- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 104
Chapter 104: Building Trade Routes, Earnings Surpassing Count Engelbert???
Inside the castle, a grand banquet was being held. April Nyan had prepared a lavish feast to thank Thor and his group for rescuing the territory. She even brought out some fine wine that had been kept for years, and everyone was joyfully drinking together.
“Lord Thor, it’s unbelievable! I never expected to find a noble alliance in the northern province.”
“I truly appreciate what you’ve done.”
April Nyan raised her glass with a voice full of gratitude.
“You’re too kind!” Thor replied with a smile, raising his glass in response. “It was no trouble at all.”
“No, no, it’s not just politeness,” April Nyan said, shaking her head seriously. “Without your help and everyone else’s, my territory would’ve surely fallen to those damned kobolds.”
“You’re being too humble, Baron Nyon,” Thor said, laughing lightly. Then, as if something crossed his mind, he casually asked, “So, Baron Nyon, what are your plans now?”
“Oh, my goddess, that’s truly a tough question,” April Nyan sighed. “Leaving might be the best option, but I can’t abandon my land or my people. I must stay. Lord Thor, forgive my boldness, but could you possibly sell me some weapons?”
Hearing this, Thor’s eyes lit up. “Baron Nyon, you’re looking to buy weapons?”
“Yes,” April Nyan nodded with a hint of frustration. “If I had better weapons, those filthy kobolds would never have breached the castle. I planned to purchase equipment, but the damned vampires at the Habsburg Trading Company raised the price of iron armor to 50 gold coins! And silver armor? 500 gold coins! They might as well be robbing people.”
April Nyan was clearly frustrated. He had intended to equip his forces, especially since his territory housed over 8,000 people. With the right gear, they could fend off even a second-tier orc attack. But the price of weapons was far too steep for him to afford.
“Yes, those Habsburg merchants are bloodsuckers,” Thor agreed. “But, my friend, if you need weapons, that’s no problem at all. We recently captured a batch of goblin weapons, although it wasn’t without losses.”
“Lord Thor, are you serious?” April Nyan asked, both surprised and excited. “No, wait, I get it. How about we go with the same prices as the Habsburg Trading Company?”
Thor shook his head and said, “You misunderstand, my friend! How about this—I’ve got goblin leather armor for just 10 silver coins apiece, and iron armor for 30 coins. If you’re interested, I could even throw in a few sets of silver armor.”
“Silver armor?” April Nyan stood up, thrilled. “You’re not joking, are you?”
“Of course not. Why would I joke about such things? If you need it, I’ll send my caravan in a few days to finalize the deal.”
Thor smiled, completely serious. The moment his campaign to clear out the area had begun, the Rachos Assad trading company had expanded along with his forces. Previously, Rachos Assad’s reach had only extended to the Maine Valley, but the attacks of the minotaurs had nearly collapsed trade routes, forcing them to halt operations.
However, once Thor and the Maine Alliance started clearing out the area, the trade routes reopened. As the Maine Alliance won more battles, the trade routes expanded and became more stable. In just one month, trade volume skyrocketed, far surpassing previous figures.
“My apologies, Lord Thor!” April Nyan realized how presumptuous he had been and quickly apologized, still visibly excited. “It’s just… this is all so surprising!”
“I understand, Baron Nyon,” Thor replied. “Here’s what we’ll do. In ten days, I’ll have my caravan arrive, and you can negotiate with them.”
“Thank you so much!” April Nyan expressed his gratitude enthusiastically.
“No need to thank me—it’s just business!” Thor said with a smile, raising his glass.
“No, no, I really do owe you thanks. Weapons are exactly what I need right now.”
Thor smiled but didn’t push the point any further. The banquet continued, with the barons and lords chatting amicably. Everything seemed quite harmonious until late into the night, when the guests finally started to leave. April Nyan arranged for everyone to rest for the night, and by the next day, they were back on their mission to clear out the threats.
Scenes like this had become routine over the past month. Thor and his group had been fighting their way through, encountering many orcs and pioneering lords along the way. The chaos in the northern province had forced many lords to flee, though some had chosen to stay.
For these pioneering lords, their territories weren’t just land—they were their hopes and dreams. Even in the face of despair, most were unwilling to abandon their hard work, especially since not all hope was lost.
As Thor interacted with these lords, his trading company, the Eagle Caravan, followed the Maine Alliance, expanding its reach further and further. Compared to the exorbitant prices of the Habsburg Trading Company, Thor offered better goods at lower prices, while the strength of the Maine Alliance guaranteed the safety of the trade routes. In no time, a solid trade network was built.
Trade volume grew rapidly. For Rachos Assad, smiles never left his face these days. And as for Thor, his smile was just as wide.
