Must Hug a Strong Thigh

Time rewinds to a few days prior.

In a tavern within a small town in a territory neighboring Alarda, Baron Hansel Abbott was drinking with a man dressed as a merchant.

"Times are tough!" The man across from him put down his cup and took out a roll of Parchment from his chest, handing it to the baron.

"So, this is our new mission?"

Hansel took the Parchment, unrolled it, and glanced over it.

"Raise provisions? I remember the officials in the Royal Capital managing the Granary always boasting that their grain could last for more than a year. Could Hals and his few thousand men have eaten it all in such a short time?"

"Uh..." The contact, disguised as a merchant, was momentarily speechless. After hesitating for a moment, he shrugged. "The warehouse caught fire."

"Oh, no wonder." Hansel nodded. It was most likely the work of spies.

"By the way, Baron-sama, why are you here? Shouldn't you be in Lakeheart Town? I had a hard time finding you." The contact asked curiously.

"Ahem!" Hansel cleared his throat, trying to control his heartbeat to keep his face from turning red.

"The Alarda Territory is suffering from Pirate invasions. As the representative sent by the royal family, I naturally can't stand idly by. That's why I'm here procuring supplies and weapons for the lord." He couldn't possibly say that he was scared here by the Pirates.

The contact gave a thumbs up. "Impressive! So Earl Greiman-sama's ability to quell the Pirates is also thanks to you."

Now it was Hansel's turn to be surprised. "Quell the Pirates?"

The contact said, "Hasn't Earl Greiman informed you yet? When I went to Lakeheart Town to find you, the people there were already spreading the news that Earl-sama had led his troops to recover Franklin Harbor and had hanged a large number of Pirates. I heard he'll be returning to Lakeheart Town in a while."

"Is that so? Looks like I can go back to Lakeheart Town too." Hansel wore a delighted expression, but in his heart, he thought, That little Earl really has some ability. Before I left, they were attacking my doorstep.

He then said, "But you know, I still have to wait for Lord Greiman to give me an official notice before I can go back."

"I think the notice will arrive soon. When it does, please put in a lot of effort regarding the provisions, Baron-sama."

"Of course." Hansel readily agreed.

The contact suddenly sighed. "I often run around this northwest area, and there aren't many lords who care about their people like Earl Greiman. The coastal area has been plagued by Pirates for many years."

Hansel snorted inwardly, quite unconvinced. He immediately changed the subject. "Speaking of which, how's the situation in the south?"

The contact shook his head. "The grain has been burned, so what can be done? Ah, please don't tell anyone about this, but I estimate it'll spread all over the world before long. I didn't follow the army into the city at the time. I could see the raging fire from several miles outside the city. It can't be hidden."

Hansel frowned. "In other words, the rebelling army can't be transferred to the south immediately?"

"Isn't there a saying? 'An army marches on its stomach.' Now that the grain is gone, how can we fight? I guess we can only send a small force to help Duke Dodge hold Thorn Gate. It'll be good enough if Giles doesn't make it to the north."

The contact looked pessimistic and continued, "Fortunately, it seems that the one attacking Thorn Gate isn't Giles's main force."

He suddenly shuddered and hurriedly said, "Baron-sama, I drank too much just now and started talking nonsense. Please..."

Hansel smiled and raised his cup to him. "My lips have always been sealed. Cheers to His Majesty the King!"

The contact also raised his cup. "Cheers to His Majesty the King."

Giles's main force didn't go north? Then he must be dealing with those lords in the south who aren't obeying him. If the royal army can't go south in time, with Giles's strength, those lords can only be left to fend for themselves. By the time the rebel army integrates all the southern territories, it'll be even harder to deal with.

"Times are tough!" Hansel sighed inwardly. He made up his mind to go see that little Earl again.

Back to the present, in the Lord's Manor study in Lakeheart Town, intelligence director Cecil was reporting on his work.

"Lord, as you requested, our intelligence personnel have already started working in the Royal Capital. But because of a lack of experience and the martial law of the past period, we haven't gathered much information. Now we finally have some results."

He respectfully handed Paul a stack of documents.

"Hmm... let me see."

Paul skimmed through it quickly. He wasn't really concerned about the intelligence from the Royal Capital. He was busy enough with the affairs of the northwest, but as a vassal of the Auldo Kingdom, it was necessary to have a general understanding of the latest national events.

"Damn, it's that bad? The Granary was burned down." Paul was shocked. Recalling what Queller had said to him in Franklin Harbor, that Giles had strong support behind him, while the royal family was suffering repeated losses, first having their capital stolen, and then losing a large amount of grain after finally recovering it, he wondered if the royal family was really in trouble this time.

Paul wondered if he should write a letter of surrender to Giles. As a transmigrator, he had little loyalty to the Rodney Dynasty. He didn't care who wore the crown, as long as it didn't affect his industrial revolution plan. Once my factories are built, you'll all be feudal garbage swept into the corners of history.

However, Cecil's next piece of intelligence dispelled his idea.

"Earl-sama, with the spread of the new type of paper, many people have been secretly eyeing us."

Cecil handed over the second piece of intelligence as he spoke. Paul became anxious and carefully read the second piece of intelligence. This concerned the Alarda Territory's important source of revenue.

"Bandits! Thieves! Disgraceful!" After reading the intelligence report, Paul waved his hand, angrily denouncing the despicable people hiding in the shadows.

The intelligence showed that multiple forces were trying to steal the manufacturing technology of the new type of Parchment, including several large chambers of commerce, and even a few lords from neighboring territories, such as Earl Kent of Emden and Viscount Johnston of Bordeaux.

Fortunately, Paul repeatedly emphasized secrecy, maintained strict defenses, and cultivated sufficient loyalty by giving the workers high compensation, so the papermaking technique was not stolen. But it would be hard to say how long that could last.

It wasn't that Paul wanted to monopolize papermaking forever. The thing was actually quite simple, and sooner or later someone would learn it. But this concerned Paul's first pot of gold, and in the early stages, he had to rely on monopoly to complete part of his capital accumulation.

Paul was actually happy to see the spread of new technologies, otherwise he wouldn't be able to start industrialization even if he struggled for a lifetime on his own. But there was a prerequisite: it had to be within his control. He didn't want his enemies to develop airplanes and missiles before him and then blow him to kingdom come.

But involving the surrounding lords was more troublesome. He instructed Cecil, "Notify Butler Philip and have Baron Hansel Abbott invited here."

He couldn't worry about so much. At this moment, he had to find a thick enough thigh to hug.