When
He stretched languidly, all traces of sleepiness vanishing. In this moment, he felt his spirits extraordinarily invigorated, and he couldn't help but recall the scene of his exchange with the black-robed figure — that cold radiance that had cleaved through the very space around him, filling his entire field of vision as it swept toward him in an endless torrent. Deep in his heart, he felt an unexpected stirring, an eager desire to face the black-robed figure in combat once more.
Lorist was surprised to find that the unease and wariness he had once felt toward the Great Swordmaster had completely dissipated. It seemed that, in his heart, he now regarded the Great Swordmaster as simply a rival on the same level as himself.
His body felt wonderful — a long, deep sleep had swept away all his fatigue. He was in a state where his old strength had departed but his new strength had yet to fully emerge.
Lorist rolled out of bed and settled into a horse stance. First he circulated his family's inherited Crimson Blood
Although his exchange with the black-robed figure had forced Lorist to expend every last drop of internal energy before he could claim a narrow victory, he now made a pleasant discovery — his long-stagnant internal energy had grown by a considerable margin. It seemed that frequently depleting his internal energy and then allowing it to recover was the key to advancing his cultivation. As he pondered this, Lorist turned his senses inward to examine the state of his body.
The sound of familiar footsteps came from beyond the door, and only then did Lorist realize that the sky had already grown bright.
Radi pushed open the door and spotted Lorist standing by the window, his face lighting up with joy. "My lord, you're awake?"
Lorist nodded. "Radi, get me something to eat. Right now I feel like I could devour an entire cow..."
"My Lord, you've been asleep for two days and three nights. Of course you'd be hungry! Just wait. I'll go get you something to eat right away." Radi turned and bolted.
"What? I slept for two days and three nights? That long?" Lorist was startled, but Radi had already run off too fast for him to ask further.
Fortunately, Pat from the next room had heard the commotion and gotten up as well. Pat said the Lord had been sleeping so soundly that they couldn't wake him no matter how hard they tried, and everyone had gotten a bit worried. Knight Josk said the Lord's breathing had been deep and steady while he slept — he must have simply been too exhausted, and this was nothing to worry about. They should just let him sleep, and he would wake naturally once he'd had enough.
Radi came running back quickly, carrying several loaves of white bread and a pitcher of mead. "My Lord, have something to fill your stomach first. I've already had everyone in the kitchen woken up — they'll have a proper feast ready for you shortly."
"Did anything happen while I was asleep these past two days?" Lorist broke off a leg of roast chicken and asked between bites. Gnawing on roast chicken first thing in the morning was a first for Lorist, but after sleeping for so long, he was truly famished. He couldn't be bothered with anything else.
"Well, yesterday Princess Sylvia sent word that she'll be setting off for the Muyue Plains Province in a couple of days. She specifically requested that you, my Lord, escort her. Also, Count Kenmaes and
"Those two..." Lorist cursed. "I'll deal with them once I've eaten my fill."
…
Baron Shahin Henned had indeed had a rather unpleasant time with Count Kenmaes these past two days. In truth, both of them understood why Lorist had arranged for them to meet Baron Filim in Gildusk City. After driving out the
What Henned hadn't expected was that upon meeting Count Kenmaes, he was immediately met with accusations. The root of it all was the one million pounds of snow salt that Lorist had sold him. He had bought it at ten thousand gold Fordes and resold it at double the price, earning himself ten thousand gold Fordes and easing the burden of military expenses — which had made him quite pleased. But Count Kenmaes called him brainless, saying that snow salt worth thirty thousand had been sold for only twenty thousand, and it had greatly damaged the Kenmaes family's snow salt business.
Henned hadn't given Count Kenmaes any face at all. Although the two had met several times at the Northland nobility gatherings hosted by the Second Prince, they had no real interactions. In Henned's eyes, Count Kenmaes was nothing more than an incompetent wastrel who spent his time surrounded by women. He had shown some restraint only out of respect for Lorist. After all, everyone knew that Count Kenmaes had excellent relations with the
Now the two of them were quarreling right in front of Lorist once again, like two roosters with their necks craned out in furious display — one calling the other a brainless bull, the other mocking the other as a pretty boy who only knew how to hang around women's circles...
Lorist glanced at Baron Filim, who was watching the spectacle with great relish from the side, nearly clapping and cheering. Lorist sighed — he would have to step in and deal with these two troublemakers himself.
"Can't the two of you be a little less troublesome? And to think you're even relatives..." Lorist watched them trade barbs, their tempers rising ever higher, and spoke up to mediate.
"What did you say? He and I are relatives? How come I never knew..." Henned pointed at Count Kenmaes, utterly shocked.
