A Turbulent Situation

Spring breezes blow for miles, and hundreds of flowers bloom. The Mountain Territory, covered in wildflowers, appear exceptionally enchanting. Adorned with lanterns and decorations, they resemble a divine paradise on earth.

The completion of the main building of the Lord's Mansion marks the beginning of its magnificent transformation, as if telling the story of the birth of a legend.

The guests chatted and laughed, creating a lively atmosphere that brought the atmosphere to a climax.

"Viscount Oran has arrived!"

"Viscount Nicholas has arrived!"

"Count Simichi has arrived!"

"Lord Longwell has arrived."

The arrival of every important person causes a sensation.

The nobles who appeared earlier were alright; even if we didn't have the chance to build a relationship, we still met each other and became acquainted.

The group of powerful figures who appeared later were different. These cultivation fanatics, although they rarely showed themselves, had never been less popular in aristocratic circles.

It is human nature to admire the strong. When facing a group of top experts, even nobles must address them as "Sir" to show their respect.

Of course, these people would not lack noble titles. In order to win over these powerful individuals, honorary noble titles had been arranged long ago.

A viscount is just the beginning; it wouldn't be surprising if someone made a few contributions to the kingdom and then received the titles of earl or marquis.

If one is willing to dedicate themselves to the kingdom to the very end, then there's no doubt that obtaining the title of Grand Duke is possible. With some royal blood, the title of Prince is practically guaranteed.

The title of honorary noble is worthless, especially when it comes to winning over the powerful; the kingdom has never been stingy with titles.

Perhaps because they don't need to be paid a salary, the countries on the continent like to give a series of honorary titles when they try to win over powerful people.

The arrival of a group of powerful figures from the province dramatically elevated the scale of the banquet, leaving all the guests speechless.

Compared to the two previously highly anticipated banquets, this one was on a completely different level. Hudson's formidable network of connections forced the minor nobles to reconsider their allegiance.

Especially the nobles of Laite County, who were originally inclined to side with Viscount Ciss, instantly woke up.

Having a Grand Duke as a father is indeed impressive, but this is the Southeast Province. Ultimately, the fate of everyone depends on the local powerful figures.

While the extent of their support for the Mountain Territory is unknown, they have at least made their stance clear. This means that any attempt by the forces behind Viscount Ciss to exert political pressure here will be futile.

The Five Great Northern Families are indeed formidable, but they are only one of them. To expect the powerful families of the Southeast Province to bow down is simply a pipe dream.

If it really involves core interests, even if all five parties were combined, none of them would make concessions.

Essentially, the Northern Frontier region is heavily dependent on the southern Xinjiang provinces.

Although it was slightly weaker than the northern and Southeast Province, the large amount of money and grain it provided each year gave everyone enough say.

Judging from the reactions of the guests, the goal of intimidating people has clearly been achieved.

The Northern Aristocrats came just to make up the numbers were one thing; their background determined their stance, and their attendance at the banquet was merely a courtesy.

The local nobles in the county were truly terrified. Many were secretly glad that they hadn't rushed to accept Viscount Ciss's offer of a hand.

Those who rushed over early hoping to make a quick buck are now in a desperate situation and want to cut ties with Viscount Ciss immediately.

The harsh reality tells them that one's background determines one's stance!

If you want to be a fence-sitter and side with them, you'll have to ask the local bigwigs first if they'll agree.

The brutal knockout stage in Laite County is only halfway through; it's far from over.

The position of prefectural governor merely signifies the influence of one's backers in the Royal Capital. This is where the various factions within the province truly express their stance.

Truth and falsehood intertwined, falsehood and truth intertwined.

The information asymmetry led the minor nobles to conclude, based solely on what they saw, that all the local powers were "supporting" Hudson.

Even if someone told them that this banquet meant nothing, that it was just a casual gesture of goodwill and adding to the occasion, no one would believe it.

In terms of prestige, how can the Coslo Family compare to the Dalton Family?

Viscount Cayou's victory banquet was much less grand. Not to mention the group of powerful figures, even many middle-ranking nobles only prepared a congratulatory gift and were nowhere to be seen.

Since the events coincided, nobles who were not in either camp and did not want to offend anyone naturally had no choice but to be absent at the same time.

