Chapter 165: Seeking Something

Baron Matthew’s barony spans an area of 4,000 square kilometers, comprising 17 villages, 6 manors, and two towns—Golden Creek Town and Sandor Town. The total population is approximately 9,000, of which over 4,000 are freemen. However, most of the freemen in Baron Matthew’s barony are not vagrants, but rather the descendants of vassals and domain residents. They are fiercely loyal to the territory and can be armed into a militia at a moment’s notice.

Baron Matthew usually resides in Sandor Castle, commanding six lords beneath him. Five of these lords are the descendants of knights enfeoffed across generations by the Matthew family. Currently, these five lordly families comprise only 1 knight and 15 squire-knights. Together with Baron Matthew’s son, Lord James, the Baron can muster 2 knights and 15 squire-knights in total. Baron Matthew also maintains over 200 full-time bodyguards, 50 elite personal guards, 30 light cavalrymen, and can mobilize 3,000 militiamen. Among the barons of the Bryatt family, Baron Matthew is considered a person of considerable strength.

Baron Matthew himself is an ordinary noble, but his generous and modest demeanor has earned him the deep affection of the populace. The Baron has a son and a daughter. His son is the aforementioned Knight James, while his daughter, Judy, is a renowned beauty. At the age of sixteen, she caught the eye of Viscount Bryatt and became the Viscountess. Flowing Gold Town was given to Baron Matthew as a dowry by Viscount Bryatt, who also bestowed upon him a great deal of fine equipment.

Aside from his children, Baron Matthew has three sisters and a younger brother. One of his sisters is married to a Silver Knight of the Tholim Marquisate, while the Baron’s younger brother is a knight of the Tholim family, holding the status of a lord.

Baror cast an awe-filled glance at Victor, who was currently toying with the wind element, and then stood respectfully, awaiting his master’s inquiry.

A stream of blue airflow coiled around Victor’s index finger. Wind is naturally colorless; the appearance of blue signified the materialization of void wind elements. The blue wind element spun faster and faster at his fingertips, emitting a series of wailing, howling sounds. Sensing that the tyrannical wind element was no longer content to simply coil, Victor flicked his finger. The wind element transformed into a tiny ring, shooting straight toward an iron golem target five meters away. With a dull *bang*, the golem, crafted from refined iron, rocked backward. The spot struck by the wind element stirred up violent gusts, and the room was instantly filled with the sound of tearing silk.

Observing that the point of impact on the refined iron golem showed not a single scratch, Victor shook his head helplessly. This strike was enough to maim an unarmored ordinary person, but it was still a far cry from the Azure Moon described by Sword Saint Delavin. Nevertheless, being able to materialize the void wind element meant Victor had at least crossed the threshold, especially since he had only been practicing the Azure Combat Arts for a few months. Collecting his thoughts, Victor smiled at Baror and said, "I didn't expect Mercury to gather so much intelligence in such a short time. I am quite satisfied."

"My Lord, these are merely the most basic pieces of information, easily obtained by making a few inquiries. They hardly count as anything special," Baror replied nonchalantly.

Victor’s eyes lit up as he asked, "Oh? Do you have anything to add?"

Baror nodded and said, "My Lord, according to the intelligence transmitted by Mercury, it is clear that the Baron Matthew family is facing numerous problems. After Viscount Bryatt died in battle, Baron Matthew not only lost his greatest backing but also found himself facing suppression from the Viscount’s younger brother, Lord Austin. A clue to this can be seen in the Baron’s forced collection of tributes. Baron Matthew is known as a benevolent lord, yet he insists on collecting tributes even after his people have suffered disasters. Clearly, he is under immense pressure, which also indicates that Lady Judy no longer possesses the influence to sway the decisions of the Bryatt family. After all, Lord Austin has already advanced to a Greater Knight."

Frowning, Victor said, "I want to hear your perspective. Speak boldly!"

"Yes." Baror proceeded to detail his analytical findings to Victor.

As it turned out, when the ant-men invaded the Bryatt domain, Viscount Bryatt was returning to Willow Willow City from Flowing Gold Town after visiting his wife's family with his wife and children. Upon encountering the swarm, the Viscount led his personal guard unit to draw the ant-men away in order to protect his wife and children’s retreat. Meanwhile, the garrison commander of Flowing Gold Town mobilized over 600 militiamen to reinforce Viscount Bryatt. As a result, not only was Viscount Bryatt not rescued, but all 600 able-bodied militiamen perished without a single survivor.

