Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 183 - 20: Troops Set Out from River Valley

Chapter 183: Chapter 20: Troops Set Out from River Valley

Vilechka did not take Earl Kant’s words seriously.

Not mocking was the greatest respect he could give to Earl Kant.

How could Vilechka deign to listen to the excuses of a loser?

Praising an opponent was the same as telling others that his defeat wasn’t so unsightly.

But Steve Gailande felt things were not so simple.

He had seen Earl Kant’s army and, though it was not fit for a major battle, it still had some fighting capability.

He was one of the first nobles to arrive here and had spoken with a knight under Earl Kant’s command, learning about the specific situation at the time.

Why didn’t they dare to attack?

Naturally, it was for fear of debilitating casualties.

That young lord was decidedly convinced of this fact!

If Earl Kant had wanted to keep them, it would have cost them their lives.

If the enemy didn’t collapse, it would be Earl Kant who did.

Such a deal was not worthwhile at all.

But what if Earl Kant insisted on gambling, on forcefully ordering an attack?

After all, one couldn’t expect humans to always remain rational.

If Earl Kant did it, it would mean the young lord had lost his bet, and a cruel, bloody battle would ensue.

The young lord had not shown fear, which was somewhat alarming.

Did this mean that when they attacked Sige Town, they would also face equally fierce resistance?

Gailande had a sinking feeling of concern.

...

On the other hand, they had an absolute advantage in numbers.

He had brought 1000 infantry from the Gailande family.

Vilechka had also brought 1100 from his family, which appeared to be even more elite than the Simon family’s forces.

Together with Earl Kant’s 2000 men.

Their total force had reached 6400.

Now, they were just waiting for the Bexites family’s forces to join them.

And their forces were not all infantry; there were also cavalry and archers among other units.

Even a hundred Conquest Knights could be assembled.

These forces were sufficient to wage a large-scale war.

...

They had the means to raze that little town to the ground.

What they lacked now was the means of transportation.

As salt mine owners, trade was developed in their respective territories, so they controlled many ships and knew many merchants.

They had summoned all the ships they could control and conscripted every merchant vessel passing through the area.

About seventy or eighty ships were gathered in total.

But even at full capacity, they could only transport more than half the forces and couldn’t deploy them all.

"That wretched place really vexes me; I should have shown that little noble a thing or two about the grandeur of my Vilechka family long ago," Foucault had bragged.

Steve knew what grand object he referred to.

It was a twin-masted sailboat thirty meters long and seven or eight meters wide, with seventy oars, capable of carrying three to five hundred people. In this era, it certainly qualified as a large ship.

More importantly, its speed was incredibly fast, second only to the North Ice Pirate’s longships—it was rumored to have successfully evaded pirate raids. They had raced on the sea for over ten hours, from day to night, until the exhausted pirates, weak in hand and foot, could do nothing but watch it sail inland.

But it couldn’t navigate that gorge; hitting the rocks meant shipwreck and death for all on board.

Foucault had no intention of sacrificing that precious ship here; his words were merely an expression of superiority.

As if the scion of the Riptide family had never seen anything of the world.

And his words had no relevance to the current meeting.

...

"Knight Foucault, we must wait for the Bexites. They too have a right to a say in this matter."

Gailande reminded Vilechka.

Vilechka believed they could take the initiative to strike first, without waiting for the Bexites family.

But the problem was, they had struck Sige Town too early. Once Bexites arrived, what then?

Should they share the spoils or not?

If they shared with Bexites, the latter hadn’t exerted any effort, so why should they?

If they didn’t share with Bexites, after coming from so far away, they couldn’t just go without even a taste of the soup; they’d need to pick someone to fight.

It would either be Sige Town at present or Gailande and Vilechka in the future.

Foucault had no choice but to wait sullenly, and in the meantime, he amassed more ships.

Five days later.

The flag of Bexites finally appeared in Kant Territory.

They were only a hundred strong, but all were Riders, marching in a column.

The leader wore blood-colored plate armor and a blue cape, looking quite imposing.

"You must be Earl Kant,"

he said after dismounting his horse, walking up to Earl Kant, removing his blood-colored helmet, with lines of age showing on his face, his black hair mixed with white.

The tardy Knight spoke.

"Flant, on behalf of Lord Bexites, sends greetings to you."

Sir Foucault frowned first. "Flant? You’re not Bexites? And... is this all of you?"

"Knight of the Vilechka family, how many men do you think Bexites should have sent?"

This question stumped Vilechka.

He hadn’t expected the powerful Bexites to send many troops, but the force before him fell short of his expectations.

He had been waiting here for quite some days.

"Our Lord sent us to look around and leave," Flant said with a smile.

He was middle-aged with handsome features, speaking in a manner that was as refreshing as a spring breeze.

Vilechka’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly.

Since so few were sent, the share of the profit would be even smaller.

Now, it seemed they might just have to pay a sum to make Bexites leave.

Bexites was the largest salt producer in Black Iron Land, capable of refining a certain Blood Salt, an extraordinary resource that could nourish the body and was effective for Conquest Knights.

As it seemed, the salt mine owner was not planning to get involved in the remote salt mine struggle.

The three families could certainly control half of Black Iron Land’s salt production.

But the strengths of the three Nobles varied greatly.

More accurately, Bexites was the Wei state in the late period of the Three Kingdoms.

Bexites used to be keen on mining salt mines; any new salt mines would inevitably see Bexites involved, and they had fought wars over them with other Nobles more than a decade ago.

They were unwilling to clash with the region’s mightiest salt producer, so they had prepared to negotiate, yet they hadn’t expected them to opt out this time.

Steve felt this had to do with the current tense and unpredictable situation in Black Iron Land.

Bexites could not afford to focus on this remote area, nor could they spare significant military force.

"Knight Flant, it’s you. We’ve been waiting for you for a long time," Earl Kant warmly welcomed the Conquest Knight named Flant.

The two middle-aged men made pleasant conversation, sharing similar experiences and finding much in common to talk about.

During their talk, Earl Kant lavished praise upon Knight Flant, mentioning a battle from over a decade ago repeatedly.

Flant had defeated seven Conquest Knights and captured four, which had brought him great fame.

But now, few ever spoke of that battle.

Vilechka was unimpressed.

He was just a retainer for Bexites, not worthy of much attention.

A Conquest Knight’s physical strength would rapidly decline past the age of forty, and all they could boast of were past glories. When he, Vilechka, came of age, he too would create new feats and gain renown.

Steve of the Gailande family, however, echoed the sentiment, expressing respect for the somewhat aging Conquest Knight who had left his mark on the battlefield. A Conquest Knight of such repute must have had the strength of at least the Fifth Rank.

Those the Gailande and Vilechka had brought were also mostly around the strength of a third-tier Knight.

Carter and Simon also welcomed Flant’s arrival, especially upon learning that he would not partake in the salt mine dispute, making their attitudes even warmer.

Gailande and Vilechka saw them as business rivals; their words were honeyed but filled with hidden barbs and, had it not been for Earl Kant mediating several times, conflicts would have erupted long ago.

Old resentments, however, were already sown.

The one who should have been the most domineering and resolute, Bexites, showed a gracious attitude, which undoubtedly was a relief for them.

After a day’s rest, everyone prepared to set off for Sige Town.