The Vastness of Magical Destiny-Chapter 203 - 5 - Negotiation and Alliance_2
Chapter 203: Chapter 5 – Negotiation and Alliance_2
Chapter 203 -5 – Negotiation and Alliance_2
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“Your Highness, you overestimate the appeal of Caucasus. What could possibly drive the mob to risk an assault on Caucasus now? Leon itself is far more affluent than Caucasus. As for your concern about the mob attacking Caucasus for survival, I personally don’t think they will in the short term. To be honest, many of the half-beast soldiers in my guard were once miner slaves to the nobles in the Leon Region. They escaped because they couldn’t endure the atrocious working and living conditions, and after fleeing to the Volt Mountain Range and settling there, I gave them citizenship once I arrived in Caucasus, and only then did they truly become part of it. I believe they can communicate effectively with their former comrades, causing little negative impact on our Caucasus,”
Komer said frankly in front of Hoffman, openly admitting his act of recruiting fugitive slaves as guards, a blatant violation of Kingdom Law.
Although Hoffman didn’t agree with this behavior, he figured that in the wastelands of Caucasus, such things were hardly enforceable, and so he let it go.
In his heart of hearts, he wished for Komer’s military power to grow stronger so that it could play a larger role in restraining both Homer and Galle in the future. Of course, this was a long-term strategic plan, unrealistic given the current conditions in Caucasus.
However, Hoffman was more concerned about the current state of affairs in Leon and where it was headed.
After all, Leon was indeed an important region within Homer Province, contributing the fourth-highest taxes to Cyprus among all the territories, excluding only the Busen Plain, Yafa Region to the northwest, and Fucik Region to the west.
If the turmoil in Leon could continue without affecting the situation in Caucasus, and the longer it lasted, the happier both Hoffman and the entire kingdom would be. Count Boninski had never paid a dime to the kingdom’s treasury; all the revenues went straight into Philip of Homer’s coffers. Therefore, the more disorder there was and the longer it lasted, the more it benefited the kingdom. It would also consume more of Philip’s attention, forcing him to dedicate troops to defend and even suppress the rebellion there.
“Your baron, how long do you think the current situation in Leon will last? Can the private guards held by Count Boninski and those nobles and coal mine owners control the situation?” Hoffman finally turned the conversation to the issue of concern to both Tez and Duke Mathew.
Before coming to Homer, both Tez and Mathew had shared their views with Hoffman, noting that besides the Caucasus trip, the most important task was to understand the evolving situation in Leon for the kingdom’s reference.
Komer was possibly the most concerned person about the changes occurring in Leon. Even during Vero’s visit, he never neglected to spy on the evolving local situation.
Several guard soldiers who had lived in the Leon Region for a long time underwent short training in Fran before being sent to infiltrate Leon to understand how the situation was changing, and the insurgent organization, which had gradually gained momentum in the region, started to initiate contact with Komer, hoping he could provide them with more weapons and food.
Of course, they were willing to exchange wealth and assets they had acquired from killing or seizing the property of nobles and mine owners.
With Komer’s tacit approval, Puber did not hesitate to agree to this highly profitable deal.
The treasures brought by the rebels for exchange were often valued at only ten to thirty percent of their original price in exchange for food and weapons, creating a significant price difference that became the risk premium for Caucasus.
The fair named Muscat at the Darman Pass swiftly became the trading center between Leon and Caucasus. With Bruce Fortress closed off, not only did the rebels have to surreptitiously bring the treasures looted from mine owners and nobles to trade for weapons and food, but the mine owners who were unaffected and continued production also had to come here to buy essential goods for life and production.
In just two short months, Muscat’s population shot up from less than five hundred to over four thousand. Besides locally produced timber and stone, a significant amount of food and essentials were transported from Mattdam and sold there, causing the number of merchants to surge dramatically.
Komer also set up an intelligence post there, training specialists in Fran and deploying them to collect information from the Leon Region, reporting their findings to Ugru every three days.
“Your Highness, based on what I’ve learned and my own deductions, if Homer continues with this approach of blockade without interference, not only will the current chaos in Leon persist, but it is likely to spread further. Count Boninski’s private soldiers barely number a thousand, with dubious combat effectiveness, while the combined forces of the nobles and mine owners amount to just a few thousand. Typically untrained, they struggle even now to cope with the frequent uprisings, and Count Boninski has stationed his soldiers in a town less than twenty miles from Bruce Fortress, clearly ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. With this attitude, suppressing the slave revolts is simply impossible. If someone among the slaves and mob, with even a modicum of leadership talent, could unite the insurgents throughout the region, I estimate that Leon might soon spiral completely out of control,”
