Chapter 55: Calculation
The outbreak of war in Red Soil Territory did not go unnoticed.
In fact, after utilizing Count Shuvaric and the Bruno Merchant Guild to test the waters, Marquis Visen had sent a notice to the Antre Family.
However, Viscount Ross Antre scoffed at it.
He simply didn’t believe that the Kasein Family would take action against him.
From Ross’s perspective, although his title was not as high as Visen Kasein’s, that was only because his family did not have a Sixth-Tier Bloodline User.
But his son had decent bloodline aptitude, and had a hopeful path to the Fifth Tier in the future, someone destined to be a major figure like the Viscount of Bayor.
Furthermore, they were all members of the same faction loyal to the Karla Royal Family. Marquis Visen would never dare attack him; doing so would mean provoking the royal family.
That was, until the Kasein Family forces led by Dali crossed the border of Red Soil Territory and, within a single day, pushed the front line to within one hundred kilometers of Red Soil City.
Once they completed their rendezvous with reinforcements from Forest Territory and Gem Territory, Ross Antre finally realized with clarity, Marquis Visen had truly gone mad!
…
The coalition army from the six territories had mobilized a total of twelve Bloodline Users.
Among them were four Third-Tier Bloodline Users and eight Second-Tier Bloodline Users.
There were over twelve hundred soldiers and several hundred serfs.
Of these, Eaglehead Territory and Red River Territory were now directly governed by the Kasein Family, so their soldiers were personal troops of the family. Red River Territory had only recently recruited its new soldiers, with relatively few, just one hundred fifty. Eaglehead Territory provided three hundred veteran soldiers from the Kasein Family.
Gem Territory contributed two hundred troops.
Forest Territory contributed two hundred troops.
Bayor Territory contributed three hundred troops.
Only White Mountain Territory contributed the fewest, with fewer than ninety soldiers, if not for Yam Soderbell, who had been personally recognized by Marquis Visen as a Red Eagle Knight, the mocking laughter would have already become incessant.
But regardless of what others thought, Yam paid no attention. He remained constantly busy.
This was his first time personally leading troops, and many aspects of it were completely different from what he had imagined.
Normally—
As private troops responding to a conscription order, the contributing territory was only responsible for some provisions.
During the war, the commanding lord who issued the conscription would provide all rations. If there were shortages in military supplies, like running out of arrows or broken weapons needing repair, one could submit a request. A quartermaster would verify and then allocate accordingly.
But Yam quickly discovered that, aside from rations and medicine, which were distributed daily based on headcount after each battle, all other military supplies had to be fought over with others to obtain.
Unless one built good relationships with the quartermaster or higher-ups, it was nearly impossible to get a full allocation without a struggle. A single supply request could take until the second major battle ended to be fulfilled.
These issues soon left Yam utterly overwhelmed, so he had no choice but to let Giggs handle them.
Compared to Yam, Giggs was indeed more suited to managing interpersonal affairs.
He and Atork were quite alike, free of the typical bad habits of noble heirs, and unafraid to lower themselves when necessary.
As a result, their division of labor became clear: Giggs handled daily diplomacy, while Yam managed camp logistics.
“Brother!”
A familiar voice suddenly rang out in front of Yam, lifting his weary spirits instantly.
It had been nearly eight months since he had last seen Akar. Now, as they suddenly reunited, there wasn’t the slightest hint of distance, only pure joy.
“Akar!” Yam quickly rose from behind the desk inside the tent and gave Akar a bear hug.
“I saw the banners of Gem Territory and Eaglehead Territory during the previous battle, but I didn’t see you. I thought you weren’t coming.”
“I was leading a small team to flank the battlefield from another side to provide support, so I wasn’t on the main front line. That’s why you didn’t see me,” Akar laughed. “Look, I handed over my military duties right after returning to camp, and came straight to find you.”
“Handed over your duties?” Yam frowned slightly.
By now, he was no longer ignorant about military affairs, after all, he had marched with the main force of Red River Territory during an invasion.
Even though the Viscount of Red Soil Territory hadn’t taken it seriously at first, making the initial battle hardly even a skirmish, Yam had still truly experienced a war event.
He’d also encountered logistical supply issues, which prompted him to study military matters more seriously. As such, he knew that handing over military duties was no small thing.
It usually meant that the person was no longer responsible for any combat roles in the formal battle sequence.
For ordinary individuals, there could be many explanations—
Like rotation, maintenance, or a shift from frontline to second-line roles.
But for a Bloodline Knight, it was different.
There was no such thing as a military duty handover for Bloodline Knights, especially not for Second-Tier Bloodline Knights.
While First-Tier Bloodline Knights might be limited in what they could do on the battlefield, a Second-Tier Bloodline Knight, once deployed, either had to be matched against an opponent of equal strength or dealt with through a costly sacrifice of lives until the enemy was worn down.
Thus, once a Second-Tier Bloodline User joined the war, they would remain active unless wounded and unable to fight.
Otherwise, they would always be assigned some form of wartime task, whether support, raids, sabotage behind enemy lines, and so on.
So to officially withdraw from combat duty meant only one thing.
“What exactly did you come to the Red Soil battlefield to do?!”
“To kill Andre Billy.” Akar held nothing back from Yam. “I need your help, brother.”
Yam’s expression shifted.
