- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 197
As they stepped into the territory, Michael and Cheshire couldn’t help but be even more shocked. The entire land was vast and orderly, now rivaling the small town of Dressrosa in scale and prosperity.
Slaves, free men, knights—everyone wore broad smiles. As they passed through, they’d seen numerous territories in the Northern Province, but nothing like this.
The two exchanged a glance, and their hearts were stirred.
Of course, at that moment, Thor didn’t seem to care about their reactions. He led them into the castle and soon hosted a grand feast.
When Michael saw Carter, his shock deepened. At that moment, Carter had already reached the level of a Grand Knight.
An eighteen-year-old Grand Knight—Michael found it hard to sit still.
“My goddess, this is a miracle! Thor, how did you manage this?”
He looked at Carter, then turned to Thor, his voice incredulous.
As the one primarily responsible for the fledgling Eagle Knight Order, Michael knew well Carter’s potential. Without Thor’s support and Carter’s incredible diligence, it would have been impossible for Carter to gather the Life Seed and become a squire at the age of eighteen.
But now, Michael saw something else—an eighteen-year-old Carter, already a Grand Knight.
Such talent was enough to leave even Michael astounded. He couldn’t fathom how Thor had achieved this.
“Uncle Michael, it’s not me—it’s Carter who is diligent and courageous enough.”
Thor smiled lightly and spoke.
“This…” Michael’s mouth opened as if to respond, but he couldn’t find the right words.
Diligence, courage…
Fine, he admitted Carter had those qualities.
But knight training required much more than just those—most importantly, it was about innate talent and opportunities. With enough talent, one could solve most problems, even without being extremely diligent.
“Uncle Michael, thank you for coming to help. I’m truly grateful,” Thor raised his glass and continued, “And Uncle Cheshire, as well!”
Thor smiled warmly.
“Master Thor, you flatter us,” Michael quickly raised his glass in return, and Cheshire did the same.
“Not flattery at all!”
Thor shook his head. “There are likely more challenges ahead for the territory.”
He then began discussing matters with them.
Compared to him, the two of them were undoubtedly far more experienced, especially Michael, who served as his father’s right-hand man and commander of the Dresasrosa Knights. Michael had been through a lot and had much to offer when considering the upcoming challenges.
Thor certainly wouldn’t be blindly arrogant.
“Are you saying that you’ve already seized over eighty percent of the large-scale mines in the western region, and the Danube River’s output?”
Hearing Thor’s words, Michael and Cheshire were stunned. Michael even stood up in shock.
“Yes, and it’s likely even more than that. The Danube River output is probably already over eighty percent, and the known large-scale mines are at least seventy-five percent under our control. We’ve only left a few remote areas untouched. The rest is already firmly in our hands.”
Thor nodded. Over the past period, he had further explored the situation. Compared to when he first left, the scope of the Eagle Trading Guild had expanded considerably.
Even though the month’s earnings hadn’t been calculated yet, it was clear that the figures would be staggering.
“Is this…?” Hearing Thor’s confirmation, Michael and Cheshire exchanged a stunned glance.
While they had expected something of this magnitude when they arrived, they had no idea that it was to such an extent.
They were aware of the situation in the Northern Province and knew that the Western region was the most important part. But now they realized, Thor had essentially taken control of all the resources in the West.
Now they understood why Thor had called for reinforcements.
Without them, Michael and Cheshire feared their young master would likely be torn apart by the enraged aristocratic heirs.
It wasn’t just a few families—it was many. And most of them were more powerful than the Dresasrosa family.
Some were even incredibly influential heirs from Marquess families.
After their shock, Michael and Cheshire fell into a brief contemplation.
The situation was even more complex than they had imagined, and even they had to reconsider their approach.
Thor didn’t interrupt.
He quietly waited.
A moment later, Michael spoke again.
“Master Thor, if nothing unexpected happens, those powerful aristocratic heirs will likely return within the next month or two. With the current strength, even with our support, we might not be able to stop them.”
“May I see the current map of the Eagle Trading Guild’s holdings?”
Michael looked at Thor as he spoke.
“Of course!”
“Uncle Michael, Uncle Cheshire, let’s head to my study.”
Thor nodded with a smile.
Neither of the two declined.
The three of them left the dining room and headed to Thor’s study.
As they entered the study, a maid quickly unfurled a brand-new map.
This wasn’t a map of the Eagle Territory but of the Northern Province, with the Western region and Eagle Territory clearly marked.
When they saw the map, Michael and Cheshire exchanged a glance, their hearts racing. After hearing Thor’s words, they were already shocked, but now, seeing the map, they realized just how grand Thor’s plan had been.
The entire Western region was almost entirely under Thor’s control, connecting the West to the East almost seamlessly.
“Uncle Michael, Uncle Cheshire, we currently control over forty-five mining sites, located here, here, and here,” Thor began explaining further.
“Master Thor, how many Grand Knights and Earth Knights does the Eagle Trading Guild currently have?” Cheshire suddenly asked, his gaze fixed on Tor.
“Right now, besides the two of you and Uncle Marshall, we have four Earth Knights.”
Thor paused for a moment, then spoke again.
“Four?”
