Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 193 - 30: Starting a New Era

Chapter 193: Chapter 30: Starting a New Era

"Father, you still haven’t been able to let go," Gael said after hearing those words.

Alster’s heart trembled.

He hadn’t been able to let go, just as Gael hadn’t been able to let go of him.

They both harbored unresolved feelings, and the more he spoke to Gael, the more Gael’s resentment grew.

It was like an insoluble deadlock.

"Father, I want the family legacy," Gael declared.

"I will give it to you... Gael, I will give it to you, but not now, please leave," the Grand Duke Riptide said weakly.

"Father..."

"Leave!"

In Alster’s eyes, he was always an obedient child, despite being over sixty years old.

Gael reluctantly stood up and said, "Then, Father, I’ll wait for your news."

He walked out of the bedroom, and in the moment he closed the door,

he heard the Grand Duke Riptide say, "Gael, you will follow in my footsteps. We are too alike. What I face now, you will face in the future. When that time comes... I hope you remember how cheerful you used to be... don’t forget that you are my favorite child..."

Gael’s footsteps paused, and he turned and bowed, saying, "Yes, I will remember your words, Father, good night."

"Good night..."

...

As night fell, the darkness deepened.

He lay on his bed, quietly contemplating future developments.

He was certain to abdicate.

The Duke’s position would be taken by Gael.

Gael would definitely mobilize all the forces of the Riptide Family, having the right and motivation, all children of Riptide would have to heed his commands—including the one far away in River Valley, stirring up considerable trouble.

He had many children, and Dragon Castle was full of them, but only a few remained memorable to him.

He wished he could be more discreet, to care for them a few more years while he was still alive.

But his development was too rapid, somewhat illogical.

Now, he could only leave it to fate.

But as of today, what he couldn’t rest easy about was not the child thousands of miles away, but Gael, who was to inherit the position of Grand Duke.

He was worried about Gael as well as Pine.

The two of them were about to face an exceedingly arduous future.

They were stubborn, spilling blood along their path, but they might not achieve favorable outcomes and find themselves halfway, shrouded in fog with an unpredictable path ahead. Wanting to turn back, but realizing there was no path behind, could they still persist?

Alster knew well, for humans, the darkness before dawn was terrifying indeed, but even more frightening was not knowing whether the dawn would ever come, whether persistence had meaning.

Alster fell into deep thought.

Until the gemstone on his chest alerted him to the presence of an intruder.

...

The blinds had opened at some point, the air of early spring somewhat cold.

There, crouched by the window like a wildcat, was a silhouette, appearing starkly against the stars.

"Grand Duke Riptide, I greet you!" It said in a sharp voice.

"Are you one of Pine’s people?" Alster asked.

But Pine had no reason to do this, was there anything he couldn’t say to his face?

"What is your purpose?" he asked indifferently.

This person was certainly not with Pine, he was sure.

"I don’t like dealing with you high-ups... You’re always adorned with various gemstones, emeralds, cat’s eye, Purple Crystal, Amber, and Mithril Armor... tsk tsk, to forge Mithril Armor that fits your size is no small number, let me think, are they worth a thousand Gold Coins, or five thousand? But honestly, for a person like you, even if you carried ten thousand Gold Coins, I wouldn’t be surprised. After all, who made you as rich as a nation?"

It rattled on.

"You entered Dragon Castle just to tell me this, Spellcaster?" Alster said.

"Please don’t call me that, my spells are useless against you, your colorful gemstones interfere with the spells. If there were a family legacy, just a thought would disperse my spell, but you gave it up. Of course, you can also shout now, after all, this is your Dragon Castle, just a yell, and at least a hundred Conquest Knights would rush in here like mad."

Alster, hearing this, frowned and said, "Are you a Witch?"

"Perhaps."

"You should not be here."

"It’s not like I wanted to come here, being alone, yet having to deal with a Black Iron Duke, quite troubling." It jumped down from the window, pitch-black, moving noiselessly and getting closer.

"Stop!" Alster commanded.

It didn’t stop its approach, continuing, "Normally, just one word from the Black Iron Duke could leave me without a place to die, but sadly, today is your last day in power, who will listen to you now?"

Alster’s eyes filled with terror, "I told you to stop!"

"So who will listen to you?"

It said aggressively, moving swiftly like a cat in the darkness, pouncing forward, a flash of cold light as it stabbed toward the Duke on the bed, a burst of silvery glow shielding against the dagger’s force, yet not completely, slicing open his scalp to the bone.

The next second, a rare Divine Stone exploded.

It was immediately blown away, almost as if it had hurled itself back, its body skipping like a stone on water several times across the floor, then escaping through the window, vanishing into the night like a wildcat.

Alster lay on the collapsed bed, staring blankly at the blurred ceiling.

His vision had declined severely, now covered with a veil of blood.

Blood flowed, life faded, and he suddenly understood something.

The explosion had attracted many people, and he could faintly make out two figures rushing in, one with seaweed-like blue hair, the other with eyes like blazing flame.