86: A considerable harvest

"How could Kobolds have Wolf Knights?"

"It must be the work of that wolf cub from the north. Only a collaboration between him and that bandit leader, Four Hands, would have the strength to kill Hiril."

"But how did he empty out Keduo Town?"

"And all that black stone—how did they move it all?"

Clarkson had a strong intuition that this raid was definitely the work of Wren from the Red River Territory, but he couldn't understand how Wren could possess such capability. There were too many illogical aspects of this attack that defied explanation.

"My Lord, regardless of the circumstances, the Red River Territory's blatant attack on a nobleman of the kingdom is a violation of kingdom law. We should report this to the Grand Duke and let him punish the Red River Territory."

The Blackstone Territory tax official suggested appealing to Rage Bear Fortress. The others neither agreed nor disagreed with the suggestion, quietly waiting for Clarkson's decision.

However, one point of consensus formed instantly among them: while they had previously only suspected the Red River Territory's involvement, everyone in the Blackstone Territory was now certain that the Red River Territory had raided Keduo Town.

"Idiot. Appeal to the Grand Duke? How would we explain it?"

"Do you have evidence?"

"All the signs point to that bandit leader Four Hands and the Kobolds. Besides, too many things about this raid defy common sense; how would we explain it if the Grand Duke questions us?"

"The Red River Territory was heavily damaged not long ago; do they even have this kind of strength? When the Fel Orcs invaded a few months ago, the Grand Duke was already very dissatisfied with me because of my actions during the relief effort for the Red River Territory."

"If I go now and say the Red River Territory attacked us without providing substantial evidence, no one at Rage Bear Fortress will believe me. Instead, it will only bring trouble to the family."

"In the eyes of Rage Bear Fortress, it's impossible for the Red River Territory to have the strength to attack us right now. The Grand Duke will only think we're looking for trouble with them."

Clarkson felt in his heart that Wren had attacked him, but he also felt the Red River Territory shouldn't have such strength.

He knew of that bandit leader Four Hands as well; that lawless monster wasn't easy to talk to, and his subordinates were all a bunch of bandit fanatics. Why would they follow Wren's orders?

Coupled with the fact that Rage Bear Fortress had already expressed dissatisfaction with his previous conduct regarding the Red River Territory, he couldn't possibly blow this up at Rage Bear Fortress based on mere suspicion. Doing so would only make the Blackstone Territory's situation even more awkward.

The reason the sneak attack succeeded was ultimately due to that great fire, which created a loophole in the territory's defenses. Thinking of it now, Clarkson's liver ached with rage.

The loss of thousands of tons of black stone and daily necessities was nothing much; at worst, they could just mine more black stone and sell it to recover the losses.

But the death of the Silver Knight Hiril was a painful loss he could not accept. Hiril's death cost the Blackstone Family a great general; the entire Blackstone Family only had six Silver Knights.

Although the total number of Silver Knights in the Blackstone Territory was still significant, only those with Blackstone Family blood were the core members Clarkson relied on most, the pillars of the Blackstone Family.

He viewed Silver Knights from other backgrounds as merely auxiliary tools; without the family bloodline, they would always be outsiders and could never become the foundational cornerstone of the Blackstone Family.

The total population of the Blackstone Family was only so large, and clansmen with the talent to break through to the Silver Rank were even rarer. Losing Hiril was difficult for Clarkson to swallow.

The loss of over ten thousand people was equally agonizing. Those ten thousand were people born and raised in the Blackstone Territory, the bedrock of the territory's stability. The entire Blackstone Territory only had a population of about a hundred thousand; losing ten thousand all at once naturally made Clarkson's heart bleed.

Even if he spent money to buy Slaves to replenish the population, those new Slaves would certainly not compare to the people he had lost without years of domestication.

There was also the destruction of the mines within the Keduo Mining Area; every day the mines were paralyzed meant a day of lost income.

Adding it all up, Clarkson suffered a massive loss this time. The Blackstone Territory wouldn't recover for a year or two.

"Have the patrols increase their surveillance of the north. We cannot allow outsiders to traverse our territory at will ever again. If such a thing happens again, the entire patrol squad can commit suicide to atone for their failure!"

As a seasoned and capable lord, Clarkson had been suppressing his rage and letting reason control his handling of territorial affairs. But at the thought of those agonizing losses, he could no longer contain his fury and needed to vent.

"All of you, get out! Before I lose control of my temper!"

After everyone left, Clarkson's roars and the pleading cries of servants could be heard coming from the hall behind them.

In the following days, the corpses of servants were hauled out of Blackstone Fortress every day.

After the Knight Commander Joey returned empty-handed with the Iron Regiment, the number of servant corpses being hauled out of Blackstone Fortress increased significantly.

Far to the north in Red River Fortress, Wren was currently so happy he couldn't close his mouth.

