224th Chapter – It Goes Until It Happens. (3)
“C-cock! Cock-a-doodle-do!”
Alfoy searched frantically for his precious chicken.
Then, he spotted Kane and the dwarves drinking together not too far away.
“Ah, this is really tasty. Is it because I haven’t had meat in a while?”
Kane tore into a roasted chicken leg over the campfire, wearing a satisfied expression.
Currently, he had been promoted to a supervisor, managing 50 laborers, thanks to his acknowledged work ethic.
When he was first dragged here to dig tunnels, it felt like torture, but now, having gotten used to the work and having people under him, life in the fortress was bearable.
Of course, he still thought he should have repaid the thousand gold a long time ago.
Alfoy trembled as he looked at the shape and size of the chicken roasting in front of Kane.
“C-cock…!”
Memories of his chicken flooded back. He had cherished it as a chick, feeding it with the utmost care. Once it grew a bit bigger, they even snuggled while sleeping.
— Our cock-a-doodle-do, so pretty!
Though it had been greatly exaggerated over time, it was a happy memory for Alfoy. Raising such a precious pet in this tough territory had become a new source of joy following his gambling escapades.
And now, that idiot had the audacity to eat it.
“Uwaahhh!”
Alfoy gathered his magic power in his hands and blasted a fireball. Startled by the sudden attack, Kane and the dwarves stood up in shock.
“W-what the heck?!”
As Kane shouted loudly, Alfoy stepped closer, yelling back.
“How dare you! How dare you eat my… no, our beautiful cock-a-doodle-do!”
“What? Cock-a-doodle-do? What’s that? Is it food?”
“Are you already eating it?! I won’t forgive you! I’ll kill you!”
“No way, seriously! What the hell is ‘cock-a-doodle-do’? You crazy bastard!”
Kane, once known as a reckless hooligan in the North, was not an easy opponent. Plus, he was big and had learned the Mana Circulation Method like a proper noble son.
As he channeled mana into his construction hammer, it began to glow with a bluish light.
Infusing mana into such a blunt weapon was much harder than into a sword. But thanks to being dragged into the worksite and getting stronger, Kane easily wrapped the hammer with mana.
He put all his strength into the hand gripping the hammer. Having had a drink, and keeping his temper in check until now, he didn’t think much about the situation. He simply wanted to smash Alfoy down.
“Bring it on, you bastard! I am the heir of Loges!”
“Only you’re an heir? I am the heir of the Tower of the Bloody Flame!”
The dwarves stepped back, excited that a good story was unfolding.
Just as the two prideful heirs were about to clash, something jumped in from the side.
“C-cock! Cock-a-doodle-do!”
“Cock-a-doodle-do!”
Alfoy beamed and quickly scooped up his chicken, which had seemingly just escaped the coop for a little adventure.
Seeing this, Galbarik cautiously asked, “Is that… actually a cock-a-doodle-do? Can you tell for sure? They all look the same. There are a lot of chickens running around here.”
Alfoy looked down at the chicken in his arms. To be honest, they all looked pretty similar, and he was a little confused. But having already scooped it up, it would be embarrassing to deny it now.
But having already embraced it, it would be embarrassing to say no now.
“That’s right! The title looks so cool! It’s definitely a clucking chicken!”
As Alfoy insisted, Cain’s lips twitched a few times before he sat down.
“Oh boy, that crazy fool.”
The dwarves also sat down and started tearing into the chicken again. Alfoy pointed at them and shouted.
“You barbarians! I’m going vegetarian from today!”
“Do what you want.”
Alfoy huffed as he headed back to the lodging, while Cain and the dwarves were too busy eating chicken to care.
While people who hadn’t drunk in a while were causing little accidents here and there, Ghislaine was gathering his retainers for a meeting on what to do next.
Since the incubator production that seemed impossible was a success, his retainers were full of praise again.
“Being able to secure meat in bulk is a big asset in this north. The food crisis is still ongoing, so we can make a lot of money.”
“The more we eat, the more it will help the soldiers and elves in training. Lady Vanessa has done an amazing job.”
In the meantime, Claude jumped in.
“Isn’t this all thanks to the Lord’s foresight? I knew it would succeed for sure!”
Everyone including Ghislaine stared at Claude.
“What! Why? Why? I didn’t oppose as much as usual, right? Was I wrong?”
He certainly opposed less than usual. In reality, he just gave up and left it be.
