City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

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Baron Lockridge

“We would have worked together so well, General Jarvis,” I said and sighed, looking at the man who was getting shackled.

He resisted, leaving me no choice but to take action personally to suppress him. He is one of the strongest people we have, and the Baronies’ army respects him.

His help would have been tremendously useful, but unfortunately, he is unwilling to help.

The man didn’t say anything and just looked at me. I shook my head and walked out of the cell, before walking out of the keep where my army of thirty thousand had gathered.

“Lysand submitted,” informed Schafer. “Seventeen more to go,” I replied.

There are thirty-two baronies, and fifteen have submitted. All from the south and central, but not a single one from the north had submitted.

Forget the three; even Nightingale, Moss, and others aren’t submitting as well.

“Inform them what will happen if they don’t submit,” I replied. He nodded and turned to his mage, and I turned to my mage.

“Anything?” I asked. “The same. He is not taking calls,” he replied.

“Bastard!” I cursed. Husk is making things difficult. Now that he knows, he has truly become valuable.

“He is clinging to his position,” said Schafer. He is technically the head of Baronies, but he is a compromised candidate with the least amount of power.

Be that as it may, he seemed to have become attached to the position, or it might be a negotiation strategy to get more benefits.

“Keep trying to contact him,” I ordered, before stopping in front of the army.

The army of thirty thousand was looking at me, waiting for their orders. This is an army loyal to me and my allies. There is not a single bloody non-human in here.

This is a pure blooded human army.

I am opposed to non-humans in the army, but I had accepted the others’ proposal due to the need. With Grimvale, I won’t have to worry about not having enough men.

“My people, they have betrayed us,” I said, my voice reaching every ear due to Loud Voice.

“They are the northern Barons and their allies; the snakes that sit on the council. They have sold our baronies to Silver, and became his slaves,” I took a deliberate pause, studying their expressions.

“Today, we’re going to march in there and liberate the city and punish the enemies so they will never think about doing something like this again!” I finished, and a moment later, the earth began to shake under their feet.

A minute later, we are marching toward Lauryl.

I have gotten the support of the southern barons and a few central ones. I now need to conquer Lauryl before moving to the Northern Barons.

It would be best if Husk bent the knee and yielded, but if he will not, I will not hesitate to use force.

Worse yet, should Husk bind himself to the northern barons, the danger multiplies: his ten thousand and another ten thousand marching from the north will fall upon the city before we can. Despite the greater distance they must travel,

They are using beast carriages; there are a lot of them at the fort due to the constant supply of goods coming and going from there.

They could easily squeeze ten thousand people in them. It would be much harder to squeeze in the thirty thousand that I am marching with.

There is also ten thousand Silver sent from Greltheaven. They will arrive before Grimvale and Dane’s forces reach the city.

Though by then I would have surrounded the city; no, not surround, but conquered the city. Because once Leila Silver and Harrods dealt with monsters, they would come, bringing thirty-five thousand men.

Our numbers will still be much greater than fifteen thousand by then, but that is not a huge number.

There is also Silver; he might make things difficult.

No matter what, I have to take Lauryl as soon as possible. Once I have that, my way to conquer the baronies will be cleared.

…

Leila Silver

“He is asking too much,” I said as I finished talking with my brother. I have been in constant contact with him, but more than them.

‘Do we have any choice?’ asked Baron Homer from the link. “No, we do not,” replied Baron Harrods.

“The deal is not good, but it’s not the worst, either. Yes, we will lose a lot of our authority, but in exchange, we will get the aegis of Greltheaven Dominion.”

“We won’t live in constant fear of monsters breaching our territory, killing our people, and destroying our crops.”

‘We will also get access to the Greltheaven market for our goods, access to Velvet Garden, and the essence potions that could save a lot of lives.’ Baron Homer said.

“In exchange, we will have to give up our independence, give precedence to Greltheaven laws over our local laws, and many other things that are painful, but bearable.” Added Baron Harrods.

“Yes, then?” I asked and got affirmation from three.

“Good, I will accept the offer and give orders to Alaric to leave with ten thousand men,” I said.

The monsters are coming in an hour, and I could only spare ten thousand. That is only after five thousand coming from the fort.

Still, there will be a difference of five thousand. That is huge, considering we are already working with less force than we needed to deal with the monsters.

The battle is going to be extremely difficult, but there is no choice. Not only will I have to fight them and repel them, but then lead the army back into the baronies.

Ten thousand is coming from Greltheaven, and Remus promised some from Mirador Hold as well.

I had already sent ten thousand from our forces here, the moment Lockridge announced his intentions.

Husk is undecided; he is not even meeting Homer. I need his support and support of his ten thousand, not to mention Lauryl; we can’t let it fall into the hands of Lockridge.

I was thinking that when a message came from Homer.

“What happened?” asked Baron Harrods. “Husk has sealed the city; he is not letting anyone leave or enter,” I replied with a frown.

