Cthulhu Gonfalon

Shortly afterwards, the Thunder Lord received a report from Viscount Samat. It was a detailed report that elaborated on the situation at Keane Hill, especially emphasizing on that green dragon that patrolled the skies from time to time.

“Originally, I thought that Toon Samat was a capable warrior that could help share his Lord’s worries. But from how it seems now, he is nothing more than just an uncouth man,” the Thunder Lord said when he finished looking at the report. Angrily, he threw it on the table, and then to his assistant, he said, “I have made a mistake in having such high hopes in him.”

“Hey! A majority of these nobles are like that!” said that assistant with a long sigh. “Even if everything was agreed upon before he set off, that he would cause conflicts at all costs so that Your Majesty would have an excuse to directly intervene in the matters of Keane Hill—the moment he becomes a lord, with all kinds of interests within his reach, his family and reputation… Of course, there are self-sacrificial soldiers who will really do whatever it takes, but from the start, I have not had much hope in expecting this lord to be a self-sacrificial warrior.”

The Thunder Lord nodded and wrapped up his depressed mood. He said, “Even though he was brave and aggressive like a wild boar on the battlefield of the Great Marsh, when he becomes a lord, he will become sleek and vulgar—or rather, even if he had wanted to persevere in keeping to his past practices, his men and subjects will force him to change. Such a thing is reasonable and makes sense, so in fact, there is nothing much to feel sorry about.”

“Yes, no matter what, his presence there will at least put some pressure on Keane Hill. Perhaps in the future, we will still be able to find the chance to stir up some trouble—the nail has already been buried, sooner or later it will serve its purpose.”

The Thunder Lord laughed and said, “That’s right. A man made for great things should never do things in haste.”

But he suddenly switched the conversation to another topic. With a solemn expression, he said, “But… there are certain things that should and still have to be done.”

The next day, the Thunder Lord summoned his second son, the one who had recommended Toon Samat, to the palace and got him to read the letter. Then he severely criticized his son.

“Do you know what your mistake was? Getting a nobleman with a territory to be a self-sacrificial soldier, how can something like that possibly be successful!” the Thunder Lord showed no mercy with his words as he criticized this son, who had always been known for being intelligent and sharp. He didn’t mention how he had laughed with a supportive look back when he first heard of this suggestion. “Ah, you! Still too young after all! Like to take things for granted! Politics are very complicated, and so are people. Governing a nation is even more complex! It’s better that you go back to study hard for a while, I will get the palace consultant to frequently check on your academic progress.”

Finishing his piece, he ended the conversation without giving his son a chance to explain himself.

News spread quickly. Soon, everyone knew that the second son of the Grand Duke, who once had the upper hand in contesting for the successor of the Grand Duke, had been severely criticized for a job not done well. The balance of power, which was originally inclined towards his side, was immediately reset back to the norm. Even a slight inclination tended towards the eldest son of the Grand Duke who took a more modest and steady approach in his work.

The eldest son of the Grand Duke was naturally, the first few to learn of this news. After having a good laugh at home, he sent a messenger to Keane Hill.

This messenger arrived at Keane Hill almost as soon as the rumors did. He brought a handwritten letter by the eldest son of the Grand Duke that was full of compliments for Keane Hill’s achievements in construction. However, it also contained criticism on Keane Hill’s approach in overly pursuing public welfare. And the most important content of this letter was the promise this eldest son made, plainly and clearly.

“If I were to become successor, during my tenure as the Grand Duke, I would guarantee that Keane Hill will continue its current status of basic autonomy. Unless the country meets with a crisis, no military or material support will be sought from Keane Hill.”

This was a very heavy commitment because, at the end of this letter where the promise was, the seal of the Church of the God of Law and Justice was stamped on it. From the flowing light on the seal, it was clear that there was Divine Power involved. In other words, the eldest son of the Grand Duke was not making an empty statement, but rather, he was committing to this promise under the supervision of the gods. It was a promise that could not be broken.

To restrain a nobleman, relying on reputation and status alone was not practical. But, even a king of a country would not dare break a promise made under the supervision of the gods. Otherwise, no one in the entire world would be able to save him.

A promise made under the supervision of the God of Law and Justice was particularly more solemn. Once violated, the god’s punishment would be next to come. Not even a second delay was allowed, and none of the other gods would render a helping hand.

If it were any of the other gods, maybe he could still ask someone under him who was a follower of that god to intervene. He could pay compensation or something to appease the anger of the god and end the matter. But the God of Law and Justice would not buy this method.

And asking the other gods to make an enemy out of the God of Law and Justice, who wielded powerful Divine Power, for the sake of a mere mortal king? Ha ha, that was simply overestimating oneself.

