Release That Witch

Chapter 118: The Pursue and Attack (Part II)

oland ordered the First Army to practice at least twice a week, but they never tried to march at night.

Marching at night would be dangerous. They would be easily attacked by wild beasts and snakes without being able to see the road clearly. Besides, it would be easy to lose bearing and get lost, while torchlight would attract wild beasts. That was why Roland had to wait until the next day at dawn to have the troop march and follow the duke’s army.

To ensure the success of this plan, Prince Roland decided to follow the First Army in person. Of course, he chose to stay on the Littletown instead of ridding horses on bumpy roads.

After a half month of training, Hummingbird could already stabilize timing for light fraction conversion of the 12-pound cannon. Considering a longer enchantment process, Roland ordered Hummingbird to convert the cannons at dawn. He hoped that the first cannon would take the longest time for conversion and the time would gradually lessen with each subsequent cannon.

Benefitting from Hummingbird’s ability, the Littletown could load four cannons and all the mortar team members on a trip. The large concrete boat was occupied by people, besides the cannon team and Roland, the rest of the members on the boat were Anna, Nightingale, Nana, Leaf, Echo, Hummingbird, Tigui Pine and Wendy who was responsible for providing the power along with Brian who was working as the captain.

It could be said that except those not good at combat such as Scroll, Soraya, Lily and Mystery Moon, almost all the witches in Border Town participated in. Initially, Anna did not need to fight on the battlefield. However, Roland could not refuse when he saw the determination in Anna’s eyes.

The land army was the flintlock troop of the First Army and was directed by the Chief Knight Carter and Iron Axe. Lightning took responsibility for locating and tracking. The group of people quietly followed the enemies. Their distance was outside of the investigation zone of the enemy’s scouts. Once Lightning found any activities of the scouts, the troop would stop marching. They captured many lost mercenaries and freedmen along the way. However, they could not deal with these surrendered enemies and so Roland had them disarmed and brought them along.

It was the first time that Roland had led “a huge army” to conquer the enemy. Standing at the front of the Littletown and feeling the wind that was blowing on his face, Roland felt quite motivated.

“What makes you so happy?” Anna suddenly appeared beside him and asked.

“Umm…” Roland took back his smile. “Nothing at all.”

“Really?” Anna handed her handkerchief to Roland. “Wipe your saliva.”

“…” Roland suddenly felt a compulsion to jump into a river. “Thanks.”

It was already sunset when Lightning reported that the enemy had set up its base camp. Compared with the relentless investigations when coming, the Coalition was demoralized heavily after such a total defeat. The moment it was just sunset, the scouting knights ran back to the camp, afraid to miss the horse meat at night.

Roland’s troop camped beside the lake two kilometers away from the duke’s army.

They were not discovered so the annihilation plan was already halfway successful.

Next, they only had to wait to besiege the enemy before their departure.

This was the first time that Roland had camped overnight in the wild. Compared with the camp that was full of insects, he would rather choose to sleep on the boat. The wooden shed where cannons were placed was emptied and the members of the mortar team took the 12-pound cannons off to rest in the camp. The Littletown became the temporary palace for the prince. Except Roland, all the other witches would also sleep over on the boat. Everyone covered the tent with blankets and lay down side by side.

Roland wanted to avoid the situation. However, he found that the witches paid no attention at all. Except Anna, they had all experienced some degree of hardship. In the days of wandering, it was normal to spend a night in the wilderness. Soon, everyone fell asleep except Roland and Anna who found themselves sleepless. The former was because he was used to a soft bed and was unaccustomed to a hard bunk bed, but the latter with her unknown thoughts, was staring at Roland. Every time the prince turned his head, Anna would close her eyes immediately and pretend that she was asleep. However, against the moonlight, her eyelashes were shaking slightly. If Roland was not afraid to disturb the others, he really wanted to pinch Anna’s small nose, force her to open her eyes and hug her in his arms.

It was a sleepless night for both of them.

It was not yet dawn, but Roland had already started his annihilation plan. 270 infantries with flintlocks would be separated into two teams. One of the teams would take two cannons to the back side of the duke’s army through the Littletown and finish the defense line from one kilometer away. Lightning was responsible for monitoring the movements of the duke. After the cannons were set up, she would make signals and the other team led by Carter which would launch an attack from the front.

The unified transportation by concrete boat avoided the possibility of separation. After Nightingale went into the Mist, her black and white view could be used as a night vision appliance. As the pilot, she could help the Littletown to sail at night.

After they practiced the process many times, everyone knew their responsibilities very well. Wendy boosted the wind power so that the Littletown was able to transport all the members to the back side smoothly. After two hours, the interception team led by Iron Axe was all set. Then Lightning flew to the top of Carter’s camp and showed an orange flag.

It was just dawn.

The annihilation plan had just begun.

Because Echo was assigned to the back side, the members of the flintlock team who were assigned to attack in the front did not need to move. All they had to do was to line up and protect the two cannons. The 12-pound cannons were pushed onto the battlefield and were fired toward the enemy’s camp. At this time, the duke’s army was still asleep.

With the roaring noise of cannons, the solid shells went straight to the enemy’s camp. The knights and mercenaries, who just now realized the situation, rushed out of the tents but to find that the First Army had already lined up and was waiting. With the previous disastrous experience, no one dared to challenge this seemingly weak defensive line and all fled to the east.

However, Iron Axe had been waiting in the backside for a long time.

When enemies appeared, it was finally the closing time for this annihilation plan.

With the reverberating marching music, the 150 members of the First Army lined up in. To impose pressure on the duke’s army, the enemies would have soon abandoned their mounts and fled through the forest.

Duke Ryan was in a state of desperation. He could not understand how Roland’s army appeared behind them.

Recognize the failure and surrender? He did not know how Roland Wimbledon would treat a duke that dared to attack the royal family. Perhaps he would be imprisoned or exiled, or more likely sent to the scaffold. Regardless of the choices, Longsong Stronghold would have nothing to do with him.