Count Kenmaes slammed the table and shot to his feet. "Who says we're relatives? That's impossible — our families have never had any dealings. Locke, you can't just spout nonsense..."
"If your cousin went missing, would you definitely send her to me as a concubine? You also said that apart from Princess Sylvia, your cousin was the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen — didn't you?"
"Yes, I did say that. So what of it?" Count Kenmaes hadn't expected Lorist to bring up their private conversation, and for a moment couldn't understand what he was getting at, so he could only nod foolishly in reply.
Count Kenmaes had once chatted with Lorist about how difficult it had been for his family to enter the ranks of the nobility, and the price they had paid to transform from a merchant house into a territorial noble family. At the time, he had spoken with great regret about his cousin — in order to gain a foothold in the Northland, his father had sent his twenty-one-year-old cousin Oliviya to Duke
Count Kenmaes said his father had been far too short-sighted, going so far as to use the most beautiful flower of the family to curry favor with the Northland Grand Duke, hoping to ascend into the ruling upper echelons of the Northland. But then Lorist had burst onto the scene, and all of his father's schemes had come to nothing.
If only his father had been more far-sighted and bided his time, arranging for his cousin to marry into Lorist's family later, then there would have been nothing to worry about. Count Kenmaes deeply lamented what had befallen his cousin. If she hadn't disappeared, even though she had been the Grand Duke of the Northland's mistress, she could still have been sent to Lorist as a concubine, deepening the ties between the two families.
A concubine was generally a woman of lesser status — often a long-serving maid with whom a noble had developed both a physical relationship and genuine affection. Unable to elevate her to the position of a proper wife, he would instead raise her to the rank of concubine and keep her at his side. Although any children born of such a union were technically illegitimate, there was still a considerable chance they could be officially registered as family children and enjoy the same treatment as legitimate offspring.
Count Kenmaes even swore that his cousin was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, apart from Princess Sylvia. She had always been treasured by his father like a precious jewel, loved as if she were his own daughter. His father had once said that his cousin could serve as a marriage alliance to safeguard the family. It was just that when they had come to the Northland, Duke Lukins had unfortunately caught sight of her and became infatuated with her beauty, using both threats and inducements to force the family into compliance.
When the Kenmaes family had first arrived in the Northland, they had not yet established a firm foothold, and it was the critical moment for the family to become territorial nobles. Under such pressure, his father could not resist, and had no choice but to surrender his cousin to Duke Lukins. Count Kenmaes said that if his cousin had not disappeared, then having her serve as a concubine to Lorist would have been a good outcome — and would also serve as his family's compensation to her.
"Here, ask that fellow whether the concubine he dotes on the most — the one who just gave him a fat son last year — is named Oliviya. That fellow even registered his precious son in the family records and named him as the family's heir…" Lorist was referring to Hennerd, who had even written to Lorist last year asking him to become the godfather of his beloved son.
"What? This pretty boy is Oliviya's cousin?" Hennerd's jaw dropped in shock.
"You only care about her body and not her background? She slept with you for over two years and even bore you a son, and you never even bothered to find out about her family?" Lorist said, exasperated.
"Well, you see, Oliviya never mentioned her background. She only said she came from a merchant family and had been forced by the duke to become his mistress. Such things are common enough, so I didn't think much of it…" Hennerd answered, deeply embarrassed.
Truth be told, this fellow was quite the romantic. Ever since he and Raddy had conspired to kidnap Duke Lukins's most beloved concubine — and subsequently taken those four beautiful survivors from Northfield Town who belonged to the Norton Family — he had declared that all five women would become his concubines, and even swore that he would never take a proper wife in this lifetime. Any children born of these five women would all become his family's heirs.
Unfortunately, the first three were all daughters. It wasn't until that duke's concubine gave birth to his precious son that he was overjoyed, celebrating with wild abandon that his family now had an heir, and even had Lorist serve as the godfather for this precious boy.
Lorist later heard from Count Kenmais about his cousin, and once he thought about Hennerd and Raddy's conspiracy and made some inquiries, he figured it out — the duke's concubine who had given Hennerd his precious son was none other than Count Kenmais's cousin. He had originally wanted to find a private opportunity to tell Count Kenmais about this, but seeing the two of them squaring off like fighting roosters, he decided he had to lay out the connection between them.
Now it was Count Kenmais and Hennerd's turn to be awkward, the two staring wide-eyed at each other without being able to say a word for what felt like an eternity.
It took a long time before Count Kenmais finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "So, uh... is Oliviya doing well?"
Hennerd hurriedly replied: "She's well, she's well, she's a good mother..."
