Coal Mine

With the addition of a new shareholder, the previously stalled land reclamation operation resumed. The reduced food rations were also restored to normal levels.

The autumn planting season was saved, and all that's needed is to wait until next spring for new grain to be stored. This famine in the Southeast Province can be considered over.

Some are happy, some are sad.

The unfortunate Baron Cayo, the most tragic loser, is now lying in his hospital bed reflecting on his actions.

Fresh out of the ivory tower, he was hit hard by the harsh realities of society, plunging him into deep self-doubt.

The Northern Nobles were also having a hard time. The disaster had passed, but there were still very few people selling grain in the market.

While the local nobles were throwing a grand banquet to celebrate overcoming the locust plague, they were still anxiously waiting for the King's rescue.

Unfortunately, the one in charge of carrying out this order was Count Pierce saw them as a thorn in his side.

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Meetings on rescuing impoverished noble lords were held frequently throughout the provinces, but no results were ever reached.

Every time I appeal, they hold meetings to discuss it. When we'll get a result depends on the integrity of the bureaucrats.

As time passed day by day and everyone's granaries dwindled, the noble lords finally could no longer sit still.

It's unclear who started this bad trend, but suddenly there's a surge in people engaging in risk-free businesses in the Southeast Province.

At first, they only targeted grain transport teams, but later they started robbing any caravan they encountered.

The chaotic social order further drove up prices. This not only caused great hardship for merchants and travelers, but also led to widespread bankruptcy among free citizens in the cities.

Robbery is easy, but taking away a large amount of spoils is difficult. Such a commotion naturally attracted the attention of the noble lords.

Robbery itself would be too disgraceful. But if you wipe out these bandits and robbers, the spoils are legitimate income.

The Northern Nobles were the most active, often arriving at the scene immediately after an incident to wipe out these "bandits and robbers."

It doesn't matter once or twice, but if it happens many times, the situation changes.

The attitude of the local lords and nobles became increasingly hostile, and they showed strong hostility towards these "active bandit suppressers".

"We can't do that!"

Nobody's a fool. With problems arising one after another, people have long suspected you.

If you're unlucky enough to get caught red-handed one day, things could get very complicated!

Baron Ciss said sternly.

"Lord Baron Ciss, we are not like you. If we had a choice, we wouldn't want to do this either."

But there was really nothing we could do. The Governor's Mansion was clearly just watching us make a fool of ourselves and had no intention of offering any assistance.

Since they won't help, we'll have to find a way ourselves. Although the methods are a bit underhanded, we have no other choice but to do this to prevent our people from going hungry.

Baron Keterai said nonchalantly.

Everyone was involved in the robbery; Baron Ciss's ability to restrain his desires wasn't due to any particularly strong willpower.

The main reason was that they acted early and seized a considerable amount of food. They also reduced the number of slaves in their territory, which allowed them to barely survive the famine.

But the other Northern Nobles were in a different situation; what they had plundered wasn't even enough to fill their stomachs. If they stopped now, what would they eat next?

Reputation is indeed important, but one must possess it first. Unfortunately, the robbing of merchants by Northern Nobles is now an open secret.

The Governor's Mansion did not intervene because they were very discerning and specifically targeted those without strong backing.

Having realized this, and with the aim of undermining competitors, many powerful businessmen with strong backing deliberately leveraged their connections to cover it up for them.

However, as time went on, the matter escalated, making it increasingly difficult to cover it up.

Enough!

Who doesn't know about your close relationship, Baron Keterai, and the Mountain Territory?

Will you still lack food?

As far as I know, the Mountain Baron recently purchased a shipment of grain from outside. Judging from the number of wagons alone, it must have weighed at least a million pounds.

This was just a purchase.

If you're willing, your master can easily procure tens of millions of pounds of grain!

Even if they're going to a new master, there's no need to use us old acquaintances as a pledge of loyalty, is there?

Baron Ciss scoffed.

It's clear he was really angry.

Otherwise, they would never bring something so baseless into the open.

Nobles always need to maintain some semblance of dignity; even if they are bitter enemies, they must outwardly restrain themselves.

