Chapter 149: Northward and Eastward

Flat Lake was the largest lake in the Victor Domain. On a windless day, the six-thousand-mu surface of the lake was as smooth as a mirror, presenting a breathtaking view. During the season of winds, when fish were fat and crabs were robust, the lake sparkled, and large fish several feet long frequently leaped out of the surface while flocks of aquatic birds played and hunted here. At this time, Flat Lake possessed a unique and bountiful scenery.

Victor stood by the lake, gazing into the distance. Not only was the scenery magnificent here, but it was also the most fertile land in the entire territory. Surrounding the lake, more than twenty thousand mu of farmland could be cultivated, and the annual grain harvest would be enough to feed over two thousand people, leaving half as much to spare. The lake teemed with fish and shrimp, such as the delicious white-belly finfish, the several-foot-long black-scale fish, the plump and juicy curved-mouth loach, the massive marsh crabs, and the succulent green prawns, among others. Such abundant aquatic resources made Flat Lake a natural granary. Had Beyer not occupied this region first, Victor would have chosen to establish his settlement here.

However, the greatest drawback of the Flat Lake area was its complete lack of defensible terrain. If Victor had indeed established his settlement here, he would have been the one trampled flat by the ant-men. Glancing over the ruins of Flat Lake Village, Victor felt a touch of emotion. Nelson's maneuver to shake off the swarm had consigned over six hundred people of Flat Lake Village to the bellies of the ants. In modern society, this would undoubtedly be considered a colossal tragedy, yet Nelson cared not at all. As he passed the ruins, he even spat onto the ground.

Victor merely sighed for himself. Back then, he could easily have rolled right over Flat Lake Village, slaughtering all the resisters, and the survivors would naturally have submitted to him. Yet Victor had wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, ignoring the advice of Edwin and Bruce, and had attempted to resolve the issue of Flat Lake Village through strategy. Looking back now, he had truly been naive to the point of foolishness.

Victor felt no sympathy whatsoever for the victims of Flat Lake Village. On the surface, the villagers of Flat Lake Village appeared to have been deceived by Beyer; in reality, that was not the case. Most of these people were subjects of the three eastern provinces; they could not possibly have been unaware of the consequences of challenging the lord's ruling status. Yet they had chosen not to break away from Beyer and join Hill Camp. Ultimately, it was because these people looked down on Victor; they had wanted to use Beyer as a shield in order to lead an autonomous life. As a result, most of those who followed Victor survived, while these people perished entirely. Reality was precisely like this: everyone had to take responsibility for their own destiny, and blind followers were not worth pitying.

"What a pity. Just as the harvest season arrives, over five thousand mu of crops here have been devoured clean. The ant-men are truly pests!" Dewet said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword and pointing at the abandoned farmland with a look of regret.

Victor smiled faintly. On the eleventh day after Gillian's peril, Count Chapman had dispatched a team of elite soldiers to protect the family's heir, led by none other than the Great Knight Dewet. Upon seeing the reinforcements from her family, Gillian demanded the immediate salvage of her equipment. Thus, Victor brought the Chapman family's knights to Flat Lake. The salvage of the equipment was naturally handled by the soldiers and knights, while Victor and the two Great Knights remained on the shore to enjoy the scenery.

"Lord Dewet, how does your Chapman family view the ant-men?" Victor asked with a smile.

Dewet said with bitter resentment, "The ant-men are universally acknowledged pests! Their habits are similar to wild bees; whoever provokes them, they tear to pieces! The difference is that wild bees produce honey, while ant-men devour crops. On this account alone, it is impossible for us to coexist with the ant-men. Even if they did not take the initiative to attack humans, we would still have to exterminate them!"

"Generally speaking, that is indeed the case." Victor nodded in agreement, then asked, "Pardon me for asking, but how much of the Chapman domain's crops remain undamaged? And how many ant-men are still lingering?"

Dewet's mouth twitched slightly as he sighed, "Less than forty percent of the territory's crops remain. To prevent the ant-men from continuing to devour the crops, we have three castles currently engaged in battle with them. At present, there are still over nine thousand ant-men remaining."

"Indeed, the speed at which the swarms devour crops is astonishing. Without fierce battles to attract them, the ant-men would consume every last crop. The York family has lost their entire harvest, and it is said the Briat family has suffered the same fate, while Duke Neo's domain has also incurred heavy losses. Of course, the wheat in my territory was not spared a single grain either; I simply do not possess the capability to resist the ant swarms." Victor said in a low voice.

