After a fierce battle, the winter mopping-up army of Dahl's territory finally eliminated the greatest threat that had plagued them for many years, and they did not have to pay a heavy price. Sui Xiong had mercifully bestowed a large area of divine grace, so apart from the three unlucky archers who had died in battle, the rest of the participants had all survived, and not even one was left with a disability.
When Baron Dahl received the news, he was grinning from ear to ear, and his chubby face was filled with joy.
Seeing the ogre tribes growing stronger day by day, he was actually very worried. Sometimes, he was worried that these guys would launch a large-scale invasion, destroy one or two villages, or even attack a town.
If there really were hundreds of ogres attacking, Dahl City might not be able to withstand them. What was more frightening was that the ogres were very intelligent. If they really wanted to attack a city, they would definitely drive a large group of monsters to act as vanguards or cannon fodder. They might even first break through the villages and drive the refugees towards the towns, so as to lower the morale of the humans and consume more of their food. This would naturally make it easier to break through the towns.
Of course, a single ogre did not have such high intelligence, but when they formed a group, they would often give birth to a chieftain or a shaman. Thus, their level of intelligence would greatly increase, and the threat they posed would also greatly increase.
It was just like on Earth, when the proportion of the population was less than 2%, it would start to disrupt social order when it was more than 5%. When it reached 10%, it would use various methods such as rioting to promote laws that were beneficial to itself. When it exceeded 20%, it would launch terrorist attacks everywhere, and when it reached 40%, it would turn around and persecute others.
The accumulation of quantity would lead to a change in quality, no matter which world it was.
Fortunately, Baron Dahl did not have to worry about this problem, because the group of ogres in his territory had become the best kind of ogres in the world — dead ogres.
From the ogre camp, they did not find many valuable spoils of war. It could be seen that the dragon was very good at plundering, and did not leave much behind. Even some rare ores had been taken away by it. Fortunately, the corpses of the ogres themselves were good spoils of war, and because of the cold weather, these corpses were well preserved, so there was enough time to slowly process them.
The mages then applied for some workers to build a temporary workshop at the Ogre camp to process the materials more efficiently.
There were too many materials and too little manpower. Only the military mage and his two apprentices could do this kind of technical work. The helpers could only do some unimportant jobs or help with logistics. According to the military mage's estimation, it would take about a month to finish everything.
The process of turning the Ogres into materials wasn't about turning them into magical equipment. Instead, it was about turning the Ogres into materials.
Of course, it was impossible for the mopping-up army to wait at the foot of the mountain for a month. Thus, after leaving behind enough manpower and supplies, Baron Dahl led the mopping-up army, who had been busy for almost a month, from one victory to another. They were exhausted but in high spirits, singing a song of victory as they returned to Dahl City.
By the time they returned to Dahl City, the messenger had already passed on the news of their victory. The citizens of the city were all happily on the streets, cheering for the victorious army. Perhaps they were just here to watch the show. After all, some of the spoils of war were really rare. For example, there was a wild boar's head that was bigger than a person, or a few ferocious ogre heads. These were things that normal people would not normally see.
Baron Dahl rode in the middle of the army, enjoying the cheers of the people on both sides and could not help but laugh.
Although he was not a knight, he liked the feeling of being loved by the people for destroying monsters.
Of course, the price was not too high.
But his good mood did not last long. After returning to the castle, he saw the undisguised worry and anxiety on his son's face, who came to welcome him.
"What's wrong?" His face immediately darkened as he asked.
His son moved to his side and reported something in a voice that only the father and son could hear.
Baron Dahl's face darkened even more. He was silent for a moment, then said, "Temporarily seal off the news. We'll talk about it in two days."
"Father! This is a little urgent! "His son advised worriedly.
"No matter how urgent it is, it won't be in a day or two." Baron Dahl had already regained his composure. He sighed and said, "Let's talk about it in two days. Everyone has worked hard, let's let everyone be happy for two days first."
His son understood what he meant, sighed, and nodded.
"Oh right, later go and announce that for those who participated in the sweeping army, if they are soldiers, they will be given half a year's salary; if they are hired, they will be given three months' salary; if they are civilians, they will be given a month's salary as a soldier as a bonus." Baron Dahl thought for a moment, then said, "For those who died, regardless of their status, they will be given the standard of a soldier's pension … No, five times the pension!"
His son nodded and took note of this matter.
This would be a very large expense. If it was in the past, he would inevitably advise against it. But now … even this young man who had a tendency to be a miser really did not have the mind to save money.
Money was a good thing, but it was only useful if it could be used. No matter how much money, what use would it be if it was piled in a coffin? It would only attract grave robbers!
A moment later, the news he announced caused the sweeping army to burst into thunderous cheers. The victorious soldiers were in high spirits because of the generous reward. Even the families of the soldiers who had unfortunately died in battle were washed away by the astonishingly generous pension.
For the next few days, the Dahl Domain was like a festival, everyone was laughing. The taverns, restaurants, and other entertainment venues in the city were full every day, and the women who ran the service industry also gained an unexpected income.
Two days later, in the small conference hall of the Dahl Castle, the atmosphere was unusually heavy.
"Just as father led the sweeping army to suppress those monsters, the capital sent messengers." The one who spoke was the baron who had received the messengers at that time, "Two groups came."
Hearing this, the old knight with white hair and beard, who could almost be considered an old man, frowned and asked, "Was it the aristocratic party and the merchant party?"
The young baron nodded and sighed deeply.
"Did they touch it?" Another knight with the surname Dahl asked.
The knight shook his head.
"They didn't touch it, that's good." The knight breathed a sigh of relief.
"But, their words this time were very harsh." The baron said with a bitter face, "Both sides said that the current situation no longer allows for anyone to try to be a middle ground. They are forcing us to take sides. "
"Take their mother's side!" A knight with a scar on his face said fiercely, "If they want to fight, that's their problem, it's none of our business!"
This was also the unanimous opinion of the upper echelons of the Dahl Domain. The Dahl Domain was far away, and the Dahl Family had ruled it for generations, managing it like an iron bucket. No matter how the aristocratic party and the merchant party fought, they were confident that they could protect themselves. Why should they take sides?
As the vulgar knight had said, "Line up?" Take their mother's side! Bullshit!
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.
