear collect the families' belongings. We'll send them to the legion after the rainy season to crumble their will to resist. Part of the reason those who pulled the strings behind the scenes started the revolt was to stop us so the legion wouldn't be out of the fight. They hoped to buy time for an opportunity.

"Hehe, it's too bad they were merely dreaming. There's no way they can change the situation now. I bet they didn't think we would move House Kenmays's dominion to Sidgler. The huge move will wipe the province clean. It'll extinguish all insurgent factors. Let's see who'll have the last laugh."

According to the agreement with House Kenmays, 250 of the current 340 thousand people living in the eastern Northlands -- thanks to the Kenmayses' refugee recruitment effort over the last couple of years -- would be moved to Sidgler, while the Nortons would be in charge of the evacuation of the original Sidgler citizens so the Kenmays folk would have homes to live in and land to farm.

Put bluntly, House Kenmays planned to move most of their subjects with them to Sidgler to displace its original citizens, who would be in turn moved to the eastern Northlands. According to Charade, it was an unnecessary move, but House Kenmays felt it was best to bring their own subjects with them. Otherwise, their position might not last longer than a few years.

"Locke, will the soldiers of Seamountain Legion and the duchy's garrison forces be required to serve three years' labor to develop the eastern area of The Northlands?" asked Charade.

Lorist gave it some thought before he replied.

"The east's development has to wait. The vacation of the citizens of Sidgler, who are the family of many in Seamountain Legion, is to let them get used to The Northlands' environment. The skilled ones like smiths are the ones who will meld with our house the easiest since there isn't anybody but us who appreciate their talents more. They'll be given preferential treatment and be allowed to work at our factories to fill up the demand.

"As for the soldiers of Seamountain Legion and the garrison forces, let them build the roads in Delamock after they surrender. I hope we will be able to connect Vanades and Kobo in two years, before building another highway straight to The Northlands. I really don't understand how the empire was run back then. If they had built a highway, it wouldn't take more than five days to travel from Vanades to The Northlands. There's no point in making the journey curve and triple in traveling time..."

Charade laughed at Lorist's complaints.

"Locke, you didn't know how much the Krissen Empire spent to build the current connections. The reason behind its current state is the fact that the highway would have to pass through the dominions of many nobles. They've objected to its constructions vehemently for many decades. The empire rejected their demands to be allowed to collect tolls on the highway, so they refused to let the highway pass through their dominions. In the end, the empire didn't have a choice and had to build the pathway around the borders of those dominions. All this is recorded and archived.

"Not only that, many nobles stood to gain lots of profit from the construction of the current highway. The construction of the current road from Delamock is recorded to cost the most in the history of the empire. It took seven years to build and the cost involved was enough to build seven similar roads. I remember back then there were even newspapers that justified the way it took by arguing that it was the best way to facilitate the transport of the food produced in the dominions of all the nobles to Delamock, the main storehouse of the empire's food. What a shameless joke."

Lorist chuckled.

"I don't care about the things that happened in the past. Whatever the case, I want to make it clear that nobody may stop us from doing what we want in the lands we control. Oh well, the territories in Delamock will all have to be moved anyway. I expect there to be more than 100 thousand people who surrender. We'll just have them build the highway. A straight highway will save us so much time and allow us to better respond to military situations. I want this highway finished in two year's time."

"Your Grace," responded Charade as he stood up.

Ever since he was made duke, his subordinates and household knights began to address him as 'Your Grace'. Only a few people still called him 'Milord Lorist'. Privately, some like Charade would call Lorist 'Locke', but in official discussions, they would still use 'Your Grace'.

"There's a piece of bad news. The house is likely to spend more than the expense stipulated in our budget. Apart from helping House Kenmays and House Shazin with their dominion's relocation, we have to begin development on the eastern Northlands and the former territory of the Shazins, as well as take charge of the move of Sidgler locals. We have to mobilize Tigersoar to deal with Queen Carey soon as well.

"And now, you've just announced you'll be building a highway from Delamock to The Northlands. Our house has already exceeded our budget by six million gold Fordes. The way I see it, development is more important than war. Your Grace, I urge you to consider the stability of the house's finances. I suggest we postpone the war against the Andinaq kingdom's current administration. Restoring the second highness's throne will set our house back one million gold Fordes, and I believe it an unwise move."

Reason

Hi guys, here's the first release of the week! We have something extra coming by the end of this week, but this is all I'll say for now. ;-)

Lorist looked at the map of the former Krissen Empire for a good while before he shook his head.

"No. The war with Queen Carey cannot be dragged on. Only the second highness's restoration to power will give us enough time."

"Time?" Charade mused with squinted eyes, "Time for what, Your Grace? So far, everything is under control. There's no need to let the tiger back onto its mountain. Actually, controlling the second highness will be extremely beneficial to the house. We can even threaten Queen Carey to expand the kingdom's trade routes and force her to give us Jillin Harbor.

"Even if the second highness gets his throne back, he will still regard House Norton with caution and suspicion. Not only would we gain nothing, he'd also send his messengers to ask us for support shamelessly. The most important thing is that Duke Madras defeat is at hand. The Northlands will be connected to the Andinaq kingdom soon after instead of being separated by another power like before. I worry, Your Grace, that the second highness will be able to send a tax collection official to our dominion to collect all sorts of taxes when he becomes king.

"It would mean our house will have to give up hundreds of thousands of gold Fordes each year. We'll also have to publicly announce the farmland we have to the kingdom. Given the time the second highness spent at our dominion, he would've grasped that our chief income comes from production rather than agriculture and will seek benefits. He might even levy all sorts of new taxes.

"To our three allied houses, letting the second highness get his throne back isn't a good idea. They would also have to start paying taxes and find ways to prevent him from using their household forces to wage war against other nobles. As things are now, however, he is in The Northlands and doesn't have either power or soldiers. I strongly object to us dealing with Queen Carey. It's better to have her in power. At the very least, she's no threat to our house."

Lorist smiled bitterly before he poured another cup of fruit wine for himself and downed it in one gulp.

"You're right. But those are two relatively light consequences," Lorist said as he pointed at the map, "This year, we've exterminated the Madras duchy. The time we have left will only be enough to move its citizens. Next year, however, we're attacking Iblia. Duke Fisablen will be a formidable opponent and obstacle. That old man isn't just a cunning fox, he's a mighty lion. His title of war god is no joke. We can't afford to be careless at all."

Lorist sighed deeply.

"These days, I've been looking over some of the information we gathered on House Fisablen... We've severely underestimated the duke. Do you know how many men he has enlisted? Two hundred and forty thousand men, all full-time soldiers! He's not the war god for nothing..."

"What did you say? Two hundred and forty thousand? That's impossible... House Fisablen definitely can't feed so many people with the produce from Wild Husbandry and Eastwild alone. They physically can't produce the volume necessary," said Charade suspiciously.

"I'm not lying, it's true," Lorist said.

He pulled open one of his desk drawers and took out a thick folder.

"They don't need to rely on producing food. They can just pillage it from the grassland barbarians. When the barbarians eventually submit, he'll also gain access to an endless supply of livestock.

"Do you remember our first trade agreement with House Fisablen? Princess Sylvia asked for 100 thousand sets of cavalry armor number 103 when she paid the ransom for the five thousand cavalrymen. The total price was two million livestock to be paid in five years. Back then, I was elated to have the deal because it would force the duke to focus his efforts on the plains and bring him into greater conflict with the barbarians. I was sure he would suffer casualties in the process, which would lessen the threat he posed.

"I miscalculated. House Fisablen has been killing barbarians for a very long time. So long, in fact, that the barbarians fear them. This is a report from Tarkel. He mentions, among other things, that he managed to procure a pair of eyes within the house. According to said eyes, around 30 thousand barbarian tribes have submitted and were already their vassals by the time they signed our first trade agreement. These tribes not only provide the house with livestock annually, their youths are also drafted into the house's forces.

"There's another report from Count Kenmays concerning the investigation he launched using the salt merchant committee into House Fisablen's purchases over the last couple of years. The count was incredibly pleased with the profits trade with the Fisablens was earning and our house also received a dividend of 12 thousand gold Fordes. Little did we know House Fisablen was reselling our goods to the barbarian tribes.

