Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

The same thought was also swirling in the minds of other nobles and officers who had escaped.

In a house on the north side of the square, several minor lords huddled together, whispering and discussing something.

"I'm not fighting anymore." The speaker was a baron in his forties. His territory was located near the west and was not wealthy to begin with. He had brought fifty men with him this time, hoping to gain some merit, but after the battle, only a dozen or so of his men remained.

"I'd rather die than fight again." He repeated, his voice even lower. "You didn't see it, I saw it with my own eyes, Earl Karl. He was running, and his leg was gone. Not chopped off, it just disappeared out of thin air! Just like that, his leg was gone!"

The people standing nearby turned pale.

"That's the power of the devil," another viscount said, trembling. He recalled the rumors: "The rumors are true! That Lynn must be the devil incarnate! Otherwise, how could he possess such abilities?"

"But...but this is the new king's order," a young baron said hesitantly. "If we don't fight, what about Duke Ivan...?"

"Duke Ivan?" the baron in his forties sneered. "Duke Ivan is stuck at Rock Fortress, not on the battlefield. If he came and fought, he'd know what that thing is!"

At this moment, their superiors' orders seemed less important than their lives.

The room was quiet for a few seconds.

"Then what do we do?" the young baron asked.

No one answered.

They were all there to take advantage of the chaos and carry out orders from above, but now they were all caught in a dilemma—they wanted to run, but dared not run.

Running back to their territory would at least save the rest of them. But what if Duke Ivan investigated? What if the new king held them accountable?

If we don't run, and the fighting continues, the remaining people will also have to be sent in.

Dilemma.

"Let's see how things go," the baron in his forties finally said. "Let's see how Duke Ivan reacts. If he continues fighting, then...we'll figure something out."

The others nodded in agreement, but their expressions were complicated.

……

Meanwhile, inside the Ironstone Castle, the lord's castle.

Lynn sat in his study, several newly received reports spread out in front of him.

Results on the northern front: Approximately 1,200 enemy soldiers killed, over 300 captured, and some supplies seized. Personal losses: One artillery piece, two gunners, and seven lightly wounded.

Liya also sent an urgent report on the battle situation on the eastern front.

Results on the Eastern Front: Approximately 1,300 enemy soldiers killed and over 500 captured. Personal losses: 23 lightly wounded, no fatalities.

Lynn put down the report and rubbed his temples.

Won.

And they won quite beautifully!

Especially on the eastern main road, where there were no natural barriers, the battle situation was actually better than at Dark Raven Pass.

On the eastern front, apart from a small number of enemies who fled into the wilderness, most of them were almost completely wiped out on that main road, while our side suffered zero casualties.

However, it was fortunate that Earl Lehman cut off their escape route, otherwise many would probably have fled as well.

But Lynn knew this was just the beginning.

"My lord," Leon said, pushing the door open, "we've finished questioning the prisoners."

Lynn looked up: "What useful information?"

Leon walked to the table and opened the booklet in his hand.

"Several were knights of Earl Willard, and others were men of Viscount Patrick. They explained the composition of this allied force—six thousand on the northern front and two thousand on the eastern front, totaling over eight thousand. Earl Carl was leading the northern front, but Carl was already dead."

Lynn nodded: "What about the rest?"

"Only a little over a thousand escaped back to Frostfire. The rest scattered." Leon paused. "Quite a few minor lords led their men directly back to their own territories; apparently, they ran faster than anyone else."

Lynn remained silent for a few seconds.

He stood up and walked to the window.

The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and the streets of Ironstone Fortress were bustling with people; everything seemed no different from usual.

But Lynn knew that this peace was only temporary.

"Leon." He turned around.

"exist."

"Find a high-ranking prisoner from among the captives, preferably one who knows the minor lords and nobles," Lynn said. "Have him lead the way; I need to send someone to a few territories to deliver a message."

Leon paused for a moment, then said, "Pass on a message? My lord, you mean...?"

Lynn nodded.

"I want to divide them," he said. "These people were originally gathered together for mutual benefit. Now that they've suffered a defeat, their morale is low. If I can win over some and intimidate others, the rest will be no threat."

Lynn's initial idea was to take advantage of the high morale on his side and the low morale on the enemy side to launch a decisive attack on Frostfire City.

But upon closer reflection, I realized that this was not an easy task.

The biggest problem is troop strength.

Currently, he has a considerable population, but his military strength is still insufficient, with the ratio of total population to military strength being approximately six to one.

It wasn't that he didn't want to expand the army; it was just that his territory now needed people in all walks of life, and even more so, talented people.

Take Thomas, for example. He was originally a civil servant under Gavin, but he had to serve in the military to exempt his mother from taxes. Now he is an excellent teacher in Grayrock.

Lynn couldn't possibly send him back to the battlefield to work for him in an area where he wasn't good at it. That would be inefficient, and the other person might not be happy about it, resulting in low public support.

Lynn wouldn't do something so backwards.

Then there's the problem with Frostfire City itself. It's a real earldom, and putting aside the fact that the earldom's defenses are definitely better than Ironstone Castle's, the population alone is a huge issue.

Although Lynn had never been to Frostfire City, he had been to Stormwind Territory, which was also an earldom with a total population of over 10,000.

Lynn didn't think Frostfire City had fewer people than Stormwind Territory. Although there were less than two thousand regular soldiers, what if the other side pushed them too far and used force to coerce the people in the city and nearby villages into going to war as cannon fodder?

Putting aside whether he could defeat so many people, Lynn simply couldn't accept attacking these unarmed ordinary people.

If he were to be reborn into this world, he would be just one of these ordinary people.

He couldn't bring himself to fire on these innocent people, and he didn't need an empty Frostfire City.

Leon thought for a moment, then nodded and replied, "I understand."

He turned to leave, but Lynn called him back.

"There's one more thing," Lynn said. "Has Carl's body been recovered?"

"The bodies of some adults, nobles, knights, and especially generals, are sometimes recovered."

"Okay, take care of Karl's head."

Leon was taken aback.

"It works," Lynn said.