Ghislaine clicked his tongue at Claude’s shamelessness and pointed to various places on the map.
“Good job everyone. The next important task is to supply the incubators sufficiently across the territory. Everyone knows this is a necessity, right?”
“Of course! We’re planning to build large incubators in each region and also propose a standard for small incubators to the farmers. We’ll standardize the method with the highest success rate as well.”
Personal incubators aren’t automated. Just like before, farmers need to check the conditions frequently.
However, just by providing the proper breeding conditions, the hatching rate will more than double, so they’ll be satisfied.
Initially, the amount produced by farmers will be consumed within the territory, and in the meantime, by building large incubators everywhere, we can produce meat like crazy.
Ghislaine chuckled at Claude’s confident response and turned to Vanessa this time.
“There shouldn’t be any problem adding more in each region, right?”
“Yes, yes! We need to monitor things a bit longer, but there shouldn’t be any big issues!”
Despite Ghislaine’s plea to take it easy today, Vanessa didn’t care and insisted on attending the meeting.
Successfully hatching isn’t the end. It was also important to maintain the internal conditions of the incubators without any issues in the long run.
Since it uses evaporation, if not monitored regularly, humidity can get too high and temperature issues can arise.
So far, Vanessa and the dwarves had modified the incubator several times while keeping an eye on its status.
With one important and big task resolved, Ghislaine felt a bit relieved.
But he couldn’t afford to relax just because things went well.
‘The situation has gotten more complicated because of me. Everyone must be racking their brains.’
He was using knowledge from his past life to change the future. The situation was becoming increasingly uncertain.
‘One misstep, and everyone dies.’
Although the Knight Commander died fleeing disgracefully, the Knights of Cabaldy fought to the end, risking their lives.
From what Belinda told him, they even suggested surrendering to the castle wall commander, but he refused.
Even a mere wicked lord in the north had such loyal knights. It went without saying for others.
‘Moreover, I’ll have to fight even more formidable knights ahead. It’s not just Desmond. The knights of the Duke Faction are all superior to knights from other territories.’
Having fought continuously in his previous life, he knew. They were impressive enough for even Ghislaine, the enemy, to acknowledge them.
Lo, they were impressive.
There was only one way to defeat such beings. Always move ahead of the enemies.
The Penris Territory had to grow even stronger than it currently was.
They were in the process of integrating all the villages of the territory with nearby fortresses and castles. Literally, it was to maintain a constant state of war readiness.
“We need to stockpile sufficient supplies in each fortress and castle. And there’s something essential for quick connections,” Ghislaine said after glancing at the map.
With a moment, he drew lines connecting each castle and village, even Perdium and the northern fortresses.
Those gathered in the conference room raised their eyebrows in confusion. Ghislaine, glancing around at them, smiled broadly and announced, “It’s time to start large-scale road construction.”
*
Count Harold Desmond was in quite a predicament.
He had lost Count Cabaldy’s Territory, making it difficult to procure iron ore smoothly.
To make matters worse, his movements with the army had been uncovered. He tried to disguise it as training, but the Crown Prince Faction wouldn’t buy it.
He had lived under suspicion while pretending to remain neutral, but now all his efforts had become meaningless.
“Phew… That guy has completely messed things up for me.”
Originally, he had planned to assist Cabaldy and immediately push on to Perdium. But with Cabaldy losing without putting up a proper fight, that plan had gone up in smoke.
Now it was difficult to even start a war. If he moved rashly, Marquis Branford would surely target him.
The position of Northern Army Commander had also been taken from him. It wasn’t a particularly necessary position, but losing something he had held made him feel awful.
“What? Count? That little brat is already above a Count? His father became a Marquis!”
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. That guy was steadily gathering everything he needed by exploiting the situation.
“It’s not a situation where I can declare war right now. But I can’t just leave that guy sitting on all that iron ore either.”
Somehow, he needed to kill him soon.
Harold, his mind in a mess, looked at his retainers and asked, “Are the spies sending in information properly?”
Harold had received information about the war process. However, everything had been unbelievable, giving him a headache.
The information sent by the spies seemed to be the only trustworthy bits.
“They’ve mixed in well among the immigrants… but it’s not easy to contact them.”
“Why?”
“Although the blockade of the territory has eased somewhat, the surveillance is stringent. They’re only able to connect when the Merchant Group is trading nearby, and…”
“And?”
“They say it’s tough to carve out time because there’s so much work. The pay is good, and everyone has managed to secure a house for themselves.”
