The Lord Legend Of The Raicarnated Lord
Various Preparations for Travel

Chapter 57: Various Preparations for Travel

Lorist really needed the help of Baron Miranda without his permission, no matter how strong his army was or how rich he was, no matter how strong he was, he would not be able to get the support he needed from the Armatrin Port in terms of human and material resources and it would have a great effect in restarting the journey north with so many people new in their convoy.

Lorist, Charade and the other knights had been having various discussions and came to the conclusion that the greatest tribulation for the journey to the north was the 1000 km route they had to go through through through the Redlis Kingdom. If Lorist only crossed the kingdom with ten or so people, it would not cause much trouble. However, he now had over 6000 people in his convoy as well as a large amount of valuable resources.

The Redlis Kingdom was founded by the former First Prince of the Krissen Empire. During the days when the empire was still around, the First Prince was already known to be a ruthless person, it was unbelievable and greedy that had the right to replace the imperial throne revoked by the emperor himself and transferred to the Bodolger Province which was very far from the imperial capital. However, it seemed to be successful in supporting the First Prince when he quickly managed to gain control of the provincial military forces and plunder the citizens of the country from their wealth in the masses to form his own personal army. Sometimes he even had his soldiers disguised as criminals to rob traveling merchants, making him the prime suspect for the death of the Norton Family merchant convoy.

When the emperor died, the First Prince was also the first to raise the flag of rebellion and effectively plunged the empire into chaos and civil war. At present, it is only one and a half years after the peace treaty was signed, The First Prince began looking for an excuse to start another conflict with the Duchy of Forund as it used to be one of the richest provinces during his reign under imperial rule. Fortunately, the various powers in the central part of the former empire's territory, Duchy Farkel, Duchy Handra, Duchy Forund and Shabaj Duchy learned of the First Prince's intentions and have since formed a military alliance to oppose the invasion of the Redlis Kingdom. . Various skirmishes have taken place in the mid-south area of the border between the four dukes and the Redlis Kingdom.

What Lorist and his knights feared was that now that they were in Armatrin Port, which was the territory of the Duchy of Lormo, they had to enter the borders of the Redlis Kingdom to be able to reach the Northlands. Given the number of people and resources the convoy had, there was little doubt that they would be a target for the First Prince. Although, the First Prince wasn't easy because after plundering the net of his own territory, the bandit group mushroomed in response to the difficult times the citizens had experienced.

Moreover, with the unrelenting conflict between the Redlis Kingdom and the four dukes and the frequent dispossession of the ducal princess citizens by the First Prince's forces, the, there was not a single one of them who did not hate the First Prince. That was why even if the First Prince were to retreat back to his own territory, the allied forces would not let him off easily and would fight outside the borders of the Redlis Kingdom. There were even rumors that the First Prince was relying on loans to keep his troops in operation so that the frontlines were not destroyed.

Charade believed that if they took the main highway to the north, no matter how strong their forces were, they would definitely be targeted by the First Prince's forces. Given that the First Prince had a grudge against Norton, he might want to use that opportunity to obliterate the convoy to the north and also take all the resources they had.

Potterfang and Charade both suggested that the convoy take a roundabout route to the northwest that was 150 km longer than the main route and passed through various other noble family dominions. The reason for that was because they would easily be able to suppress the various smaller nobles and force their way with the military if needed. That dominance was also infested by the bandits and it would be a decent training for their soldiers as well as gaining the support of the nobles.

Potterfang also said that if they wanted to escape the fangs of the Redlis Kingdom, they would have to travel at a speed of 25 to 30 kilometers per day. That way, even if the First Prince received word of their presence, his soldiers would not be able to catch up to the convoy.

"If we manage to occupy this place, then we don't have to worry," Potterfang said as he pointed to somewhere on the map. That place, Fort Benz, was on the border between the Third Prince's Andinaq Kingdom and the Redlis Kingdom. Potterfang was quite well-informed about the area as he used to participate in battles there in the days when he was in the White Hunt Legion. He mentioned that the White Hunt Legion had defeated the First Prince's forces earlier in the place but due to the support in the form of resources the prince had from the Forde Trade Union, he said, they managed to encircle the place and wait until the White Hunt Legion ran out of provisions and had no choice but to retreat, causing the important fortress on the border to go into the First Prince's hands.

Potterfang said that since the events, the two countries have been unable to continue fighting and forced to sign a peace treaty. The White List Legion was subsequently disbanded. Since the First Prince wanted to focus his troops on the central area of the former empire's territory, he only left behind 1000 or so troops to defend the fortress. Potterfang discovered half a year ago when he passed through the area with his two children on his way to Morante City that security there was very weak. If they could take advantage of that situation and attack the fortress, they would be able to easily conquer that place without sacrificing too many of their soldiers.

