On the fourth day of the fifth month of the year 1772 of the Galinthea General Calendar, the Norton family of the north dispatched 24,000 elite family armed forces and suddenly appeared under the Iberian Kingdom's capital, Winderbri, and surrounded the entire city. They claimed that the purpose of this attack was to capture the king of the Iberian Kingdom, the former second prince of the Crimson Empire. This was because he had despicably sent a Master Swordsman to assassinate the head of the Norton family, and was conferred the title of Count Norton by the Andinac royal family.
A large group of guards defending the capital tactfully laid down their weapons and surrendered. First, the difference in military strength was too great. The ratio of attacking and defending troops was almost ten to one, and everyone knew that resistance had no chance of winning. Second, the equipment of the guards could be said to be inferior to the Norton family's armed forces. This was especially so when the steel crossbows on the 1,000 chariots shot deeply into the city walls from more than 200 meters away. All of the guards lost the confidence to resist.
Finally, the Golden Knight Ross, who called himself the Tiger, gave an ultimatum that made the guards finally open the city gates and surrender. This was because the Golden Knight said that if the guards did not surrender, even if they died in battle, the Norton family's armed forces would not let go of their families living in the city. So if the guards wanted to resist, they had to think about their families first …
After entering the capital to take over the city's defenses, the second prince, who was hiding in the Rose Palace, received the news that the Norton family had entered the city. This was like a bolt out of the blue to the second prince. Master Swordsman Jared's absence made the second prince restless. He had a faint ominous feeling, but the second prince still believed that his teacher would not fail. After all, Jared was half a step into the peak of Master Swordsman. The most likely possibility was that he had been injured during the assassination and had found a place to recuperate.
However, the second prince did not expect to wait for Master Swordsman Jared to return, nor for news of the head of the Norton family being killed. Instead, he waited for news that the Norton family had attacked the capital in retaliation. The frightened Second Prince killed the servant woman who had come to inform him of the news. He took off her clothes and covered himself with them. Then, he disguised himself as a woman and left the Rose Palace, heading for the slums.
Hiding in the slums was a good idea. The second prince knew very well that the average noble armed forces had no interest in robbing these stinky, penniless, penniless people. They were more interested in looting the commercial district, the civilian district, and the noble and wealthy district. However, the second prince had underestimated the moral limits of the Norton Family's armed forces. They wanted both money and manpower. The poor people in the slums were the best source of manpower for the Norton Family to develop the North. As long as these poor people could live a stable life in the north, they would become the most loyal supporters of the Norton family.
So the second prince, who was dressed in a servant's clothes and had a handlebar mustache, stood out like a crane among a flock of chickens. Unfortunately, the family soldiers that the Norton family sent to the slums to prepare to move these poor people did not know this famous Iberian King. They were very curious about this man who was dressed in female clothing. Some of them wondered if this man was a pervert, while others guessed if this man was one of the underlings of the same sex …
At this time, a few Norton Family soldiers with the spirit of exploration were ready to touch this guy's balls to see if they were still there. A few other soldiers who were also pimps were very excited and eager to pull this pimp into the room next door to have an in-depth discussion. In the face of danger, the second prince finally gave in. He loudly shouted that he was the king of the Iberian Kingdom and asked for the same status and treatment …
No one listened to him. As the King and the Second Prince of the former Empire, he took good care of his body. His skin was soft and tender, and his skin was fair and smooth. To the few soldiers who had the same preference, he was simply a gift from the heavens! These guys who were full of lust were all red at this moment. They did not even care to listen to what he was shouting. Only after they had vented their lust and regained their consciousness did they remember that this guy on the ground had said something about him being the king …
Just like that, the second prince was presented to Ross and Malek. When they found a few nobles to confirm that the guy with the naked buttocks was the second prince, even the usually carefree Ross was speechless. He had no choice but to find a few potion masters to give the second prince some healing potions to save his life.
After receiving the news that the Norton Family had gone to the north to attack the capital, Winderbury City, the two border patrol squads stationed in Pitro City were quickly dispatched under the command of the Great Swordsman Viscount Christopher. In just three days and two nights, they arrived at the capital and blocked the Norton Family's forces in Winderbury City.
Viscount Christopher was very clear-headed. He did not launch an attack on the capital, but relied on the mobility of the rangers to trap the Norton Family's forces in the city. Perhaps his 20,000 rangers would not be able to face the Norton Family's forces head-on. However, Viscount Christopher believed that even if the Norton Family's forces wanted to retreat, he would not allow them to take away the wealth and resources of the capital.
