King
Chapter 84 - 84 83 The First Order_1

84: Chapter 83, The First Order_1 84: Chapter 83, The First Order_1 Kurelio was just unlucky and happened to get involved, but he was far from the only one targeted.

All the weak noble lords who participated in forcing domain people into service were put on a list.

At almost the same moment, they all received gifts of gratitude from the Northern aristocracy.

They were presented with two options – accept this gesture of friendship, or face a fight.

In reality, there was only one option.

Either it was a mistake in the intelligence or a deliberate provocation, the Northern aristocracy demanded a higher number of people than they had actually taken, with some even exceeding the total population of their domains.

Hudson was lucky; he didn’t receive any cordial greetings from his neighbours.

Clearly, the title of “Divine Archery Knight” still held its weight.

…

“Knight Kurelio, are you sure you didn’t participate in the seizure of domain people, yet the Lord of Maple Town is asking you to provide a thousand men?”

Hudson was shocked.

There were already many nobles involved in forcibly taking people, wouldn’t it offend the native nobles within both jurisdictions if the scope expanded?

The nobles who received domains in the two jurisdictions after the war either obtained them through battle, or their clans were powerful enough.

Knights like Kurelio who inherited their wealth were indeed weak.

But if one was to kick them while they were down in their times of tragedy, they may well be drowned in spit.

Although the talk of mercy for the weak in noble circles is laughable, everyone still has to keep up appearances.

Especially those who still retained some connections in their clans, they were more than happy to extend a helping hand at such times to maintain a good reputation.

If it weren’t for their reputation, Hudson probably would have “not been at home” when a distant relative he rarely had contact with came seeking help.

“Honorable Baron Hudson, I swear by the honour of the Rex family, that I have never led troops to forcefully take any domain people.

In fact, I haven’t even left my house for the past month.

You should have heard about the situation of our family; our elites were completely wiped out in the rebellion.

If I hadn’t been out visiting my uncle, I probably wouldn’t have escaped it either.

After the war, in order to restore the domain, I have already accumulated massive debt.

I haven’t even had the chance to build a family private army yet, how could I possibly lead troops to plunder?

If I must be associated with Maple Domain, it was because a group of refugees strayed onto my land a few days ago.

Seeing them utterly pitiable, I took them in.”

After listening to Kurelio’s explanations, Hudson could only sigh in disbelief.

What refugees straying?

Clearly, they were his domain people.

It was an unknown idiot who lost track of the troops on the way, causing the refugees to stumble onto Kurelio’s good neighbor’s domain.

Good fortune falling from the sky isn’t necessarily always a blessing.

People like Kurelio, with their low strength, were stunned by this piece of “good fortune”.

The Lord of Maple Town had no confidence to ask Hudson for his people back, and so could only let Kurelio compensate for his loss.

Perhaps Kurelio wasn’t the only unlucky one, after all, it’s rather common for refugees to get lost.

Even if they followed the main troops, stragglers were frequently left behind.

Especially when they went off to forage for wild vegetables or tree bark to survive, it was very easy to lose their way.

Remembering that the people who were supposed to be his domain people were now in someone else’s hands, Hudson felt a bitter taste in his heart.

Words of consolation couldn’t leave his lips.

“Knight Kurelio, if what you say is true, then I am willing to mediate between you, in hopes of resolving the misunderstanding.

However, the ownership of these domain people needs to be discussed by yourselves.

Those arrogant guys from the Northern Border might not listen to me.

I personally suggest that you first increase your strength.

Even if it’s just low combat-capable serf soldiers, it’s better than having none at all!”

Doing a good turn is possible, but helping in a fight is out of the question – their relationship was not yet that close.

The combat capabilities of the Northland Soldiers are unknown, but after all, they came from the Orc Battlefield.

If a fight really starts, the loss will certainly not be too small.

The current Knight Kurelio was clearly a pauper, perhaps unable to even afford the cost of the funeral.

Hudson wouldn’t be a part of such a loss-making deal.

However, as a qualified arms dealer, Hudson wouldn’t pass up any potential customers.

Nobility is a matter of relationships.

Cultivating one client equates to acquiring a whole network of customers.

As long as the product is good, people won’t hesitate to recommend it to their friends and relations.

This type of easy favor is always a favorite among nobles.

“Sir Hudson, thank you for your help.

Your kindness will never be forgotten by the Rex family!”

Even though he was only mediating, Kurelio was very grateful.

Given their relationship, being able to reach this point was already quite good.

If he had to call on troops to fight a war, the Rex family, with Kurelio as its only heir, would never be able to repay such a favor.

There is no such thing as groundless love or hatred, and if a person owes too many favors, they can only repay it with their life.

Even though both are lower-class nobles in the kingdom, Hudson is considered a big shot compared to the Rex family.

As the host, Hudson enthusiastically escorted Kurelio on a tour of his own armory.

Although they were all ordinary iron weapons, the sheer volume of the bowstrings significantly shocked the young knight standing before him.

In the end, Hudson agreed to sell two hundred spearheads on terms of installment payment and payment in kind.

Yes, only the piercing part of a spear.

On the one hand, Hudson did not have enough raw materials to build spear shafts, and on the other hand, the customers were simply too poor.

Just a small order of two hundred gold coins had to be dealt with installment payments and payment in kind, which left Hudson speechless.

No matter how small the order, it’s worth doing.

All of them were short spearheads, less than a foot long, which hardly required much iron.

The cost was at most one or two silver coins, but Hudson dared to charge ten silver coins per finished product.

Customers like Kurelio who sought installment payment naturally had to pay extra.

One gold coin per piece, a fair, friendly price.

Under the tense situation in the two jurisdictions, being able to purchase weapons on credit was a favor.

Not one of the arms dealers on the market is dare to offer credit to fief lords.

Even those usurers who dare to lend money to the king would detour when they saw a fief lord.

There was no other reason, purely because of the high rate of bad debts.

It’s not that they don’t want to repay, but the noble lords who have come to this point simply lack the ability to pay.

If there’s no money, there’s no money.

Can they do anything to a noble just because of money?

In this regard, the various lords of Northland are the most qualified to speak.

If your luck is good, you might receive orc slaves to offset the debt; if the luck is bad, who knows when the debtor will disappear.

The probability of the heirs fulfilling the contract is close to zero.

Even a lawsuit won’t help, since almost no laws set by nobles stipulate that loan sharking is legal.

The credit, rather than the unilaterally enacted domain law, is what constrains everyone to repay their debt.

Of course, this doesn’t matter much to Hudson.

With such a small order and the debtor being a neighbor, the risk is quite limited.