What was originally just a consequence of the banquets clashing at the same time has now been over-interpreted by many as a political statement by various factions.

This misunderstanding was exactly what Hudson wanted to see. He could never have too many underlings, even those with their own ulterior motives, who could still join in the cheers.

If executed well, it can be used to intimidate others. Hudson is quite experienced in bluffing.

Many things that seem accidental are actually inevitable. This grand banquet was no exception.

The reason so many people came is because connections are reciprocal. If someone comes to support you today, Hudson will have to do the same for them if they need help someday.

The connections and resources of the nobility are terrifying; in essence, it's a grand spectacle of mutual flattery. The reason this act can continue is because the actors are so deeply immersed in their roles that they begin to believe it's real.

This idea isn't wrong when you're already strong. Everyone is happy to do things that add to your already good fortune, as you can fully enjoy the benefits of your network.

Once power declines, that's a different story. Generally speaking, having many friends is definitely easier than having no friends.

As the star of the banquet, Hudson was like a busy little bee, constantly flitting around the hall.

Important guests should be given special treatment, but ordinary guests who come to show their support should not be neglected either.

He repeated the same pointless words over and over until his throat was practically burning, before finally exchanging greetings with all the guests.

You can't lose your public persona!

Arrogance is not something that belongs to the lower nobility. If one wants to rise in the ranks, one must be courteous to the virtuous and humble, and show goodwill to everyone as much as possible.

In contrast to Hudson's inward lament, Baron Redman was also strolling around the banquet, was beaming with pride, making Hudson marvel at the power of spiritual strength.

It's understandable, really. After spending most of their lives stuck in the same place, they finally managed to climb the social ladder thanks to their son, and now they can show off, so naturally they're in high spirits.

After wandering around for a while, he returned to the group of powerful individuals, and his demeanor became bold and unrestrained once again.

Fortunately, the banquet was divided into two parts; otherwise, if outsiders had seen the scene of humans and monsters eating together, they would have been internally devastated but still had to applaud and cheer.

It was Beldens who started this mess; they messed up at the Governor's Mansion last time, and now they're getting their comeuppance.

Fortunately, Hudson had come prepared in advance with a Warcraft meal. Although it wasn't as grand as the Governor's Mansion's banquet, it was plentiful and filling.

Roasted lamb and roasted beef were served whole, and animal milk and honey were served in large quantities.

Unfortunately, not all monsters are into this. Apart from bear-type monsters, other monsters are mainly interested in meat.

"The mainland is probably going to be in chaos."

The Beastfolk in the north are becoming restless again. Multiple signs indicate that they are preparing for war, and a southern invasion is imminent.

The only uncertainty is where they'll focus their main attack. Hopefully, it won't be the Alpha Kingdom, or we'll be in serious trouble.

What's even more infuriating is that, at this critical moment, the Church is still restless. They only recently ended their conflict with us, and now they're at odds with the Frankish Kingdom.

They shamelessly claim that someone else's King is illegitimate. Do they really think they still rule the continent?

What you say is what it is.

Just wait and see. As the strongest nation on the continent, the Frankish Kingdom won't give them any face.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if I woke up one day to find a bunch of new Dawn Holy See!

Now it depends on which country is willing to take the lead; in any case, our Alpha Kingdom will most likely follow suit.

"Lonwell said sarcastically."

As an Earth Knight, he had personally trained on the Beastfolk battlefield. However, that was only a medium-sized raid down south, and only two of the five Beastfolk Five Great Imperial Courts came.

Even so, the Alpha Kingdom suffered heavy losses. It took the casualties of 200,000 soldiers and 500,000 civilians to drive the Beastfolk out.

In Longwell's view, it was less about driving the Beastfolk out and more about wearing down the Orc Empire's logistics by using the fortress defenses, forcing them to withdraw.

It's not a matter of being a coward or not; when faced with a formidable force like the Orc Empire, no one truly wants to confront it.

Tomato Novels

The Beastfolk invasion from the south was troublesome enough on its own. But now the Church is causing trouble again, constantly stirring up trouble on the continent.

