Plans Changed

Victor briefly surveyed the entire Woven Fern Territory before leaving with his men. Before returning to their base, he made a point of taking a detour to avoid being followed.

Victor returned to the nameless valley in the evening, just in time for dinner. After Alex contacted the trading post, he received supplies, and the dinner was quite plentiful.

No matter when, a warm and delicious meal will always put people in a good mood. After the meal, Alex even had the trading post send over a barrel of ale, and everyone had a glass.

After Victor finished dinner, he was drawing a map of the entire Woven Fern Territory with the help of Number One when Alex came over and handed him a glass of ale and a blanket.

"Have a drink, it's a bit cold tonight, a little wine will warm you up."

"Thank you, Alex. Do the brothers have blankets too?"

"Of course, I've had the shopkeeper prepare everything, according to the number of people."

"Alex, the merchant system you've created is truly excellent. As long as we can find a trading post, it can provide supplies and resources for a small force like ours."

"Of course, you have no idea how chaotic the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce was at the beginning. Despite having hard currency like warhorses, it was still operating at a loss. Many Northern Frontier nobles demanded that our family withdraw its shares."

"And then, you turned the entire chamber of commerce around, turning losses into profits in one fell swoop?"

"I asked curiously, "Victor asked.

"It is indeed a bit of self-praise to say this, but it is true that under my management, the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce has purged its internal parasites, improved its management system, changed its sales methods, and even introduced local nobles from other counties to join the Chamber of Commerce's branches."

Through these methods, I increased the Chamber of Commerce's annual profits to gold. However, this amount isn't large, as many shareholders share the profits. But Victor, you should understand the biggest advantage of my approach to managing the Chamber of Commerce."

Alex said smugly.

"It's a network of connections. Through business cooperation, you've attracted many nobles from other places, and even members of the Ducal House. You don't use the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce's name to the outside world, but you've managed to extend the Iron Birch Family's reach all over the country, establish a large number of trading posts, and arrange for a large number of people to stay there. You've turned these trading posts into intelligence stations or even logistics stations, and if necessary, they can even support small-scale troops in combat."

Alex was very satisfied with Victor's answer.

"Actually, it's not that exaggerated. At first, I just wanted to use the trading posts as intelligence points to obtain more information that would benefit the Iron Birch Territory. I didn't expect that as the Chamber of Commerce expanded, the scale and number of trading posts would increase significantly, and we could do more and more things."

To better utilize the trading posts, I also trained the managers of the Northern Frontier Chamber of Commerce's Guild on intelligence gathering, distributing these individuals to trading posts throughout the region; Salos was one of them.

Victor nodded, understanding in his heart, "This approach reduces the Chamber of Commerce's profits to some extent, but it greatly expands the Iron Birch Territory's intelligence network, making the entire Iron Birch Territory extremely sensitive to any movement within the Duchy. Unfortunately, the Golden Sunflower Family cannot achieve this level of success; neither their personnel nor their family influence can replicate such an operation."

"Alex, I'm starting to see you in a new light."

"Victor, I do not have confidence in marching and fighting, but I asked my father for permission to participate in this mission because I am confident that I can return to the Northlands safely by using the trading posts in various places."

Victor nodded in agreement with Alex's statement.

Alex looked at the map that Victor had largely drawn and asked.

"Victor, now that you have a complete understanding of the situation in the Woven Fern Territory, how do you think the interception plan should proceed? The Diplomatic Delegation of the Western Nobles of the Raine Kingdom will arrive here tomorrow afternoon. When should we make our move?"

Victor pointed directly at the map, "Alex, look, after the Diplomatic Delegation landed in Fude County in the west, they crossed Fude County and entered Ent County. There is only one road, and it must have entered Woven Fern Territory from here."

"Should we intercept them here?" Alex asked, pointing to the road on the map.

"No, I don't intend to intercept them here. This road is the only way from Ent County to Strath County. From my observation, there are many caravans and pedestrians passing by during the day. If we make a move here, there will be too many variables."

I plan to let the Diplomatic Delegation rest in the castle within the Woven Fern Territory, and then intercept them here when they depart early the next morning."

Victor moved his finger from the Woven Fern Territory on the map to Strath County and continued, "They have two routes from the Woven Fern Territory to Silver Maple City. One is to take a boat from the Woven Fern Territory docks and travel along the Blackwater River into Milan County. However, this waterway is a long detour and will take about half a day longer to reach Silver Maple City than the other land route. I don't think they will choose this route."

The other route is much simpler: it crosses Strath County, following the same route we came by, and enters Milan County directly. The Diplomatic Delegation has already been delayed at sea for two days, and they will want to reach Silver Maple City as quickly as possible; they will definitely take this route."

Alex looked in the direction Victor was pointing and nodded.

"Indeed, when we came from Strath County, there were very few caravans and pedestrians on this road. Most of the caravans and pedestrians coming from the west would take a boat eastward, since it is less strenuous. Even if they arrive half a day late, it is not so urgent for the caravans. In addition, they must be at their most relaxed when they leave the Woven Fern Territory. If we make a move, we can definitely catch them off guard."

After Victor and Alex reached an agreement, the plan was approved, allowing the team to rest for two more days and then perform the mission with more energy.

Around 8 p. m., a campfire was lit at the Temporary Camp, and Victor was maintaining the weapons with his guards. This was his habit and also a form of discipline training.

Just then, a sentry outside the camp brought a man into the camp, saying he was from the trading post and had important intelligence to give to Alex.

Alex verified the visitor's identity and took a letterbox from the man. Upon seeing the letterbox, Alex became serious. This was a special letterbox used only for the most important and urgent intelligence in the trading post.

He opened the mailbox, took out the letter, and read it. After reading it, his face turned very ugly. He then quickly ran to Victor's side. "Victor, the plan has to be changed. There is important intelligence."