Snake Swallows Elephant

The two negotiated for three consecutive days. Derek refused to yield an inch, and Wilson was angered enough to want to leave several times, but Derek always had the same answer: war.

There was simply nothing to be done with such an obstinate bastard.

Moreover, the Barbarians had now learned Viscount Derek's background. He was a ruthless man who had cut down over ten thousand Barbarians in a single battle.

The Barbarians looked down on people who merely boasted.

But toward a Barbarian butcher with blood on both hands, they felt both hatred and fear.

Wilson believed that Derek would absolutely do as he said.

And unfortunately, if they truly came to blows, the alliance between the two kingdoms would certainly be ruined. Nor was he confident he could kill the irritating man before him.

Derek's record was simply too terrifying. Not a single commander dared claim to be stronger than him.

And these past few days, the Saint Michael Legion had not been idle. They had uncovered several groups of Barbarians large and small, and there had been no shortage of armed clashes.

Seeing that the troops' resentment would become impossible to control if this continued, Wilson finally compromised.

"I admit defeat. Release my men. That is my bottom line; otherwise, I would rather go to war with you."

He had conceded, but he absolutely could not allow his subordinates to remain detained at will. Otherwise, his reputation would be finished.

Derek naturally understood this. If he pushed Wilson too far, with his future ruined anyway, he might stop caring about the alliance between the two kingdoms.

"Fine, but you have to do something for me."

After hearing this, Wilson became even more depressed.

You could play it like this?

His eyes had truly been opened. The man before him was practically a devil.

But he could only nod and agree, even knowing it might bring enormous hidden dangers.

Then, a grand population migration began.

The brutal Barbarians gathered together the serfs of Saint Myra Province, intending to transport them back to their own country.

Then they took a slight detour—or rather, traveled in the opposite direction for several days.

At that point, the Saint Michael Legion arrived and confronted the Barbarians.

After difficult negotiations, the two sides finally reached an agreement.

All the abducted serfs would be resettled on the spot, and the Barbarians would begin handing over the defensive line.

What a coincidence—the place selected for resettlement happened to be called Augusta Territory.

When our viscount, who feared no power, returned to his territory, he found over a hundred thousand extra mouths to feed. He could only benevolently provide them with aid and issue an order to reclaim wilderness, allowing the serfs to cultivate land around designated villages and granting them freedom.

As for the food shortage, the lords of the Locke Kingdom had already agreed to provide several years' worth of rations, so what was there to fear?

The Saint Michael Legion recruited soldiers from the surrounding regions while taking over the defenses.

Derek wrote home to transfer over some manpower, then began construction throughout his territory.

He planned towns, built military camps, trained technical workers such as blacksmiths, and recruited the newly freed serfs into his private army.

Of course, emancipating the serfs did not cause the sensation he had imagined. The serfs themselves were even numb and indifferent, completely unaware of what it meant.

Derek finally understood that what was written in books might have been somewhat romanticized.

But as time passed, once the serfs discovered that no one could casually take their lives without punishment, that they could possess private property and even determine their own fates, they would gradually come to support their great lord.

For now, it was still the abundant rations that raised morale.

While Derek worked around the clock, he took advantage of his colleagues in the Northern Province still dragging their feet and directly seized a batch of resources.

Mines, estates, town officials.

He appointed a whole pile of people without authorization and even forged land deeds for ownerless properties.

After all, why refuse what was free?

With just this wave, he quickly became the cancer of Saint Myra Province.

Naturally, the rights of Saint Myra Province's merchants, missionaries, and nobles also had to be guaranteed.

That was a basic rule, a feature of this era.

But faced with a new protector, shouldn't they pay some protection money?

Thus, by the time the first troops from the Northern Province entered Saint Myra Province more than half a month later, Derek had already finished staking out his territory.

Derek would never believe that these nobles did not understand the Unspoken Rules involved.

They simply had not expected Derek to move so quickly.

He hastily reorganized his army and drove out the Barbarians so fast that everyone was caught off guard.

According to their estimates, Derek should only just have finished tangling with the Barbarians by now—or perhaps still be entangled with them.

By entering at this time, they could avoid the early trouble on one hand while also having their armies properly reorganized on the other.

They could give Derek some support, then all wave their sickles together and harvest the spoils of war. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Unfortunately, when they learned that Derek had dealt with the Barbarians, they rushed as fast as they could but were still one step too late.

Count Perella was the first to arrive, and he acted exactly like Derek, though with even more tricks up his sleeve.

The other nobles were unwilling to fall behind, each racing to stake out territory.

After all, Derek alone could not swallow such a large cake.

The local powers of Saint Myra Province should even have been grateful to Derek, because many others had far uglier table manners than he did, openly seizing things by force without even trying to hide it.

Those who had already been picked clean by Derek, on the other hand, secretly counted themselves fortunate.

Of course, that might also have been because Derek had stripped them too thoroughly, leaving the latecomers jealous and with one less slice of cake.

In short, another half month of chaos passed. Saint Myra Province remained in constant turmoil, and some unlucky nobles discovered that fewer than one in ten people remained in their territories. When they asked why, they learned it was the Barbarians' handiwork.

As for Derek, even if they knew he had profited, no one dared bare their teeth at him.

The Saint Michael Legion had expanded rapidly, and together with his private army, there were few in all of Saint Myra Province capable of restraining him.

Without realizing it, the once insignificant knight had accomplished the great feat of Snake Swallows Elephant and become the local tyrant.

For Derek, the tumultuous Saint Myra Province was no longer what required his greatest attention.

Though his power had expanded tremendously in a short time, everything depended on withstanding the Holy Cross Kingdom's counterattack.

Otherwise, not only would all this vanish like smoke, but the backlash that followed would leave him with no choice but to flee into exile in another country.

After learning of the Locke Kingdom's invasion, the normally sluggish bureaucratic system of the Holy Cross Kingdom displayed rare efficiency.

They were confident they could drive off the Barbarians after a surprise attack, but if their old enemy, the Locke people, gained a firm foothold, driving them out would be difficult.

Derek had no choice but to set aside all other affairs and head to the very front line to take command.

From the first day he entered Saint Myra Province, Derek had not overlooked the possibility of a Holy Cross Kingdom counterattack.

That was why the newly established fortress beneath his feet had been under constant repair.

Large quantities of supplies were given priority and gathered here. Derek had prepared for a protracted war.

This was not a battle against the Barbarians. There was no need to take risks.

His goal was simply to hold on to the gains he already had, then digest them.

After a year, it would be uncertain who would be attacking whom.

"Before then, we must be prepared to bleed."

Derek's gaze was resolute. He did not care about enemies in other directions, but no one would pass through here.