Roland’s troop came closer and closer to him, so did Roland’s formidable weapon that roared and shone from time to time. The duke knew that if he did not run now, he would not have the chance anymore. He only had 30 members left with him and this was his last resort.

“They couldn’t stop us with their small troop,” Duke shouted, “and as long as we cross over that line, they won’t catch us without any transportation means. It would only take us half a day to arrive Longsong Stronghold! My knights! Follow me!”

Then duke started to command the mount to enhance its speed. However, not everyone had the mindset to fight regardless of their lives. He had only 10 people including his guards with him but he could not care too much at this point.

The marching music suddenly stopped.

Roland’s troop stopped their march in a good order and stood before the duke like a wall.

Then the duke saw the troop raise their short wooden sticks.

When duke was only 100 steps away from that defensive wall, a range of noises blasted. He felt a shock on his breast and his stomach as if he was stricken by a massive hammer. Then he felt a feeling of paralysis and powerlessness. He leaned backward and fell from his horse to the ground.

The duke wanted to say something but could not make any noise. He coughed and smelled a strong scent of blood. The sticky liquid blocked his throat. Soon, darkness engulfed him.

Chapter 119: The Ransom (Part I)

etrov Hull sat at the desk and subconsciously fiddled with an exquisite parchment—that was the program the Longsong Theatre sent on every weekend afternoon. Usually, he would have chosen a favorite play and let the housekeeper pay the deposit, before giving the invitation to Shirley.

But now he did not read a single word.

Seven days had passed since their departure. If everything went smoothly, father should have already returned yesterday with the duke. Perhaps there was a delay on the road. Or perhaps the people were tired, and rested an extra day in Border Town? He tried to comfort himself, but yet he grew more anxious.

Prince Roland Wimbledon left a deep impression on him. Petrov felt it was incredulous. How could such an outstanding prince have such a bad reputation in the king’s city? People commented that he had a bad character and was dandy, incompetent and ignorant… none of these evaluations tallied with the prince he knew.

But this was exactly why he felt so uneasy.

He was afraid that the duke would lose to him.

“Master Petrov,” shouted the housekeeper at the door. “There’s a letter from Longsong Stronghold.”

[From Longsong Stronghold?] Petrov was dazed for a second. “Bring it in quickly.”

After opening the cover, the first word in the letter already left Petrov stunned.

It was a letter written by Prince Roland!

“Duke Osman Ryan attacked my territory with force and tried to start a rebellion. The duke himself was already executed on the battlefield, and Longsong Stronghold is now back under my rule.”

[The duke was defeated?!] His heart sank, and then he continued reading.

“Duke Ryan’s accomplices, other than a few diehard rebels, had already surrendered and pleaded guilty. The families who rebelled against royal family were supposed to be executed as well, but I have been merciful. Only the main ones involved would be sentenced to death and the rest of the captives could be redeemed with money. The place to carry out the exchange would be at the lord’s castle in Longsong Stronghold. The list is as follows.”

This official letter was written in an awkward manner, without using the diplomatic language, but the meaning was loud and clear—the duke had failed in his rebellion and the prisoners could be redeemed with money.

Petrov lowered his eyes to find his father’s name appear in the first line.

“Hedee!” He shouted the name of the housekeeper. “Prepare the carriage. I’m going to the lord’s castle in Longsong Stronghold!”

…

Earl Honeysuckle’s territory was in the east of Longsong Stronghold. When Petrov rushed to the castle’s area, it was already half an hour later. The lord’s castle was filled with the “Militia” he had never seen—they had no shiny armor and no cloak or ribbon. Each held a peculiar short stick in the hand with a sharp bayonet at the top. They stood neatly in two rows, with their head held high. Petrov could feel their undeniable presence.

After reporting his identity, Petrov was given access to the garden, and then led by a guard to the castle hall.

He had come to this place many times, but today, he felt like he had stepped into a completely foreign territory. The guards on the aisle were all new faces. No one nodded or smiled at him, but just looked at him blankly. At the entrance of the hall, a knight came up toward him.

“What’s your name?”

“Petrov Hull,” he replied with a slight displeasure. He did not like the interrogative dialogue and therefore emphasized his name a second time. “Sir Hull.”

“Oh.” The other party looked disbelievingly. He looked over the list. “Earl Shalafi Hull is your…”

“Father.”

“Please accept my apologies,” the knight said without changing his expression, “I’m Carter Lannis, Prince Roland’s Chief Knight. Please come to the side room so that we can check if you have any weapons.”

After the search, his God’s Stone of Retaliation was also removed by the guard.

“That’s not a weapon,” Petrov said.

“Of course not.” The knight nodded. “After the meeting, we’ll return it to you. You can rest assured.”

He opened his mouth but finally decided against speaking. [Return it to me? That God’s Stone of Retaliation stone is considered a top grade stone and is worth at least 50 gold royals. It’ll certainly be replaced by a defective one when they return it. Forget it,] he thought, [and take it as part of the ransom.]

As he walked into the hall, he saw Prince Roland writing on his seat. He raised his head and was startled to see Petrov, but then he laughed. “We meet again, Mr. Ambassador.”

It was still his familiar face and tone. Petrov started to relax a little, bowed and saluted. “Greetings to you, Your Highness.”

“Have a seat.” Roland lifted his hand to direct him to his seat. “I’m sure you’re aware of what has happened. Your father was not hurt. He was one of the first that surrendered.”

“Thanks for your kindness, Your Highness,” said Petrov. “I’m not sure how much ransom is required. As long as Honeysuckle can afford it, I’ll arrange them to send the money immediately.”

“I don’t need money.” Roland shook his finger. “I want livestock and men.”

It was normal to want livestock. In the last 50 years, the conflict between the lords was usually settled with the losers compensating with cattle and sheep. Petrov had read this more than once in books. Why… did Prince Roland request for men? “Your Highness, the Honeysuckle domain does have a lot of cattle, sheep, and horses, but as for men…”

“It’s very simple. Masons, carpenters, farmers, serfs are all useful to me.” The prince handed over a paper roll. “You can follow the values here, as long as the total numbers add up to 3,000.” He smiled. “By the way, because the earl can be considered as the one with the largest title, so his value is also the highest.”

