I knew that I couldn't look at problems with colored glasses, but there were too many things that I didn't understand in the teachings of the goddess, and the old village chief's concerns about the "recruitment", so I couldn't help but have a bad impression of the government, church, and other organizations in this world. I always felt that they were planning something bad. Thus, when I heard that the recruitment officer had come to this small village to recruit soldiers, the first image that appeared in my mind was that the other party should be a dozen or so fat soldiers. They should barge into the village, ride on their horses, and arrogantly whip the villagers. Their armor was crooked, and they were all idiots. After killing each of them, they would only give 5 experience points, and they wouldn't drop any equipment …
Based on the brick that Icetis was carrying when she ran out, I thought that I wasn't the only one who had this kind of idea.
In the end, when I came out to take a look, the recruitment officer really wasn't like that. They only sent three people, and none of them were old soldiers. Looking at their spirits, the meticulous armors and weapons on their bodies, as well as their capable temperament and motionless posture, these three were obviously characters who could charge and break through enemy lines on the battlefield with real swords and spears. Perhaps they were even veterans of the battlefield. Moreover, there was also a handsome elf man and a domineering female officer. This world probably didn't have a culture of smiling and public relations, but it was hard to say that one of the reasons these two were sent out was to use their faces to increase the favorability of the recruits. This image didn't match my previous guess. Also, their attitude was very good. Although the burly soldier standing at the front looked like a rough person, he was quite polite when talking to the old village chief. He maintained a rhythm of nodding every three sentences, but it was hard to say whether this was because of military discipline or because of Ron's cynical face behind the old village chief …
The blockhead led the way in front, and I led a group of girls and two dispirited lolis behind him. We easily passed through the crowd. The blockhead was really good at leading the way, the space he walked through was wide enough for a Xiali to drive through …
The burly soldier was talking to the village chief when he suddenly felt an oppressive aura coming from beside him. Then, his face turned gloomy. He muttered, "Why did it rain last night, and now it's raining again this morning …"
Before he finished his sentence, he turned around and saw an unknown tower-like creature standing beside him. He immediately sucked in a breath of cold air. His two companions behind him almost formed a defensive formation (I guess they didn't form a formation because they didn't have enough people), but the blockhead smiled at the three recruitment officers and carefully retreated to the side. This honest country bumpkin didn't look domineering because of his strength. When he saw the soldiers wearing the armor of the knights, he was just like any other ordinary person, even though the three soldiers and their armor combined could only be as heavy as him …
The old village chief craned his neck to look at me, and there was a wrinkled, bitter smile on his face. The Empire of Gondor really didn't forget that there was an administrative unit here, and the recruitment officers were already here.
At this time, the recruitment officer standing at the front of the group also recovered from the blockhead's oppressive aura. He said to the old village chief in a rough voice, "Old man, I have already explained the situation to you. The order from the Imperial Capital is a death order. All the villages and towns at all levels have to temporarily increase the number of recruits. The ratio of recruits here is one for every five men between the ages of sixteen to forty. Every five men will report to the North Fortress, and the rest of the men will be formed into militia and be on standby. They will be trained regularly, and when the North and South Fortresses can't hold on any longer, they will be ready for battle. After we leave, the infantry regiment will be stationed in each village to help you with the training exercises. We have to understand that this battle is not for anything else, it is for the world … Sigh, I won't say this anymore. It is for your wives, children, and the three to five rooms behind you. Go back and discuss it, and prepare to be drafted. "
After the recruitment officer finished his speech, I immediately changed my impression of him. He is quite an honest person. I thought this world would follow the old-fashioned path of soldiers and bandits, and the people have no way to make a living.
But although his words were honest, I could also hear the cruel side of it to the villagers of Pine Forest Village. The recruitment of one man for every five men was secondary, and the most terrible was the order for all the people to transfer their troops and defend the place to the death. The hidden meaning of this order was: No fleeing!