"Nobody could tell from the large order of salt and daily goods that the house was doing this. House Fisablen's territory had a population of at most 500 thousand. Yet, their consumption of salt and daily goods exceeded that of our own dominion threefold. We only had around one million subjects back then! I thought the duke was raiding the barbarians for the livestock, but in actuality, he was trading with them. Even after he sent his troops, he only made them yield to him instead of raiding or massacring them.

"His next move was indeed splendid as well. While we were worried he might be intending to start a new trade route by strengthening his house's relationship with the four central duchies, he was only setting up an insurance plan. Right now, the products sold to the grasslands are supplied by the salt merchant committee and we produce the products themselves. If we ever cut off our trade, House Fisablen would no longer be able to trade with the barbarians. What would they do if they have no resources all of a sudden? They'd arm themselves and start raiding again. It would send the dominion straight into fire and chaos once more.

"That's why Duke Fisablen banded with the four central duchies to end Melein. With the duchy out of the way, he would be rid of a troublesome foe and he would gain a new trade route. If we halt our trade with the duke now, he can procure what he and his dominion needs from the four duchies. As long as the great plains don't fall into chaos, House Fisablen can focus its efforts elsewhere. The greater and lesser golden creeks, for example."

Giving Charade, who was listening to his long lecture, a look, Lorist poured himself another cup of wine.

"Perhaps you think Duke Fisablen is only a powerful duke who's past his prime and only knows how to defend against threats. After I met him, however, I have this sense that he will be the most dangerous foe our house has, or will, ever face. I don't hate him because he didn't let Sylvia marry me. I only realized he is a true mastermind filled with ambition. Anyone who underestimates him will have hell to pay."

"Your Grace, it's not that I don't believe you, but, if the duke really is as you say, why did he not take control of Windbury when we captured the second prince? The city was in a state of chaos and nobody controlled it, yet he left after a few months. It shows he doesn't have the slightest bit of ambition -- he only strives for self-preservation. If he really were as you say, he'd use his forces to exterminate the nobles in the city and consolidate the kingdom's forces under his banner," argued Charade.

"This is where his cunningness truly shines. Think about it, what would be the consequences if the duke did as you are suggesting? His forces would have to suppress revolt after revolt by the nobles across Winston. Not only would it take him years to stabilize the situation, he would have to waste lots of resources and incur heavy casualties in doing so. Even if he succeeded in the end, he'd only be left with the province's war-torn remnants. What would be the point?

"Don't forget, when the Melein duchy still existed, it wouldn't hesitate to stab the duke in the back whenever it saw a chance. Should Duke Fisablen spread himself thin, Duke Melein would make his move. Do you think the four central duchies would give Duke Fisablen a chance to restore the kingdom? Viscount Kristoph had already suffered a loss at our hands at the time. Faced with our might, stepping down was the best choice he could make.

"After the duke returned to his dominion, he had Princess Sylvia come over right away, mainly to ransom his troops back while also signing a five-year deal. We initially thought it a show of amity by indirectly telling us that he harbored no hostile intent towards us. It made us put our attention elsewhere. Just like you said, we began to treat him like a harmless old man trying to extend his house's legacy.

"Now, however, I finally understand the old fox pulled a brilliant move with his retreat from Windbury. As long as he didn't act, Duke Melein wouldn't dare to invade. It essentially disarmed the Meilein duchy. Letting his daughter rule Windbury as queen also allowed the nobles of Southern and Winston to start fighting again, which spiraled the kingdom further into chaos. Even we thought we would be able to reap rewards after the two sides wiped each other out, so we began to wait.

"We were wrong. We were completely misled. It's all part of that old fox's plan. He knew better than anyone that as long as he was there, we wouldn't dare touch the ripe fruit that was the Iblia kingdom. It afforded him enough time to put his plan into action. When we were away at Hanayabarta, House Fisablen managed to swallow the greater and lesser golden creeks as they had planned. With the gold from the creeks, the duke finally revealed his true colors and turned his reticles back to the kingdom."

Lorist took a black folder from the desk and waved it around.

"This is the report Tarkel sent me about House Fisablen. It is a shame the sources he managed to bribe are only of low rank. They weren't able to procure more information for us, like how much gold the creeks produce each month. They don't know what the duke and his goons are up to either. But after seeing what they have for us, it's enough to let me think we should be on guard. House Fisablen's might isn't anything to scoff at!"

Handing the folder over to Charade, he continued, "You should take a look too since you don't believe what I said about them having 240 thousand troops. Our sources reveal that Duke Fisablen formed four Frontier Legions, each with 42 thousand men. It was the reason Princess Sylvia came over on her second trip to purchase another 70 thousand sets of armor 103. as well as 50 thousand sets of warrior-style equipment for another two garrison legions that each have 24 thousand men. One of those legions is stationed at the golden creeks, the other is at their main base in Eastwild, Crouchtiger Castle.

"Other than that, there is another reserve cavalry legion numbering around 28 thousand. They are formed from the barbarian youths that have submitted to the duke and play a huge part in attacking the other barbarian tribes that haven't submitted yet. Only those who perform well in battle will be enlisted in the Frontier Legion and be given equipment that our house made. It's also worth noting that more than half of the four frontier legions are made up of those barbarian warriors."

"You' mean to say Duke Fisablen's absorption of the barbarians into his forces' ranks have decreased the burden of the military on his own subjects?" asked Charade.

Lorist nodded.

"I thought the duke only had around 600 thousand subjects across both Eastwild and Wild Husbandry, so maintaining three Frontier Legions should already have been House Fisablen's limit. It's one of the reasons I didn't consider them a serious threat. If we ever attack the kingdom, the duke's forces will definitely disperse so as to not get on our bad side and watch the kingdom's end from the sidelines.

"I didn't think Duke Fisablen would have this move up his sleeves, doubling his forces by recruiting the barbarians. I always thought House Fisablen would have to station one legion at each of their three provinces, which would leave only one legion in reserve to engage in offensive operations and reinforce the others. I only just learned that all the duke's legions can attack together! The force of all 200 thousand light cavalry troops attacking together is staggering!

"Back then, House Fisablen didn't have enough funds and could only watch as we take in refugees from Winston and Southern while we wrote him off as harmless. Now the golden creeks have fallen into their hands and made up for their financial problems, they moved a hundred or so thousand youths straight to Eastwild right after conquering Melein.

"We all thought the duke held the knighthood tournament last year to find the princess a suitor. But after experiencing it for myself, I began to feel something was off. It was only after hearing about the Melein duchy's conquest that I realized the old fox's true aim is Iblia.

"After Melein's conquest, Duke Fisablen regained control of the kingdom and allied with the four central duchies. Given that we only have the two iron suspension bridges connecting The Northlands to the rest of the continent, it would be easy for the duke to keep us stuck here. The reason the knighthood tournament was held was to test the remaining strength of the nobles in the capital, to see if they'll prove troubling for him after he takes the city.

"Time is scarce for both us and the duke. The reason I insisted on attacking Madras was so we can open another way to leave The Northlands, expand our influence, as well as control Sanderson Hills, which is threatening to Winston. We might have a war in Winston the moment our trade deal with Duke Fisablen is completed.

"As much as I want to stop the arms trade as soon as possible, it's not an option. It's not a matter of breach of trust either. In fact, I worry that Duke Fisablen will storm Windbury, take Winston, and send his troops to The Northlands. We would be busy with the dominion relocation and remain unprepared. The moment the two suspension bridges are cut off, we can only circle around Sanderson Hills to launch our attack, which is exceedingly unstrategic.

"We have to take the initiative in the war with House Fisablen -- we have to strike first. We'll start with invading Winston, conquering Windbury, and sending our troops to Southern to ensure we retain the initiative. If we fight the duke in Winston, he would be able to receive continuous support from the four central duchies and the war will drag on for who knows how long. It would be a catastrophe for us."

After a short pause, Lorist muttered, "It's because of those contemplations that I want to send Loze and Tigersoar Legion to deal with the Andinaq kingdom. The ones that'll worry the most after the second highness regains his throne are the Union and the four central duchies. They'll definitely watch his every move and decrease their support for Duke Fisablen as a result. The duke won't be able to escape our grasp no matter how hard he tries."

Charade thought for a while in silence.

