You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 170 Even worse than bandits

Ten days later.

He learned that the nobles and Count Condé were requisitioning merchant ships upstream.

Two more armies appeared in the territory of Condé, belonging to the Vericchka family and the Simon family.

They amassed most of their forces in a short period of time.

This indicates that the plan had been premeditated for a long time.

Stationing at Kande Territory is the only option.

To attack Sig Town, we need a suitable place to settle down.

As a result, merchant ships coming to Sig Town became increasingly rare.

Previously, you could see a merchant ship sailing downstream every two or three days.

Now, you might not see a single merchant ship docked at the pier in Sigge Town for five or six days.

Merchants have a keen sense of smell; with the shadow of war looming over this desolate land, they dared not come, terrified.

Many people have witnessed the scene of two armies facing off—

The sky was overcast and gloomy, snowflakes were falling, and under the protection of the huge iron shields in front, the soldiers behind were as fierce as the wind, facing an army of thousands of people, forcing them not to take a step forward, while the slaves boarded the ship one by one.

There is virtually no possibility of coexistence between the two sides, and bloodshed is likely to occur in the future.

Businessmen are like weather vanes; they dare not be certain that the downstream will be the victor, nor do they want the upstream to win. They can only wait until the dust settles.

Whoever wins, they do business with.

……

Steve Gelland.

The Guélande family made their fortune from saltworks.

The nobility's demand for resources is never enough.

They learned of the salt production in this area last autumn, but only took action this year, for reasons that are multifaceted—

First, a reason is required to declare war on a lord.

Nobles are generally backed by intricate networks of relationships.

Simply put, who doesn't have relatives or friends?
Attacking another lord for no reason, just because you're jealous of the other lord's territory's output, is too disgusting—but it's not impossible, as long as you have enough power, you can do it, it doesn't matter.

The problem is, the other party isn't someone to be trifled with either.

Anyone who hears the surname Liejia should think twice.

Everyone in the Black Iron Lands knows that the Archmage dotes on his children. How dare you, without any justification, rob the Archmage's offspring?
Don't dare to move, really don't dare to move.

Secondly, Sige Town is too remote, with treacherous roads and surrounded by mountains, making it inconvenient to attack.

But since last year, many things have happened that have made them re-examine the matter.

……

Firstly, the situation on the Black Iron Lands is unpredictable, leaving Grand Duke Crack Armor unable to attend to other matters.

Secondly, Count Condé's humiliating defeat became the biggest topic of conversation in the region.

Smash it!

I'll smash you all!

Even rabbits know not to eat the grass near their burrows!

Six hundred people!

And they even showed it to everyone, right in front of Count Kant!
Pooh!
nausea!

If you need more labor, you can spend some money!

Spend some money!

Introduce some farmers from other noble families to your territory.

Even if it means buying slaves!

It doesn't cost much money; even if you sneakily plunder people while masked, you can frame them as bandits.

You openly robbed us; you're practically a bandit!
Even worse than bandits!
You can even rob people like a bandit!

But you actually dared to kill a nobleman?!
They're not giving you a chance to redeem yourself, they're just killing you? That's like killing yourself!
Since you broke the rules first and killed someone else's baron, don't blame everyone for being impolite to you!

Even the Grand Duke of Cracked Armor had nothing to say when he arrived.

Geirand and Vericcka, who had been paying close attention to the matter, made a decision immediately and contacted the Berchtes family.

Ostensibly, they were helping Earl Condé seek justice. But the problem was, Carter and Simon also forcibly got involved.

They did not come just to freeload; they were fully prepared.

The Simon family dispatched 1500 qualified conscripts.

They were either covered in chainmail or leather armor, and their weapons were mostly iron, making them a formidable and elite force.

The Carter family is slightly inferior, with only 800 members, but they claim to have 1600 members, arguing that the Carter family's beast warriors can take on two opponents at once.

This statement drew sneers from the Vericchka family at the conference table.

Then, he stopped laughing.

The Carter family was watching him. He was as fierce as a beast, with eyes like a vulture, exuding a savage aura.

Foucault Vericcka instinctively took a step back, creating distance, but then, enraged, glared back.

"Only wild beasts bare their teeth!"

“Then you must know who’s bluffing!” Carter’s head was pointed, bald and hairless, his skull was somewhat deformed, and his face was covered with scars.

"Gentlemen, the important thing now is how to attack Sig Town."

The host, Count Condé, intervened in time to stop the dispute from escalating.

“The Berchtess family hasn’t arrived yet,” said Steve of the Geirand family.

He didn't like Carter either. This family came from the west, had dealt with the forest barbarians, and later expanded eastward, acquiring vast territories through brutal and bloody acts to intimidate other nobles.

Some say they have the blood of barbarians flowing through their veins.

Many disgraceful things have happened in their territory, earning them the title of "robber nobles," and their family motto is "The bestial will never die."

But now they are collaborators, an alliance.

The young lord of Sig Town turned away all the nobles.

This was clearly an attempt to monopolize the salt fields, which surprised everyone, who initially thought it was suicidal.

After seeing the terrain here, I changed my mind.

No matter how large an army is, it is useless without a suitable battlefield; the knights are land creatures.

They need to prepare a batch of ships for this purpose.

The Earl of Conde provided assistance, so he can be counted as one of them; now the Berchtes family is still missing.

"Six thousand men can't raze a small town? According to Lord Carter, we have over ten thousand men," Verichka said confidently, mocking one of their collaborators.

It's enough that Count Kant gets a share of the pie.

He's a local tyrant; if they want to attack Sig Town, they can't get around Count Kant.

There's nothing we can do about it; everyone who sees it gets a share.

But Carter and Simon are both rising stars with a strong aggressive style.

Vericcka preferred to pay them off rather than have them get involved in the salt mine.

In comparison, Berchtesgaard's arrival was something he was happy to see.

The Berchtes, Geirand, and Vericcca families control three-quarters of the salt production in the Black Iron Lands and can sell the salt to surrounding lands.

They were truly nobles.

However, Berchtes is the furthest from Sig town, hundreds of kilometers away, and has no power to exert influence there. He can only leave it to others to operate, and at most collect a periodic harvest.

"Gentlemen! I must remind you, that young lord is not someone we can easily manipulate," said Earl Conde.

He spread the word about Roman's massacre of the priests.

However, the Vatican cannot launch an attack in the short term, as the news has not yet reached Sinnoh.

The main force is still the noble army.

“My lord, I understand your concerns—you’ve suffered a great loss, so you must be cautious—but we have our own methods,” Vericchka said.

He was somewhat arrogant, as the count could see and as Geirand could see, but no one pointed it out.

Because this knight is the legitimate son of the Lord of Vericchka, the future Earl, and sooner or later he will be on par with Kant... or rather, above Kant.

Because the territory of Vericchka is many times richer than that of Kant.

This young, strong, and handsome knight of conquest wore armor made of green magic steel, exquisite and ornate, engraved with the golden treasure chest emblem belonging to Verichka.

"His army is well-equipped and well-trained!" the count repeated, his face grim.

(End of this chapter)