After I died, my personal maid rebelled.

Jim came quickly and left quickly.

The surrendered soldiers that Rondo took with him have been officially named the Fourth Regiment of the Northern New Army, and most of them were Jim's former subordinates.

However, Oswald did not intend to give Jim any preferential treatment. He directly ordered Jim to become a private in the 4th Regiment. If Jim really had any ability, then he could prove it to him.

Before leaving, Jim bowed to the Marquis's mansion. After bidding farewell to the past, he felt as if he had ushered in a new dawn. He rode his horse lightly northward toward the city of Kuogu.

After Jim left, Ice City welcomed a new guest—the Marquis Barton.

It's hard to imagine that someone with dark, reddish skin, who grins broadly whenever he looks at Oswald and looks no different from an old farmer, could be a noble marquis.

Especially since he was covered in dirt and holding a lamb in his arms, standing at the entrance of the Duke's mansion, he looked just like a poor relative who had come from the countryside to seek refuge.

"Oswald!"

Barton tossed the lamb to Luna, opened his arms wide, and hugged Oswald tightly, laughing loudly as he kissed Oswald's cheeks repeatedly.

This is a pastoral custom, representing Patton's recognition of Oswald as their beloved leader.

Fortunately, the Marquis of Barton still brushes his teeth regularly, otherwise Oswald would have been overwhelmed by the stench emanating from him.

Luna, holding a lamb, was drooling when Barton slapped her on the head and said, "Little Luna, this isn't for eating! It's a dwarf's iron-plate sheep. When it grows up, it can be used as a mount; it's faster than a horse on the mountain!"

After completing the formalities of the reception, Oswald pulled Patton directly into the mansion.

"Come, Marquis, please."

The main reason Marquis Barton came to Ice City was to report to Oswald on the trade with the Dwarf Kingdom.

The Dwarf Kingdom is located in the northwest of the continent, bordering the Kingdom's northern and western territories, as well as the Demon Kingdom.

As a long-established slave-owning nation with a long history, the dwarven rulers were not particularly concerned with major events around the world and were happy to see humans and demons fighting each other.

Last time, Oswald took advantage of the undead crisis in the western territories to send troops to plunder a large amount of goods and wealth. Most of these things were given to Marquis Barton to exchange for livestock and weapons with the dwarves.

As a middleman, the Marquis of Barton also made a considerable profit, acquiring over seven hundred warhorses and more than a thousand sets of armor for Oswald.

"First of all, I went to check with the dwarves, and they didn't have any extra warhorses, but they had a lot of ironclad sheep. They asked us if we could trade with them in the future."

After finishing lunch, Patton patted his stomach and followed Oswald to a lounge.

After listening, Oswald picked up his teacup and nodded.

The land of the dwarves is mostly mountainous and hilly, and the argali sheep, which can climb mountains and cross valleys, is indeed well-suited to the local environment. In addition, the argali sheep are shorter than horses, so they can be taken into the mines by the dwarves to work.

However, although they are both mounts, the Iron Plate Sheep is not suitable for fighting on the flat snowfields of the Demon Kingdom.

"Let's buy some and first build a mountain cavalry force of two thousand men, then see how effective it is."

Lord Barton quickly jotted it down on a piece of paper. His penmanship was so awkward that even Oswald couldn't make out what he was scribbling.

"Okay. Also, the dwarven nobles want to trade luxury goods with us, but the commoners and slaves are only willing to trade for food."

Luxury goods are not lacking... Oswald was in a dilemma. Since the dwarves did not have extra warhorses, after buying the iron rams, it seemed unnecessary for him to purchase a large amount of armor.

It should be noted that the mountains surrounding Kuogu City also produce iron ore, and once blacksmith workshops proliferate, they will be able to achieve complete self-sufficiency.

He had no intention of exchanging grain for anything other than horses, except...

"My lord, next time you go, you can ask if they are willing to sell slaves."

"They were probably for sale," Barton blurted out, then suddenly burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. "The last time I went, they even tried to sell me a female dwarf, saying it would give me a taste of exotic culture."

"Turns out that woman's beard was longer than mine, hahaha."

"Okay, okay!"

Oswald's expression brightened; he had finally found the key to breaking the deadlock in this game.

The Northern Territory is sandwiched between the Demon Clan and the Royal Clan. In terms of overall strength, it is inferior to both sides. Even if it can defeat one side in a fight, the other side will inevitably take advantage of the situation.

This is not just his predicament, but the situation of the entire Northern Territory.

However, if the Dwarven Kingdom could sell dwarven slaves for the Northern Territory, he could then settle these dwarves in the vast mountainous region between Starfall City and Broad Valley City, gradually building up their numbers over the years and integrating them into the Northern Territory.

Then he will be able to raise another dwarf army, and the northern territory will no longer be hindered, whether he goes north to fight against the demons or south to attack the royal family.

"Marquis, this matter is entrusted to you. As long as the dwarves are willing to trade people, whether it's luxury goods or food, we can trade them all, as many as they have!"

So it wasn't a female dwarf after all. Barton scratched his beard. The Duke had been so excited earlier; he'd thought the Duke was into that sort of thing.

