Chapter 207: Leysen's Fate

Ragnar had fully adapted to his new life.

Since pledging his allegiance to Ronin, after completing the clearing mission in Swamp Town over a month ago, he had taken Chlamy and three other knights to sweep the wilderness around Ash Village.

Once the more menacing beasts and magical creatures surrounding Ash Village were dealt with, he returned to Swamp Town to assume the task of procuring grain.

"My Lord, three hundred thousand pounds of grain have been safely transported to Swamp Town."

In the study, Ragnar reported the results of his work to Ronin: "Wilson and Chahar are currently arranging personnel to haul and store this batch of grain."

With such a vast quantity of grain, though the majority would remain in Swamp Town for consumption, a portion had to be distributed to places like Forest Town and Black Earth Village, requiring a second transit.

Fortunately, the routes between the various villages were relatively safe now; even without a knightly escort, there was little risk.

"You have worked hard."

Procuring grain was actually a straightforward task. After all, Ragnar had grown up in Steed City, where he possessed friends and connections, and had even secured a slight discount for Ronin.

Yet, transporting three hundred thousand pounds of grain demanded a significant amount of time and effort.

The supplier for this grain was a merchant guild from Riverflow City; they lacked sufficient reserves in Steed City and could only transfer the grain from Riverflow City.

Riverflow City lay north of Wushan City, some five to six hundred miles distant from Swamp Town. Though not excessively far, the preparations required were vast and tedious.

Ronin was entirely willing to attempt this long-distance grain transport.

For this could train the transport capabilities of Ragnar and his team; should war arise in the future, the logistics would already possess a degree of experience and foundation.

"My Lord, there is another matter I must report to you."

Having concluded the topic of grain transport, Ragnar began to recount what he had seen and heard in Riverflow City, "It concerns Rayson."

"Oh?" Ronin’s interest was piqued.

The avian path from Forest Town to Wushan Keep had been completed just two days prior. Ronin had attempted to send a letter of greeting to Rulance, but owing to the briefness of time, he had not yet received a reply.

If a reply did arrive, perhaps it would reveal the final judgment regarding Rayson.

"Rayson confessed to the crimes of encroaching upon the resources of Forest Town and repeatedly attempting to assassinate you. He also admitted to seeking out the Skeleton Society. However, regarding the accusation revealed by Philton—that the Skeleton Society is connected to the Purple Thunder family under Count Hyde—Rayson denied it."

Ronin’s brow furrowed slightly. He knew that establishing a definitive link between the Purple Thunder family and the Skeleton Society would not be easy, yet he had not expected Rayson to flatly deny his confidant's confession.

"How did the opponent quibble?"

Ragnar replied, "He merely claimed that while attacking the Black Gold Brotherhood, he unexpectedly obtained a stronghold of the Skeleton Society, whereupon he sent Philton to 'Distant Light Town' to deliver a message. He accused Philton of being coerced into committing perjury by framing Distant Light Town as the Purple Thunder domain."

Distant Light Town lay to the southeast of the Wushan territory. Once, Distant Light Town had been a vassal of Wushan Keep.

Only in subsequent wars, the local lord was slain by the Black Gold Brotherhood, and Distant Light Town fell into their hands, remaining unrecovered to this day.

"What did Philton say?" Ronin inquired.

Ragnar could not help but sigh with emotion. "Philton wept, crying that he had failed Rayson's trust, and turned to bite Galier, claiming that Galier had extracted the confession through torture and forced him to forge the testimony. Then, he committed suicide in open court."

This...

During his interactions with Philton in Swamp Town, the man had hinted at a desire to follow him just as Joffrey did, though Ronin had not agreed.

He had never imagined the man's final end would be suicide in court; Ronin truly had not anticipated him possessing such courage.

Perhaps facing Rayson, the oath Philton had once sworn to follow his master had exerted its power.

"And the final outcome?" Ronin asked.

"Under the jury of kingdom officials, Lord Wiggins, officials from Black Python City, and numerous nobles of the Wushan territory, Rayson was ultimately sentenced to hanging. The execution will take place four days from now, on the morning of April fifth."

Ragnar let out a sigh. "Galier was unfortunate as well, accused by the people of Black Python City of framing a nobleman, and they have demanded that Wushan Keep put him on trial."

While Ronin marveled at Rayson's end, he was simultaneously taken aback by Galier's predicament.

However, such an accusation would likely only serve to disgust Galier, without exerting any substantial impact upon him.

After concluding these matters, Ronin drew an item from his drawer.

"These are the healing spell scrolls Elrond crafted during February and March. I must trouble you to take them to the Silva Magie Commerce Guild to be sold."

Though Ronin had directed Elrond to focus the majority of his energy on herbalism and the research and crafting of magical potions, the production of healing spell scrolls had not ceased.

After all, given Elrond’s current strength as a Chief Mage, crafting a tier-two spell scroll required neither too much mental energy nor mana, nor did it demand much time; it sufficed to sketch one each day in his spare moments.

Recently, Ronin had also consumed the materials purchased in Wushan City, crafting a dozen or so tier-three and tier-four spell scrolls, such as Wind of Detection, Haste, and Pyroblast.

Yet he intended none of these for sale, reserving them instead for his own use or for his subordinate knights.

"Furthermore, help me notify Pearson to procure fifty thousand pounds of iron ore, to be transported via the Swamp Town route to Ash Village."

Over the past two months, after William constructed a larger bellows, the iron-smelting blast furnace was finally able to completely melt iron blocks into molten iron. This signified that the Northern Wu territory could now utilize casting technology.

Since they could smelt iron themselves, Ronin no longer needed to purchase wrought iron from the outside; he could directly buy iron ore to smelt on his own.

On the market, a pound of wrought iron demanded at least forty copper coins, whereas a pound of iron ore sold for between five and eight copper coins.

Although a pound of iron ore might ultimately yield only thirty to forty percent iron, and the smelting process required them to provide their own fuel and labor, a calculation revealed that smelting it themselves remained more cost-effective.

"Fifty thousand pounds of iron ore..."

Ragnar seemed to hesitate, words catching in his throat. "My Lord, smelting iron yourself is time-consuming and laborious, and the output is highly unstable. Why do you not simply purchase wrought iron?"

He was unaware that a blast furnace had already been constructed in Ash Village.

To be precise, the iron-smelting area had already become a classified zone.

Aside from ordering that unrelated personnel were forbidden from approaching the operations area, Ronin had also stationed guards to keep watch, while imposing a gag order upon Kales and the other blacksmiths; anyone who leaked the secret would face the most severe punishment.

Regarding Ragnar's suggestion, Ronin merely smiled, claiming only that he wished to experiment, and promptly shifted the topic.

"Near Radiant City, there is a barony named Kona that is on the verge of collapse; many of its citizens are fleeing. Anthony has already helped me assemble five hundred and sixty commoners. I need you to take grain and a wagon train to escort this group to Forest Town."

Every year, many barons and pioneering knights within the Wushan territory went bankrupt, and Anthony had already set his sights on these struggling domains.

Moreover, this was not the first batch of people Anthony had gathered.

Last month, he had drawn eight hundred and sixty-four freemen from Steed City, all of whom Ronin had now settled in Forest Town.

If this group of over five hundred people were included, the population of Forest Town would reach three thousand five hundred souls.

"Very well, My Lord."

Ragnar sighed inwardly; it appeared his future was destined to be one of perpetual wandering.