Fantasy Lord: Beginning with Daily Intelligence-Chapter 188 - 139: Return to the Territory, Targeted by a United Front (Part 2)
Even after not seeing each other for four months, when Thor appeared, one by one, the figures quickly greeted him with excitement and flushed faces.
Thor nodded in acknowledgment.
Everyone soon entered the castle.
Inside the castle.
The banquet had already begun.
After a sumptuous dinner.
The figures who followed Thor became increasingly settled.
Because at this moment, Eagle Territory no longer needed anything to calm the hearts of people; the territory itself was the most reassuring place.
Inside the study.
Steve and Reine gathered once more.
Thor sat by the desk.
Reviewing the pertinent reports compiled and delivered by Steve.
No one spoke.
Steve and Reine waited quietly, feeling tense.
And time passed second by second.
After half an hour.
Thor finished reviewing all the documents before him, his movements stopped, and his brows slightly furrowed.
It wasn’t because he was dissatisfied with the development of Eagle Territory.
Both what he had seen and the contents described within these documents satisfied him immensely.
By now, there were already two small towns, and a third was being planned.
The population had reached nearly fifteen thousand, among which one thousand were Free People.
Extraordinary Power had also seen considerable growth.
Before he left, Eagle Territory had only forty-three Official Knights and one hundred thirty-two Apprentice Knights.
But in just four months, the number of Official Knights had increased from forty-three to forty-five, with two more being added, and there were even more Apprentice Knights. In four months, with a significant shift of resources, the number of Apprentice Knights rose from one hundred thirty-two to one hundred fifty-one, an increase of nineteen.
This was undoubtedly an astonishing figure.
Especially if considering the contribution from Count Engle.
His number of Official Knights reached sixty-five, and Apprentice Knights exceeded two hundred, undoubtedly boosting strength significantly.
Even in the Western Region, he was qualified to claim a section of the Danube River.
If one considers Marshall as well, he could even control a large Danube River segment with Agate production.
Meanwhile, apart from this, the grain production of Eagle Territory had also seen a significant increase; even with population growth and the presence of thousands of goblins, it was enough to meet the territory’s needs.
Moreover, once the newly cultivated farmland yielded a harvest, there would even be a surplus in grain.
Not to mention the annual trade revenue.
In these four months, his profits officially exceeded five thousand Gold Coins.
This was achieved without fully opening the supply of Silver Armor, and once opened, the revenue doubling wouldn’t be impossible.
All this undoubtedly indicated that Eagle Territory had truly passed the initial pioneering phase and was starting to reap the benefits.
However, what made Thor furrow his brow was the development of the Eagle Merchant Association.
Yes, it’s about the Eagle Merchant Association.
The association indeed brought vibrant growth.
The revenue did increase significantly, as Thor held fifty percent of the profits, reaching five thousand Gold Coins, while the entire Eagle Merchant Association’s income was as high as ten thousand Gold Coins over the past four months.
Ten thousand Gold Coins, which many Count territories only have as their total income.
Eagle Merchant Association reached an income of ten thousand Gold Coins in merely four months.
Given this situation, the annual income could definitely reach thirty thousand Gold Coins.
This was undoubtedly a terrifying figure.
However, within this figure, Thor could sense something amiss.
The income of the Eagle Merchant Association had stopped growing a month ago, and this month saw a slight decline.
Theoretically, this shouldn’t happen.
With Thor’s way of commerce.
The income of Eagle Merchant Association should grow like a snowball, continuously expanding until it hits a saturation point and then gradually declining.
What is saturation?
Thor wasn’t sure.
But it’s certainly more than thirty thousand Gold Coins.
Marquis Reman alone, in Loren City, earns more than hundreds of thousands of Gold Coins annually.
Not to mention elsewhere, even the impoverished Northern Province can’t possibly have just this amount of Gold Coins.
How could it saturate at thirty thousand Gold Coins?
There must be an issue here.
"Reine, what’s going on with the Eagle Merchant Association?"
Thor put down the document in his hand, looking at Reine.
With Rajos absent, Reine was the one most in contact with the association, and Thor trusted Reine to provide him with the relevant reasons.
"My lord, this—!"
Reine instinctively started speaking but didn’t know where to start for a moment.
"What’s the matter?"
Seeing Reine’s hesitant look, Thor’s expression couldn’t help but tense.
"My lord, the situation is somewhat complex!"
Steve began speaking, his demeanor also becoming serious.
"Oh?"
Thor couldn’t help but look towards Steve.
"My lord, the actions of the association began very smoothly; it even quickly established significant channels in the West, and within a few months, Lord Rajos had connected with over forty Pioneer Lords."
"By last month, it expanded to sixty-seven Pioneer Lords, but this also caught the attention of a few from the West, who, starting from last month, began to interfere, block, and even attack our association."
"Yes, my lord, just last week, they even ambushed one of our caravans. Although there were no human losses, the material losses were significant. More importantly, they began setting up barriers, requiring us to pay high taxes to pass through, making the association’s expansion increasingly difficult."
Steve spoke quietly, explaining the whole situation, with Reine adding supplementary information.
Listening to their words.
Thor finally understood what was happening.
It was apparent that the emergence of the Eagle Merchant Association directly impacted the interests of strong Noble Lords in the West.
As strong nobles, throughout the West, or rather the entire Northern Province, most were their harvest grounds.
Marquis Reman stood high above, only controlling the slave trade, as the remaining restrictions weren’t that strict.
In such a situation, this piece of cake was naturally eyed by some powerful Noble Lords.
They had enough resources and strength.
Enough to continuously reap benefits.
Yet, the appearance of the Eagle Merchant Association disrupted this tacit agreement.
They had thought of growing their own crops, only to have them harvested by others.
Anyone would be furious.
Thor even suspected that the only reason they hadn’t outright destroyed the Eagle Merchant Association was the threat from the Dressrosa Family.
As a renowned Pioneer Knight Family.
In the Northern Province, the Dressrosa Family’s holdings included not just Tono and Thor, but much more.
The combined strength wasn’t weak.
It’s possibly because of this that they dared not go all out.
But interference, obstruction.
Even annoying them seemed unavoidable.
Especially this tactic of setting up barriers.
Thor had seen it in action in the Frost Moon Province.
In a nearly perfected system in Frost Moon Province, this was so, and in the Northern Province, the effect was unimaginable.
Because in the Frost Moon Province, there was concern about depleting resources too quickly, but in the Northern Province, such a concern didn’t exist.
Moreover, only the Eagle Merchant Association was restricted, with no need for other considerations.
