The next afternoon, Raven Castle, the lord's office hall.

Lilia pushed open the oak door and saw Victor standing alone by the window, looking down. She stepped forward, hugged Victor's arm, and said coquettishly, "Honey, what are you thinking?"

Victor grabbed the little waist of the personal maid, hugged her into his arms, and asked incomprehensibly: "Last night, so many people died, why do they look ...... Happy?"

Below the castle, truckloads of supplies, herds of cattle and sheep, and thousands of men, women, and children lined up in a long line, constantly entering Raven Town through the drawbridge. These people came from the breached free camp, their faces were full of excitement and joy, and there was no grief or grief for the loss of their loved ones, and the killing of last night seemed like a nightmare, frightening but unreal.

"My dear lord, it would not be strange if you knew where they came from. Lilia only glanced at it, then withdrew her gaze and said, "As far as Boots knows, most of these people are outcasts, and they have been cultivating territory for the Erickson family for more than three years before they are given the status of a lord. Some time ago, the Erikson family suffered a drastic change, the dukedom was dismembered by the Kingdom of Duoduo, the new lord took back the land, confiscated the family property they had saved, and they were not only re-reduced to exiles, but also coerced by the fleeing soldiers of the Erikson family to build the free private land. The freedmen guards in the camp prey on the women and start their own families, and the others dare not speak out. Last night, the camp guards had suffered heavy casualties, and no one would feel sorry for them. Well...... It's an exaggeration to say that they occupy women, and the women of the homeless people are used to clinging to the strong, but they haven't been together for a long time, and they don't have too deep feelings. ”

"......," Victor shook his head and smiled, "I'm still worried that these people have hatred...... Looks like I'm thinking too much. ”

"Lions don't care what sheep think. If the inferior people dare to have bad intentions, Mayor Butz will clean them up. I don't think it's too late for them to be happy. It's a bargain for them!"

Lilia pursed her pink cherry lips, and her puffing appearance was just like the original mercenary girl, Victor couldn't help but kiss her smooth and white forehead, and said, "A wise monarch should listen to the voice of his people, then...... Baby, why are they happy?"

"Because there's Raven Castle!" Lilia stomped the castle floor, and seeing Victor's disgusted expression, she softly admonished, "My dear, I know you dislike that the walls of Raven Castle are not smooth enough. But this is a castle after all, it has more than a hundred rooms, six watchtowers, and can accommodate 300 soldiers......" Lilia gasped, "My dear, when we were mercenaries, we dreamed of settling behind the castle. ”

The castle is the embodiment of the lord's force, representing the lord's legitimate right to rule, it is not only a fortification, but also the political center of the territory, and only the soldiers of the lord's family are qualified to live in the back of the castle. The mercenary group is half-black and white, and they are eager to be accepted by a certain lord and then become soldiers of his family. This is actually legitimacy, and the free private sector also faces the problem of legitimacy.

The relationship of protection, redemption, and devotion constitutes the most basic order of the human kingdom. If the lord fails to protect the territory and his people, he will lose his title, the priest will lose his god if he reneges on his belief in salvation, and if the people do not fulfill their obligation to give, it will be regarded as an outland people, which is illegal.

For thousands of years, this view has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and is unshakable.

Free people have no object of devotion, and they are often equated with bandits, not only facing the threat of monsters and beasts, but also being banished by their lords. Although the Church has compassion for the savages, calling them lost lambs, there is nothing they can do to help them. Because, the people who hate the free private land the most are precisely the ordinary villagers, and the lord just obeys the voice of the people.

The vast majority of free private lands wanted to be accepted by their lord as registered citizens of their realm, and the castle was a sign of the liege's legal status. At that time, Victor did not have a castle, and the leader of the free private land, Yang Fengyin, was questioning his legitimacy.

Raven Town is deserted, full of beasts, and the environment is even more difficult to develop than the original Randall Territory, but it has a castle. This means order and civilization to the freedmen, who can be protected by the lord and the salvation of the priest by being accepted into Raventown, and they can confidently declare: I am carving out this land for my master.

Legitimacy is of paramount importance, it is an order constructed by knights, clergy and ordinary people, and the future of each person is at stake. These freedmen have a way to rise by joining Raventown, striving to become vassal nobles, or servants of the Supreme Lord.

Lilia was born as a mercenary, and she has the most intuitive understanding of the thoughts of the people at the bottom. From the perspective of the inhabitants of Raventown, these freedmen are bandits who plunder the resources of their territory and should be expelled. Now that Raventown is willing to take them in, they should indeed be happy.

"It's strange that I ordered the village to be destroyed and killed, but they were grateful to me. Victor laughed to himself.

"As it is, most of the displaced people in the free camps are coerced by people, they are just a group of rabble with no sense of honor. Lilia disagreed, and smiled again, "Your Excellency, you are too merciful. ”

"Lilia, remember, kindness does not mean weakness. Only a stupid and incompetent lord rules his people with cruelty and fear, and a wise lord must possess the quality of benevolence...... At least nominally. Victor shook his head and sighed, "The situation in Ravenville is more complicated than I expected. It's too far from Randall, and we must realize that Lord Duoduo and Viscount Sauron have a much greater influence on Raven than I do, and there must be stability within Raven at this time......"

Lilia blinked and said, "Are you worried that these people will fall to Lord Dodor?

"If we do that, we'll lose the support of the church in Raventown...... Forget it, we'll talk about that later. Victor let go of Lilia, turned to the desk, sat down, and said, "Is the loot counted?"

