Since the conflict began more than four hundred years ago between the Northern Empire and the orc tribes living around the Tartarus Plateau in the northwest, the shadow of war has never escaped this huge country.
Although the civilization of the orcs is underdeveloped, they are brave and good at fighting, and are not afraid of death and pain. With the encouragement of shamans and ancient ancestors, any orc, even underage female orcs, can become a warrior. Their physiques Far superior to humans, so much so that when faced with these primitive creatures armed with bone clubs and stone spears, human soldiers wearing sophisticated iron armor could not gain the slightest upper hand.
No one could have predicted that this war of annihilation of primitive tribes, which was originally optimistically estimated to end in about three months, would actually last for nearly five hundred years. During this long period of war and truce, the primitive tribes The orcs quickly imitated human civilization. They tried to cultivate fields, plant pasture and raise cattle and sheep. They built workshops and simple sacrificial temples, learned from human craftsmen to make armor and build fortresses. Even the wise men among them could think about magic. Mystery.
The war completely changed the orcs as a race, and it was the same for the Northern Empire.
The nobles in the northwestern part of the empire suffered a huge blow due to the two-year invasion of the orcs. Several families that had existed since the founding of the country completely disappeared. Large tracts of unowned land were left vacant. After the empire's economy was on the verge of collapse several times, It is also rapidly tilting in the direction of military industry. Countless large and small workshops and mines are opened in various places, responsible for the supply of military materials.
The best of these workshop owners and mine owners, as well as soldiers who performed extremely well in the army and the orcs' battles, became the new owners of the vacant land in the northwest region. These emerging noble families became the main force in resisting the orcs' invasion. The main force also made his family's industry gradually become part of the economic lifeline of the empire.
The annual beast tide in the south and the continuous wars in the northwest have made it impossible for the Noda Empire to develop with peace of mind. It has also caused most of the emerging nobles to decline in just a few decades. Until another The family replaced them.
But even so, some families have still survived for more than four hundred years. They have now become behemoths, controlling most of the empire's mining, construction, metallurgy, transportation, textiles, and enchantment industries. In terms of economy, the old-school aristocrats who were mainly farmers were left far behind by these later generations, but after all, this was a world with fighting spirit and magic. In terms of individual strength, the old-school aristocrats with perfect inheritance experience still had the advantage.
This is the difference between the reckless pioneer who is determined to enterprising and the prudent ruler who is calm and steady.
Joshua's Radcliffe family was also part of the emerging aristocracy. The exploration of the Great Ajax Mountains in the north was precisely to find new mineral veins and resource sources in the increasingly intensified war.
But now, the orcs are extinct, and the war that lasted for more than four hundred years is over.
The empire's deformed economic system is constantly returning to normal. The most obvious thing is that the demand for minerals and metallurgy has dropped sharply. There are rumors that the contemporary emperor Israel is even preparing to reduce the number of private soldiers of the northwest nobles and close them down within a few years. Mostly dangerous makeshift mines and workshops.
Power and money are the lifeblood of a family. Without power, there is no way to protect money, and without money, there is no way to cultivate power.
Israel's move undoubtedly touched the core interests of most of the emerging nobles - the arrival of peace means the disappearance of the war policy tilt, their importance is rapidly reduced, and they lose the largest important part of the imperial military. The closure of purchasers and a large number of production facilities will undoubtedly bring incalculable economic losses.
If it were an empire in the ordinary world, then this might be the beginning of a civil war, but in the Mycroft continent, no one dared to challenge the majesty of the legendary strongman. The emperor said one thing, but no one dared to say two things. Israel was able to conquer the orc royal court in person, and he certainly wouldn't mind wiping out one or two stupid nobles who dared to challenge the majesty of the royal family to scare the monkeys.
The nobles could only accept this.
It was early in the morning, and a knight was riding a horse, driving slowly on the outskirts of Seti, not far from the imperial capital. He passed through fields full of moist water vapor and came to a quiet small town. There was a sparkling creek at the entrance of the town. The knight walked across the flat stone bridge, crossed several streets, and finally stopped at the door of an unremarkable manor.
The knight dismounted and reported his intention to the manor's servant. The white-haired servant glanced at him, and then the old man saw the low-key coat of arms on the simple armor.
'iron hand'
The iron fist of the empire, the coat of arms of the Fertao family.
So, he nodded politely, and then went back to the house to report to the steward. Soon, a serious-looking steward walked through the manor and took a letter from the knight.
Not long after, there was a knock on the door of a room deep in the manor, and Clayman Seward woke up from his sleep.