This ruthless and direct reversal, which completely blocks any room for maneuver, is entirely inconsistent with aristocratic conduct.

"Baron Ciss, you must be responsible for your words."

If you're going to accuse me of being a traitor, then please provide evidence so everyone can see it.

Otherwise, I'm afraid no one will feel at ease.

After all, no one wants to be convicted without evidence.

Baron Keterai said with a grim expression.

He originally didn't want to confront Baron Ciss head-on, but now he was backed into a corner and had no choice but to bite the bullet and fight back.

In any case, he absolutely cannot bear the label of traitor. Otherwise, he will have no place in aristocratic circles.

"Baron Ciss, this must be a misunderstanding!"

Kate did have a closer relationship with the Mountain Territory, but it wouldn't be fair to call her a traitor.

Everyone knows how deep the grudges are between us and the Southern Aristocrats. This hatred cannot be resolved overnight.

I imagine everyone has already had contact with the local nobility and knows what results were achieved.

If the Southern Aristocrats had been willing to accept us, the situation would never have developed to this point.

Even if someone were to betray the family, they would be defecting to the Dalton Family.

Even though the Mountain Territory are more powerful, they are not so powerful that everyone is forced to submit to them.

Baron Calvo said with a chuckle.

As an ally, he had to step up in times like these.

If Baron Keterai is ousted, the fragile balance will be shattered. The already disadvantaged group will have even less say in the alliance.

"Calvo is right. Although that Mountain Baron has a prestigious name, his background is ultimately too humble."

Which of you here does not have a family stronger than the Coslo Family?

The young nobleman, now reduced to a homeless dog, has reached the limit of his Hudson.

Despite being hailed by outsiders as the most likely candidate to become the prefect, we all know he has no chance.

Even if Hudson has a thousand merits, it can't compensate for the lack of talent in the Royal Capital!

Everyone knows Baron Keterai's character; how could she possibly go and serve a baron whose potential has been exhausted?

The implications are blatant; although Baron Ciss is not mentioned at all, every word Baron Reno says is actually aimed at him.

On the surface, they were belittling Hudson, but in reality, they were ruthlessly attacking Baron Ciss. The son of the Grand Duke couldn't even control the son of a baron.

It's a joke in itself.

Although he took the opportunity to belittle everyone, no one cared.

Deep down, everyone had a reason to convince themselves—they were afraid of the Felix Family and didn't want to cause trouble for the family, which was why they were suppressed by Baron Ciss.

Amidst the mockery, only Baron Reno himself knew that he too was unwilling to accept defeat.

"No one in the Royal Capital" seems to be referring to Hudson, but it is actually also referring to himself.

Since learning that the position of prefect had been predetermined, Baron Reno had become depressed. Now, dragged into this mess by his allies, he simply let out a final outburst.

Enough!

Do whatever you want!

Whoever caused the trouble should take responsibility for it. Don't try to drag the alliance into it when things go wrong.

We cannot bear the burden of such a disgraceful act, nor do we have any obligation to bear it for certain ambitious individuals!

After saying that, Baron Ciss turned and left. He seemed genuinely enraged, not even caring about his image as the leader.

But the faint smile playing on his lips betrayed his true thoughts. The outcome remained uncertain until the very last moment.

The only thing that's certain is that things have really escalated. It's only a matter of time before the Governor's Mansion gets involved, and if things are to end smoothly, someone will have to take responsibility.

As the eldest among the Northern Aristocrats, if things had proceeded normally, Baron Ciss would certainly have been held responsible.

If someone is unwilling to take the blame for their subordinates, they will naturally take action. Even without this trigger, other excuses will arise.

Upon receiving news of the internal division among the Mountain Territory Northern Aristocrats, Hudson felt not joy, but rather deep disappointment.

The split seems to have had a significant impact on Baron Ciss. But no matter how significant the impact, it's better than taking the blame for an ally.

The crime of "robbing merchants" is not serious. As long as you keep your eyes open and don't offend the wrong people, it's not a big deal for nobles.

