- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 109
Chapter 109: Corren – “Let Me Go! I Want to Duel Him!”
According to the kingdom’s laws, every frontier lord has the right to defend their territory. This is a core principle of the kingdom’s legal system. Once a lord abandons their land, they lose their title as a frontier lord. Even if they pay a penalty, that specific land no longer belongs to them. The kingdom will reassign them to a different territory.
When the minotaurs attacked, many lords from the Maine Valley fled. As a result, their territories were divided among the six lords of the Maine Alliance.
None of the lords of the alliance felt any guilt about this division. After all, the fleeing lords had abandoned their lands, and it was the alliance that stayed behind to protect the Maine Valley and its territories. From a legal and moral standpoint, there were no issues. Even if the lords who fled felt anger or regret, they had no legal grounds to reclaim their lands.
Thor had never expected to encounter one of these disgruntled lords so soon.
“Oh, so you were *once* a frontier lord of the Maine Valley. It’s unfortunate, but I didn’t steal anything, nor am I a thief. You abandoned your land. If you have any complaints, feel free to file them with the city council,” Thor replied casually, emphasizing the word “once” with a slight smile.
His calm demeanor only fueled Corren Emmosen’s fury.
“Dresserosa, you thief!” Corren shouted. “I didn’t abandon my land—I only left temporarily! But you took the opportunity to claim it!”
Though Corren felt a pang of insecurity at his own words, his voice grew more forceful, trying to convince himself as much as anyone else.
Their argument quickly attracted a crowd.
“Watch your words,” Thor warned, his tone growing colder. “Whether or not you abandoned your land is up to the authorities in Loren City to decide, not you. Now, step aside.”
Thor was mildly surprised to realize that the man in front of him was the fool he’d heard about, but the surprise quickly passed. His expression turned stern, and his voice carried an edge.
“You bastard!” Corren’s face twisted in rage. He began to summon his life force, his anger boiling over.
It turned out Corren was also a knight, having reached the level of a full knight, thanks to his mother’s wealth and care. Though not naturally gifted, Corren’s mother had spent a fortune on a life seed and various mid-level life potions for him. As a result, he had managed to break through to full knight status by the age of twenty-two.
Corren, spoiled by his mother and never having faced such open disrespect, was on the verge of attacking Thor. But before he could act, a strong hand suddenly restrained him.
A surge of powerful life force suppressed Corren’s energy.
“Manyr!” Corren shouted in surprise, seeing the older man holding him back. His expression quickly turned to one of anger.
“Young Master Corren, we can’t fight here! This is Loren City!” Manyr urgently reminded him.
“So what if it’s Loren City?” Corren spat. “That damn thief needs to be taught a lesson!”
Corren struggled against Manyr’s grip, but the knight, fearing the consequences of an altercation in the city, kept restraining him.
However, Corren eventually broke free and turned back toward Thor, rage burning in his eyes.
“Oh? You want to teach me a lesson?” Thor asked, his tone calm but laced with coldness. His eyes narrowed slightly, and a chill spread through the air around him. The crowd had grown larger, and Thor’s patience was wearing thin. He’d had enough of being called a thief.
“Yes, Dresserosa, you coward! Are you scared now?” Corren sneered. “Give me back my land, and pay me 3,000—no, 5,000 gold coins, and maybe I’ll forgive you for your offense.”
Thor’s expression remained neutral, but the coldness in his eyes deepened. “No, no,” Thor said calmly, drawing his knight’s sword. “You’ve got it backward. I’ll give *you* a chance: hand over 5,000 gold coins and kneel before me, and I might pretend this never happened.”
As he spoke, icy life force began to seep from Thor’s body, and the ground beneath him started to freeze. The chilling aura spread outward, causing the surrounding crowd to step back in fear.
Manyr’s face paled as he realized the danger.
“Young Master, be careful!” Manyr called out, rushing forward to intervene.
“You’d better stay put,” Thor said coldly, locking eyes with Manyr. “I won’t kill him… but I have no problem with cutting you down if you get in my way.”
Manyr froze in place, his body stiff with fear. He could feel the bone-chilling cold radiating from Thor, and he knew that if he moved now, Thor wouldn’t hesitate to strike him down.
With Manyr immobilized, Thor focused on Corren, his life force swelling. Ice spread across the ground, and Thor swung his sword down with deadly intent.
Corren, still fuming with anger, barely had time to react. His expression shifted from rage to shock, and then to terror as he tried to summon his life force.
But it was too late.
**Boom!**
The two knight’s swords collided, and Corren’s sword was sent flying. A blast of icy blue energy struck Corren’s chest.
**Buzz!**
A strange magical formation flared to life on Corren’s body, creating a protective barrier of earthy yellow light. However, the cold spread rapidly over the barrier, freezing it solid in an instant.
**Crack!**
The barrier shattered, and Corren gasped as his body was thrown backward. His face went pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as he hit the ground hard, his body crumpling to the side.
Silence.
The crowd stood in stunned silence, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Everyone stared at Thor in shock and awe.
A Great Knight.
Thor was a Great Knight—and not just any Great Knight, but one with a special life force. The sheer power he displayed sent shivers down the spines of the onlookers.
Manyr felt cold sweat forming on his brow. The chill in the air seeped into his bones, and he knew, with absolute certainty, that if he had acted recklessly, he would have died.
Frozen in fear, he couldn’t move.
Thor approached Corren, who lay on the ground, clutching his chest. The icy blade of Thor’s sword came to rest lightly against Corren’s throat.
At that moment, the sound of galloping hooves echoed in the distance.
“Stop!” a voice shouted.
A group of knights rushed forward, and a figure appeared between Thor and Corren, their expression tense.