The Dark Moon War was approaching, and the two sides of the Long Bridge Mountains closest to the Dark Moon Teleportation Point would naturally become the frontlines. We knew that even at the foot of the active volcano, after a period of stability, there would still be people living there. The Dark Moon War only happened once every few hundred years, so there would naturally be civilian villages on both sides of the Long Bridge Mountains. Pine Forest Village was one of the inconspicuous ones. Generally speaking, after the arrival of chaos, the people would definitely become destitute. It was normal for the people near the frontlines to flee their villages, towns, or even entire cities to move to the interior. But now, the death order from the Empire of Gondor smelled of blood: The people at the frontlines are not allowed to retreat, and they are to form a militia on the spot!
The civilians didn't even have the process of fleeing, and were directly treated as soldiers to resist the war. This situation was rare. The background of such an order was either that the people were extremely valiant, or that the people in the capital were out of their minds …
If I could think of this, the other villagers could also think of it. Thus, after the recruitment officer finished his words, there was a commotion among the crowd. But there was no other reaction. It seemed that the people quickly accepted the order from the capital, and all that was left was to think about who should be selected for the recruitment of one man for every five men. And based on the current situation, I felt that this recruitment of one man for every five men was actually just a lottery to decide who would die first and who would die later. The recruitment officer had already said: Wait until the North and South Fortress couldn't hold on anymore. They knew from the start that the North and South Fortress couldn't hold on anymore! This was definitely the experience of the past five wars!
I didn't understand how a group of civilians without any military training could calmly accept such an order. If this was on Earth, there would have been a civil revolt long ago. But now, I still had to see what the old village chief had to say.
The old man's expression was a little gloomy. He knew that this day would come, but he didn't expect it to come so soon. He rubbed his hands and discussed with the recruitment officer, "Of course, we have to listen to the orders from the capital. But as you can see, our small village doesn't have any farmland, and we don't have a lot of people to begin with. We rely on the hunters to hunt every day. If twenty percent of the men leave in the next two days, the rest of the people will have to devote half of their energy to training as militia. Who would have the manpower to hunt? If this was a place that grew crops, there wouldn't be enough men, but the women and the elderly could still do farm work. But if we don't grow crops here, there are man-eating beasts in the forest behind the village. "
What the old village chief said was also reasonable. A village like this that didn't grow crops at all and only relied on hunting in the forest to survive was most afraid of being drained of men. After the men in other places went to the front line, the women and the elderly could do farm work, but it was rare to hear of a young wife gathering 20 or 30 old men and old women to go into the mountains to hunt bears. Not to mention that the capital had ordered all villages and towns to form militia corps locally, so there was a shortage of manpower. In fact, I didn't think it mattered whether these hunters were trained or not. People who could fight with wolves might not be worse than soldiers. Of course, professional soldiers might also consider the issue of combat awareness. In the face of the army from the Dim Moon, hunters who could fight with wolves, tigers, and leopards might not have the courage to fight, so it was necessary to organize militia for military training.
However, it was still the same sentence: It was indeed great to save the world and fight against foreign enemies, but another problem that the commoners had to consider was how to ensure three meals a day. This had nothing to do with bravery and awareness. They were just ordinary people who lived their lives honestly.
The leading recruitment officer didn't seem to be an unreasonable person. He spread his hands a little awkwardly, "I know, but what do you want us to do? We all have a mission. "
Ron took a step forward. He finally didn't tie the priest robe around his waist today, but his unbuttoned appearance still didn't look like a priest, "I'm the priest of this village. I speak in the name of the goddess, you have to listen to me, right?"
The 3 recruitment officers nodded at the same time.
