Soaring Prices

The Governor's Mansion in Beda City.

Count Pierce, having found a pretext to intervene, was not pleased; instead, he frowned even more deeply.

Although it appears that the Northern Aristocrats and the local nobles are fighting each other to the death, in reality, their struggle remains within the bounds of the rules.

Apart from the noble lords who led troops to seize people and were implicated, there was no large-scale retaliation, and most of the local nobles remained uninvolved.

Most of the nobles involved in this turmoil, except for a few who joined voluntarily out of greed, could be traced back to the Dalton Family.

Originally, they wanted to use the power of the local nobles to drive out these outsiders, but unexpectedly, it ended up as a battle between the Dalton Family's underlings and the Northern Aristocrats.

All eyes were focused on the struggle for territory, and the territorial border conflict that should have erupted instead failed to cause any significant disturbance.

This was an inevitable result. There wasn't a single living person in the territory, so who had time to care about the enclave?

Even if we want to resolve the enclave issue, we need a certain economic foundation first. Right now, these are all uninhabited areas, so what's there to argue about?

Did the underlings mean well but end up doing something wrong?

Count Pierce isn't that stupid.

Perhaps the underlings are of varying abilities, but at least their loyalty is impeccable. At the boss's mere hint, they charge into battle without hesitation.

Although they couldn't drag all the local nobles into it, they managed to get a few dozen involved, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

Hatred can be built up; what may seem like just bullying a noble family can actually offend an entire circle behind them.

The reason they didn't get involved was because the benefits weren't enough. Joining forces to beat up the Northern Aristocrats would only vent their anger and wouldn't yield any further gains.

Even if people were driven out of the Southeast Province, the Dalton Family would benefit the most, which is the fundamental reason why everyone chose to wait and see.

Of course, Adrian doesn't count.

They work the hardest when it comes to recruiting players, shout the loudest slogans before the battle starts, but once the battle begins, they just give up.

Originally, it was thought that this guy could drag the Coslo Family into the mess, but after he messed things up, the Coslo Family, who benefited from the situation, were too happy to even stand on the shore and jump into the water.

As it turns out, as long as you have a strong enough backing, even if you just casually mess around, you can still make your opponents' scalps tingle.

Unable to get the explanation they wanted from the Northern Aristocrats, they righteously took their case to the Governor's Mansion.

Now Count Pierce is unsure whether to reward him or bring him over for a good scolding.

"Pass down the order to implement the second plan. First, give those guys in the Northern Frontier a warning and let them know who the master of the Southeast Province is."

"Notify all the lords of the two counties that I will personally travel to Dadir City in ten days to mediate the recent conflict."

The kingdom's order remains intact, and the Governor's duties must still be fulfilled.

You can fight behind the scenes however you want, but once it's out in the open, you have to abide by the rules of the game.

Unprovoked attacks on noble territories are strictly prohibited by the kingdom's laws. If the rules can be trampled on at will, where will the lower and middle nobles find their sense of security?

The Dadir City, or rather, the ruins of Dadir. After some hasty repairs to the city using the serfs he had captured, Baron Ciss finally had a place to stay.

Among the Northern Aristocrats had migrated south, Ciss was already doing the best. While other nobles were still clearing the castle ruins, he had already moved into the city lord's mansion.

In particular, his reputation within the group soared due to his achievement in leading a group of Northern Aristocrats in a counterattack and reclaiming their people.

With fame comes trouble; the good days didn't last long before problems came knocking.

The lawsuit from the Governor's Mansion was nothing serious; it was just a matter of wrangling. Although they suffered a silent loss, the actual damage was minimal.

Since no serious consequences resulted, the only thing that happened was that the guy involved had to come out and apologize, and promise never to do it again. At most, he'd pay a token amount, just to learn a lesson.

Compared to the loss of face, the pragmatic Northern Aristocrats still value substance more.

"Your Excellency Baron Ciss, we have come to you for help. We simply cannot live like this anymore."

Shortly after the counterattack began, prices started to soar. Initially, it was thought to be due to unscrupulous merchants deliberately driving up prices amidst the tense situation, but unexpectedly, prices rose even more sharply after the war.

Rye rose from three copper coins a pound to seven copper coins; peas from two copper coins a pound to five copper coins; wheat followed suit, soaring to ten copper coins a pound; and inferior salt mixed with sand and dirt skyrocketed to one Silver Coin a pound...

In short, prices for all goods are skyrocketing. One price in the morning, another in the afternoon.

When I tried to reason with those guys, those unscrupulous merchants showed me no respect whatsoever, acting as if I could buy whatever I wanted or not, and even mocked me as a barbarian from the Northern Frontier.

In a fit of rage, I ordered their arrest. As a result, no caravans have entered my territory since..."

Towards the end, this tough man almost burst into tears.

This is utterly outrageous and bullying of the nobles. Such an arrogant merchant is a rare sight on the entire continent of Aslant.

For nobles, face is of paramount importance. If they were fellow nobles, a few words exchanged might suffice. But for a mere merchant to dare cause trouble is to imply that they doubt the competence of the nobles.

Even if they don't do anything openly, they will retaliate in secret. A large portion of those caravans that disappeared without a trace were the work of nobles.

"Baron Ciss, what Knight Daren said is true. These merchants are far too arrogant and don't take us seriously at all."

Not only are prices being inflated, but the quality of the goods being sold is also getting worse and worse.

In the past, unscrupulous merchants would at most mix some old grain into new grain; now, finding even a single grain of new wheat among old grain is a miracle.

Look at this bag of wheat, you don't even need to grind it into flour, just shake it and it turns into powder...

"Knight Justin, please don't make things difficult for Baron Ciss. We've all encountered this situation before."

To be honest, it's not just Laite and Huaidun counties that are experiencing soaring prices; prices are skyrocketing throughout the entire Southeast Province.

To be precise, this round of price surges only applies to us. Local aristocrats can still obtain affordable goods thanks to their connections.

When the prices of other commodities rise, we can find ways to reduce consumption, but not when it comes to food.

What's more troublesome is that this is just the beginning. What we will face next may no longer be the quality of the food, but whether we can buy enough food.

I spent a large sum of money to bribe a grain merchant, and from him I learned a startling piece of news—the nobles of the Southeast Province are very likely to stop selling grain to foreign countries this year.

Baron Bazel made a startling statement.

I knew the local nobles weren't pushovers, but I never expected their retaliation to be so ruthless.

If they just send troops to attack directly, no one will back down. But if they start by cutting off supplies, how are we supposed to respond?

After finally winning a counterattack, it should have been a time to celebrate victory, but the joyous occasion turned into a tragedy.

For the lords of the Northern Frontier, their people had become a hot potato. The more people in their territories, the faster their food would be consumed.

Once the supplies run out, everyone will go hungry. Yet, feeding the people is the lord's sacred duty, which he cannot shirk.

Baron Ciss was slightly annoyed that someone had revealed the answer before him, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Baron Bazel is right. The local nobles in the Southeast Province do indeed show signs of blocking us off."

The main problem is that everyone has been making too much noise lately and has offended too many people.

This price surge was orchestrated by the families behind these guys, who were secretly pulling strings and causing trouble.

Of course, the Dalton Family certainly played a significant role in this, and they may even be the real masterminds behind it all.

Their goal is to drive us out of the Southeast Province.