The Lord Of Blood Hill-Chapter 46: The Roar of the Iron Lion

In the Duchy of Vorry, the matter concerning Fabio reaches a conclusion. Fabio's winter assault on the border fortress and his occupation of Iron Pit City infuriates the duke.
Consequently, the duke mobilizes a legion from the duchy, and they clash with the forces. The result is that the duchy's legion is worn down by the Iron Wall Legion, with half of its soldiers captured.
Before the duchy can take further action, the nobles organize a coalition army. Under the pretense of seeking justice for the nobles near Iron Pit City, they prepare to take advantage of the situation.
In their view, the Iron Wall Legion has just fought the duchy's legion. Although they emerge victorious, the duchy loses half its forces, leading the nobles to believe the Iron Wall Legion must also be heavily damaged, especially after the recent battle, leaving them exhausted.
This seems like the perfect time for the nobles to reap the benefits, especially since peace talks have concluded and the expeditionary forces have yet to return.
They aim to squeeze the Iron Wall Legion, which they see as an easy target. The nobles' alliance has a straightforward plan: defeat the Iron Wall Legion to boost their own prestige and undermine the royal family's influence. By leveraging Fabio's status, they hope to gain greater benefits when the duchy transforms in the near future.
The plan sounds promising, but they all subconsciously ignore one possibility: what if the Iron Wall Legion isn't an easy target? What if it truly is an iron wall?
And so, a textbook massacre ensues. Fabio doesn't even show up; instead, Duveen leads the left flank army, and with just eight thousand troops, he crushes the noble coalition of over twenty thousand. Aside from a few exceptions, all participating nobles are captured.
But Fabio doesn't stop there. He leads his legion to round up every noble who supported the coalition from their castles, throwing half the duchy into chaos and panic. Eventually, the duke steps in, reprimanding Fabio and finally putting an end to his rampage.
Following this, Fabio extorts a significant amount of wealth from the noble alliance as ransom money. Duke Amir and Count Obiken seize the opportunity to employ various tactics—some nobles pay less, some more; some suffer greatly, while others less so. In short, they dismantle the already fragile noble alliance, leaving it in disarray.
As for Fabio, the duchy strips him of all his expeditionary accolades, leaving him with only his knightly title. However, they tacitly allow him to occupy the region from Iron Pit City to the border, an area spanning over thirty thousand square kilometers with a population exceeding two million. The largest count's estate in the duchy is merely a tenth of this size.
Moreover, if not counting the territories gained from the War of the Six Kings, this region already constitutes a fifteenth of the duchy's total area.
Additionally, Fabio commands the Iron Wall Legion, twenty thousand strong, divided into left and right flanks, making them a formidable force. The captured serfs from the noble coalition aren't returned; instead, when demanding ransom, Fabio insists that the nobles also bring the serfs' families.
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This extortion adds tens of thousands more to the population under his control, giving Fabio the capacity to both govern the region and sustain his army.
Just when it seems Fabio might declare independence, he surprisingly obeys the duke's order to return to the royal city for a victory celebration. Thus, the event known as the "Roar of the Iron Lion" finally concludes.
As Fabio returns to the royal city, basking in the spring breeze and public acclaim, Henwell is bare-chested, enduring the early spring chill while training with heavy weights.
Scarface Archie has been training Henwell one-on-one for over a month and is quite pleased with his progress. Henwell has endured the intense physical training, proving his resilience. Now, Scarface Archie lays out a three-phase training plan for Henwell, with each phase spanning a year.
The first phase focuses on strengthening Henwell's physique, building a solid foundation.
The second phase involves teaching Henwell various combat techniques, familiarizing him with different weapons, and understanding human vulnerabilities.
In the third phase, Scarface Archie plans to take Henwell into real combat situations to accumulate battle experience.
Once these three phases are complete, Henwell will be ready to be handed over to the organization.
Upon learning about this plan, Henwell is pleasantly surprised. The prospect of living peacefully for two years is indeed good news. However, plans often exist to accommodate change. As Henwell completes six months of physical training and spends an entire year at the place known as Forge Furnace, things start to shift.
At this moment, Scarface Archie is furiously shouting at Leom, the man who once bought Henwell.
"What did you say? You want to shorten the training? Are you out of your mind? These kids haven't been properly trained yet. What can they do if they're sent out now? They're not even close to being ready!"
Leom pushes Scarface Archie away as he approaches.
"Of course I know they're not fully developed. But things have changed; the organization is investing in a major project and funds are tight. So, we need to recover some money. They're going to be put into the bloody arena to earn more gold for the organization, so there's no need for such lengthy training."
"Right now, it's perfect. Young gladiators are quite popular! Many nobles and their wives and lovers enjoy watching kids fight."
Upon hearing this, Scarface Archie stops shouting and instead speaks coldly, "You're saying you want to use my work as disposable tools?"
Leom shrugs, "Not necessarily disposable! If they become stars in the arena, they might live longer. With luck, they could even be pardoned!"
"Are you insulting me?" Scarface Archie radiates a violent aura, a faint blood mist appearing around him.
Leom takes a sip of his drink, "Think carefully! Do you really want to go against me?" As he speaks, bright lines begin to appear on his blue robe.
After a moment, seeing that Scarface Archie refuses to back down, Leom sighs and pulls out a roll of parchment, tossing it over. "The leader's orders! Take a look!"
As Scarface Archie reads, Leom explains, "It's been almost a year since the war ended, and prisoner exchanges have been completed. Many prisoners without exchange value have ended up in the arenas, and the frequency of bloody fights is increasing. Our arena can't afford to be overshadowed, so we have to showcase these unfinished products in youth fights—a unique advantage other arenas don't have."
After a moment of silence, Scarface Archie says, "Alright! But I want to keep one person, he..."
Leom raises his hand to stop him, "I know, your number one asset, whom I personally purchased. He can't stay; our plan is to make him a star youth gladiator! He's the centerpiece of this batch of kids!"
"You're destroying a masterpiece!"
"As an assassin or shadow guard, how much can he earn? If our plan succeeds, he could earn us tens of thousands of gold coins in a year! You've seen the orders! This is an unchangeable fact. In five months, at most seven, I'll come to collect them!"