The two exchanged a surprised glance. They hadn’t expected that Thor, aside from them and Marshall, had four Earth Knights under his command.
That was no small feat.
Even most count-level families would find it difficult to have four Earth Knights.
To think that Thor had managed to amass this many left them in awe.
“Yes, I’ve also reached the Earth Knight level myself, and with the support of the attendants from the Rayne and Amubi families, as well as the attendants from Rajos Asad’s family, we now have four Earth Knights in total.”
Thor nodded, explaining further.
In the Northern Province, Isabelle had gifted one of her Earth Knight attendants to the Amubi family, and Rajos Asad had also secured an Earth Knight from his own family. With these two, Thor now had a total of four.
“I see…”
“What? Master Thor, you—?”
Michael nodded, his words faltering halfway as he suddenly realized, looking at Thor with disbelief in his eyes.
Cheshire’s reaction was the same.
By the Goddess of Life, what had they just heard?
Faced with the astonishment of the two, Thor was straightforward, and a mighty surge of life force emanated from his body.
Layer upon layer of cold ice began to spread beneath his feet.
The icy breath expanded.
Even Michael, at the pinnacle of Earth Knights, and Cheshire, a late-stage Earth Knight, couldn’t help but shudder instinctively.
Their figures instinctively retreated.
But as they stepped back, they also realized something.
The astonishment on their faces was almost impossible to hide.
An Earth Knight… this was truly an Earth Knight.
Thor was only how old? At most twenty. A twenty-year-old Earth Knight—this had rarely occurred even in the history of the Tulip Kingdom. And in today’s Tulip Kingdom, his rank seemed only slightly below that of a certain prince. Even the heirs of the three great dukes, who were of the same age as Thor, were nowhere near his level.
In fact, even within the Empire, such talent would shine brightly.
Then, they couldn’t help but reflect on when they themselves had broken through to become Earth Knights.
And it seemed that after recalling Thor’s earlier words, the two exchanged a glance, their hearts filled with even more shock.
“Master Thor, you… you’re saying that Raine has also broken through?”
Cheshire bit his lip, speaking with a dry voice.
“Yes, Raine and I broke through together,” Thor nodded.
Upon hearing this answer, the two fell silent once again.
For a moment, they didn’t know what to say or how to react.
Two Earth Knights under twenty years old—such a thing, even if they saw it with their own eyes, felt like they were dreaming.
“Master Thor!”
After a moment, Michael couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh, then shook his head.
Cheshire, however, fell into silence once again.
Thor could naturally tell what was happening with their stunned reactions.
But there wasn’t much he could say.
The reason why Raine and he could break through so quickly was not just talent, but also thanks to the Divine Ruins. Otherwise, to become an Earth Knight would have taken at least three to five more years.
A twenty-five-year-old Earth Knight and a twenty-year-old Earth Knight were worlds apart.
“Phew…”
“I’m truly sorry, Master Thor, I’m just too shocked.”
“Could you tell us again how many Grand Knights there are?”
During the silence, Michael finally managed to calm his racing heart. He took a deep breath and turned his gaze back to Thor.
“There should be fifty-four Grand Knights in total. Among them, thirty-two are from the Eagle’s Territory, and the remaining twenty-two are from the Habsburg Trading Company’s leased zone,” Thor paused briefly before responding.
In the time since Thor’s earlier arrangements, the number of Grand Knights in the Eagle’s Order had increased significantly.
“Thirty-two?”
Michael took a deep breath but didn’t seem as stunned this time.
There were already four Earth Knights, so thirty-two Grand Knights didn’t seem all that extraordinary.
Well, ordinary in the context of this unimaginable situation.
They were now so numbed by shock that they couldn’t process it all.
“Master Thor, so that means, including us, there are six Earth Knights in total. If Marshal can break through, then we’ll have seven Earth Knights, and thirty-two Grand Knights,” Michael said, forcing his excitement down, his eyes flashing as he spoke.
“Right!”
Thor nodded, looking at Michael with a slightly puzzled expression.
“Seven Earth Knights is already enough. Master Thor, I think it’s better to take the initiative rather than wait for them to retaliate.”
Seeing Thor’s confusion, Michael slowly spoke, voicing the thoughts he had just formed.
As for the considerations he had during the journey, they were now completely discarded.
Those ideas had all been based on the assumption that Thor didn’t have enough strength.
Now, it was clear: no amount of strength could ever be enough.
“Take the initiative?”
Thor raised an eyebrow, his expression filled with confusion.
“Yes, take the initiative!”
“In one or two months, the powerful noble heirs should return. Master Thor, what do you think the first thing they’ll do when they return will be?”
Michael’s eyes glinted as he spoke slowly.
“What will they do?”
“Most likely, they’ll cause trouble for me, or find an excuse, or maybe even skip the excuse and directly attack the territories I occupy, taking back what they think belongs to them.”
Thor pondered for a moment and then spoke slowly.
“Yes, they’ll want to take back what belongs to them.”
“They might even launch a war of expansion. The Northern Province is poorly managed by Marquis Lehman, and once one person acts, others will follow—second, third, and so on.”
“Even if you have enough strength, you’ll eventually get worn out,” Michael nodded gravely.
(Chapter End)