Imperial Throne

Chapter 22: Good News

After Giggs became the acting lord, he finally realized how troublesome it was to manage a territory.

White Mountain Territory had fewer than forty thousand people. Over thirty thousand resided in White Mountain City, with the rest scattered across five villages. Among them, the most developed was the fief of the Bole Family's Chief Knight Commander, which housed nearly two thousand residents.

However, due to inconvenient geography, its development had been constrained and it had yet to be promoted to a town.

The three villages that had been granted as fiefs did not require Giggs’s involvement in governance, so his actual responsibilities only covered White Mountain City, Fisher Village, and Old Mountain Village.

The militia of Fisher Village had not been mobilized and thus remained autonomous.

Old Mountain Village, located not far from White Mountain City, was so impoverished that even mountain bandits were reluctant to visit, and consequently, it had never encountered any problems.

The real trouble was, in fact, White Mountain City.

In just the month since Baron White Mountain left with his private soldiers, the city had suffered from a loss of deterrence without guards maintaining public order.

Multiple cases of theft and robbery had occurred, severely impacting the city's security and stability.

As a result, Giggs was overwhelmed, to the point where he had to deploy Nika and her accompanying militia, leaving only Yam to hold down the fort.

Nika knew she was not valued by Giggs, so without a word, she led her people tirelessly throughout White Mountain City, even taking up residence in the city’s garrison for more immediate management.

But the outcome of such efforts was that Nika was constantly exhausted, sometimes catching thieves on the east side one moment, only to hear of new problems on the west side the next.

With only thirty militia members under her command, there was simply no way to maintain order in a city of thirty thousand people.

“Brother, this is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause.” Lily was clearly exasperated by Giggs’s rough approach to governance.

“I have no other choice.” Giggs was also feeling the pressure. “The wealthy merchants in the city only care about themselves and ignore everything else. They initially promised to help maintain order in White Mountain City, but within just a few days, they began to hoard wealth. These assets belong to our family. How can I just let them do whatever they want?”

Lily had also come to understand the situation over the past few days.

The rapid deterioration of White Mountain City’s public order was closely linked to these greedy merchants.

They had promised to help maintain order, but only because there was profit to be made. They began charging protection fees to nearby residents.

If villagers refused to pay, the merchants would declare that those residents were not under their protection, which naturally attracted thugs to cause trouble and extort them.

Once the thugs succeeded, they realized how easy it was and started targeting anyone outside the merchants’ protection circles.

Helpless, the residents were forced to pay protection fees to the merchants for safety.

Some merchants even colluded with shopkeepers, using the temporary tax exemption Giggs granted them to sell goods under the merchants’ names.

As a result, the taxes collected by the Bole Family during the autumn season were not even one-sixth of the spring taxes. This infuriated Giggs.

He had the tax officials investigate, uncovering the scheme, and immediately scolded the merchants.

The outcome was predictable. All the merchants collectively went on strike and ceased cooperating with the city’s security efforts.

Within just three days, White Mountain City’s public order completely collapsed, even forcing the Bloodline Knight Nika to tirelessly patrol the streets.

“Brother, why not let me handle this?” Lily suggested after some thought. “You can’t do much about it right now anyway, and I…”

“Sure.” Giggs replied indifferently.

Lily was momentarily stunned by his casual response.

Before becoming a Bloodline User, she had never been involved in family affairs, nor had she been groomed as an heir.

Her sudden involvement now could be seen as challenging the authority of the future heir, especially since taxation was crucial to the family and the entire territory, and typically, only the designated heir was allowed to intervene.

She had understood her father’s intention clearly when he left the position of acting lord to Giggs instead of her.

Her offer was genuinely selfless, only meant to help her brother through a difficult time.

She knew very well that if chaos erupted in White Mountain City and affected the Bole Family, she would not be spared either.

She had even prepared multiple arguments to persuade Giggs in case he refused.

But to her surprise, Giggs had simply handed over the authority.

Seeing Lily's somewhat stunned expression, Giggs shook his head and said, “Sister, you and I are family. Whether I become the baron or you do makes no difference to me, we are both part of the Bole Family. I’m not good at these things, and even my bloodline potential is average. If I ever become a Tier 3 Bloodline User, it’ll be more luck than skill.”

“But you’re different.”

“You have much greater potential than I do. There’s a higher chance that you’ll inherit our father’s title, so it makes perfect sense for you to handle these matters now. If you do well, not only will I be more at ease, but you’ll also gain more influence with Father in the future.”

Hearing this, Lily realized she had over-thought it. She simply nodded and said, “Don’t worry, Brother. I guarantee that within three days, White Mountain City will be restored to order.”

With that, she left the castle to find Nika.

Nika had already been exhausted handling the situation, so when Lily offered to take over and specifically asked for her help, she was more than happy to oblige.

