Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 196 - 1: You Have Your Say, I Have Mine

Chapter 196: Chapter 1: You Have Your Say, I Have Mine

Half a month later, Roman learned of the upheaval at Dragon Castle.

Duke Gael Riptide had become the new Grand Duke.

The first thing he did was to write a letter to inform all of Riptide’s vassals and progeny.

Demanding that they send three-quarters of their forces to aid the Duke Domain and to avenge the late Duke Alster.

The target of this vengeance was every Witch upon the earth.

He swore to make those dirty old rats, who poisoned others, pay the price!

For the senior vassals, sending birds with the message sufficed.

These birds underwent special training, allowing them to travel fixed routes and land on the shoulders of designated recipients.

However, this method could not reach everyone, and messengers had to be sent to remote vassal lands where the birds could not venture.

At this time, other vassals and Riptide’s offspring had long since led their troops to war.

Yet Roman was still in the manor’s great hall, listening to Seth read the contents of the letter.

He sat in a chair, elbow propped on the armrest, head cocked to the side, right hand covering his face, his expression inscrutable.

"It was Gael’s doing!" he said, his tone rigid.

Seth, startled, responded, "That’s impossible!"

"It has to be him! He’s the one orchestrating a coup! He stands to gain the most!"

"Sir, please calm down. Duke Gael couldn’t possibly be the murderer..."

"Then he’s one of them!" Roman bellowed. He lifted his head, his red eyes full of furious fire,

"Dragon Castle! That is the Riptide Grand Duke’s Dragon Castle! A castle with family heritage!! And yet someone infiltrated, murdered the castle’s lord! Just like that?! Why didn’t anyone use this method to kill the Black Iron King! Might as well let that damned assassin kill all the earthly kings!!"

Seth’s inner turmoil churned, and though he wanted to argue, he didn’t know where to start.

Surely something had gone awry that night at Dragon Castle, for reasons unknown the family legacy failed to activate, providing the assassin with an opportunity—the Grand Duke’s defenses were always strict.

"Idiots! All useless!" Roman furiously rose to his feet.

With a sudden kick, he knocked the table before him to the ground, scattering decorations and tea.

Roman roared, "I will strangle them! I must strangle them!"

He cursed and blasphemed through gritted teeth, his face vicious, and spat out a few phrases in his mother tongue that no one could understand.

Seth looked on stunned: "Sir, you are losing your composure."

Roman covered his face with his hand, his gesture almost pained.

He clenched his mouth tightly and turned to leave with an expression devoid of emotion.

Before long,

Aaron and Green among others, who had gotten the news, hurried back from the camp.

Seeing the mess everywhere, they were all somewhat surprised.

"Where’s Roman? What happened?"

Seth relayed the message from the letter to everyone, nothing to hide. It concerned them all.

"Duke Gael has called us back?"

Aaron and Green exchanged glances.

"Yes, everyone, three-quarters of the military strength."

Dick and Jet were silent.

Sige Town had entered a consolidation phase, a time for laying foundations.

What now? They had just fought a battle,

and for a vassal not to respond to a Lord’s summons was even worse, tantamount to betrayal.

"This matter requires Roman’s decision." That’s what they all believed.

Even the pressure of the recent military encroachment paled in comparison to the terror invoked by this summons; one wrong choice meant all their efforts would be in vain.

Soon, Roman returned with a composed demeanor and resumed his seat as the Lord.

"We won’t go!" he declared.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Except Seth, who looked grave, "Sir, do you realize what this means?"

Roman looked at him, wanting to say something, but ultimately closed his eyes before speaking out:

"The only person I’ve ever owed anything in this life is no longer here... Gael has no right to order me around."

"I hope you’ll reconsider. Duke Gael’s messenger was stopped by me at the docks, you still have time."

Seth could not just sit and watch Roman walk towards his doom.

"Then we’ll drag this out." Roman’s emotions settled, and he regained his composure.

"How do we drag it out?"

Roman asked, "What else did the letter say?"

"Duke Gael wants you to explain the current situation in Sige Town, the Salt Mine, the plundering of Kant Territory, and the war with the five great Nobles. He wants to know everything here, including all the details of our military strength."

Those things could not be hidden, the six major families had suffered defeat, which was unexpected by all.

Roman knew, and so did Gael.

