Infinite Blood Core - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Alliance of Interests

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Part of Aupin’s knowledge included information about the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce.

There were six major chambers of commerce on the Holy Brilliance Continent. The six chambers of commerce had a long history, each of them were giants, backed by powerful nobles, whose business traversed the mountains, jungles, lakes, and deserts.

Outside of these six chambers of commerce, there was a chamber of commerce that had grown rapidly in the past 100 years, quickly becoming a business miracle that was second only to the six chambers of commerce, leaving the other chambers of commerce far behind.

This was the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce.

The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce had absorbed a large number of small and medium-sized chambers of commerce, and even recruited individual shops and merchants. It had an extremely large scale influence in the middle and lower markets.

However, due to the lack of protection from the upper class, the great nobles of the Emperor Holy Brilliance coveted their profits and decided to take action.

The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was under pressure, its chairman fell off his horse and died in an “accident”. The Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce collapsed and was ravaged by the nobles.

“After my father’s accident, I was the only family left. I didn’t want to give up! If my father, grandfather, and grandparents’ efforts were wasted, then I would be a horrible daughter. Many caravan veterans were unwilling to surrender, so they united with me.

“However, no matter how much money we have, it is not a tool of strength. My father’s death made me realize that I must follow the Empire’s rules. From how the chamber of commerce had developed before, the more money and the larger the scale, the more likely I will fall into a dead end.

“I carefully selected partners for the caravan, and finally clicked with you, my Sir.”

A flash of lightning hit Aupin’s mind, he immediately understood the cause and effect.

Although there were only a few scenes of memory, Aupin knew that the Centum’pin clan were Southern nobles.

Emperor Holy Brilliance was bright and talented. He unified the entire human terrain and named it the Holy Brilliance Continent. The final step in conquering the entire continent was to unite the southernmost part of the continent.

Its final battle was the annihilation of the Frozen Cedar Knights.

The conquering armies of the Holy Brilliance Empire were trapped in the terrain of the high mountains and ridges, the conquest of the south was at a stalemate.

The southern nobles who had surrendered in the early stages saw hope from the stalemate and secretly contacted the rebellious southern nobles, and reached an agreement.

The Fifth Order Templars withdrew from the front lines to rest, and the surrendered southern nobles sent the Frozen Cedar Knights for an ambush.

The Frozen Cedar Knights were the top legion of the Southern Noble Alliance. They eliminated the Fifth Order Templars, but were later defeated by the Templars who came for support.

The Frozen Cedar Knights were defeated, the southern nobles quickly sent reinforcements. As a result, huge flaws appeared in the solid defense line.

The reaction of the Empire was extremely rapid, the front-line legions jointly dispatched to launch an offensive attack, to completely defeat the defense lines of the southern nobles.

The southern nobles suffered a great defeat and were no longer able to stop the army of the Holy Brilliance Empire. They either died in battle or surrendered.

Those southern nobles who had fake surrendered before and rebelled instead were also severely punished.

The Centum’pin clan were one of the noble families involved. Back then, there were quite a few members of the Centum’pin clan in the Frozen Cedar Knights.

Although the Centum’pin clan survived the purge, the family territory, wealth, and army were greatly affected. Afterwards, it was suppressed and excluded from all aspects of the Emperor nobles.

The Centum’pin clan did not want to fall. They gathered other clans in the same situation to form alliances, and also studied the leaders of the Empire. One of Centum’pin clan’s achievements was sending Aupin to the Templars.

The Templar knight was the top army of the Holy Brilliance Empire, directly under the control of Emperor Holy Brilliance, the most powerful military force of the Empire. Every Templar knight believed in Emperor Holy Brilliance. A person who devoted their faith was full of loyalty. Therefore, the Templar knights also won the trust of Emperor Holy Brilliance.

Generally speaking, there were few nobles in power in the Empire, they would not even send their own children into the Templar Legion. The nobles believed in the supremacy of interests. Most of the time, their clan interests were above all else.

For low ranking nobles, royal court nobles, and some high ranking nobles, they would selectively send their family’s children into the Templar Legion.

As the sole heir of the Centum’pin clan, Aupin joined the Templar Legion, which was the most sincere expression of the Centum’pin clan’s loyalty to Emperor Holy Brilliance.

This diplomatic act successfully relieved the external pressure from the Centum’pin clan. However, it was inevitable that Aupin was bullied and excluded out of the Templar Legion. This was bound to happen.

After all, the Frozen Cedar Knights almost slaughtered the Fifth Order Templars. The southern nobles were all related to each other. Aupin becoming a Templar ignited a deep hatred from his colleagues around him.

It is indeed a wise move to send the heir to the Templar Legion. It is in the family’s best interest to completely take refuge in the political faction of the Emperor Holy Brilliance. Aupin thought about his father’s words, a middle-aged nobleman with a long beard, who had the wisdom and decisiveness of a clan leader.

“As the only heir of the Centum’pin clan, I was ostracized and suppressed when I joined the Temple. This was within my expectations. I chose forbearance back then.”

Aupin recalled another slice of memory.

In his memory, Cyanocaput was actively finding differences and deliberately making things difficult.

His motives were understandable, perhaps one of his relatives in the Fifth Order were killed.

Aupin decided to mold his own actions.

Although he was extremely talented, he did not appear in the limelight. Instead, he chose to hide his talent and devote himself to practicing. Staying low-key, to prevent being targeted by political opponents, or even assassinated in advance.

He became a Templar to look for allies in the Emperor’s land, not to make more enemies. As the future head of the family, he came with diplomatic purposes.

There was no shortage of opportunities for friendship in the legion.

