11. Harvest

At dawn, Landen walked out of the barbarian tribe's main tent. To his surprise, several Knights and Reserve Knights were already up. Grey Dog took a Reserve Knight to count the livestock; Raul took someone to welcome Walker; Albert began interrogating the captured Mana-Less; Grey Dog's son and another Knight searched the tents for spoils.

Whenever they saw Landen, everyone greeted him with heartfelt smiles. Their faces were filled with hope.

Landen was happy as well—far happier than when he had become acting Baron. He had only been in this other world for a few days, yet he had spent every day fleeing for his life. Today, though they had won through superior numbers, he had finally seen hope.

Before the Barony's Territory Residents arrived that morning, Landen learned the results of the night raid: they had captured thirty-eight Mana-Less in total—two over the age of thirty-five, twelve Mana-Less men, seventeen women, and seven children—as well as twelve Black-Scaled Horses, fifteen Pack Beasts, and fifty Long-Haired Sheep.

Besides the people and livestock, the camp contained eight carts and twelve tents, a little over ten Gold Coins, one hundred Silver Coins, and more than two hundred Copper Coins; three sets of Iron Armor suitable for Intermediate Knights; four hundred kilograms of grain; twenty kilograms of salt; twenty kilograms of Magic Beast Meat; more than ten Spears and long blades; some Magic Cores from Magic Beasts; over thirty animal hides; and several iron pots.

The grain and livestock they had gained greatly eased Landen's food shortage. Still, he had questions. Why were there so many Black-Scaled Horses in this camp? Judging by the number of tents and horses, there should have been more than ten barbarian Mana-Wielders here. Where had they gone?

Landen and Albert decided to question the two "elderly" captives over thirty-five. According to their accounts, the tribe had originally possessed ten Mana-Wielding barbarians. Half a month ago, the leader of the Grey Goose Tribe had sent word, demanding that the leaders of the surrounding tribes travel to Grey Goose for an alliance gathering.

Since this tribe had often attended the Grey Goose Tribe's gatherings, they assumed this one would be like the previous ones, focused on hunting and trade. So the tribal leader had taken four Barbarian Cavalrymen with him. Yet several days had passed, and they had heard no news of their leader.

The Grey Goose Tribe and the Brown Bear Tribe were the two largest tribes south of the Gallop River. The Brown Bear Tribe relied on an Iron Mine in the Western Region, making it larger in scale, while the Brown Bear leader himself was stronger as well.

Yet the Grey Goose Tribe, which relied on a Salt Mine, was more proactive than Brown Bear in dealing with the surrounding tribes.

Through the Salt Mine in the northeastern region, the Grey Goose Tribe maintained regular trade with the human nobles of the southern Dragon Kingdom. Using the profits from that trade, Grey Goose controlled the surrounding small and medium-sized tribes.

Every spring and before winter, the Grey Goose Tribe summoned the nearby small and medium tribes for alliance gatherings and hunts. At those gatherings, attending tribes could obtain small amounts of salt and exchange furs and Black-Scaled Horses for salt, ironware, grain, and other goods from the interior.

By the year 996, the Grey Goose Tribe's alliance gatherings had continued for seven years. During the first two years, most tribes that attended had been intimidated by Grey Goose's numbers and strength. Some had even feared that Grey Goose would seize the chance to swallow up the other tribes.

But after another two years, the smaller tribes realized that the Grey Goose Tribe only wanted to buy their one- or two-year-old Black-Scaled Horses. To reassure them and encourage horse breeding, Grey Goose was willing to extend them credit in grain and salt, and even provide stallions during the gatherings.

Thus, over the past two years, the small and medium tribes surrounding Grey Goose had all become suppliers of Black-Scaled Horses.

Black-Scaled Horses had a gestation period of half a year, and then required another year to mature after birth.

At the alliance gathering three years ago, many tribes watched horse-selling tribes trade five or six Black-Scaled Horses for dozens of Long-Haired Sheep and enough food for an entire winter. Soon, tribes all around brought mares and stallions to the next gathering, sold off their old horses, and prepared to make a fortune two years later.

This winter's gathering was precisely when all the small and medium tribes would bring the results of two years of breeding and horse raising to the Grey Goose Tribe, sell their horses, and cash in.

Albert had pieced together all of this information from his interrogations of the captives.

Landen was deeply shaken after hearing it. He felt that if the leader of the Grey Goose Tribe had lived in his own era, he would have been some kind of business genius. It was not uncommon to profit from salt, but it was rare to use the profits from salt trading to draw in all the surrounding tribes.