Although he woke up unexpectedly, Kleinman was not angry about it. The middle-aged man with long dark brown hair took two seconds to completely escape from the illusion in his dream, and then began to think calmly.
If there is nothing important, his deputy will not disturb his sleep on weekdays. If it is disturbed, it means there must be something important. With this logic in his mind, the middle-aged man quickly put on his clothes and walked out of the room. He immediately saw his deputy waiting for him. As the largest ore supplier in the northwest region of the empire and the spokesperson of the Seward family in the imperial capital, Clayman, as the second son of the family, has great faith in his deputy who has assisted him for many years. He did not pretend to be serious, but yawned. Complained: "What's going on? I haven't slept well for almost two months."
"A letter from the Fertao family." The deputy, who looked to be about fifty years old, immediately replied: "The great knight Nak sent it personally. It should be related to 'that matter'."
"Have they not finished testing yet?" Clayman took out an amethyst vial from his pocket and sniffed it. An extremely refreshing and refreshing smell poured into his nose, putting him into working mode: "It's already half a century ago. It’s been a month and there’s still no results?”
At this point, Kleinman frowned and said angrily: "They didn't take action?"
"No, we took action. It's just that the situation is a bit strange. Nak felt that something was not quite right. He said that his master was not sure of the situation."
"Except for the eldest son who has some abilities, the new generation of the Fertao family are all useless. The new nobles are all such guys. They don't know how to train the next generation." Clayman said disdainfully. Although he He is only the second son of the family and cannot inherit the title of the Seward family, but he is the spokesperson of the family in the imperial capital and controls the secrets of most industries. Even his eldest brother must rely on him to manage the entire family smoothly in the future.
Having said that, Kleinman still took the envelope from the deputy's hand. He opened it, roughly scanned the contents, and then his expression became distorted.
"What did they do?!"
The future number two of the Seward family let out a low roar, with a hint of fear in his anger: "Kill them all?! These damn dwarves, idiots who are mixed with dwarves, their heads are all made of stone. Of?!”
The ancestors of the Fertao family were once mixed with dwarves, so most of the family members are not very tall. It is precisely because of their dwarven blood and human wisdom that they can become one of the largest weapons suppliers in the empire.
When the deputy saw this, he took the letter from Kleiman's hand. He also glanced at it roughly, and then gasped: "Oh my God - this is not in line with the rules!"
"Of course." Clayman subconsciously took out another amethyst vial, which contained a high-concentration refreshing potion. It was a favorite among mages who liked to stay up late to study. He took a breath and calmed down: "Radek The Reeve family is unruly and trying to grab the cake in the arms market during this difficult time for everyone. It is normal for those dwarves to want to threaten, but they went too far this time."
Today, it is the long-lost peaceful time of the empire. After the war with the orcs, the empire's weapons and ore market has shrunk as a whole, and many workshops are unable to receive orders and are on the verge of bankruptcy. Fortunately for the Seward family, the ore industry they operate has a lot of demand even in peacetime. Although it is a bit uncomfortable, it is not a big difficulty. However, it is different for nobles like the Fertao family who started by forging weapons. Now, they are in an unprecedented moment of crisis.
But the Radcliffe family has made matters worse at this time. This Northland family has received a royal charter and is one of the five special ore suppliers directly under the corps. Even if the war ends, it will not be able to affect their business much, but the new earl As if he was still not satisfied, he actually started production at a time when all the new nobles were in extremely difficult times, selling finished weapons and armor, and stealing business from other families who were already in very difficult times.
Those who cut off people's wealth are enemies of life and death. This sentence is the same all over the world. The Fertao family who was most affected must be going crazy. This can be seen from the actions of their spokesperson of the imperial capital. Come on—he's been trying to harass the Radcliffe's shop and property lately.
"One, two, three... six people."
Clayman rubbed his forehead fiercely. He looked very distressed: "Seven Gods, he killed most of the Radcliffe family's spokespersons in the imperial capital... This is no longer a temptation or a threat. It’s a naked provocation!”
Kleiman also dislikes the unruly Radcliffe family, but he is cautious by nature and prefers to find a time to resolve all this on the negotiation table - of course, he does not feel that Felta There was nothing wrong with the Ao family's behavior. It was just that they killed too many people, which was also against the rules.
Although the Seward family is located in the northwest, they are real old-school nobles. They pay attention to politeness and will only do something if they are sure that it cannot be obtained through negotiation and transaction.
Assassination, threats, and bribes against rival spokesmen have always been a part of noble struggle. If it were near the imperial borders such as the North Land or the Southern Fortress, the struggle between the nobles would most likely develop into a bloody battle, but this would not be the case around the imperial capital. However, generally speaking, assassinating spokespersons is the most intense warning and provocation. Killing six at once is basically equivalent to starting a war in the border area.
