Chapter 137: News of the Kenmais Family

Lorist felt he had failed as a lord. Back when he had first transmigrated to Galentea, he had read countless books to understand this world, not even sparing the popular chivalric novels of the day. Yet in all those novels he had read, the lords depicted were always savoring fine wines, surrounded by beautiful women, spending their days either hosting balls and banquets or courting noble ladies. When boredom struck, they would go hunting or attend knightly tournaments. Even when war broke out, most lords would strategize from the rear, commanding from a secure position, with plenty of valiant knights to charge into battle on their behalf—and there might even be a touching tale of battlefield romance.

But look at himself. Since becoming a lord, he had been busier than a dog, running here and there every single day, dealing with an endless pile of trivial matters. He had plenty of subordinates, but every matter, big or small, had to wait for his decision before they could proceed. When war came, he had to lead from the front, charging into the fray himself. This was no lord—this was the life of a laborer.

Sure enough, before he had even had time to catch his breath after returning to Rock Fortress, a long queue of people waiting to audience with him and report various matters had already formed outside his door.

The first to enter was the old butler of Lady Tessity's household, a black-iron-rank servant. After performing a meticulous and respectful bow, he stated his business: Lady Tessity wished for Lorist to visit her in the next couple of days to resolve the water supply issues for the residential district and the castle.

What was wrong with the wells now? After a long round of questioning, Lorist finally understood. There were two plans for the new residential district's water supply. The first was to dig a well for every household, but that would require enormous labor. The second was one well per neighborhood block, but that might lead to water shortages later, with residents having to queue daily to draw water. Additionally, the castle currently under construction was built against the mountain, at a much higher elevation than the city district, making it difficult to dig wells there—they could only channel mountain spring water. Lady Tessity hoped Lorist could come determine which plan to adopt.

Sigh—why did they have to come to him for everything? It was giving him a headache.

The second person to enter was Steward Koden. He had taken over the prisoners brought in by Jossk's group and had only just finished setting up the prisoner camp these past two days, but he was at a loss about what to put the prisoners to work on.

Lorist said listlessly, "What's there to hesitate about? Put them to work gathering building materials—they've got strength to spare. Do well and you eat better; slack off and you get the whip. Try to run and you hang. Promote the original laborers who used to do this work to overseer positions—they can guide and supervise the prisoners. Then have Ovekis change the patrol assignments of the family soldiers to guarding these prisoners while they work."

Next came Steward Boris. What he had to report was also a minor matter: the various wine reserves at Rock Fortress were nearly depleted. Ever since the commercial district had been built, two taverns had opened one after another. Once the laborers regained their freedom and received wages, they liked to grab a drink in their spare time, and the family soldiers and immigrants were no different. Business at both taverns was booming. But most of Lorist's wine had been seized from the Kenmais family's Red River Valley Manor Castle. Though the reserves were substantial, they couldn't withstand continuous consumption without replenishment. On top of that, the knightly tournament co-hosted by Lorist and Viscount Kenmais had given away a large batch of wine for free. Now, the remaining stock in the warehouse would only last four or five days.

"Fine, if there's no wine, then brew some. Common ale is simple to make—ask among the immigrants and laborers if anyone knows how to brew, open a brewery, and the problem is solved," Lorist said.

"But... but, my lord, you previously said grain is the most important strategic resource, and all of it is managed by Steward Hansk. We're currently building the city and not farming, so there's no grain harvest these past two years. The grain we took from the Red River Valley Manor Castle is only enough for another year or two of food. With more and more people here, grain consumption keeps rising—how can we use grain to brew ale?" Steward Boris said.

Ah, so it was his own words coming back to him. Lorist held his head. "Never mind. Tell Steward Hansk to release some wheat for brewing ale. You've heard the news too, right? Northfield Town was massacred by the Duke's army. We defeated them, and the grain stores we found in Northfield Town are enough to last us four or five years. So the grain problem is essentially solved. In a while, I'll have Maple Forest Manor send a batch over."

"Huh? You haven't left yet? Is there something else?" Lorist asked.

"Er, well, it's like this," Steward Boris said hesitantly. "We've caught a few women who were running prostitution out of the camp..."

"Oh?" Lorist perked up—this was a topic that interested all men. "Where did these women come from? How did they end up running prostitution in the camp?"

"Two of them are new immigrants from the Kenmais family's side. After being relocated to Rock Fortress, they couldn't bear the loneliness and started seducing men again. Another four or five were originally female slaves who, after regaining their freedom, found the work we assigned too strenuous and returned to their old trade."

Lorist recalled Steward Boris mentioning this before. Those two hundred female slaves had originally been rewards from the Kenmais family for the slave laborers—those who performed well could be rewarded with a female slave for a night.

