Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 90 - 24: Three Cobblers

Chapter 90: Chapter 24: Three Cobblers

Jet was terrified by Roman’s intense desire.

He had become a deserter and vowed never to swear allegiance to anyone again.

He loathed the bloody battlefield.

Killing enemies brought him neither glory nor pride.

Jet felt pain.

He had always believed that the "Jade War" launched by the Divine Mystery Kingdom against the Cangyue Kingdom was an unjust war.

Although Divine Mystery was a realm favored by All Gods, and Cangyue was merely a cursed kingdom, a barbaric land overrun with monsters.

He still believed this.

Unjust was unjust.

Yet a common-born Sword Master held a humble position with no right to speak.

He, knowing nothing, led his team of Sword Masters to the battlefield.

The army’s knights ordered them to attack, and it was only then that he realized their enemies were unarmed miners who couldn’t even afford iron tools, they were not real enemies at all!

He had no choice but to launch an attack and annihilate those "enemies."

Then came the counterattack from the Cangyue Kingdom, with eerie wizards summoning winged monsters to the battlefield.

They fought in those mountains for a full half-year, slaughtering all the residents and burning and destroying every village.

But when he heard the order to retreat, he was completely stunned.

They had fought for so long, both sides suffered losses, three of his ten Sword Masters were killed, and four were captured.

Yet he was still able to betray his conscience and sacrifice lives to conquer this territory for Divine Mystery.

And now they were being ordered to withdraw?

He rushed into the military command to confront the council of knights and priests.

Perhaps his valorous performance and impressive military achievements had elevated his status, as the generals treated him well, as if he were a future colleague, and explained many things to him.

"Jet, the land beneath your feet is embedded with a vein of jade, the exact reserves of which we haven’t been able to estimate, but the scale is definitely enormous. Once those green gemstones are mined, imagine how much stronger the future Cangyue army would become?

"If every Cangyue warrior wore a piece of jade, they could be immune to external plague invasions and quickly regain their strength.

"In the future, if Cangyue continues to wage war against Divine Mystery, we will be at a great disadvantage, so for the sake of our descendants, Cangyue must not mine it...

"But this land ultimately belongs to the Cangyue Kingdom, and if we try to occupy it forcefully, the Cangyue Queen will never tolerate such actions, which would escalate from a local conflict to a full-scale war.

"Even if the King of Divine Mystery and the Pope are confident in defeating Cangyue and capturing that vampiric queen, the three dukes of the Black Iron Kingdom will not sit idly by—the Duke of Fury has already sent his eldest son Makor to find out what’s happening.

"We have to think about the bigger picture..."

To think about the bigger picture...

He suddenly realized that the enemies of Divine Mystery were not Black Iron, not Cangyue, not the jade vein, but the peasants who had lived there for generations...

They pillaged and burnt the region to the ground, destroying all infrastructures, exterminating the people of the area.

For the next decade or more, the Cangyue Kingdom would lose its ability to mine the jade vein.

Divine Mystery retreated, but Divine Mystery had won...

He walked out of the command post, devastated.

He heard the generals behind him discussing his war achievements.

As long as the distinguished Sword Master survived and returned to Divine Mystery, he would be rewarded and ennobled, forever freed from the identity of a Sword Master Captain and would become a celebrated noble or knight.

But he didn’t survive to return.

During the retreat, they were besieged by the Cangyue Kingdom’s army.

In that tragic and chaotic battle of retreat, too many died.

The brilliant Sword Master, who had shone on the battlefield, disappeared forever.

Only the Bro River knew his whereabouts, but the Bro River would tell no one.

...

Faced with Roman’s urgent invitation, Jet did not accept.

Nor did he refuse again, but simply asked for some time.

He feared that he might once again become a slaughterer of the innocent.

Roman had originally planned to personally go up the mountain, determined to topple those three foul cobblers.

But Roman didn’t have the time, so he kept putting it off.

Now Jet had come down on his own.

This made him very happy.

Roman never liked the type of virtuous woman who, for some person or some idea, couldn’t adapt and had rigid thinking.

Such fools, grown from the dregs of feudalism, could never be persuaded!

Roman only ever liked the type of virtuous women who would remain loyal to him and his ideals unconditionally and forever.

Indeed, this was the model of a new era, discarding the dross for the essence!

Roman highly praised Jet’s hesitation.

Your hesitation shows your attitude isn’t firm!

And if it isn’t firm, it could be undermined, swayed with minor tricks and few words, and then everything that followed would naturally fall into place.

I’ll tease you a few times, just watch if you won’t be swayed!

"I give you two days to come to my manor and help train my troops, understand?"

Roman, ignoring the farmwork, wrapped his arm around Jet’s shoulders, completely disregarding the latter’s shabby, dirty appearance.

Jet was very confused by Roman’s enthusiastic attitude.

I said I would consider, but aren’t you deciding too quickly?

As if I would definitely agree?

At least give me three days!

Two days isn’t enough for me to betray my past self who vowed never to give loyalty to anyone.

Roman, with an undeniable attitude, shut him up.

Jet opened his mouth, not good with words, and could only say, "I need the right to back out!"

That was his bottom line.

If he found that Roman’s actions didn’t align with his beliefs, he would leave openly, and Roman couldn’t restrict his freedom.

"Alright!" Roman agreed crisply.

Could a cooked duck still fly?

Origin Manor, after some time building, had extremely well-developed facilities.

Roman considered Jet’s arrival very important.

He elevated Jet’s status to that of a Conquest Knight.

Having a private room, unlimited food supply, a male and a female servant, unconditional support with equipment, and most importantly, status and position.

So much so that when Jet arrived, he was shocked by the high level of treatment, which also surprised another person Jet brought along.

"Uncle Dick!"

Gwivell ran over joyfully and knocked the unprepared Dick off balance.

"Gwivell..." Seeing Gwivell, Dick’s eyes softened instantly.

She crisply said, "Uncle Dick, you should live in the manor from now on."

Dick gave a bitter smile, "That depends on whether your Lord is willing to shelter me as a Master Eater."

If a dog has eaten its master, its teeth stained with human blood, who would take it on as their second master?

"Dick, I won’t mind your past; I care only about your future. Welcome," Roman declared firmly, walking confidently, in a great mood.

These two were truly Transcendents, each possessing great martial prowess; otherwise, how could they have survived in the wilderness for so long?

Despite their physical condition declining in the harsh environment, they still could match the combined forces of Green and Aaron.

A Conquest Knight’s prime often ranges from 25 to 40 years old, and a stronger Conquest Knight can extend their peak period.

Jet was just 30 years old, while Dick was nearly forty, making it hard to further improve his condition.

Roman didn’t care; he valued their war experience more.

Two Transcendents weren’t very useful.

Even if a Fifth Rank Conquest Knight came, don’t expect them to swing a 200-pound Forging Hammer all day.