When Lollister brought Dina and his family back to Qilin Port, a division of the Monolith Army had just had a small conflict with the second division of the Royal Guards in front of Qilin Port. The cause was that a unit of almost a thousand cavalry wanted to attack the refugee camp under the Norton Family's protection. They wanted to disperse the refugees and prevent them from being taken in by the Norton Family …
After the warning was ineffective, the soldiers of the Norton Family who were guarding the campsite launched a counterattack with their steel crossbows without hesitation. Under the barrage of fire from the five hundred single-wheeled steel crossbows, the nearly one thousand light cavaliers could only last five rounds before they were completely annihilated in front of the campsite of the refugees …
At this moment, the Second Regiment of the Royal Guards and the Monolith Regiment were engaged in a verbal battle. Bodefinger declared righteously that anyone who disobeyed the warning and came within 200 meters of the refugee camp and the Port of Qilin would be killed without mercy!
The envoy sent by the second division of the Royal Guards was flushed with anger. "We have a warrant from the capital's ruling minister, and we are here to take over Qilin Port. Not only did the Norton Family not cooperate, but you also forcefully occupied Qilin Port and attacked our soldiers. Is the Norton Family going to rebel? "
Bodefinger sneered. "Open your dog eyes and look. This is an official letter from Baron Fenston, the mayor of Qilin Port, inviting the Norton Family to defend Qilin Port for three months. How are we forcefully occupying it? It's because the situation at the frontlines is unfavorable, and the refugees are everywhere. Baron Fenston is worried about the safety of Qilin Port, so he invited us to defend it. But at this time, those in power in the capital rejected the Norton Family's request to go to the frontlines to serve the kingdom. We really don't understand. What are you thinking?
You don't seem to care that His Majesty is trapped. Your second division of the Royal Guards took more than a month to reach the capital from Yungesandra Province. You didn't set off to Campona Province to break through the blockade to reestablish contact with His Majesty. Instead, you sent more than half of your forces to seize Qilin Port. Am I crazy, or are you crazy? Is Qilin Port that important? Can you save His Majesty by occupying Qilin Port? I really want to know what you guys are planning.
The Commerce Alliance dispatched troops to occupy Cambona Province and sent a small force to infiltrate the two provinces in the southwest. Not only did the Imperial Capital not retaliate, but they also ordered the garrisons to abandon most of the fortresses and retreat in order to protect themselves. They allowed the scum of the Commerce Alliance to wreak havoc in the Kingdom's territory. They committed all sorts of atrocities, killing and burning, forcing our people to abandon their homes and become refugees! You don't want the Norton Family to recruit them? What are you trying to do? His Majesty entrusted the kingdom's administrative affairs to you because he trusted you. Is this how you repay him? "
The emissary was rendered speechless by Bodelfinger's questions. He took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Sir, those lords in the imperial capital have their own opinions. Although His Majesty is trapped, he still has over a hundred thousand elites under his command. They won't be defeated so easily. No matter what, Qilin Port was still the kingdom's port. Entrusting it to private armed forces would be a disgrace to the kingdom. The lords in the imperial capital sent us here because of this. Now, you can return Qilin Port to us. With us here, you don't have to worry about the safety of Qilin Port. "
"Then how are you going to settle the score for attacking our refugee camp today?" Bodelfinger was unforgiving. He didn't want to give up the defense of Qilin Port just like that.
Just then, Lollister strode into the tent. Bodelfinger quickly stood up to pay his respects.
"We can give up Qilin Port to you, but we want to build a refugee camp on the beach three to four miles away from Qilin Port to take in the refugees. We will each take care of our own business and not delay each other. Tell the people behind you that as long as you don't infringe on the Norton Family's interests, we have no intention of opposing you. Of course, you are not allowed to step into the Norton Family's territory. Anyone who disobeys will be killed! "
After getting Lollister's promise, the emissary happily went back to report. As for the one thousand men who died in the battle to test the Norton Family's armed forces, no one cared about them anymore. Now that they had Qilin Port, the death of another few thousand men was nothing to the big shots in the imperial capital. What was important was that they had achieved their goal.
"Sir, why do we have to give up Qilin Port?" Bodelfinger asked unwillingly.
Lollister took out a piece of newspaper and threw it in front of him. Bodelfinger opened it and saw that it was the 27th of July on Moriant Daily. The first headline was "The Allied Forces have attacked Felicar Capital. The whereabouts of the Andenak King are unknown …"
"The second prince …" Bodelfinger turned pale with fright.
"Look at the headline below …" Lollister said.