After the ant disaster ended, the families of the fallen militiamen sought out Baron Matthew, weeping and demanding compensation as well as a waiver of tributes for several years. Although Baron Matthew was a benevolent lord, raising tens of thousands of gold solls in compensation was a difficult task, so he sought assistance from Willow Willow City. However, what Baron Matthew did not expect was that Willow Willow City not only refused his plea for help but also demanded that he ship grain to Willow Willow City. This was because the person currently calling the shots in the Bryatt family was Lord Austin, while Lady Judy and her son were in a precarious position.

"Baron Matthew could not afford to give Austin an excuse to strike at Lady Judy and her son. Therefore, rather than compensating those orphans and widows, the Baron forcibly collected grain instead. This was tantamount to abandoning the families of the fallen militiamen. In reality, most of the people driven out to forage for food were those discarded pawns. Ironically, Knight James completely failed to grasp Baron Matthew’s intentions, believing instead that his father was merely a cowardly, well-meaning old man."

When Baror finished speaking, Victor let out a long sigh. For creatures like lords, benevolence was an absolute luxury. Compensating the sacrificed militiamen should have been a matter of course, but when his daughter and family fell into adversity, Baron Matthew ruthlessly abandoned the families of those militiamen.

Victor could easily guess how Baron Matthew operated without even needing to think hard. First, he issued I.O.U.s to those families; next, he ordered the village chiefs of each settlement to hand over grain, leaving himself free of any further worries. Families that had lost their primary breadwinners inevitably became targets of expulsion by others, as everyone had numerous freeman relatives, and chasing away those orphans and widows allowed their own kin to acquire domain resident status. By simply sitting back and watching it unfold, Baron Matthew achieved three goals at once: he avoided paying massive compensation, delivered grain to his family to support his daughter, alleviated the population pressure and generational friction within his territory, and did so without staining his reputation in the slightest. The sole victims were those pitiful women and children.

"Baron Matthew can’t even afford tens of thousands of gold solls in compensation; I fear he doesn't have much wealth to spare. Baror, how much ransom do you think he will send?" Victor asked with a smile.

Baror, however, replied, "My Lord, if my estimation is correct, Baron Matthew will not only send a massive ransom, but he will also come in person."

"Haha, I have no desire to get myself entangled in the muddy waters of the Bryatt family. If he thinks he can buy me off to establish ties with the York family, he has miscalculated. Still, if he dares to send it, I dare to receive it. It will serve nicely as operational funds for you and Mercury," Victor laughed heartily.

Just as they were speaking, Lilia, dressed in a white dress, knocked a few times on the open door and flashed a sweet smile toward Victor.

"Victor, Baron Matthew’s carriage is heading toward Estuary Village."

————————————————

Victor met Baron Matthew in his own manor.

Baron Matthew appeared to be in his forties, wearing a blue formal coat over a fine white linen shirt, with a vintage-style gemstone brooch pinned at the collar. It was extremely formal attire, though the Baron’s complexion betrayed fatigue and exhaustion, whether caused by the hardship of the journey, anxiety over family affairs, or both.

Compared to Baron Matthew’s formal attire, Victor wore only a narrow-sleeved, round-collared casual tunic, whose natural casualness inadvertently displayed a deeply discourteous nonchalance. Realizing this himself, Victor smiled and said, "Baron Matthew, I did not expect you to come in person rather than dispatching an envoy first."

Matthew had initially felt a trace of dissatisfaction, but upon hearing this, he felt a renewed sense of awkwardness. When two families negotiated ransoms and compensation packages, they usually dispatched envoys to conduct negotiations first; it was rare for a lord to engage in face-to-face talks right from the start. For a figure of Baron Matthew’s status to appear in person bordered on groveling, meaning he could hardly blame himself for receiving a cold reception. However, Baron Matthew’s trip was not merely to redeem his heir; he was even more eager to mend fences with his neighbor in order to borrow momentum for self-preservation.

"Lord Viscount Randel, I offer my deepest apologies for James’s rash behavior. In accordance with precedent, I am willing to pay you a ransom to compensate for your losses."

Baron Matthew’s attendant placed a wooden box on the table. Inside rested twenty purple gold coins. Each purple gold coin could be exchanged at the Gambis Royal Household Department for 1,000 gold solls, making the twenty purple gold coins equivalent to 20,000 gold solls. For most barons, this was a staggering fortune, far exceeding the standard knightly ransom among Gambis lords. Naturally, Victor would never complain about having too much money; his intelligence organization and independent civilian chamber of commerce were in dire need of substantial startup capital.

"Baron Matthew, you may take Lord James away. I assure you that Lord James received treatment befitting his status; in fact, he was quite satisfied with the food here."

Baron Matthew said with a beaming smile, "I am truly grateful. As you likely already know, we are currently facing a severe grain shortage, to the extent that my domain residents have had to venture outside to forage for food."