Petrov spread the roll of paper on the table.

He saw that it was listed with occupational categories and livestock species, followed by a number: cattle 3, sheep 2, mason 10 and the like. He understood immediately what the prince meant.

The value of 3,000 meant that he needed to pay a thousand cattle or three hundred masons to redeem his father. Of course, his territory did not have so many cattle or masons. Arranging the items on the paper into different groups would produce a variety of options. As a noble that dealt daily in trade, Petrov was instantly aware that there was a lot of maneuvering he could do. He just needed a few days to calculate an optimal solution that had the smallest cost to meet the requirements of 3,000 points.

“Your Highness, could I…”

“One day, I can only give you one day.” Roland stretched out a finger. “This refers only to the time for you to make a choice. After all, it would take three or four days to gather so many resources and people. And I won’t stay here forever. I’ll leave after a week at the most.”

“A day is really…” Petrov was taken aback suddenly and stared with his eyes wide open at the prince. “Hang on, did you say… that you wanted to leave?” He fell into thoughts. [What does this mean? If the letter was correct, the duke died on the battlefield. Longsong Stronghold now belongs to His Highness, yet he actually wanted to leave. Is this place less significant than the small and broken Border Town? No, this isn’t the main point! The point is if His Highness departed, who’ll run this magnificent city?] His heart became tumultuous. [Will he allow duke’s children to inherit it?] He knew very well this would be impossible. “That’ll give the duke’s children an opportunity to gather troops to avenge their father? Would he consider the five families aside from the Ryan family or the other noble families?”

“Yes,” said Roland, “I’ll take the ransom and return to Border Town.”

His heart was suddenly filled with a thought, and once this idea appeared, it could no longer be suppressed.

“Your Highness,” said Petrov in a low voice, after swallowing hard, “Excuse me, is there also a numerical value to ‘redeem’ Longsong Stronghold?”

Chapter 120: The Ransom (Part II)

oland stared at Petrov with a look of interest and laughed. “You’re the first person to ask me that,” he said. He took the cup and had a sip, and then said in a casual tone, “Longsong Stronghold is undoubtedly mine, even if I’m not here. What I really need is a person or a family to run Longsong Stronghold on my behalf. Therefore, what you should ask me isn’t the ransom, but the “agency fees”.

Agency… Petrov was no stranger to this word. Many of the nobles had no time or interest in trade, while they had large output in their domain. Some sharp-sighted businessmen would help them to sell goods. In order to obtain this right from the noble, the businessmen had to pay a sum of money in advance as a deposit.

“How many pieces of gold royals would you require?” he took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

“This is a long process, so you don’t have to pay it all at once.” Roland paused, and then said, “30 percent of the monthly tax of Longsong Stronghold, as well as supplies which value 1,000 points. The rest belongs to you.”

“It was not that outrageous,” Petrov thought. As long as he could control Longsong Stronghold completely, this price was even reasonable. He confirmed that His Highness was not kidding. The prince really intended to keep his word.

“This was an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Petrov thought to himself. He and the prince were not enemies. The duke has completely failed, and his children would be deprived of their inheritance. If the Coalition forces could not defeat the prince, then who could stop him from controlling the Western Region? Aligning themselves with more powerful forces was the basic principle for the continuation of the noble. If he could earn His Highness’ trust before the other four families, then Honeysuckle would own the biggest domain in the Western Region.

“Your Highness, why don’t you wish to stay here? This castle is larger than the one at Border Town.”

“What you meant to ask was why I wouldn’t run Longsong Stronghold myself?” Roland looked at the slightly embarrassed Petrov and laughed. “There are many reasons. The power struggle here is too complicated, and straightening out the relationships takes too much time, much less getting some profit from it. Supporting a local noble family who can govern better than me, is a win-win deal. There are many other reasons that you can think about slowly.” The prince started playing with the silver cup. “By the way, if you were chosen as the agent, would you try to revenge the duke?”

“Of course not, Your Highness!” Although the question was a little unexpected, Petrov still replied immediately.

[The duke was already gone. The five families now need to think about how to carve up his territory. Who would still care about revenge?] thought Petrov.

However, Petrov also knew that these were not the real reasons why His Highness did not want to stay in Longsong Stronghold. [The power struggle is too complex and difficult to straighten out? With his oppressing power, he absolutely can exterminate the opposing forces in the span of one to two years. All the nobles would forget the loser Ryan, just like what Ryan did in the past. Yet two years isn’t enough to construct Border Town into such a big city like Longsong Stronghold.]

[His Highness Roland might have a more complex plan.]

“In that case, this city…”

“I’d gladly be your agent, Your Highness!” Petrov blurted out. Yet he soon seemed hesitant. “But, the king, no, I mean your elder brother, might not agree with this result. If he arranges a new duke for the Western Region, I would be unable to oppose the king’s city.”

“You don’t need to oppose them.” Roland threw two letters before him. “Look at this, and the document I found in Duke Ryan’s office.”

Petrov quickly scanned the contents of the letter, and could not help but gasp.

The first seal looked like a secret letter. The new king Timothy and Queen of Clearwater had a battle in Eagle City and suffered a major failure? The content of the second letter was even more horrifying. The document was only half written but stated Duke Ryan wanted to annex the north. His intention to be an independent king was revealed clearly on paper. The letter was not complete, hence it was impossible to know who the intended recipient was.

He understood His Highness’s intentions—no resistance was needed because the new king was already at hard times himself. Otherwise, the duke would certainly not want to be independent. His elite knights were enough to wipe out the Western Region, but still a far cry from the knightage of the king’s city.

[A secret letter may be forged, but this document is indeed in Osmond Ryan’s handwriting. Unless the prince finds a witch that can imitate another man’s writing…] he thought, and then denied the speculation.

