Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 221 - 26: River Valley King

Chapter 221: Chapter 26: River Valley King

Roman’s chosen title was the King of River Valley.

This title was of a Duke Level—essentially equivalent to the Grand Duke of Black Iron, second only to the Black Iron King.

Roman wasn’t foolish enough to make enemies of the whole world.

If you rebel against Grand Duke Riptide, at worst Riptide’s feudal vassals will send troops to attack you.

But dare to rebel against the Black Iron King, and all the Black Iron Nobles had reason to come after you; Black Iron traders wouldn’t dare do business with you, fearing guilt by association.

Rebellion had to be done step by step.

And Roman’s standard was a thorny iron ring filled with spikes on its outer circle, like a divine ring, with a Light Spear slanting inside of it.

It was recognizable enough, and it could also be changed later on.

In the end, Roman renamed Sige Town to Origin City.

From then on, Origin City would be the capital of River Valley.

Although Origin City was somewhat rudimentary now—without walls, without a marketplace, just a large residential area.

But it didn’t matter, it could be expanded later.

In this era, Roman didn’t believe in anything, but he did believe in the tremendous energy that the collective labor force could unleash.

Everything was ready.

He immediately tore down the flags wafting above Origin Manor and the docks and replaced them with the iron ring flags of the King of River Valley.

The rebellion process ended just like that, very simply.

Don’t make a noise about it yet.

Revolt quietly.

Then kill the whole world!

...

Roman attracted more traders with his iron products.

Steel in this era was hard currency, scarce everywhere.

Just as Origin City’s trade was booming.

A fleet of ships drifted in from Silver Dragon Canyon.

The leader disembarked at the docks, looking anxious, and not even having the time to take note of the changing flags, he quickly approached Seth on the shore and hustled toward him.

He said urgently, "Mister Seth, I wish to see Lord Roman; I hope you could pass on the message."

Seth recognized him as Hos, and paused for a moment.

Because his condition was poor, his expression exhausted, and he seemed rather urgent.

"Mister Hos, I will take you to see the master right away."

Seth led Hos through the market on the docks.

The place was crowded and bustling, the ground was paved with a mixture of lime and crushed stones, forming a wide trading square.

Seth was there to take inventory of the properties and calculate the finances.

Traders and farmers, seeing the arrival of Roman’s Finance Minister, immediately scurried out of the way.

...

Roman was planning the next development plan for Origin City.

Seth walked in meticulously, "Master, Mister Morry’s brother, Hos, requests to see you."

Upon hearing this, Roman slightly furrowed his brow.

"Let him come over."

The first thing Hos said when he entered was, "Lord Roman, Morry has encountered trouble."

Upon hearing this, Roman rubbed his temples.

"Speak."

"Buck High Land is the territory of the Buck Lord. Grand Duke Riptide believed that the Buck Lord was colluding with Witches and sent an emissary to command the Buck Lord to burn the Witches there. But the Buck Lord is not a man of cowardice; he tossed the head of that emissary out. This act immediately enraged Grand Duke Riptide, who mobilized troops to attack, besieging the Buck Lord on his high land. It has been two months now—Morry was there at Buck High Land at the time."

Grand Duke Riptide was fighting on multiple fronts, east to the plateau, north to the coast, hunting Witches and suppressing rebellions.

However, suppressing rebellions and hunting Witches were one and the same.

The origins of the Witches also differed; some were wild Witches, others were Witches from the Witch Forest.

Wild Witches had no choice but to be kept by Nobles like canaries.

But the Witch Forest was different.

It was the strongest of secret societies.

The direct combat power of Witches was not as good as that of the Conquest Knights, but they had the advantage of being strange and unpredictable.

Some Nobles coveted the power of Spells, hoping to gain the power of the Witches.

This kind of behavior couldn’t be made public.

The Silver Moon Lord was a lesson from the past; no one dared to openly declare they were sheltering Witches.

