Chapter 156: The Erring Mongolian Gazelle

The third month of the Season of Wind. Two graceful figures stood side by side atop a low hill dozens of meters high.

Below the hill, the waist-high wind-reeds shimmered in golden hues, undulating with the breeze. Fire-red sea-buckthorn berries, green field peas, and white ox-horn down appeared and disappeared amidst the meadow. The blue sky, white clouds, colorful earth, and rolling hills formed a breathtaking landscape.

"It is beautiful! Isn't it?" Silvia murmured, gazing at the endless sea of wind-reeds below the hill.

Trisely furrowed her dark brows. The precarious food reserves of Black Pine Town left her with no mood to appreciate the scenery before her, and she only sighed, "If this were a golden wheat field underneath, I would find it beautiful too."

Silvia smiled without a word. The wind-reeds were called golden silk grass by Victor, and after processing, they served as an essential material for manufacturing rock bricks. Their value was far greater than that of wheat.

Knights and castles were the two foundational cornerstones of a noble family's rule over their territories. Throughout the long history of great families, high-tier knights might occasionally experience a generational gap, in which case majestic fortress towns would serve as the guarantee for the family's continuation. However, constructing a fortress was no easy task for any family. The York family had mobilized tens of thousands of laborers and spent four years, yet the two auxiliary bastards of Black Pine Town were still incomplete, which demonstrated the extreme difficulty of building cities. Quarrying, transporting, and dressing stone alone required enormous manpower and prolonged periods, and sufficient stone quarries had to be available beforehand.

Rock bricks solved all these problems. Their quality reached the standard of limestone, and building brick kilns at suitable locations could minimize transportation distances. The rock bricks took on the most appropriate shape without needing any dressing. With rock bricks, Silvia seemed to have already foreseen a magnificent city rising from the ground, and according to Victor's suggestion, rock bricks could also be used as a sharp weapon in the family's diplomacy. Whenever she thought of this, Silvia felt immensely happy. However, the formula for the rock bricks still needed to be kept secret, so Silvia naturally could not explain the uses of the wind-reeds to Trisely.

"You aren't guarding Black Pine Town, yet you ran all the way over here. Has something happened?" Silvia asked indifferently.

Trisely nodded and said, "Two things. Your little lover has established the Randall family, and his messenger is already on the way to the royal capital."

"The Randall family? I didn't expect him to take this step so quickly. It seems Victor has broken free from Sophia's shackles. This truly comes as a bit of a surprise to me; I thought it would take him several more years to realize that romantic desire is merely an embellishment to a lord's life," Silvia said in surprise.

Trisely fell silent for a moment and asked, "Silvia, have you ever considered that there might be someone else behind Victor? Otherwise, how could he possibly have so many bizarre ideas and creations?"

"Of course I've thought about it. I've also investigated. Victor's father, his brother, his life in the royal capital, as well as his experiences in the Centaur Hills, all have no issues whatsoever. The only explanation is what he mentioned—the notes of the late Marquis of Wimbledon. But I cannot possibly go and verify this with Sophia, seeing as we are the greatest beneficiaries after all." Silvia tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and said softly.

"Suppose Victor is lying?" Trisely pursued relentlessly, unwilling to let it go.

"You might as well just say I've been bewitched and lost my mind over Victor," Silvia giggled playfully.

Trisely's face flushed, and she said with vexation, "That possibility isn't completely ruled out. Isn't Nicole the best example? She actually went so far as to threaten Max for the sake of a few hundred lowly peasants, simply because they are Victor's serfs."

"You actually compare me to that little girl Nicole?" Silvia rolled her eyes and said helplessly, "Fine, let me explain it to you. The possibility of someone pulling the strings behind Victor is the slimmest. After becoming a lord, he repeatedly made mistakes—first handling the issue of the refugees in Flat Lake Village, then the work-point system, and also the sale of coffee and snow sugar. These low-level mistakes all prove that it is impossible for anyone to be orchestrating things behind him. The reason you have such suspicions is simply because you are unwilling to believe that geniuses like him actually exist."

"A genius? A genius who constantly makes mistakes?"

"Geniuses make mistakes; mediocrities do not make mistakes. Uncle Edwin said that, and I now deeply believe it," Silvia shook her head and sighed, adding, "Uncle Edwin also said that people like us are like mountain sheep, forever walking along the exact same path, never daring to overstep in the slightest. As a result, the path grows narrower and narrower. Fortunately, there are still some ignorant mountain sheep willing to try different paths. The unlucky ones get eaten by beasts, while the lucky ones find new pastures. How did the Seven United Islands of the Bori Kingdom come to be? Launching a war against the mermen was an unprecedented pioneering feat. If they had failed, the Five Great Families would not exist today, but they succeeded. Can you say that Baron Aiciliboer, who originally proposed waging war on the mermen, was not a genius?"

"Uncle Edwin actually compared us to stupid mountain sheep?" Trisely said with frustration, then glared at Silvia and demanded, "Then why did you leave Victor out there all by himself? Aren't you afraid something might go wrong?"