The words had barely left his mouth before he remembered that he was the one who had kidnapped Oliviya, and had even fathered a child with her. Now that her family had come knocking, he felt thoroughly ashamed, lowered his head, and started playing ostrich...
Lorist was dying of laughter on the inside, but he had no choice but to help them out of this mess. He reached out and rapped the table: "Alright, you can discuss family matters when you get back. Let me first address the purpose of our four families' gathering here. The second prince has fled, his whereabouts unknown, and the Northland has basically fallen under our four families' control. From now on, no one sits above us, and I don't intend to let anyone climb over our heads again. So I'd like us to discuss an alliance of our four families — the Northland will be ours to rule. If one family is in trouble, the other three help. Do you agree?"
No one disagreed — this was a good thing, and everyone had been wishing for exactly this. Baron Feilim laughed theatrically: "Suddenly the sky feels clear and bright. No one to answer to — the taste of freedom is wonderful."
"Each of the four families will demarcate the boundaries of your own territories, to avoid future disputes over borders and such trivial matters. The Northland is vast, with plenty of empty land — develop as much as you please. However, I have one requirement: if you want to claim more territory, you must develop and build upon those lands. If you claim land but don't develop it, I will not recognize your claim to those territories. I hope you remember that." Lorist was being very forceful at this moment.
Hennerd, Count Kenmais, and Baron Feilim all pondered for a while and then expressed agreement with Lorist's proposal. Claiming land without people, money, or resources was useless, and offending the Norton Family over it was something only a fool would do.
"One more thing — I have a proposal," Lorist said. "The dispute between Count Kenmais and Hennerd over snow salt sales has made me realize that our four families still need a bond of shared interest. I've decided to establish a Snow Salt Trade Association, dedicated exclusively to handling the sales of snow salt. Our Norton Family will supply snow salt to the association at a price of one million pounds of snow salt for ten thousand gold Forde, and the association will handle the rest of the sales. Would any of you be interested in participating?"
"How will the profits be distributed?" Count Kenmais asked.
"The three of you will each hold thirty percent of the shares. Every family puts up ten thousand gold Forde as capital, and you each send people in to manage and handle sales. I'll take ten percent as a silent share without sending anyone to manage anything. If you all agree, I propose that the Kenmais Family oversee the association's snow salt trade, while your other two families send a few accountants to keep an eye on things. Future profits will be split according to the ratios I've described," Lorist said.
"I'm in," Baron Feilim said without hesitation.
This was a pie falling right out of the sky. Of course Baron Feilim agreed — he practically wanted to grab Lorist and give him a few kisses to show his gratitude.
"I'm in too," Hennerd said. After all, his involvement in the snow salt business was just a side venture; the real point was to scrape together a bit more money to provide bonuses for the family's armed forces. Besides, Count Kenmais was absolutely right — Hennerd really wasn't cut out for doing business.
Now only Count Kenmais remained, mulling things over. To be honest, Lorist's proposal would cause the most damage to his family. His family could earn thirty to forty thousand gold Forde from the snow salt trade by working alone. Joining this association would certainly bring in less than going solo, and on top of that, seventy percent of the profits would need to be split three ways. No matter how he looked at it, the math didn't add up.
But when Count Kenmais looked up and caught Lorist's half-smiling gaze, he suddenly understood what Lorist was really after. By using snow salt profits to bind the four families into a tight alliance of shared interests, the other three would genuinely come to the Kenmais Family's aid whenever trouble arose. When you put it that way, the tens of thousands of gold Forde earned from trading snow salt were absolutely nothing compared to three true allies.
"I'm in. I'll help everyone make serious money," Count Kenmais declared with fervent conviction.
"Then it's settled. We'll draft an agreement based on what we've just discussed, everyone signs, and we're done." Lorist slapped the table and brought the matter to a close.
…
And just like that, with a few brief words, the Four Family Alliance of the Northland was formed. Historians of later ages would praise this event greatly, holding that it was precisely this alliance that brought the Northland its great opportunities for development and its long-lasting peace, turning it into a blessed haven that countless commoners would dream of and flock to with their families when war and chaos eventually erupted across the land.
These four great families, in particular, would remain faithful to the oath their forebears had sworn in the Northland for a full thousand years. Not a single one ever betrayed or reneged on the pact. No matter the time or circumstance, when one family was in peril, three would come to its aid. On several occasions, families that had been on the brink of destruction were pulled back from the very jaws of ruin by the support of the other three, ensuring their names endured through the ages. So unwavering was their fidelity that, in later times, the Four Family Oath became a legendary tale of honor and kept promise, widely told and admired across the land.
…(To be continued.)