[The prince doesn’t need to go to so much trouble to deceive me. Acting as the agent for Longsong Stronghold isn’t a unilateral transaction. If I can’t establish a firm foothold in Longsong Stronghold, His Highness won’t also stand to gain. Moreover, the duke designated by Timothy is bound to be the enemy of Prince Roland.]

If the Honeysuckle Family wanted to override the other four big families, then I would have to rely on the support of the prince. On the contrary, in order to ensure my interests to be better protected, the prince should also help the Hull family to hold the position more firmly.

As soon as he thought of this, Petrov stood up slowly and bowed to Roland. “The Hull family is at your service.”

“Well.” The latter nodded. “At the moment it’s still undecided if you should be the agent. Let me first ask you a few questions.”

“Please go ahead, Your Highness.”

“How are you going to deal with those forces against you?”

“What’s your estimate of the monthly taxes? How are you going to guarantee to provide supplies which value 1,000 points?”

“What measures do you have if I ask you to develop the business on a large scale?”

“… ”

Petrov thought that His Highness just wanted to take this opportunity to get some information about the noble in the Western Region. He did not expect the latter to ask such strange questions as if he were being assessed for his administrative or general business knowledge.

A series of questions followed and Petrov racked his brains to answer them one by one. His Highness looked more and more impressed with each answer. In the end, he clapped his hands and said, “Yes, we’ll stop here today. When you’ve put together the ransom valuing 3,000 points, you can return to redeem the earl. Rest assured. He’ll be well taken care of these days.”

“Your Highness, about the agent rights…”

“It’ll be announced on that day.” Roland implied that it was time for the knight to escort the guest out.

Petrov left the hall with mixed emotions. He then saw Carter returning to him the God’s Stone of Retaliation—it was still blue and translucent, and worth 50 gold royals.

“So what did you think?” Roland looked at Nightingale who had emerged from the side.

“Well, he said more or less the truth,” she shrugged her shoulders and said, “He was much more sincere than the ones interviewed before him. By the way, do you really think that it’s a good idea for you to repeat the same things to everyone? What about those letters? Aren’t the contents supposed to be of the utmost secrecy?”

“Not everyone,” the prince looked over the list and said, “They’re from the five big families. These great nobles are the only ones suitable for managing Longsong Stronghold. For those that aren’t strong enough, even if they were to get this position, they wouldn’t be able to run Longsong Stronghold properly. Instead, this would only cause the various forces to start an endless internal strife among themselves. As for Timothy Wimbledon being defeated at Eagle City, that isn’t really a big secret. It would soon spread throughout the whole Kingdom of Graycastle. I was just trying to speed up the process.”

[These two messages come at just the right time,] he thought, [If the Second Prince did not suffer such a defeat, it would probably be much harder to recruit an agent—if the use of coercion was needed, the results would not be so perfect.]

“So… Have you already decided to choose him?”

“If all goes as planned,” said Roland with a smile, “Anyway, he was the first person to take the initiative to ask about this matter. A subjective initiative has always been the most important quality of a staff. I did not expect to discover among the five families such a talent who’s proficient in administration and trade. I thought they were only good for getting on their horses and fighting and killing.”

He found Petrov Hull’s name on the list and used the quill pen to outline a circle.

Chapter 121: The Looting

..

Roland was finally relieved after interrogating the five families.

When he leaned against the chair, Nightingale took the initiative to walk behind him and massage his shoulders.

From defeating Duke Ryan to capturing the lord’s castle, they only took one day.

It went much smoother than he had expected. When the duke died in the battle, most of his people decided to surrender. The mercenaries, particularly, defected and kneeled to express their willingness to serve His Highness.

Thus the mercenaries watched over the surrendered knights and nobles, while the First Army watched over the mercenaries. Together, they went east and arrived in Longsong Stronghold at 3 p.m. that day. Upon seeing the Duke Ryan’s head and the groups of surrendered nobles, the guards immediately opened the city gates to welcome Prince Roland.

Roland did not immediately summon all the nobles in the city to declare his ownership of the stronghold. Instead, he first went to lord’s castle.

The castle sat in the center of the stronghold at the highest point, like a city within a city. When they broke into the city, there was an outbreak of small-scale fighting. When Nightingale blew up the courtyard gate with explosives, some 20 guards who did not follow the duke to the battlefield put up a struggle. They were shot dead by the First Army. But in their attack, they used hand crossbows and hurt five members of the army. Of those, two were seriously injured, but fortunately, Nana who was with the troop was there to cure them instantly.

10 guards tried to escape with the duke’s family through the back door, but Lightning who was monitoring the situation from the sky noticed them. They were captured at once, including the duke’s wife and his two sons. Until then, they were still in the dark about the duke’s defeat.

After capturing the lord’s castle, the First Army took over its defense. Doubtlessly, Duke Ryan’s castle was three or four times the size of the castle in Border Town. Its design was also much grander, with six lookout towers making up a hexagon outline. The central tower was almost five-story high, an unusual feat at this point in history. The courtyard had everything including houses, warehouses, and stables. There was even a private jail in the castle’s basement.

Roland put the valuable captives and the duke’s family in prison and evacuated the civilians. The weapons he had confiscated from the mercenaries were placed in an empty room in the courtyard in batches. In the meantime, he also selected several leaders and paid them handsomely, so they can take care of themselves. In his mind, North Slope Mine was the best home for those opportunists, but he had more important things to do.

That was the most important thing to “loot” after a battle—commonly known as searching the dead bodies.

Roland led the witches to ransack the entire castle. They even found the God’s Stones of Retaliation in the vault and secret chamber. By the time they were done, their haul was breathtaking. In the basement alone, they had discovered two boxes of gold royals. Even with a conservative estimation, they gauged there were at least 10,000 gold royals there. In a secret compartment in the bedroom, Nightingale found several gemstones the size of eyeballs. Behind a fireplace, Echo found the door to a secret chamber stuffed with all kinds of gold handicrafts like scepters and crowns, but also dazzling jewelry, all neatly placed on a shelf.

This was a duke’s wealth!

