The nobles, of course, understood the tactics employed by Viscount Dragon—but they were helpless against them.
They had to return to their own fiefs. Otherwise, aside from the soldiers they had brought to Zero Crossing City, they would lose everything. Their people would be taken as slaves and brought to the fiefs of those attacking nobles. Their wealth, their food stores—everything would be looted. They were certain the other side would do this, because they themselves would have done the same.
As for Viscount Miles, the leader among these nobles, he too was at a loss.
Until now, no one had anticipated Viscount Dragon would use such a tactic. They had even already completed the fortifications around Zero Crossing City.
"Castor, do you have any ideas?"
Viscount Miles looked to Castor Vise, seated nearby. The latter frowned deeply.
Castor had come to Zero Crossing County for two reasons:
First, to assist the Miles family, helping his own father gain influence in the region.
Second, a more personal ambition—he wanted the Miles family to not only support the Vise family, but support him as an individual.
He was well aware of his father's ambitions and goals. For the future he envisioned, Castor needed a power base of his own, which required support from all branches of the Vise family. In his mind, the Miles family was a key piece of that plan.
He was eager to help Viscount Miles—but he had already suffered one defeat. His current force was down to just 1,500 men.
After a pause, Castor looked up.
"Viscount Dragon is doing all this to force us to leave Zero Crossing City and engage him in open battle. Since he wants that, let's give it to him."
"Even without the protection of the city, we still have the advantage. Don't forget—we have more troops, and we also have more knights."
Beside Viscount Miles, Lager still looked doubtful. He turned to Castor and asked:
"But if we leave the city, we lose our defensive advantage. And we don't even know whether Viscount Dragon has other allies waiting in secret."
Castor gave Lager a surprised look, then glanced at Kristan nearby before answering:
"Don't worry. The two great noble houses of Northwind Province haven't pledged support to Dragon. As for within Zero Crossing County, only that Baron of Frozen Soil remains—and although he won that last battle, his army took heavy losses. He's in no shape to offer Dragon any real help."
Hearing this, Viscount Miles also felt reassured. It seemed that marching out to confront Dragon head-on was indeed their best option.
"Then…" Viscount Miles coughed weakly and turned to the other nobles.
"The Miles family will also provide additional troops to support you, to help repel those nobles invading your lands."
"Thank you, my lord Viscount."
The nobles offered their gratitude and hurried away—eager to return to defend their own fiefs.
Thus, what had started as a conflict between two viscounts in Zero Crossing County had now turned into a county-wide civil war.
Within just two days, wars had already broken out in territories closer to Zero Crossing City. With each passing day, new territorial battles erupted—ranging from skirmishes between a few hundred men to brutal clashes involving thousands—all across the county.
And what about Ryan?
He was busy training his soldiers.
Ryan stood in the training grounds of the military camp, watching as Brand harshly berated the troops, while mentally analyzing the current situation in Zero Crossing County.
"This chaos and warfare stem from greed—greed for profit—and from the very nature of the vassal system itself."
"The system turns noble ambitions into action. Lords of knightly fiefs must attach themselves to fifth-rank nobles. But naturally, no fifth-rank noble will tolerate having isolated or far-off vassals, because that would limit their control."
"This means that while vassals may be lords in name, in reality they might wield baron-level power."
"And consolidating vassal territories is crucial—not only for better administration, but also to make use of population and wealth more efficiently. Vassals need this too. Their original fiefs are small, with little potential for growth. Annual revenue is limited, and unexpected setbacks can easily shrink it further."
"So vassals need to rely on their liege lords to climb the social ladder. Of course, that's far less pleasant than being a petty tyrant on one's own turf."
"That's why, honestly, how many of those nobles starting wars really want to relocate their own territories closer to others?"
"What they truly want… is war itself. Before the vassal system is fully cemented, they want to loot as much wealth and manpower as possible."
"Nobles of Northwind Province truly are savage by nature."
Ryan organized his thoughts. What could he gain from this unfolding territorial war?
No matter how he thought about it, he found no great opportunity—not with his army still badly depleted.
Preserving his existing gains seemed like the most practical goal for now.
"I'll have to wait until cracks appear between the other factions—then I'll look for an opening."
That was Ryan's strategy. In the meantime, his top priority was to train an entirely new army, so he'd be ready to strike when opportunity came.
Training a new force wasn't difficult for Ryan—especially when the recruits were survivors of a brutal battle, hardened veterans.
His training methods were modern. The resources he offered were generous. More importantly, these soldiers had personally witnessed how a select few were blessed by the Deer Spirit, instantly rising to become knights.
With such a tempting reward, how could they not fight hard?
Other nobles might think Ryan had lost his elite troops, but Ryan himself didn't believe that at all.
In the Northwind Flower Territory, peace endured. But elsewhere in Zero Crossing County, war was raging. Ryan had even learned that other counties within Northwind Province were beginning to see similar frictions. The vassal system was fueling more and more territorial conflict.
By mid-August, the armies of the two viscounts in Zero Crossing County finally faced off on a broad open plain.