Night blanketed Port Vias. The city, boisterous all day long, continued day's clamor, and like dough left too long to ferment, it gave off a rich scent of wine that forced people to throw themselves heart and soul into this gaudy uproar.
News came from the Governor's Office: Marquis Yueshan from the East had officially become the Federation's Duke of Green Forest, and the entirety of Green Forest Province had become the Green Forest Duke's domain. There had originally been more than a dozen small and mid-ranking nobles' territories within Green Forest Province, but when the Dragon Wing Legion invaded, those nobles had all fled to Port Vias for refuge. Marquis Yueshan... no, now Duke Yueshan, had bought all their lands at a price that left everyone happy.
In other words, Duke Yueshan was now the sole ruler of Green Forest Province—provided he first drove out the Dragon Wing Legion!
Of course, that was no problem. At the banquet, Duke Yueshan publicly declared that his army would work with the forces raised by the Governor's Office, pushing northward at the greatest speed, crushing—or even annihilating—the Dragon Wing Legion as swiftly as possible, and sending Black Duke Karon to meet the dead!
The nobles and wealthy merchants of all Port Vias were thrown into a frenzy by this news. This concerned the deployment of more than two hundred thousand troops: provisions and transport, weapons and armor, arrow supplies, and more. It was a colossal business opportunity!
Merchants great and small from Port Vias surged toward the Governor's Office like madmen. Even blacksmiths who specialized in forging arrowheads changed into formal attire and cautiously mingled among the dignitaries, promoting how sharp and durable their own arrowheads were.
Port Vias had become a whirlpool, and at the heart of this immense vortex reeking