Chapter 231: Chapter 230: Amassing Troops

The fallout from Kudore’s death quickly dissipated. His body was left lying there for a long time, and no one dealt with it. The “partners” who came with him from Baron Kona’s Domain avoided the sight, not daring to spare it a glance, let alone give him a burial.

In the end, it was Ronin who had a few infantrymen carry the body to the outskirts, dig a pit, and bury it.

Wilson handled the subsequent task of dispersing the newcomers well.

He assigned more than two hundred of them to Swamp Town. The town was populous, so even if the newcomers formed cliques, they couldn’t cause much trouble.

Additionally, over a hundred people were sent to each of Mountain Forest Town, Sanfang Town, and Black Earth Town.

Word that Ronin had killed Kudore had already spread through the towns, but public opinion was completely one-sided.

Everyone said Kudore had brought it upon himself. This also led them to view the newcomers unfavorably, seeing them as a greedy bunch who wanted more without being willing to serve their Lord.

To date, not a single person had spoken ill of the Lord.

After dealing with this matter, Ronin’s life became more relaxed.

Every day, apart from riding his Cloud Stepper to patrol the territory, he spent all his remaining time practicing the Cultivation of Blast Flame Slash, which he had learned from Ridder.

Speaking of which, this Combat Skill was even more difficult than the Fifth-level Magic, Crimson Flame Fire Snake.

It demanded immense compression and control of Fire Attribute Fighting Qi, as well as a specific circulation method and a substantial amount of Knight’s Fighting Qi. An ordinary person truly could not master it.

Fortunately, Ronin was no ordinary person.

After four or five days of trial and error, he could finally perform a rudimentary Blast Flame Slash.

Although his control over his Fighting Qi was not yet perfect, the skill was already immensely powerful, becoming his strongest single-target attack.

「Five days later.」

Ridder and his men successfully returned to Black Earth Town. Their return marked the end of the patrol and cleanup missions around the territory for the time being.

From now on, they only needed to assign Cavalry to patrol the main roads. If a situation arose, the Hunter Squads could be dispatched.

The end of the cleanup missions didn’t mean they could relax, however.

Ronin didn’t need them for production tasks; he wanted them to focus all their energy on improving their combat capabilities.

Their duties included personal cultivation, sparring, and training the Cavalry, Infantry, and Archers.

Gradually, a system took shape in Wubei Territory: Ridder and Macken would train the Professional Knights, who in turn would train the regular soldiers.

As for Chief Mage Elron, he taught Jenny and Erin about Magic, Magic Potions, and Herbalism in Swamp Castle.

This Great Physician of Wubei Territory even used his own money to recruit a few assistants responsible for gathering, cleaning, and processing common herbs.

From the Transcendents to the common folk, everyone in Wubei Territory fulfilled their duties, and the land entered a peaceful period of quiet growth.

But other places were not so peaceful.

Atop a high mountain, two figures stood on a jutting boulder, gazing at a distant town.

The mountain belonged to Chishan Town, which lay to the southwest of Wubei Territory.

The town they were observing was Casier Town. It had belonged to Wushan Territory in years past but was now occupied by the Polante Thief Gang.

“Looks like the intelligence was accurate. They’re massing more and more troops in Casier Town!”

The speaker was Coren Hansen, the Baron of Giant Stone City and Leader of Wushan Territory’s Fifth Knight Order. He had once attended Lurans’s birthday banquet, where he had been criticized by the host.

The burly, blond knight beside him was Hahn Freeman, the Vice Leader.

Though also a Silver Level Knight, he was considerably weaker than Coren.

Normally, Hahn led the majority of the Knight Order stationed in Chishan Town, while Coren spent most of his time in his own domain, only visiting for occasional inspections.

“Those bastards… We already agreed to sell them iron ore, yet they’re still massing troops in Casier Town!”

Hahn said furiously, “What are they trying to pull? Surely they don’t think they can take Chishan Town?”

Chishan Town had a small iron mine. Despite being small, it had not been exhausted after many years of mining and was one of Giant Stone Territory’s primary sources of income.

In recent years, the Polante Thief Gang had invaded Shore City, crossed the Altai River, and occupied Sari Town, Quicksand Town, Kalsi Town, and others, causing a massive headache for the Fifth Knight Order stationed in the area.

To de-escalate the conflict and reduce pressure from Wushan Castle, they had secretly struck a deal with the Polante Thief Gang, selling them iron ore at a low price in exchange for easing tensions.

This arrangement had held for several years, so it was unexpected when, this year, the gang began massing troops in Casier Town.

“Perhaps they no longer want to pay for our iron ore. They want to mine it themselves for a bigger profit.”

Coren’s eyes narrowed, his gaze brimming with hostility.

Though he was the Baron of Giant Stone City, Chishan Town was also under his jurisdiction, and that small iron mine was his prized possession.

“They’re getting greedy!”

Hahn sneered, looking at the surrounding mountain peaks.

Anyone who wanted to enter Chishan Town had to pass through the valley below.

To guard against an enemy attack, he had already prepared rockslide traps on the mountains. If they truly dared to attack Chishan Town, he would make sure they suffered devastating losses.

Coren thought for a moment, then said, “For the time being, we need to tighten security. Whether on the mountain or below, day or night, make sure there are always two squads on duty!”

“Rest assured, I understand!”

Hahn had no desire to lose a prize like Chishan Town either.

Although Coren was in charge of the Chishan Iron Mine’s operations, Hahn still held a thirty percent stake.

“I’ll write another letter to Wushan Castle to inform them of the developments here when I get back,” Coren mused.

He had already written once before, but Wiggin had merely told him to be vigilant, without mentioning reinforcements.

It was true that sending reinforcements before a war had even begun would be inappropriate.

But as the commander responsible for this frontier, Coren felt it was his duty to let Wiggin and Wushan Castle know that the border situation was growing more severe.

That way, if something did happen in the future, no one could blame him for failing to report it in a timely manner.

’Besides, even if Wushan Castle doesn’t send soldiers, with the enemy massing troops in Casier Town, shouldn’t they at least provide the Fifth Knight Order with grain and horses to prepare for any eventualities?’

“I’m leaving things here to you,”

Coren said solemnly. Over the years, he had maintained an excellent relationship with his Vice Leader, Hahn.

Hahn also held Coren in high regard; after all, he had profited handsomely from following him over the years.

“You can count on me, Leader!”

He was extremely confident. After all, an entire Knight Order was stationed here.

Although they hadn’t reclaimed any lost territory over the years, they had successfully halted the Polante Thief Gang’s advance, which was a testament to their strength.

The notion that a force controlling just one large city and a few small towns could defeat a Knight Order in a direct confrontation was ludicrous.

Hahn secretly guessed, ’The Polante Thief Gang is probably massing troops in Casier Town with the ultimate goal of forcing us to lower the price of iron ore.’

’If that’s the case, they could have just sat down and talked. Threatening us with military force? We’ll see who’s afraid of whom!’

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