He had turned a group of nomadic barbarians into cooperative livestock farmers. Yet what this leader was truly doing was not livestock breeding at all. Under the guise of breeding, he had made every tribe across the Grassland stockpile vast numbers of horses for him. Once those horses and the barbarians riding them gathered together, they became an enormous cavalry force.

Still, Landen could not understand something. Given the current trade between the Gallop Plains and the Dragon Kingdom, Black-Scaled Horses alone should have been enough to offset the barbarians' food consumption. Why did the barbarians still attack the Dragon Kingdom? What was there that could not be obtained through trade?

"There is one thing: human Mana-Wielder slaves." The captive answered Landen's question. One of the camp's only two "elderly" Mana-Less over thirty-five was named Yoke. He had once been the Butler of a Baron in the Dragon Kingdom, until his master's family had been raided by barbarians during a business venture six or seven years ago.

The ordinary Mana-Less in this camp had generally been captured from humans within the last two years. Of the remaining Mana-Less, more than half had been traded for or purchased in small batches over the past nine years. Thus, most of the captives were human, while the rest were Mana-Less descendants of humans and barbarians.

Most barbarians had no particular obsession with killing, but the barbarians of the Southern Gallop Plains enjoyed abducting human Mana-Wielders. According to Yoke, the barbarians raided humans, kept the Mana-Less as slaves, and sold Mana-Wielders to large camps such as Salt Mines and Iron Mines.

When his household had been attacked by the Grey Goose Tribe, his master had been taken away by the Grey Goose leader, while the remaining Mana-Less had been brought to the alliance gathering and sold to small and medium tribes.

According to Yoke, barbarian Salt Mines required large numbers of miners. Mana-Less could not mine for long periods at high intensity, while barbarian Mana-Wielders would not mine themselves. Therefore, every time they attacked the Dragon Kingdom, they abducted large numbers of Mana-Wielders and sent them to the mines. Mana-Wielders mined, while Mana-Less boiled salt. That was how labor was divided in the Salt Mines.

Landen was utterly stunned. The nobles of the Dragon Kingdom called themselves Mana-Wielders and lived like feudal landlords in the Middle Ages, yet the entire Kingdom had neither iron nor horses.

Meanwhile, those barbarians appeared to live primitive tribal lives, but in reality, they were high-value industrialists and mine owners who did business with swords in hand.

The key was that, in the barbarians' eyes, the nobles were actually just laborers. Landen had felt that his own life as a Mana-Wielder resembled that of the large beasts beside him. He had never expected the barbarians to see it the same way.

This other world was truly surreal. Mages would fall silent upon hearing this, while capitalists would weep.

Yet Landen found several crucial points in Yoke's words. First, the main forces of these small tribes had all gone to the Grey Goose Tribe. Second, many of the tribes' Mana-Less were humans abducted by the barbarians. In other words, he did not need to worry that capturing Mana-Less from new barbarian camps would cause trouble for him. On the contrary, he would be their savior, rescuing them from the barbarians.

Third, these barbarians abducted human Mana-Wielders as slaves. That meant his cheap father and brothers might very well be doing hard labor somewhere.

"Albert, everyone, based on Yoke's information, perhaps we can attack a few more barbarian camps. We might even find my father and brothers!" Landen voiced his idea.

"It's one way, but will the Grey Goose Tribe give us that much time? What if we stay on the Gallop Plains too long and run into their main force?" Albert voiced his concern.

"That is certainly possible, but I think it will be much later. Grey Goose has gathered so many barbarians, and they did not head south of Korniko Pass to do business.

"They want Mana-Wielder slaves. Since everyone from our Territory has withdrawn, they will go back to raid Rothe Territory. But Rothe Territory only has a few dozen people. Will that be enough to satisfy Grey Goose's appetite?"

"But farther inland, there is the Count's Knight Order!" Raul spoke up then. "The Count's Knight Order cannot be compared to the Knights of Rothe Territory. The Count can also summon Mages and Priests."

"They do not necessarily need to fight head-on," Landen said. "The Northwest Count Territory is vast. If the Count divides his forces to garrison different places, they will be picked apart by large barbarian groups. If he gathers them together to confront the barbarians, he will give the barbarians the chance to sweep through his rear."

How could one deal with highly mobile nomadic tribes?

Many agricultural kingdoms chose to defend their cities and wait until the nomads exhausted the food they carried with them. But in the Dragon Kingdom, the most suitable castle for defending against barbarians was the castle in Rothe Territory.

The castle stood beside a tributary of the Gallop River, surrounded by water on three sides. From its towers, one could monitor Korniko Pass. It could be called the best possible defensive position.

