Chapter 61: Chaos at the Border
In Hekou Town, at a wooden table in a meeting room.

Rhodes was sitting in the first seat, holding a scroll containing information about Mole Town.

While he was reading and understanding, three knights from the territory arrived and sat on both sides of him.

"Everyone is here. I called you here to discuss the issue of the blacksmith in Mole Town." Rhodes put down the scroll in his hand and looked at them.

Tell them the plan proposed by businessman Adrich and the relevant specific methods.

Everyone knew that the territory was short of blacksmiths, and they also knew that Rhodes was worried about it.

After hearing this, Holmes and Noah's expressions remained unchanged.

They didn't have a deep understanding of the borders of the Northern Frost Principality and thought it was a good idea.

This method of stealing people certainly wouldn't work within the kingdom, but in the northern border of the principality, they didn't think it was a big problem.

But Loren was different, he looked shocked.

Seeing Rhode's gesture, Loren quickly said, "Sir, the situation in Mole Town is very special. It is not just a small border town in the principality. The forces behind it are mysterious."

"There is also a slave-catching team there. It is said that no matter where the escaped slaves go, their heads will be cut off within a day and placed bloodily on the wooden rack in Mole Town. There has never been an exception!"

Loren's tone was nervous. Having grown up on the border of the principality, he had heard the name of Mole Town countless times from the fearful mouths of the residents.

As the fear spread among the residents of the surrounding territories, it has become a dark cave, an abyss without sunlight.
It is said that anyone caught in there will never be able to escape.

Rhodes was not surprised by Loren's exaggerated description.

Moletown is extremely mysterious in the eyes of ordinary people, but in the aristocratic circle, there are no secrets at all.

The reason for this rumor is that there are three major forces entrenched there, the Lord Baron, the Mole Society and the Golden Lantern.

The lord is a baron of the duchy, in charge of the army and responsible for the overall stability of the town.

The iron mine is managed by the Mole Society, behind which stands the Mole Tribe in the north, which is subordinate to the barbarians.

A slave-catching and smuggling team called the Golden Lantern was also established in the town, and behind it was a great noble from the Kingdom of Golden Sword.

Three forces converged there and divided the town into three ruling areas.

With the interaction between smuggling and slave trade, a strange balance is maintained in the entanglement of interests.

Through various channels of Jianling Chamber of Commerce and the Round Table Council, Rod had a clear understanding of the ins and outs of Mole Town.

He found Loren's description quite accurate.

The northern barbarians, the principalities, and the kingdoms are three intertwined forces, so the captured slaves have nowhere to escape.

Moletown is actually a microcosm, representing the border area of ​​the principality close to the north and the conditions of many special territories.

Under normal circumstances, it would not be convenient for Rhodes to trick the blacksmith from there.

The principality is part of the kingdom. This kind of behavior breaks the rules and is likely to be targeted by various forces.

If you kidnap my subjects today, I can kidnap people from your side tomorrow. By then, all the territories will be in chaos.

But the reason why Adrich dared to give him advice was that there was a big problem in Mole Town now!
"The Earl Mark family of the Kingdom of Golden Sword. Haha." After reading the intelligence, Rhodes couldn't help but laugh out loud.

If nothing unexpected happens, this earl's family is the behind-the-scenes boss of the golden lamp in Moletown.

Perhaps because of this relationship, the earl sent his youngest son, Knight Fuller, to open up the land in front of Mole Town.

It seems like there's nothing wrong with it.

Rhode could guess the earl's idea. With the help of the subordinate forces in Mole Town, his son could take the lead. He could also communicate with the Mole Tribe near the developed territory through the Mole Club in the town.

There is no need for the two sides to fight each other like other pioneering knights.

With this smuggling interest relationship, it is entirely possible for them to live in harmony!
The abacus made a clacking sound, but Count Mark seemed to have overestimated the wisdom of the barbarians.

According to the front-line battle reports from the Round Table Council, the territory where Knight Fuller is located was under a frenzied attack by the Mole Tribe.

The latter did not seem to understand and instead viewed it as a provocation.

What win-win cooperation? You sent troops to my doorstep. I see you clearly want to beat me up! Then I will beat you to death first!
The resulting chain reaction caused a sudden change in the situation in Mole Town.

Due to the war between the two big bosses in front, two of the three forces that were originally cooperating for mutual benefit turned against each other.

The power of the Marigolds and the Mole Society is constantly shrinking.

If it weren't for the desperate mediation of Lord Baron Fast, the Mole Town would have been turned into a combat zone long ago.

They were arguing so loudly that Rhodes, who was standing next to them, saw an opportunity.

It's better to fight. If you don't fight, there will be no chaos to take advantage of. Then who will provide me with the nutrition for the blacksmiths in my territory?

Rhodes introduced the current situation of Mole Town, which made the three knights suddenly realize.

"Adrich will receive the fleeing blacksmiths from Mole Town through the caravan channel and take them to the Blackwood Forest, which is 20 kilometers away from Hekou Town."

Rhodes ordered, "Holmes, after receiving the notification, you will lead the soldiers of the Iron Wall Battalion to take over and deal with any tails of the pursuit."

Whether it is the Marigolds as a slave-hunting team or the Mole Society of the barbarians, they are things that cannot be put on the table.

This is true whether it is a principality or a kingdom.

No noble would be willing to be associated with them and bring disgrace to the family's reputation.

In the current chaos in Mole Town, if he cleaned up all the traces, others would be unable to do anything to him even if they knew he was taking advantage of the situation.

"Noah, you take the Royal Guard Battalion and station in Hekou Town to help Holmes ensure the safety of the pick-up. Loren, you lead the Divine Arrow Battalion to be responsible for the safety of Pingdingshan."

The three knights left with their respective missions, leaving Rhodes sitting alone in the conference room.

He picked up the map and moved his finger back and forth between Mole Town and the nearest city in the Principality.

Moletown itself is not worth mentioning. The reason why it can remain safely nailed to the border under the threat of barbarians is that

The balance is maintained by the three forces behind the scenes.

Now that the relationship between the Mole Tribe and Count Mark's family has broken down, Rhodes' intervention only requires resolving the relationship on the principality side.

He recalled the female knight in Broken Dragon Fortress, and it was she who gave him the territorial documents of Hekou Town.

Now Rhodes already knew her identity, that was his aunt Elena.

He is also the Earl of Peak City in the Northern Frost Principality and the governor of the Hanshui County in charge of the principality.

Hekou Town is located within the Hanshui County. As the local lord, Rhodes can be said to be directly under her jurisdiction.

But the governor's restraining power cannot be compared with that of a feudal lord.

From Mansaru's collusion with the barbarians to the tripartite governance of Mole Town, all these phenomena illustrate one thing.

Governor Elena has very little influence in border towns and may not care much about these places.

(End of this chapter)