Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 356 - 29: Black Iron Princess

Kao came from the White Corner River, his wooden paddles churning, the fleet loaded with grain.

This millions of catties of grain was enough to sustain Black Castle for over a month.

The Black Castle Iron Guard had made contact with the grain transport team early, not waiting for Kao to enter the city, a welcoming team had already come over.

The defending force of Black Castle was called the Iron Guard, totaling two thousand men, equipped with helmets, breastplates, armguards, and such, all made of Black Iron material—mixed copper and iron, which was pitch-black, strong, and durable. Each set of this equipment had an average price of three to five Gold Coins and could last ten years without damage.

The Captain of the Iron Guard was named Turner Marlowe.

He greeted Kao warmly and then began to unload the grain impatiently.

There had been a shortage of food in Black Castle for some time.

Merchants in Black Castle, backed by the Nobles, hoarded grain and sought exorbitant profits, utterly indifferent to the starving masses who died because they could not afford food.

The grain transported from the outside world was robbed by thieves batch after batch. The supply that made it into the city was less than a million catties.

Turner had led his men to quell poor people’s assemblies and marches many times. The conflict had already intensified to a certain point; it was on the brink of eruption, and without killing tens of thousands, quelling the public’s anger would be impossible.

But if they were to kill, the tension between His Majesty the King and the Church Court could not be eased.

That was because Iao III had executed a large number of the All Gods’ Believers, an act that was a clear declaration of war against the Church Court.

Everyone in Black Castle was anxious, even the Iron Guard, who wondered if there would indeed be a war that might endanger the entire land.

This shipment was a life-saving supply of grain that needed to be moved into the city immediately to stabilize the public’s mood.

Kao did not stop it; turning his head, he saw those wandering starving people outside the city, each with gaunt faces and sallow complexions, their cheeks tinged with blue. As soon as they saw the grain, they ran over eagerly, only to be stopped; the crowd grew larger and seemed about to charge the grain transport team, eventually suppressed violently by the Iron Guard, who killed a dozen people and scattered all the reluctant onlookers.

Kao saw them retreating, trying to grasp something but catching nothing, their expressions filled with yearning for the unattainable, eyes dim, filled with void and despair.

He was expressionless, but Sanna felt a tug at her heart. She wanted to say something, but then saw Kao cast a cold glance at her. Dick, wearing a mask, stood like a statue behind Kao, silently serving as his bodyguard, while she pressed her lips together in sorrow.

The grain transport fleet was both water and land transport, with ships and vehicles belonging to Origin City, meant to be taken back. But moving and transporting the millions of catties of grain was no small task; it would take a day or two just for loading and unloading.

Kao ordered the army to rest and encamp.

The flag, intertwined with the Thorny Iron Ring and swords, fluttered in the wind.

Turner saw them well-trained, strictly disciplined, and their armor seemed to be almost as strong as that of the Iron Guard.

Turner had heard of the River Valley King widely capturing slaves to crush them with millstones, then nourishing the land with their flesh and blood, and using Evil Magic to cultivate grain and armies—he was an ambitious Evil King, and the court officials had repeatedly advised His Majesty of his dangerous and insidious ambitions.

He knew those claims were unfounded rumors.

The wealth of that young King was immeasurable, and his army had been victorious in battle after battle.

In Turner’s eyes, if one could have an army of ten thousand in plate armor, then except for towering castles, nothing on this earth could stop the expansion of the new King.

He would eventually burst out from that remote place, like the North Ice Pirates.

Turner sighed inwardly, then focused his attention on ordering the laborers to speed up the grain transport.

Sanna sat by the riverbank in a gloomy mood.

She had come to Origin City as a young girl, and now she had matured into a fine lady, her figure gradually developing, and she had spent the happiest years of her life thus far.

Kao was on an expedition, and she too had wanted to follow, to see the grandest city according to what Grandpa Galin had described, said to accommodate the entire population of Origin City and Fertile City.

Indeed, when she finally saw it, she was dumbfounded.

Compared to that towering, majestic stone-built city, though the houses of Origin City were also pretty, they were quite low and scattered, resembling many villages gathered together, then barely called a city.

But the city before her was truly a Heroic City.

Yet beneath Heroic City lay countless skeletons, and outside its walls roamed starving refugees.

The beauty of Origin City had blinded her eyes, and what she had seen and heard along the way awakened memories that seemed so distant. Only then did she realize that she too had once been such a lowly creature, as insignificant as dust.

Bitterly alive, struggling to live.

She wanted to help them, she wanted even more to help her helpless self of that time.

But even with her grasp of her spells, even with her grasp of the Witch’s Magic, she couldn’t do anything.

The sky was overcast, and the wind blew in from the river.

Suddenly, she heard the clanging of plate armor and turned to see Turner and a group of Iron Guards kneeling beside the dock to a woman dressed in white.

She moved her ears and distinctly heard Turner address her as Princess.

Ah! Princess!

She turned out to be the Black Iron Princess?!

Iota Hina, the eldest daughter of His Majesty the King, Iao III.

The King doted on her greatly; though she was over twenty, she had not yet married. It was said that if all her suitors were to jump into a river, they could block the flow of the White Corner River.

She saw the white-dressed lady beautiful, elegant, and powerful, with hair as red as the Red River, dressed in a white robe, with a silver belt around her waist, slender and tall, and broad-shouldered.

She heard Gwivelle once said that Roman called her princess, and she was extremely envious inside, though she knew that Gwivelle was not.

And now she saw a real princess, solid and strong, like a beam of white light illuminating this dark and cloudy world.

She thought she was very beautiful, Black Iron Princess Iota Hina, beautiful yet cold, like winter’s chill wind, the white stones of the high mountains. Royal blood flowed in her veins, a true scion of kings.

She noticed Kao hesitant, unsure whether to kneel, finally only giving a slight bow. The princess glanced at him as if in thought, then looked at the Iron-masked man behind him, saying nothing more.

The princess then turned her head, and her green eyes shifted towards her, and then walked towards her.

Sanna was startled.

But the princess walked steadily, like a swift whirlwind, with an icy breeze, and came to her.

"Witch, I am pleased to meet you," said the Black Iron Princess.

Sanna inhaled sharply, uncertain how to face this exalted being alone, momentarily at a loss.

But quickly she caught Kao’s gaze: cowardice would mean death.

That look gave her an inexplicable support, and she came to treat the princess like she would Roman.

She said, "Your Highness, how did you know I am a witch?"

"The King’s Eye is the heart’s eye; I can see everyone’s true nature. And you do not wear amber," Tashina explained—many believed that amber held the wisdom and power of ancient times and indeed it did.

Sanna barely grasped the concept, all kings were special.

Princess Tashina among the finest.

She carried the Conqueror’s bloodline.

Red hair, green eyes, a high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, a sturdy figure, dressed in white.

Sanna couldn’t help but feel an illusion that the figure before her was not a tender princess but a hardy general.