- Fantasy Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence
- FLDI Chapter 73
**Chapter 73: A Crisis Approaches**
A yield of only 300 pounds per acre was something Thor simply couldn’t accept. This meant that a large portion of his workforce would be locked into working the land, slowing down the development of his territory, and any progress would take an extremely long time. Thor had no intention of spending hundreds or even thousands of years developing a family legacy.
This meant that the yield from the land had to increase.
Thoughts raced through Thor’s mind.
Soon, he had a plan.
Regardless of whether Anna had the ability or not, he could at least try.
If it worked, the benefits would be immense.
His territory’s development would finally shift into high gear.
And even if it didn’t work, he wouldn’t lose anything.
However, before he could take any action, new intelligence forced him to shelve his plans and rethink his priorities.
He suddenly had no time to test his idea.
The stars dotted the sky.
The night over Eagle Ridge was particularly peaceful.
All was quiet, and as usual, Thor opened his daily intelligence system.
With increasing reliance on his golden finger, Thor had made it a habit to check the daily intelligence updates first thing every midnight.
Today was no different.
[Daily Intelligence Update]
[1: Five hundred miles north of your territory, a herd of pig beasts will pass by. Their leader seems close to breaking through to the third tier.]
[2: In Baron Wells’ territory to your west, a serf has accidentally discovered that grafting fern roots onto a Fire Spirit Tree increases its yield.]
[3: In three months, due to a tribal war, a minotaur tribe will be defeated, and their leader will lead the tribe into the Maine River Valley, impacting all frontier lords in the region.]
[4: A small dispute has arisen between the Rosen and Delin families in Eagle Ridge.]
[5: A group of earth dragons will pass through the upper reaches of the Maine River Valley to the west of Eagle Ridge.]
[6: …]
As the lines of information appeared, Thor suddenly stood up, his expression immediately changing.
“Minotaurs! Damn it!”
“Why would minotaurs be in the Maine River Valley?”
“And why now?”
The words escaped his mouth as he stood, completely unable to remain calm.
The greatest threat to the Northern Province was undoubtedly from monsters and beastmen, and among these, beastmen were far more dangerous.
Unlike monsters, beastmen possessed a degree of civilization and were incredibly strong.
Except for goblins, who were relatively easy to deal with, most beastmen tribes were forces that frontier knights found difficult to contend with.
No—it wasn’t just difficult. It was impossible.
Every beastman tribe consisted of at least several thousand members, and some could number in the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. Even a basic minotaur or werewolf tribe wasn’t something a typical frontier knight or even a baron could handle.
Moreover, each beastman in a tribe was as strong as a novice knight. Their leaders were typically at least at the second tier, possibly even the third tier.
Thankfully, most frontier lords rarely encountered large-scale beastman tribes.
Beyond the frontier, the kingdom’s elite armies stood as a defense, making it difficult for beastmen to break through.
This was what gave frontier lords space to survive.
But now, in three months, Thor would face an entire beastman tribe.
Even Thor, with all his strength, couldn’t help but feel alarmed.
His current power was strong, but it was not enough to handle an entire beastman tribe, even if it was a defeated one.
To make matters worse, just half a month ago, Nilmodon had left due to personal matters, leaving Eagle Ridge in a precarious situation.
“Damn it!” Thor cursed, his face tense with worry.
After a year of building, Thor had invested significant time and resources into Eagle Ridge, and it had already started to flourish. Abandoning it now would be unthinkable. Starting over from scratch would take years, and he might not have such a favorable foundation again. There was no way he could just walk away from Eagle Ridge.
Yet, the threat of the minotaurs was very real.
“No, I have to find a way!” Thor muttered. “I can’t abandon Eagle Ridge.”
His mind raced with possibilities, formulating plans.
Since abandoning the territory wasn’t an option, he had to figure out how to handle the incoming threat.
A defeated beastman tribe—specifically a minotaur tribe—was indeed dangerous, but there might still be a way to deal with it.
The best option was to notify the Falcon Knights.
As the kingdom’s elite force stationed in the Northern Province, they were responsible for eliminating beastman tribes.
However, that would be in three months. Right now, Thor had no idea where the minotaur tribe was. How could he report something he couldn’t yet confirm?
Furthermore, while the Falcon Knights had an obligation to deal with beastman tribes, it was just that—an obligation. There was no guarantee they would take action.
If they did, the Northern Province wouldn’t lose as many frontier lords each year as it currently did.
Apart from that, Thor needed to gauge the strength of the minotaur tribe. He wasn’t just relying on his own forces anymore—he now had the combined strength of the Laurens, Valmy, and Graton territories at his disposal.
If the minotaur tribe wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, they might just stand a chance by uniting their forces.
Thor suddenly felt fortunate that he hadn’t wiped out the three lords entirely. If he had, the only option left for him now would be to abandon everything.
At least now, there was still hope.
Judging by the description, the minotaurs would pose a threat, but not outright destruction, meaning they likely weren’t excessively powerful.
“I’ll keep an eye on things,” Thor muttered, hoping for more intelligence in the coming days.
As the night passed, morning sunlight filtered through the windows.
Thor quickly issued orders.
He sent messengers to contact Rachos Assad, asking him to investigate whether there were any signs of minotaur tribes nearby.
But even after these preparations, Thor was still uneasy.
Whether it would help or not, he dispatched several knights to the Falcon Knights’ headquarters.
Although it was unlikely that the Falcon Knights would respond, Thor couldn’t ignore even a small chance of aid.
Even if the odds were one in a thousand, he had to try.
Of course, this was only a contingency plan. Thor knew the main solution lay in his own hands.
He intensified the construction of defensive fortifications.
At the same time, large amounts of resources were poured into strengthening the training and development of his forces.
He also sent envoys to Loren City to procure supplies on a large scale. The gold he had recently earned from trade was quickly spent without hesitation.
Thor wasn’t taking any chances. If they managed to survive this crisis, the gold wouldn’t matter. But if they didn’t, the gold would be useless anyway.
**(End of Chapter)**