But doing business is a good thing; he loves being a middleman.

Barton chuckled and wrote things down as he said, "Alright, I'll arrange for someone to go to the Dwarf Kingdom as soon as I get back."

"There's one more thing. How many warhorses can you provide this year? I need to build up my cavalry."

Oswald didn't want to go down the tower defense route; he needed cavalry, and he needed the cavalry's strong field combat capabilities.

Defending the city would not deplete much of the enemy's manpower; it would only prolong the war. If he wanted to build a peaceful and great nation, he needed the fearless spirit of Emperor Wu of Han: "If the enemy can go, so can I."

But just as he expected, the Marquis of Barton sighed heavily, gripping his rough fingers with difficulty.

"Sigh, Duke, I know you have plenty of money to buy them, but let me be frank, the Western Ranch really can't muster that many warhorses."

"Approximately how much can you give?"

"At most a little over 1,600 horses. You know the situation; our losses in that battle were too heavy..."

The two remained silent. Oswald softened his gaze and gently patted Barton's hand.

"I know it's tough for you in the western pastoral areas. Here's what I'll do: next year I'll send people to build you a large city so that your women and children will have a warm place to spend the winter."

……

The battle ultimately ended with the Northern Territory conceding defeat.

Elena stayed up all night to select the three thousand gold coins of the worst quality and hand them over to the Eastern Territory's army.

When news of Duke Dale's victory over the Northern army reached the capital, the nobles were overjoyed, and with the help of those behind the scenes, Duke Dale's name quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys.

Everyone knows that a remarkable figure has emerged in the kingdom, who has suddenly appeared and defeated the cruel and rude Duke Oswald, and the title of the kingdom's strongest duke will change hands.

The nobles cheered with joy, but King Frank's mood was mixed.

He was pleased that the checks and balances between the Northern and Eastern territories would make the kingdom more stable; he was distressed that, to this day, he had not received a single personal letter from Oswald.

The two could have been allies, but Diana's meddling caused them to lose trust in each other. After several days of investigation, he discovered that his sister had quite a few tricks up her sleeve.

In this situation, to put it nicely, the Duke of Dale has won the war against the nobles on behalf of the King. But Frank himself knows all too well that the Duke of Dale's true loyalty is to his wife, Queen Barbara.

Moreover, the Duke of Dale's growing fame is not necessarily a good thing for him. If the nobles elect him as the leader of the aristocratic faction, it will only hinder his royal power.

What should I do...?

Late at night, Frank stood by the window of his bedroom in the palace, gazing at the night view of the royal city.

In the pitch black, there was one exceptionally bright area.

That was the banquet where the nobles were celebrating for Dale, and his Queen Barbara was also there to celebrate for the Duke.

This throne is truly lonely; Frank could almost hear the clinking of glasses and the cheerful laughter of the nobles.

He used to not understand why his father would always raise his glass and leave after appearing at banquets. Now he understood: a true king is a lonely man with no friends or family.

After much deliberation, Frank decided to write a letter to Luna, hoping to ease his tensions with Duke Oswald through her.

Frank isn't the only one in the royal city who can't sleep tonight.

In an office deep within the Vatican, Paul held up an oil lamp, illuminating the relationship diagrams on the wall for Archbishop John.

"I can assure you, Archbishop, that even if the soldiers under Duke Oswald were stacked on top of each other, they would stand more orderly than Duke Dale's army. At least in the half hour I was in the camp, they really didn't move an inch."

"Judging from this, the Northern Army far surpasses the Eastern Army in both military discipline and physical fitness. Even if the Eastern Army has several times the number of troops, the Northern Army, relying on the city walls for defense, has no chance of being defeated."

John pulled out several sheets of gold leaf, focused the light, and reflected it onto the wall. He had shaken the gold leaf out of an envelope sent by Oswald...

Paul was somewhat speechless. "Archbishop, are you deliberately refusing to use magic to illuminate things just to show off?"

Yellow light illuminated a name—Annie.

In the past few days, John has thoroughly investigated the princess's movements and interpersonal relationships over the past six months.

Then, he got an unexpected reward.

Annie, daughter of the Marquis of the Eastern Territory of the North, had her entire family imprisoned by Oswald last winter due to political infighting.

According to her own account, she escaped from the northern territory by chance and then received help from the hero Thorne, the saintess Maria, and Lilith, the daughter of the knight commander, in the royal city, and thus became friends with them.

As luck would have it, shortly before Annie appeared in the capital, Princess Diana, for reasons unknown, sent a large group of royal assassins to the northern territory, and their whereabouts remain unknown to this day.

Even more coincidentally, the princess had never left her home before sending out her assassins. According to the palace attendants, the only people the princess saw during that time were Thorne and Lilith, who came to the palace to celebrate the king's wedding.

Despite having no prior connection with Annie, their relationship was quite close. Maria, who had previously made a sudden trip to the Northern Territory, and now the princess, provoked a strong reaction from Oswald.

John slowly put away the gold foil. This group... heh, they're really interesting.