This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

Then, based on these needs, the merchant guild recruited settlers in the south and escorted them to the north. As a result, the northern lords got the population they wanted, the settlers didn't have to take detours, and the merchant guild could collect a commission from both the settlers and the northern lords. All three parties were happy.

Dick had initially considered contacting these chambers of commerce, but to his surprise, one chamber sent people directly to him without asking for any money.

This reminded Dick of something Duke Rune had said to him before he left the capital.

"Don't worry about the population problem, someone will help you solve it."

Chapter 114: Dark Clouds from the North

Inside the castle's reception room, Dick met with the caravan representative of the Golden Ant Merchant Guild, a man whose face appeared kind and honest at first glance, but whose eyes revealed a shrewd glint.

As soon as they met, the other party stood up and bowed deeply at a 90-degree angle, handing over a well-made business card with both hands. Dick took it and glanced at it.

"Hello, Mr. Cyrus."

"Greetings, Your Excellency Earl. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me amidst your busy schedule. It is my honor to serve such a promising young nobleman as you."

"Let's skip the formalities. I'm very grateful to you for bringing people to my territory. Since you took the initiative to see me, you must have something to ask of me. This is just a matter of reciprocity. Business is all about give and take, isn't it?"

In a few words, Dick first established the nature of the business, stating that it was a reciprocal transaction. He roughly guessed that the Golden Ant Merchant Guild was sending settlers to Lagug at the Duke's request, which indeed facilitated the development of his territory, but he did not want to incur any favors because of it.

Cyrus, the representative, smiled and immediately stated his purpose.

"You want corn?"

"Yes, our chamber of commerce is very interested in this crop grown in your territory and would like to purchase some seeds from you. Of course, the price will definitely satisfy you."

“Interesting. Ever since the news spread that I’m growing corn on a large scale, there have been thieves coming to steal corn almost every day. You’re the first one to take the initiative to pay for it.”

"Hey! How much can they steal? Our chamber of commerce is planning to make large-scale purchases."

What Dick said was not an exaggeration, but a fact. Although the first year of corn planting had not yet achieved a truly comprehensive rollout, the labor reform farm, plus the experimental fields of no less than fifty mu required by each village, totaled nearly 30,000 mu.

So it's not easy to hide!

As a result, news of Lagug's promotion of the new crop spread like wildfire, and the lords who had Earthlings under their command soon learned that it was an Earth crop called corn, with an astonishing yield.

Ironically, after learning about the benefits of corn, all the lords wanted this superior crop, but none of them sent envoys to negotiate with Dick. Instead, they secretly sent people to steal it. First, they stole the seedlings, and later, when the corn ripened, they began stealing the ears of corn.

Even worse, some despicable bastards not only steal corn, but also destroy the fields afterward.

However, it was precisely thanks to these thieves that the farmers, who were initially skeptical of this new crop, finally realized that it was a good thing. Without Dick's orders, the villagers spontaneously organized themselves to protect the experimental fields and outwitted the various vegetable thieves.

Of course! Dick wasn't worried about that, because growing corn requires more than just seeds.

Agriculture is a profound and complex subject; it's not simply a matter of digging a hole, burying some soil, and waiting a few months to expect a yield of six or seven hundred kilograms. Crops require appropriate maintenance at each stage of growth. If Dick hadn't received technical guidance from Ruby Eyes and hadn't developed rudimentary fertilizers and pesticides, the subsequent bumper harvest wouldn't have been possible.

In fact, on Ruby Eyes' advice, Dick had already intended to promote advanced agricultural planting techniques to various territories in the northern region, win over surrounding lords to form alliances, and turn them into his raw material production areas, while Lagug would focus on industrialization in order to profit from the price scissors in the future.

As a result, these lords were all like dogs, preferring to send people to steal rather than to buy.

Dick made a note of each of these bastards, planning to send them "free trade" applications one by one once he achieved his goal of expanding the army to two thousand men next year!

Since the Golden Ant Merchants Association is interested in corn, and Dick does indeed need a middleman to promote it to the surrounding territories.