The life of a king would at most last a few decades, and his tenure as king could be around 30 to 40 years, or even shorter—maybe slightly more than a decade or even a few years. To a god with eternal life, it was nothing more than a mere snap of their fingers. Who would bother going up against a great Divine Power over such a small matter?

It might be possible for certain gods who were known as “lunatics,” but provoking those gods were much more serious than aggravating the God of Law and Justice.

Of course, Anna Keane and company would know of these principles. So after reading the handwritten letter, they suddenly felt more settled. To the messenger, they gave their promise that Keane Hill would do their best to support the eldest son of the Grand Duke and would strive to help him succeed as the next Thunder Lord.

After a series of discussion, everyone was satisfied and happy.

A few days later, Viscount Toon Samat also received a letter from the capital. The content was quite critical of him, but overall, it largely affirmed his mindset, so long as he did not forget why he was first sent there. He was not to indulge in government affairs or to forget his real task.

Viscount Samat got several of his important officials to read the letter, then said helplessly, “This is going to be quite troublesome!”

“It’s only right that things are going to be troublesome. If everything is going to be easily done, will you even have a turn at owning such a piece of land, my lord?” asked his think-tank, a scholar of a minor aristocratic background from the capital. This man said with a smile, “But no matter what, we have gotten the benefits. As to what should be done, that is still up to us to dictate!”

“Yes! Boss, you are finally enlightened. As your brothers, we are also very happy!” the valiant generals under his command said. A barbarian, who came from the bordering area of the Great Marsh, said with a grin, “You’ve always insisted on being an enemy of Keane Hill, speaking of which, we are all always very worried about it!”

Viscount Samat smiled, then said, “Previously, I couldn’t seem to come around, but now, I’m done thinking through it. I’m no longer a soldier, but a lord. Although I still must remain loyal to His Majesty, I must also spare a thought for the lords here and my people. To directly be in conflict with Keane Hill, the risk is much too great! Even if I’m not afraid of dying, I can’t be putting all your lives at risk, ah!”

“Right, right, right!” the barbarian said as he nodded vigorously. “We aren’t afraid of dying either, but it hasn’t been easy. We have risked our lives so many times, and finally, the good days we so looked forward to have arrived. I will be very unwilling to accept if I were to die just like that!”

“But… it is not going to be easy accounting to His Majesty…” said an intelligence officer with a miserable look. He was the one who had previously wanted to sound Sui Xiong out but got beaten up instead. “My Lord, you had pledged to do a good job with fists against chest… I guess he must not be very happy now.”

“It can’t be helped if he’s unhappy now. We can’t be sending ourselves to meet our doom just to make him happy,” the barbarian said crudely.

The intelligence officer gave a wry laugh, then nodded and said, “You are not wrong in saying so. This is just the way the aristocratic world works, and it’s our ability to be able to trick the people. Even Her Majesty of the Holy Kingdom of Noble Maids is in great favor of such an approach. But… but…”

He said a few “buts,” yet up till the end, he still did not say anything and merely heaved a deep sigh.

Toon Samat’s reason for breaking his promise was very strong and convincing, which was why it garnered the support of most of the important officials. Upon comparison, even the vassals who were relatively more loyal to the Grand Duke did not find it wise to be too critical of him.

After all… that green dragon hovering in circles above the Manor of Samat, which could be seen carrying a Legendary Master on its back from time to time, was giving them too much pressure. In the face of such an enemy, even the most strong-minded people would find it hard to muster up enough courage to stick to their original ideas.

Above all, there was another Legendary Master over at Keane Hill, Romon Geerteng, who was known as the “Southern Scholar.” Previously, when Mr. Geerteng had come to create trouble for Toon Samat, it was only through the concerted efforts of everyone and the power of the altar that they managed to fight him off. Now, with the addition of this Dragon Knight, it has indeed exceeded the limits to what Keane Hill could possibly resist.

To make matters worse, Mr. Geerteng had once expressed that he would consider asking his two cousins for help if what Keane Hill had was not enough.

His two cousins were none other than the “Border Sage,” Olian Geerteng, who was an elector of the God of Knowledge and Culture, and the “Great Healer,” Steele Geerteng, who was a higher-up of the Church of the Void Mask.

The former was a world-famous scholar and an extremely powerful Legendary Master. Not long ago, she led the Church of the God of Knowledge, established since a short 30 years ago, in fighting a great war against the Church of the God of Aristocracy, which had been established for almost 300 years. Furthermore, the Church of the God of Aristocracy had also inherited the legacy of the Church of the God of Royalty. Though in the end, there was no clear victory between the two sides, in terms of the losses incurred by both sides in this war, the Church of the God of Aristocracy had suffered a great loss. This included losing their Archbishop and five Legendary Masters, as well as losing one other Legendary Master who decided to change sides and pledge allegiance to the Church of the God of Knowledge.

