Not everyone was as fortunate as the Red Tide Fief, blessed with a lord like Louis, who was calm, decisive, and possessed an intelligence system.
Grant County, the iron bulwark of the Northern Frontier, was one such example.
The territory stood at a vital crossroads between Red Tide and Snowfall Commandery, where ice plains interspersed with mountain forests and major roads stretched in every direction.
It was the first iron bulwark protecting the Northern Frontier's heartland. The Grant Family had established itself there long ago and ruled by hereditary succession.
In military strength, the Grant Family commanded a fearsome elite legion-the Frozen Blood Warband.
It was a veteran force clad in heavy ice-scale armor, renowned for its mountain warfare tactics.
Its discipline was strict and its organization extensive. Every winter, it conducted combat exercises around the frozen lakes. Even in storms of extreme cold, it was said to hold its formations without breaking.
The heart of its defenses was the formidable Embedded Rock Fortress.
It was no mere castle, but a massive stronghold embedded into the mountain itself, fused with the layers of rock.
A poet had once written, with some exaggeration, "If Embedded Rock Fortress falls, the Northern Frontier is lost."
They called themselves "the wall of the Northern Frontier."
For years, they had resisted northern barbarians and cold-dwelling magical beasts, never truly falling.
This was the glory that children of the Grant Family grew up hearing about, and the source of all their confidence.
Together, these things had created a stable prosperity.
Order prevailed within the fortress. Farming and trade were well organized, and granaries, foundries, schools, and stables were all fully provisioned.
Even during the snowy season, they could hold temple fairs, hunting contests, and military parades.
Compared with other territories struggling to stockpile supplies through the