"Your Grace, it seems to make sense," said he finally, "but it's too complicated for me to comprehend as a whole so I can't tell what choice would be the best. At any rate, I still think restoring the second highness to his throne is akin to 'counteracting a poison with a toxin', as those herbalists love to say. He might end up being even more trouble for us than the duke."

Lorist smiled bitterly, "All I want is send him out of The Northlands as soon as possible lest he causes more trouble. Since he's still useful, we might as well let him do his thing after he gets his throne. Given his personality, he definitely holds a huge grudge after his humiliating defeat at the Union and the four central duchies' hands. Before he gets his revenge, I doubt he'd come for us. As for the taxes you mentioned, I'll have Count Kenmays ensure we get a three-year tax exemption for all four houses as compensation for the immediate deployment of our troops. He'll no doubt agree to it. As for what'll happen after three years, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

An Audience

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The southern area of The Northlands was House Shazin's dominion, where the former duke's mansion at Gildusk was located.

The days passed like years for the second highness. Fortunately, the sun would shine upon The Northlands once more after 20 or so more days of rain. Even so, he was impatiently waiting for the four nobles to invite him over as a spectator to the battle with the Madras duchy. After sending his henchmen to ask about the news, the response he got angered him so much that his face almost contorted irreversibly.

"What did you say?! The four nobles are busy with their winter harvests and don't have time to watch the battles?!"

He felt he truly didn't understand what was going on in their minds.

The duchy's 100 thousand plus forces have already waited through winter and the rainy season. Their morale must've dampened considerably. Forcing an enemy to a decisive battle will definitely lead to victory! Those fools are still bothering with the winter harvests at a time like this?! Are they out of their minds?! Once we lose this chance, it'll be too late for regrets! The enemy will be able to use the time to regain morale and vigor!

It wasn't that he didn't think the winter harvests weren't important. It would be equally troubling to miss the appropriate time to harvest and sow new seeds, but even so, was it more important than what was happening on the frontlines? The second highness hurriedly wrote a few letters to remind the nobles to not forget about how important the upcoming conflict was. He included an anecdote about his own failings and suggestions to avoid making the mistakes he had.

It didn't take long for him to receive a reply, however. Lorist's response was as short as letters get, containing only three words: I got it.

Baron Shazin sounded slightly more annoyed, saying: I'm the one at the frontlines. I know better than you.

Baron Felim's response addressed the strategic suggestions of the second highness. It pointed out that the two points the second highness put out wasn't exactly adequate, and explained the reason for his rebuttal.

Count Kenmays penned a really long letter filled with flowery words that filled up five whole pages, three of which were expressions of his concern and care for the second highness's living conditions and mental state. He even said that if the chef preparing his meals weren't satisfactory, the count would send his own personal chef to ensure the second highness got the best treatment during his stay. On the fourth page, the count stated his thoughts about the time he visited the imperial capital and expressed sympathy for the second highness's homesickness. The final page contained a whole discourse about how busy the count was within his dominion, as well as how his knights were acting according to House Norton's orders for the moment. The letter closed with, 'I believe the situation will stabilize soon enough. Victory is already in sight. Please rest assured, Your Highness.'

The letters caused the second highness to fume so intensely he wanted to tear the letters up in anger. Not one of the nobles bothered to invite him to the frontlines. Not willing to accept it, the second highness sent his gold-ranked knight Ripleid to check the situation.

However, Ripleid returned just three days later. He reported that he was prohibited from crossing the bridge into the duchy. He stayed there for a day and apart from seeing the Norton forces prepare for the construction of a citadel at the crossing, he didn't notice anything and had no choice but to return.

The second highness was even more depressed. It was apparent the four houses had come to an agreement to not let him meddle in the conflict. At the same time, it also showed that, even though the four houses considered him their liege, they were still very cautious of any of his advances. They knew of his plan to rebuild Whitelion Legion from the war-torn duchy. It definitely played a huge part in why he was forbidden from entering the duchy.

Gah, how frustrating!

The second highness hoped deeply that the four houses and the duchy's forces would have as huge a battle as possible. One that saw both sides suffer severe casualties. Perhaps only then would the four nobles recall the second highness's reputation as a war god and seek him out to save their sorry asses.

The only good news the second highness received when he arrived at Gildusk was the growth of the army with which he planned to restore his throne. They had recruited around 600 people from the Norton dominion. But at Gildusk, they were able to get more than three thousand in less than a month, with four freelance knights and around ten wandering knights pledging allegiance as well. The second highness ordered Glacia to have the Whitelion Legion equipment brought over while he remained at the army camp to train his troops.

Seeing that the 5th month would soon be upon them, the second highness decided to test the four nobles by offering his own troops as reinforcement. If they were making good progress, they would refuse his help. If the opposite was true and their forces were entangled with those of the duchy, they would definitely be more than happy to have the second highness on the frontlines. If that were the case, however, the second highness's newly built force would no doubt have to suffer heavy casualties.

Just when the second highness was pondering whether he should offer help, he heard a soldier outside the tent report, "Your Highness, Count Kenmays has arrived and wishes to have an audience with you. He's waiting for your summons outside the camp."

Count Kenmays is here? thought the second highness with joy.

Just as he was about to summon the count, he suddenly felt that he was being a little too rash.

I should put on some airs and let the count wait for a while first.

Thus, he announced, "Tell Count Kenmays I'm a little busy right now and have him wait for a bit."

The second highness felt the count must've come because of the conflict. Given that the total force count in the conflict was at least two or three hundred thousand, there was no way victory would be so easily decided, especially with the duchy's troops, which had a reputation of being incredibly hardy. Thinking of the time he tried to attack the Redlis kingdom with his army of 300 thousand, it was that old tortoise Duke Madras that had caused him the most grief.

The second highness looked for Ripleid for a sword training session. The second highness was also a three-star-gold-ranked knight at the end of the day. He took just thirty minutes to defeat the two-star Ripleid. Sweating profusely, he ordered a bath and fresh clothes prepared. After all that, he felt it was about time for him to receive Count Kenmays, who had been waiting outside the camp.

The guard quickly left and came back alone, reporting, "Your Highness, after Count Kenmays heard you were busy, he left almost immediately on his carriage, saying he'd come visit again in two days."

The second highness was completely flabbergasted.

What's the meaning of this?! Wasn't the count going to see me for my opinions and strategies to use in the conflict? Did I guess wrong? Are the four houses actually holding up well against the duchy?

It can't be. While that old tortoise Madras isn't any good when it comes to attacking, his forces excel in defense. Such was the case when the second prince attempted to attack Kobo as well! The second prince lost eleven times and ended up wearing his own army out! The duke was able to turn it into a huge victory and forced the second prince back to Delamock!

Perhaps Count Kenmays was only pretending, thought the second highness hurriedly.

It was to be expected given how the count was responsible for the oath contract, which he realized too late and found he didn't gain any real benefits apart from being liege in name and even handed the authority to make the decisions to Lorist.

It's best if I am warier when dealing with Count Kenmays, lest I get duped again.

Having learned his lesson, the second highness finally called his guards to monitor the count's actions after a good moment of thought. Perhaps he would be able to get some inkling of his intentions after seeing what he did.

"Your Highness, Count Kenmays is going to organize a ball at his mansion and he has invited many noble ladies."

He's still in the mood to dance… there shouldn't be a problem with the war...

The second highness forced himself to stay calm so he wouldn't be misled by the count's many tactics.

"Your Highness, Count Kenmays went frolicking to the south of the city with a few noble ladies and even brought a few rattan balls for fun. He will also be partying with them at his mansion in the evening."

The second highness finished the fruit wine in his cup frustratedly. Had he gotten the wrong impression of the count's visit? Did the count only do so out of formality?

"Your Highness, this afternoon, Count Kenmays met with a few traveling merchants. At ni-night, he brought the merchants to the largest brothel in the city to… to let loose."

The second highness was so angry he instantly smashed the table he was using.

That darned bastard! What the heck?! Didn't he say he would come see me in two days? It's already the third day, and instead of coming to see me, he actually went to frequent the brothel?! How can he do that as a noble?!

"Your Highness, Count Kenmays is here."

"Oh, quick, have him come in..."

During the afternoon of the fourth day, the count finally came to see the second highness, who lost so much sleep his eyes had sunk noticeably.