The last time they supported the Skull Society's rebellion, they inadvertently exposed the existence of the "Blood Moon Horn," which led the Alpha Kingdom to trace them back to them.

In this affair involving the succession to the Frankish Kingdom, the chosen supporters encountered a minor mishap and inadvertently gave themselves away.

Without a doubt, the Church's investment was a failure, and they lost a fortune. Otherwise, the Pope wouldn't have been so enraged as to declare the new King illegitimate.

Unfortunately, this was meaningless; the nobles simply voted with their feet, supporting what the Church opposed.

It's illegal, right?

After the Church announced this decision, the various human nations that had been observing the situation and had not immediately recognized the new king of the Frankish Kingdom all expressed their positions—recognizing his legitimacy.

As for the lack of papal participation in the coronation ceremony, it's equally simple: just downgrade the ceremony. If there's no pope to preside, just pick any bishop to fill the role.

Anyway, this is nothing new. In the Alpha Kingdom, for example, the King appoints an archbishop, who then presides over the King's coronation ceremony.

As the strongest human nation, the Frankish Kingdom had a greater presence, and the Pope personally presided over every change of throne.

Now that the two sides have completely fallen out, they might as well do their own thing. In any case, in terms of military strength, the Frankish Kingdom is almost on par with the Church, so they're not afraid.

"Not only that, it is said that the South Bank Kingdom recently had a conflict with the Ash Dwarves, and the Black Forest Kingdom has also had a conflict with the Mountain Dwarves."

The Dante Kingdom to the east seems to be in conflict with the Elf Kingdom over the issue of slavery.

Countless similar minor conflicts occurred. It felt as if, overnight, humanity had become the enemy of the entire world.

Magister Antal sighed.

"Antar, you're making a big fuss over nothing. Ever since we became the overlords of the continent, when has our human race not been surrounded by enemies?"

Regardless of which race becomes the dominant power on the continent, they will all enjoy this kind of treatment.

Even the peace-loving elves, when they ruled the continent hundreds of thousands of years ago, weren't they also enemies of the world?

As the overlord of the continent, how could we be afraid of these conspiracies and schemes? Let them come; let them all make a scene, and we can settle things once and for all.

As long as the human nations don't fight amongst themselves, even if they all joined forces, they wouldn't be enough to defeat us. What's there to be afraid of?

As long as we withstand the Beastfolk invasion, the other battlefields are none of our concern. Even if the Alpha Kingdom wanted to intervene, it wouldn't have the strength.

Times have changed. With the combined strength of the three kingdoms, we may well be able to deal a heavy blow to the Orc Empire.

If we can weaken the Beastfolk, we can not only recover lost territory, but also push the battle line a thousand miles north.

"If we repeat this process three to five times, we can bring the Orc Empire to the past and completely eliminate this great enemy that threatens the survival of our human race!"

"That's what Sorcerer Claude said with an air of dominance."

Hawks among mages are a rare sight. Most mages are known for their rationality, with only a very few exceptions who are full of passion.

The Sorcerer Claude before them was undoubtedly an anomaly among anomalies. As far as Hudson knew, he not only talked about war, but also personally researched various weapons of war.

Without a doubt, these weapons of war are all inextricably linked to magic. No one knows the specifics of their effectiveness, but the spirit behind them is absolutely commendable.

If the human mages had developed more powerful weapons, perhaps the Northern Frontier Battlefield wouldn't have remained passive indefinitely.

Watching the group of powerful figures engage in a heated discussion, Hudson could only remain a silent listener. His lack of reliable sources of information rendered him powerless to speak.

Not to mention the entire continent, even the changes occurring within the Alpha Kingdom were received by the Coslo Family a step slower.

The slower the speed of receiving messages, the slower the speed of transmitting them. Unless it might involve their own interests, no one even has the idea of passing messages on to each other.

It's all because of poverty.

If each branch were to take the initiative to gather information and exchange it in a timely manner, it would increase the expenditure by at least several thousand gold coins each year.

There are hundreds of branches, large and small, which may seem like a small amount when spread out. But the problem is that many of these branches are truly poor.

Some even failed to retain their noble status and were reduced to commoners.

If it weren't for Hudson's invitation, the branch of the common people would never have participated in this event.

Perhaps we should do something?