After the Bloodgold Plain Campaign, the Kingdom of Ika clearly realizes that their plan to teach Peace Haven a lesson has completely backfired.
Not only did they lose nearly thirty percent of the elite forces in their two ace legions, but they also boosted Peace Haven’s military reputation.
On top of that, Henwell has near “touched” the threshold of becoming a Grand Knight.
This is fucking infuriating!
Now, their only options are to either ramp up the effort, pulling in two more ace legions to crush Peace Haven once and for all, or send in several Grand Knight to kill Henwell before he rises.
But that’s a huge risk.
If Peace Haven manages to stall those four ace legions, the top forces of the Vorry Duchy won’t just sit back and watch.
Plus, the Ogiro Kingdom might jump in, taking advantage of Ika’s heavy losses after battling Peace Haven, and strike to wipe out Ika’s elite units.
Losing four ace legions would seriously shake Ika’s internal stability!
And as for assassinating Henwell—forget the difficulty of gathering Grand Knight operatives.
Even if they assemble a strike team, who can guarantee Peace Haven only has one Grand Knight?
Will the Vorry Duchy send their professionals?
Will the Vorry noble alliance dispatch their own?
What about Ogiro or Billie? Could they send assassins too?
If any ambush goes wrong and they lose these high-level forces, it would cause massive political turmoil within the kingdom.
At the end of the day, the only question testing Ika is this:
How much is Ika willing to sacrifice to destroy Peace Haven and Henwell?
In the Golden Capital of Ika, no consensus is reached on this matter.
Many shout that Henwell must be crushed in the cradle before he grows stronger.
But when the king asks if they’re willing to send their top-tier forces into battle, suddenly everyone hesitates.
It’s not that they don’t want to commit their best troops—it’s just that most of these elite fighters are senior family mbers.
How the hell do you convince the family elders, the guardians of the clan, to generously sacrifice themselves for the kingdom?
These top-tier warriors are more like ballast—unless the family faces total extinction, they won’t risk stepping onto the battlefield.
So of these Grand Knights are even the current heads of their families.
Taking such a risk? Absolutely out of the question.
In the end, nothing cos of it.
It’s like the Golden Capital simply forgets this whole issue.
No ace legions are recalled, no reinforcents sent.
On Peace Haven’s side, the two forces just quietly stare each other down.
The Golden Capital selectively ignores the Peace Haven front, and the kingdom’s southeastern military governor also forgets he has tens of thousands of troops trapped.
In reality, all those encircled soldiers have already surrendered.
It’s the lingering fallout from the Bloodgold Plain Campaign.
Surrendering to a small place like Peace Haven? No one can stomach that.
But surrendering to two ace legions? That’s no disgrace—especially when it’s to a young Grand Knight.
Henwell personally shows up to accept the surrender of officers led by Rifidi.
It’s enough face to save this military loser so dignity and give him a way out.
From then on, the southeastern governor’s 70,000 troops all surrender, their units broken up and locked in various prisoner camps.
The grunt soldiers? Henwell sends them off to build roads.
The remaining officers? Henwell treats them well, feeding and housing them comfortably.
But Henwell isn’t just feeding and housing them out of kindness—everything costs money.
Basic food and lodging are free for now, but it all will be included in the ransom.
Want to eat well, drink well, and live comfortably? Then you better start paying up.
No cash on hand?
No problem!
They’re allowed to run tabs! When their families co to ransom them later, the bills get settled all at once.
For the sake of face—and their own comfort—the noble officers aren’t stingy with spending, which gives Peace Haven’s service industry a nice boost.
If Henwell hadn’t strictly ordered no prostitutes allowed inside the prisoner camps, so folks would’ve tried running that “skin trade” right there.
But Henwell doesn’t shut down the loophole completely.
Every week, he lets so noble officers, under guard of soldiers, roam Peace Haven’s comrcial district for a day.
These noble lords are very generous in spending money..
Since they’re running tabs without seeing actual cash, they have zero concept of how much they’re blowing.
Every ti they go out, they co back loaded with bags of goods.
This isn’t so joke or anomaly.
Henwell’s supervision is relatively tight—compare that to other wars where captured nobles sotis lived in the victors’ castles, looking more like invited guests than prisoners.
Henwell letting these nobles mingle with his comrcial district is also a strategic move to lay groundwork for future business expansion.
In this world, the real consumption power isn’t the common folk—it’s the nobles controlling all the key production materials.
The peasants? They’re all dirt poor!
Henwell’s philosophy is simple: whoever has the money, you go make money off them!
His civilian goods don’t even co close to matching the profits he pulls in from trading with noble groups in a single day.
Wars always end eventually.
When Peace Haven calls a ceasefire, it’s still going to be a major trade crossroads for several nations.
By then, the southeastern nobles of Ika—already familiar with Peace Haven’s quality and prices—will beco the main custor base for Peace Haven’s next big sales push.
While Henwell is busy planning post-war developnt, things shift up north on the front lines.
Fabio still holds the advantage, steadily grinding down Ika Kingdom’s remaining fighting strength.
But the Vorska defense? That’s a fucking ss!
What was supposed to be a strategic stalemate, with the battle lines mostly stable, suddenly gets shaken up.
And who’s to bla? The noble alliance, as usual—never learning from past beatings.
No one knows if Peace Haven’s victories got under their skin or if they’re just bored out of their minds after a long winter, but right after the new year, they launch an offensive.
Naturally, it’s a disaster.
If it weren’t for the Duchy’s 7th and 13th legions holding the line, the whole front would collapse.
The mixed Peace Haven-Phoenix family legion, commanded by Augusta, sends Henwell a long-ass letter.
Half the letter is just complaining the noble alliance’s stupidity.
Augusta says if their mixed legion hadn’t suddenly struck the kingdom forces’ spearhead with a sharp counterattack, the situation would be even worse now.
Henwell replies, telling Augusta to hold their ground and not rush to rescue others.
Peace Haven’s own war is over; he doesn’t give a damn how bad things are up north.
If they really can’t hold, they’ll call for help from the Vorry Duchy.
And on this front, the only ones who can still move are Peace Haven’s troops.
Whether it’s getting Henwell to act or sending Count Jansen north, the Vorry Duchy can, with just a few words, make both of them coordinate.
However, in Henwell’s words, that cos at a different price!
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