Chapter 33: 3 Giants Squabbling Over an Inheritance
"The kingdom's Southern Frontier lies in the hill-and-valley terrain at the heart of the continent. The region has 4 distinct seasons, a dense network of rivers, well-developed waterway transport, and relatively prosperous commerce and agriculture."
"At the same time, however, it is also a frontier region that borders neighboring countries such as the Kingdom of Franken, the Helvetian Federation, and the Kingdom of Venetia—making the political situation there especially volatile!"
"Prince Adam has appointed you as Frontier Count of the Southern Border and has granted you the city of Neon from within the Adam family's direct princely domain."
"Neon is a city with a population of over 20,000, a garrison of 1,000 soldiers, and a complete set of defensive walls and fortifications."
"As it sits at the convergence of several waterways, Neon enjoys highly developed water transport and thriving industry and commerce—tax revenue alone reaches as high as 23,000 gold coins annually……"
At this point, Belle set down the documents in her hands and shook her head at Li Kainan.
"Kainan, what Prince Adam handed over is data from 10 years ago—it can only serve as a reference at best."
"And the kingdom has been in chaos for a full 10 years. A prosperous frontier city like Neon couldn't possibly just be sitting there waiting for you to take it over!"
A wealthy border city like that—even if it hadn't been seized by a neighboring country, it had almost certainly fallen into the hands of some great noble carving out his own domain……
Li Kainan said nothing, simply continuing to leaf through the Complete Continental Geographic Atlas in his hands, studying the geography surrounding Neon.
Neon was a city of strategic importance: to the east, it could serve as a springboard for striking into the Kingdom of Franken and the Helvetian Federation; to the south, it offered a direct route of attack against the Kingdom of Venetia.
Most importantly, its well-developed waterway transport meant that no matter which direction he chose to campaign, logistics and supply lines would never be a concern—exactly to Li Kainan's liking.
That said, by that same token, Neon was also vulnerable to attack from multiple directions.
And with the Kingdom of Cape embroiled in civil war, Neon had no support from the rear, making it a true contested battleground—a city besieged on all sides!
Starting with a city like this meant the Early Development Phase would call for careful strategy. A wrong move and it would be easy to find himself surrounded by enemies on every front.
Moving forward, the first priority would have to be securing a stable and sizable rear……
Of course, none of that was pressing just yet.
After all, Neon hadn't even been taken—there was no point talking about what came after!
Li Kainan raised a hand with a slight gesture, and a Retainer Knight immediately spurred his horse forward, bowing his head respectfully to receive his orders.
"Dispatch 10 Retainer Knights ahead to the vicinity of Neon. Their mission is to gather detailed intelligence—find out exactly who currently holds the city and what the garrison situation looks like!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The Retainer Knight gave a bow and turned to relay the command.
Immediately, 10 Retainer Knights accepted the order and broke away from the convoy, riding hard into the distance……
……
Throughout the southward journey, Li Kainan marched openly under Prince Adam's banner.
With a dragon leading the way and heavily armored cavalry in tow, the sheer spectacle of Li Kainan's procession swiftly drew the attention of the great nobles along the route.
The news of Prince Adam—missing for a full 10 years—suddenly making his return spread like wildfire across the entire Kingdom of Cape!
The Cape Royal Family's bloodline was thin, and with the entire royal palace sealed away under a curse, Prince Adam was the one and only person with the legitimate right to inherit the throne.
Had he not vanished so abruptly, the Royalist Forces would no doubt have rallied under his banner long ago—perhaps even crowned him as the new king—and the Kingdom of Cape would never have been plunged into such prolonged chaos……
Prince Adam's reappearance set every noble across the Kingdom of Cape—great and small, each harboring their own designs—watching Li Kainan's convoy with keen interest.
Some nobles had grown ambitious over the 10 years of turmoil and had no desire to see the Cape Royal Family return to power.
Yet they were held in check by the Cape Royal Family's still-formidable residual prestige and influence, compounded by the very real deterrent of a dragon and a company of heavy armored cavalry—enough to make even the bravest think twice before acting rashly.
There were also nobles who remained loyal to the royal family even now, hoping to rally beneath the royal banner and restore the kingdom to peace and prosperity.
But they had no way of knowing whether this so-called Prince Adam, missing for 10 years, was genuine or not, and could only scramble to find ways to verify his identity first.
Both factions had their own hesitations and held back from action; the vast majority of neutral nobles naturally opted to continue watching and waiting as well!
And so, although Li Kainan's decision to march openly under Prince Adam's banner sent shockwaves through the entire Kingdom of Cape, every faction responded with a peculiar and almost eerie quiet and restraint.
Outwardly quiet, of course—beneath the surface, undercurrents were already churning……
……
Since arriving in this world, Li Kainan had encountered werewolves, witches, and dragons.
And today, he encountered yet another Transcendent being—giants!
3 giants, dull-eyed and dim-faced, each standing over 10 meters tall, suddenly stepped out and blocked Li Kainan's path.
Faced with 3 giants barring their way, the Retainer Knights—fearless and battle-ready—immediately drew their weapons and fell into formation, prepared to charge at a moment's notice.
Aurora was also watching intently from the side, sparks already flickering from her nostrils and mouth, as if Dragon Flame could come roaring out at any second!
Faced with the combined pressure of the Retainer Knights and Aurora, the 3 giants felt the weight of it bearing down on them and hurried to make clear they meant no harm.
They respectfully dropped to one knee, bowing their heads before Li Kainan.
The giant in the middle then spoke to explain:
"We've been arguing endlessly about how to divide the 3 items our father left behind as an inheritance, so we wanted to ask someone else to divide them for us."
"Someone then told us that you are the most distinguished and wisest person in the world, and that you could resolve the dispute between us brothers in a way that would satisfy all 3 of us……"
"The most distinguished? The wisest?"
Hearing this, Li Kainan raised an eyebrow slightly.
It sounded like flattery—but in truth, it was more like setting him up to fail.
What if the division Li Kainan proposed couldn't satisfy all 3 giants?
3 items of inheritance that should have been 1 each—yet these 3 giants had been squabbling endlessly over them. Clearly, this matter was nowhere near as straightforward as it seemed.
Li Kainan very much wanted to know who had orchestrated this little scheme—first building him up, then redirecting trouble his way.
He asked the giants to describe the person who had sent them to find him, but all 3 of them looked back at him with blank, dopey expressions and said the person had been wearing a hood and their face couldn't be made out.
That answer left Li Kainan momentarily speechless.
These 3 giants truly were pure, uncut simpletons—they'd taken the word of some complete stranger of unknown origin at face value without a second thought.
This naive, and they still dared to ask someone else to divide their inheritance for them?
Give them anyone with even a shred of cunning, let them work a little mischief, and these 3 could be spun around until they didn't know which way was up—no need to worry about how to divide any inheritance after that……