In other words, under the leadership of Olian Geerteng, the Church of the God of Knowledge won against the powerful Church of the God of Aristocracy. Such a master like her could instill fear even in the king of a country.

As for Steele Geerteng, she was known for leading a terrible style of life—it was evident from her other title, the “Unethical Great Healer”—but she had very strong skills. Previously, when she followed the Void Mask in wiping out the “Isis” Organization, she had shown the strong presence of a Legendary Master. And all these years, she had been treating the sick and saving lives in Void City. She had also trained a great number of doctors and nurses. Among the civilians, she had an extremely high reputation. Being an enemy of hers might not involve as much danger as compared to being an enemy of Olian Geerteng, but the hurt inflicted upon reputation and popular sentiments would have a more far-reaching impact.

In the face of two such potentially strong enemies, even those who were loyal to the Thunder Lord found it impossible to say things like, “Don’t be afraid, face it outright with your resentment.”

After all, all of them were not fools!

After a short discussion, everyone from Samat Hill coalesced to arrive at a unified sentiment—if the Grand Duke, His Majesty, really wanted to deal with Keane Hill, then of course, Samat Hill would be willing to fight at the battlefront. However, so long as the Grand Duke did not formally issue his order, they would just wait.

If Samat Hill were to charge forward bravely and start a battle with a bang, only to see the Grand Duke sitting aside and saying, “You guys can have fun, I’ll just watch,” that would truly be a scam!

Come to think of it, such a thing was highly likely to happen!

The key reason to why Samat Hill insisted on being an enemy of Keane Hill was because Lord Toon Samat insisted on doing so. Now that the lord himself had finally come round, of course, everyone would be happily at ease. Just like what that barbarian said, after risking their lives for so many years, finally, they could look forward to a good life. Who would be willing to die so easily?

A few days later, a messenger came from Keane Hill. The First Knight of Keane Hill, Shawn James, had come to visit Samat Hill. He had brought along two letters. One was a friendly letter from Anna Keane to Lord Toon Samat, while the other letter was the letter that the eldest son of the Thunder Lord wrote to Keane Hill.

There was nothing special about the first letter. Its content was so cliché that no one took it very seriously. But the second letter certainly surprised everyone at the Samat Hill, especially that clear promise and the seal of the Church of the God of Law and Justice. That added to the heavy feelings weighing them down.

Knight Shawn Kames did not request for Samat Hill to make any promises; he merely had a friendly conversation before taking his leave, and of course, he took the second letter with him. But after he left, the crowd in Samat Hill started a heated discussion.

“What! Those great aristocrats are really heartless!” the barbarian said viciously as he spat. “The second son encourages us to court our doom while the elder son goes to the second son to talk peace… not even worthy to be compared with the long tongue of the long scales!”

The long tongue of long scales referred to the Lizard men. At the edge of the Great Marsh, people treated the Lizard men as enemies all year round. Both shared a deep feud with each other. To the people, comparing someone to Lizard men was the greatest insult ever.

“The world of the nobles is really so eerie and gloomy, a real hair-raiser!” said the intelligence officer with a sigh. He was of civilian background. He no longer insisted on his earlier viewpoint, “Luckily, our lord was fast enough in grasping hold of the opportunity and did not tread to the end of the dark path. Otherwise… Ahh…”

Looking at his fearful face, it was not hard to know what was on his mind.

The chief of assistants sighed and said, “Such a thing is in fact quite normal. After all, the two sons are competitors, giving one another tit-for-tat, taking different attitudes, there is nothing strange at all. But recently, I heard some news that the eldest son managed to turn the tables and gained an advantageous position in this competition for the rights of inheritance. If we are to continue to place our stakes on the second son now, the possibility of experiencing a great loss is much too high. It’s not worth it!”

“If you ask me, I think we should focus on building our territory and create a good life for ourselves, that will be enough. Why must we bother about what those big shots at the capital think?” said the patrol chief who was a half-dragon human. “So long as we build our territory well, then no matter what, we will never suffer.”

Toon Samat—or rather, Ray Shack—nodded with a smile. Thus, the thing was settled as such.

A few days later, a messenger from Samat Hill came on a secret visit to Keane Hill, bringing along a friendly letter from Viscount Samat.

“Political affairs are really too bothersome!” Sui Xiong said as he witnessed the entire episode unfold. He could not help lamenting, “Clearly such a minor thing, yet so much scheming and plotting; it’s simply a pain to watch!”