Su Li chose a strategy, and the effect quickly manifested.
Even in the harsh season of winter, when everything should be dormant, and roads hard to travel, the Hesse Territory unusually became bustling. Like hyenas catching the scent of blood, a large number of various characters surged into this land that had just endured the flames of war and was struggling to recover: mercenary corps with fierce gazes and whom licked blood from their blades; desperadoes living off raiding in groups of three or five; and "rogue knights" adorned with faded emblems, having long lost their fiefdoms and honor, leaving behind only endless greed for wealth.
Their target was singular: the "legitimate" privateering licenses issued by Lord Su Li, and the rumor gnawed upon repeatedly in taverns, guilds, and even church corners—over fifty thousand dazzling Imperial Golden Crowns stored in the treasury of the Swamp Territory!
