Weber's words made his refusal to provide the funds Powell had requested perfectly clear. Powell's expression turned exceptionally ugly, but he could not lose his temper.
As the governor of Two Rivers County and the head of the Golden Sunflower Territory's civil administration, he also understood the territory's current financial situation. They truly could not produce that much money.
But there was no other choice. They had to come up with the money. Otherwise, the impact on both Two Rivers County and the Golden Sunflower Territory would be far too great. After all, this involved almost all the Northern Frontier nobles.
Powell could not help muttering inwardly, My lord Marquis, you really have set us a difficult task!
Time rewound to two months earlier.
The battlefield along the Shattered Ice River had fallen completely quiet. After the battle, hundreds of thousands of Barbarians on both banks of the river surrendered their weapons and yielded to the Northern Alliance Army and the Expeditionary Army respectively.
This battle had successfully wiped out the vast majority of the Iron Bone Tribe's and the Faith Order's forces. Although a few scattered groups had escaped before the Expeditionary Army completed its encirclement, they no longer mattered to the overall outcome.
The Northern Frontier nobles were now celebrating their victory and tallying the spoils of the battle.
Because the Barbarians had eaten large numbers of their livestock during their southward invasion and march, the Northern Alliance Army had captured few animals aside from warhorses.
But those more than three hundred thousand Barbarians represented no small fortune. There were very few elderly or weak people among them; most were young, able-bodied men and women, making them particularly valuable.
A week had passed since the battle ended, and all the Northern Frontier nobles were still sorting out