Looking at the massive wealth and considering the revenue of Border Town that was less than 500 gold royals in fall and winter, Roland became emotional. This was the temptation of looting and plundering. If Roland did not come from a highly industrial society, he would have been addicted to the feeling it gave him.

Despite his profound emotions, these things still have to be taken in. There would be a boom in the working population of Border Town in the foreseeable future, so he needed a lot of money to import food before the development of their agriculture.

After Hummingbird’s magic was used to reduce the weight of the boxes of treasure, Iron Axe and the prince’s guards escorted the transportation of the treasures back to their castle through the Littletown. Considering the time spent in enchanting bulky items, it took about three days to ship them all to their destination.

That was also why Roland did not demand gold royals as ransom the next day. He had benefited a lot from the duke. What he needed most were people and livestock.

“Your Highness, are you really only staying here for a week?” Nightingale asked.

“What’s wrong?” Roland closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of numbness on his shoulders.

“This is the biggest town in the Western Region,” she said softly, “and compared with Border Town, don’t you want to stay at a more prosperous place?”

“There are too many intricate power struggles in Longsong Stronghold. It’s not suited for what I want to do. It’s fine if we want to maintain the status quo, but once we want to make changes, we’ll face more and more resistance. And I can’t uproot those forces in one go right now.” Roland smiled. “Of course, what’s most important is that the church’s teachings have been entrenched in the people here. They won’t be able to accept you all so soon. But as I’ve said, I hope the witches can walk freely on the streets. I’ve succeeded in Border Town.”

“Yes,” Nightingale said softly, “You’ve fulfilled your promise.”

The morning of the third day, Petrov brought his list over in a hurry. As per convention, Roland received him in the lobby.

“Your Highness, I’ve made my selection.”

“Let me see.” Roland took the list from him. As he had anticipated, most were second-class serfs. There were 800 of them, as well as 100 cattle and 300 sheep. In total, they were equal to 900 points. The rest were craftsmen.

“Your Highness, is that fine?”

“Of course, as long as we accumulate 3,000 points.” Roland returned the list to Petrov. “When can you gather all these supplies and people?”

“I can do it today, as per my arrangement with the property and people of Honeysuckle domain. However, Your Highness, it may take half a month to ship them to Border Town.”

“That’ll be up to you,” Roland said, knocking the desk. “I take that you have experience in arranging caravans?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” Petrov hesitated before adding. “What about my father…?”

“You can take him back today.” The prince smiled and handed him a parchment scroll. “If you don’t have any questions, leave your signature and fingerprint on it.”

“This is… an agency contract?” Petrov glanced at the top of the scroll, his voice shaking with excitement. “Are you agreeing to grant the Honeysuckle family the right of agency?” He unfolded the scroll and began reading it carefully.

Roland nodded with satisfaction at Petrov’s cautiousness. The most basic requirement to be his partner was having a keen eye on contracts.

Petrov raised his head a moment later. “The content is almost the same as what you told me yesterday. But…” He pointed to the bottom of the scroll. “Your Highness, shouldn’t it be my father’s name? He’s the Earl of Honeysuckle and the representative of our family.”

Roland laughed. “Of course not. The one I’m discussing becoming the agent of Longsong Stronghold with is you, not your father. Naturally, it’s you who have to sign the contract.”

Petrov was stunned and asked in disbelief, “Your Highness, do you mean you want me to…”

“That’s right. You’ll replace the duke and manage Longsong Stronghold for me.” Roland nodded. “If the contract is enforced smoothly, you’ll continue to govern the city after I become the king.” He paused, his smile gone. “But if you violate the contract, you’ll end up like the duke. I’ve invaded this city once and I can do it again. So do well, Mr. Ambassador.”

Chapter 122: The Father and The Son

he dungeon of the castle was not as damp and dark as the prison in Border Town, for the duke did not want his basement to become a haunted house, or a house where anyone could smell the disgusting odor once they walked downstairs. The dungeon was still clean in general. Different cells were decorated differently according to the standards. Some of them were totally empty while some of them not only came with a bed, but were even fully-equipped with a closet, a desk, and chandeliers. It seemed that the duke originally took this as a place to imprison some nobles, and he wanted to ensure that basic etiquette was still being observed.

Roland also found a special cell in the corner, a room which was half-occupied by a big bed. There was a chain hanging down from the ceiling, and the iron handcuffs on the chain were wrapped with a layer of sheepskin, and on the wall was hanging all kinds of whips. It seemed that Duke Ryan had an affluent knowledge in that special area. But unfortunately, Roland would leave here in a few days, and he had lost the chance to get close to that special area here.

As the most valuable captive, Shalafi Hull was naturally arranged to live in the best cell. If you never noticed the iron railings which were outside the house, you may have thought it was a luxurious bedroom. The ones he lived with were the viscounts from the Maple Leaf Family and the Wolf Family, the eldest son of the Wild Rose Family, and the second son of the Elk Family. Together with Lion Ryan, these families were called the Fortress Six. Of course, the Ryan Family had been disintegrated by Roland, and his wife and sons were imprisoned next door.

When His Highness appeared in the dungeons, all the nobles stood up. Roland said, “Earl Hull, you can leave here. As for the other people, when the ransom arrives, I’ll let you go,” he added this before they could ask.

“Father,” said Petrov, relieved at seeing the duke’s ruddy face. He glanced at his friend and then looked at Roland. “Your Highness, I didn’t see the name of the Earl of the Elk Family on the list. If he’s died on the battlefield, and the eldest son of his family is still in the king’s city, then there’s no man to support the whole family. Is it possible to release Rene Medde first and let him raise the ransom? I’m prepared to guarantee him.”

“The eldest son of the Elk Family, do you mean Jacques Medde?” Roland shook his head and said, “He’s already been back and came to the castle yesterday, but… I don’t think he intend to pay the ransom.”

Hearing this, Rene leaned against the cage. “Why?” he asked in disbelief.

“He said you didn’t protect your father on the battlefield and you killed Earl Medde.”

“Why did he say that? The killer is obviously…” Rene suddenly sealed his lips.

