King
Chapter 81 - 81 80 The Undercurrent Strikes_1

81: Chapter 80: The Undercurrent Strikes_1 81: Chapter 80: The Undercurrent Strikes_1 Dardiel City, looking at the large collapsed city wall, Baron West was extremely doubtful if he was in the wrong place.

Barely suppressing his anger, he walked to the city gate full of cobwebs.

Looking at the half plaque hanging on the city tower, the barely recognizable “Dard” on it confirmed that this was his territory.

The original large iron gate had long disappeared.

Perhaps at this moment, it was being melted in a noble’s iron forge, and then forged into various farming tools.

If the exterior was in this condition, the inside was obviously beyond hope.

The thick dust on the ground illustrated that this was already a dead city.

Despite being prepared, the scene still infuriated Baron West.

This was utterly outrageous, leaving him without a shadow of hope.

There was not even a single domain person, even if he had all the anger in his heart, he had no place to vent.

A similar scene was being staged over and over again in countless territories.

Not only were the domain people taken away, but even the basic facilities in the domain, if they could be destroyed, they were all destroyed.

It was a classic case of causing harm without benefiting oneself.

Under normal circumstances, even if there was a grudge between the nobles, they would not go to such extremes.

But this time it was different, it was involving the “Northern Tycoons,” it was all about settling old and new grievances.

In the past, the north had consumed the lives of too many nobles.

It was justifiable if there was simply bloodshed on the battlefield, but often it was internal strife that caused unnecessary casualties.

Undoubtedly, this bill would be put on the Northern Tycoons, even though many of them were wronged, but no one would listen to their explanations.

The reason was simple, the reputation of the Five Great Houses of the North was the worst among the nobles.

The joy of great mergers in those years had cost them their reputations permanently.

Despite their efforts to cleanse their reputation in recent years, the results were meager.

At the least, the nobles who had lost their ancestral property and had been forced to be homeless would carry on the hatred for the five great houses.

With the Dalton Family secretly fanning the flames, it was not surprising that some radical actions were taken in the swell of public anger.

After conducting a simple cleanup at the city gate, West forcefully suppressed his anger and led his men into the city.

Everything was as horribly as he had anticipated, and the once prosperous Dardiel City was now a ruin.

If they couldn’t have it, they would destroy it.

Not wanting competitors who could threaten their position to emerge in the Southeastern Province, the Dalton Family did an excellent job in this respect.

When the Governor’s Mansion evacuated Dardiel City, they destroyed everything they could, and didn’t forget to set fire in the end.

All their actions had only one purpose, to increase the difficulty of the Northern nobles settling in the Southeastern Province.

Though the tactics were mean, the effect was indeed good.

Rebuilding the domain in the ruins required investments of manpower, resources, and money, which were not small figures.

Especially for the economically weak nobles of the North, this expenditure was a pressure.

At least the many young nobles who had moved to the south did not carry enough funds to reconstruct the domain.

Whether or not to ask the clan for help became the common distress of the young Northern nobles who had moved to the south.

To ask the clan for help so soon would inevitably cause them to lose face in front of the elders; not asking for help, yet where would the money come from?

Especially for the small and medium-sized nobility, they had more problems to consider.

The domain reconstruction required too much funding, even if they asked their clan, they might not be able to raise enough money.

The noble families in other regions may contribute only three or four tenths of their total income to the military, or at most five or six tenths, any more than that would lead to exhausting soldiers and wars.

Frequently engaging in friendly matches with orcs, there was no Northern noble whose military expenditure wasn’t ballooning, financial deficits are a common thing.

It’s a standard operation for military expenditures to far exceed domain income.

Not going bankrupt because of financial problems happened because they had soldiers, and when they were pushed, they would rob and snatch.

Don’t think that only orcs would raid the Alpha Kingdom, the noble families in the North Border Region have often patronized orc tribes as well.

However, compared to the human race, the economy of orc tribes is much more backward, and the wealth that could be snatched was much less.

Often the most valuable possession in an orc tribe was the orcs themselves.

Of course, noble people naturally couldn’t engage in slave trading, besides, it was against their conscience.

