Chapter 268: Conflict! A Great Army Besieges the City!

"Lord Hawk, it's terrible! A massive army has surrounded our territory and won't let our caravans out. Caravans from other nobles have been allowed to pass, but they can't come back in either!"

Inside Lord Hawk's castle, a servant came running to report.

As a Viscount, Lord Hawk's status in the Kingdom of Xiling was not low.

Moreover, Lord Hawk had only one daughter, and because that daughter had eloped with the Winged Folk chieftain, it had caused an enormous stir throughout the Kingdom of Xiling at the time—otherwise even Teacher Martha wouldn't have heard of him.

His territory was not small, covering several tens of thousands of mu of land. It was a roughly rectangular domain about a dozen kilometers long and roughly four kilometers wide, with one side of the territory directly abutting the Misty Mountains.

He was now over sixty years old, and because he had taken part in wars against other kingdoms organized by the Church in his younger days, he had already lost that particular ability.

Therefore, Lord Hawk's sole descendant, both now and in the future, was in fact only his one granddaughter, the Winged Folk girl Mia.

Lord Hawk had originally intended to leave his territory to Mia after his death. He also listened to Mia's suggestions quite readily. In fact, persuaded by Mia, he and the people of his territory had already become the Lord of Flame's first batch of believers in the Kingdom of Xiling!

His territory was home to some twenty or thirty thousand people, after all.

Lord Hawk likewise commanded a private army of five hundred men, and if he wished, he could expand that private army to roughly two thousand.

But compared to an old-line noble house like the Snow family, there was simply no comparison.

At this moment, three thousand well-equipped, fully armed warriors had surrounded Lord Hawk's territory.

The main roads were all heavily blockaded. These men only let the other nobles' caravans out—anyone wanting to get in could forget about it.

As for Lord Hawk's own caravans, they had been blocked inside directly.

The people of Lord Hawk's territory could still come and go freely, but they too had to be searched, to make sure they weren't carrying magic pouches on their persons!

"Blockaded? Who did this? Rally the troops, come with me!"

Lord Hawk was no sick cat.

He immediately mustered his private army of five hundred men and hurried in great haste to the gate on the largest road in his territory.

This road was also the road through which Lord Hawk's caravans could come and go.

At this moment, outside this road, more than two thousand warriors stood in battle array. These warriors wore uniform clothing, their entire bodies clad in armor. Among them were sword-and-shield men, spearmen, and archers. Though their numbers were not large, their troop types were quite complete.

Lord Hawk even spotted mages among them.

Without a doubt, this was an elite force.

Not a rabble of mixed units.

An ordinary noble could never equip such an elite force, one whose quality rivaled the royal army.

Then, Lord Hawk noticed the uniform emblem on the collars of those warriors.

"Count Slo's men!"

Lord Hawk's face darkened.

Whether in terms of power or strength, he was far from being able to compare with Count Slo.

Count Slo was the big boss of the eastern region.

A big-shot figure!

Even the royal household was extremely wary of the Slo family!

Even so, Lord Hawk was still not afraid. He stepped forward and asked:

"Who is in charge here?"

"I, I am the administrative officer under Count Slo. Lord Hawk, the provenance of your divine beans is unclear, and they are no longer permitted to be sold in the eastern cities!"

A man of the Slo family said.

This fellow wore a blue robe—he was a blue-robed administrative officer of the Slo family, a position of no small rank.

"Provenance unclear? Since when does merchandise have to be investigated for its origins? I, Hawk, am a Viscount of the kingdom—would I stoop to theft or robbery?"

Lord Hawk snorted.

The blue-robed administrative officer said: "Of course Lord Hawk would not stoop to theft or robbery, but Lord Hawk, by selling these divine beans of unclear provenance at an extremely low price, has already engaged in unfair competition. No crop whatsoever would be priced this low, yet you sell at such a low price."

Lord Hawk's temper flared on the spot. He stared at the blue-robed administrative officer and said:

"By that logic, does Count Slo actually possess the power of law enforcement in the eastern cities? Who granted him that right!"

Faced with Lord Hawk's furious questioning, the blue-robed administrative officer calmly produced a document, held it up before Lord Hawk's eyes, and said:

"It was the Church!"

"The Church!"

Lord Hawk's eyes narrowed. He took the document and saw that it had been signed by the bishop of the eastern diocese.

The gist was as follows: in order to ensure the stability of grain prices in the eastern diocese, Count Slo was granted temporary law-enforcement authority over matters relating to crops. This authority would last for only one month!

The Church did not normally meddle in governance—that would bring it into conflict with Wang Quan.

But when it came to the people's livelihood—grain and crops—the Church did possess this right, because the Church had to safeguard social stability. Grain was the most critical factor; once people couldn't even fill their bellies, turmoil would not be far off!

A kingdom overrun with chaos could not contribute much faith.

Lord Hawk noticed the date this document had been issued—it was yesterday!

A hint of wariness immediately arose in Lord Hawk's heart!

This was aimed at him!

Or rather, it was aimed at the potatoes!

Going one step further, it was aimed at the beastfolk kingdom east of the Mist!

A document like this, to avoid conflict with Wang Quan, the Church would go ten years without issuing even one.

Yet now, one had appeared!

"So it really has come! Mia's prediction was spot on!"

The reason Lord Hawk was able to react so quickly was, first, because he was no fool, and second, because Mia had mentioned it to him and told him to be on guard in this regard!

"Hmph, you are plainly afraid the divine beans will threaten your grain trade. I shall submit a memorial to the king and accuse you of your conduct!"

After reading the document, Lord Hawk flung down this furious remark, then led his five hundred private soldiers back to his own castle.

"My lord Oliver, isn't Master's move brilliant?"

Behind the Slo family warriors, the old steward spoke to Magus Oliver.

Oliver nodded and said, "My uncle is indeed formidable. Baomanzhu Sect wanted to use us as a blade, but my uncle dragged Baomanzhu Sect into the mire too!"

The old steward chuckled and said, "It's not just that. To deal with these old noble houses, you must use both soft and hard tactics—look, even old Hock is being toyed with at will. The Kingdom of Helling is vast, and Master's domain is vast too, My lord Oliver. Though Master has several sons, he actually intends to leave the inheritance to you..."

Hearing the old steward's words, Oliver's breathing grew heavier.

Even as a Sixth Rank magus, faced with the Slo family's astonishing wealth and immense power, he could not help but feel tempted.

"I will hold this position and see what moves the other side makes."