Twenty-seven women, more than thirty children, and more than ten craftsmen. As slaves, this would be a great fortune. For the Swift Sword mercenary group that had already fallen to become a group of bandits, this was a rare harvest.
Contrary to what some people had guessed, the Swift Sword mercenary group that was wreaking havoc around the New Knight Lord wasn't a group of bandits that had been formed on the spot. Their previous incarnation was the Swift Sword Warriors mercenary group that the rebellious marquis had hired.
For a mercenary group, it was a rare opportunity to be recruited by a great lord. The mercenary group itself would receive official support and supplies, while the ordinary members would receive generous rewards and promotion opportunities. And for the higher-ups, this was the only chance for them to become nobles.
There was no lack of ambitious mercenaries among the mottled mercenaries. As long as they were given enough rewards, mercenaries who were originally outlaws would be able to take off anyone's head, including their own. Countless strong mercenaries would be tempted by the opportunity to have themselves and their descendants become high and mighty nobles.
However, a great lord wouldn't casually throw away the opportunity to recruit them. If a new noble wanted a territory, it would be the same as cutting off his own flesh. And even if the new noble didn't have a territory, he would still have to give his retainers the same value.
You wanted to obtain a noble title? Sure, you could fight with your life on the line. As long as you could prove your strength on the battlefield and obtain enough merits, it would be possible for you to obtain the great lord's recognition.
Note that the prerequisite for this was that the large mercenary groups would be able to obtain enough merits, maintain their organization, and maintain at least eighty percent of their combat strength. After all, the great nobles weren't philanthropists. Even if you made great contributions, once you lost your own value, it would be meaningless. On the other hand, a mercenary group that had suffered heavy losses was very suitable for recycling. Ordinary members could at least become qualified private soldiers, and it would be quite cheap to hire powerful individuals who didn't have a strong team. This was the "voluntary (free)" cannon fodder that the nobles loved the most.
Thus, war, a pure and dangerous war, was not a mission that ordinary mercenaries were willing to participate in. After all, when the rewards were high, it also meant that the risks were extremely high. However, everyone knew that the world had no lack of ambitious people and gamblers who thought that they were the only lucky ones.
As long as there was war, there would be vultures and hyenas chasing after it. The major lords indeed loved to temporarily hire mercenary groups. Although more than 70% of these mercenary groups were used and discarded pawns, there were rare cases of mercenary groups that were lucky enough to become nobles and regular armies. This encouraged even more mercenary groups to fly like moths to a flame.
The original Swift Blade Brave Squad was one of the "lucky ones". He had successfully achieved an astonishing amount of military merits, but …
"The leader, Entelai, is dead. Our achievements are gone, and so is the Swift Blade Warriors. A few of our brothers have been hung on the flagpole. Only the vice-leader, Kahn, has become a noble Knight. Brother Schenker said that it was Kahn who betrayed us and used the lives of our brothers to exchange for wealth and honor. So, we came to find Kahn for revenge."
"By killing civilians?"
"That's just Kahn's property. We plan to sell more and at least get our share back."
The citizens are the personal wealth of the lord? In a sense, this was also a mainstream concept in this world.
The two sentries of the Swift Blade Brave Squad were lying together. One of them couldn't move at all, while the other was calmly describing their "righteous revenge" in front of me.
To be able to say these things without a change in his expression, it wasn't because his mental fortitude was great. It was because his soul was collapsing and he was unable to prevent the information from being leaked.
Retracting my index finger from the forehead of the sentries, the black mist began to dissipate. The black pupils had already lost their focus, and what followed was the soul of this weakling dissipating.
Even though he still had breath and warmth, he was already a living dead man.
When I placed my index finger on the face of the other sentries, the young face was distorted by fear. Cold sweat frantically dripped down, and the yellow liquid that came out from his body made me furrow my eyebrows.
"Pa!"
The ugly state of the other party made me lose the intention to verify the information. The stench even made me lose interest in his corpse.
With a snap of my fingers, the partial suffocation caused the sentries to turn into a dried corpse in fear. The fatal binding made even the most common pleas for help by the neck become an extravagant hope. The only signs of resistance were the bloody scratches left by his fingernails on the ground.
It had been a long time since I acted as an evil undead mage, so it was a good thing that I wasn't out of practice. However, the changes in my "companions" behind me were quite obvious.
The scattered mercenaries, led by the dwarf brothers, had rather ugly expressions, but they were mostly filled with respect and fear. It was one thing to know that someone was powerful, but it was another to be vicious and merciless.
I had the same smile as before on my face, but I was quite satisfied. At least in the short term, the negative effects of my loss of moral integrity in the past could be ignored.
For mercenaries, a powerful and cruel undead mage wasn't easy to fool. As their employer, my orders should be carried out.
Meanwhile, Old Barton's old companion, Winston, had an ugly expression and was fiddling with something.
