Cthulhu Gonfalon

Since Sui Xiong was already here at Garth City, he of course paid a visit to Kalisa as well. Kalisa seemed a little rounder and more mature, with a motherly look in her eyes. However, her figure did not change much, and her stomach was not terribly round, unlike normal pregnant women who usually waddled when they moved around.

“How long have you been pregnant?” Sui Xiong eyed her round stomach curiously. He could sense that the fetus was about the size of a human fist and was only beginning to develop its basic features.

“About two years.” Kalisa sighed. “After the Goddess of Family carried out an expert evaluation, she predicted that this pregnancy would last fix to six years. My goodness!”

“Five to six years is not too long; it’ll be over soon. Don’t worry,” Sui Xiong replied encouragingly.

Upon second thought, he added, “If you’re anxious, I can use my powers to accelerate this fetus’s growth... If you wanted, I could make it such that you could give birth right now.”

“You could do that with your powers!?” Kalisa was shocked.

Sui Xiong nodded. A god’s range of power was rather infinite, and as long as one was strong enough, there was little that couldn’t be done in this world.

Over the last ten years, Sui Xiong had received enlightenment regarding the God of Virtue’s treasure and acquired much knowledge. Despite the fact that his power level had not increased much, Sui Xiong had increased insights overall. Now, to him, there were even lesser limits to what he could do. While he would not say that he was infallible, it was hard to discuss his limits now as there were barely any.

Kalisa and Leon discussed this proposition for a while before deciding to reject it.

“The fetus is rather stable right now, so we can afford to let it continue growing at its own pace. In the future, if I feel uncomfortable or overly sick, I’ll request for your help then, my lord,” Kalisa said.

“Sure, do not worry,” Sui Xiong replied warmly, concluding this matter for now.

After settling this private affair, Sui Xiong began to discuss official matters with Leon again.

“Have there been any significant changes in the Human Realm over the last ten years while I was gone? Previously, I asked Wall the same question, and he replied that nothing much had happened. He only stated that the Republic of Northwest has expanded slightly and that the Fighter Championships took place. Yet, I feel like a god’s view and a human’s view differs greatly, and thus, I would like to hear your opinion on this.”

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Leon thought for a while before nodding and replying, “Over the last ten years, I feel that the biggest event that happened in the Human Realm was that the Commonwealth of Gold Coins’ northern and southern areas had a confrontation again.”

“The North and South confronted each other?!” Sui Xiong was shocked. “Again? Didn’t they already settle their tensions the previous time?”

“The aristocrats and merchants are still hostile over the base issue of resource allocation. Previously, during the drought, they had been united for a period of time in facing the crisis. However, afterwards, the aristocrats held on to the grudge that they had suffered losses towards the merchants due to the crop failure. They then felt like taking revenge. You know how the aristocrats are. They will only follow the rules if they feel like it. If not, there are quick to take action.”

Sui Xiong nodded. In this world, the aristocrats were rather selfish and liked to declare random laws to achieve their own motives. For example, if an aristocrat needed money, he would first approach merchants in the city to borrow money. If he managed to do so, the matter would end here. However, if he failed to do so or succeeded but did not feel like returning the money owed afterward, he would enact a temporary, immediate tax and physically get his way.”

This was despicable, but it was not like Sui Xiong was unaware of such practices in the past. The aristocrats in the Commonwealth of Gold Coins were used to using such methods to steal the merchants’ wealth, and it was now their go-to method as they knew that it produced results to their favor most of the time. All it cost was a bit of face, which they were not particular about.

Actually, not much face was even lost as they gained the admiration of other aristocrats when one had succeeded in stealing wealth from the merchants. To them, being able to use their power and violence was effective and worth encouraging. However, this time, the aristocrats had overestimated themselves. Towards the aristocrats’ unforgivable ways, the merchants had retaliated with their newly trained troops. These troops adopted Keane Hill’s method of training, and they chose their new recruits from credible families.

Over a long period of specialized training, these recruits became physically fit and disciplined. They were familiar with battle strategies and also had the positive mindsets of fighting to defend their families. Against such a strong army, the aristocratic troops were definitely on the losing end. In the three instances of war, the merchants consistently emerged victoriously. Although all three wars were not large scale, the repeated losses were enough to shake up the entire Commonwealth of Gold Coins, and intellectuals of other countries were all taking note of this. Leon had been observing this drawn-out war and had even made a personal trip down to the Commonwealth of Gold Coins with a secret identity to observe the third instance of war.

During that war, the aristocratic army had sent out two regiments of knights, which consisted of more than 20 knights, about 300 regular soldiers and three times that of conscripted soldiers. In total, they had the strength of about four digits. On the other hand, the merchants sent out a key team of 1000 people only.

Both parties had met on a flat piece of rural ground to fight. At the start, the aristocrats had a head start due to the commendable leadership of their army commander. However, even after being disadvantaged at the start, the merchant troops were undeterred and continue to fight in a calm and determined manner. After a while, the aristocratic troops began to falter as the conscripted soldiers were unable to sustain the war and they eventually lost.

According to Leon’s calculations, these were each party’s losses:

The aristocrats’ death toll included six knights, approximately 150 regular soldiers and 200 conscripted soldiers. To be honest, it was rather appalling that they had crumbled when they still had 800 conscripted soldiers left on the battlefield. However, they were really limited in skills and were unable to sustain war efforts.

The merchants’ death toll included their commander, two vice commanders and 15 deputy team leaders. Basically, they had lost most of their key members. As for the troops, there were about 600 new troops who had died. This was not a small loss as more than half of the team had perished in war.

However, these were the expected casualties of war. With the escapes and murders, the aristocratic troops lost another 100 regular soldiers, ten knights and 500 conscripted soldiers in their retreat, which added to their overall loss.

“Previously, you told me that pioneers who dare to take on challenges often succeed. This war really demonstrates that! Courage is indeed a deciding factor in situations like these,” Leon expressed.