"My lord, according to their confessions, there are several dozen more women doing the same thing—they just had the luck to avoid being caught by us. How should we punish them? Please instruct us..." Steward Boris asked.

Sigh... Lorist sighed and slumped back onto his desk. "Punish my ass! If they want to do this, let them continue. Men need women, and women need men just the same. Rock Fortress currently has far more men than women, and they're all young and vigorous—they need an outlet. Here's what we'll do, Steward Boris: build a brothel and have all those women work there so we can manage them properly. We'll provide protection and take thirty percent of their earnings."

"My lord, in cases like this, most other lords charge sixty to seventy percent."

"Forget it. They don't earn that money easily. Thirty percent is enough for us. Also, put out a notice telling those women that if they don't join the brothel and continue running prostitution outside, they'll be dragged into the brothel and forced to work for us for a year for free."

Argh! What was this world coming to? His lordship was actually managing prostitution—how undignified. After Steward Boris left, Lorist sighed bitterly. But there was nothing he could do; he still had to receive the next visitor.

It wasn't one person who entered, but two. Lorist glanced at them—they looked quite familiar.

The elder one stepped forward, stood at attention, and reported: "My lord, the two of us were dispatched by Lord Pat to track the movements of that armed Kenmais family force. We only returned yesterday."

Now he remembered. These two were bodyguards who had formerly been bandits—no wonder they looked familiar. But Lorist could no longer recall their names.

"Sit, sit, sit down—don't just stand there like that. There are chairs over there. I appreciate the trouble you went through on this trip, and you had to be careful not to be discovered. The fact that you've returned safely is what makes me happiest. Sit down and tell me—what did you discover this time?"

"Thank you, my lord." After the two guards sat down, their very first sentence gave Lorist a tremendous shock: "My lord, this Kenmais family armed force has seized Count Lopez's territory."

"What? Count Lopez's territory? Where?" Lorist lowered his head to search for a map of Northland, but unfortunately, the animal-hide map he found didn't have Count Lopez's domain marked on it.

"Get Steward Boris and Sedekamp, and Old Man Barek—oh wait, Old Man Barek went with Master Sid to survey the iron mine. Never mind, just get Steward Boris and Sedekamp over here first."

"I recall that at Red River Valley Manor Castle, there was a map marking the names and territories of all the nobles newly enfeoffed in Northland by the Second Prince. It should have been brought back—look for where it was put." Steward Boris, who had been called back, said to Sedekamp, who admitted he didn't know who Count Lopez was.

At Steward Boris's reminder, Sedekamp seemed to recall that such a map did exist. After more searching, they finally found it.

"Yes, my lord. Here's a small hill that serves as the boundary line between Viscount Kenmais's domain and Count Lopez's domain. The hill is only about ten meters high, waterless and barren. After the Kenmais family armed force entered Count Lopez's manor castle, we infiltrated the immigrant town outside the castle, posing as two mercenaries commissioned to find a rare medicinal herb native to the Dragon Mountain Range. We confirmed that the Kenmais family force had indeed been invited by Count Lopez to help resist the mountain barbarian incursions. It seems Count Lopez fought a battle with the mountain barbarians recently and suffered heavy losses, and the count himself was seriously wounded. The immigrant town was in a state of panic, fearing the mountain barbarians would attack," the elder guard reported.

"Hm? That doesn't add up—I heard the mountain barbarians are celebrating the Cupavison Festival this year. Where would they find the time to wage war against Count Lopez?" Lorist found this strange.

"My lord, apparently Count Lopez started the fight with the mountain barbarians first. His patrol encountered a large group of mountain barbarian herders driving many livestock, and he launched an attack, seizing all the animals. But on the return trip, they were ambushed by a large force of mountain barbarian cavalry. They barely fought their way out and escaped, suffering heavy casualties—every survivor was wounded. The mountain barbarian cavalry didn't pursue, but shouted that they would come settle the score with Count Lopez after the festival. So Count Lopez, fearing retaliation, invited Viscount Kenmais to send troops to help defend."

Well then—seeking death didn't get more blatant than this. Didn't that Count Lopez know this was the mountain barbarians' Cupavison Festival? Those livestock were undoubtedly being driven to Smolmegen Mountain for the sacred sacrificial blood rites. Ignorance was truly terrifying—stealing sacrificial livestock from the mountain barbarians during their festival was simply... Lorist didn't know whether to praise Count Lopez's courage or admire his greed.

"At first we also thought the Kenmais family force was there to help Count Lopez, so we planned to return the next day," the elder guard continued. "But we'd had some drinks that night and woke up a bit late the next morning. We discovered the immigrant town had been placed under martial law by the Kenmais family force—entry was permitted but no one could leave—and Count Lopez's manor castle was now flying the Kenmais family's Triple Gold Rings banner..."

