Chapter 382 - 378: Mobilization

Chapter 382: Chapter 378: Mobilization

After the banquet ended, Duane stayed at the Kennedy Clan’s estate with Count Kais.

During this time, he asked the Count about the situation in the Fidun Kingdom.

Unfortunately, even with the Kennedy Clan’s intelligence network, they didn’t know much about what was happening there.

The prevailing rumor was that the Holy Radiance Court had become King Minos’s most trusted ally, possessing a vast number of followers within the Fidun Kingdom and holding an extremely high status.

Compared to the Holy Radiance Court’s machinations in the Pruck Kingdom, their progress over there was clearly much smoother.

So for a moment, Duane didn’t know if Quinn’s words had been a casual remark or if they held some other meaning.

However, if the Hilton Clan had a sharp conflict with the Holy Radiance Court, or if they were secretly hostile toward each other, then he might be able to use this opportunity to his advantage in the future.

Over the next few days, the King summoned the various Lords who had come to the Royal Capital for the wedding. Every Lord who emerged from the Cyan Snake Fortress wore a grim expression.

At the same time, King Eric met with the envoys from the other three kingdoms, and after a day of negotiations, they formally signed an alliance treaty.

Following that, a state council was convened, and under the pretext of avenging the former King Joseph, war was formally declared on the Akutas Kingdom.

Everything was proceeding step-by-step according to the King’s plan.

The Shadow Mist Continent, which had been at peace for over twenty years, was finally shrouded in the clouds of war once again. And this time, it seemed the storm would be even more intense than the last.

「Lintao City, Iron Blood Castle.」

"Father, according to His Majesty’s plan, you are to lead the troops through Three Realms Lake and invade from the northeastern corner of the Akutas Kingdom."

The Marquis’s eldest son, Peter, who had once served for a time as a Minister of the Kingdom, was currently relaying King Eric’s plan to his father, Sean.

"Duke Kelvin will take the bulk of his forces through Flowing Silver Fjord, land on the Golden Coast, and attack the enemy’s Royal Capital."

Sean listened as he opened a personal letter from His Majesty the King.

The letter spelled out the distribution of spoils after the conquest of the Akutas Kingdom. Not only would Sean be enfeoffed as Duke Iron Blood, but he would also be granted an area of at least one Province to serve as his Duke’s Territory.

Sean closed the letter and said with a smile, "It seems our King is very confident about winning this war!"

"His Majesty is indeed very confident."

Peter said, "Even if King Tyron’s Cultivation has advanced over the years, and even if Akutas has nurtured considerable strength, in my opinion, they still won’t be able to withstand a simultaneous attack from four kingdoms."

He looked at his father and asked, "What are you planning to do?"

"Since His Majesty has already convened the state council and mobilized the forces of all the Nobility in the kingdom, my Smith Clan naturally cannot stand aside."

Sean slapped the letter on the table. "Go. In my name, summon all the Nobility, great and small, and all Knights of the Celestial Tier and above in the Territory to Iron Blood Castle."

In addition to Lintao Territory, the other Lords also began to take action.

Even though it was only the end of July, with more than half a year to go before the expedition next year, a war between kingdoms like this required an exceptionally long mobilization and preparation period. Eight months, in fact, was barely enough time.

At this time, on the Silent Shore, Count Kais had also issued mobilization orders.

Not only were the Nobility preparing troops and supplies, but the Kennedy Magic Research Institute also ramped up weapon production. Several shipyards immediately posted recruitment notices, expanding their workforce several times over overnight to accelerate the construction of warships.

Duane stayed briefly on the Silent Shore, then returned to Black Forest Island with the people who had newly pledged allegiance to him.

Many people wanted to get rich off the war, especially some wealthy merchants.

They supported various nobles, even sending the promising young talents from their families to serve under them, hoping they could win merits and achievements and become true Nobility in the future.

Of course, many people were also seeking refuge, looking for relatively safe nobles to pledge allegiance to in order to survive the chaotic times.

As one of the Kingdom’s top experts, Duane naturally had many people flocking to him.

In terms of Mages alone, there were forty.

Although 80% of them were Level 1-2 Mages who wouldn’t be of much use on the battlefield, it at least addressed the shortage of Mages on Black Forest Island.

’I can leave some of them on the island to act as mobile rainmakers or dedicated weed-killers and exterminators.’

As for Warriors, there were enough to form an entire battalion.