Dewet, however, seemed to have caught a subtext. He probed, "Viscount Victor, it appears that your purple sugarcane groves have largely been preserved. Could it be that the ant-men do not like eating purple sugarcane?"

"They love eating purple sugarcane very much, but in my territory, besides purple sugarcane, there are also mermen," Victor smiled and said.

"What?!" Dewet exclaimed in a low voice, deeply moved by the information Victor revealed.

Victor nodded and said, "Initially, the ant-men that poured into my territory exceeded thirty thousand. A portion entered the Chapman domain, a portion entered the Briat domain, and the Eserri domain also suffered from the ant-men's ravages. The ant-men remaining in my territory numbered around seven thousand. Later, I discovered they were engaging in battle with the mermen along the riverbank. Up to now, the ant-men here have decreased to three thousand, which is why the purple sugarcane groves were able to be preserved."

Dewet solemnly performed a knightly salute to Victor. "My Lord Viscount, thank you very much for sharing this information with us."

The Chapman Barony also bordered the Golden Water River, and the length of the riverbank within their territory exceeded that of the Victor Domain, with a very substantial population of mermen as well. Because Count Chapman had resolutely resisted the invasion of the ant-men, the swarms had not yet collided with the mermen. Now, armed with Victor's intelligence, the Chapman family could likewise utilize the mermen to share the pressure of the ant swarms. In this way, their wartime losses would be drastically reduced.

Dewet was overjoyed, but Victor reminded him, "If you think the ant-men are simple and brainless, you will surely suffer heavy casualties!"

"Victor, I have always had a question," Gillian interrupted, asking, "Were you laying an ambush for the silver-tier ant-men and happened to save me?"

Victor smiled. Very few people knew of his ability to monitor his territory, nor did he intend to explain this to Gillian. He nodded and said, "That is correct. I was ambushing the silver ant-men. Recently, the York family launched an operation to attract the ant swarms, and they discovered that mixed within the swarms were exceptionally powerful ant-men, and these silver-tier ant-men would proactively attack Great Knights. Lady Sylvia believes that eliminating these ant-men capable of escaping can genuinely weaken the strength of the swarms, thereby mitigating the offensive of the next wave of ant tides. The York family has already reported this intelligence to the royal capital's envoys, and I believe it will not be long before you receive the notice as well. Lady Sylvia also warned that silver-tier ant-men mixed within the swarms are difficult to distinguish and extremely dangerous; she does not believe a Great Knight can escape unscathed under the encirclement of ant-men."

The expressions of Dewet and Gillian turned extremely ugly. Only monsters capable of threatening Silver Knights could be called silver-tier monsters. Great Knights were not afraid of fighting silver-tier monsters, but they were absolutely unwilling to be ambushed by them, especially during combat.

"No wonder Viscount Briat died at the hands of the ant-men," Dewet said heavily. Viscount Briat was the first Great Knight to die in the ant calamity; his death shocked the Kingdom of Gombis and directly resulted in lords across various regions not daring to dispatch knights to suppress the ant swarms, instead adopting defensive tactics within their castles.

Gillian frowned and asked, "Is there no way to tell them apart? Under what circumstances will the silver ant-men escape?"

"I do not know," Victor shook his head. "Perhaps once their cover is lost, they will flee—for instance, when the number of the swarm is reduced to a certain threshold. They are like assassins, much like soldier bees in a hive; when the swarm is threatened, they strike. In short, you must be careful."

Gillian and Dewet exchanged glances and sighed, "It seems we have no choice but to let elite cavalry lure the ant swarms to the riverbank."

"Sacrifice is inevitable; warriors must have this resolve," Dewet nodded and said.

"My Lady Gillian, your equipment has been salvaged," a Chapman soldier walked over and reported.

Gillian was overjoyed and no longer had the leisure to fret over the fate of her family's elite cavalry. Stiding in her knee-high leather boots, she walked toward the lakeshore. Her figure was already quite tall and slender, and wearing boots with semi-high heels not only made her appear even more upright and imposing, but her walking posture also carried a hint of allure. Many Chapman soldiers were secretly peeking at their eldest young miss.

After the raft touched the shore, Gillian impatiently accepted her armor and longsword from the family's knights. Upon careful inspection, confirming there was no damage, her face immediately blossomed with joy.

"This set of Great Knight equipment is forged from adamantine, mithril, and refined iron. Not only is it exceptionally sturdy, but it is also corrosion-resistant; even if soaked in water for half a year, it will not rust," Dewet explained to Victor beside him.