Bodelfinger lowered his head and saw that the headline was "The Commerce Alliance has reorganized the negotiation team and is preparing to visit the Andenak Kingdom. The dawn of peace has reappeared." Looking at the following report, it was a reporter analyzing the situation of the Andinac Kingdom's king. Although they could not find the whereabouts of the second prince after the Allied Army conquered the capital of Fedeliga, there was reliable information that claimed that the king of the Andinac Kingdom was seriously ill and could not appear on the battlefield. Now that the capital had fallen, it was believed that the new God of War would soon fall into the trap.
The reporter believed that the reason the Commerce Alliance had sent troops to Cambona Province of the Redelis Kingdom was because the Andenak Kingdom's god of war had been threatening the Commerce Alliance with the huge military force of 300,000 soldiers. He did not accept the fact that the Duchy of Lulm was under the jurisdiction of the Commerce Alliance. In order to wake the young king up, the Commerce Alliance had sent troops to Cambona Province to show the young god of war the strength of the Commerce Alliance.
Now that the Andenak Kingdom's army that had gone to Redelis Kingdom had been annihilated, and the king who had advocated for the war was missing, the Andenak Kingdom had less than 100,000 soldiers left. They had enough defense but not enough offense. The Commerce Alliance felt that the war had gone on for too long, so they had organized a negotiation team to head to the capital of the Andenak Kingdom to discuss the conditions for peace …
"Do you understand now? Those lords in the capital aren't after Qilin Port because they want to occupy some territory like us. They're worried that the news of them receiving the representatives of the Commerce Alliance will be leaked, and they'll be labeled as traitors. I'd like to see how His Second Highness will react when he finds out about the private plans of his ministers … "Laurist said sarcastically when he saw that Bodfinger had finished reading the newspaper.
"Sir, do you think those people in the capital know that His Second Highness has been defeated, and his whereabouts are unknown?" Bodfinger asked.
"I'm not sure, but those people in the capital must have colluded with the Commerce Alliance, or perhaps they have a tacit understanding. They're working together to set up His Second Highness. Now, let's take a step back and see what they're up to. Look at the newspaper, it says that the Commerce Alliance is organizing a negotiation team to visit the Andenak Kingdom. The fastest way is to take a boat to Qilin Port and reach the capital from there. That's why those lords in the capital see Qilin Port as important, and did not hesitate to send half of the 2nd Royal Guards to force us to leave Qilin Port. Given the current situation, I don't want to fall out with those idiots. Let's just bear with it for now. "
The Norton Family's armed forces handed over the defense of Qilin Port to the 2nd Royal Guards. They then set up a camp on the beach three to four miles away from Qilin Port, and gathered the refugees. They also built a simple pier on the beach, and directly sent the refugees to Cilovas Island.
Ten days later, the Ocean Legion, which had been heavily guarded, intercepted two ocean-going merchant ships about twenty miles away from the Port of Qilin. On those ships were the negotiation team of the Commercial Union and their guards who had set off from Moronte City. Interestingly, the originally arrogant members of the negotiation team became very obedient when they heard that it was the Norton Family's maritime army. They answered every question with a smile, and said that they had been invited by some lords in the capital to discuss the war between the two countries in the Redelis Kingdom and find a way to make peace.
Senbarwood reported the information he had obtained from the negotiation team to Laurist. Laurist rubbed his chin and thought for a long time, then ordered the negotiation team to be let go. He also ordered Bofinger to stop recruiting refugees and retreat to Cilovas Island, not leaving a single soldier in Qilin Port. At the same time, the garrison of Qilin Port that had already been reorganized was released to report to Baron Fenston.
"Sir, are we not going to interfere with the matter at Qilin Port anymore?" Governor Hansk of Cilovas Island asked.
Laurist nodded. "I feel that the current situation is very strange. If our family's armed forces remain in Qilin Port, we might become a thorn in everyone's eyes. We might as well retreat completely and see what they want to do. Intercepting the Trade Alliance's negotiation team is just a greeting to them, showing the Norton Family's existence, and letting the Trade Alliance's negotiation team know that matters regarding the Andinac Kingdom cannot be reached without us. "
On the 20th of August, the capital sent an envoy to Cilovas Island. The envoy brought a document and asked Laurist to sign it. Laurist picked up the document and looked at it. It was a proposal. As the former king, Oggesero, who was also the second prince, was defeated in the capital city of the Redelis Kingdom, and his whereabouts were unknown, the country could not be without a ruler. Therefore, all the nobles in the Andinac Kingdom signed the proposal to let Princess Kerry ascend to the throne temporarily and sign a peace agreement with the Ford Trade Alliance to end this hopeless war.