"It wasn't until evening that we got word at a tavern—Count Lopez had died of his wounds. On his deathbed, having no sons and with both daughters far away in the royal capital, he entrusted his county to Viscount Kenmais, even passing on the count's title. The Kenmais family had already sent a formal apology to the mountain barbarians, and there was a rumor that the gift was Count Lopez's severed head..."

"The immigrant town was under martial law for three days before it was lifted. The Kenmais family issued a proclamation offering tax reductions and recruiting garrison soldiers. They seemed to be enrolling all the able-bodied men in the immigrant town into the garrison. The two of us were also stopped and interrogated for quite a while. But we said we were mercenaries who had come here searching for medicinal herbs to fulfill a commission, and they let us go."

"When leaving the town, we noticed the guards in the castle were no longer Kenmais family troops. Finding this suspicious, we investigated further and finally discovered tracks of a large force heading south. We followed the trail and spent a day arriving here—it seems to be another noble's territory, but it had already been conquered by the Kenmais family. The Triple Gold Rings banner was flying over that castle."

"Viscount Satt..." Lorist read from the map's annotation.

"During the empire's civil war, he was killed to the last, and his territory was reduced to ruins. After the Second Prince established his kingdom, he seized the territory, and to avoid criticism, he reassigned Viscount Satt to Northland. He's nothing more than a lone old noble," Steward Boris explained.

The elder guard continued his report: "We didn't dare enter the town again and monitored from the wilderness. Three days later, the Kenmais family force departed once more, this time heading east. We followed behind them. Two days later, they reached Baron Ankaport's domain and obediently set up camp outside the town. The leading party entered Baron Ankaport's castle, apparently for a visit. We stayed in the wilderness until midnight, when suddenly we heard battle cries erupt from Baron Ankaport's castle. The castle gates opened, the drawbridge was lowered, and the Kenmais family force was continuously charging in. By morning, the Triple Gold Rings banner was raised over the castle."

"We stayed in the wilderness for another five days. We found the Kenmais family force had left a squadron to garrison Baron Ankaport's castle, then returned to Viscount Satt's territory, where they also left a squadron. The rest of the troops went back to Count Lopez's domain, and we followed them back."

Lorist opened a drawer and took out two small pouches made of grey lambskin. These had been specially prepared by Sedekamp for Lorist to use as rewards—each pouch contained five imperial gold coins bearing the old emperor's likeness.

Lorist tossed the pouches to the two guards. "Thank you for your hard work. Take these and go relax. This is your reward."

"Thank you, my lord." The two guards withdrew.

Damn—the Kenmais family had made a brilliant move. Now Lorist finally understood why the Kenmais family had been willing to take a loss to befriend him. They knew he had already locked horns with Duke Lukins, and by seizing this opportunity, they could extricate themselves from the conflict, eliminate their rear threat, and while Duke Lukins's attention was focused on the Norton family, quietly redirect their sights toward the lords in the eastern part of Northland. Truly an excellent strategy...

"My lord, I don't understand why the Kenmais family would do this. Viscount Satt, Count Lopez—they're all newly enfeoffed Northland lords like the Kenmais family. And Count Lopez was even the Second Prince's close confidant. Wouldn't the Kenmais family's attacks on them and annexation of their territories arouse universal outrage?" Steward Boris asked.

"Heh heh—the Kenmais family wouldn't do this without confidence in their position," Lorist said with a cold laugh. "Their plan is quite elegant. They know Duke Lukins is currently focused on us, so they're taking this opportunity to annex the entire eastern region. Look at the map—Viscount Kenmais's domain, Count Lopez's territory, Viscount Satt's territory, and Baron Ankaport's domain all connect together, effectively severing the eastern part of Northland. If nothing goes wrong, the remaining dozen or so lords won't escape the Kenmais family's grasp either..."

"Once the Kenmais family controls the entire eastern region of Northland, they'll be able to stand on their own—even Duke Lukins won't be able to do anything about them. Northland is going to get very lively very soon. The times of chaos have already arrived."

"Then my lord, should we stir up some trouble for the Kenmais family, slow them down so they can't unify the east so quickly?" Sedekamp suggested.

Lorist paced back and forth, head lowered, deliberating for a long while. "It's too late, and we can't spare the manpower either. Don't forget—if Duke Lukins learns that his four-thousand-strong army has been completely wiped out, he'll fly into a rage and send another force for revenge very quickly. What we need to do right now is to finish building Rock Fortress as quickly as possible, train our family armed forces, and prepare to defend against the Northland army..."