The corn seeds Dick received were Earth varieties conjured by Lucoa using magic. She had prepared over a dozen varieties for Dick to choose from, but he didn't select a variety that could be propagated through seed collection. Instead, he chose a hybrid corn with extremely high yields. This type of corn has a very desirable drawback: the seeds degenerate, and the second generation produced through seed collection will have a significantly lower yield.

Therefore, Dick wasn't afraid of thieves stealing his corn, nor did he need to worry that promoting its cultivation in other territories would become an asset to the enemy in the future, because once people planted his corn, they would be unable to do without his seeds.

In front of Cyrus, Dick explained the characteristics of the corn seeds and stated that the breeding technology was his exclusive formula, which he would never sell to others. However, he could reach a strategic cooperation with the Golden Ant Merchants Association and give them the exclusive distribution rights for the seeds.

After hearing this, Cyrus immediately understood the wonder of this seed, and a sly smile, more befitting his status as a businessman, finally appeared on his seemingly honest face.

"Sir, it has been a pleasure doing business with you."

"I love making friends, let's make money together!"

“I am truly flattered that you are willing to befriend a lowly merchant like me. And since we are friends, I feel I should give you a heads-up.”

"A reminder? What is it?"

"You should pay more attention to the developments in the northern wastelands. On my way to Lagug, I met some colleagues who had just returned from the northwest. I got some bad news from them. They said that before winter even arrived, the orcs, who hadn't harassed the empire's borders for seven years, have reappeared. I think you know what this means, so it's best to take precautions as soon as possible."

After seeing off the businessman Cyrus, Dick frowned slightly, analyzing the news he had just received.

Because the north of Lagug is a formidable fjord, Dick's territory does not directly border the northern wilderness. If the orcs on the wilderness want to invade Lagug, they must first attack the territories to the northwest of Lagug and take a long detour to get there.

Therefore, in previous years when the orcs invaded, Ragug was not on the front line, but it would respond to the emperor's call and send troops to support other territories that were also subjects of the empire.

The last time the orcs invaded was seven years ago. Before that, they came almost every year, always choosing the autumn harvest season to plunder human lands and then retreat back to the wasteland with their spoils before winter.

But since seven years ago, the orcs have suddenly stopped their annual invasions and raids. The Empire noticed this unusual phenomenon, and some overly optimistic nobles thought that the orcs must have become smarter and realized the strength of humans.

However, some people, after analysis, believe that the orcs have indeed become smarter, but they are by no means afraid of humans; rather, they are preparing to mass-produce troops and launch a major offensive.

This abnormal situation lasted for seven years. Five years ago, the empire also organized a large-scale northern hunt, sending 30,000 troops into the wasteland to search for traces of the orc tribes. However, after searching for more than two months, they did not find a single orc. They could only judge from some remaining traces that the orcs had migrated to the far north.

The empire had originally planned a routine northern hunt this summer, but the crown prince died suddenly on his way north, causing the hunt to be cancelled.

Unexpectedly, the orcs, who had disappeared for seven years, would return at this time.

Chapter 115: The Golden Deer's Oath of Loyalty

Whether orcs should be considered a highly intelligent race has been a subject of ongoing debate.

They do have their own language and relatively primitive hieroglyphs, and their social system has reached the stage of primitive tribes, but they are also extremely savage and brutal, and their behavior is comparable to that of mad beasts.

But what other races find most intolerable than burning, killing, and looting is that the orcs eat people!

They not only eat other races, but they also prey on their own kind.

Bloody battles often broke out between different orc tribes, with the goal of annihilation. In the event of a defeat, the female orcs of the defeated tribe would be taken away by the victors, while the rest of the defeated tribe would be killed and made into jerky.

It is worth mentioning that, among the various advanced intelligent races in this world, apart from humans, there is reproductive isolation between the other races. Humans, on the other hand, are like a universal plug, with no reproductive isolation with anyone.

This created a rather ironic situation: while the humans were using the elves to demonstrate their newly dominant position, the orcs were also using the humans to expand their population.

