When he had given the order, he'd been caught up in the thrill of it all, never thinking about the consequences. Only now did he realize that more people didn't necessarily mean more strength — sometimes it just meant a bigger headache of your own making.
When Lorist had issued the migration order, his only thought had been about how to give that damned Grand Duke of Northland a resounding slap across the face, to show him the power of the
But what Lorist hadn't expected was that his soldiers had carried out the task with perfect efficiency, and with the added efforts of those Northland Legion soldiers under Sir Henred who were posing as Norton Family armed forces, the total number of people who had been swept up in the migration from the Grand Duchy reached a staggering two hundred and eighty thousand.
When Lorist finally saw the statistics, his entire mind went blank. He had never imagined there would be so many people. He recalled what he had said when he gave the migration order: "...I want to make it so that damned Grand Duke can't find a single blacksmith to forge his weapons, a single groom, a single farmer to work his fields, a single tailor to mend his clothes, or a single servant to pour his tea and carry his water. Everyone except his lords, nobles, officials, and merchants — I want to leave him with no one to use..."
The northbound convoy had seventy thousand people. Over a hundred thousand refugees from the Andinak Kingdom had followed the convoy northward. Add the two hundred and eighty thousand plus Grand Duchy subjects who had been relocated, and — oh yes — the thirty thousand or so captives who had been seized. Then there were the original inhabitants of the family territory. The total population had likely already exceeded five hundred thousand.
It wasn't that the land was overcrowded. Given the area of the Norton Family territory, another million people could still be accommodated. But the problem was that the Norton Family territory, to put it bluntly, was currently nothing but wilderness that had never been developed. How to settle such a massive population in a short time had become Lorist's most pressing headache.
What Lorist now regretted was that he shouldn't have given up the southern Grand Duchy. So what if he had seized it by force? As long as he had powerful military forces at his disposal, who could have done anything to him? But at the time, he simply hadn't thought that far ahead. He had given the order to seize everything, burn everything, relocate everything, and he damn well just wanted to return to the family territory. Sigh. He shouldn't have created such a mess, but now that everyone had followed him, he couldn't very well send them back, could he? Lorist heaved a deep sigh.
"Don't think twenty months is a long time. This year is already a wash — what matters is next year. If we don't develop enough farmland to last us until the winter wheat harvest the year after that, we'll face a real famine."
"What do you suggest?" Lorist asked.
Fatty Shi pulled out a map of the Norton Family territory and pointed it out to Lorist: "From Bedrock Castle to Maplewood Manor, the vast stretch of wasteland running along the Blade Mountain range. It's more than enough to establish around a hundred farming villages. At four to five hundred households per village, we can settle nearly two hundred thousand farmers, significantly reducing our burden."
"It's almost June. We need to spend one month surveying the terrain, deciding on village locations, and arranging the settlers' routes. Then we'll need three months to build shelters and clear farmland, sowing winter wheat in November. By next year's harvest, those two hundred thousand farmers should be self-sufficient, easing the pressure on our grain reserves."
"And the remaining three hundred thousand or so — how do you plan to handle them?" Lorist pondered.
"I've looked at the plans for Bedrock Castle and the mountain city that's about to be constructed. I believe selecting suitable locations and building three or four more towns will be enough to provide for everyone. It would only take a year or two of construction." Fatty Shi had clearly given this matter considerable thought and answered without hesitation.
Lorist nodded. "Then the matter of settling the farming villages and planning the development of the family territory is entirely in your hands. Come up with a settlement plan within the month, and I'll issue orders for everyone to cooperate with your arrangements."
Sherdkamp walked in. "My lord..."
"What is it?"
"My lord, Ilina is pregnant and about to give birth..."
"What? You said Ilina..."
"She was discovered to be pregnant last October, but you had already gone to find the convoy by then, and we couldn't reach you. These past few days, she's about to give birth..." Sherdkamp said.
Right. At the end of August the previous year, after defeating the four-thousand-strong Northland Legion expeditionary force sent by Duke Lukins, Lorist had returned to Maplewood Manor and rested well for two days. His maidservant Ilina had likely conceived during those two days.
