- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 206
In recent days, the heirs of the powerful noble families have steadily arrived at their respective territories. Upon their arrival, however, they did not immediately settle down to establish their lands. Instead, they quickly began expanding and developing their territories.
But their primary focus wasn’t on settling into the wilderness; rather, their gazes were fixed on the various resource points controlled by the Eagle Trading Guild.
Compared to the wild, untamed lands, the resource points under Thor’s control seemed like the most delicious cakes, tempting everyone.
Especially considering Thor was still just an heir to a count’s family.
The individuals entering the Northern Province, moving so swiftly, were all heirs of at least count-level families—or, in many cases, much higher-ranking nobles, including marquises and even heirs of powerful marquises.
Naturally, these nobles couldn’t tolerate Thor’s control over such vast resources.
But they were no fools, and thus they didn’t rashly act. The first step for all of them was nearly the same:
Reconnaissance.
Knight squads appeared at various resource points.
Through their patrols, they gathered enough information about these locations, and what they learned only served to excite them.
Each of these resource points had been guarded by powerful individuals sent by the Eagle Trading Guild. However, most of the guards were just a single Grand Knight, accompanied by a dozen or so official knights.
Such strength was more than enough to handle typical pioneering lords and orcs, but it was far from sufficient when facing these noble heirs.
If they desired, taking these resource points would be a piece of cake.
This realization made their eyes light up.
Some of the pioneering lords were already struggling to contain their excitement.
One such lord, who had recently arrived in the Western Region, was a new vassal of the Baron Babruce, and his territory lay roughly fifty miles from the Babruce domain.
Three days ago, this lord had entered the area with his knight squad, swiftly wiping out the local monsters and orcs.
Now, they had settled in.
But the environment here clearly didn’t meet the expectations of Lyan Water, the third son of the powerful Water family. As an heir to a powerful marquis, even though he wasn’t in line to inherit the family’s title, his status was still elevated due to his mother’s noble background.
He had come to the Northern Province with a sufficiently strong force.
Not only did he command three Grand Knights, hundreds of official knights, but among the Grand Knights, one was even at the peak of the Land Knight rank.
Such strength made Lyan Water feel confident, even though his plans had initially been to head straight to the Northern Border to quickly rise to the rank of baron or viscount.
However, upon hearing of the vast wealth in the Northern Province, he couldn’t resist making a detour.
The results exceeded his expectations.
The continuous reconnaissance reports had helped him understand the situation of the Northern Province in greater detail.
The withdrawal of the three powerful noble heirs from the Campbell and Spencer families had left a huge vacuum in the Northern Province.
This vacuum had not yet been filled, even to this day.
If he could seize it, relying on the entire Northern Province, he might even surpass the Northern Border in strength.
After all, resources were crucial in any era. A large sum of gold could rapidly enhance his strength.
With enough strength, ninety-nine percent of his problems could be solved.
Not to mention, advancing to viscount was very possible, and even the possibility of becoming a count wasn’t out of the question.
Such a result was enough to make anyone excited.
“My lord, we’ve confirmed that fifty miles to our right, there is an Eagle Guild resource point, controlled by Babruce. He is a Land Knight, with another Land Knight and fifty official knights, as well as over two hundred apprentice knights.”
“The Eagle Trading Guild controls a large iron mine, three rare ore deposits, and a small copper mine in this region. It seems that part of the Spencer family’s territory has also been absorbed into his domain. The total farmland exceeds five thousand hectares.”
A knight reported respectfully, his eyes gleaming as he spoke.
Hearing this, Lyan Water’s eyes also gleamed with excitement.
“My gods, this is truly good news!”
“It seems the heavens are on my side!”
Lyan Water laughed loudly, his excitement almost causing him to leap from his seat.
He paced back and forth, his thoughts swirling.
After a moment, he stopped and gave orders.
“Traphar, I need more precise information. Also, find out about the other powerful noble heirs who have arrived in the area.”
“Seven days. Can you do this in seven days?”
Lyan Water looked at the knight before him.
“Yes, my lord!” the knight responded quickly.
“Consider it done!”
The reconnaissance was swiftly put into action.
Of course, Lyan Water wasn’t the only one taking action. Every powerful noble heir who had arrived in the Northern Province was doing the same.
Figures were on the move everywhere.
As these noble heirs watched the resource points controlled by the Eagle Trading Guild, their eyes all glowed with greed.
What they didn’t know, however, was that while they were conducting their investigations, a large knight squad had already arrived in the Western Region.
Thor had not made a big show of his arrival. Instead, he had purposely concealed his movements.
He didn’t even head toward Tono’s domain but instead took up residence in an abandoned pioneering territory in the Western Region.
At this moment, no one knew he had arrived.
Even if they did, these noble heirs likely wouldn’t care much.
After all, in their eyes, Thor was just an heir to a count’s family. What kind of strength could he possibly have?
The Dreythrosa family, at best, was no more than a minor family. The majority of the knights in the pioneering squads arriving in the Northern Province had strength far exceeding that of the Dreythrosa family.
As night fell, the abandoned territory was lit by the glow of a campfire.
Above, the sky gradually filled with stars.
“Daily intelligence has been updated.”
“Would you like to open it?”
“Yes!”
[Daily Intelligence Update]
1: Lyan Water of the Water family will launch an attack on the Eagle Guild resource point located to the west of Babruce’s domain in seven days.
