Chapter 281: War Returns

Feng Si’s son did not suffer from any incurable illness; his life hung by a thread solely because the overseers had beaten him until his flesh was torn open and could not heal on its own—over time, the wounds festered and rotted.

Erlong went to him, removed the decayed flesh, then, combined with herbal remedies and potent healing magic, pulled the boy back from the brink.

According to Feng Si’s account, sixteen-year-old Paul had not yet awakened his aura seed, but his forging skills were already exceptional—he had every chance of becoming a master smith before turning twenty.

In the future, the domain would boast two master smiths. Ronin was overjoyed.

He also intended to leverage Feng Si’s network of master craftsmen to invite more blacksmiths—and artisans from other trades—to join the northern border domain.

The domain’s development, and especially the future construction of a port, could never be accomplished without a corps of skilled laborers.

Besides, he now had twenty thousand gold coins in his pocket—hiring more people was no problem at all.

...

The war continued without incident.

The noble alliance effortlessly reclaimed the towns of Sari, Sandflow, and Shorehold.

Since the fighting took place within Wushan Domain, the allied forces refrained from harassing innocent civilians; their targets were instead the castles and manors of the Polant Knight Order members.

Gold, jewels, warhorses, luxurious garments, weapons, and armor—all became their plunder.

Without resistance, the latter stages of the war resembled a wild celebration of loot-taking.

Half a month later, Ronin received word from the cavalry.

Geoffrey and his small cavalry unit were already on their way back to Chishan Town.

During this campaign, they encountered several minor skirmishes with enemy forces—but, as expected, they prevailed, capturing numerous deserters and servants from bandit gangs, who now served as porters for the spoils.

On August 15th, the leaders of the noble alliance gathered in Chishan Castle to deliberate the division of spoils.

Because Ronin had already claimed Kasir and Chishan towns, and Geoffrey and Rogna had seized considerable resources, his share of the remaining plunder was modest.

After careful accounting, this war yielded Ronin fifteen warhorses—two of them high-quality, fifty-two riding horses, and twenty-eight packhorses.

For now, the northern border domain would not lack for horses.

In addition, there were numerous other supplies: knightly swords, armor, spears, shields, bows, arrows—enough to fill over a dozen carts.

For the victors, war meant wealth. Ronin was beginning to understand.

Each noble house returned home with full coffers and satisfied hearts, ready to depart.

As for the governance of Giantrock City, Shorehold, and the like—that was Wushan Castle’s concern.

Though Ronin was deeply favored by Rulans, he did not overstep his bounds to manage those places.

Still, he ordered Toru to temporarily maintain order across the regions, lest they deteriorate and drive away their populations.

Kasir and Chishan towns, under Ronin’s stewardship, had stabilized—and had even attracted many from surrounding areas to seek refuge.

He gladly pointed them toward a better path: “Head to the northern border domain—there is land, there is soil, and there is a benevolent lord who will welcome you to build your homes and futures.”

Indeed, recent propaganda and Paul’s own story had borne fruit—many families were willing to relocate, following Ronin’s retinue back to the northern border.

“Rydal, I entrust Kasir and Chishan towns to you.”

In the great hall of Chishan Castle, Ronin was making final arrangements for his subordinates.

To hold these two territories, he had to leave behind a contingent.

Rydal, the domain’s sole Golden Knight and former commander of the Flame Expeditionary Force in his past life, was more than capable of managing both towns.

Besides Rydal, Ronin assigned Geoffrey, Bablin, Grado, and Tomasch to remain behind with fifteen cavalrymen, thirty infantry, and ten archers to assist the northern border’s commander.

Upon returning, he needed to recruit new soldiers and consider inviting more knights from beyond the domain.

He simply did not have enough knights.

The other knights looked at Rydal with envy—they all knew that, barring misfortune, Rydal would become the northern border domain’s first vassal lord.

“Rest assured, my lord—I will guard this place with my life.”

Rydal paused, then added: “But the grain reserves in Chishan and Kasir are insufficient, and the autumn harvest was destroyed. We will likely need to purchase food soon.”

“Do not worry about that. The northern border’s autumn harvest should be decent—I will arrange timely transfers. Let Rogna handle the transport.”

Kasir and Chishan now housed many more people, and with already scarce farmland, their grain was naturally inadequate.

Fortunately, Ronin had diverted a large stockpile of grain from Giantrock Castle to provision the northern border’s knightly detachment—otherwise, famine would have struck swiftly.

“Macken, prepare the rest of our forces. We depart for the northern border tomorrow morning.”

“Yes, my lord!”

The southwestern front ended in total victory for Wushan Domain. The bandit gang led by Amicus—a scourge for years—was utterly annihilated.

Ronin’s performance in this war was astonishing. His brilliant command would soon spread to every town in Wushan Domain as the noble alliance dispersed homeward.

In the southeast, the Black Gold Brotherhood had been driven back by the noble alliance’s pressure, losing two baronies in succession, now reduced to only the barony of Farlight and one viscountcy bordering the Vila Principality.

“If we press further, we’ll wipe out the Black Gold Brotherhood entirely,” said Baron Tenny of Purple Thunder, unable to contain himself in Black Serpent City’s tent. “My advice: we’ve gone far enough. We must withdraw now.”

“I know,” replied Balinton, his face dark.

The Black Gold Brotherhood’s campaign had been designed to support the Polant bandits—but none had anticipated the latter’s swift, sudden, and total collapse.

Here, Balinton had been poised to suppress Kabir—until Melonicca, a man he had not seen in years, appeared.

This man, relying purely on raw strength, had slain two of the Brotherhood’s Golden-level leaders, turning the tide.

Balinton had wanted to engineer some misfortune for the Wushan knights and squads—but no opportunity presented itself.

Worse—he could not act aggressively; he had to even cooperate slightly with Melonicca.

“Hesus is a useless fool. He couldn’t even pick a competent acting leader, and he lost to a child. No wonder, as the king’s brother, he’s only a count.”

Balinton rose, muttering under his breath: “I’ll go to Melonicca now. Tell him the Haid County has suffered a famine—this year’s harvest is poor, and we cannot sustain prolonged warfare. The Black Gold Brotherhood is crippled. Suggest they withdraw.”

The excuse sounded arbitrary—but there had indeed been a brief locust plague, albeit a minor one.

Watching Balinton leave, Tenny sighed, his resentment toward Ronin deepening.

Last time, Ronin’s elimination of Resen had caused him trouble—costing him a fortune and exhausting countless connections to smooth over.

This time, again, this young man had led the charge that crushed the Polant bandits, halting their entire plan.

“If only I’d listened when Resen asked me to send assassins—I should’ve dispatched a Golden-level killer then.”

He regretted it now, wondering if it was too late to act.

As Balinton urged withdrawal, progress in the southeast slowed. After two days of stalemate, Melonicca and Kabir received a message from Wushan Castle and agreed to retreat.

Still, garrisons were stationed in the two newly reclaimed towns.

The Black Gold Brotherhood, battered for two consecutive years, would require considerable time to recover—even if resources were available. For the next one or two years, they would surely lie dormant.

Wushan Domain seemed to have entered a brief peace. (End of Chapter)