"Ah! Your Highness, what's going on? You don't seem well! What happened?" asked the count after he saluted.

It's all because of you, bastard...

The second highness had tossed about in his bed for the whole night, not getting the slightest bit of sleep.

"These days," he sighed, "I've been rather troubled. I just can't seem to get any sleep the moment I think about the kingdom's situation. My throne was taken and now I'm here, stranded in The Northlands, looking at our great empire crumble day by day. The Union's influence is getting stronger while the four central duchies forgot about the glorious days of the empire and unite with the enemy. Hearing this tears my heart apart! How can I even get a good night's rest with all this happening?!"

"Your Highness, while it's your duty to be worried about the state of your kingdom as king, you must look after your health." Count Kenmays consoled, "Don't worry too much about this matter and tire yourself out. The past has already happened, as long as you stay strong, you will definitely be able to regain your throne one day. With you on our side, we are confident the empire will return to its former glory. Since you're not in prime condition right now, I suppose I'll come visit you on another day."

What?! You're going to leave after just spewing a few lines of crap to me?! You haven't told me anything I want to hear about yet!

The second highness hurriedly stopped the count.

"No, I can't do this. If you're not in good shape, I definitely shouldn't disturb your sleep any longer. I... I think it's better if we do this another time," refused Kenmays.

No way I'll let you do that! snapped the second highness inwardly, It's not like I'm actually king now, so there's nothing better for me to do! Staying at the camp all day long training those rookie soldiers is so dull I almost want to go count ants!

"Wait a second," said the second highness as he grasped the count's hand and pushed him onto a chair, "Since you took your time to make the trip here, let's have a good chat. I'm feeling fine so there's no need to worry about me. I only lacked a bit of sleep over the past two days, it's no big deal."

"Then, it's more important if you rest! I think it's best for me to not interrupt."

"There's really no need. Lord Count, how's the war with the duchy going? Are the casualties great? Do you need me to reinforce you with the five thousand men I have here?"

The count looked shocked and said, "The war? It's going well and we aren't losing that many men. There's no need for you to send your men over, Your Highness. All you should do is get some good rest."

"There aren't many casualties? Then how are things progressing with the war?" asked the second highness anxiously.

"Ah, you were talking about the casualties for the final battle? The final battle hasn't even started yet!" laughed the count.

"Hasn't even... started? Why? Didn't you tell me you were going to attack and wipe the duchy's forces out in one fell swoop? Why aren't you going with the plan any longer?"

"Oh, it's like this, Your Highness... It's not that we weren't going to launch our attack. The duchy's forces surrendered before we could start."

"What did you say? Surrendered? The 100 thousand soldiers of the duchy surrendered to the four houses of The Northlands?" asked the second highness in disbelief.

"Indeed, Your Highness. Not only did they all surrender, Duke Madras has also been captured. The Madras duchy is no more," said the count with a face full of smiles.

The second highness sat back in his chair, stupefied.

What... what about the final battle? Aren't you going to go into a bloody battle with the duke's forces and end up badly hurt yourselves? Was it all just my imagination?

"How did you guys do it?"

The second highness began to smile bitterly the moment he realized all his plans had gone down the drain. Despite his bitterness, he was curious how the four houses managed to pull off such a feat. He didn't suspect the count's words at all because the count definitely wouldn't dare lie about having the duke captured.

"The sea," the count said, "Lorist landed his household forces on Platinum Beach and attacked Edelise, before occupying Xith Castle, Vanades, and Kobo. When the three locations were taken, the duchy's forces camped opposite our own lost their supply line and had no choice but surrender."

The second highness thumped on the table hatefully the moment he understood. He had also boarded the ship from Silowas to The Northlands during the previous year and even passed by Platinum Beach on the way. Yet he hadn't imagined that it was an avenue of attack he could use. When Duke Madras deployed all his soldiers to the frontlines, his headquarters was left undefended. It was a fatal weakness that Lorist had managed to grasp. With but a light push, the duchy came toppling down.

"So you came here to see me just to tell me this? Congratulations, my count. You've just become a duke," said the second highness mockingly.

How ironic. Even though the duchy was exterminated, a king like me doesn't get any benefits. As the contract states, as long as the duchy is no more, Count Kenmays automatically becomes a duke and Sidgler becomes his hereditary dominion, all without needing my permission.

The second highness was so displeased he felt his heart throb with pain. If it were other nobles promoted, they would have to present a sum of gold to their liege. Yet, the fellow in front of him had managed to skimp even on that. The second highness really could use more funds for his army.

"Your Highness, this is all thanks to your wisdom and leadership," thanked Kenmays habitually without caring about how insulting it could be construed as, causing the second highness to flush red immediately.

"We have conquered the duchy, but a situation has come up that we need your advice on, Your Highness. Our losses were minimal, so some of us think we should keep the momentum going and go for Queen Carey right away so you may get your throne back at the earliest moment possible. Some, however, were against the idea and think we should help Baron Felim attack and reconquer Southern first. Naturally, Your Highness, I'm on the side of sending troops against Queen Carey," said Kenmays.

I bet you are actually part of the camp wanting to attack Iblia!

The second highness took two deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

"Why don't you strike down the illegitimate ruler first? I remember the contract contains a clause that necessitates the restoration of my throne. Are you about to go against your oaths?"

"Your Highness, we will definitely restore your throne, but so far, we've encountered a tricky situation. We lack the funds to deploy our troops, so many of us think we should slowly gather funds before we launch a campaign against the queen."

"Out with it. Just tell me what you want and stop going in circles," the second highness exclaimed as he stood up.

"I want a written promise from you, Your Highness, which is signed and stamped with your royal seal just like our contract," said the count as he stood up, "If we restore your throne in this year, you will exempt the four houses from any taxes for the next five years and pledge that you won't collect any form of payment from us. The five-year exemption will make up for our military costs."

The second highness furrowed his brow.

"Three years is the most I can do."

"It would seem it is best we gather the funds on our own then. Good day, Your Highness," the count said, preparing to leave.

"Fine, you win. I agree to your proposal, but you have to ensure I can return to the imperial capital by the end of this year," said the second highness.

Settling Debt

Here's the third release of the week. Enjoy~

The second highness took more than ten days to bring his army of five thousand to Kobo, fully equipped with the Whitelion Legion's gear. He hanged all 47 members of House Madras, including the captured duke. Even a four-year-old child wasn't able to escape his fate. There was even a sign engraved with these words beside the corpses: 'Thus is the fate of traitors to the empire'.

On the 14th day of the 5th month, Year 1775, the Andinaq kingdom's former king Auguslo hanged all the members of House Madras, exterminating one of the oldest noble houses of the Krissen Empire.

Kenmays, who was traveling with the second highness, wrote Lorist a letter and warned him to be wary of the second highness, stating that while the second highness appeared to be a forthright, ambitious and intelligent person on the surface, he had an extremely petty personality and was the kind of person to remember even the smallest grudges. Even in the starkest situations, he would persevere and endure. Such a person might prove troublesome in the future, especially when they had attempted to take advantage of him through the contract.

Lorist fell into deep thought after reading the letter. His reply was thus: 'Sheer might and our alliance. We'll execute the plan as scheduled.'

On the other hand, he wasn't too surprised at the fate of House Madras. When the duke suddenly announced the independence of his duchy, he had spoiled the third prince's chances to exterminate the rebellious first and second princes. Despite the third prince's efforts to conquer Kobo, he ended up retreating, defeated. It set the once mighty empire on the path of civil war and certain doom.

As the successor of the third prince, the second highness bore a deep grudge against Duke Madras. While Lorist was well aware of it, he didn't think the second highness would actually go so far as to kill even a four-year-old child to ensure the blood of House Madras, passed down for three centuries, was extinguished forever. Perhaps, such cruelty was the second highness's shortcoming. A king should not act ruthlessly with exclusivity -- seeking the fear of his subjects -- he should also be willing to compromise and tolerate.

It was precisely the second highness' cruelty that caught Lorist's attention. When he regained his position on the throne, the four dukes of the central duchies would probably be unnerved, given what had happened to House Madras. Lorist believed they would definitely focus all their attention on the second highness's actions and thus decrease the extent of their support for House Fisablen.