"Very nice," Victor smiled noncommittally, waiting for Dewet to continue.

Dewet pondered for a moment and said, "Although adamantine is called gold, it has no relation to gold whatsoever. It is incomparably sturdy and lightweight. Adding just a tiny amount of adamantine can dramatically elevate the quality of weapons and armor. Adamantine is also exceedingly rare; if the Borry Kingdom had not discovered massive adamantine mines, its value would not be much lower than mithril. Even so, the Borry people still restrict the sale of adamantine. However, our Chapman family happens to possess an adamantine mine.

"Victor, we are extremely grateful that you are willing to sell mithril to us. But besides mithril, we also require the refined iron and copper ores of the Centaur Hills. I wonder if these can fall within the scope of our trade."

Refined iron—sturdy, heavy, and corrosion-resistant—was an essential material for forging weapons and equipment. The gear of elite soldiers had to be blended with refined iron, and the equipment of knights primarily utilized it as the core material. Thus, refined iron had versatile applications and was an indispensable metal. The Centaur Hills lacked iron mines, salt mines, and flax, yet possessed abundant refined iron and copper ores. It was entirely reasonable for the Chapman family to propose trading for refined iron and copper, but they clearly still regarded Victor as Sylvia's proxy, and Victor had no intention of continuing to explain this misunderstanding.

"Trade between free citizens ought to be free trade. I am unaware of it, I collect no taxes, I pose no obstruction, and I inflict no harm. I hope the Chapman family can hold the same attitude," Victor said softly.

Dewet frowned in deep thought, while Gillian laid down her armor and longsword, staring fixedly at Victor with burning eyes as she excitedly said, "Including purple sugarcane wine, raw sugar, snow sugar, and coffee?"

"Except for purple sugarcane wine; I cannot violate the divine notarization," Victor smiled and said.

Gillian stepped closer and, amid Victor's astonished gaze, fiercely planted a kiss on his lips. After a lingering entanglement of lips and tongue, her face flushed red as she said, "This is a reward for saving me. In the future, I will save you once as well."

Looking at the strikingly enchanting Miss Chapman, Victor smiled, "I certainly hope that day never comes."

Throwing a fierce glare at the dumbfounded Dewet, Gillian said to Victor, "I'm leaving."

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The group from the Chapman family gradually receded into the distance. Nelson walked over to Victor and asked, "My Lord, did they agree?"

How raw indeed! Victor rubbed his tingling lips and said, "They still need to discuss it with Count Chapman, but the Chapman family will certainly agree. Mithril is far too important for high-tier knights; not all Great Knights possess mithril equipment."

"Then why didn't we trade with the York family? If they find out about this, I'm afraid they won't be very happy," Nelson asked with concern.

Victor sighed, "That's precisely why the York family cannot find out!"

Mithril was far too scarce, and the York family boasted numerous knights. If they discovered there was a mithril mine here, they would inevitably seize it for themselves. Furthermore, Sylvia could not possibly distort the will of her vassal families to favor Victor. In the end, the territory where the mithril mine was located would be carved away, and Victor would receive at best some compensation.

Victor had no knights under his command and did not care about the ownership of the mithril mine, but he could not tolerate the York family carving away his eastern territory. Otherwise, his domain would be completely isolated, severing Victor's connection to the outside world.

Victor's territory was bounded by the Great Marsh to the west, the Golden Water River to the south, the Eserri domain and Black Castle Town to the north, the Briat domain to the northeast, and the Chapman domain to the east. The north, west, and south were all dead ends, while the Briat family to the northeast had previously plotted against Victor in collusion with the Queen, making them mutual adversaries. Therefore, if Victor wished for his free-citizen merchant guilds to venture outward, his only choice was to head east, passing through the Chapman domain, directly entering the sphere of influence of the kingdom's southern lords, and continuing eastward through the Lant Empire and the Ayr Kingdom until finally reaching the Borry United Kingdom.

Similarly, Victor's pursuit of a small parcel of land at the northern tip of the Centaur Hills, besides monitoring the ant swarms and occupying mountain resources, had another purpose: to use that location as a starting point to push northward, opening up trade routes through the Tudor Kingdom, the Sassan Empire, and the Teutonic Duchy.

This was Victor's strategic conception of pushing north and advancing east. His trade with the Chapman family was the very first step Victor was taking outward, and for this, he needed to maintain good relations with his eastern neighbors, even if they had once stolen his mithril and purple sugarcane.

"Nelson, let's move! Clear out the ant-men in the territory."