As long as one doesn't care about reputation, even if one gets caught, one will only have to pay a sum of money to settle the matter; it won't cost a nobleman his life.

But for Baron Ciss, who was vying for the position of sheriff, this stain could bring him down.

The King could not possibly appoint someone with a history of robbing merchants as the head of a prefecture. Even if he were the son of a grand duke, it wouldn't matter; the Alpha Kingdom could not afford such a disgrace.

Unfortunately, Baron Ciss acted too quickly. By the time Hudson noticed him, he had already given up and there was no time to catch him red-handed.

If it were an ordinary person, evidence could be found. But since it involves the son of a high-ranking official, even if it were exposed, it would most likely be swept under the rug.

If a fatal blow fails, then they have to settle for second best. If it weren't for Hudson joining forces with a group of local nobles, a few wealthy merchants alone wouldn't have been able to suppress the big news of "robbing merchants."

Suppressing the news, seemingly helping the Northern Nobles cover up the truth, is actually digging a pit for them to make even bigger mistakes.

According to the plan, in a moment of carelessness, they would coincidentally snatch something they shouldn't have, and then face a thunderous attack.

Unfortunately, the net was still being set up when the largest fish swam away first, leaving only a group of small fish and shrimp behind.

Hudson had never been interested in catching small fish. After escaping Baron Ciss, the rest of the plan was simply pointless to him.

With no time to waste on trivial matters, Hudson shifted his focus back to territory development. The second half of the year was particularly challenging, as the progress delayed by the locust plague needed to be made up.

The development of the hilly areas is no different from before. The people are working hard to achieve the rosy life promised in the past.

The most advanced farming tools, sufficient livestock, and ample supplies ensured the smooth progress of the land reclamation operation.

The plan to "reclaim 100,000 mu of wasteland" was two-thirds completed in the first half of the year. If it weren't for the delay caused by the locust plague, exceeding the target would have been a piece of cake.

However, regarding the locust plague, a sudden event, Lord Hudson simply pretended not to see it. The original plan remained unchanged, and the rewards were still valid.

If you want to take it, keep rolling!

We've been working on this for over half a year; if we give up now, all our efforts will be in vain.

Most importantly, none of the village chiefs wanted to be at the bottom. If everyone else was working hard while their own team was lagging behind, that would be a disaster.

With the system functioning effectively, Hudson refrained from adding anything unnecessary and focused his efforts on swamp development.

The swamp development, which was originally progressing slowly, accelerated tenfold after the addition of Lord Bear.

The only problem is that Beldens is a bit temperamental. They were supposed to just take a short trip in ten days or two weeks, but it turned into almost permanent work at the construction site.

To soothe the "bear's" heart, Hudson, as a spiritual mentor, also accompanied him on a daily basis and supervised the work.

Whether it's supervising the slaves or supervising Lord Bear, that's not important.

Once you've fallen into the trap, it's too late to regret it. Harsh reality taught Beldens that the boasts they made were something they had to swallow their pride and bear.

Who can blame them when the swamp is such a dreadful place?

Solidification magic can cover an area of several miles in radius without issue, but that's limited to the topsoil. The silt in a swamp can be over ten meters thick, so the magic's range will naturally be reduced.

To increase speed, Beldens would usually have to use magic to create a crack in the swamp mud so that the Beastfolk slaves could dig.

What's worse is that the more than 20,000 Beastfolk were divided into more than 200 construction teams, all of whom had to be assisted by Beldens's spellcasting.

The various small creatures hidden in the swamp also require Beldens's help. Occasionally, when encountering special terrain that requires magical assistance, Beldens is still the only option.

While not exactly busy from morning till night, the Young Bear were never idle most of the time.

Fortunately, the Earth Bear's Magic Power replenishment speed was fast enough, and Hudson was there to help out, otherwise they really wouldn't have been able to withstand such a ordeal.

The main problem is that the Young Bear are not strong enough. If they could release Forbidden Spell, they could directly create giant craters in the swamp, connect them together, and create an artificial lake, which would increase the progress of land reclamation by more than ten times.