He had refused to talk to me. I don’t know his intentions or what he plans to do. I hope he hadn’t submitted to Lockridge; that would be terrible.

Not only because it’s the only city in the baronies, but also because it’s the financial and political capital of the baronies. Many nobles and their children are there, including a few from the north.

If they get captured, it will be terrible.

…

Baron Homer

I stepped out of my office and saw more guards than usual.

It had been fifteen minutes since Husk had sealed Lauryl, and now there are guards everywhere.

He had declared martial law.

Most people are still sleeping, but soon they will start waking up. It will be a completely different city from the one they had gone to bed in.

I had already come three times and was sent back each time. I have to meet Husk this time, no matter what.

Lockridge is marching toward Lauryl. Thankfully, ten thousand are coming from the north, and another ten thousand are coming from Silver, but they will not all arrive before Lockridge.

Soon, I reached Husk’s office, guarded by even more guards than before.

“I want to meet Baron Husk,” I said, like I had said the last three times. “He is waiting for you,” replied the red-haired guard.

“I” I opened my mouth to insist, but stopped midway as I realized he was willing to meet me.

I closed my eyes and assumed a graceful posture. I am noble, not a damn merchant. Even after years, I sometimes forget that.

I nodded and walked toward the door, controlling myself not to run toward it. This is very important. I have to meet him and convince him to join our camp.

Without him, we will be in big trouble.

The door opened and I walked inside. There I saw Husk, sitting in his usual seat, and I opened my mouth to greet him when my eyes fell on a person sitting in front of him.

I only saw him a few times, but I could never forget him. That one-handed man is quite hard to forget.

“Baron Homer, I am sure you have met General Hiren,” said Husk with a smile on his face, while all I could do was close my mouth.

…

Thaddeous Stone

“Best of luck, General,” said Lady Carla. “Thank you, my lady,” I replied and turned to Cardin. He knows what he has to do: keep the fortress under control.

I didn’t have to say anything to him. So, I just nodded and turned toward the gate.

“Forward,” I ordered, and rode out of the fortress with the army of twenty-five thousand behind me. Fifteen thousand are our people, while ten thousand are of the fortress.

They are people under officers whom Cardin trusts the most. I wouldn’t want to suffer what Dane had. We need to be very careful.

My destination is the same as Vesbeil, the baronies.

We can not let Grimvale conquer any of the baronies; that is out of the question. So, I am going there, taking the army of twenty-five thousand men. It is half of what is in front of me.

What was left of Dane and Grimvale still amounted to fifty thousand strong.

It is a big army, but my target isn’t to fight them. I will follow. It would be good if they stopped and tried fighting with me, which I will not do; I will only retreat.

That is why I waited forty-five minutes before following them.

My purpose is to support our allies in the barony, which will become part of the Dominion if we can save it.

They might have big numbers, but it is a window of a few hours once the northern Barions finish dealing with the monster in the north. An army of thirty-five thousand will be free to act.

So, they have very little time to do what they want.

“General Stone, General Vesbeil wants to talk to you,” informed the mage. I smiled as I looked up; there are beasts in the sky; I could shoot them down, but I want them to see me.

“Ok,” I replied and took his hand. Let’s see what he wants.

…

Greltheaven

“An army of thirty thousand had left, Dustorn Fortress,” informed Zela, as I was looking at dawn standing by the window of my office.

I am not surprised about it; I am astonished that it happened so late. Well, I have to thank Tabes for that; they have kept Grimvale busy in exchange for some incentives.

They did only for a few hours, but these few hours will play a major part in the fate of the baronies.

What I did was traitorous. It is why I will not be providing those incentives personally, but a friend would. I didn’t even speak a single word to the other party; my contact was only my friend.

For this favor, I will do a favor for my friend.

This is less traitorous and harder to prove. I made sure it remains secret, but I know very well that nothing remains hidden forever.

“Your sister will be long finished with their battle by the time they reach the baronies,” said Robin, and I smiled.

Once they do, their army will be bigger, but the difference isn’t big enough to make Grimvale do something foolhardy.

“The thing we have to do is defend Lauryl. Twenty thousand men against thirty is good odds with a strong wall. They will have to defend for around two hours before our army reaches them, and even the numbers,” I stated.

“I think that is good odds with General Hiren,” replied Robin, and I nodded. I would have been more relieved if there were already ten thousand of our men within its walls.

I pushed those thoughts and looked at the map of baronies. I wanted it for so long.

Gaining it, I will have complete control over a trade route—a source of revenue and people, along with many other benefits.

“When did you turn Husk?” asked Valentina. She had that question for a while. I am surprised she didn’t ask it before. “From the beginning, he was our primary source in council,” I replied, and it genuinely surprised them.

“I had thought it would be your sister or Baron Homer,” said Robin, and I smiled.

It is why he was so great; nobody had suspected him. Everybody had thought it was Leila, Homer, and even Harrods, but not him.

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