At that moment, the Fat Duke spoke up, "But we can't just stand by and do nothing! If word gets out that our entire estate was raided and we did nothing about it, it would be a grave insult to the Kingdom!"
The Fat Duke chuckled darkly. "My suggestion? We declare war on this 'Mysterious Nation' immediately, blockade all major cities and villages, and conduct thorough investigations of all suspicious foreigners—like those... Merchants."
"According to intelligence reports, it was a Merchant who corrupted Marquis Ramsey. Using the guise of trade, they infiltrated the prisoner camp, relayed information to the enemy, successfully opened the teleportation portal, and allowed the enemy to enter. This means every Merchant within the Kingdom is now a suspect!"
The other three Dukes exchanged glances. After a moment of hesitation, they immediately understood the Fat Duke's meaning.
In truth, declaring war on the "Mysterious Nation" was merely a pretext. The fundamental problem remained: they didn't even know who their enemy was or where they were located. How could they possibly declare war under such circumstances?
The Fat Duke's primary objective was to use this excuse to "thoroughly investigate" the merchants. He wanted to scrutinize their goods and Gold Dragons for any irregularities. Whether he'd return the items after inspection, however, was far from certain.
Any refusal to cooperate would be taken as proof of guilt, indicating major issues. In such cases, both the merchants and their goods would be seized and taken away.
These merchants had become exceedingly wealthy, especially the surge of "Timber Merchants" and "Paper Merchants" who had emerged in the past year. They were raking in profits hand over fist, enough to make even the Fat Duke's eyes gleam with envy.
Now that this opportunity had presented itself, with the perfect justification, he was determined to strike hard and decisively.
As for the potential consequences of this crackdown on merchants for the Kingdom of Ukel's future, the Fat Duke had never given it a second thought. All he cared about was the immense wealth he could seize if the plan succeeded.
Duke Moustache chuckled. "Coincidentally, the high-end art auction last year, which generated over a million Gold Dragons in sales, is planning its second event this year. I suspect this group is also involved!"
Duke Glasses nodded in support. "I agree!"
Duchess Witch's Hat chimed in, "No objections here."
The four nobles turned their gaze to His Majesty the King. After a moment of hesitation, the King seemed torn between refusing and not daring to refuse. This meeting was supposed to be about the recent attack on the kingdom—how had it suddenly turned into a scheme to exploit the merchants?
Left with no choice, the King finally nodded. "Let it be as you have decided, my lords."
The power struggle between royal authority and the nobility had always been an inescapable obstacle in feudal states. It was clear that the current King of Ukel wielded minimal control over these four Grand Dukes. The only loyalist among them, the Fifth Grand Duke, was away leading military campaigns.
Seeing the King's acquiescence, Fat Duke declared, "Excellent! Now let's discuss the detailed plan."
Three days flew by in a blur. Tribios had been tirelessly managing the affairs of this massive influx of foreign peoples, grappling with questions of how to settle them, what jobs to assign them, and most critically, how to explain to them that they were now free.
But this led to a cascade of other problems. Upon learning of their freedom, the Beastmen's first reaction was to timidly ask if they could return home—a perfectly logical request, yet one Tribios couldn't possibly grant.
It wasn't out of selfishness or a desire to hoard these people. The Kingdom of Ukel had already completely occupied the Beastmen's homeland, transforming it entirely into Ukel's domain. Releasing them now would be like sending them back to be captured all over again.
When informed of this reality, the Beastmen reacted with skepticism: If you won't let us return home, aren't we still slaves? What's this hypocritical talk of freedom?
Tribios was exasperated. No matter how she explained the reasons, she felt like she was preaching to deaf ears. The Beastmen either didn't care, weren't listening closely, or simply couldn't understand.
Tribios felt she had explained herself clearly, but these Beastmen simply couldn't understand. Their comprehension skills were shockingly poor.
Left with no other choice, Tribios eventually gave up trying to explain and decided to let time gradually resolve the issue. A small number of adult men were separated and assigned to various factories, while the majority of the children, all aged between 12 and 16, were enrolled in schools.
The sudden influx of so many new students undoubtedly put immense pressure on the schools. However, Tribios was counting on these students to understand the Grand Duchy of Augustus after graduation.
As mentioned earlier, these Beastmen were dim-witted, and this continued even after starting school. While the previous students had been remarkably diligent, attentive in class, and exemplary students, these newcomers were the complete opposite.
Every single one was restless and fidgety, as if suffering from ADHD during lessons. They constantly chattered, frequently daydreamed, and fit the mold of underachievers perfectly. Though Tribios no longer taught at the "Literacy Department," she had visited a few times and witnessed the teachers on the podiums practically steaming with anger.
Even worse, because these teachers were recent graduates themselves, barely out of their own student years, they would lose their tempers and start brawling with the students right there and then, engaging in real-life PvP. The most absurd part? They usually lost to the students.
It's worth noting that the previous group of Beastmen from the Grand Duchy of Augustus had all been Feline, the so-called Catfolk, who exuded an air of intelligence and agility. In contrast, this new batch was entirely Canine, giving off a clumsy and simple-minded vibe.
"Sigh..." Tribios sighed deeply, intervening to stop the brawl. The road ahead is long and arduous, she thought.
Just as she was still fretting over the Beastmen, someone suddenly ran up, shouting, "Disaster, Holy Maiden! Our caravan to the Kingdom of Ukel has been intercepted!"