"Then what else would you have me do? Keep him in Black Pine Town and turn him into a mountain sheep just like us?" Silvia retorted.

Trisely was stunned for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said, "I... I really am a mountain sheep after all. But you certainly have a lot of nerve, considering Victor holds the secret to the rock bricks."

"I have already sent word: whoever dares to touch my Victor, I will skewer them!" Silvia patted her mithril spear and said proudly.

"Rest assured, Victor is extremely intelligent. He will not defect to other families. We are his best choice because I will give him room to grow. Furthermore, I also expect him to lead us in finding even more bountiful pastures."

As they spoke, a shrill screech echoed from the distance. Silvia smiled and said, "Bruce and his men have succeeded. This must be the 112th ant-man lord we've eliminated."

With the help of the dust falcons, Silvia and six grand knights easily intercepted all retreating ant-man lords. There were still around six thousand ant-man forces besieging Black Pine Town, but that number was no longer a threat. Silvia asked, "Has production started recovering over at Black Pine Town?"

Trisely nodded. "Yes, the domestic administrator has already begun organizing the serfs to repair the roads and tidy up the southern farmland. But our food supply is running low and can sustain us for at most another 10 days. Duke Neo and the others no longer have the capacity to continue supporting us. While a batch of grain was shipped over from the kingdom, the problem is they didn't reserve any seeds for us."

"How large is the deficit?" Silvia asked coldly.

"Twenty million pounds."

"Where is Sophia's caravan?"

Trisely said with an ugly expression, "This is the second thing I wanted to tell you: Sophia's caravan was detained by the Swift Dragon Knight Order at Red Leaf Town."

"Gorong is truly growing more shameless in his old age!"

Silvia was genuinely furious. According to her agreement with Sophia, Sophia was to sell a batch of grain and seeds to the York family. Although it could not instantly satisfy the year-round needs of the 120,000 people, it could alleviate their urgent plight. Most crucially, it included twenty million pounds of seeds. With this batch of seeds, the family only needed to tighten their belts for three years to achieve self-sufficiency. However, Marquis Gorong detaining these seeds meant the York family would have to rely on external food supplies for years to come. This was something Silvia could absolutely not tolerate.

A troop of cavalry escorting three grand knights rushed over to the low hill where Silvia stood. After exchanging pleasantries with her, Silvia instructed Bruce, "Bruce, return to Black Pine Town and deliver fifty million pounds of seeds to Victor. By the way, observe how he manages his territory, and then apply his methods to your own lands."

"As you wish, Your Highness," Bruce said respectfully.

"Trisely, the three of you remain here to intercept and kill the ant-man lords. I am going to see Marquis Gorong." Silvia mounted her horse in one swift motion and galloped toward Red Leaf Town, accompanied by her personal guards.

---

The Black River runs across the Centaur Hills. Although it is a shallow river, its width of over a dozen meters is an obstacle no caravan can cross. A stone bridge connects Black Pine Town to the western territories of the kingdom, making Red Leaf Town—the closest to the stone bridge—the unavoidable gateway leading to Black Pine Town.

The Swift Dragon Knight Order was stationed at Red Leaf Town. As the most powerful knight order in the Kingdom of Gombis, it boasted 5 grand knights and 30 knights, commanded by the Gold Knight, Marquis Gorong. The Swift Dragon Knight Order had only ever been defeated once at the hands of the legendary knight Neo Vist, yet today it was facing a new challenge.

Marquis Gorong felt somewhat conflicted. The breathtaking beauty standing before him was about the same age as his granddaughter, yet she was a renowned pinnacle knight. Originally, she should have been the backbone of the kingdom, but now she had become the kingdom's greatest heartache. The complex emotions stirred within him made Gorong sigh deeply.

"Silvia, it has been three years since we last met."

"It has been 3 years and 74 days, Lord Gorong." Silvia dipped in a curtsey to Marquis Gorong. Gorong had single-handedly protected the Kingdom of Gombis for over a decade; for that alone, Silvia showed him respect.

Gorong nodded and sighed, "So many years have slipped away unawares. The scene of us fighting side by side last time is still vivid in my mind. I never expected our relationship would become so tense."

Silvia fell silent for a moment and asked, "Has our York family ever betrayed Gombis?"

Gorong shook his head bitterly. From beginning to end, the York family had done nothing that could be faulted; on the contrary, the Augustine family had repeatedly been aggressive and pushy. Yet the reality was that the troubled York family was growing stronger, while the Augustine family suffered setbacks. Gorong had never been able to figure out the reason behind this.

"Then there is nothing more to say. Leave Red Leaf Town with your knight order right now, or I will make you sleep here forever." Silvia's tone was calm, yet her palpable spiritual pressure struck heavily against the heart of every single knight, instantly breeding a heavy and oppressive atmosphere.

Gorong's hand on his sword hilt tightened, loosened, tightened again, and finally released the grip. He said in a deep voice, "Silvia, the reason I lured you over here is because there is a matter I need to discuss with you."

"Someone is plotting against Roland."