"Didn't the Radcliffe family express anything?" Thinking of this incident, Clayman turned his head and asked his deputy. He said incredulously: "Can the temper of those Northlanders be tolerated?"
He knew that the young lord of the North was known as the youngest Ji Yi, and was even called a future legend by His Majesty the Emperor. It was unimaginable that he could endure such a loss given his character.
"That's what's weird." The deputy responded quickly. At this time, he had already read the content on the letter: "The store is operating normally. Although people died one by one, there was no counterattack. You know, many people We were ready to be assassinated, and we temporarily hid in the suburbs - which is why the Fertao family asked us, they wanted to know what was going on."
This attack was undoubtedly approved by Clayman. To be precise, if several mining and metallurgical nobles had not jointly targeted the Radcliffe family, the Fertao family would not have dared to provoke him so easily. He was a man of extreme will, but Joshua's reaction made the other party extremely confused.
"Do they think the Earl is afraid?"
Taking the letter from the deputy again, Clayman read to the end. He grinded his teeth and even laughed angrily: "Arrogant dwarf... That is an extremely powerful person! He just came from the Holy Mountain and the Mad Dragon." When you come back from the battlefield, you may have killed more dragons than you have forged in your lifetime!"
Previously, the nobles of the empire got some news from the palace. They knew that Joshua had left the empire, so the Fertao family dared to take action against Alfonso Carlos. But almost a week ago, The news from the Far South shocked everyone - the warrior's departure was actually invited by the Church of the Seven Gods. During this period, he had been fighting the mad dragon in the Holy Mountain of the Far Sea and achieved countless results.
Although I don’t believe that Joshua didn’t react to the deaths of his spokesmen one after another because of fear, the middle-aged man actually didn’t know what was going on. He leaned against the wall in distress, his mind kept spinning. operation.
Could it be that you are really afraid? He thought this, of course, not because he was afraid of the Fertao family, but because he was afraid of some big shots at a higher level.
The attack on the Radcliffe family this time was not entirely in retaliation for the other party's unruly business grabbing. Kleiman himself had received a signal from the family patriarch, the old Marquis Seward, before he violated the family's rules and cooperated. The dwarves provide the poison. He vaguely guessed from the scattered information from his father that it seemed to be the instruction of a certain big shot in the royal court, but Clayman couldn't figure out who within the royal family would target Joshua.
The Radcliffe family has always been a royal party with a clear banner. This can be seen from their ability to obtain orders from the five major legions. Joshua himself has a close personal relationship with Brandon, the heir of another royal party, the Kaos family. His Majesty the Emperor's former teacher, Master Nostradamus, also opened a mage college in the North, not to mention His Majesty Israel himself admired Joshua very much.
The internal struggle in the palace cannot involve him in any case, unless...
Clayman took a deep breath. He had always been unwilling to think deeply in this direction, but now he felt a chill spreading down his spine.
Unless this matter involves the issue of the heir to the empire.
From the beginning to the end, no one, whether it was Clayman, his deputies, or the group of people from the Fertao family, thought that assassinating an ordinary businessman was a big deal. They were afraid, but they were only afraid of themselves. Going too far and killing too many at once would cause the Radcliffe family to lose face, and thus be regarded as a formal provocation to war.
Profit is more important than anything else. They want to resolve all this at the negotiation table. The assassination of the spokesperson is just a more intense notice. This is how the nobles fight. Clayman is very adaptable to all this. He has been doing this for so many years, and I also think it will continue like this, but there are always some surprises in life.
For example, now.
Thunder suddenly sounded outside the manor. Clayman didn't pay much attention to it, but the next moment, he suddenly felt a shock all over his body, and all the pores in his body tightened with fear.
The space seemed to be distorted, and the entire manor suddenly tilted - an extremely fast dark red ripple crossed the entire corridor from top to bottom, breaking a crack, and the crunching, twisted and shattering sound was heard. The middle-aged man and his deputy They hurriedly leaned against the more stable side of the corridor and watched all this blankly.
The estate was split into two.
The building on the other side collapsed, and Kleiman saw the early morning sun and breathed in the dewy air.
And a figure was suspended in the air. He was holding a silver sword in his hand, and his eyes were as red as fire, looking down at everyone.
The heat that was enough to burn steel spread from his whole body. The middle-aged man looked at everything around him in fear - the broken corridors, broken walls, furniture, and potted plants were all turned into flying ash under this high temperature. The air was blown by the high temperature. Twisting, carrying these sparks of red light rushing high into the sky.
The shadow of despair spreads.
(End of chapter)