Roland just got over it and said, “What you were trying to say was the killer is obviously me, right?” He went to the cage and said, “Your father sent the people into my castle, and he wanted to burn the crops before the Months of Demons. Now he had invaded my domain with the duke, and I just made a counterattack to also repel the invaders. So am I a killer? Compared with them, who should be condemned? If it were not because you were proved to know nothing about the whole thing, you were a dead man already.”

“…” Rene could not say anything.

“Your Highness,” asked Petrov, “if no one is willing to pay the ransom, will you execute him?”

“No I won’t. I’m always benevolent,” Roland grinned and said, “and I’d probably send him back to Border Town and make him mine on Northern Slope for 20 years for atonement.”

“So… how much is the ransom?” he asked.

“As the second son, he has no chance to inherit the title of nobility, so the price is naturally less than that of the Earl of Honeysuckle. It only needs materials worthing about 1,000 points.” Roland looked at him with interest. “So, do you want to pay the ransom for him?”

“What kind of materials? 1,000 pieces of gold royals?” The earl who was released by the guards interrupted.

“Your son will tell you about that.” Prince Roland made a gesture of “please”. “Go, there’s nothing here worth staying for. As for the second son of the Medde Family, you don’t have to rush for that. You can go back and think about it.”

When they left the dungeon and went to the gate of the castle, the earl suddenly stopped. “Your Highness, I know that Duke Ryan may be guilty, but… his wife and sons are innocent.”

“Yes, maybe,” said Roland indisputably. “I didn’t intend to punish them by exiling them or hanging them to death, I’ll only bring them back to Border Town and imprison them.” He wouldn’t release them until the day that he ascended the throne. The situation would be more complicated if he became remissive now because the eldest son had a legal inheritance to the throne.

“What?!” Shalafi Hull stared at Petrov unbelievably. “His Highness doesn’t intend to live in Longsong Stronghold, but he let you manage the whole city?”

As soon as they returned to the Honeysuckle’s, Petrov immediately told his father in detail what had happened in the three days. The earl could not bear it when he heard about the contract, and when he got the specific answer, he stood up and walked around in the schoolroom again and again with mixed feelings.

“Father, are you all right?” Petrov anxiously asked.

“Now it seems our opponent is mainly the Elk Family. There’s a broad gap between us and the other three families in terms of both wealth and culture.”

“Sorry… What?” He did not get the idea of his father.

“Opponents! The opponents!” The earl yelled. “I’m so disappointed with you. His Highness gave you such a great chance but you haven’t yet analyzed who is your opponent!”

“Uh, don’t you feel odd about that?”

“Why does His Highness insist on going back to Border Town? It’s really odd, but what does that have to do with us? We just need the real contract,” the Earl said as he fondled his mustache.

[That’s the fact,] Petrov thought, [and His Highness wouldn’t use much energy just for a joke. As to the reasons why he loves Border Town that much, I can slowly think about that again.] But what he didn’t expect was that his father accepted the fact so easily.

“I heard that the Medde guy is your friend,” Shalafi suddenly said firmly, “and you go to get him out tomorrow.”

“Do you allow me to redeem him with materials worthing 1,000 points?” Petrov was stunned.

“Well, think about it. If the Earl of the Elk family died, the eldest son wouldn’t want to redeem the second son. So in this battle, the only sacrifice would be a few knights, and it seems that there’s hardly any loss. Once Jacques Medde inherits the throne, it’ll inevitably hinder you from being in charge of… no, managing Longsong Stronghold,” the earl explained, “Why was Jacques reluctant to redeem Rene? Because he was afraid Rene will be a threat.”

[Well, that was the real reason,] Petrov wondered while bitterly smiling. But he knew that his father was right. Rene liked swords and rifles since he was young, and he was very close to the knights in this domain. Unlike the eldest son Jacques, who thought that a royal should not be involved in fighting and preferred romantic things. Although Rene had repeatedly shown that he wanted to become a knight, but that was in the absence of inheritance to the throne. Now, without the control of the earl, who knew whether he would gather the knights to kill the eldest son? Jacques would not spend money to redeem a person who made him felt restless. His decision was very simple and ruthless.

“My friend will never do that,” he firmly said.

“Maybe, if you redeem him, no matter what he intends to do will be a headache for Jacques.” Shalafi went on to say, “As for the points, we can choose some wonderful craftsmen.”

“When preparing for your ransom, I’ve transferred some craftsmen, and if we use more, I’m afraid there wouldn’t be enough craftsmen in the whole domain.”

“Don’t worry, do you know that the Northern Region is a mess now?” Earl said confidently, “The four kingdoms were all destroyed in Hermes, the lords forced people to join the army, and there have been a large number of fugitives. We can take this opportunity to take a little more, and then we’ll save the monthly supplies.”

Petrov found that his father was also a business master—at least he did much better in business than he was on the battlefield.

Chapter 123: The Offer of the Church

n the fourth day after Roland had conquered Stronghold, he summoned all the nobles in and near the area to the hall of the castle.

Although the majority had already known the news, he thought that he still had to make it clear before all of them—the Western Region had a new lord.

When he said that he would go back to Border Town and had asked the eldest son of the Honeysuckle Family to take charge in his stead, all the nobles started to argue immediately. Of course, nobody was willing to take the lead to dissent at that moment while the head of the duke was still hanging high in the gate and Timothy’s defeat made speculators decide to seek for external help.

After the knights of the Honeysuckle Family were ransomed, the rest of the captured knights from other families could not be ransomed. Together with those mercenaries, they would be escorted to Border Town. In Roland’s plan, all the mercenaries were sent to the mine for labor reforming while the knights would be considered for employment based on their repentant attitude—after all, most knights were literate and could be the first teachers of universal education. They, of course, were forbidden to use weapons for the rest of their lives.

As a result, the Honeysuckle Family’s power would be much greater than the other four families’. They had enough armed forces to defend Longsong Stronghold and their own Earl territory, Roland thought. And as for small confrontations in their interests among those five families, they were Petrov’s responsibility to worry about.