Kenmays understood what Lorist meant in his short reply instantly. No explanation was necessary, it was clear that 'might' referred to the strength of the singular house. As long as one had might, one need not fear others. 'Alliance', on the other hand, obviously referred to the maintenance of the four houses' alliance. In the past, the four houses had stood united in The Northlands against foes outside. Now each of the houses had their own dominions and had expanded their power, they didn't have to worry about the second highness in the slightest -- if they could maintain their alliance. If he attempted to cross any of the four houses, the other three would definitely jump to their aid and resist him.

Kenmays suddenly felt helping the second highness back on his throne was a rather good idea. Even though he didn't believe Lorist when he said House Fisablen was the most dangerous enemy they would ever face, after some thought, he felt that, even without House Fisablen around, as long as the second highness was still there, the four houses would stand united against any enemy. Additionally, they wouldn't dissolve the alliance just because they no longer had a common foe.

Let's execute our plan. First, we'll make the second highness king again and let the Union feel threatened. We'll have to reorganize our dominions and military this year and attack Iblia next year. Let's see how Duke Fisablen intends to cope with us.

After leaving Kobo, the second highness and Kenmays continued their journey to Vanades. On the way, they passed the depressed citizens of Sidgler who were migrating to the Norton dominion, carrying with them whatever belongings they could take with a simple pull-carriage. Sounds of crying could be heard from both sides of the road where they passed.

When the second highness saw the Madras soldiers constructing the road, he couldn't help but reveal a desiring expression.

"Lord Count, could you give me these captives..."

Before the second highness finished, Kenmays interjected, "Apologies, Your Highness. We are nobles and must abide by the oaths we take. We promised these soldiers they would be allowed to reunite with their families after three years of service. Forgive me for being unable to agree to your request, we are truly unable to go against our word."

"Forget it then," said the second highness as he waved his horsewhip with dissatisfaction.

"Don't be mad, Your Highness," Kenmays laughed, "We just received word today that Tigersoar occupied Vanades yesterday. They'll rush to the imperial capital straight away. For now, the refugees and soldiers at Welbassia and Yungechandler are yours from which to pick. A good number of them are your old subordinates too. I'm sure you'll be able to form a new legion. Using the men you're familiar with is better than using the duchy's troops, no?"

"How could things go this fast?" the second highness exclaimed, "I fortified Yungechandler myself. Lichtana Citadel and Mountainmidst Castle are the core of the province's defenses and I've had many experts in fortification design the battlements, mainly to stop a sudden invasion by Duke Madras. Did the garrison soldiers surrender as well?"

"I'm not too sure about the details, Your Highness. Actually, Mountainmidst Castle was already conquered by the time we left Kobo. As I understand it, Tigersoar is the sharpest knife House Norton has. It is mainly a cavalry unit that excels at attacking. Its capabilities are beyond what we can imagine. If the troops at Yungechandler weren't well-prepared, it's not surprising that they didn't manage to withstand Tigersoar's assault."

Well, had they not needed to wait for the arrival of Ovidis's Thunderbolt Brigade, they might've already reached the Great Andalou Plains already. he thought as he spoke.

Both Lichtana Citadel and Mountainmidst Castle were unable to resist the Thunderbolt Brigade's barrage. Lorist had long told Fiercetiger Loze to ruin every castle they came across so they wouldn't become obstacles in the future.

After hearing about Tigersoar's performance, the second highness couldn't help but feel the burning desire to fly to the legion and command it himself during the capital's siege. He deeply desired to make his grand entrance into the palace.

It was too bad that the moment they arrived at Yungechandler, the second highness was held back by too many other matters. As the first province of the kingdom he retook, many acquaintances and old subordinates couldn't wait to meet with him. Additionally, there was the matter of absorbing the surrendered troops and captives into Whitelion. He was so busy he barely had time for a good meal.

Word of Tigersoar's results kept on coming, but the second highness was finally able to relax when he heard they finally began to face the royal defense legion at the imperial capital. That legion was originally the second highness's second royal local defense legion he had stationed at Yungechandler to defend it. They had joined Queen Carey's side and become the kingdom's only official legion, numbering just 76 thousand in total. They had been stationed at Flowater Creek and Jillin Harbor.

Faced with Tigersoar's fierce attacks, the ones in control of the kingdom had to order the royal defense legion to regroup. At the same time, they had sent a call for help to the Zitram duchy, Allied Duchies of Britt and the Forde Trade Union in the hopes they would be able to send reinforcements to prevent the second highness from returning once more.

The second highness hurriedly wrote an impassioned letter to Loze, first praising the general's results, before suggesting Loze hold his ground for half a month. He stated that he would be able to finish reorganizing Whitelion and be able to send aid by then. He wanted to unite the two armies in the effort to conquer the capital.

In less than half a month, however, word from the frontlines was that House Norton's Firmrock Legion had arrived at Jillin Harbor and encircled the capital completely. The royal defense force was defeated by the two legions' combined attack. The legion lost 30 thousand men and the rest either surrendered or deserted. The old empire's most prosperous city finally opened its doors to the Nortons. The victors, Firmrock and Tigersoar, stepped into the city proudly and hung the banner of the Raging Bear all over the palace's walls.

On the 11th day of the 7th month, Year 1777, The Northlands' House Norton defeated the Andinaq kingdom's royal defense legion with the Firmrock and Tigersoar Legions, conquering the imperial capital. Queen Carey I and her three lovers drank poison to self-terminate. The former king, Auguslo I, once again took his position on the throne.

This stunning war showed others the overpowering might of the House of the Raging Bear. They had launched their attack on the 14th day of the 5th month and completed their objectives on the 11th day of the 7th month. In the span of just two months, they had swept three provinces of the kingdom without any apparent resistance, winning battles one after another.

When the neighboring powers resisted Tigersoar at the capital together, House Norton sent Firmrock to Jillin Harbor and dealt the decisive blow to the kingdom from behind. Their actions were so swift that the surrounding nations weren't able to react in time. Before they had even decided whether to send troops to reinforce the kingdom, the dust of war had already settled.

The battles saw the reputation of three of House Norton's gold-ranked knights soar. Naturally, among them was Tigersoar's commander, Fiercetiger Loze, who swept the battlefield with incredible ferocity and speed. Dulles had commanded the carroballista division and launched a massacre-like attack on the royal defense legion. Half of the 30 thousand dead had died by ballista fire, their corpses were piled up like mountains, accompanied by rivers of blood. The last knight was Ovidis. The heavily bearded guy crushed one citadel after another with the Thunderbolt Brigade. No matter how hard the defense, he managed to break it into shambles.

The second highness finally returned to the capital in the 7th month with the newly formed Whitelion Legion. His first action after he returned was to admonish the nobles who had betrayed him. Under the purview of Tigersoar and Firmrock, who were in charge of the city's security, the noble's blood was spilled. The massacre disrupted the city's hitherto peaceful streets. Soldiers, garbed in the Whitelion Legion's gear, stormed the lavish mansions and dragged the nobles out one by one before beheading them on the streets. As for the women, they were brought back to the army camp as spoils. Their cries and shrieks echoed across the plains and down the city streets.

"How can they do that?!" Loze roared angrily, "Did the second highness forget he's the king and this his capital?"

"He doesn't have a choice," Potterfang said with a troubled frown, "You and I both know the second highness didn't bring much of his wealth with him when he escaped to The Northlands. Apart from the Whitelion Legion equipment and the funds the four houses gave him, he has nothing else, and that money is also almost entirely used up. I thought he would only punish a few of them at first, but I didn't think he'd exterminate them all. He's intent on clearing out almost all the kingdom's nobles!"

"His Grace shouldn't have let the second highness back on the throne. Given how cruel he is, he will definitely become a most fearsome threat to our house one day," said Loze as he gazed at the walls where many heads were hung.

"It's about time we left. Since you already rescued all your paramours, don't butt into the second highness's business any longer. Even though I think he doesn't have the bearing of a king, this is something His Grace should worry about. It's not our business to participate in this discussion. I will say, however, that the second highness will never be able to reunite the old Krissen Empire as he is now," said Potterfang.