Lorist could not sit still. He had left Bedrock Castle in September to search for the convoy, and now it was the end of May — nearly nine months had passed. His first child in this world was about to be born.
"Shrade, everything here is in your care. I'm heading back to Maplewood Manor first. If anything urgent comes up, send someone to notify me." Lorist prepared to set off immediately.
"Yes, my lord... And congratulations," Fatty Shi called out from behind.
Halfway to Maplewood Manor, Lorist encountered a messenger who had come with the good news. In the early hours of the morning, his maidservant Ilina had given birth to a healthy baby boy after nine months of pregnancy. Both mother and child were doing well.
Why nine months? Wasn't it supposed to be ten months of pregnancy? After thinking about it for a while, Lorist finally understood — in this world, one month was thirty-five days. By that reckoning, nine months was already longer than the ten months of his previous life.
The moment he returned to Maplewood Manor, Lorist went to see the newly delivered Ilina and the newborn child. However, the exhausted Ilina and the baby were both sleeping. Lorist didn't want to disturb them, so he only stole a quick glance before quietly leaving the bedroom.
Outside in the courtyard, the white-haired Belunek was waiting for Lorist. He gave a knight's salute. "My lord, your knight awaits your command."
Lorist was overjoyed and grabbed Belunek in a hug. "Big brother Bel, you've become a Gold-ranked Knight?"
Belunek nodded. "Yes, my lord. I was promoted to gold rank in February. I've been waiting for your summons for over three months now."
Lorist recalled that when he had first returned to the family territory the previous year, he had immediately gone to visit Belunek, who had been recuperating in Northfield Town for two or three years. He had discovered that Belunek had been poisoned by Dunbason, the head of what was supposedly an apothecary master's household in Northfield Town, which was why his injuries had been so slow to heal. At the time, the four great families of Northfield Town had done this in hopes of disabling the Norton Family's only Silver Three-Star Knight, but Lorist had uncovered their plot. He had brought Belunek back to Maplewood Manor to stay at his own residence, not only curing the poison and healing his injuries, but also giving him a high-level wood-attribute
Now, over a year later, Belunek had become a Gold-ranked Knight. This meant that Lorist had gained yet another high-tier combat force.
"No rush. The family territory has a thousand things waiting to be rebuilt — you'll have plenty of opportunities to serve," Lorist said.
Before Lorist had even managed a couple of sentences with Belunek, Steward Speer came running over. "My lord, the old steward wishes to see you..."
Another year had passed, and old Steward Kreis had truly aged. He held onto Lorist and chattered at length, not caring whether Lorist had defeated the Grand Duke of Northland, how much materiel and personnel had been brought back, or how powerful the family's military forces had become. What he cared about was Lorist's marriage, urging him to marry a lady of noble birth as soon as possible, to produce a legitimate heir so that the Norton Family would have a successor...
Lorist finally managed to extricate himself from the old steward. Afterward, he asked Steward Speer, "What's going on with the old steward?"
"My lord, after the first heavy snow fell at the end of last year, the old steward wanted to visit the family's forbidden grounds, and he wouldn't let us accompany him. By evening he still hadn't returned, and we grew anxious and went searching. We found that because the ground was slippery from the snow, the wheelchair the old steward was sitting in had rolled into a ditch by the roadside. The old steward had fallen unconscious and had been lying in the snow for half a day. After we brought him back, he developed a fever. Fortunately, you had left behind many healing potions, and we managed to save the old steward. But ever since then, his mind has been getting muddled — he often mistakes people for others and can't remember what he just did..." Steward Speer replied.
"Sigh... Let it be. From now on, don't bother the old steward unless it's necessary. Let him rest properly," Lorist instructed, his mood quite depressed. Last year, the old steward had still been so sharp — a true old fox. Now he was like an old child, forgetting everything he said almost immediately, holding Lorist's hand and repeating the same things over and over. In the end, he had even insisted that Lorist marry Miss Baisha as soon as possible — they had been engaged for so long, it was high time they wed.