2: A small stream lies three hundred miles north, where a school of toxic fish will swim by in three hours. Even Grand Knights will be unable to withstand their venom.
3: A cold front from the northern lands will sweep through the Abyss Gorge in three hours. Four hours later, it will be the only opportunity to enter the Gorge. You must leave within one hour, or you’ll be lost forever.
4: Fessen Campbell from the Campbell family will launch an attack on the Eagle Guild resource point near Bern on the western side in eight days.
5: Nine days from now, Woros Spencer will attack the three Eagle Guild resource points to the north.
6: In thirty miles to your west, a group of wild boar beasts will pass by in two hours.
The intelligence lines appeared, and even though Thor had read these countless times in the past few days, he couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh.
He had indeed become the most sought-after target.
Among all the dense intelligence reports, at least a dozen referred to planned attacks on his resource points.
The Water family, the Spencer family, the Campbell family, the Emmerson family—some of these families were familiar to him, while others were unknown.
Several powerful marquis families were involved as well.
And it’s safe to predict that this is just the first wave. If they can’t withstand this initial assault, what comes next will be far more than they can handle.
It’s likely that even ten daily intelligence updates won’t be enough to keep up with the scale of these attacks.
This is no joke—this is a situation that could unfold at any moment.
This was precisely the reason why he had already gathered his forces days ago, preparing for what was to come.
The most direct and simplest way to avoid such a scenario was to make everyone understand just how powerful he truly was.
Only by doing so could he prevent any rash actions from taking place.
Thor’s eyes scanned each line of the daily intelligence report, and then he stopped, focusing on one name: Lyan Water.
“Lyan Water…” he muttered softly to himself, a smile slowly forming on his face.
Lyan Water, the legitimate heir of the Water family, was the first to strike according to the daily intelligence, and as an heir of a powerful marquis family, he was undoubtedly the most fitting person for Thor to deal with first.
Strong enough, yet foolish enough.
If Thor didn’t take action against him, it would almost feel like he was doing Lyan Water a disservice for his impatience.
The smile on his face deepened.
The night slowly passed by.
The next day, Thor summoned Steve and tasked him with investigating Lyan Water’s strength.
Meanwhile, Thor’s own knight squad remained stationed at the abandoned territory, continuing their rest and recovery.
Time passed slowly.
Five days soon came and went.
In these five days, Steve quickly returned with information about Lyan Water’s knight squad.
There were four Grand Knights in total—three aside from Lyan Water, with one at the peak of the Earth Knight level. In addition, there were several hundred official knights.
This was indeed a terrifying force.
It was even stronger than the strength that the Campbell family’s Stein Campbell had back in the day.
However, Thor merely raised an eyebrow.
Because at this moment, his own strength wasn’t any weaker.
Although his knight squad consisted of only about fifty official knights, over twenty of them were Grand Knights, and there were seven Earth Knights in total.
Not only him, but also Rayne, Michael, Chester, Marshall, the Earth Knight Rachos, and the Earth Knight Joz Anubi.
This time, Thor had mobilized nearly all of his high-end combat strength.
Among them, three were at the peak of the Earth Knight level, more than enough to crush any opponent with ease.
Thor was preparing to give these powerful noble heirs a taste of the shock the Northern Province could bring.
As the morning sun began to rise, a new day arrived.
Over the past few days, the entire Western Region had been enveloped in an eerie calm, with no major disturbances.
Yet, countless eyes were focused on the new pioneering lords and the various lords of Eagle’s Reach.
Some were filled with anticipation, some with nervousness.
Some were merely watching, while others gazed enviously.
The expressions were varied.
Everyone expected a period of intense upheaval to come, and all were eagerly awaiting what the next move would be.
In their eyes, if the Dreythrosa family couldn’t hold their ground, they would have a chance to take a piece of the spoils—enough to rapidly expand their own territories.
Previously, the Dreythrosa family had seized a massive fortune, and many pioneering lords were envious. But in the face of the Dreythrosa family’s overwhelming strength, they had no means to act.
Now, with someone seemingly ready to take the lead, their greed had been stirred.
In contrast, the lords of Eagle’s Reach appeared restless and worried.
A large number of unfamiliar knights had gathered in their territories and around their resource points, which filled them with a sense of growing unease.
Inside Tono’s castle.
Tono paced back and forth.
“Has Thor still not sent any word?” he muttered lowly, glancing at his captain of knights.
“Lord Thor has not yet sent any messages,” the captain replied respectfully, his face showing clear concern.
“Tono, it seems that Thor is likely being held up as well. We’re about to face a big problem,” Babruce said in a low voice, his expression equally troubled.
“I’ve confirmed that the knights who have been scouting around my area are likely members of the Water family‘s knight squad. That heir of the Water family is much stronger than the previous one.”
Babruce’s words were heavy with concern.
Messages were arriving one after another, and Babruce could tell that the strength of the pioneering knights who had recently arrived was formidable.
Over the past period, they had made swift progress thanks to the vast amount of gold provided by the Eagle Trading Guild and the low-grade life potions provided by Thor.
But it still wasn’t enough. They didn’t have the strength to face so many powerful noble heirs.
“Dammit, these guys!” Babruce cursed under his breath.
Bang!
Tono’s right fist slammed heavily onto the desk, his expression shifting constantly as his anger rose, eventually turning into a dark scowl.
But just as he struck the desk, a sharp knock sounded at the door.
(End of Chapter)