"An evil undead mage? Why didn't the Holy Light kill him? " Even without lip-reading, I could guess what he was thinking. After all, this old fellow could be considered a traditional believer of the Holy Light who went to church twice a week.
However, the one with the biggest reaction was probably Catalina. She hid behind her adopted father with a pale face, biting her lips tightly. Her eyes couldn't help but wander, not even daring to look at the corpses that had died horribly.
My expression didn't change, but I sighed in my heart.
"You've made up your mind? Directly cut off the seeds to prevent the little girl from sinking too deep. That's a wise choice. "
The silly cat's voice of schadenfreude sounded in my ear. The pure joy and malice in her voice were undisguised. It seemed that this silly cat was also a member of the FFF.
However, I shook my head.
"Don't think too much about it. I'm just using the most suitable method to obtain information. I'm an undead mage now. I don't use undead magic, so why would I use torture? "
As for the Northern Trio, the two veterans didn't seem to care at all. However, the goblin Thor had a face full of hesitation. If it weren't for the fact that the situation was so unsuitable, he would probably have taken out his tool manual and started furiously flipping through it like usual.
"Is it correct for us to attack these people?"
Don't misunderstand. The red light from the Judgement spell had already sentenced the two sentries to death. What Thor was doubting was the "truth" that they had stated.
Hearing this, I couldn't help but laugh. This Thor was too inexperienced. It was fine if he had doubts in his heart, but he actually accidentally asked about it. Not to mention, he even asked an undead mage.
"… But if everything is true, they have a reason to take revenge."
"Take revenge on the person themselves. What does it have to do with the innocent villagers? Oh, you probably think that the citizens are the domain lord's wealth, and that taking their wealth is also a form of revenge. "
Thor fell silent. It seemed that he also agreed with the traditional view that the citizens were the domain lord's wealth.
I also fell into deep thought. Sometimes, this thing called tradition was really annoying. Even if it seemed absurd and unreasonable to me, if the majority of people agreed with it, then even if it was fake, it would become true. Even if it was illogical, it would become an ironclad law.
The other hidden meaning of this tradition was that nobles had a higher status than commoners. People weren't equal. If I wanted to prove that this traditional view was wrong, it would be the same as declaring that everyone was equal. In this era of feudal royalty, doing so would be suicidal.
And in this cruel world where wind and rain swayed, people believed that bloody revenge was a person's most basic right. It was far more righteous than any law. It was just like how in the cruel world of wuxia novels, it was only natural for a son to take revenge on his father.
The only right to enforce the law required the support of the only political power. If someone said that only those in the legal profession could carry out the death penalty, that person would be treated as a joke.
Proving a tradition to be wrong wasn't something that could be done in a short period of time, let alone two. So, I decided to first bypass the "tradition."
"Are they guilty?"
"Yes, the Judgement spell and their testimony proved that they were guilty."
"Do they deserve to die?"
"Damn it, not only did they carry out a massacre, they also carried out kidnappings, human trafficking, and other crimes. All of these add up to a capital offense."
"Then it's not wrong to execute them now, right? Don't interrupt me. I know you want to say that they have the freedom to take revenge. But that doesn't mean that they shouldn't be punished for their crimes, right? "
"Yes, but …"
"This is this, and that is that. This crime and that crime are counted separately. Since there's nothing wrong with the one in front of us, let's deal with the one in front of us first before we have time to deal with the next one. These bandits deserve to die, so let them die. If the domain lord is guilty, you can put him on trial again. "
Saul came to a sudden realization. With a face full of excitement, he began … taking out his notebook to take notes.
The others were astonished that the stubborn law profession could actually be persuaded. Even the Dark Elf Anti- Knight, who always had a cold expression on his face, revealed a slightly surprised expression.
Meanwhile, I was secretly grumbling in my heart. Looking at this little idiot, my habit of teaching suddenly came back. I hoped that no one would see through it.
"Wait, something isn't right."
Looking at those bandits who were still staring at our virtual image and drooling, I suddenly felt that something wasn't right.
"Hm? Did the Swift Sword gang discover us? "
"No, don't you think it's strange? Why are they waiting here with these burdensome captives? Aren't they afraid of being discovered by the domain lord? "
"Just now, that sentinel said that he wanted to sell some captives for money. This isn't a transaction that ordinary merchants can accept. There aren't any professional slave traders around, and most transactions are done face-to-face … which means that they're waiting for the other party to make a deal with!"
"Not only that, attacking a village will result in the domain lord's encirclement. This is a serious crime that even bandits don't dare to do. Since they were confident in exchanging the villagers for money from the very beginning, it's highly likely that they were hired by someone to collect captives. And who is the one that needs captives the most right now? It's the Death Council that desperately needs sacrifices! "
"Perhaps there will be clues about those evil cultists. No, such an important sacrifice should be personally taken by the higher-ups of the Death Council!"
When the silly cat and I came to an agreement, we looked at those bandits with greed in our eyes, as if we were looking at delicious fat sheep.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
