Chapter 6: Ill Intentions
After several days of deliberation, Owen ultimately decided to limit the size of his army to around fifty soldiers.
This number of soldiers was truly insignificant, as guarding the castle alone required at least one to two hundred men, not to mention the entire territory.
One or two hundred wouldn’t be considered too few, and three or five hundred wouldn’t be considered excessive.
The problem was that the Hydra family’s foundation was too shallow. Owen couldn’t be too extravagant. Besides, fifty full-time soldiers weren’t a small number. Their combined expenses were substantial. Without external supplements, the annual cost would be close to one hundred Progress Points. He also needed to reserve some Progress Points for the territory’s development and couldn’t allocate them all here.
Due to the limited recovery rate of Progress Points, Owen divided the territory’s future development into four stages to utilize them efficiently. He had already conceived the second stage.
In the first stage, he would expand the total number of swordsmen and archers to twenty. Combined with the existing eight soldiers, there would be a total of twenty-eight men. Then, he would incorporate the previous two servants, assigning them responsibility for meals and carriages. This way, thirty people could be ready for battle immediately if needed.
However, while refining the first stage, Owen realized that having only combat troops was insufficient. He still lacked scouts and a doctor.
For scouts, Owen chose Scout Cavalry from Age of Empires. Although the cost of cavalry was higher, with even light cavalry like Scout Cavalry requiring three Progress Points each, the relatively flat terrain of the Northland made mounted scouts more suitable for the environment.
As for a doctor, Monks from Age of Empires would have been a good choice, a budget version of a Priest, but unfortunately, he could currently only store a maximum of ten Progress Points, making it impossible to recruit a Monk worth fifteen Progress Points. Therefore, Owen could only choose a companion skilled in healing from Mount & Blade. Although he needed to pay a salary, it was better than having no one.
The planning for the first stage was complete. In the second stage, he would add ten more System Soldiers and primarily exchange for farmers and artisans to develop agriculture and the economy.
The farmers in Age of Empires might seem cheap, but they were all skilled individuals. They could not only farm but also cut wood, quarry stone, fish, hunt, slaughter, and construct. Except for their lack of combat ability, they were practically all-rounders.
However, after testing, Owen discovered that the role of System Farmers wasn’t as exaggerated as in the game. They couldn’t just build walls and structures by hammering. In reality, they could only be called artisans. They understood some crafts but weren’t particularly proficient, only capable of assisting real artisans.
But through research, Owen found that by removing other abilities before exchanging for farmers, he could summon more specialized artisans, such as lumberjacks, miners, fishermen, hunters, butchers, and craftsmen, perfectly filling the gaps in the territory.
At the same time, the wide variety of items in Mount & Blade provided the territory with ample supplies. As long as a blacksmith shop was built, serfs wouldn’t have to use wooden sticks as farming tools, significantly increasing production efficiency.
It could be said that just these two games had put Owen’s territory on the fast track to development. If he waited until the system was officially activated, wouldn’t he soar even higher?!
Time passed quickly amidst the busy work. Owen, with no prior experience, worked tirelessly to improve the territory, adding bricks and tiles here and there. Fortunately, the slow recovery rate of Progress Points gave him more time to think and avoid making mistakes in his haste.
One day, a scout came to deliver a warning. After listening to the description, Owen suddenly understood.
“They came quite early this year. It seems they couldn’t wait any longer,” Owen said with a cold smile, knowing who the newcomers were.
“Assemble the soldiers. Everyone enter the castle,” Owen ordered calmly, having long prepared for this day’s arrival.
Owen ascended the half-built wall and raised his brass telescope. The thick black line in the distance, initially blurry, transformed into a merchant caravan.
“Five carriages require so many guards? Hmph, they come with ill intentions,” Owen said with a sneer after counting the number of caravan guards.
Although caravans were profitable, with exceptionally high returns in the Northland, their overall costs weren’t low, preventing them from hiring an unlimited number of guards. The number was usually fixed. Even in dangerous places like the Northland border, ordinary caravans wouldn’t have more than two guards per carriage. Since the workers and coachmen could also take up arms and fight if necessary, this number was considered sufficient. Hiring more guards would definitely reduce profits. While it wouldn’t necessarily lead to losses, for merchants, earning less was equivalent to losing money. Naturally, they had to be meticulous in their calculations.
Therefore, five carriages accompanied by twenty or so guards, plus an equal number of workers and coachmen, claiming to come in peace? Owen would have to be incredibly foolish to believe that.
Owen knew exactly what kind of goods the Ha Rui Trading Company transported annually. It was not worth hiring twenty guards. Now that they had hired so many, they must have planned to earn some extra income to avoid losses, such as seizing a noble’s territory along the way.
No matter who it was, as long as they weren’t a noble, seizing a noble’s territory was a taboo act. The surrounding nobles would unconditionally attack the rebel and then divide the poor fellow’s territory among themselves.
Even if the unfortunate noble were still alive, to express gratitude to their good neighbors for their assistance in making them sheath their blood-soaked swords, they would have to suffer a massive financial blow, a hemorrhage so severe that it might take a century to recover.
The problem was that the Hydra family’s situation was a bit complicated. The so-called family consisted only of Owen, a single heir. Therefore, according to noble tradition, if he died, his mother would also have the right to inherit.
If the Ha Rui Trading Company were willing to spend money to manipulate the situation, it wasn’t impossible for them to swallow the Hydra family’s inheritance of the noble title. This was enough to make them take a gamble.
As for why they didn’t just get rid of him before and instead chose to leave? Of course, it was because such matters couldn’t be handled recklessly. Otherwise, if the surrounding nobles caught wind of it, it would definitely end in disaster for them.
In short, the Ha Rui Trading Company needed to put on a show, distancing themselves from the act and then rightfully occupying the Hydra family. This required both opportunity and time to prepare, which was why it had been delayed until now.
Although Owen knew the Ha Rui Trading Company came with ill intentions, he had no intention of resorting to violence. Because merchants in any world shared a common trait: they wouldn’t engage in unprofitable ventures. Therefore, he didn’t hide his intentions. When the caravan arrived, he directly opened the castle gates.
Changing into a clean and tidy set of noble attire and mounting a docile training horse, Owen displayed an elegant smile befitting a noble. He led all his soldiers to surround the caravan.
Faced with the soldiers’ encirclement, the caravan guards were extremely nervous. Although they gripped their weapons, their eyes were filled with panic. They were well aware of the consequences of facing a well-organized group of soldiers. Otherwise, why would they be so obedient when dealing with nobles? It was simply because they couldn’t win in a fight.
The caravan guards were already like this, and the workers and coachmen were even worse off. Even though they weren’t professionals, they could still tell that their chances of winning were slimmer than getting a raise. So why would they risk their lives? At most, they would surrender when the situation turned unfavorable. After all, they could earn a living no matter who they worked for.
The guards and workers could see that the current situation was unfavorable, and the caravan manager naturally noticed it as well.
Swordsmen at the front, spearmen closely behind, and archers in the rear. If a fight broke out, their side would surely suffer heavy casualties. Therefore, the caravan manager couldn’t just stand by and watch the two sides clash. Even though they had come with ill intentions, now they only wanted to reason. Truly, no deception.