Ron sorted out his words, "This is what I mean. First of all, we are not afraid of death. After all, everyone knows that once the Dim Moon people come down, it's useless even if you are afraid of death. Everyone can only fight desperately. However, our village has a small population to begin with, and we really can't send many strong men. Why don't we give a discount and draw fewer men? Can't we just set up the militia corps properly? At least if we transfer to the militia, the people will still be local, and it won't affect the livelihood of the entire village … "
The recruitment officer continued to be in a dilemma, "This is the Empire's conscription, not something else. Do you think we can draw fewer just because you say so? Besides, how much discount is appropriate if you give a discount? "
Ron discussed with the old village chief and tentatively stretched out his palm, "How about 50% discount? One-fifth will be changed to one-tenth. "
We were all dumbfounded. Lin Xue poked Icetis's arm, "This is the first time I've seen the villagers discuss a discount with the able-bodied men …"
Icetis nodded, "It's also the first time I've seen able-bodied men get a discount."
The recruitment officer and Ron discussed for a while, but there was basically no progress. It seemed that giving a "discount" during the conscription of the Empire was indeed unrealistic. However, at this time, the blockhead suddenly stepped forward. To everyone's surprise, this seemingly timid big man took the initiative to talk to the soldiers, "Our village has a small population. How about this? I'm strong, and I can fight against a group of people alone. Won't you be able to complete your mission if you take me away?"
The 3 recruitment officers couldn't help glancing at this big man who had a very high sense of presence. At this moment, seeing the big man suddenly step forward, they immediately jumped back half a step. Then, the burly man in the lead finally reacted. While sizing up the blockhead, he asked the old village chief, "What did he eat to grow up? This size is definitely enough to join the army … "
"Big man, are you really going?" The old village chief glanced at the blockhead, "Didn't you say that you were afraid of war and didn't want to join the army?"
Only then did I realize that the blockhead had expressed this attitude to the old village chief long before we came. The topic of the Dark Moon War should be the thing that the border people were most concerned about in the past two years. It was normal for the old village chief and the blockhead to have a conversation on this topic.
"I thought about it. No matter how powerful the people on the moon are, they shouldn't be as powerful as the blind bear," the blockhead said in a rough voice, "I don't want to put the village chief in a difficult position, nor do I want to put the knights in a difficult position. They are all good people. Didn't the knights send food to the village during the snowstorm two years ago? Also, the priest said that the Emperor is very good to the people … "
I continued to be stunned: Why is this different from what I had imagined? What happened to the ruling class collaborating with the church to oppress the people?
Later on, I understood what was going on: This is a special world that is constantly under the threat of the Dark Moon War. The people of the Dark Moon are a group of demonic creatures that don't accept surrender or any alien captives. Also, due to the regularity of the Dark Moon War, the church and the ruling class already knew what they were going to face decades ago. Not only did they know when the war would start, they also knew how big the scale of the war would be. In the face of this kind of visible and tangible pressure that they would have to face in their lifetime, the idiot ruler wouldn't even have the chance to take office. As long as the country's leader had the guts to take office in the past two years, all of them had the resolve to risk their lives to protect the country. How could there be a scenario where the country would be completely corrupted after too long of peace? This was the same logic as choosing a new commander in the city when millions of enemy troops were about to invade. How could the person who dared to take power at such a critical juncture be an ordinary person?
At this time, the recruitment officer spoke, "Big man, you might not understand, but we have a limit on the number of soldiers we can recruit. It doesn't mean that you can take up the quota of ten people just because you can match the strength of ten people …"
The dimwit patted his stomach and said, "I still have the appetite of ten people."
The recruitment officer's forehead was covered in sweat. "… But I have to report to the commander when I go back!"
