What business did the Morlin family's garrison captain have with him?
It turned out the Morlin garrison captain had come to lodge a protest on behalf of Lorist. He hadn't come alone either — he'd brought along the heads of several small and mid-sized families from Poplar Flats who had been pushed out of Northwild Town by the four major families.
The source of the protest stemmed from a period during the construction of the military fortress when Steward Kordan had spent some time observing and secretly recruited close to one hundred and fifty young men who had awakened
Lorist had even gone out of his way to draft a detailed set of preferential regulations for family soldiers. Those who became soldiers of the
The new regulations also introduced fresh changes to the compensation for family soldiers. The relatives of soldiers who fell bravely in battle would not only receive a fixed monthly pension but also tax exemptions, and their direct children would receive family-funded education until they came of age. Even wounded or disabled soldiers would receive compensation and training opportunities, with appointments to various administrative positions across the family's territory to ensure they never lacked for food or clothing.
Furthermore, the new regulations stipulated that only the direct relatives of family soldiers — parents, wives, and children — would qualify for these benefits. Minor siblings could live together with them, but they would not receive preferential treatment, and they would have to leave and establish independent households within three years of reaching adulthood. The soldiers' children, with the exception of the eldest son, would likewise be required to do the same upon reaching adulthood.
As soon as these new regulations came out, the small and mid-sized families that had been pushed out of Northwild Town by the four major families erupted in outrage. Many of those clan heads had not earned their positions through ability — they had either inherited their titles from elders or risen to power through seniority. After being expelled from Northwild Town, they had hoped that once the new town at Poplar Flats was completed, the Norton Family would follow the old ways of Northwild Town, giving them continued opportunities to lord it over others. Who would have thought that Lorist would introduce these new regulations? It was practically ripping these small and mid-sized families up by the roots.
Compared to aristocratic lineages with centuries of tradition, these commoner families might have lasted a hundred years as well, but they lacked the same foundation. In these commoner families, the young and capable had no chance to rise. With a whole generation of elders pressing down on them, they could do nothing but obey the clan's orders.
So compared to the heads of these small and mid-sized families, the new regulations were enthusiastically welcomed by the young men who had awakened Combat Force. People were inherently selfish, after all. Compared to one's direct relatives, what did all those second uncles, third cousins, seventh aunts, and eighth grandmothers in the clan really amount to? They were the ones doing the hard work and bearing the suffering, while those distant relatives were the ones reaping the benefits. Many of the young men had long been simmering with resentment, and the moment they saw the new regulations, they eagerly pledged themselves to the family.
The labor force of over two thousand suddenly shrank by five or six hundred, and many small families had already collapsed and scattered beyond reassembly. The Northwild Town garrison squad overseeing them were hardly blind. Their protest was rooted in the belief that Lorist had not only violated the agreement but also subverted the Norton Family's longstanding tradition of extending preferential treatment to the families of garrison members. The Morlin garrison captain, representing Northwild Town's four major families and the small and mid-sized families at Poplar Flats, protested to Lorist, demanding that he withdraw the new regulations, restore the old traditions, and commit to following Northwild Town's garrison precedent once the new town at Poplar Flats was completed.
Lorist sneered. They still wanted his family's territory to produce another Northwild Town? Keep dreaming.
Lorist rejected the protests of the Morlin garrison captain and the several clan heads, declaring that the conditions under which the family recruited soldiers were none of Northwild Town garrison's business. As a garrison squad subordinate to the Norton Family, they had only the right to obey the lord's commands — not the right to protest. That he had already shown Northwild Town leniency was out of respect for the family's ancestral traditions.
The recruitment of family soldiers had happened precisely because Northwild Town's garrison had refused to obey orders and go to the front lines. The family was facing a war against Viscount Kemais's forces, and the Northwild Town garrison had still not agreed to transport supplies to the fortress here or to take on the task of fighting the mountain barbarians. It was for this reason that the family had been forced to recruit soldiers as a precaution. Lorist furiously berated the Northwild Town garrison for being cowardly as mice, hiding in Northwild Town like turtles, questioning what use the family had for such a garrison and suggesting they would be better off dissolved altogether...