Through these missions, Thor earned merits and gathered intelligence every day. Combined with the development of the trade routes, he was the clear winner in all of this. For other lords, the dangers were unpredictable, and profits were uncertain. Some had even suffered severe losses.
Over the past month, some nobles, emboldened by the appointment of two barons, had joined the clearing missions, but the results were far from ideal. Many had suffered heavy casualties, and one baron was even wiped out after encountering a damaged orc tribe. Not a single survivor remained, not even the baron.
Even the luckiest nobles were seeing mounting losses as the missions continued. Some were already preparing to give up.
But Thor faced no such issues. With daily intelligence reports guiding him, he could avoid all the dangers and predict his gains. His results were incomparable to the others.
Time flew by, and soon, three months had passed. During this time, Thor led the Maine Alliance on a relentless campaign to clear the northern province of orc tribes. His merit points kept piling up.
*One Month Ago*
A month ago, Lords Joz Annubi and Sacchi had accumulated enough merit points to be granted the title of baron. Others had also earned quite a few merit points—Thor himself had almost 500 points, which put him halfway toward earning the title of viscount. Three other noble lords had also racked up close to 300 points.
This level of merit would normally take years, if not over a decade, to achieve, but they had earned it all in just under four months.
And beyond merit points, the real rewards were even greater.
Even the lord with the smallest gains, Sacchi, had made over 2,000 gold coins in just four months. The three barons had each earned about 3,000 gold coins. Thor, not counting the huge profits from building Rachos’ trade route, had personally earned as much as 5,000 gold coins.
But for Thor, the most important thing wasn’t just his personal haul—it was the trade route being developed by Rachos Assad. That was where the real fortune lay.
In the past three months alone, the trade route had brought in over 2,300 gold coins, averaging almost 800 coins a month. And there was potential for even more growth in the months to come. As long as the northern province didn’t completely collapse or war didn’t escalate, this income would continue to increase.
It wouldn’t be surprising if they started making over 1,000 gold coins a month, possibly even more. If everything remained stable, this would mean an annual income of more than 12,000 gold coins.
12,000 gold coins!
That’s a massive amount. To put it in perspective, even Thor’s father, Count Engel Dreyserosa, earned only around 10,000 gold coins a year from his territory, at least on paper.
Thor’s potential earnings could surpass his father’s. Although the Dreyserosa family, being an old and established one, undoubtedly had more income than just what appeared on the books, it was still an impressive feat.
Many weaker counts only brought in about 10,000 gold coins a year, if that. If Thor could hit 12,000, he’d be out-earning quite a few counts.
With that kind of money, his territory’s development would skyrocket to the next level.
Of course, all of this was based on the assumption that the northern province wouldn’t fall apart or be consumed by war with the orcs. Otherwise, the trade route would lose its value, and his territory could be in grave danger.
But Thor knew these things were beyond his control. Even with his abilities, there was little he could do about such large-scale events. The only thing he could focus on was getting stronger as quickly as possible.
Luckily, ever since signing the contract, Thor had clearly felt his talents improve.
He noticed a huge difference in the past few months. Before, training in the knight’s breathing technique felt like the slow crawl of a turtle. It would take ages to sense any increase in life force, even though there was plenty of it inside him—he just couldn’t absorb it efficiently.
Now, every training session brought clear progress. In just under four months, he could feel his life force transforming.
At his current pace, he would likely break through to become a great knight in less than a month. This kind of speed was unimaginable before.
With his old talent, reaching the rank of full knight would have taken him two or three years at least, and becoming a great knight might have taken over a decade—if he even managed it. As for an earth knight, that was something far beyond what his former talent could have ever achieved.
But now everything had changed.
He was certain he would break through to great knight within a month, and the threshold from great knight to earth knight wouldn’t hold him back for long, either. Even without any extra help, he would likely reach earth knight within five years.
As the night grew darker, inside the camp…
“Hoo…” Thor exhaled deeply, finishing his training and preparing to get up. But suddenly, he felt something.
His gaze shot toward the distance. “What’s this?”
A look of surprise crossed his face, followed quickly by excitement.
“Boom!”
A surge of powerful energy erupted not far from the camp, where Raine was located. A wave of life force burst out, and in the next moment, Raine’s energy started growing rapidly.
The commotion caught the attention of several figures nearby. When they realized what was happening, their expressions became complex.
They all knew exactly what had just happened.
“Lord Thor really is lucky,” Baron Pape couldn’t help but comment.
“Indeed,” Baron Valmy added, his face also showing some mixed emotions.
As for the others, they felt no better. During this time, they had all seen Raine’s talent and strength firsthand. But none of them had expected him to break through to become a great knight so quickly.
(End of Chapter)