On the 32nd day of the 7th month, Year 1777, Auguslo I -- who had just been reinstated as king -- ordered the bloody execution of all the traitorous nobles. Not a single one in the imperial capital was left alive, save a few exceptions. The massacre spanned three whole days and more than three thousand nobles had their heads cut off and displayed on the city walls. As for the young noble ladies, most were disgraced at the army camps until they expired and departed the world. Word of the atrocity eventually spread and shocked the whole of Grindia. The nobles of various nations considering the second highness public enemy number one. He was eventually known as the Slaughterer King, and the incident was later termed 'The Bloody Cleansing of the 7th'.

"He's a freaking demon, not a king!" Loze complained even after leaving the capital, "It's one thing if he kills the nobles, but do why the attendants, servants, and knights have to die? Not only did he not spare the women, he didn't even give them a swift death! This is something only a demon is capable of doing. He's destroying our honor as nobles! I really feel like we need another war..."

Kenmays was currently seated in front of Loze and Potterfang. He had accompanied the second highness on the way to the imperial capital and had witnessed everything.

"In terms of the law, the second highness wasn't wrong in what he did," he sighed, "Those nobles were traitors. They had intentionally delayed or ignored his decrees and caused Kanbona's. The second highness had already ordered the province be strongly defended, yet they didn't bother and caused the second highness's efforts to go to waste.

"When he was trapped at Frederika, not only did they not send aid, they even crowned Princess Carey queen. It's an indisputable act of betrayal. Perhaps, they thought all they had to do when the second highness returned was admit their wrongdoing. Even they didn't think he would hold his grudges so close. The second highness is not the slightest bit tolerant the way they thought he was. Since he had used up almost all his funds in rebuilding Whitelion, slaughtering the nobles and confiscating their wealth is only par for the course.

"Then again, we really didn't see how cruel he could get, for him to kill even the women and everyone else related to the noble houses by blood. He did it to extinguish any seed of revenge that may sprout in the future. The both of you are still right. The second highness doesn't act like a king should at all. He's just a slaughterer."

A guard entered the tent and reported, "His Grace is here!"

Letter

The fourth release of the week is served!

Lorist read Loze's urgent letter and fell into deep thought. It was signed by Loze, Count Kenmays, and Potterfang, and contained three points of argument. The first concerned the second highness's settling the nobles' 'debt' and their fate. The second regarded the second highness wish that the Norton forces not retreat until they finished their obligations as stated by the contract. The third reported a rather inappropriate request, which Loze had already refused on Lorist's behalf.

Lorist did not feel much about the second highness's actions towards the nobles since he wasn't too fond of them either. They were far too corrupt to be allowed to exist if the empire's unification was still a goal. The extermination of such useless leeches was most definitely warranted. Had Lorist been in the second highness's shoes, he might've done the same thing, perhaps less harshly and using less extreme methods. It could be said that the reason for the second highness's extremity was his need for funds and possessions to alleviate the dire situation of the kingdom's finances.

'One's grounds is always decided on where one is sat'. For instance, Loze used to be a mere ex-officer of the disbanded Whitelion Legion when he joined the northbound convoy. After experiencing seven years of civil war within the empire, he hated the nobles with fervor and thought the empire fell due to their greed. It was for this reason that he didn't hesitate to take the actions he did and hang the members of around 40 noble households when he first agreed to a deal between the second highness and the convoy.

In a flash, ten years had passed, and as a gold-ranked household knight of House Norton, Loze was now a quasi-noble himself. With Lorist's ascension to dukedom, he would have a place among the barons entitled by Lorist himself. With that, his position on the matter changed and he resolved himself to live in a way befitting a member of the nobility. He went to great lengths to familiarize himself with the protocols and etiquette of the nobility. That was why he raged at the second highness's massacre; he felt such an action was an affront to all nobles.

Back then, he couldn't help but want to kill off as many nobles as possible. Yet, he was now proud to be one of the peerage. On a side note, after conquering the imperial capital, he found himself four lovers of noble heritage and managed to save their households from the massacre.

After some thought, Lorist felt there was nothing much to complain about since he was in the same position. It would be a stretch to call him a noble loyal to the kingdom; even he wouldn't dare to don that reputation. After all, he was one who acted in the interests of House Norton first.

Perhaps, in the eyes of a king like the second highness, Lorist himself was even more dastardly than the nobles he had massacred. Only the house's might and its control over the whole of The Northlands deterred the second highness from doing anything.

The second highness's contempt for House Norton manifested in the next plan, which was the focus of the letter's second topic. The second highness made it clear that House Norton would only have fulfilled its obligation to reinstate his rule once the territories Queen Carey had ceded were once again part of the kingdom. Even though the imperial capital had already been recaptured, it still didn't change the fact that the territories relinquished as a result of the queen's actions remained outside of the kingdom.

In other words, the three provinces Queen Carey ceded for the sake of peace had to be returned to the kingdom before the second highness would consider the terms of the contract satisfied.

Hehe, Lorist thought coldly, He's pushing his luck. He really is incredibly shameless for a king.

The second highness's goals were simple: to cause conflict between House Norton and the Union and four central duchies, and to create an opportunity the second highness could take advantage of.

The latest maps showed that the province of Hanstmost, one of the former provinces of the Andinaq kingdom, had been fused with the northwestern area of the now defunct REdlis kingdom to form the Zitram duchy. The ruling duke was a former Redlis count from Anderwoff. After the flood in Majik consumed 70 thousand of the second highness' troops, and resulted in the death of Gold-ranked Knight Baroin, one of the second highness's five tigers, it could be said that the Zitram duchy was one of the second highness's sworn enemies.

As for the two southeastern Redlis provinces that had fallen into the clutches of the Andinaq kingdom following the first prince's defeat, they had been ceded to the ones who would form the Allied Duchies of Britt. The ones in control were three nobles who had made enormous contributions in the conflict against the second highness. Obviously, both the Zitram duchy and the Allied Duchies of Britt were buffer areas for the Union so any retaliation by the second highness wouldn't reach their territory directly. The Union seemed to be rather wary of all possible scenarios and had already predicted the possibility of the second highness coming back.

It seemed the two nations' leaders were on fight-or-die terms with the second highness and would definitely not compromise. The Union behind them definitely wouldn't either. Currently, the second highness intended to play coy and have House Norton reclaim the two southeastern provinces and Hanstmost before acknowledging House Norton's efforts to honor the contract. It showed how much he worried about the two nations. He was afraid they would attack one House Norton withdrew from the capital. Without Hanstmost and the two southeastern provinces, the imperial capital would be the battlefield and it would be incredibly bad for the second highness and his desire of reuniting the empire.

The second highness's plan wasn't bad, so to speak. He wanted to have Tigersoar and Firmrock attack the Zitram duchy and the Allied Duchies of Britt. Even after the territories were reclaimed, he could have the two armies stationed there just long enough so he could spark conflict between House Norton and the Union. Not only would it grind away at the Nortons' military might, the second highness could send out his elite forces after both sides wore each other out to take the rest of the Redlis kingdom's territory in one go.

Lorist didn't mind wiping out the two nations since they weren't formed very long. Without the Madras duchy's interference, the might of Tigersoar and Firmrock combined was more than enough to conquer the two nations easily. The only thing he worried about was Duke Zitram. Someone who could cause the second highness so much loss was not someone dealt with easily. Then again, if he let Firmrock attack the Zitram duchy, he believed Potterfang's reliability wouldn't expose any weaknesses of which the duke could take advantage. There were no rivers or large streams at Hanstmost, it was mostly mountains. Such terrain was where Firmrock excelled most.

Lorist was angry at the second highness; he had overstepped his bounds. He had ignored his subordinates' objections to restoring the second highness' rule so quickly because he wanted the second highness to attract the four central duchies' attention so they would cease their support of Duke Fisablen. He also believed that, as a person of power, one had to consider all possible situations.

Lorist didn't deny he had considered the notion of forming his own kingdom. After all, he had already put in so much effort to meld with the battleforce-oriented world of Grindia as someone who came from another world. His soul stemmed from an ancient oriental civilization that had five millennia of history. While the original owner of his current body might have been a person loyal to the kingdom, he definitely wasn't. The fact that House Norton managed to become what it was today, bearing the title of Duke of The Northlands, was already far beyond the Norton ancestors' imagination. Lorist felt he had already done a lot for the house.

Similarly, others considered House Norton one of the second highness' mightiest supporters. There was nothing about Lorist's actions that anyone could nitpick, apart from duping him secretly for some benefits. Lorist had his own troubles, so he didn't really mind the king's shameless requests.