Of course, this was just Hudson's fantasy. Let alone continuously casting Forbidden Spell, even casting the least powerful Forbidden Spell would exhaust an adult Earth Bear, and it wouldn't recover for several months.

Beldens, unwilling to see their investment go down the drain, could only keep working while cursing and swearing, after Hudson rejected their attempts to withdraw their investment several times.

It can only be said that self-interest can move people's hearts, and even a bear is no exception. Looking at the pieces of land that had been divided up, and recalling his "Bear Castle Plan," Beldens persevered.

Peaceful days passed by uneventfully. Hudson, who had been diligently training, finally rose to the rank of Advanced Knight.

It took Baron Redman a full fifteen years to rise from Beginner Knight to Advanced Knight, lacking the necessary resources, while Hudson took less than two years.

The Mysterious Compass was the main contributor, but the assistance of cultivation resources also played a crucial role.

Without these resources, it would take Hudson at least another six months to make a breakthrough.

Compared to knightly training, magic improves much faster. After all, he only needs to increase his mental strength to unleash powerful magic.

Unfortunately, this increase is not unlimited. As mental strength continues to improve, the auxiliary effect of the potion will become smaller and smaller.

Archmage could barely be considered a strong individual. If Hudson were willing to serve in the Kingdom Mage Corps, he could even receive a salary.

The strong always have privileges. The noble mages cannot endure the hardship of intensive training, and the training of the mage corps is different from that of ordinary troops.

In peacetime, one only needs to be on duty for half a year out of five, and the rest of the time is completely at one's own disposal.

If their strength increases further, their rotation period can be shortened. Top-tier experts only need to appear during wartime; if they are on duty during peacetime, they will receive extra pay.

"My lord, the Beastfolk slaves have discovered Coal Mine while digging through the mud. Lord Beldens, would you like to come and discuss the allocation of the Coal Mine?"

Tom said in a low voice.

Discussing the ownership of the Coal Mine with the lord was, in his view, a highly treasonous act. However, since the object of the demand was the Earth Bear, everything was a different story.

The name "Greedy Bear" resounded throughout the Alpha Kingdom. So much so that many suspected Beldens possessed Giant Dragon blood.

Of course, Hudson has also taken the blame for the Young Bear' misdeeds. Many people suspect that he, as their owner, orchestrated the events, while the Earth Bear was merely the executor.

A large forest has all kinds of birds. Similarly, a large number of monsters will include all sorts of bizarre creatures.

As a highly intelligent race, Magical Beast Mount on the Aslant Continent are not slaves; they also have their own style of doing things.

Greedy, gambling, lecherous, mischievous, and... well, all sorts of bizarre creatures with unusual hobbies are commonplace on the continent.

The controversy stems mainly from Beldens's image as a greedy man, which is completely inconsistent with the public's perception of the Earth Bear.

As the epitome of laziness, the Earth Bear clan has never produced a diligent bear. Expecting them to work and earn money is simply a pipe dream.

Beldens completely shattered this rule. Not only could employees earn money, but they could also negotiate prices themselves.

Now, this practice has been further developed and extended, not only when discussing matters with outsiders, but also with our own people – "clear accounting" is required.

"Okay, I'll be right there."

"I can't help it, "Hudson said helplessly.

You have to deal with the "Bear Kid" you raised yourself.

This once again proves that you need to discipline "Bear Kid" early. If you wait too long, you'll lose!

Hudson was undoubtedly a tragic figure, always being the one suppressed by force, to the point that when facing Beldens, he could only resort to reason.

After much coaxing and cajoling, I finally managed to train a diligent bear. But alas, this bear...

Let's not talk about it!

Bears travel thousands of miles to eat meat. If you want a bear to work, you can't expect it to eat grass.

The discovery of Coal Mine is ultimately a good thing, but we don't know what kind of coal it is. Since it's found in a swamp, steelmaking is probably out of the question.

These are minor issues for Lord Hudson, who made his fortune selling substandard weapons. The quality of the coal isn't really important; as long as it's coal, that's enough.