Therefore, humans dislike orcs, regarding them as enemies of civilization and pests of the world.

For the past few centuries, in order to reduce the number of orcs and shrink their living space, the human race has been expanding northward. By building strongholds and fighting protracted battles, they have successfully driven the orcs into the barren and harsh northern wilderness.

However, the oppression of the human race failed to wipe out the orcs. After retreating into the wasteland, they continued to survive tenaciously and would raid southwards every now and then, like a pack of roaming wolves. If the human race was not careful, they would bite off a piece of flesh.

To counter the orcish invasions, the Empire maintained a 30,000-strong garrison in the north. They built a cluster of castles along the border and had pairs of armed cavalry patrolling the area, but they still couldn't stop small groups of orc raiders from infiltrating.

Therefore, the lords in the northern regions were generally martial and virtuous, and the ratio of soldiers to civilians in their territories was more than three times higher than that of nobles of the same rank in the south. Although they appeared to be militaristic, they were actually driven by the need to make a living.

Adult orcs are extremely powerful in individual combat. Even a fully armed human regular army soldier would need three to one to win, let alone a militia with very poor equipment and training. In border areas, it is common for seven or eight orcs to slaughter a village of over a hundred people.

To put it simply, the human race's advantage lies in its overall strength, but it often suffers losses in localized, small-scale conflicts.

There are no orcs in Lagug yet, but the intelligence brought by Cyrus has given Dick a wake-up call, reminding him that he cannot only focus on the movements in the south and ignore the threat from the north.

The orcs' return after seven years of silence is likely to be no small matter.

So Dick summoned Tia and instructed her intelligence department to pay close attention to the northwest in the near future, and at the same time prepare to inspect the fjords to the north of their own territory to strengthen the defenses in that direction.

The following morning, Dick led three hundred private soldiers out of the city, carrying supplies for the troops to the new port in the fjord.

Thanks to the road construction over the past six months, and the fact that it was early winter and the snow was not yet deep or frozen solid, the troops were able to clear the snow as they advanced. Although their march was slow, they successfully arrived at Xinhang two days later and cleared the official road.

As soon as Dick arrived at Newport, he was immediately greeted by three ship girls. Whether it was the large breasts of Kashino or the octopus tentacles of Golden Deer and Royal Fortune, they all enthusiastically smeared his face with them, making Dick almost unable to breathe.

"In public, everyone is watching, let go, let go."

"No, Commander, you have a great body, it's so comfortable to hug... Oops, sorry, I accidentally got some slime on you..."

"Francis (Golden Deer's alias), don't just think about yourself, I want to hug the Commander too!"

"Hmph! My record is better than yours, so I should be the one to enjoy it first."

"You... quack! I'll fight you to the death!"

Seeing that Royal Fortune and Golden Deer were about to fight, Dick quickly told the two not to argue, as he would be staying there for several days and they would have plenty of time to get to know each other.

Dick brought Belfast and Ding An with him this time; all five ship girls with naval combat capabilities came with him.

Dick asked Golden Deer if there had been any unusual events at sea recently, especially in the north, since the ocean currents this season flow from north to south.

After listening, Jinlu thought about it and realized that she had indeed seen some small sailboats coming from behind while patrolling near the coast. However, Jinlu did not get closer to observe them because those boats exuded a strange aura that made her feel very uncomfortable, and she inexplicably did not want to get close.

Upon hearing this, Dick immediately realized that it was some kind of spell with a dispelling effect.

As an octopus-themed ship girl, Golden Deer possesses certain "sea monster" attributes, allowing her to communicate with marine life. However, this also makes her susceptible to magic that targets sea monsters. Some ocean-going vessels, to ensure safe voyages, spare no expense in purchasing magical items capable of warding off sea monsters.

Upon learning this, Dick became even more convinced that his deduction was correct.

That night, Dick stayed at Newport. Although the living conditions here were not as good as in the castle, the dormitory that Dick had built for the ship girls was of a high standard and even had a large private bathroom.