In terms of giving the second highness a legion's worth of equipment and mobilizing his forces to help the second highness regain his throne, Lorist had executed it all extremely well. Even if he were to fall out with the second highness in the future, nobody could criticize him for it. While the path of a ruler was filled with thorns and obstacles, both light and dark at every corner, rulers should always act fairly and justly, even if it was just for the sake of appearances. Any moral flaw a ruler displayed could be fatal to his ambitions. That was why the Norton knights and officials suggested he let the second highness remain at The Northlands for the time being.

The second highness's recent massacre would only incite disgust and hatred among other nobles. It would also deter them from pledging allegiance to him in the future.

Lorist started penning his reply. He told Loze and Potterfang they could attack the two nations to recover Hanstmost and the two southeastern provinces for the Andinaq kingdom. Since they were already 90 percent there, they might as well take the final step to make sure the second highness wouldn't have anything to say about their conduct.

Lorist made his own request of the second highness, however. The second highness must send men to hold the territory within 15 days of its capture. The two armies would retreat from the frontlines after 15 days whether they had been relieved or not, and would not return. He gave permission for Kenmays to iron out the details with the second highness on his behalf in this regard. Should he not agree to this condition, Potterfang and Loze were free to return right away. If anyone was idiotic enough to try and stop them, they could kill them without question. They had his personal permission to slaughter their way back to the dominion if need be, even if their opponent was the second highness himself.

The second highness' awkward request, the letter's third topic, was that the catapults and steel ballistae be left with him. Lorist only had a single, short comment: 'Well done refusing the bastard'.

On what grounds does he think he deserves them? Because he's king? Even our three allies don't have them. Loze said it the best. Those weapons are our trump cards and if the second highness wants a piece, he better be ready to fight for it. All he has to do is declare us traitor and defeat us.

When Lorist finished writing his reply, he had Howard send it out using the messenger eagle. The birds only required a day to fly to Silowas. The letter would only take a further three days or so to reach Potterfang and Loze. It was much faster than how the count had his servants travel on horseback from the imperial capital, which took 17 whole days.

Lorist no longer worried for Firmrock and Tigersoar, Loze and Potterfang wouldn't let him down. Kenmays was with them, so the second highness wouldn't glean any benefits without their knowledge.

The following days saw Lorist occupied with many tasks, such as the enfeoffment and relocation of dominions at Delamock and the eastern Northlands' development. He also had to be present at the opening ceremony of Dawn Academy's Northland branch on the 15th day of the 8th month. The completion of the house's formal legal regulations also had to be screened. He also had to check on the newly formed Jaeger Legion as well as spend some time with Dilianna and his seven-month-old son. He couldn't help but wish he had the ability to create multiple clones of himself.

A rumor was also spreading in the dominion that worried him greatly. Word was that Lorist had begun to treat House Fisablen as a sworn enemy and had the intention to wipe it out after the duke refused to let Princess Sylvia marry him.

The first time he heard about it was in Tarkel's report. Tarkel had stammered when he described the rumor to Lorist. The matter of Duke Fisablen's refusal was no secret, neither were the terms he wanted Lorist to abide by for Sylvia's hand in marriage. Even though many of them considered Lorist a person who treasured his relationships in his act of not abandoning his children and concubines, many also thought those concubines were not worth treasuring in comparison to Princess Sylvia. They believed their lord shouldn't give up on the union with House Fisablen for a few concubines.

At first, nobody cared much for the rumor since it only started as gossip in taverns. But as Lorist began to worry about House Fisablen's might and take preventive measures, the rumors morphed to state that Lorist had done all he had because he was bitter and that he was preparing to attack House Fisablen and fight for the princess instead. This version somehow clicked with the folks in the dominion and began to spread like wildfire.

Even though Lorist was practically fuming with rage over the rumor, there wasn't a target on which he could take out his anger.

Why have I become the crook that sends his armies out for the sake of a single beauty?

Tarkel observed Lorist's reaction quietly.

"Milord, should we forbid the rumor's spread by punishing those spreading it with labor?"

"Forget it," Lorist sighed, hopelessly, "Let people say what they want. There's no point in forcing their mouths shut. Taking any stern action would only confirm the rumor. Besides, it's a personal matter. I suppose I should just accept it as one of the side effects of being Duke of The Northlands."

On the 19th day of the 8th month, Year 1777, House Norton's Tigersoar and Firmrock Legions suddenly launched an attack on the Allied Duchies of Britt. Seventeen days later, they occupied all of the two southeastern provinces. The two dukes fell in battle. It was the end of the Allied Duchies.

On the 8th day of the 9th month of that year, Firmrock launched an attack on the Zitram duchy. Duke Zitram had his forces retreat out of Hanstmost. He stood his ground in the northwestern area of the old Redlis kingdom. On the 32nd day of the 9th month, Tigersoar and Firmrock handed Hanstmost and the two southeastern provinces over to Whitelion Legion and the Andinaq kingdom's newly formed royal defense legion before beginning their journey back to The Northlands.

Gold Coins (1)

Hey Guys.

We've been working on something wonderful behind the scenes. We just know you guys will enjoy it! Everything's hush-hush for now, but check out our "Patreon page" (link to patreon page) and Liberspark's homepage tomorrow at the usual chapter release time for the big announcement. Just a hint: You might want to start revising what you know of TRL's world so far to prepare yourself. We can't wait to tell you guys what we have planned! Enjoy this week's last chapter and stay tuned for an announcement!

Ryogawa and Prince

"Your Grace, the inventory of the spoils from the Madras duchy is finished," said Spiel with a yellow folder in hand.

"How much is there?" asked Lorist.

"There were only 1.74 million gold coins in all the houses' treasuries, including House Madras'. It doesn't even make two million," replied Spiel, disappointed.

While the conquest of the Hanayabarta kingdom brought House Norton 27 million gold coins, the conquest of the Madras duchy only netted them 1.7 million. The disparity was akin to robbing a beggar after breaking into a tycoon's house.

It did seem reasonable after some consideration. The Hanayabarta kingdom was an isolated island kingdom that had enjoyed peace for nearly a century and profited greatly from the slave trade and managed to gather lots of resources, which eventually ended up in House Norton's hands. As for the Madras duchy, they were embroiled in conflict every couple of years. Lorist himself had plundered quite a bit of their wealth when he came through with the convoy. The second prince's 'reinforcement', actually a cover for taking advantage of the duchy, had caused the duchy huge losses shortly after. It took the duke a lot of money and effort to stabilize the duchy and fortify its borders thereafter. They would've finally had some peace, that was until the Nortons spoiled their plans by coming from the seas and wiping the duchy off the map altogether.

Just like an old man that punched with all his might but missed and hurt his back at the same time, Duke Madras's efforts and spending were all for naught. Whether it be the newly built citadels or his armies, they couldn't be put to any use in the conflict. It didn't change the fact that the duchy's treasury was in a pitiful state to say the least, however.

"Duke Madras spent over six million gold Fordes on his military over the past five years. I really want to see Kenmays's face when he finds out the profits he made from the duchy by selling our outdated armor left the duchy's wallet practically empty," said Lorist hatefully.

"Your Grace, half of the six million was used to construct the seven citadels near Sanderson Hills and to fund the formation of the four garrison legions stationed there. What remained of the money was used to purchase equipment and weapons. Of that, one million was used to purchase iron ingots from the Handra duchy for their own smiths to work with," said Spiel after looking through the accounts.

Lorist dropped the account sheet on his desk.

"In essence, we got lots of military gear and resources?"

"Yes, Your Grace," Spiel said before he flipped the folder in his hand and continued, "The weather over the last couple of years has been rather benign, with no notable instances of natural disasters, allowing Delamock's storehouses to fill up with food. The accounts state that there are approximately 13 million Pors. We shouldn't have to worry about food for the next three years."

There were 13 million Pors, each representing 50 kilograms. The duchy's conquest netted the house 650 million kilograms of food -- definitely good news. Even though the Norton dominion had been developed rather extensively over the last ten years, the dominion's food production only just barely satisfied the demand. Should a natural disaster ever occur, the house would have to fret over the matter of securing food. Now that one of the dominion's larger problems had been solved, Lorist felt pronouncedly relieved.