During the past few days, Roland had taken some time to order his guards to capture some officials who were held accountable for causing residents of Border Town to starve and freeze to death two years ago; the Treasurer, Reynolds, was included. They would receive a people’s trial in Border Town. The only pity was that Earl Hirte Medde, who attempted to burn Roland’s army provisions and killed Greyhound, was dead on the battlefield without standing trial.

Now, the traffic between Longsong Stronghold and Border Town had been fully restored. Each day over the coming seven days, more than 10 sailing ships would carry material resources to Border Town. Roland guessed Barov would be very busy in taking over coins looted from the duke and resettling a large number of immigrants, and he wondered if Karl had built those temporary wooden sheds as he told him to.

Thinking about it here, he could not wait to return to Border Town as quickly as possible to take charge of the forthcoming farming project.

After accompanying the nobles to have lunch, the castle ushered in a special guest when Roland was about to take a nap.

It was the High Priest, Tylo, in the Longsong Stronghold church.

Suddenly, Roland’s sleepiness was killed.

Different from Border Town, the church had been rooted here for a long time. They not only built a church but also had a high priest stationed here. This was also the main reason why the prince made up his mind to return to Border Town to develop it—Longsong Stronghold had been indoctrinated and influenced by the church for such a long time that any civilian could be their informer. And his public involvement plan would be constrained and the risks of witches being exposed would be multiplied. Unless the church was uprooted, his reformation would be going nowhere.

It was quite normal for the church to keep an eye on the changing of the Longsong Stronghold’s lord. But what made Roland feel strange was that they should wait till today to send a representative to make dealings with him. However, the representative’s identity was not simple. Believers of high priests were senior figures in the church and responsible for supervising one area which was similar to the secular duke’s.

As usual, he met the representative in the hall.

As a middle-aged man about in his forties, High Priest Tylo wearing a church-customized, white robe with a blue border was very neat in his dress and appearances and he behaved like a courteous noble. If Roland were not in favor of witches and the royal Family, he would be glad to talk with such a person.

The high priest must wear a high-quality God’s Stone of Retaliation. In case of any accidents, Roland told Nightingale before the meeting to stay far away from the representative’s location.

After Tylo saluted, Roland invited him to be seated and ordered his attendants to serve tea.

No matter what he was thinking, he must behave properly.

“Your Highness, I send blessings on behalf of Holy City,” Tylo said with a smile on his face. “You’ve already become the Lord of the Western Region as entitled, and may God bless you.”

“Thanks,” Roland answered in a relaxing tone, “and it seems that you don’t care if I’ve killed Duke Ryan and seized Longsong Stronghold.”

“We’re rarely involved in those secular disputes. Whoever can provide the people a better life is a good king. Whether he’s born to a particular Family or from the royal Family isn’t the church’s focus. In fact, promotion in the church never looks at believers’ identities. I’m just a son of a farmer, but now the high priest.” He smiled. “With all due respect, Your Highness, I’m afraid that sons of farmers can’t become dukes, can they?”

If he launched an uprising and overthrew the royal Family, he would be the king. Although Roland thought this, he did not retort and changed the topic directly. “So why are you here, just for sending blessings?”

“Sending blessings is only part of it. I’m also here for cooperation.”

“Cooperation? Cooperation of what?”

“We can provide whatever that can help you to expand your domain and influence.”

“Wait…” Roland frowned. “You just said that the church was rarely involved with secular disputes.”

“Rarely involved doesn’t equal non-involvement,” the high priest calmly said. “Nowadays, the fight between your elder brother Timothy and Princess Garcia has led to a miserable life for the people in the Southern Territory. “I’ve mentioned that the church considers whoever can lead the people to a peaceful life to be a respectable king. And you’re exactly the kind of person.”

Roland was stunned and wondered if the high priest was implying that they wanted to help him fight for the throne. He asked subconsciously, “Why?”

“You’ve led the people to fight against demonic beasts in Border Town and survived the Months of Demons, which proves your courage and ability. The amount of food you’ve bought from Willow Town shows that you don’t want people to starve and suffer, which is a sign of kindness. The three noble qualities and the royal blood are the reasons why we choose you.”

Roland did not believe those reasons at all, but it at least showed that even though Border Town was covered by heavy snow and isolated from the outside, the church was still staring at this remote place.

“But how? Dispatching the Judgment Army to fight for me?”

“We want to quell the war as soon as possible, but it’ll raise most of the nobles’ resentment, so we can only help with the material resources.” The high priest took two pills from his bosom, one red and one black. “This is from the Holy Prayer Room in Holy City—which is equivalent to your alchemic workshop. The red pill can make your men temporarily have formidable strength, and the black pill can multiply their pain, cold, and heat tolerances. With these drugs, your army will be unstoppable. And the church only charges the most basic production costs.” He paused. “Each pill is worth five gold royals. I can give you the two pills for free as test samples to prove that what I said is true.”

“What do you ask for in return? Expanding the scope of the congregation and establishing a church in every territory?”

“That’s good, of course, but it’s our intention to quell the war. As long as the people live a peaceful life, they’ll naturally come into the arms of God.”

Roland took the pills. “It sounds fantastic, but for now, I don’t want to compete to be the King of the Kingdom of Graycastle. Besides, both Timothy and Garcia are my closest blood relatives and I don’t want to hurt them.”

“I can understand.” The high priest smiled. “But sometimes Family affection doesn’t stop the temptation of obtaining rights, especially when you become an obstacle to their rights. Pills are just the starting point, and we can provide a little more help. If you decide to go that way, you can come to look for me at the church anytime.” At this, he stood up and bowed down. “I’ve brought the resolution of the church, and may God be with you, Your Highness.”

Chapter 124: Returning to the Town

hen Tylo left, Nightingale revealed herself from the Mist and said, “Today is probably the day that you’ve told the most lies.”

Roland said impatiently, “What can I do when the person was the high priest of the church? Anyway, can you tell if he was lying?”

“No, the scene around him was engulfed by the God’s Stone of Retaliation, and I could only see the darkness.”