Five days had passed, and the two sides were still in a stalemate. Viscount Christopher was not anxious at all. To him, the longer the battle dragged on, the better. Firstly, he knew that there was a limit to the food reserves in the capital city of Windbree. Most of the food in Winston province was in the hands of the lord. Once the armed forces of the Norton family ran out of food, they would collapse without a fight. Then, he could easily reap victory. Secondly, he had already sent a messenger to Duke Fisablun. In another five or six days, the Duke would personally lead two border patrol squads to support the Norton Family. When that time came, the Norton Family would be like a turtle in a jar, unable to escape.
However, Viscount Christopher did not expect the Norton Family's armed forces to suddenly mobilize in full force the next day. It seemed as though they were going to break out of the encirclement and fight in the field. Viscount Christopher placed a border patrol squad at the front and another on the flanks. He was prepared to turn to the flanks at the slightest resistance. His main goal was to harass and delay the enemy's advance.
However, the sound of bugles from all directions made Viscount Christopher realize that the two border patrol squads were the turtles in a jar. As the battlefield shrank, the two border patrol squads were eventually surrounded by more than 50,000 elite troops from the Norton Family, the Shahin Family, and the Filim Family in a narrow space under Winderbury City.
Viscount Christopher saw that the armed forces of the three northern families were not in a hurry to attack the two border patrol squads. Instead, they kept digging trenches to connect the two border patrol squads. He knew that the situation boded ill rather than well. Without the space to maneuver on the battlefield, the rangers would not be able to unleash their full potential. In order to survive, Viscount Christopher personally led his troops to launch a suicidal charge, hoping to open up a path for survival. However, the three attempts to break out of the encirclement were met with heavy casualties by the long-range attacks of the chariots, steel crossbows, and longbowmen.
Looking at the extremely low morale of the rangers, Viscount Christopher finally made a decision. He walked to the front of the three northern families' battle formation and asked for a duel. If he won, he hoped that the three northern families would let the remaining fourteen thousand rangers go, and he would be at their mercy. If he lost, he would ask the rangers to dismount and surrender.
Although Henned and Baron Filim expressed strong objections, Laurist stubbornly agreed to Viscount Christopher's request and personally challenged him to a duel.
As a first-level swordsman, Viscount Christopher realized in despair that he might not be a match for the young Earl of the Norton Family. Laurist's swordsmanship was as cold as winter, making him feel like he was in a world of ice and snow. The light of his sword was like dancing snowflakes, penetrating through every nook and cranny. It seemed light, but when the two swords clashed, it was as heavy as the earth. He couldn't help but recall the feeling he had when he was training with his adoptive father, Duke Fisablun. Now, he finally believed the rumor that the second prince had sent Master Swordsman Jared to assassinate Earl Norton.
Viscount Christopher bitterly resisted more than two hundred moves, but his sword was still knocked away by Laurist. He dispiritedly ordered the surrounding rangers to dismount and surrender. The remaining 14,000 rangers silently obeyed Viscount Christopher's order and became the Norton Family's prisoners of war.
After eliminating the two groups of rangers that Laurist viewed as a threat, Laurist kept his promise and ordered the two chariot and crossbow battalions to assist the Shahin Family and the Filim Family to sweep through the castles and manors of the lords. Laurist emphasized that the most important thing was food. Only with food could the territory be stable. The Norton Family was willing to buy the food that the two families had robbed at market price.
After entering the capital, Laurist immediately went to see the second prince, who was still walking with his butt in the air. This was the first time the two had met. After hearing about the second prince's misfortune, Laurist couldn't help but laugh. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn't have done it in the first place. He had brought this upon himself, and no one else could be blamed. Laurist didn't care about the second prince's cold, snake-like gaze. He spat in disdain and didn't even bother to say a word before swaggering off.
During this occupation of the capital, Laurist gave a few orders that seemed strange to the common people. First, they were very respectful to the queen, who was still living in the Rose Palace, and specially arranged for the family's soldiers to be in charge of guarding her. Second, other than emptying a few warehouses that belonged to the royal family, they didn't do anything to the nobles or the rich in the capital. They didn't rob or extort anyone.
Third, this time, the Norton Family didn't move all the commoners in the capital like before. They only forcefully moved tens of thousands of poor people from the slums and some commoner craftsmen. Some nobles even sighed that the air in the capital had become a little fresher, and that the Norton Family had done a good deed for the capital by forcibly moving those lowly commoners away.
