Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 145

Chapter 145: Conquest’s prelude
It took two weeks to settle everything in Frostwave Bay. Henry decided to leave twenty infantry to keep the city safe, with Benjamin also staying behind to handle the city’s paperwork and do all administrative work to report back.

On top of his horse, Henry took a last look at the bay, seeing the silvery water and people watching him from afar, fishing tools already in hand, but taking their time to say goodbye to him – “On our way to the East, I’ll stop by the capital to gather workers and materials for building. It should arrive in the next two months” – he said, turning to Benjamin, who stood respectfully before the infantry.

Benjamin bowed – “Understood, my liege.” – His job was to obey the king and even though he wanted to follow him, he was the fittest to this mission.

“I’ll also send someone from the Sun God Company to start a branch here, so the region can develop even faster. Until we can deploy Iosif as the governor here, you can use them to send messages and requests to the capital.” – Henry concluded. It was important to establish communication throughout the capital, and he planned to do so through the Sun God Company, which would require less money in the short term.

Under the villagers’ watchful gazes and the relieved eyes of the newly joined bandits, the king led his soldiers toward the West, where his plans had already begun to take shape.

-x-

“If we hadn’t stopped in the villages along the way, we could have made it in less than a month” – Henry muttered, finally settling his eyes on the enormous shadows of the mountains filling the horizon. It was a familiar horizon, one that opened his eyes to his bloodline’s truth.

Still looking to the horizon, Henry sighed, sensing a presence coming near him – “There’s no need to be so close, Leier. I won’t run away, and…” Henry quickly unsheathed his sword, purple fire flickering from it. “It took three months, but I’m almost healed.”

Leier remained silent, staying by his side, her eye holding worry and anxiety as she looked at the king’s back, her hand unconsciously touching the eye patch covering her eye. An invisible pain threatening to assault her. She didn’t like those mountains.

It didn’t take long for a bald figure accompanied by five soldiers to appear before the king – “Olaro greets you, my liege!” – they respectfully greeted with a bow.

Henry nodded. “Good to see you, guys!” He dismounted and greeted them, causing the ordinary soldiers to bow deeper in respect. “How have you been?” – He asked, patting the General’s shoulder.

“Unlike that lazy Iosif, who has been complaining about missing a few limbs, I have been quite busy” – Olaro chuckled – “Oh, it looks like that old foggy is finally willing to meet you, my liege.”

Henry’s eyes flickered and a smile covered his lips – “I will make sure to visit him once I am back to the capital.”

“It won’t be necessary, my liege!” – Olaro said proudly – “Although he resisted at first, what can a grumbling man do? I grabbed him by the hair and brought him here.”

Henry froze.

Olaro continued, his voice tinged with annoyance. “I thought he’d be useful, since he partially stabilized the East. However, that fool just watched me work for two months. Only when he met that controlling woman did things change…”

The general wanted to keep going, but one of his men lightly nudged him, bringing him back to his senses. He cleared his throat and pulled his beard. “I apologize; it seems I’ve spoken out of turn. Shall we lead the king to the city?”

“It won’t be necessary, my liege!” – Olaro hit his chest in a prideful tone – “Although he tried to resist, what can a grumbling man even do? I grabbed him by the hair and brought him here.”

-x-

“Welcome to the city of Cold Iron, Mehis” – Olaro said, welcoming the king to a scene that could only be described as chaotic.

“Shouldn’t it be called Cold IronWood?” – Henry asked – “I’m sure we followed the map to Cold Ironhaven. Didn’t we, Leier?”

Standing two steps behind the king, Leier nodded. “Yes, my liege. Shall I check again?”

Olaro cleared his throat. “Y-you’re not wrong, my liege. This is indeed Cold Ironhaven.” He pulled his beard again, his cheeks becoming slightly red. “I-I just remembered one of your lessons in the Commanders Center: communication should be fast, so I thought the name was too long and would make it difficult to transmit information.”

“You simply didn’t like the name” – Henry wanted to say, but only flashed a smile. His eyes turned towards the sight in front of him, where hundreds of people were running around with tools and items to fix the buildings – “They sure did their best to destroy the city, huh?”

Olaro nodded, relieved that the king didn’t press him further on the name – “Yes, my liege. If we hadn’t evacuated the cities along the White Merchant Road, we wouldn’t have found just destroyed rocks and wood, but the frozen bodies of the king’s subjects.” – The general squeezed his fist in anger, but everything was over. There was no need for such ugly display before the king – “Following your orders, I brought the soldiers to help rebuild the cities of the West, but I didn’t expect those criminals to have destroyed the people’s homes to such an extent. We’re basically rebuilding the city.”

Henry nodded in understanding. He was the one who gave Olaro the order to travel West and rebuild the region. It had to be done quickly since the production of Cold Iron had stopped.

“Did you manage to gather all of the West’s blacksmiths?” – Henry asked as they entered the village. The people and soldiers were so busy and focused on their work that they didn’t even notice Olaro leading the king towards a manor that was the only one completely rebuilt. It was a small house, but it was better than letting the king sleep in the cold.

“Yes, my liege!”- Olaro said – “I ordered the soldiers to spread around the region and brought all of them to this city. They are all waiting for you.”

“Good. I want to meet them tomorrow morning.” – Henry said as Olaro opened the door to the small manor.

A voice greeted them, one that Henry thought he would never hear again – “Welcome, my liege!”