“Unfortunately, the high priest couldn’t be treated like the noble,” Roland thought with regret. He put the two pills on the table. “Do you think the pills are really as amazing as what he said?”

For pain relief, morphine could do it. But in order to make the soldiers become powerful, it sounded like the effect of the adrenal hormone. The problem was how to extract these two substances to make pills? If the church owned such technology, they should have conquered the world.

“Wait…” Roland suddenly thought of a possibility, “Maybe it has something to do with the magic power?”

“Can you see the flow of magic power?” He looked at Nightingale and asked, “is there magic power in these two pills?”

Nightingale observed carefully. “I can’t see the magic power, but it’s a bit like the God’s Stone of Retaliation.”

“The God’s Stone of Retaliation?” Roland was stunned.

She nodded. “Well, you’ve seen the world through the Mist. It’s only black and white there, but the darkness is different from that formed by the God’s Stone of Retaliation, the latter more like a void that swallows the world around it. I don’t know how to describe that feeling…” Nightingale hesitated. “It’s better to say there’s nothing inside rather than a darkness inside of a hole.”

“Nothingness?”

“Yes, that’s nothingness.” She nodded. “The two pills also have something like nothingness, but they are subtle, and… they’re also not a circular hole, but rather sections of the black flowing filaments.”

“Does this nothingness affect your ability?”

Nightingale grabbed the pills, entered into the Mist, but soon retreated. “It seems to have no effect.”

“It seems necessary to find a condemned prisoner to try these two pills and see what happens.” Roland carefully wrapped the pills, and held the pills in his arms.

“I didn’t expect the church to be so optimistic about you,” Nightingale sat by the prince, and said depressingly.

“If the high priest didn’t wear the God’s Stone of Retaliation, I’d bet there are lies in nine out of his ten sentences.” Roland curled his lips. “The most important thing is what they do. What they ask for is totally different.”

“Why?”

“Think about what they want: more churches, more believers, a prince or king who’s supported by himself, and deciding the propaganda of the divine right of kings, a stable country that’s more conducive to their development of believers and development of power. Otherwise, under an annual war, the church and the cloister will become a target for robbery by refugees and aristocrats.”

“What they like is that you can bring a stable life for the people?”

“It’s not the case.” Roland shook his head. “Stability comes from unity or balance, even if the king eats and drinks every day, the people in the unified country live happier than the refugees in the war. So it’s not surprising that they support the Second Prince, and it’s not surprising that they support Princess Garcia. But it’s so strange to come and support me, especially when Garcia is victorious.”

“Now if the church fully supports Garcia, I’m afraid that the king’s city and the east side of the area will be swallowed by her in no more than six months.” If 70% of the land of the Kingdom of Graycastle belonged to Queen of Clearwater, Roland thought their pressure would also be greatly increased. “If we don’t help the strong one but choose the weakest one, it seems that this decision is beneficial to us. It can be assumed that we accept their support, and then the situation of Graycastle will become more chaotic. The direct impacts of the three countries are the sharp decline in the population, the rapid loss of wealth, the wars spread to the whole country, and the date of unification is dragged on.

“What benefits can the church gain? They won’t have more believers. Worse still, I’m afraid all the churches will be demolished.”

“I don’t understand the idea of you nobles. You always beat around the bush.” Nightingale sighed.

“Yeah,” Roland replied with a smile, “except for me.”

“…” The witch narrowed her eyes and stared at the prince for a long time. “It’s strange.Why does that sentence also appear to be true?”

Three days later, Roland finally evacuated the castle and the library of Longsong Stronghold, contentedly taking the Littletown on the way home.

While approaching Border Town along the Redwater River, the scenery on both sides of the river had changed. In the open space of the town opposite where Anna burned, many people were busy working. Judged by their appearance, they were the serfs who first arrived in the town. While close to the Impassable Mountain Range, there were many simple wooden sheds that had been put up. Someone was moving in the wooden shed, Roland guessed it was a family member of the serfs.

These people were bound to the land from generation to generation, and their children were born to be serfs. Most people were living a numb life because they could not see hope. What drove them to work was not their inner desires, but the whip and cable set in the hands of the slaveholders. Low production efficiency was a great waste of human resources.

There was no doubt that slavery was the enemy of industrial production and belonged to the system that needed to be abolished. Roland did not intend to let them all become free people easily, but to provide a channel so that they could see the hope that they could be promoted to be free people. There was a precedent to follow—slaves divorced from slavery because of the kindness of their lord. Even if the spread of this approach would not have had much impact, other aristocrats felt that they were just a good person at most.

When the time was right, he would fully implement the abolition of the slavery law. The resistance would be much smaller then.

The wharf was full of sailing ships and it was clear that this small wharf had been unable to bear such heavy transport pressure. Fortunately, the draft of the Littletown was shallow, so it could dock directly without a wharf. “It seems that the expansion of the wharf also needed to be listed on the schedule,” Roland thought.

When they returned to the castle, he could not take any rest. The moment he returned to the office he called Barov, letting him report on the situation of receiving the goods.

And the assistant minister was also ready. He took a roll of parchment from his pocket, spreading it out on the big wooden table.

“Your Highness, the things that you’re taking back to the castle these days really scare me.” Although he said so, his face overflowing with wrinkles betrayed his feelings. “It took the 12 apprentices a whole night to count all the coins, and the total is more than 14,000 pieces of gold royals! Your Highness, it’s equivalent to a year’s income in an ordinary town!”

Roland thought that it might take more than 20 years for a duke to save those many gold royals. And these gold royals were from the search, plunder, and exploitation of the people in the Western Region. He wanted to turn them into food, steel, and machinery as soon as possible. “What about the gemstones, jewelry, and handicrafts?”

“There isn’t enough time to convert it all, but the conservative estimate is also about 10,000 gold royals. If they’re sent to the king’s city to auction, the price will be higher. Now they’re stored in the basement of your castle.” Barov stopped a second. “But there aren’t enough rooms to be used for food storage, so I suggest that you expand the castle and build more warehouses to store other materials.”