It turned out the old steward had mistaken Lorist for the deceased eldest young master. This left Lorist not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He tried to explain for a long time, but the old steward only grew more confused. In the end, Lorist had no choice but to make up some excuse and leave.
It was all because of that damned family forbidden ground. Without that Corpse Storage Cave, the old steward wouldn't have fallen like that. It was clearly a case of a stroke. Lorist decided that he would find an opportunity to abolish this family forbidden ground — he absolutely could not accept the prospect of having his body left in a corpse cave to slowly rot after his death.
After leaving the old steward's courtyard, Sir Henred appeared before Lorist with a bruised and battered face.
"Hm? Why are you still here?" Lorist was quite curious.
Three days ago, Henred had eagerly set off for Maplewood Manor with a few of his personal attendants to collect his companions. Lorist had assumed he had picked them up and left long ago. Why was he still here, and in such a state?
"Lork, you said it yourself — if they're willing to go with me, I can take them back, right?" Sir Henred looked quite angry.
Lorist nodded. "I did say that. What exactly happened?"
"I found them. They've all been suffering greatly here, and they were overjoyed when they saw me arrive. I asked them, and they all said they were willing to go back with me. But your people simply wouldn't let them leave, and they even raised their hands against me. I held back out of respect for you, refusing to fight back, and that's how I ended up like this." Sir Henred began his complaint.
"Who refused to let them leave?" Lorist's expression darkened. The nearly one thousand women who had survived in Northfield Town — he had personally brought them back to Maplewood Manor with explicit instructions that they were not to be bullied or enslaved. He simply wanted them to rest quietly for a period of time, to heal their physical and emotional wounds. Once they had recovered sufficiently, he would bring them to Bedrock Castle and let them find men of their choosing to start families and begin new lives.
"Did you take my orders and let them fly past your ears? Tell me — who made them suffer? Who wouldn't let them go?" Lorist interrogated Steward Speer, who stood nearby, his voice and expression severe.
"My... my lord, it has nothing to do with me. It's... it's Miss Baisha..." Steward Speer trembled, frightened by Lorist's thunderous fury.
"Baisha?" Lorist was taken aback. "What has that woman been up to now?"
He turned to Henred. "Was it that red-haired woman who wouldn't let them go with you?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" Henred nodded vigorously. "That woman is far too fierce. Even if she thought what I said was unpleasant, that's no reason to just up and start swinging. I may be a Gold-ranked Knight, but I've never hit a woman. And on top of that, it was a whole group of women who swarmed me, scratching and biting — all I could do was turn around and run..."
Listening to this, Lorist nearly burst out laughing. Henred must have gone and offended Miss Baisha and those women with his usual loose tongue. He deserved what he got.
At the same time, Lorist felt relieved — it wasn't some man in the manor who had recklessly disobeyed his orders and provoked those women.
"Tell me, Steward Speer — what exactly has Miss Baisha done to these women to make them suffer?" Lorist asked coldly.
"My lord, it's like this: Miss Baisha is also a Family Knight, but you never gave her any tasks, and the garrison had nothing to do with her. When those women from Northfield Town arrived at the manor, Miss Baisha obtained the old steward's permission to take charge of caring for them. She made copies of the Combat Force basics manual you had left behind and brought them to the women's quarters, encouraging them not to forget the humiliation they had suffered. She told them they needed to become strong and self-reliant, that only by awakening Combat Force could they ensure they would never suffer the same indignity again..." Steward Speer began his account.
Lorist and Henred exchanged bewildered glances.
"Over the past half year, nearly a hundred of those women have awakened their Combat Force. Miss Baisha organized them into a women's garrison unit and has been leading them in daily sword and weapon training. Last time, she said she wanted to train their courage and had me round up a dozen or so cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs from here, penning them in a small courtyard nearby so the women who had awakened Combat Force could practice killing live animals. The result was chaos across the entire manor — chickens flying and dogs jumping. It even drew the attention of the family garrison, who had to come and deal with the livestock that had been stabbed and sliced and were running around crazily..."