The only thing that embarrassed these nobles was that the young Earl Norton was very petty and vengeful. He erected a pillar in the central square of the capital and hung the cross with Master Swordsman Jared's body nailed to it. He hung it there, allowing the sun and rain to rain. He even hung a wooden sign below, saying that Jared, a third-level swordsman, had listened to the second prince's orders to assassinate the lord, and that he was despicable and shameless. This made the nobles and the rich, who were proud of having a third-level swordsman in the capital, feel as if they had been slapped in the face, and they felt a burning pain.
On the 19th of the fifth month, Grand Duke Fisablen, who had led two border ranger regiments to provide support, received the news that Viscount Christopher had been defeated and captured, and that the two border ranger regiments under his command had been completely annihilated. He stopped at the town of Lake Dusk, which was a hundred miles away from the capital city of Winderbury. Instead, he arranged a defensive line. At the same time, Duke Fisabulon sent a messenger to the capital to seek an audience with Laurist.
When Laurist met the messenger, he first explained that the troops this time were only against the second prince and the Norton Family's personal grievances. The Norton Family had no intention of destroying the Iberian Kingdom, so he treated the nobles in the capital with respect and didn't offend them in the slightest. Then, he personally brought the messenger to see Her Majesty the Queen of the Rose Palace, and confirmed that the daughter of Duke Fisabulon, the Queen of the Iberian Kingdom, was living freely. She was even in the mood to hold a grand party with the nobles in the capital.
However, Laurist also rejected the messenger's two requests. The first was regarding the ransom for Viscount Christopher and the 14,000 rangers that had been captured. Laurist believed that Duke Fisabulon could only send someone to discuss the ransom after they withdrew their troops and returned to the Norton Family's territory. The operation of the family's armed forces hadn't ended yet, so it wasn't suitable to discuss this issue.
The second request was regarding the life and death of the second prince. Laurist firmly refused to hand over the second prince, but he could guarantee that the Norton Family would only imprison the second prince and not kill him. This was because the Norton Family didn't want to bear the reputation of killing the king. As for the problem of the Iberian Kingdom not having a king on the throne, Laurist made it clear that this was not his responsibility. He was only a count of the Andinac Kingdom, and it was a personal grievance with the second prince. He would not interfere in the internal affairs of the Iberian Kingdom …
The messenger had never heard of such a shameless statement and was immediately stunned by Laurist's shamelessness. The messenger snapped back to reality and angrily rebuked Laurist. All of the misfortunes of the Iberian Kingdom were related to the Norton Family. In the distant, there was Duke Lujins, and in the near future, there was the second prince …
Laurist shrugged and retorted. The Norton Family had always guarded the northern borders for the former empire. They had been conscientious and had never wanted to cause trouble in these troubled times. It was just that the Duke of the North and the second prince had overestimated themselves and provoked them, so the Norton Family had no choice but to retaliate. However, the discussion was now based on both sides' arguments, so there was no need to waste energy on this.
As for the situation of the Iberian Kingdom not having a king on the throne, Laurist came up with an idea. Wasn't the son of the king and queen in the hands of Duke Fisabulon? When they withdrew, they would take the second prince with them. Then Duke Fisabulon could push the child to the throne, and he himself would become the regent. He would be able to grasp the real power of the Iberian Kingdom. Other than not provoking the four northern families, everyone could live in peace.
After the messenger left, Laurist stayed in the capital for another ten days before leading his family's armed forces on a journey back to the north. Meanwhile, the armed forces of Baron Shahin and the Filim Family were having a lot of fun looting. They practically swept away two-thirds of the Winston province. A steady stream of provisions, valuables, and other goods transported by carriages formed an endless stream of carriages on the road. In addition to this, they also forced nearly 200,000 civilians to migrate to the north. These civilians were all the subjects of the various lords in the Winston province …
The day after the Norton Family's armed forces withdrew from the capital, Duke Fisabulon, who had maintained a tacit understanding, led his army to recover Wenderbri City. When the three northern families spent two months transporting the goods and moving the people back to the north, Grand Duke Fisablon, who held the ruling power of the Iberian Kingdom for the first time, finally couldn't stand the endless quarrels and wrangling anymore. He threw the ruling power to his daughter, the queen of the Iberian Kingdom, and returned to his family's territory in the Eastern Wasteland Province to enjoy himself.
This time, the three northern families worked together to loot the Winston province, and each of them reaped a bountiful harvest. Other than the spoils of the capital, Wenderbri City, which belonged solely to the Norton Family, the rest of the looted goods and the civilians who migrated to the north were all divided equally among the three families. Laurist threw the distributed valuables, provisions, and 100,000 or so immigrants to Ferocious Tiger Ross and Malek to take care of. He then led the guard camp to Monolith Castle, because Miss Tracy was about to give birth …
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