Our Family Has Fallen

Walter’s unhurried demeanor prompted Vick to jest with him, but he went along with it and revealed the goods of this caravan.

"It’s mostly those mountain goods again..."

Most of Bastia is a wild mountainous area, and the fields are not very fertile, barely enough to supply its own grain needs.

In the past, when the mountains were under our control, we collaborated with the Barbarian Tribes, and exchanged various goods, including extraordinary trinkets made by the tribes. However, now it’s not the same as before; what we can offer are mostly herbs and furs, produced in abundance.

However, these items are very useful for Hamlet. After all, the sanatorium’s medical research and potion-making require a lot of herbs. Even though they have their own herb fields, no one complains about having too much.

Now that the sea route is open, he can also act as a middleman to sell to Totnes and make a small profit.

As for the furs, they are even more needed. With winter approaching, without enough clothing to keep warm, many people could die.

Walter, having a merchant background, even though he’s now the Governor of Ovando, hasn’t forgotten his roots. He knows the value of these items very clearly.

"At most, I’ll give you a hundred spears, thirty standard breastplates, and two full sets of knight armor."

Exchanging all these goods for just that, Walter saw Vick hesitate a bit and couldn’t help but tease, "What? Can’t swallow it?"

"Don’t mention it. That old thing is not as generous as the Lord. The last batch of knight armor I took back didn’t earn me any good grace."

The reason he said this is because these items have soul rings. People can die, so the armor stripped off them isn’t intact.

Even with the current chaotic situation, buying a few damaged sets of armor at a high price still irritated the Earl a bit.

"What? Want a discount from me?"

"My suggestion is to add another twenty percent. Anyway, these things sell easily. If we were selling horses too, he’d be willing to pay even more."

Walter also thought, good heavens, this batch of goods is already priced much higher than the market, but Vick still wants to add more. That greediness—truly a merchant.

But he had no objections to it, after all, the expenses for the entire event were being covered by the Earl.

"He still wants horses? Let him ask our Lord for them."

Walter teased, the Lord doesn’t care about armor because now both muskets and cannons can easily tear through those knight armors.

However, horses represent mobility. The more there are, the better. How could anyone be willing to give them to outsiders?

Hamlet’s cavalry could expand so quickly because Walter had leveraged the imperial army’s logistics.

Using that connection, he managed to acquire various military supplies. The equipment stripped from the dead was nothing, just needed a bit of manipulation to declare them damaged beyond repair.

There was even plenty of brand-new unused equipment. Besides armor, there were weapons, but they were not for sale to the Earl.

If the war continued, it would be hard to say, but now that things are at a stalemate without major battles, it’s even easier to act, because everyone needs to live, and living requires money.

The same method was used to acquire those war horses.

A bit more sophisticated was exchanging carriage-pulling mules for warhorses, making profit from the difference.

Even bolder was not even using mules at all, falsifying accounts, counting on the chaos to balance things out without concern.

Although recently the Emperor dealt with a logistics officer, it allowed newcomers to take advantage of an investigation opportunity to balance the books, blaming all deficits on the dead—after all, the dead don’t talk.

In turbulent times, as long as money guides the way, nothing is too audacious to sell, and especially with Walter holding onto such crucial supplies like grain.

The soldiers might curse about outdated and damaged equipment or the lack of warhorses, but if there’s no food, it’s a catastrophe.

Even if not for money, for food they’d have to trade with Walter, not to mention taking a cut for themselves. If they don’t seize the opportunity to profit now, it’s uncertain if they’ll have the chance later on.

It’s as absurd as when Hamlet declined and sold navy-bound newly launched ships to pirates.

Because pirates had taken money from the ancestors’ hands, while the navy’s funding was cut. How could the quartermasters on the payroll care about the frontline soldiers?

The logistics bureaucrats also had things to say:

The frontline officers need only focus entirely on the battlefield, obey orders, and fight fiercely. But rear personnel have a lot more to consider.

Amidst this banter about them, the duo finalized their deal, their casual demeanor indicating disinterest in the matter—it was simply a cover for their identities.

"What’s the situation on their side?"

"Restless. The Earl still has some strength. Lately, he’s been using those Eagle Flock and Order of Knights to target the nobles. Several have been eliminated, and some Order members have been promoted. Seems like he’s nurturing his eldest son..."

Previously, the Earl intended to train troops with the Mountain Barbarian Tribe and fabricate excuses for a Barbarian invasion to avoid meddling in the Empire’s skirmish with the rebels.

However, without years of large-scale battles, various issues surfaced—the embezzlement of military supplies, the Serf Soldier’s frailty faced with Barbarian Mercenaries familiar with Empire tactics, the Allied Army practically let it slip through.

Fortunately, the Order still had combat power, coupled with issues within the Mountain Barbarian Tribe itself, otherwise, it would have been more troublesome for him.

War failure demands accountability, not to mention Alvin directly sacrificing an Order for nothing in Hamlet, embarrassingly paying ransom for captives.

The Earl’s authority over Bastia waned, arousing more blatant aristocratic dissent and challenge.

Many of these nobles operated caravans to launder money as middlemen. The onset of war disrupts trade routes, basically, tearing up everyone’s livelihoods.

Moreover, their aristocratic leisure is rudely disrupted with battlefield summons. Damn, why aren’t you going? It’s not you dying, right?

Luckily, Bastia was won over by the Earl. Years of rule bolstered his reputation, or else resistance would be more fierce.

However, the Earl was ruthless—although unclear why the Barbarian Alliance Army withdrew, he seized military corruption incidents to drag many down.

He eliminated prominent figures, then let Bruce promote Order members without territories to build a base. It’s a classic move, hitting one group while pulling another, training those nobles as if taming dogs.

Walter was aware of this, as it had been brewing for a while. What Vick spoke of next was the focus.

"And the spies finally unearthed the Mountain chaos, understanding the real reason for the Barbarian Alliance’s retreat.

Based on gathered intelligence, the Earl perceived the mountains’ weakness and is now preparing to launch a true war..."

Hamlet had already learned about the mountain’s situation from the escaped Boslake, possibly ahead of the Earl about the beastification disease.

And the Earl’s spies ventured into the mountains post-Alliance withdrawal, eventually obtaining relevant information.

The Earl deemed it a ripe opportunity—military shortcomings patched over some span, at least now they have spears.

Internal affairs handled with firm resolve, and casualties emerged from soldier training amidst corpses had obtained combat readiness after a period.

The Earl perceived eased internal strife, preparing to counterattack and inflict another blow on the Barbarian Tribes.

The rationale was straightforward: exploit the beastification disease’s spread before the first snow—further sow discord in the mountains.

Without sufficient looted resources for winter survival, natural force would devastate those tribes once snows seal the mountains.

Come next spring, they’ll launch a full-scale war, utterly destroying those starved tribes.

Walter understood Vick’s rationale in upping the price—the Earl had to accept, poised to act.

Something, however, seemed amiss...

"Do you believe he genuinely targets the Barbarian Tribes?"

Faced with Walter’s doubt, Vick nodded with a grin.

"Indeed, I think the Earl’s true target isn’t the Barbarian Tribes, but the nobles."