Translator: Cinder Translations
...
"By the end of last month, the number of conflict incidents along the border between the Blackstone Pass and the Yellow Earth Lands has risen to a total of 101."
In the conference hall of Alden Town, Paul and various military and political officials were listening to a report on the current situation with the orcs.
"The number of refugees crossing the border is increasing. To date, we have taken in over 13,000 people. Based on current trends, it's foreseeable that in the near future..."
An intelligence officer returning from the Blackstone Pass was reading a report.
"Young man, please allow me to interrupt!" A sudden voice cut him off.
"Yes, General, what is your command?" The young officer straightened up, sitting at attention, waiting for the speaker's words.
A knight, nearly fifty years old, said solemnly, "The border between the Blackstone Pass and the Yellow Earth Lands has never been our border. Our true border lies at the Watcher's Keep."
The knight's facial features were as if carved from granite with a battle axe. Sunlight cast a flowing golden edge on his face, and his gray-blue pupils were like a frozen lake. Three parallel scars slashed across his right temple and nose, and his steel-gray stubble extended neatly along his hairline like a snowline across a ridge.
He was Earl Hal Duke, the Vice Commander of the Watcher Legion.
This army had not perished.
After the orcs launched their invasion of Aldor, the Watcher Legion, due to the betrayal of the Bradley family, quickly found themselves caught in a pincer attack. The Legion Commander, Duke Morton, was killed heroically, and Earl Duke took command. However, the fortress was eventually overwhelmed by the orc assault. In the final moments, Earl Duke ordered a breakout.
With enemies to the east, west, and north, he had no choice but to lead the surviving troops southward into the Argin Highlands.
From Crystal Glare's perspective, the Argin Plateau lay to its east, also known as the Eastern Highlands. The residents of the highlands were human but had low productivity, living in tribal societies. Their civilization level was little better than that of the orcs.
These tribes nominally submitted to the Kingdom of Aldor but often betrayed or switched allegiances.
The kingdom had little recourse, as its soldiers from the plains would face severe acclimatization issues in the Argin Highlands. Symptoms like headaches, dizziness, insomnia, fatigue, difficulty breathing, nausea, and vomiting severely hindered the military's effectiveness, and their campaigns in the highlands never lasted long.
Before Giles' rebellion, many highland tribes had sent raiding parties down to the plains. The former king, Rodney XVII, had to send Catherine with an army to quell them.
The cunning highlanders used their usual tactics—luring the kingdom's army into the highlands to weaken them through the acclimatization sickness.
Catherine saw through their plan. After a few tactical victories, she secretly recruited a leader named Roroff to her side with the title of Earl.
Originally, she had planned to use him later, but Giles' rebellion disrupted her plans, forcing her to act sooner.
With Roroff's help, the kingdom's army won a significant victory, but instead of staying to mop up, they turned south to confront Giles.
However, the kingdom's victory was not thorough. Roroff's cooperation with the kingdom was more about using the kingdom to eliminate rival tribes. He also desired a formal Earl title—among the backward regions, even though Crystal Glare had a weak military, its spiritual and cultural influence made the Earl title from there highly valuable.
After the kingdom's army left the Argin Highlands, Roroff became the de facto ruler of the area.
Later intelligence almost confirmed that the highlanders' rebellion had been secretly instigated, likely by Giles—Crystal Glare's weakness could create favorable conditions for his rebellion. However, other forces, such as the wizards, might have been involved.
The remnants of the Watcher Legion, in their most desperate hour, traveled south into the Argin Highlands, hoping to bypass this route and return to the royal lands.
But Roroff detained them under the guise of "hospitality." This nominal vassal of the Kingdom of Aldor wanted to make a deal with the kingdom—perhaps upgrading his title or securing a large sum of treasure. In any case, he would not allow the kingdom's army to travel freely through his lands.
When Crystal Glare received Roroff's letter, there was both joy and concern—joy that this loyal army had not perished, but concern about the heavy ransom and negotiations ahead.
The negotiations were difficult. Roroff's demands were enormous, which strained the kingdom's finances, and granting him a Duke title was out of the question. Paul Grayman had only just been granted a Marquis title after defeating the orcs. If Roroff was allowed to pressure the kingdom into granting him a Duke title, the royal authority would suffer a heavy blow.
As both sides reached a stalemate, Paul intervened. He paid enough ransom to secure the release of Earl Duke and his men.
The Watcher Legion, originally created to defend against the orcs, had almost made defeating the orcs their creed. Earl Duke, now freed, went to Crystal Glare to meet with the king, received approval from Rodney XVIII, and set out with his troops to the Blackstone Pass, intending to seek revenge in the future war against the orcs.
Earl Duke first arrived at Alden Town to meet with the now Marquis Paul Grayman.
Many years ago, he had visited the Northwest Bay to procure supplies for the Legion. At that time, the region had just concluded the Usurper War. Paul Grayman and his allies had recently captured the last city of Kent, and Earl Duke had met Paul in that city.
Back then, Earl Duke had seen Paul as just a young man full of energy but still a child. Young Paul had left little impression on him.
However, now that Earl Duke met Paul again, he was surprised by how calm and mature Paul had become. Paul Grayman was now like the domain he ruled—he had grown into someone truly remarkable.
The entire region of Alden, and even the entire Northwest Bay, no longer matched the image Earl Duke once had of it. The towns had grown large, and many things he had never seen before had appeared.
In Alden Town, he thanked Paul in person for paying the ransom for himself and his men.
Paul asked what their plans were going forward, and Earl Duke did not hesitate to answer that he intended to fight the orcs to the death.
"Join us," Paul Grayman extended an invitation to him.
(End of the Chapter)
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