“……”
Harold momentarily couldn’t find his words. Why did everything get bizarre when that little punk was involved?
He sent them out for spy work, and they were busily doing their jobs instead.
After taking a moment to breathe and suppress his anger, Harold asked about other matters.
“Any unusual occurrences?”
“They say food isn’t strangely depleting. They’re continuously distributing it to the territory residents and trading steadily.”
It was indeed odd. No matter how much they had hoarded, the amount used was far too great. Food should have run out by now.
There had to be a source of food coming from somewhere. He needed more information.
“How about sending an assassin?”
“According to information, the number of knights exceeds 200, and most troops are concentrated near the lord’s castle. It’s certain that the Crown Prince Faction has provided those knights. It seems it would be difficult for anyone but a capable individual to approach the castle.”
Harold clicked his tongue. If an assassination attempt failed, the vigilance around Ghislaine would only tighten further.
He had to think carefully and plan since he believed the opportunity would only come once.
“What a mess because of that brat!”
Creak.
Creak.
Harold ground his teeth without even realizing it. Thanks to that bastard Ghislaine, the Duke Faction’s opinion of him had fallen to rock bottom.
It was pretty much Ghislaine’s fault for any major messes that had happened so far.
If it weren’t for the urgent situation with food shortages, he would’ve lost his position by now.
One of the retainers cautiously spoke up after gauging the atmosphere.
“What if we raid the Cosmetics Merchant Group?”
“What good would that do? Other than causing a minor financial loss, how would that affect the overall situation?”
If he couldn’t kill Ghislaine right there, that little stunt would be utterly useless.
Plus, cosmetics were also a venture the House of Marquis had a stake in. Any slip-up would only complicate matters further and raise suspicion among the enemies.
The retainer seemed to realize this and continued cautiously.
“According to intel, Count Penris personally led the merchant group this time… If we can catch him when he goes out again…”
“How would we know when that bastard will move?”
“…….”
Since the cosmetics business stabilized, it had been rare for Ghislaine to lead the merchant group personally. Waiting for an uncertain opportunity would take far too long.
But the real problem was that there didn’t seem to be any other options.
“First, tell the spies to find out when he’s moving outside.”
“Yes, understood.”
Both Harold and the retainers didn’t have high hopes for the command.
How could spies, busy with their own tasks, find out that schedule?
Even if they did, it was likely the timings would be off.
‘Should we just ignore this and attack his territory directly?’
Starting a war first would be too risky. Ghislaine’s troops had also increased significantly, and the 2nd Corps was still glaring nearby.
Moreover, Count Raybold was still very much alive.
They were surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Unless Amelia succeeded in her rebellion and the Duke Faction initiated a civil war, Harold wouldn’t have a chance of victory without suffering significant losses.
‘In the end, we have to wait for him to lead the merchant group out… the merchant group… wait? The merchant group?’
Harold paused for a moment in thought and asked his deputy beside him.
“Didn’t that Paril merchant group we had on our side directly negotiate with him?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Good, my memory serves me well. If he doesn’t come out, we’ll just have to go find him and kill him directly.”
“What do you mean by that…?”
“Let’s sacrifice one merchant group. Get them to create any chance for us to meet and kill him.”
Sneaking in had a high chance of failure. But if they could get close enough, the likelihood of a successful ambush would increase.
To do that, they needed a tempting bait that would lure the lord out to meet.
“Make him an offer he absolutely can’t ignore. He won’t be able to refuse coming out.”
For this plan to succeed, they would need to use a merchant group based elsewhere, which still hadn’t revealed their ties to Harold.
It was a costly card to play in Harold’s hands.
Knowing this, the retainers raised objections.
“The loss is too great even if it succeeds. We’ve spent a lot of time growing that merchant group.”
“It’s more of a loss to keep him alive. Send him some of the liquor the Duke Faction sent over.”
Harold had a special liquor just for this purpose. It was sent by the Duke Faction to kill Raybold’s Knights Commander, the strongest in the North.
It was a rare liquor, few in existence even within the Duke Faction.
Harold was in such a desperate state that he was willing to use it on Ghislaine instead of sending it to Amelia.
The retainers could no longer argue. They could sense the chilling killing intent in Harold’s eyes. If they pressed their luck any further, that bloodlust might turn toward them.
Harold gritted his teeth and repeated, “We must, without fail, kill him. Pass that message along.”
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