When faced with external pressure, the Templars would force themselves to believe in each other and rely on each other. Life and death experiences would greatly dissolve the hatred of the past.

This way, the clan family would get rid of the political troubles and become a member of the Empire.

However, the Centum’pin clan was barely gaining a foothold, they were still quite desperate.

How could they expand their territory, increase wealth, and enhance the strength of the family?

Humanity had been unified by Emperor Holy Brilliance, the whole world had risen to peace. There was not much opportunity left.

The human continent aggressively attacked the Orc Continent, which became the best opportunity for many nobles to expand their family territory and build their own legion.

White Sand City was an opportunity for the Centum’pin clan, so Aupin was here to compete for the position of City Lord.

From Violette’s point of view, the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce was divided up by the great nobles, and the president of the chamber of commerce died as a result. Any chamber of commerce elders that would bow their heads, would have taken refuge in these great nobles a long time ago.

The elders left in the chamber of commerce with Violette were all against these great nobles.

Thus, Violette had to surrender to the Empire political faction.

Among these members, the strong ones looked down upon Violette and the chambers of commerce.

Perhaps the previous Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce could impress them, but the current chamber of commerce was torn into pieces.

Those with medium strength also had concerns.

Violette was the essence of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. To accept them recklessly was to oppose the powerful nobles in the Empire.

The risks and rewards needed to be carefully considered.

Weak members, such as some royal court nobles, did not even have their own territory. Members of the chamber of commerce had no way of settling down with them.

Violette, as the new leader of the chamber of commerce, also had her own morals.

She tried her best not to seek refuge with strong nobles. After all, she was just a mage with a Black Iron rank cultivation. The strong nobles were likely to take over the remaining Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce in future collaborations.

After careful selection, Violette decided on the Centum’pin clan.

The patriarch of the Centum’pin clan was a Gold-rank powerhouse, but had suffered heavy losses and lacked a right arm.

The Centum’pin clan were once great nobles of the south with a long history. After being forced to join the Empire, the Centum’pin clan was suppressed. Now it barely had a foothold and was in urgent need of development.

The Centum’pin clan territory was deprived, the existing territories were inadequate, they were forced out of the surrounding territories. Therefore, the Centum’pin clan needed the help from the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce.

The most important thing was that the Centum’pin clan was also willing to pay the price, they promised the chamber of commerce the marriage of their future family heir. After the agreement was made, an engagement ceremony was held to spread the news widely.

All of this created the wonderful unmarried couple: Violette and Aupin.

They had their own troubles, they needed each other desperately. This was not only for themselves, but also for the people behind them.

Otherwise, why would such a magnificent nobleman like Aupin be engaged to a girl with a low ranking bloodline?

The Centum’pin clan sent their only heir to the Templars, and now to the front line battlefield in the White Sand City. There was a huge risk of their heir dying in battle. This was a gamble!

The same goes for the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce. There was no room for retreat.

No, Violette has been loyal to me!

Thoughts raced in Aupin’s mind, he finally understood the situation.

Aupin looked at the girl in front of him, he felt closer to her heart.

Aupin did not hate the alliance of interests, he actually liked it.

The alliance of interests was usually more reliable than emotions. Moreover, emotions could be cultivated.

Coupled with the connection of marriage, Aupin understood that Violette would be his most reliable ally in the future.

Violette said, “We wanted to enter the Orc Continent and compete for the City Lord of White Sand City. However, during the voyage, we encountered a shipwreck and ended up on this island.”

Aupin said, “So, what we have to do now is not only save our lives and leave here, but also gather more men. Violette, how many troops did I bring, how many reliable footmen do I have?”

It was rare to see Violette hesitate, she thought about it, then said, “My Sir, you have the right to compete for the White Sands City Lord, you also have talents that surpass ordinary people. We brought the armed forces of the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce, and also hired two well-known mercenary groups.”

Aupin was stunned.

He knew what she meant.

He had no footmen and no troops on his side, he was an army of one. As a last resort, he had to rely on the Purple Vine Chamber of Commerce, and also hired two mercenary groups.

This was so embarrassing!

As the only heir to a noble family, he had to risk his life to fight for a future on the front lines, without any legion supporting him!

Compared to the mercenary group that relied on money to do business, the Purple Vine’s armed forces was Aupin’s most reliable source of power.

“Is the Centum’pin clan down to this level? Not even one footman?” This abnormal situation caused Aupin to frown.

Violette explained, “There was indeed a group of soldiers sent from your clan. But they were attacked by robbers on the way and were wiped out entirely. Also, goblins and ogres appeared around the territory of the Centum’pin clan.

“We are worried that other competitors would arrive at White Sand City ahead of time to establish an early advantage. Therefore, we faked staying behind, disguised our identity, and set off in secret on boat Pig Peck.”

Aupin’s pupils shrank and he snorted coldly. “It seems that the competition for the position of White Sand City Lord is fierce.”

An elite army of noblemen was annihilated by robbers halfway through the journey.

The borders of the Centum’pin clan were within the hinterland since a long time ago, why would there be ogres or goblins?

Aupin thought of something and asked again, “Who is competing with me for the seat of the City Lord? Were they on the same boat as us?”

Violette shook her head. “There are two more, both of whom are associates of yours. They did not share the same boat with us.”

Aupin did not speak.

He was thinking.

This answer meant that they did not need to face strong competitors on this island. But at the same time, it was very likely that the shipwreck was caused by these competitors.

Violette immediately said, “However, my Sir, we came with a Templar cleric named Josiah. He is the assessor of this City Lord competition. He is likely to be alive. It would be best if we can find him and help him.”

“Josiah?” Aupin raised his eyebrows and fell into deep thought.