From his trip south, he had forcibly migrated over nine thousand people from the Blackstone Territory. This number exceeded the current total population of the Red River Territory.

In addition, Wren had plundered over six thousand tons of black stone, as well as a significant amount of various supplies.

"As the ancients said, 'No man gets rich without a windfall, and no horse gets fat without night grass.' It's absolutely true."

This southern plundering plan was a complete success. Back at Red River Fortress, Wren summarized the events; the success was largely thanks to the great fire he had set.

The fire, which affected nearly half of the northern Blackstone Territory, occupied most of their attention. That was why Wren could traverse the Blackstone Territory so easily to raid Keduo Town.

The Red River Territory had a Cavalry Squad patrolling daily to inspect resource points; with the Blackstone Territory's strength, it was normally impossible for them to be so lax.

After this raid, Wren estimated that the Blackstone Territory had tightened its patrols. It would be difficult for Wren to replicate this operation for another raid.

However, Wren had still left a hidden hand. When leaving the Temporary Camp, Wren distributed a batch of supplies and weapons to Colt and his men.

He also agreed to let them establish a hidden base in the southern region of the Red River Territory for them to rest and reorganize. Wren would also send them supplies periodically to support them.

In exchange, Colt and his men were to keep a constant eye on the Blackstone Territory for Wren, harassing and ambushing their transport teams and villages whenever the opportunity arose.

Wren gave Colt a clear price list: for every hundred people he abducted, Wren would give him a bottle of Black Iron Rank potion as a reward. If he could abduct five hundred people, he would receive a Demon Wolf mount.

Colt was quite capable, and though his men had suffered some losses, over eighty elites remained.

With Wren's support, this group could tie down some of the Blackstone Territory's energy. While they couldn't cause fundamental damage, their harassment and sneak attacks would be enough to keep Viscount Black Stone in a state of constant irritation.

The bait Wren threw out was sweet enough to firmly keep Colt working for him.

As for Godo and the Kobold tribe, of the original two thousand plus Kobolds, only five or six hundred returned to the Red River Territory alive.

This time, Godo had proven his loyalty and value, and Wren naturally wouldn't be stingy.

The Kobold tribe continued to mine at the Stone Quarry, but Wren improved their living standards, sending twenty percent more supplies than before.

Wren also rewarded Godo with an enchanted shield.

Both Godo and Colt were very satisfied with Wren's arrangements, and they looked forward to another opportunity to follow Wren into battle.

Especially Godo; over the past half month, he had transformed from a Black Iron Rank Kobold into a Bronze Rank Kobold and even owned a Demon Wolf mount.

Under normal circumstances, he might never have received such treatment in his entire life.

Godo and Colt were eager to fight again, but Wren would not grant their wish for the time being.

Winter in the North was approaching. Wren planned to use this winter to focus on development, improving both the territory's and his own strength.

Fornal walked in at that moment and, after bowing to Wren, gave a report with a face full of smiles.

"My Lord, the population you brought over has been properly settled."

"Upper River Village, Lower River Village, Erwan Village, and Sanwan Village have each been assigned a thousand people. The remaining nearly six thousand have been settled in Red River Town."

"Our Red River Territory now has a total population of eighteen thousand five hundred people."

With the population increase, Wren intended to restore the four villages closest to Red River Town. This way, there would be significantly more farmland for next year's planting.

Regardless of their former status in the Blackstone Territory, Wren classified all these nearly ten thousand people as his personal Slaves upon their arrival in the Red River Territory.

Just as Wren had said in Keduo Town, these newcomers would be able to shed their Slave status and become subjects of the Red River Territory after working for him for twenty years.

Wren also stipulated that if they performed exceptionally well—such as farming well to ensure a bountiful harvest or making contributions to the territory—they could obtain their subject status early.

If they chose to join the army, killing just one enemy on the front lines would earn them Red River subject status.

Aside from their status as Slaves, Wren's treatment of them didn't differ much from that of the ordinary subjects of the Red River Territory; they had plenty to eat and drink.

Although being given Slave status made the former ordinary subjects of the Blackstone Territory extremely dissatisfied, being able to eat their fill and stay warm made them instantly accept reality.

They had never eaten this well in the Blackstone Territory. Now they had wheat porridge every day and even meat to eat. In the Blackstone Territory, being able to eat their fill was considered lucky, let alone meat; the conditions there were far worse than being a Slave in the Red River Territory.

Many of the Blackstone Territory subjects wondered if they were actually Slaves, or if this new Lord had told them the wrong thing.

The reason Wren didn't immediately make these people subjects of the Red River Territory was that he would soon be pushing forward with his reform plans.

At that time, the treatment ordinary Red River subjects received would be far better than it was now. Wren couldn't allow these newcomers to enjoy all of that immediately.

Wren wanted them to know that only by working hard for him could they receive generous rewards.