In theory, Roman had no obligation to explain, but Gael also had the authority to replace Sige Town’s Lord.

So he said: "I won’t explain."

Seth was taken aback: "Then how shall we reply to the letter?"

"First, recognize Duke Gael’s title, and second, express sorrow for the old duke’s death... ask him if he will fulfill the old duke’s promise: Sige Town will be tax-exempt for three years. I am very willing to dedicate my strength to Duke Riptide, but now with the enemy’s army pressing on, I cannot leave. Once the time is right, I will send troops to support them, but Gael needs not wait for me, they can take action first."

Seth was dumbfounded again.

These excuses were untenable.

Tax exemption was for peacetime, but now it was wartime.

The pressing of the enemy’s army was no excuse either.

Seth could guarantee that once Roman left Sige Town with his troops, the five great families and Earl Kant would have to withdraw their forces.

Unless Roman returned with his troops, they could not touch anything in Sige Town.

There was at least some consensus among the nobles.

The two dukes fought side by side, essentially to maintain the Conqueror Order.

Once the vassals deployed their troops, their territories were definitely going to be vulnerable.

But no one dared to covet those territories, otherwise, they would simultaneously offend Riptide, Fury, and the Black Iron Royal Family.

No one could bear such pressure.

The problem was, when would the right time come to send aid?

"I... don’t quite understand what you mean," Seth was baffled.

Roman said, "Go through the motions, but in reality do nothing."

Send troops?

Fuck that!

Alster is still alive and kicking, and Gael is just as bad.

"Is that acceptable?"

"Why not."

"What about Lord Gael’s issue?"

Roman replied, "He says his piece, I say mine. When have I ever openly defied Grand Duke Riptide?"

"Seth, you have to understand, Sige Town is poor. Green and Aaron have gotten malaria and are bedridden, soon to die. Due to the recent conflict, I was cut by some noble and now am seriously injured and can’t get up. Right now there’s a shortage of officers and troops, and everywhere there are injured and disabled... But I will overcome these problems one by one, and Sige Town will soon send troops!"

How soon is soon?

Roman didn’t know either.

"You write this letter, make sure the attitude is right."

He was afraid he would impulsively write obscenities on the parchment, which would cause trouble later.

Seth thought it was not unreasonable to do so.

At the very least, it appeared legally justified.

Nowadays, letters come and go in a month; it’s too easy to delay things.

For two grand dukes making such massive moves, tens of thousands of troops couldn’t possibly wait for a remote minor vassal for ten days or half a month.

In fact, they couldn’t wait a single day, and by now, they were likely already on the move.

Come if you like.

But the summons had gone out, and those who didn’t come just needed to worry about being settled with afterward.

Seth said, "This delay won’t last long."

Once he failed to join the battle in time, when Duke Gael returned to court, Roman could no longer quibble.

Roman shook his head and said, "I only need half a year."

But he had a premonition that the Conqueror Order that Fury and Riptide needed to maintain couldn’t be resolved in half a year, with pirates coming fiercely. Could they really suppress them in half a year?

Roman simply didn’t believe it.

You have the Conquest Knight, and the pirates have their own Extraordinary Units, otherwise how could they dare rob the land.

War is a quagmire and a vortex.

For the past several decades, there had been no large-scale wars, but now there was a need to reduce population.

Some had been ready to pounce, watching eagerly for the right moment, and now they rushed in without hesitation, only to drag more people in.

So the vortex grew larger and larger, and its pull more terrifying.

Until it had swallowed enough lives, only then could the living step over the dead to escape the quagmire and settle down again.

But Alster’s death made Roman feel that this matter was full of conspiratorial overtones.

The old duke died, and the new duke blamed the Witch.

Yes! The evidence was conclusive!

But how could the Witch make enemies on both sides? That made no sense.

He had an extremely terrifying conjecture.

Without confirmation of his guess, Roman could only wait.

He believed that someday the truth would come out.

The conspiracy would eventually be exposed, and by then, he would execute everyone involved in Alster’s death.

"What about after half a year?" Seth asked.

They would have to face the new Grand Duke Riptide eventually.

The worse outcome would be Gael directly revoking Roman’s lordship.

So he thought that delaying was just a slow death.

"After half a year..."

Roman fell silent for a moment before saying,

"I will crown myself king."