The few of us watched from the side for a long time, not knowing whether we should intervene or not. Of course, it's not wrong for the recruitment officer to be here for a mission, but it's also not wrong for the villagers to want to ensure that they can live a stable life for a few more days. More importantly, the atmosphere was very harmonious. Although both sides had different opinions, there wasn't a situation where people were forced to join. As outsiders, it was embarrassing for us to say anything. At this moment, I actually hoped that the three recruitment officers were fat soldiers. It would be great if they could bully the villagers a little. The stargold brick in Icetis's hand was almost crushed into powder …
Actually, after the abnormal creature like the dimwit spoke, I had already thought of something. With a mutated hunter who could easily hunt for food for the entire village, the people of Pine Forest Village didn't have to worry about the lack of manpower in the village. As long as the dimwit stayed, theoretically, even if there were a hundred more old and weak people, they wouldn't starve. So, many of the previous excuses were just excuses. At the end of the day, it was the old village chief who didn't want to see his people being dragged to the frontlines to die. Being stationed at the fortress closest to the Dark Moon Gate was just a matter of waiting for death.
In the end, Shallow Shallow couldn't help but speak up, "Just do as the dimwit says. After all, your goal is to fight a war. Is there a need to ask which is more profitable, recruiting a super soldier or recruiting ten armed farmers?"
The red-haired female recruitment officer who had been silent all this while looked at Shallow Shallow curiously. Actually, she had already noticed that we were outsiders who didn't fit in with the villagers. She just treated us as ordinary passersby and didn't speak up. Now that Shallow Shallow suddenly spoke up, she could only reply, "Recruiting soldiers isn't a joke. It's not like buying vegetables in the market. Besides, this dimwit says that he can take on a few soldiers, but he has to get our officers to agree with him."
"That's easy." Shallow Shallow rolled her eyes. I instantly knew that this lass was having an 'immature idea' again. But before I could stop her, she started counting with her fingers to discuss with the recruitment officer, "How many people do you plan to bring with you this time?"
"Based on the size of the village, we need to recruit at least fifteen strong soldiers, maybe even more."
Shallow Shallow clapped her hands, "Go back and ask your officers to send fifteen regular soldiers over. Then, get the dimwit to beat them all up. Isn't that enough?"
That was why Shallow Shallow's' immature idea 'had always been extremely destructive. Do you think that an ordinary person could come up with such an idea?!
As expected, the red-haired mature lady glared at me, "There's a limit to your jokes! How could the knight order waste a small squad of people on such a thing! "
Before I could express my agreement, the red-haired sister patted the shoulder of the handsome elf beside her, "Joe, I'll leave it to you. Go and get that dimwit to beat them up fifteen times. See if they're telling the truth."
Everyone: "…"
The elf soldier who was called 'Joe' looked at his companion, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "Anna, with that brain of yours, you'll still be an Iron Knight in five years."
"What's wrong with my brain! Aren't you an Iron Knight too!? "
Seeing that the two of them were about to get into a fight over this topic, the burly man who was the leader hurriedly tried to smooth things over, "Alright, alright, let's talk about this next time. The three of us joined the army in the same year and have been Iron Knights for fifteen years now. Let's not expose each other's …"
The red-haired mature lady and the handsome elf glared at the burly man simultaneously, "Shut up! You're the one who exposed the most! "
"Puhaha —" Icetis finally couldn't take it anymore. She took a step forward and pointed at the three adorable recruiting officers with an imposing manner, "All of you, shut up. I'll go with you to that whatever fortress to play for two days. Chen, you guys come too. "
I never expected that Icetis would suddenly come up with such an idea. She didn't act according to our plan at all. However, looking at her expression, she was actually serious. What is Sister Bing trying to do?
"You guys?" The red-haired lady looked at us, who looked weird no matter how she looked at them, suspiciously. Pandora and Visca squeezed from the back to the front. "You even brought a child? You guys want to enlist in the army? "
"Enlist my ass. You guys can't afford to use our standard of combat power," Icetis swung her hair domineeringly, almost sending Visca, who was the closest to her, flying. "Didn't you hear what I said? We are going to your whatever fortress to play for two days. We'll also settle the Dark Moon War while we're at it. This lousy thing is too troublesome. As for the recruitment — Anyway, no one said that the recruits were to report today, right? You guys can come back in two days if there's still a need to recruit by then. "
I smashed my fist on my head at the side: After lying low for two days, this female pervert is finally going to explode …
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