The Morlin garrison captain and the several clan heads silently endured Lorist's thunderous wrath and, without another word, withdrew. Lorist thought he had intimidated these ungrateful people and felt rather pleased with himself. But three days later, he received word that the Northwild Town garrison at Poplar Flats had coerced several small and mid-sized families into retreating back to Northwild Town, refusing to acknowledge any further commands from the family.
Lorist was furious, and then he received another message from the family: Northwild Town had sent one-tenth of this year's field tax to Maple Forest Manor. They had left the grain in the courtyard before the castle gate and departed, leaving behind a letter. Its gist was that they were not in rebellion — they were merely protesting the new lord's high-handedness and subversion of tradition. Therefore, grain and taxes would be delivered as usual, and the Northwild Town garrison would resume obeying the Norton Family's commands only when the new lord restored the old system to the new town...
What a perfect opportunity to crush Northwild Town and rid the family of that.
Damn it. Those four old patriarchs of the four major families in Northwild Town truly deserved their reputation as cunning old foxes. They had sensed something was wrong the moment they saw the preferential regulations for recruiting family soldiers. If they hadn't suspected that this new lord intended to move against them, they would never have pulled this move — cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron in one stroke, pulling their heads back into their shells and rendering his follow-up plans impossible to execute...
Did they think they could protect themselves by hiding in Northwild Town? Lorist grinned savagely. Right now, Penance Castle had recruited an additional company of family soldiers — nearly five hundred men — from the slave laborers. Together with the original three squads of guards and sentries, he could field six hundred troops. Maple Forest Manor had one company of guards, plus the newly recruited one hundred and fifty family soldiers, from which he could also field a company. That gave him close to twelve hundred men, not counting the seventy or eighty mercenaries here, plus himself,
So he had already mustered this much military strength. The only concern was how many casualties he would suffer. This would be his first formal siege battle. Unlike before, when he could rely on ambushes and stratagems to take a city, this time there was nothing for it but a frontal assault. Northwild Town's walls stood eight to nine meters tall. The four major families plus those small and mid-sized families could put more than two thousand fighting men in the field, of whom roughly six hundred had awakened Combat Force. They had numerical superiority and the advantage of terrain. This would not be an easy fight. He might lose half his thousand-odd men...
What Lorist feared most was the four major families going to desperate lengths in their final stand. They would be fighting for their homes, with every man, woman, old and young taking up arms against the family soldiers in a fight to the death. In that kind of scenario, no matter how skilled he was, how many could he actually kill? As Jossk himself had said, after firing a hundred or so arrows in rapid succession, a person was practically spent. If both sides suffered devastating losses, what would he have left to face the Kemais Family's incoming force of more than two thousand regular troops?
A siege was the only way to reduce casualties, but what he lacked right now was time. And Northwild Town had just brought in the wheat harvest, plus their accumulated stores. How long would he need to besiege them? Three years? Five years? That was unrealistic. After this year, the mountain barbarians would once again launch raids on the family's territory — that much was certain. Lorist found that despite having so many troops at his disposal, he simply couldn't bear to throw them into a head-on clash with Northwild Town...
Lorist wavered. Damn it, if only he had a few more months. As he was calculating, a fast horse came galloping into the military fortress. The rider who jumped off reported: "My lord, the envoy from the Grand Duke of Northland has arrived. The old steward wants you to return immediately."
...
Strange. In previous years, didn't that damned grand duke only send people to collect money around October? It was only early August now — what were they doing here so early? On the way back to Maple Forest Manor, Lorist asked the messenger whether Duke Lugins of Northland had said anything about why he'd sent people.
The messenger shook his head, saying he didn't know. He only knew that quite a few people had come this time. Sir Jossk of Penance Castle had personally escorted them with a squad of fully armed guards, after which the old steward had ordered him to come deliver the news.
Something was off. Jossk personally escorting them? With fully armed guards? And the messenger said quite a few people had come. Lorist understood at once — that damned grand duke must have heard that he had stripped the Kemais Family's Red River Valley estate bare and wanted a share of the spoils, so he'd sent people to threaten his family. Clearly, Jossk had determined the family might struggle to handle whoever was coming, which was why he had personally taken the escort. The official reason was escort duty, but in reality it was surveillance. Otherwise, sending any ordinary squad leader would have sufficed — there was no need to bring a full company of armed guards.