Nika was loyal to the Bole Family, but had never been truly valued by Giggs. Even if she pledged loyalty to him now, she would never surpass Yam, who had long been under Giggs’s command.

It was more strategic to align with Lily early and secure a better future, so she naturally cooperated with Lily wholeheartedly.

At this time, the two heirs of the Bole Family were rapidly growing.

Yam, too, had reached a realization.

Now that White Mountain Territory was completely shrouded by the shadow of war, he knew that hiding his abilities would only lead to ruin. So, he began training without holding back, dedicating several more hours each day than before.

The bloodline stimulation training method for increasing bloodline concentration essentially involved intense training to continuously activate the bloodline power, followed by nutritional intake to convert that into higher concentration.

Yam had outstanding talent in swordsmanship, so his training yielded the most stimulation.

His bloodline ability, [Flame Stream], allowed him to control and wield fire in battle, like Akar, who could form fireballs for ranged attacks. But Yam simply channeled the flame onto his exotic iron longsword as a melee weapon, resembling the [Blood Flame] effect of the [Flame Hound], though his fire was more orange-yellow.

However, this was merely a façade.

If he wanted to, Yam could actually fling the fire from his sword to attack enemies with flaming gusts.

But he had never revealed this during training, keeping it as a hidden trump card.

While Lily and Nika were dealing with the merchants in White Mountain City, Yam broke through his bloodline limit and officially became a Second-Tier Bloodline User.

His power increase didn’t grant him a new bloodline ability, but it did enhance his strength and speed slightly.

The temperature of his flames increased, and the range of his flame gusts extended by several meters.

However, due to lack of real combat, Yam still had no clear grasp of his actual strength.

Soon after, Yam received exciting news from Giggs.

“I just got a letter from Father. They’ve broken through the blockade jointly enforced by Baron Gem, Viscount Forest, and Viscount Red Soil. They’ve successfully joined forces with Baron Red River, and the two sides are now in a standoff on the Red River Plains.”

“That’s great!” Nika’s face lit up with excitement. “Winter is just around the corner, so there probably won’t be any battles in the coming months. The baron can retreat into Red River City to overwinter and recover. When spring arrives, he’ll be ready to launch a counterattack. The three-party alliance of Gem Territory might collapse first.”

“Yes, in terms of Bloodline Users, the enemy is at a disadvantage, and their supply lines are stretched too thin. If they can’t conquer Red River Territory within the next month, they’ll miss their chance.” Giggs also smiled.

“If all goes well, Father will return in the spring. After that, the rest is just down to private negotiations between Count Shuvaric and Marquis Visen.”

Over the years, there had been many frictions between Marquis Visen and Count Shuvaric.

Gem Territory and Red River Territory had fought over ten skirmishes.

But none were as large-scale as this one, which had drawn in multiple lords. Giggs wasn’t worried. Gem Territory had been fighting for over two years, this was the third year, and they still hadn’t conquered Red River Territory.

By next spring, they would have no choice but to retreat. Judging by past patterns, Gem Territory was close to exhaustion.

“But we still don’t know why Viscount Forest and Viscount Red Soil joined the battle this time. There might be other variables,” Lily said, still concerned. “I think we should be better prepared.”

“No need to worry. We can’t know what those big shots are thinking. But Gem Territory has fought for three years with no results. Soon it’ll be time for those big shots to sit back at the negotiation table.” Giggs laughed.

“Don’t forget, we have the three Bloodline Knights sent by the Count. If he didn’t intend to help Red River Territory, why would he send them here and instruct us to aid Red River Territory?”

Lily, reassured by her brother’s words, put her worries aside.

Then, with a smile on her face, she changed the topic: “I also have good news to share, Brother… The merchants in White Mountain City have surrendered.”

“Good heavens!” Giggs exclaimed. “Sister, how did you manage that?”

“I found evidence that one of the merchant families was colluding with those thugs. I arrested them, and the others returned the money they had embezzled. They also promised to do their best to maintain public order in White Mountain City.” Lily smiled faintly.

“They were just testing your limits. As long as we show enough strength and make them understand we’re not afraid to kill, they’ll have no choice but to surrender.”

Giggs quickly understood what his sister had done.

Did that merchant really collude with those thugs?

That answer no longer mattered.

What mattered was how the Bole Family chose to respond to those who tried to take advantage of the situation.

After a few more words of discussion, Lily left with Nika.

Giggs, however, called Yam over.

“Is there something you need, my lord?”

“I know you’re skilled in swordsmanship, so I specially found a combat skill book for you,” Giggs said, his tone hinting at pride as he placed a book on the table. “It’s a swordsmanship combat skill with matching footwork: [Eagle Strike Swordsmanship].”