The First Vampire

Chapter 607: 605 Bad News_1
 

Half-giant Royal Palace.

An imperial conference is underway.

Of course, calling it an imperial conference isn’t particularly accurate, as the newly appointed King Ogwala has no understanding of the ministers’ reports, and is now nodding off on his throne.

However, the ministers of the Half-Giant Kingdom manage to turn a blind eye to this.

Because their actual reporting object is Colin.

“…So, Your Majesty, there is a significant shortage of food in the kingdom. Although the situation will be alleviated after the autumn harvest, we are still unable to be self-sufficient,” the Minister of Agriculture said with the words “Your Majesty”, but his gaze was fixed on Colin.

“You don’t have to worry about the food problem,” Colin assured in a calm tone. “The North Territory will provide a three-year food supply for the Half-Giant Kingdom. Of course, this food is not free, you will owe us for it in the future.”

Ever since the North Territory implemented the new agrarian-pastoral system proposed by Bachelor Sunny, food production has increased dramatically. There is not only an abundance to solve the internal famine, but also enough surplus to supply the Half-Giant Kingdom.

Colin has advised the Half-Elf Kingdom to adopt a similar new agrarian-pastoral system. Given the Half-Elf Kingdom’s superior agricultural conditions and the Half-Elves’ innate talent for agriculture, the growth of food production will be even more substantial.

Therefore, Colin is not worried about the food problem at all.

“Lord Count, thank you for your help!”

After the Minister of Agriculture left, the Minister of Military Affairs began his report:

“Your Majesty, in accordance with your wishes, the Half-Giant Kingdom’s first regular army has completed its recruitment. We have recruited a total of thirty thousand soldiers, among which three thousand are Half-giants, fifteen thousand are humans, and the rest are all giants…”

Yes, in the first army of the Half-Giant Kingdom, there are also a significant number of human soldiers.

Of course, this was Colin’s idea.

After all, the total population of Half-Giants is too small now to muster many soldiers to form an army.

If Giants make up the vast majority of the army, then the loyalty of this force would be unreliable.

The Half-Giant Kingdom has just been established, and the situation has not completely stabilized. Without a reliable military force to maintain order, chaos could easily break out.

That’s why Colin recruited a number of Northerners into this army.

Moreover, this is also a way for Colin to infiltrate the Half-Giant Kingdom.

This army, as the first military force formed by the Half-Giant Kingdom, will have its officers and soldiers occupying positions in the Half-Giant military. Including a substantial number of humans can also ensure that the North Territory will have sufficient influence over the Half-Giant Kingdom’s soldiers in the future.

Colin planned to let this army raid the Giant Empire regularly once they had enough fighting capacity.

This would not only prevent the Giant Empire from recovering, but it would also allow the Half-Giant Kingdom to grow and strengthen more rapidly by pillaging a large number of Giants through warfare.

As for whether this army would suffer losses in the Giant Empire, Colin was not worried.

The Giant Empire is indeed at the end of its rope. Moreover, there are still many double-agents placed by Colin within the Empire, constantly stoking internal conflicts.

Through the surveillance of the Blood Slaves, Colin knew that Abbas had successfully ascended to the throne of the Giant Empire and, as Colin had instructed, issued a War Order against the Half-Giant Kingdom.

This War Order will inevitably trigger resentment among the citizens of the drained Giant Empire and intensify civil unrest.

By the time the Half-Giant Army arrives, the Giant Empire may not even be able to muster a decent army to defend itself.

Furthermore, Colin is continuously infiltrating and corrupting the higher-ups of the Giant Empire.

The strategy is simple: constantly recruit their illegitimate children and have them serve as high-ranking officers in the Half-Giant Kingdom.

Nowadays, the higher-ups of the Half-Giant Kingdom have countless connections with those of the Giant Empire.

For example, King Ogwala is the son of the former Giant Emperor Okamoto, Archbishop Okatz is Giant Emperor Abbas’s illegitimate son, Prime Minister Mofingen is the illegitimate son of the Giant Empire’s Finance Minister, Minister of Military Affairs Mogade is the illegitimate son of the two-term previous Giant Emperor Modo the Second…n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

These illegitimate children were discriminated against in the Giant Empire, and their status was low, but here, they have become the rulers of a country. This change in status makes them totally abandon their thoughts about the Giant Empire, and even want to overthrow the Empire that has left them with cold memories.

And for the high-ranking officials of the Giant Empire, seeing the Giant Empire without a future, the Half-Giant Kingdom may be considered a way out.

In their daily lives, of course, they won’t want to pay any attention to these illegitimate children, but as the Half-Giant Kingdom grows stronger, their thinking will inevitably change.

Of course, not all high-ranking Giants have Half-Giant illegitimate children.

Those “Giant racial supremacists” will naturally form an opposing faction against the high-ranking Giants with Half-Giant illegitimate children. As long as Colin stirs things up a bit, these two factions will fight amongst themselves, even leading to the complete division of the Giant Empire.

In the midst of his thoughts, the Minister of Military Affairs has finished reporting on the construction and future planning of the Half-Giant Kingdom’s army.

Subsequently, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom, Mofingen, came forward to report:

“Your Majesty, following your previous command, I have drafted a policy to encourage fertility.

Every healthy baby born by the citizens of the Half-Giant Kingdom will receive a subsidy of ten silver coins, and if that baby is of Half-Giant bloodline, the reward will be doubled…”

Just then, a knight strides into the hall.

Mofingen frowns but doesn’t dare to say anything more because he recognizes that it’s a knight of the Angler family.

“Knight Logh, what happened?” Colin also asked curiously.

He knows that unless there is an emergency, Knight Logh would not rashly intrude on an imperial conference regardless of importance.

Ogwala was also startled awake and quickly wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and sat up straight.

The face of Knight Logh was very solemn, he walked briskly up to Colin and reported in a low voice:

“Lord Count, a message just came in from Winterfell City, the Imperial Allied Army has suffered a significant defeat at the Sky Breaking Mountain Range…”

“What!” Colin stood up in shock, “What is the situation with the Northern Army? And Marquis Garcia?”

“Marquis Garcia…” Knight Logh suddenly stammered, but seeing Colin’s serious face, he still lowered his voice and said:

“It’s said that Marquis Garcia led the Northern Army to desert in the face of battle, which led to the severe defeat of the Imperial Allied Army. His Majesty has declared Marquis Garcia a traitor and demanded his immediate arrest and punishment…”

Hearing this, Colin had no more interest in the trivial matters of the Half-Giant Kingdom and immediately strode out of the hall.

He left behind a group of Half-Giant Ministers standing in a daze, looking at each other in shock.