Of course, there were still very few in the Tier Realm—only a mere seven—but the number of Warriors at the low, middle, and high levels combined was a full eighty-five!

Most Lords wouldn’t dare accept so many people pledging their allegiance, as they wouldn’t be able to integrate or support them.

But Duane had no such concerns.

He had plenty of money and enough resources to arm them.

The war hadn’t even started, yet Duane was already reaping the first wave of benefits.

Upon returning to his Territory, Duane used the Silver Gale to notify Kaelon and Owington in Silver Jade Territory, as well as Haien and Gaius on the Southen Plain, to return to the Territory. In the luxurious conference hall of Brocade Castle, he held Black Forest Island’s first pre-war mobilization meeting.

Originally, Duane had planned to build a fortress at Brocade Castle.

But building one would be a huge hassle, and it would serve little purpose—’Besides, I don’t think any enemy could attack Black Forest Island to the point where I’d have to rely on a castle for a last stand. Even in the worst-case scenario, retreating would be wiser than making a stand.’

Therefore, he hadn’t built a dedicated military fortress within Brocade Castle, which in turn shortened the construction time and allowed him to move into his new home in August.

The mobilization meeting focused on arrangements in two main areas.

First was internal stability. Despite the impending war, land reclamation and farming had to continue as usual.

Second was the preparation of resources and arrangement of personnel for the war.

There were still eight months left. The production of bows and arrows, weapons, and armor had to be pushed at full throttle.

The more of these things that could be stockpiled, the better.

Inside the main keep atop the mountain of Brocade Castle, Natalia’s mood had improved considerably since moving into this uniquely styled building, and even the shadow of war seemed to have dissipated a little.

"Wow, Duane, do you have any idea how many people you have under you now?"

Natalia held a ledger, tallying the current number of followers and soldiers.

"How many?"

Duane didn’t look up, instead concentrating on drawing a Level 2 Spell Scroll.

He needed to accumulate 12.2 attribute points as quickly as possible so he could become a Grand Mage in one go and create a Demon Beast Contract Scroll.

Speaking of which, in order to create it, Duane had even brazenly asked for the Black Bear hide he had previously gifted to Sea Cliff Castle back.

He had no choice. The Territory lacked a suitable medium for the Scroll, and only the Level 7 Black Bear hide was appropriate.

Count Kais didn’t object. After all, his own son-in-law was about to become a Grand Mage. What could he say? He had to support him!

Besides, Duane had also promised that if the creation was successful, he would give him a few Contract Scrolls for free in the future.

Count Kais was already secretly searching the Silent Mountain Range for a suitable Flying Demon Beast.

"1,138!"

Natalia exclaimed, "The Guards, Militia, Warriors, Mages, and the people I brought with me—all told, your army now numbers over a thousand people! And that includes six Earth Tier Warriors and three Level 4 Mages!"

In addition to Kaelon and Lune, Raymond and Simone had also broken through to become Earth Tier Warriors after more than three years of growth.

Adding Conrad and Barrett, who had just pledged allegiance to Duane, made for exactly six.

As for the Level 4 Mages, one was Constance, and the other two were the newcomers, Cotton and Sel.

Duane planned to send all of them to the battlefield.

"A thousand people isn’t that many."

Duane chuckled. "The wars I imagine involve tens or even hundreds of thousands of people!"

Natalia laughed. "Only Knight novels would dare write something like that. What noble could possibly have a standing army of over a hundred thousand?"

Duane finished creating another Fireball Technique scroll. His Skill Level in making this type of Spell Scroll had now reached Perfection.

"Help me arrange something," he said.

Natalia put down the book in her hands. "Go on."

"Have Heck lead a team to sail along the Michaelson River, spreading word of Black Forest Island’s openness to Free People and its various friendly policies along the way."

Natalia paused for a moment, then understood. "You’re trying to take this opportunity to absorb the populations of other nobles?"

She hesitated. "Is that... a good idea?"

Duane chuckled. "I’m just publicizing how wonderful Black Forest Island is. I’m not deliberately trying to get people to join. Whether they come or not is their own choice."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Tell Heck and his men not to be too obvious about it. They should just spread the news discreetly under the pretext of purchasing goods."

"Oh, and avoid the nobles we’re on good terms with."

Natalia nodded slowly. "I understand."

She stood up and said with a smile, "I’ll go find Julian and Aleksey first. We’ll figure out how to make Black Forest Island sound even more appealing."