The three ship girls' achievements in eliminating pirates are obvious to all, so it is considered only right that they should enjoy better treatment, and no one dares to question it.

Everyone was simply curious about where the governor had found such a beautiful and capable female mage.

In the steamy bathroom, the Golden Deer's tentacles entwined Dick and itself, the fluid secreted by the tentacles making both of them slippery and shimmering with a crystal-clear glow.

The erotic octopus girl harbored impure intentions from the very beginning. Her intertwined tongues occasionally let out a sweet moan from between her lips. The oily feeling brought by the lubricant, once you get used to it, also provides a completely new experience for caresses.

You can't catch it! You can't catch it at all! The heavy, ripe fruit is like a pudding; you can hold it up and feel its weight, but with the slightest squeeze, it will mischievously slip away!

"Commander's hands are so gentle! Do you really like my precious pair of hands that much?"

"I love it! I love it so much!"

Dick's answer was incredibly firm and honest, which delighted Golden Deer. From the first moment she saw Dick, she fell in love with him at first sight, convinced that he was her destined, one and only commander, and what she had to do now was to offer him a mark of loyalty.

"Hehe~ Come on, Commander, I can accept any kind of desire~?"

As Jinlu's body sank slightly downwards, Dick immediately felt that he had entered a crowded and slippery place, where the lubricant made the whole process incredibly smooth.

If I had to describe it in one word, it would be... silky smooth!

"Was it good? Was it good for you?"

Jinlu's eyes were glazed over, and her deep, slightly trembling voice was incredibly alluring.

"Excellent!"

Hearing Dick's praise, Golden Deer became even more overjoyed, letting pleasure and joy overwhelm her like a surging wave.

And on her abdomen, a rune exactly like the one on the maple leaf appeared...

Chapter 116: Enemy Situation

Early the next morning, Dick, accompanied by a small entourage, rode horses to patrol the southern shore of the fjord.

The fjord in northern Laguge is a natural moat. Most of the banks on both sides of the fjord are straight and steep, almost perpendicular to the water below.

Unless one can fly, it is very difficult for ordinary people to climb.

However, natural city walls always have flaws. Some sections of the riverbank have relatively low gaps, and some of the subdivided tributaries also have beaches where one can land.

Just like the place where the new port was built, it was a semi-enclosed harbor that had been controlled by fjord pirates for a long time. Even if the previous governor's office knew about it, it dared not send troops to manage it.

Now, news from the north has made Dick worry about the defense of this direction.

Lagug currently has 1,500 private soldiers and about 2,000 militiamen with basic training and light armament. If a full mobilization were to take place, it is estimated that another 8,000 conscripts could be armed within a week, which is roughly the limit of Lagug's war potential at this stage.

But if, as fears are true, a large orc army crosses the fjord and lands on the south bank, entering Ragug territory to plunder, then just three thousand beasts could wipe out all their achievements this year, and no settlers would be willing to settle here in the future.

So even if the orcs might not actually come, Dick didn't dare to gamble at all!

Assuming an orc invasion, the ideal strategy would be to prevent them from even setting foot on land. However, the fjords, stretching for hundreds of kilometers, offer far more landing sites than one might imagine. It would be virtually impossible to garrison a sufficient number of troops at every single one of these locations.

Moreover, Dick quickly realized that with the orcs' exaggerated physical abilities, the cliffs that ordinary humans couldn't climb might not be insurmountable obstacles for them.

"This is a bit troublesome!"

"Master, my suggestion is to first strengthen water patrols, set up observation posts on the shore, and then deploy our cavalry units further back. This way, once enemy activity is detected, we can quickly reinforce the scene."

"At this stage, this plan is indeed the safest, but... it's still too passive."

While the road conditions in Laguge have indeed improved this year, it is not a fundamental improvement. In the current winter, heavy snow could close the roads at any time, which is a negative factor for troop deployment and logistics.

Just then, Dick noticed something flying over from the opposite bank. When it got closer, he finally recognized it as Lucoa, which Dick had previously sent to the north bank for aerial reconnaissance.

Of all the girls around Dick, she has the strongest flying ability.