Yet even if the Count, through suspicion and hesitation, had missed the best moment to send troops, Landen did not believe the Count could help defend the Viscount's castle.

Because throughout history, Rothe Castle had never held during large-scale barbarian invasions. Magic Turbulence from the Gallop Plains blew straight into Rothe Territory on the north wind. Throughout Rothe Territory, human extraordinary beings found it difficult to exert their full strength.

Without the support of magic, low-ranking human extraordinary beings could not even defeat ordinary Barbarian Cavalry.

"My only regret is that I cannot personally witness the Grey Goose Tribe breach Rothe Castle and see the traitors meet their end!" When Landen said this, it was as though he had pronounced a death sentence upon his relatives.

Raul and Albert felt chills run down their spines, but they had to admit that Rothe Territory now had to face hundreds of Barbarian Cavalry on its own. Even if Baron Bob had managed the Territory well over the past few years, he could only have accumulated strength gradually. The Grey Goose Tribe, however, had dragged all the barbarians south of the Gallop River into advancing and retreating together. Bob's Rothe Territory was likely truly doomed.

That afternoon, Landen's two camps finally joined together. The Territory Residents' excited expressions were full of astonishment and admiration. Landen was the first person in several generations of the family to enter the Gallop Plains and defeat a barbarian tribe. The gains from his single battle exceeded Hark's business profits of several years.

"You're incredible, Landen!" Nila finally relaxed when she saw him. "Even Master Hark's savings from an entire year cannot compare to what you gained in one night!"

"But we have not safely returned to the Northwest Count Territory yet. Everything we have gained could vanish in a single night." Landen understood clearly that his actions were a gamble. This victory was only the first round. Before they safely returned to Gallop Barony, anything could still happen.

"Young Master, it is enough that you are safe. I never imagined you could gain so much in a single night. Master Hark must be watching over us!" Mevenan was extremely excited.

In his eyes, Hark, Ryan, and Obert being abducted was like the sky collapsing. Although the youngest member of the family, Landen, had advanced to Junior Knight, he was the Baron's fourth son, one who had awakened his Bloodline at fourteen and only become a Reserve Knight at eighteen. In the Dragon Kingdom, such talent could only be considered a liability.

Generally, becoming a Reserve Knight only at eighteen meant that one's future limit would be Senior Knight at most, and would still require the family to invest substantial resources.

Yet now, this fourth son of modest potential had led the remnants of the Territory to conquer a barbarian tribe. This was a major event worthy of being recorded in the Count Territory's chronicles. Mevenan was so moved that tears streamed down his face.

The merger of the camps went even more smoothly than Landen had expected. At Albert's request, all the newly captured Mana-Less, livestock, and wealth belonged personally to Landen. Landen had led his subordinates to defeat the barbarians as their lord, but everything originally in Gallop Camp belonged to Hark Gallop, not Landen Gallop. As the leader of this battle, Landen Gallop himself had owned nothing. Under such circumstances, all the spoils should go to Landen first.

For Landen, these gains merely meant acquiring enough people for a Knight Territory. Although these people could not be considered his own, after returning to his Territory in the future, he could exchange them with several families.

Thus, the former barbarian leader's great tent became Landen's tent. Yoke was provisionally appointed Butler and would study under Mevenan, while the Mana-Less were temporarily placed under Nila's management.

Once matters of ownership had been settled, the first thing Landen did was slaughter sheep for a celebration. After fleeing for so many days, everyone had been eating vegetable flatbread, wild vegetables, or wheat porridge. Knights needed a great deal of meat, even Magic Beast Meat, to maintain their fighting strength.

Landen also tried on the barbarians' Iron Armor. According to Territory custom, only after a family Knight became a Junior Knight would the Territory buy him armor. Even then, it was not a full suit, only Leather Armor reinforced with iron plates. The three sets of Iron Armor they had obtained were all full suits, with chainmail linings, adjustable half-armor, and matching skirt armor.

A suit like this usually cost between one hundred and two hundred Gold Coins in the Dragon Kingdom. If the armor material was good enough to bear Runes, it would cost even more. The Iron Armor on the Gallop Plains all came from Iron Mines in the southwest and was of excellent quality.

Landen wore one set himself and gave one each to Raul and Grey Dog. They had been the two who worked the hardest these past days, yet they were still flattered beyond measure to receive two sets of Iron Armor.

Of course, the others could not be neglected either. Landen divided the twenty jin of Magic Beast Meat among the low-ranking Knights and Reserve Knights.