Over the past year, Tribios had discreetly established several stable Century Gates within the Kingdom of Ukel. These gates were carefully concealed, and after the Grand Duchy of Augustus's population grew sufficiently, small camps—or rather, outposts—were built around them to maintain constant surveillance and prevent accidental discovery.
Many had long suspected the source of the Grand Duchy of Augustus's Caravan's goods, questioning how such high-quality northern timber could be transported. Yet the Caravan members had always maintained tight secrecy, never revealing a single clue.
But now, it seemed that might not be the case after all. Tribios pondered, Could the Kingdom of Ukel have discovered the Caravan's use of the Century Gate long ago? Perhaps they had dispatched thieves or rangers to covertly follow the Caravan, infiltrate their camps, and uncover the truth?
A major power like Ukel can't possibly lack skilled thieves or rangers, Tribios reasoned. This explanation seems highly plausible.
Then there was the matter of the prisoner camp raid. Although the guards had been completely "wiped out" and Olivia had blocked reinforcements from entering, Tribios admitted she knew little about the camp's layout. What if there were hidden back doors or secret passages? Could someone have sneaked a peek at the Century Gate?
Alternatively, the Divination School possessed a Third-Level Spell called "Recreate the Past," which could project events from the past seven days onto a Crystal Ball like a replay. It shouldn't have been difficult for the Kingdom of Ukel to find a Third-Level Diviner capable of casting this spell, allowing them to uncover the existence of the Century Gate.
Only by doing so would they be able to specifically target the Grand Duchy of Augustus's caravans, Tribios reasoned, believing her deduction to be the most logical. Little did she know, she was vastly overestimating her enemies' intelligence.
The prisoner camp had no secret back entrances or hidden passages. The Kingdom of Ukel hadn't consulted any Diviners; they learned about the Century Gate entirely because of deserters! And the interception of the Grand Duchy of Augustus's caravans wasn't due to Thieves or Rangers discovering the caravans' secrets. It was simply because they were intercepting all caravans, robbing them for money.
If Tribios had known the Kingdom of Ukel's true plan, she would have flown into a rage. To suspect all merchants just because one merchant infiltrated the prisoner camp and opened the Century Gate? That's just insane!
It's like getting ripped off at a corner store and then cursing all corner store owners—even the suppliers! How absurd is that?
Moreover, after looting all the merchants, it would be a long time before any dared to return. How devastating would that be to the nation's economy? Had the Kingdom of Ukel not considered this?
Well, the Dukes hadn't really thought about it.
Tribios remained unaware of these machinations, still assuming her opponent's intelligence was on par with her own. She sighed inwardly, having mentally prepared for exposure the moment she conceived the plan to attack the prisoner camp.
After all, attacking another nation was an act of war. Before executing the plan, Tribios had thoroughly explained the risks to Olivia, but Olivia remained steadfast in her resolve. Tribios herself harbored a sliver of hope—their operation would take no more than twenty minutes. What if they went unnoticed?
"Has the Kingdom of Ukel issued any official statement?" Tribios asked.
"Yes," the messenger replied. "They've formally declared war on the nation that attacked their prisoner camp!"
Tribios winced, a headache brewing. This means the Kingdom of Ukel now knows of the Grand Duchy of Augustus's existence, though they don't yet know its name.
"Has Olivia been informed?" Tribios asked.
Her words had barely left her lips when Olivia burst into the room, her voice frantic. "Little Trib, Little Trib! The Kingdom of Ukel has declared war on us! What are we going to do?!"
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't insisted on rescuing those slaves..."
Tribios shook her head. "A king cannot err. Besides, I agreed at the time. Instead of dwelling on the past, let's focus on what we should do next."
The enemy has declared war, leaving us with two options. First, we could engage in open warfare, fighting with honor. However, given the Grand Duchy of Augustus' current military strength, whether we could win is uncertain.
Second, we could avoid war, focusing on rescuing the captured merchants and shifting our trade focus to other nations, abandoning the Kingdom of Ukel entirely. But this strategy requires one crucial condition: that the enemy remains unaware of the Grand Duchy of Augustus' location.
Alternatively, there's a third, more radical option: Tribios could personally threaten the King of Ukel, using her extraordinary martial prowess to force him to halt hostilities, or else face eternal damnation in the Nine Hells.
But frankly, this is the worst possible approach. War is merely an extension of politics, not an end in itself. We must consider what benefits this conflict would bring us, not simply fight for the sake of fighting.
For example, if the Grand Duchy of Augustus could defeat the Kingdom of Ukel on the battlefield and force its surrender, it could demand substantial war reparations, secure tax exemptions for its merchants, and dispatch more caravans—in other words, establish open markets and free trade!
Furthermore, they could demand the release of more slaves to be sent to the Grand Duchy of Augustus, demand the surrender of valuable Magic Books, demand territorial concessions, and so on. The list of justifications for war was virtually endless.
However, directly threatening the king was a risky gamble. Whether he would yield to the threat remained uncertain. Even if he feared death and wished to end the war, it was unclear whether he had the authority to do so.
Worse still, if the king were to meet with misfortune, the war would sink into a quagmire, spiraling into a vortex of hatred that would render peace negotiations impossible. They would be forced to fight until the bitter end.
Just then, another messenger rushed over, shouting, "Disaster! Lord Jay's auction has been surrounded by Ukel soldiers! The Kingdom of Ukel seems to be planning to attack Lord Jay!"