“Don’t you know it’s illegal to fight in Loren City?” the knight snapped, his eyes scanning the scene of destruction before landing on Thor.
“Sir Cronia Knight, it was him! He attacked me!” Corren cried out in desperation, seizing the opportunity.
The knight, Sir Cronia, frowned and turned his attention to Thor.
“According to the kingdom’s laws, section 32, if a commoner provokes a noble, the noble has the right to take any action necessary, including execution,” Thor replied calmly. “Sir Cronia, as a noble of the kingdom, I’ve been provoked by this commoner in Loren City. I expect an explanation—or I will have to express my concerns to the Marquis.”
Cronia hesitated, sizing up Thor. “Who are you?”
“Thor Dresserosa,” Thor said, his voice steady.
Cronia’s eyes widened in recognition. “So it’s you.”
Corren, sensing a chance to shift the situation, blurted out, “He’s just a temporary noble! He doesn’t have full protection under the kingdom’s laws! Arrest him for breaking the rules of Loren City!”
“Shut up!” Cronia barked at Corren, silencing him instantly.
Cronia gave a sharp command, his voice stern. He then turned to Thor and offered a slight bow, a gesture of knightly respect.
“My deepest apologies. This was an oversight on our part,” Cronia said respectfully, with a wave of his hand.
At his signal, several knights quickly stepped forward and restrained Corren’s group of knights.
“What are you doing? It was him!” Corren shouted, his voice a mix of disbelief and fury. “He’s the one who attacked me!”
Before Corren could continue, one of the knights gagged him, silencing his protests.
“Baron Thor, we will provide you with a satisfactory resolution shortly,” Cronia said with deference.
“I hope so,” Thor replied calmly, giving a slight nod.
Cronia offered a final bow and quickly departed with his men, including the now subdued Corren.
Thor made no effort to stop them. Killing Emmosen’s son in public was out of the question. Nobles value their reputation, and slaying a noble heir, especially in broad daylight, would have created massive trouble for Thor. It would be an affront to both the Emmosen family and the Marquis, creating a political nightmare.
Thor’s original plan had simply been to teach Corren a lesson, and now that Loren City’s officials had taken him away, Thor was confident that they would ensure he was compensated.
Sure enough, by the very next day, a resolution arrived.
Loren City agreed to refund a portion of Thor’s recent material purchases as a form of compensation, and Corren Emmosen was ordered to pay 3,000 gold coins for his foolish behavior.
Thor received 2,000 gold coins immediately—1,000 of which was a portion of Corren’s compensation, while the other 1,000 came from the city as a reimbursement for half of his material purchases. Of course, Loren City would make Corren cover that reimbursement as well, but that wasn’t Thor’s concern.
Thor wasn’t bothered by these details. The remaining 2,000 gold coins were set to arrive within three months.
Thor had no intention of waiting around in Loren City for those three months. Two thousand gold coins weren’t worth that kind of delay.
The outcome was satisfying enough for him. Although Thor had initially demanded 5,000 gold coins, he had known it was unlikely. Securing 3,000, along with an additional 1,000 from the city, was already a great win. Even his current territory wouldn’t generate such income in six months, especially with the instability in the Northern Province.
The ongoing turmoil had disrupted trade routes, significantly affecting his income. A month ago, he could make 700 to 800 gold coins per month, and on a good month, even more than 1,000. Now, his monthly income had dwindled to about 500 to 600 gold coins, and he expected it to drop even further as long as the unrest continued.
If the chaos in the Northern Province persisted, his only option would be to open up trade routes to the west. However, expanding westward presented its own challenges. The western territories were home to numerous powerful lords, including over 18 barons and several even stronger frontier lords. Many of these western lords had more developed trade networks than Thor could hope to infiltrate.
For now, Thor didn’t plan to send Rachos’ merchant caravans westward. Without a solid foothold or a clear entry point into those established trade networks, it would be risky and potentially disastrous.
Thor sighed and muttered to himself, “I just hope this unrest ends soon. At least the orc wars haven’t broken out yet, or things could get much worse.”
Shaking off his concerns, Thor turned his attention to the matter at hand—completing the tasks related to his recent campaign. Together with Raine, he wrapped up the final exchanges, which included the earned merit points from their recent mission and the additional points for the second-tier orc kills.
The total was impressive. Thor had earned over 600 merit points, pushing him even closer to his goal of becoming a viscount. The clerks in the records office were surprised by the amount, but Thor remained indifferent. To him, it still wasn’t enough. His aspirations went beyond the title of viscount—he had much greater ambitions.
As night fell, Thor finished his last bit of business in Loren City. The following morning, he and his men prepared to head back to the Eagle’s Peak territory.
The caravan was as fully loaded on the way out as it had been when they arrived. Thanks to Corren’s ill-fated challenge, Thor had been able to purchase everything he needed without spending any of his own money.
As Thor made his way back home, Corren Emmosen was left in a state of despair.
His worst fear had just come true: his most loyal ally, Manyr, the Great Knight, had quietly abandoned him.
Manyr had slipped away without a word, leaving Corren to fend for himself. On top of that, Loren City had already notified the Emmosen family of Corren’s actions, and he could already foresee the consequences awaiting him.
“Curse it!” Corren raged, shouting at the top of his lungs. “Manyr! Dresserosa! Damn you both!”
But his fury was powerless to change his situation.
Corren was nothing more than a spoiled fool, indulged beyond reason. Even in today’s world, there are plenty of entitled brats like him, let alone in a feudal society. Most of his resources came from his mother, a member of a marquis family. His father, on the other hand, had only ever given him the bare minimum, leaving him to face the consequences of his own actions.
(End of Chapter)