The two lords struck up a casual conversation regarding the grain issue. Through their chat, Victor learned that although the Bryatt family possessed vast tracts of fertile land, their grain reserves were chronically insufficient because their population had swelled to 50,000. Gathering and hunting had long been vital means for them to supplement their food supply, but the recent ant disaster had caused a total crop failure, and traditional hunting grounds no longer yielded enough resources to bridge the food deficit, giving rise to the refugee problem. Baron Matthew expressed his intention to do his utmost to restrain his subjects from migrating into the Randel territory. Victor, however, smiled and said:

"Baron Matthew, while I am also short on grain here, I am willing to provide whatever assistance is within my power to those frail women and children. However, fierce wolves roam that forest, and without a guide, they might well perish in the jaws of the beasts. Therefore, I intend to establish an outpost on the fringe of the forest to provide warnings and aid to the people."

Baron Matthew’s expression instantly turned colorful. He could hear clearly that Victor intended to take in those expelled old, weak, women, and children. Matthew found it hard to understand why Victor would do such a thing. As far as he knew, the York family was in an even worse state than the Bryatts; only days ago, they had friction with the Raptor Knight Order over grain. Could this young lord be acting purely out of benevolence? Still, since Victor was willing to take on the burden, Baron Matthew was more than happy to see it happen. He praised, "Lord Viscount is truly benevolent!"

Victor smiled and nodded; a tacit understanding had thus been reached. Baron Matthew would secretly instruct his subordinates to herd the families of those militiamen near that outpost, where Victor’s men would take over.

With his alchemical militiamen, Victor had no shortage of able-bodied laborers; what he needed right now was a stable and loyal populace. There were still several hundred bachelors in Estuary Village, and these women and children could serve perfectly to form families with them, which would help foster a deeper sense of reliance and identity toward the territory. Victor certainly did not want the people he cultivated to be easily poached by other factions.

Of course, the population Victor could absorb was also limited. Considering that the appetite of women and children was lower than that of able-bodied men, 1,500 women and children was a manageable scale for Victor. Establishing the outpost not only allowed him to control the influx of population but also screened out the disabled, the elderly, the dim-witted—and, well, the exceptionally ugly. In short, it allowed him to select individuals of relatively higher quality to join the Randel territory. Victor was certain that with Baron Matthew’s cooperation, this population movement would be entirely controllable. After all, without anyone organizing them, the common folk would never dare to cross the territory of the ferocious wolves.

Seeing that Victor was in high spirits, Baron Matthew remarked at the opportune moment, "By the way, I heard that Lord Nelson’s weapon was shattered. I specifically brought a piece of refined iron to present to Lord Nelson through the Lord Viscount, to express gratitude for his restraint during their duel."

A simian militiaman stepped forward to receive the half-pound block of refined iron. High in spirits, Victor smiled and said, "I thank the Baron on behalf of Nelson for your generosity."

"This hardly counts as generosity," Baron Matthew waved his hand and said, "Compared to refined iron, which one can neither eat nor drink, Lord Viscount’s willingness to part with precious grain to relieve those freemen is true generosity! I also have a gift here for you."

Baron Matthew had already offered money and refined iron, addressing him deferentially as 'My Lord' and 'You' at every turn. This near-subservient attitude made Victor truly understand the saying 'eating someone's food makes your mouth soft, taking someone's gift makes your hands short.' However, when the fiery-red crystal inside the wooden box was revealed, Victor no longer had the luxury of feeling embarrassed.

"This is?"

"This is a flame crystal. Not only is it a rare gemstone, but it is also the elemental crystal most beloved by flame knights," Baron Matthew replied.

Victor instantly understood that this was Baron Matthew’s trump card to win him over, believing that Victor would use this crystal to curry favor with Sylvia. However, Victor suspected this might be the red crystal Buso had spoken of, though with Matthew present, it was inconvenient to have the alchemical militiaman verify it.

"Lord Baron, how did you come to acquire such a crystal?"

Victor’s slightly eager attitude served as a reassuring pill for Matthew, who sighed and said, "Flame crystals are extremely rare. This was a gift given to me by Viscount Bryatt. Unfortunately, the Viscount died in battle against the ant swarm while protecting his wife and child. In the upcoming grand hunting festival organized by Her Majesty Queen Catherine, our Bryatt family will have no lords able to attend. However, Lord Austin, Viscount Bryatt’s younger brother, has received an invitation from the royal family. Ah! Understandable, really—Lord Austin had bowed and scraped to Her Majesty the Queen long before the ant disaster occurred, and it is said that the Queen once promised to bestow a barony upon Lord Austin, who had also carried out a certain directive for Her Majesty."

Victor’s pupils contracted slightly, and he said indifferently, "Is that so?"