After a long silence, he finally sighed softly. “What do you need me to do?”
“I’ll help you on your side for the next few operations. I joined the Eaglehead forces as a guest, so I technically have no obligation to participate in the war, which means no one can assign me to a particular front line.” Akar explained. “The Kasein Family intends to control the tempo of the war, splitting the fronts between Baron Hess and Andre. That’s when I’ll get my chance.”
“I understand,” Yam nodded. “So we’ll just say publicly that you’re stationed with me.”
“Exactly.” Akar nodded. “Heh, thanks, brother.”
“Eight months without seeing you, and the moment we meet you’re scheming something on me, Akar, you’ve grown gutsy, haven’t you?” Yam cursed with a laugh.
Still, he wasn’t truly angry with Akar, because he knew that Akar would only come to him with harmless little schemes like this. If it were something that would endanger their lives or family, Akar would never do it.
That was his bottom line. Just as Yam’s own bottom line was never to harm his family. As for everything else, after becoming a Bloodline User, he had seen through it all long ago.
“Have you gathered any intel from Eaglehead Territory?”
“No.” Akar sighed helplessly. “I used Anna’s status to visit the Kasein Family’s manor library several times and combed through many records, but found nothing, not even a vague rumor, about that sword from our family.”
“Anna asked around for me too, and also came up empty.”
“You told Anna about our family’s secret?!” Yam looked visibly alarmed.
“No,” Akar quickly reassured him. “I only asked her to help me inquire whether there were any famous or special swords in history... I wouldn’t reveal the secret of that sword so casually, I’m not an idiot.”
“You’d better not have,” Yam said grimly.
“However…” Akar’s face revealed some hesitation and conflict. “Brother, I need your help to get a Bloodline Elixir.”
“What’s going on?” Yam looked at Akar’s troubled expression, it was the same look he’d worn years ago when he needed help covering up a mistake. “What have you been up to lately?”
“Anna is pregnant.”
“She’s pregnant? She married Joshua? I haven’t heard anything from the Kasein Family… But what does that have to do with—” Yam initially looked confused, but as he spoke, his expression changed drastically into disbelief, even horror, as he stared at Akar. “That child is yours?!”
“Yes.”
*Slap—*
Yam finally lost control and slapped Akar across the face. “Are you insane?! That’s Joshua Kasein’s wife! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?! You… you…”
“Anna doesn’t love Joshua,” Akar said, half his face now swollen, but still defiant. “I love Anna, and she loves me. Just because our Soderbell Family is nothing now, does that mean I’m not even allowed to love her?”
“So you do know our Soderbell Family is nothing?” Yam laughed in rage. “Then do you know we’re barely even considered a family anymore? The only reason people think we’ve lasted two generations is because they mistakenly believe Father became a Bloodline User long ago. Everyone is waiting for Lily to give birth to my child to see if we truly become a new Bloodline Family, or if it ends here.”
“You know that sword gives us a chance to start. But it’s just the beginning!”
“Baron Ster’s family started as Bloodline Users. It took three generations before they finally received a barony. Even then, by the time Baron Ster inherited the title, the family had already endured six generations of effort. Do you know how much blood and work went into that?”
“But if my child is born, we won’t have to go through all that to cross the class divide!” Akar said firmly. “Even if the child can’t bear the Soderbell name, it will carry Soderbell blood! There may still be a chance to reclaim the name in the future.”
“You’ll die!” Yam snapped.
“I won’t,” Akar said calmly. “That sword contains a drop of Burton Kasein’s blood.”
…
“Miss Anna, the Moonlight Flowers you ordered have arrived.”
“That’s wonderful.” Anna Billy smiled and thanked the maid beside her. Her radiant smile momentarily stunned both the maid and the male servants carrying the potted plants. “Please leave them here, I’ll trim them myself.”
As the servants busied themselves behind her, Anna too worked diligently in the small garden.
With shears in hand, she carefully pruned each branch in the garden.
Occasionally, she asked the servants to reposition some pots or dispose of stray leaves and branches.
Far from showing any dissatisfaction, Anna clearly enjoyed tending the garden.
After several hours of work, she finally stopped, soaked in sweat.
She picked through the trimmed flowers, selecting a few especially vibrant ones and asked the maids to bring them to her room.
Once Anna left, two Bloodline Knights entered the greenhouse garden.
They meticulously examined every spot Anna had occupied, then inspected the flowers she had trimmed, discarded, and brought with her. They documented everything before leaving.
Back in her room, Anna first had the wilted flowers removed, then carefully placed the freshly trimmed ones into a vase.
Only after all this did she enter the bathroom to bathe.
Amid the sound of rushing water, no one knew that Anna retrieved a few dried petals and freshly clipped ones from the sink.
She crushed the petals with a hidden pestle and added a bit of water, grinding until the mixture became juice. Then she carefully poured the extract and added a few drops of perfume from a nearby bottle. She swirled the mixture until it blended completely, then transferred it into a potion vial.
“Calmative agent. One milliliter is enough to keep someone asleep until sunrise.”
“The Kasein Family’s Bloodline Knights are all fools, they only test for toxicity and danger in the plants.”
“Since they know I can make perfume, why wouldn’t they realize I’ve long since extracted and purified everything I needed?”
“Without Burton and Monica, the Kasein Family is truly doomed.”