Those Nobles maintaining secret contact with the Witch Forest was the best way.

But as time passed, rumors grew more and more pervasive, seizing the public’s imagination.

After all, those rumors weren’t unfounded.

In the past, no one cared about gossip that certain nobles were in collusion with witches.

There was no bad blood between nobles and witches, so there was no need to target them.

But it was rumored that Alster died at the hands of a witch.

Duke Gai’er was set on settling accounts with all nobles who colluded with witches.

This also sparked their rebellion.

Because Gai’er went too far, he sent messengers to burn the witches in the nobles’ castles.

But who was a witch?

The Purple Crystal could indeed sense the mana of witches, but witches also had their countermeasures, such as magic potions and spells, to deceive the Purple Crystal.

If the messengers didn’t find a witch, they had to choose a few suspicious individuals to burn.

Having come all this way, they couldn’t just do nothing, could they?

These individuals could be the Lord’s wife, lover, maid, or distant relatives.

In some extreme cases, all women in the castle could be persecuted.

Some nobles held their noses and tolerated it.

But some could not.

The Lord of Buck High Land, Earl Owen, immediately raised the Buck flag, swearing to defend the rights of the nobility and not submit to Duke Gai’er’s might.

This was considered rebellion.

Roman didn’t know if Morry was just unlucky or what.

But he got caught up in that maelstrom.

Upon learning of this, Hos first wrote to Selin.

But the prominent merchant refused to negotiate with Duke Gai’er over this matter, and there was nothing Hos could do.

Selin had been quiet for so long; it was as if he abandoned Morry, ignoring him as if he was afraid of bringing trouble upon himself.

He came to Origin City after much deliberation, carrying a stroke of luck, to inform Roman of the matter.

This young Lord’s military achievements recently had been too impressive.

First hitting Earl Kant, then fighting the coalition of nobles, his martial vigor was unbelievable.

Perhaps this man had a way.

"Morry is your friend, and I feel it’s necessary to let you know about this," Hos said.

"I know, you may leave," Roman replied indifferently.

Seeing his cold expression, Hos, reluctantly holding back words, finally sighed and turned to leave the hall.

The relationship between nobles and merchants was never solid.

Utilizing each other for mutual benefit was normal, but when disaster struck, it was normal for each to flee on their own.

He, Roman, as a Riptide scion, could intervene and fish Morry out.

Although the chances were slim, it was still possible—after all, they shared the same surname, and providing some face was normal.

But now, he felt it was unlikely.

Hos returned to the docks, intent on not having come in vain, ready to sell the goods from his ship, and suddenly noticed many ironware items on the market.

When he learned that Roman was selling iron products, he was dumbfounded, feeling as if he’d seen a ghost.

Iron pots for 8 copper coins, the wholesale price was 5 copper coins.

Vegetable knives for 2 copper coins, sickles for 3 copper coins, hoes for 5 copper coins, Cross Pickaxes for 5 copper coins...

Cheap!

Too cheap!

It shocked Hos for a whole year!

When he had come here last year, this land was still struggling to buy iron, the army couldn’t afford it, and miners had to use wooden tools, so how did it start selling iron this year?

He inspected the quality and found each vegetable knife hard to the touch, with a straight cutting edge; although not yet sharpened, the quality was commendable, notably lacking any forging marks, which immediately sent a shiver through him.

The steel on his ship was definitely not going to sell now.

He would swear on it.

This land had discovered iron mines, and the scale of production was immense; he wondered how it compared to Earl El’s Iron Tree Domain.

He could still trade other goods, though.

Hos dumped all his goods on the dock and took back a batch of utensils and salt.

As he left, Hos stood at the prow of the ship, constantly looking back, when suddenly he spotted that the flag had changed its emblem.

For a moment, his pupils shrank, and his breathing and heartbeat stopped!

No wonder... no wonder...

He said to himself.

Morry was beyond help.