Laurist smiled and refused to sign it. The envoy threatened that if the Norton Family refused to sign, they would be excluded from the circle of nobles in the Andinac Kingdom and would not be recognized by the capital.
Laurist said that the Norton Family's superior leader was the Andinac royal family, which was the king. Now that the king's whereabouts were unknown, the Norton Family did not have the face to submit to someone else. Although Princess Kerry also had the blood of the Andinac royal family, she was far from being qualified to be the superior leader of the Norton Family.
The envoy left, but Laurist did not expect the following developments to be so strange. After another half a month, the information Laurist received and the changes in the situation left him dumbfounded.
The Redelis Kingdom was gone, and the Magick Province was merged into the Handa Duchy. The Andwolf Province, Podorg Province, and Cambona Province, where the capital city of Fedelis was located, became the new territory of the Ford Trade Alliance. The Podorg Province became the territory of the Visia Trade Alliance.
The northwest region of the Redelis Kingdom and the Andinac Kingdom's Houtemos Province, which was the province where Baron Dina was located, merged to form the Turam Duchy. The Grand Duke was said to be a territorial noble of the former Redelis Kingdom. He had once led a coalition of nobles to defeat the second prince's 70,000 troops by drowning them, and was hailed as a new military master.
The two southwest provinces that originally belonged to the Andinac Kingdom were also formed into the Bullitt United Duchy. There were three Grand Dukes in power. One was the president of the Bullitt Chamber of Commerce, a second-rate trade alliance in the Trade Alliance. The other was the leader of a famous mercenary group called the Dragon's Claw, and the last was a military noble of the Delia Duchy that was annexed by the Trade Alliance during the Battle of Glass. It was said that he was the first to conquer the capital city of Fedelis, and thus was conferred the title of Grand Duke.
The Andinac Kingdom was now ruled by the queen, and Princess Kerry had already ascended to the throne. The peace agreement she signed with the Trade Alliance not only ceded the two southwest provinces that originally belonged to the Redelis Kingdom, but also ceded the Houtemos Province, which had always belonged to the Andinac Kingdom. The Andinac Kingdom was only left with the central province where the capital was located, the Vilbania Province, and the Yungshandla Province that was obtained from the Madras Duchy.
Now, the capital of the Andinac Kingdom had become a city on the border, with the Flowing Water River as the boundary in the east and the Port of Qilin in the west. The strangest thing was that on the map of the Andinac Kingdom, Siloise Island was not included. In other words, the Andinac Kingdom that was ruled by Princess Kerry did not recognize the Norton Family as a part of the kingdom. To put it bluntly, Laurist was now a wild noble. He did not have a superior lord.
"What the f * ck is going on?" Laurist scratched his head. He could not understand the current situation.
On the contrary, Bofinger and Governor Hansk were very happy.
"My Lord, our current situation is just like the founding emperor of the Chrison Empire. There is no one to control us, and the Andinac Royal Family has now automatically given up their jurisdiction over the Norton Family. They no longer recognize us as their inferior lords. Just like Count Chrison a few hundred years ago. However, Count Chrison was first exiled, then abandoned. That was why he recruited soldiers in the north and northeast to establish a powerful empire. Our situation now is much better than it was back then, "Governor Hansk said happily.
"You mean to say that all the territories that our family has conquered now belong to the Norton Family, and no one will jump out and accuse us of rebelling?" Laurist asked.
"Yes, my Lord. Look at the Andinac Kingdom. Even Siloise Island is not included in the kingdom's map. It is obvious that they do not welcome us. As long as my Lord gives the order, I will immediately take Port of Qilin and send my army to the capital," Bofinger said.
"How can there be such a huge pie in the sky?" Laurist rubbed his chin. "Let's wait for a while. Let's train our family's armed forces first. I will see who to attack first. I feel that there is something strange about this, Tagger! "
"My Lord, I am here." Tagger walked in from the door.
"Now that the war in the Redelis Kingdom has subsided, have Volibell's investigators infiltrate Feliga and see if they can find the whereabouts of the second prince. I have a feeling that the second prince will not die so quickly. Go and look for him, in case he comes out of nowhere and causes trouble for us when we go all out in the future, "Laurist ordered.
"Yes, my Lord," Tagger replied. At the same time, he made a throat-cutting gesture. "My Lord, if we find him, do we have to do this?"
Laurist shook his head. "If you find him, just report to me. Don't make your own decisions. This is not something you can decide, understand?"
"Yes, my Lord."
…
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