Lorist rode hard and arrived back at dusk. The courtyard in front of Maple Forest Manor's castle had already been set up with a small camp. The messenger said these were Northland legion soldiers who had escorted the grand duke's envoy — over two hundred of them. The family had refused their request to enter the castle and only allowed them to camp outside.
The castle was under strict watch. It seemed old Steward Kreis had already sensed that the grand duke had sent so many troops with ill intent, which was why he had put the Maple Forest Manor family soldiers on high alert.
Steward Spell hurried over to greet him: "My lord, they're all in the grand dining hall. They've been eating and drinking all afternoon. The grand duke has sent a baron this time, along with a
Lorist stopped in his tracks. "Did they say what this visit is about?"
Steward Spell shook his head. "They didn't say. I only heard them asking old Steward when you would be back. They've been growing impatient.
Lorist snorted. "Does that woman have no brain? What was she doing showing up at a gathering like this? With her measly one-star Silver Knight strength, she'd just be serving herself up on a platter if things turned ugly."
Lorist strode into the grand dining hall with Reidi and Pat. The previously raucous dining hall gradually fell silent at the sound of his footsteps.
Seated along the two long wooden tables on either side of the dining hall's center were around twenty soldiers in standardized gray leather armor, their faces flushed red from drinking. These, it seemed, were the twenty-odd Silver Knights Steward Spell had mentioned. At the head table sat a thin middle-aged man wearing a pale blond wig and formal attire, and beside him was a burly man in chain mail armor — presumably the Gold Knight. On the other side of the table sat old Steward Kreis in his wheeled chair, with Pacheco standing behind him and Jossk seated nearby as accompaniment.
When Lorist entered, Jossk quickly rose to his feet and, together with Pacheco, bowed in greeting.
Old Steward Kreis introduced them to the thin man and the iron-clad giant: "This is our newly appointed lord, Baron Norton Lorist."
According to aristocratic etiquette, the thin man and the iron-clad giant should have risen, bowed, and stated their names as a mark of respect. Instead, they remained seated without so much as a twitch. The thin man even remarked in a sarcastic, sing-song tone: "Looks like being a new lord keeps you busy. Made us wait an awful long time. Too bad whether you're a baron or not isn't for you to decide — without the grand duke's approval, you're nothing but—"
Lorist seemed not to hear the thin man's cutting words. He walked over to old Steward Kreis's side and said: "Grandpa Kreis, you've worked hard. Why don't you go rest? I'll handle things here."
The old steward waved his hand. "No matter. I'm not tired. Go ahead and handle it. I'll stay right here and watch."
The thin man, seeing that Lorist had ignored him completely, grew flustered and slapped the table with a crack: "Hey, I'm talking to you! Are you deaf?"
Lorist turned around and looked down at him with contempt: "And who the hell are you, some stray cat or dog? How dare you show such insolence in front of our — our Bear Family?"
The thin man met Lorist's cold, killing gaze and felt a chill creep through his heart. He was momentarily stunned and unable to speak, not recovering until the iron-clad giant beside him slapped him on the shoulder. The thin man stood up with a flush to his face, his wig going askew in the process. Adjusting the wig with one hand, he gnashed his teeth and said: "I am
"Oh, so you're a noble. A fake one, I take it. I've never seen a noble with so little breeding or class. You look like a clown." Lorist mocked the thin man, and Reidi, Pat, and the others all laughed.
"Present your proof of noble status. If you're a fraudulent noble, I'll have you hanged at the castle gate as a warning to others." Lorist suddenly barked in a thunderous voice, startling everyone in the dining hall, who all turned to look.
Lorist's sudden change of expression and his shout turned the thin man pale. He frantically rummaged through his clothes: "Here, here — my proof of nobility is right here..."
He pulled out a thick handful of noble identity documents and slapped them on the table.
Then the iron-clad giant spoke up slowly: "I can vouch that he is a noble. The duke only granted him his barony three months ago, but he is indeed a noble..."
"Oh, so he was just freshly minted by the duke. No wonder he looks like such a clown. What an embarrassment to nobility everywhere. Since you've been sent here by the duke, then by all means — tell me what brings you here to the Norton Family with such a large entourage?" Lorist asked with a dismissive look at the thin man, his tone casual and unconcerned.
...