Lorist understood Potterfang's intent: if they managed to conquer the fortress and hand it over to the Third Prince, they would be able to obtain his help and would also be able to avoid the pursuit from the First Prince's forces and continue their journey to Northland without worry .

After deciding which route to take, the next problem was to think about how they could let the convoy travel at least 25 kilometers each day. It seemed that they had no choice but to rely on the carriages. Otherwise, the children and parents among the members of the warrior family would not be able to keep up with the speed. According to Charade's plan, they will group four to five families together and fill each carriage with about 12 to 13 people each, for a total of up to 250 carriages solely for non-combatant use. Including carriages for the main convoy, Charade concluded that they would need at least 600 carriages before they could begin the journey.

During their stay at the bastide, Charade utilized the non-combatants' manpower as much as possible and categorized them according to their various skills to begin building their own carriages. However, the most they could wake up in a month was estimated to be only 200. Including the ones they already had, they would only have 300 by the time they had to leave. The horses needed to pull the carriage were also lacking. Four-wheeled carriages required two horses to pull, so 600 of them required at least 1200. However, even after taking over the bastide, Lorist only had around 600 horses.

Lorist really did not have much free time. He had to return to the Northlands to inherit the position and title before the 3rd month of the following year. It was already the 11th month now and he only had three more months to bring the entire convoy over 2,500 kilometers to reach the Northlands.

Even so, the decision to stay at Sloph Bastide for another month was unavoidable as they needed extra time to prepare for the rest of the carriages they needed before starting the journey. As long as they made it through the Redlis Kingdom, the convoy would be able to continue without any worries and Lorist could leave the convoy and bring a few others with him to return to power first to make it in time for the succession ceremony.

That was why Lorist really needed the help of Baron Miranda. As long as the baron agreed to let the citizens within his power help with the construction of the carriages, they would be able to depart on time within a month. Originally, Lorist still had trouble thinking of a way to convince the baron to help. What he did not expect was that Baron Miranda offered help of her own accord, much to Lorist's delight. The act of handing over the bastide for free as well as the families of the slaves to the baron was probably a major factor in his decision to help.

During Baron Miranda's stay at the bastide, Lorist announced that he would change the name of the place to Bastide Miranda for the pleasure of the baron. He then promised that he would help Lorist however he could and agreed to have his citizens help with the carriage building and also provide up to 1000 horses for the convoy. Though, the main motivation behind the baron's actions was probably because he wanted the convoy to depart as quickly as possible so that he could actually take over the bastide.

The baron told Lorist truthfully that he intended to make Miranda Bastide his new home and headquarters because of its strategic location and easy to defend, but it was very difficult for the people to encircle given the favorable surrounding terrain as well as the inner defensive fortifications . Secondly, he believed that his control of Armatrin Port would be further strengthened and expressed his intention to invest and develop the place further. He said that he could already smell all the coins that would be rolling into his pocket in the near future.

Lorist really admired the barons eyes for business and thanked him for his good help to provide carriages and horses for free. He presented three Sloph-owned ships to the baron as a gift, in exchange fulfilling the baron's long dream of owning his own small fleet. In reality, the price of three hundred carriages as well as a thousand workers was about the same price as the barque Sloph used. But the nobles usually would not engage in direct trade like merchants because it was considered impolite. That was why the baron offered what he could for free and Lorist replied by returning the favor.

As promised, three days after Baron Miranda left, he sent his main supervisor and nearly a hundred maids to help at Miranda Bastide and specifically sent two young and beautiful girls to serve Lorist personally. The supervisor even told him that the girls had already consumed Mishla Elixir so he did not have to worry about leaving unwanted offspring.

Of course, Lorist quickly had the knights move from the central bastide building to some other vacant house so that the supervisor could start planning the renovation as it would be Baron Miranda's house in the near future.

Baron Miranda was quite impressed at Lorist's ability to read between the lines and thought that if Lorist didn't have to return to his homeland to inherit the title, he would definitely be happy to make it as his subordinate.

Second, the personal guards would be gathered within three days and placed in the former slave camp in the south to Armatrin Port and the equipment that Lorist would provide. The cost for the equipment and training of 20,000 gold Ford would be paid by Baron Miranda.

Third, Lorist would offer additional weapons that the convoy would not need to sell at 60% of the market price to Baron Miranda.

Fourth, the baron would give Lorist 300 cows and 2000 sheep, the cost of which would be subtracted from the amount he had to pay Lorist.

After signing the treaty, the baron left the bastide to raise funds and conscripted people to his personal guards. Lorist and Charade called out to Els and Terman and told them to go to Morante City immediately to buy all the outdated equipment from the other academies. Back then, Lorist had only bought old equipment from 7 academies but there were a total of 28 academies within Morante City and there were still many advantages that could be generated.

