Chapter 109: Not a Good Sir

  It's not a good time for battle on the Hill continent during the rainy season. The prolonged absence of sunlight and continuous heavy rain make all kinds of monsters on the entire continent become active. Even in the vicinity of cities, monster harassment will appear, and in the forest, monster shadows can be seen everywhere. Plant-type monsters disguised as ordinary plants wait for prey to approach. Packs of werewolves and giant toothed dogs hunt around, and those giant monsters that emerge from dark corners make it very dangerous even in places where people rarely visit.

  There have been several legions that were annihilated by Titans in the mountains during the rainy season. This lesson has not only happened once, from ancient times to now, the wisdom of this era's intelligent beings is to stay in relatively safe cities or villages. Even those merchants who do not take risks without profit will not go to other cities for transactions unless absolutely necessary.

  With the arrival of the rainy season, Marlo's invasion of Carthage also came to a halt, giving the constantly retreating Carthaginians a rare opportunity to catch their breath. However, it was clear that not everyone had stopped, and the marching girl was no exception, as she planned to take advantage of the cover of the rainy season to attack the areas where Marlo's defenses were weak.

  "This is going to be the death of me." The knight at the front of the group wiped the rain from his face and pulled the hood of his oilcloth cape tighter. The sound of rain pounding against the rocks and his cape, as well as the dampness seeping into his bones, made the knight's heart feel somewhat irritable, and this devilish weather was not making the mountain road any easier to traverse.

  The knight's boots were already full of muddy water, and his wet shoes were also filled with mud. This made his mood even more depressed. He didn't know why the princess would believe a country girl's nonsense, and even sent him and over a dozen other knights to such a team, surrounded by slaves from who-knows-where. He was almost always worried that these slaves, who had only been doing chores a few months ago, would suddenly riot and kill him.

  "What's wrong?" a female knight next to him asked. In Carthage, becoming a knight was not an easy task, but it wasn't impossible either. However, for a woman to attain knighthood was even more difficult. Women were naturally weaker than men in terms of physical strength, and many couldn't even pass the basic sword skills test. The female knight next to him had obviously put in extraordinary effort.

  "Why must we march during the rainy season?" The knight heard the female knight's question, and originally intended to hold back his complaints in his stomach. At this time, it seemed like he had found a vent, so he complained to the female knight: "Shouldn't we be staying by the fireplace at this time, roasting by the fire while appreciating the rainy scenery? But instead, we have to hurry along this muddy road, rushing to the next city to fight."

  "That's because this is the time when the Malro people are slackening." The female knight heard the knight's resentment and laughed, saying: "At this time, making a surprise attack on the frontline city will definitely have a good effect. As for the mud, there's nothing to worry about, as long as we can win, what's the harm in paying these costs?"

  "That's you, Joanna." The knight cast a white-eyed glance at the female knight and said: "I really can't understand why you would be of noble birth. You don't have any noble qualities about you at all. How do you tolerate this kind of situation? I'm already getting a bit fed up with this weather. If it keeps going on like this, I feel like I'll rot in the mud."

  "Rather than you rotting away." Said the female knight called Joana, "I'm more worried that we might encounter a horde of demons, those are our true enemies. If we were to encounter giants or giant monsters in these mountain ranges, then our two thousand plus soldiers would suffer heavy casualties."

  "It shouldn't be, right?" The knight looked around at the dark forest and also started to worry: "From when we left the city, it's been so long and not even a single earth spirit has appeared, it shouldn't be that we'll encounter some powerful demons."

  The knight's words also made Joanna feel strange, and the fact was just as the knight said. From the moment they set out from Salacin, no monsters had appeared in front of them, and it could be said that they had arrived at the front line with a smooth journey. If it was only good luck at first, then now that the rainy season had begun, when monsters were most active and numerous, not having encountered any monsters yet was somewhat abnormal.

  "It's probably true what that girl said." Joanna, who couldn't think of a reason to contradict her, said: "She is a messenger protected by God, sent to save Carthage. It's also good if we don't encounter any demons, I don't want the team to suffer losses because of them."

  +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

  The situation in Erland has changed a bit after half a month. The SS troops who infiltrated the cities in batches made some preparations in advance. They distributed thousands of propaganda leaflets expressing dissatisfaction with taxation, hired thugs to loudly complain in taverns, and bribed some city council members.

  Three days later, a protest march led by some lawmakers began under the rain. The crowd gathered in front of the city castle square, and the lawmakers read their speeches loudly on the high platform, not only refreshing their sense of existence but also catering to the crowd on site.

  The shutdown of several amenities in Thunderhead, as well as the rising prices of Thunderhead products in the city, left many low-income citizens dissatisfied. Under the urging of some individuals, they blamed it on most council members being envious of Thunderhead's high income and setting up such a tax bill. In cities like Santa Fe with Thunderhead factories established, workers were all involved, angry for their own interests.

  Two days of massive demonstrations led to more and more people joining in. Eventually, the city lords had no choice but to come out and placate the angry residents who were upset about the tax collection, promising to reconsider the proposal. However, in reality, after the Thundercliff tax proposal was withdrawn, it was never re-issued, and everything returned to its original state, with only a three or four-day tax law being declared bankrupt.

  The Flemish merchants, who were driving all this, received a warning from an unknown force amidst their astonishment at such facts. Some businessmen with parliamentary status woke up in the morning to find a sharp dagger stuck on their bed, and they couldn't help but break out in cold sweat. They hastily withdrew their support for Laurence's proposed tariff measures and hired warriors to strengthen their protection, fearing death as they had many possessions.

  "It's not your fault, kid." The president of the Arika Federation Chamber of Commerce looked at Lauren's pale face and said: "Your ideas and methods are good, it's just that the demon has changed its approach. It incited the people to riot because it was afraid of such a move. Even if this time failed, we still have this opportunity. As for safety, don't worry, I will send someone to protect you."

  Lauren was just a young businessman who had only dealt with small business, and had never seen such dark means. Although he likened economic confrontation to war, he had never thought that such confrontation would sometimes cost lives and bloodshed.

  "I understand." Lauren nodded and stood up, thanking the old man: "Thank you very much for sending someone to find me. Otherwise, I really don't know if I would have died. Let's put aside the tariff issue I raised for now. I'm a bit tired, so I'll go back to my room to rest first."

  The old man let out a helpless sigh as he watched Lauren leave his office. If it weren't for him noticing the unusual situation and dispatching a team to find Lauren, this young businessman who had such great prospects in his eyes might already be a cold corpse. The methods of that demon from Thunder Cliff were ruthless, beyond what he had anticipated.

  For a long time, Leiting Cliff has been very friendly and obedient to human rules, just like a good gentleman. However, the current situation has made the old man realize that Leiting Cliff's demon is not a good talker. Once someone opposes him, he will not hesitate to use any means.

  On the wooden beams above the room, a dark figure crouched silently, watching the old man deep in thought below. Although the old man had set up a tight defense around the house, such guards were still human-made, and humans could never really think of everything.

  "I'm so sleepy." After keeping watch for a while, Matthew left the old man's house and walked back to his temporary residence, yawning along the way. He rubbed his somewhat sore eyes and looked back at the Frandel Merchant Guild's guildhall, saying: "In that case, these people should behave themselves for a while now. That Regal guy is still too soft-hearted; someone like him who only warns without killing will eventually cause more trouble."

  ++++++++++++++++++++++

  Seeking collection and recommendationAfter careful consideration, I decided not to travel anymore. I'm just not the type of person who knows how to have funSo here are four chapters today