287: Chapter 1, Looking North as the Wolf Smoke Rises_3 287: Chapter 1, Looking North as the Wolf Smoke Rises_3 “Hmph!”
After a cold snort, Caesar III couldn’t help but mock: “I’m afraid it’s not that the Orcs want to attack in advance, but that they have no choice but to attack.
With their pitiful logistical abilities, maintaining a million-strong army is nothing short of a pipe dream.
If they don’t initiate an attack soon, I’m afraid they would end up causing inner conflicts before their army is fully assembled.
They’re probably in a hurry to attack because they’re looking to indulge their animal instincts and turn on their squadron’s dead bodies!”
“Beast” cos before “human”.
As a hybrid species, the Orcs naturally inherited the wild instincts of their non-human parentage.
Driven by the survival of the fittest, internal struggles among the Orcs have always been intense.
The winners take all, while the losers end up as food.
Even the suppression by the Five Royal Clans couldn’t change this savage side of theirs.
They brought their vassal races to invade the south from ti to ti.
Achieving victories was secondary; the key was to exhaust the unstable elents within their own ranks.
So highly reproductive species were even more feared by the Five Royal Clans and beca the main losses in each war.
…
Mountain Domain, news of the kickoff of the frontline battle arrived, along with the urging letters from the Governor’s Mansion.
Hudson, under mounting pressure, had no choice but to urge the lords below him to speed up the collection of supplies.
Compared to gathering supplies, the real difficulty lay in getting the supplies to the frontline.
According to the plan, the Southeastern Province needs to deliver tens of thousands of tons of supplies to the frontline every month.
The massive transportation task obviously couldn’t be completed by just one horse team.
Each prefecture could only organize their own teams to transport supplies.
The role of the Governor’s Mansion is to coordinate and supervise.
When it cos to the actual implentation, it’s still the responsibility of the local noble lords.
Layton County was lucky.
Hudson exchanged a large amount of food for iron to complete the task.
As far as transportation tasks go, moving iron was clearly easier than moving grain.
A pound of iron could be exchanged for about twenty pounds of grain.
The volu and weight both shrank, and there was no need to worry about losses during transit.
Even if there was an accident on the way, with the iron being exposed to wind or rain, at most a layer of rust would form, which could be scraped off before delivery.
If it was grain, it could potentially be discarded due to mold, resulting in the loss of several carts.
Under normal circumstances, transporting goods like grain and salt requires the preparers to account for possible losses during transit.
In Dardiel City, while looking at the pile of supplies, Hudson took over the conversation and said:
“Gentlen, this month’s supplies are ready.
The next step is to transport these items to the frontline.
I won’t waste ti by rambling.
For the sake of fairness, everyone will draw lots.
These wooden sticks have a number.
The three who draw number 1 are responsible for the first transport mission.
The three who draw number 2 are responsible for next month’s transport mission, and so on and so forth.
Leave everything to fate.
If you’re unlucky and draw an early number, just accept your bad luck!
Changing slots is also possible, but it must be voluntary.
Any underhanded tactics are not allowed here.
Now let the draw begin.
May the Lord of the Dawn bless you!”
This is a decision, not a discussion.
He directly presented the plan without seeking everyone’s opinion.
Hudson’s sudden role transition made it difficult for many to adapt.
Those with a bit of political insight knew that this was a probing move made in anticipation of the upcoming troop reformation and the issuing of orders.
Despite the discomfort, it was hard to object.
The lottery, determining the order of transportation, seed very fair.
To reject this proposal would not only offend people, but it would also be hard to co up with a better solution.
“I’ll go first!”
Viscount West stated grimly.
You could tell that his discontent with Hudson was growing.
Such a big issue, and Hudson didn’t even give him a heads-up.
It was clear that Hudson disregarded his authority as the Prefectural Governor.
And yet, all of this was being done under the banner of resisting the Orcs’ invasion, which made any dissatisfaction only sothing West could keep to himself.
“Number 1!”
When you’re unlucky, even drinking cold water will end up making you choke.
West never expected his luck to be so bad that he would draw the worst lot right off the bat.
While it might seem like everyone had to carry out the transporter’s task, and the order wasn’t that important, the reality was that a one-month delay could an a wait of three years.
While their tenure in the Northern Border usually lasted a long ti, most of the ti it ended within two to three years.
If they could fight a bit and then take a break, stretching it to three to four years would be considered resilient.
If they were lucky, the war would end within two years and the nobles with later sequence numbers wouldn’t need to take up even a single transportation task.
If they weren’t so lucky and the war dragged on for three years, then number 1 would have hit the jackpot and would need to take on two transport tasks.
In front of everyone, Viscount West felt too embarrassed to back out and could only reluctantly accept his bad luck.
“Viscount Hudson, it’s your turn!”
Looking at Viscount West handing over the lot with a pained expression, Hudson smiled faintly and said:
“Viscount West, you’re too polite.
As the one who initiated the draw, I should allow everyone else to go first for fairness’ sake.
The last lot will be mine!”
Even though he wasn’t a professional showman, he had seen enough of it.
In the end, it all ca down to luck.
There was no need to rush; one should behave like a gentleman when they are able to.
Instead of risking his luck, it was better to wait quietly, hoping that there were enough unlucky souls within the group to draw the earlier lots.
It wasn’t Hudson looking down on people, but rather that it seed like the unfortunate nobles of Layton County weren’t the luckiest bunch.
Experiencing rebellions, nobles killing each other, locust plagues, and full-scale Orc invasions in just two to three short years, their life experiences were richer than those of others in a lifeti.
It was a miracle that these individuals, blessed with such bad luck, were able to survive to this day.
If there wasn’t a need, Hudson wouldn’t want to team up with these misfortunate nobles.
Viscount West was the perfect negative example.
Despite his consistently bad luck, he remained unaware of it.
The fact that he was the first one to draw a lot, only to end up with the worst one, was not surprising at all.
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