"Your Grace, apart from food, there are also a lot of other military resources left behind by the surrendered soldiers. There is enough equipment to arm 300 thousand men. We've sorted it all according to quality, there are around 300 sets of superb quality armor, 70 thousand of decent quality, just over 100 thousand of average quality, and around 270 thousand sets of varied weapons. The armor of any worse quality has already been sent to the forges to be made into farming tools. How are we to deal with the armor and equipment we gained?" asked Spiel.

It was a rather worrying problem. Since the house already had Sid steel armor and many of their own weapons, they wouldn't use the outdated gear they sold to the duchy. That was also the case with their three allies, as their forces also used equipment produced by them. Lorist would have to find another way to strike a military arms deal.

"Keep the superb ones and around 30 thousand sets of the decent ones. When the house finishes entitling our vassals, we can assign these to their garrison and private forces so they'll be well-protected whenever they follow us into battle. As for the rest, send a portion to Silowas and ask whether the Peterson Merchant Guild wants to sell them on our behalf. If they're not interested, we'll wait for Count Kenmays to return. Didn't he say he wanted to start a new trade route to the four central duchies? We'll see if we can sell the equipment to them," said Lorist,

Shocked, Spiel said, "Milord, aren't they our enemies? Would it be appropriate to sell to them?"

"If not them, then to whom?" Lorist asked, rolling his eyes, "The second highness will only pay us in the form of credit, we won't get a single copper coin out of him. As for House Fisablen, the military arms deal with them still hasn't concluded yet. We have Peterson Merchant Guild collecting orders for us at the Union, but ever since the Chikdor Merchant Guild's purchase of the armor we produced, they didn't submit any further orders. That makes the four central duchies the only viable target.

"Supervisor Spiel, you have to be more confident in the house. If the four central duchies become our enemy, the equipment will just come back to us."

The lack of people to trade with was one of the negatives of The Northlands' ruralness. Grindia was rather large and irregularly shaped. Humans only populated two-thirds of the land area that formed the shape of a ladle. The Northlands wasn't truly located in the north of the Grindian continent, but rather the middle. The reason it was called as it was, was because it was the northmost point humans had settled. Past The Northlands was uncharted wildlands that humans hadn't frequented since the end days of the magical civilization more than two thousand years earlier.

Lorist was right in that there were no other targets for House Norton to sell to, apart from the four central duchies. It made him rather envious of the strategic location of the Union's territory; it was situated in the middle of the north and the south and had the neighboring duchies with which to trade. Perhaps, he could have Senbaud take the Oceanic Legion and start a new trade route to the Golden Bay. It just might bring the house even more wealth.

Spiel quickly realized the new Duke of The Northlands was gazing off into the distance with empty eyes, oblivious to what he was saying.

"Hrmm-hrmm."

"Sorry. My thoughts wandered. Could you repeat what you said?" admitted Lorist.

"Your Grace, even though we only obtained 1,74 million gold Fordes from the duchy, we found three underground treasuries at the duke's mansion in Edelise. They contain imperial gold, each treasury has just over 3 million. We have ten million imperial gold coins in total."

"Then we did end up earning quite a lot after all," Lorist exclaimed, elated, "Ten million gold coins make about three million gold Fordes."

"Your Grace, the duchy has never thought of exchanging imperial gold coins for gold Fordes," Spiel countered with a stern expression, "According to the mansion's butler, the duke intended to mint gold Fordes himself."

"What did you say? Duke Madras wanted to mint gold Fordes?" asked Lorist curiously.

"Yes, Your Grace. Currently, the exchange rate for imperial gold to gold Fordes is three to one. That rate is actually a small act of revenge by the Union against those of the empire. Simply put, of the three imperial gold coins exchanged, one would be pocketed by the merchant guild carrying out the exchange," replied Spiel.

"You're saying the real rate is two to one? Two imperial gold coins for one gold Forde?" asked Lorist.

Spiel shook his head.

"No. In terms of weight, the exchange rate is actually 1.7 imperial gold coins to one gold Forde, and that ratio hasn't changed for the past 30 years. When the Union first began minting gold Fordes, the exchange rate was only 1.2, which then rose to 1.5 and settled at 1.7, and hasn't changed since."

"Wait, aren't gold coin exchange rates dependent on the gold each coin actually contains? Since when was weight used as a measure?" asked Lorist curiously.

"Your Grace," mused Spiel with a troubled expression.

He found his lord often had no idea about common knowledge like this, even though information concerning gold coins were not all that well known.

"All gold coins contain the same gold ratio: 7.5:1.5:1; 75 percent gold, 15 percent bronze and ten percent chrome. That ratio has existed since the days of the magical civilization since only coins minted with that ratio can pass the liquid test. Even if coins were minted with 100 percent gold, they would still be considered fakes and nobody would dare to trade with them."

Lorist palmed his forehead when he finally recalled some information about gold coins. Back before Lorist transmigrated, the original owner of the body had been taught this at Dawn Academy. The memory wasn't his own, so he neglected it most of the time. All gold coins on the continent were made in that ratio. It was said the ratio was set by the magi for the common people during the magical civilization, whereas they used an even better kind of magical gold coin.

Coins made according to that ratio had one amazing quality: they wouldn't change in color and were extremely resistant to the trials of time. Even after long periods of use, they would still retain their shiny look. Even the imprint on the coins would still look good as new. The magi had also made a kind of liquid to be used to test the authenticity of such coins. Any coin that wasn't made in that ratio would sink straight down when put in the liquid, whereas coins made according to the ratio would float.

It was a truly mysterious and unique liquid. Lorist recalled that, during one of his herbalist classes, the professor prepared a large basin filled with the mysterious liquid. The materials used to make the liquid were extremely cheap -- around two small silvers -- and was used to drill the basics of mixing into the students. Lorist still remembered the fun he had when he tossed gold coins into the pool of water and the curiosity he had for how it worked. The professor said that if Lorist wanted to know the answer, he had to research the material himself, saying that the secret to finding out how the liquid worked was up to him.

He was reminded once again that he wasn't in his previous life where coins could be minted with varying ratios. Back then, there were many anniversary coins minted to commemorate certain events. One time, he bought a large amount from some sport event, thinking their price would appreciate in time, only to realize they actually began to rust.

Aren't these coins minted by the government? How can they rust?!

After getting them inspected by experts, he learned that the anniversary coins were minted with really small traces of gold by a non-government institution.

Grindia's the best after all. Since the ratio is the same, people only have to weigh the coins to determine their relative value. I remember someone said... who was it again? Ah, that professor from Dawn Academy said proudly that the number of gold coins minted by a nation represented its might. The citizens of the Forde Trade Union has always been rather proud of the fact that its currency was used all over the continent.

The stronger the might of a nation, the more reliable others would consider their currency. When the Krissen Empire was at its prime, imperial gold coins and gold Fordes only had an exchange rate of 1.7 to one. But now the empire was in shambles, the exchange rate actually became three to one. It was no wonder Duke Madras wanted to re-mint imperial gold coins into gold Fordes to cut his losses.

Lorist also remembered that his house used to trade mainly with imperial gold coins according to the three to one ratio. The loss of a third of the value made his heart wince with slight pain.

"Supervisor Spiel, doesn't our house have imperial gold coins as well? Were they all exchanged to gold Fordes?"

"Your Grace, back then, we used imperial gold coins according to the three to one ratio. But Knight Charade later instructed us to stop using them and stock them up instead. Since we didn't lack gold Fordes, we did as he instructed. After obtaining the ten million imperial gold coins from the duchy, I went to check our accounts. We have eight million imperial gold coins, most of which have been exchanged from the commoners with the three to one ratio."

The moment Lorist heard this, his heart skipped with excitement. With 18 million imperial gold coins in hand, he could try to re-mint the gold coins into gold Fordes as Duke Madras had attempted. If the ratio was two to one, then everything could be converted into nine million gold Fordes, which would do wonders to make up for the house's massive spending over the past two years.

"Can we re-mint the imperial gold coins into gold Fordes too?" asked Lorist hurriedly.

"I am only in charge of overseeing the treasury, Your Grace," Spiel said, shaking his head, "I don't know about minting coins. You should discuss this with Sir Charade."

"Alright. Howard, have Knight Charade come over immediately."

"Yes, Milord."