Charade then regretted that he had not thought of this tactic before. If he started buying all the used equipment and repairing it for sale, he would already earn over 1 million gold coins! The armor worn by the heavily armored warriors was only up to 10 gold coins each to buy and repair. If he sold them each with 40 gold coins to the baron, he would make a huge profit and the baron was still under the impression that he had a good offer.

Els and Terman then set off for Morante City with 50000 gold Fordes to buy not only used equipment from the academy but also to order the axles needed for the construction of the carriages. Lorist also asked them to send a letter asking President Peterson to assist them in getting the axles.

Currently, Miranda Bastide was busy with activities. Lorist finally understood the true difficulty that came with managing a group of over 6000 people. In terms of clothes, Charade had already covered it up because he had booked quite a lot in Morante City and also confiscated quite a lot of those residents. They have enough for the whole group.

As for food, it mainly concerns the dry supplies that they can carry on their way. The entire group had already consumed more than 5000 kilograms of food every day with the permission of Baron Miranda during their stay, along with quite a number of treats such as fruits, vegetables and meat, he said, causing superintendent Baron Miranda to panic and be forced to import more to curb the shortage.

Given that their needs were met by barons during their stay, the food they brought could be saved for the next trip. Charade decided to make black bread with the ingredients they had. Black bread was usually used to feed soldiers and it was different as it was almost half a meter long and thicker than Lorist's arms. After removing it from the oven, the bread cooled and hardened slightly to the point where Lorist thought that it might be harder than bricks.

Each black bread can last up to ten full days for adults and the way people usually eat it is different from regular bread. If someone tried to bite him, his teeth would definitely fall out. There are several ways people can eat black bread. If there is enough time, it can be roasted over a fire and cut in half to have its flesh sandwiched in between. If there is not enough time to bake it, the bread can be hammered into powder and cooked with water to make a little porridge. It can also be consumed after softening it with water and chewing it slowly before swallowing the clumps.

It was relatively easy to prepare black bread. Using a mixture of rye, bran, salt and some optional extras, it should only be left to ferment and roast. Potterfang said that during one food shortage, the White Depilation Legion even mixed sawdust and tree leaves into the mix. In addition, the bread will not be broken for at least half a year. Charade planned to make 10,000 long black breads and each soldier brought two and one for each family member. Lorist even joked that if a soldier's weapon broke during a battle, he could still use bread as a mace to beat the enemy to death.

In addition to black bread, Charade also plans to have 300 cows and 2000 sheep given to them by Baron Miranda to serve as dried meat and jerky. He also ordered a large amount of pickled fruit and vegetables so the convoy would have snacks to season their meals.

When it comes to shelters, there is only one solution. Tents. There was no way a group of 6000 people could stay inside the inn. Charade had considered the accommodation issue quite extensively and had decided to allocate one tent for each person carriage. The camp will then be set up in the middle with a car forming a wall and surrounding it.

As for transportation, they would mainly rely on four-wheeled carriages. However, a trip to the Northlands was not like a normal trip made by a normal convoy. Given the risks and dangers, soldiers escorting the convoy will further complicate the process of transporting equipment, rations as well as herbal medicine units to get around to provide assistance will need to be considered.

On the 23rd day of the 12th month, Els and Terman returned on a large ship from the Peterson Merchant Guild to Armatrin Harbor and brought back 700 sets of chariot axles with them. They reported that President Peterson asked his men to buy all the axles for sale in Morante City and even dismantle more than 100 of their own carriages to meet demand.

In addition to the axles, they also spent nearly 20,000 gold Ford and emptied eight other academies of their used equipment. However, they did not approach every academy, as they were worried about not having enough time and space to send all those equipment back.

Els and Terman said that the amount of equipment was really too much. When Charade asked the baron to meet the end of the bargain to buy the equipment, he was immediately flabbergasted when he realized that all his money could only afford one-third of the equipment, and it's already discounted at 60% of the market price.

He could only use 60000 gold coins to purchase a quarter of the equipment. However, he still managed to make a profit in the end by selling it to the neighboring nobles at a higher price.

That prompted Charade to realize that the number of carriages required for the convoy had to increase again to 800 to accommodate the increase in equipment baggage. Therefore, he decided that he would offer the equipment for sale to the other nobles on the way to Northland and use the profits they would obtain for the future development of power.

Time passed quickly and it was already a new year. All preparations for the trip have been completed and the convoy will depart in three days.

To celebrate the coming of the new year, Lorist announced that he would give each soldier one gold Ford and each member of their family one big silver. He also decided to organize a big festival, making everyone in the convoy cheer in excitement.

It was late at night and Lorist found it difficult for him to fall asleep. He took a walk outside the courtyard and looked towards the stars hanging high in the sky, then lost his mind. Now that the journey towards the north is about to begin, I wonder how I will become king when I finally return to my homeland?