In the church’s faith, this was a ticket to hell.

So, usually, after catching slaves, they were handed over to merchants to handle it.

It seemed that adding an extra procedure would ease their guilty conscience.

…

“What?”

“You’re telling me that my domain people were robbed by someone with armed forces?”

Baron West asked in disbelief.

Originally, he just wanted to investigate what had happened to his own territory before, but he didn’t expect to receive such unexpected news.

It’s not unusual for soldiers to rampage and loot, but that happens during wartime.

Robbing citizens after a war, on the other hand, is a breach of righteousness.

Even if the lord hasn’t arrived yet, it’s still a provocation.

Baron West, who had a belly full of anger, was worrying about where to vent his anger, but he didn’t expect the opportunity to be delivered right at his doorstep.

Duke Cavadia had taught him since childhood that everything is illusory, only the power in his hands is real.

As long as one has power, there is no problem that cannot be solved.

With a ready-made excuse at hand, it is reasonable for him to rally troops and demand an explanation.

The only issue is that the timing of the news is too coincidental, as if there is a dark hand behind the scenes manipulating everything.

Such disgraceful acts like looting with troops are better kept low-key, and the participants will certainly block the news.

It’s not surprising that the native nobles could get wind of it, but it’s too coincidental that these rootless newcomers like them also easily received the news.

Compared to that, Baron West would rather believe that someone deliberately let him know about this news.

The purpose is to stir up disputes between him and his neighboring neighbors.

Whether to take advantage of the situation is a question worth pondering.

Although he is confident in his strength, West does not think he is invincible.

No matter how weak the Southeastern Province Nobles might be, they have operated locally for many years.

If a fight really breaks out, who knows how many relatives and friends will come to help.

If one is not careful and kicks onto a sheet of iron, then it’s a lost cause.

The prerequisite for a powerful dragon to suppress a local snake is that it cannot be defeated.

If they can’t even beat the local snake, how can they talk about suppressing it?

Similar scenes are constantly occurring with each of the Northern nobles who migrate south.

As long as they have a brain, they sense that something is not quite right.

Whether to seize the opportunity and strike a big blow is constantly pondering in everyone’s mind, but they are hesitant to make up their minds.

However, in the face of cruel reality, everyone’s true thoughts inevitably lean towards “seizing the opportunity.”

…

Baron Katelai, in Maple Town, also started to worry after receiving this shocking news.

Compared to other lords, his luck was even worse, having encountered a dominant neighbor.

If it weren’t for the other few enclaves being too restrictive and not as wealthy as Maple Town, he would want to operate somewhere else.

Although he is skeptical of the “elite” spoken of by the Southeastern Province Nobles, the cautious Baron Katelai still does not want to take risks.

After all, everything else could be blown up.

But the stepping stone of the Church Cavaliers cannot be faked.

Even if all the soldiers in his hands were honed from the Northern Battlefield, he doesn’t think he can overpower the Church Cavaliers.

Perhaps that victory had other factors, unfortunately, Baron Katelai only has limited information at hand.

All he can find out is blown up by a group of nobles.

300 Elites VS 600 Elites, even if the opponent’s army is watered down, adding the title of “Divine Archery Knight”, the underage Earth Bear, Baron Katelai still lacks some confidence.

As a noble who came out of the battlefield, Baron Katelai does not lack the courage to face a narrow road, but reason tells him it’s not worth it to do so.

On paper, he is at a disadvantage.

Even if he can win, he would most likely suffer heavy losses.

Unlike Baron West, the illegitimate son of the Grand Duke, he just came from an intermediate aristocratic family that is attached to the Five Big Families of the North, without so many resources to use.

Being able to bring 300 elites to the South is his hard-earned efforts.

In order to feed this team, Katelai has taken risks to penetrate the Orc Empire more than once.

If the conflict causes his painstakingly accumulated foundation to be squandered, he will surely cry to death.

As newcomers, there is no way to replenish the loss of soldiers in Layton County.

“Uncle Holman, what is the identity of this Koslow Family?

I seem to be a bit familiar, It seems I have heard of it somewhere.”