"The old steward had his fall at the end of last year and his mind has been muddled. He does whatever Miss Baisha says, and with you absent, my lord, we couldn't really intervene. Now those women who have awakened Combat Force are fiercer than one another. A little over a month ago, the garrison went out to harvest the winter wheat and noticed them working in the fields. A few of the soldiers made some crude jokes, and the women swarmed them, beating them until their heads were split open. Knight Pacheco went to speak with Miss Baisha about it but was scolded and came back with his tail between his legs. So none of us dare provoke those women anymore..."
"As for what you mentioned about suffering, I imagine it's because Miss Baisha has the women exercising to awaken their Combat Force, farming, growing vegetables, raising chickens, feeding pigs — doing all those things. Some of them were originally pampered young ladies who naturally can't handle the hardship..." Steward Speer ventured.
"Exactly! A few of my beauties complained to me about how hard their lives are — having to do laundry and cook even in the dead of winter, their hands covered in calluses. It broke my heart, so I told them to pack their belongings and come with me. Then that red-haired female knight of yours showed up with a bunch of burly women and wouldn't let us leave. I said a few words, and they pounced on me," Henred grumbled.
"Forget it. I'll go with you and pick up your companions." Lorist smiled wryly. This was something only he could handle.
To each their own. As the old saying went, different people are nourished by the same rice. It was very true. Not every woman could rise up and become strong after suffering a great ordeal. The women Henred wanted to take with him had been pampered since childhood. They were accustomed to relying on men for survival. For Miss Baisha to try to make such women self-reliant was nothing short of a pipe dream.
The surviving women from Northfield Town lived in a cluster of courtyards in the northern part of the manor. In front of them was a flat, open space that served as their usual training ground. Led by Steward Speer, Lorist arrived at the front of the courtyards and ordered the women standing guard to assemble everyone. Today, he was going to announce their fate.
Miss Baisha was the first to rush out. When she saw that it was Lorist who had arrived, she froze...
"Stand aside. I'll deal with you after this is over," Lorist said coldly.
Miss Baisha stood off to the side with a disgruntled expression.
Soon, all the women had gathered in the open space. Lorist's voice was not loud, but every woman heard his words clearly.
"I am Count Norton Lorist. Perhaps some of you recognize me. From my perspective, you are the relatives and children of rebels. I could sell you to slavers, dispose of you as I see fit. But considering that your fathers and brothers colluded with the Grand Duke of Northland, inviting a wolf into the fold and bringing ruin upon your families — and that you have suffered greatly as a result — as your lord, I am sympathetic. Therefore, I mercifully pardon your crimes. From this day forward, you are free."
Lorist paused briefly before continuing.
"If any of you wish to remain, you may join the newly established Women's Camp. Those who join will serve as provisional members, and while food and lodging are provided, they will not receive the benefits of full members. However, once they awaken Combat Force, they can formally join the Women's Camp."
"I give you three days to carefully consider your options. I will have Steward Speer come to register your choices, and you may direct any questions to him. That is all — dismissed."
"Henred, you may take your companions with you. Steward Speer, go ask them if they're willing. If they're not, let it go," Lorist instructed.
After Henred and Steward Speer departed, Lorist turned to Miss Baisha. "I'll give you two choices as well. First, the newly established Women's Camp will be under your command, but I will take my elder brother's child. Second, you raise my elder brother's child properly, and from now on, you do not involve yourself in family affairs."
"Why can't I manage both the Women's Camp and the child?" Miss Baisha protested.
Lorist shook his head. "Your temperament isn't suited for being a good mother, and you've never given birth, so you don't understand the pain of pregnancy. You can't give a child a real mother's love. Either become a female general, or become a good mother. The choice is yours."
"I could hire a nanny..." Miss Baisha said.
Lorist sighed. "I understand your choice. From now on, the Women's Camp is yours to manage. The rules and management plan will be delivered to you in a few days. Tonight, I'll have someone take the child away. From now on, if you want to see him, you must get my permission. If you make a fuss about it, I will strip you of your Family Knight title. Think carefully. You may leave."
...(To be continued.)