Lilia sat down across from Victor and counted with a smile: "Well, we have captured 734 sheep, 87 cattle, 27 horses, 170,000 pounds of rye, 80,000 pounds of nuts, 10,000 pounds of cured meat, 187 sets of old leather armor, 60 sets of intact steel ring armor, 233 spears, 211 hard bows, 12,000 feather arrows, 40 crossbows, and 2,300 crossbow arrows. As she spoke, she took a deep breath and said excitedly, "My dear, there are 15 more military heavy crossbows!"

The military heavy crossbow is the most powerful individual weapon for ordinary soldiers, and only the Kingdom of Dodor can currently produce this terrifying mass killing weapon. Military heavy crossbows are extremely powerful, and the number of outflows is also strictly controlled. These 15 military heavy crossbows are worth a lot of money, and it's no wonder that Lilia is excited, but she doesn't know that Victor has a sharper Thorsilver heavy crossbow.

The heavy crossbow does not form a terrifying cavity in the body of its prey like a sniper rifle, and it has proven to be limited in its lethality against large monsters, and its production is limited by the tendons of ferocious animals. Victor didn't care about these military heavy crossbows, he smiled faintly: "This can only show that the free camp is actually a Duoduo military camp." What about their numbers and casualties?"

Lilia nodded and said, "There are 1,105 people in this camp, 513 adult males, 339 adult females, 102 children under the age of 15, and 151 elderly people over the age of 60. As a result of the attack, 58 people were killed, 23 were seriously injured and 87 were lightly injured, mainly by the camp guards, the dead have been buried and the wounded have been treated. After a pause, Lilia said with a gloomy expression: "My lord, you have 5 elite soldiers killed in battle, and ...... There were also 6 Swift Bird light riders who did not return to the team. ”

"They have sacrificed...... They're stupid guys. Victor knocked on the table and couldn't help but grumble.

In order to test the actual combat level of the alchemy militia, Victor used 50 alchemy crows, 30 swift bird light horses, 80 spirit monkey militia and 25 barberry militia. The strength of the force surpasses that of the vast majority of the top nobles, and the opponent is only a group of rabble. However, the performance of the alchemy militia was not satisfactory, they strictly carried out Victor's orders, but lacked independent judgment, shouting for the opponent to disarm and surrender at the expense of revealing their position, and unable to distinguish the enemy's leader, thus quickly disintegrating the enemy's organizational ability, not only causing heavy casualties, but also 5 spirit monkey militia were killed by sneak attacks.

The performance of the Swift Bird Light Cavalry made Victor angry, obviously stronger, but he was killed by a trainee knight, and when he encountered the resistance of the high-ranking knights, he didn't know how to scatter and detour, gather backups, and keep sending people to the head. If Victor doesn't intervene in time, these guys will definitely be wiped out. Victor was impressed by the midshipman, who was clever and cunning, clever in his tactics, and a full demonstration of the power of wisdom.

Victor looked down and thought for a moment, then turned his gaze to Lilia and asked, "Honey, do you know why I was in such a hurry to break through that free camp?"

Lilia's eyes twinkled, her mouth opened, and she shook her head with a light smile. The War Bear Mercenary Regiment is often hired by the lord to disperse the outcasts, but a smart woman must know how to make her man behave, and Lilia is so ice and snow smart.

"It was only after I became a lord that I learned that most of the free towns, or bandits, were instructed by the lord to fight rival families, loot caravans, control remote areas, and expand territory. With more than 1,000 people in this free camp, the supplies are abundant and the force is strong, which is by no means the scale that a normal free folk group can achieve. They must be the stronghold planted by the Duoduo in Raventown, and they are blatant!"

"If I don't catch him off guard, the Dordors will definitely intervene and prevent me from clearing this stronghold under the pretext of protecting civilians. Drag us into endless negotiations, but I can't afford to drag it out, Randall is 1,000 kilometers away after all. The Duoduos were well aware of this. Therefore, we must respond to the attempts of the Priests with the utmost firmness, and we will chop off our hands when they reach out to them, and we will cut off our feet when they stretch out, without the slightest hesitation. ”

Victor chuckled, "Now that the population and supplies of this camp have all fallen into my hands, it is estimated that the Duoduo people are already angry. ”

Lilia frowned and asked, "The Duo will attack Raventown?"

"No!" Victor affirmed, "the fact that the Dordor has adopted such unseemly means means means that they dare not provoke war." This should be a bluff of advance and retreat!"

"Bluffing?"

"Yes!" Victor nodded, "The relationship between the Kingdom of Duo and our Gambis is very delicate right now, both allies and mutual wariness. Viscount Negus was also worried that the Knights of the Rose would march north to rob his quarries. One step ahead is one less step in the future. The Dordor put on an aggressive posture and wanted me to get the York family to settle the dispute, so that they could sell Lady Sylvia a favor. In this way, the House of York is morally inferior...... The aristocracy attaches great importance to reputation, and there are many inexplicable excuses for waging war for profit, and the Sassan Empire clearly wants to unify the south, and the Sassan Emperor wants to claim that it is to wash away the shame of his ancestors being exiled by the royal family of Duoduo. This is the rule of the game for the aristocracy. Victor sneered again, "The Duoduo people think I'm a soft persimmon, and I have to rely on Sylvia." As a result, he shot himself in the foot. ”

Lilia held her cheeks and said happily, "My lord is the greatest lord. ”

Being praised by his own woman, Victor couldn't help but feel a little fluttering, and said with a smile: "Among these free people, there must be soldiers arranged by Viscount Negus, find them out as soon as possible, these people are all usable talents." ”

"No need to look for it. Lilia sighed faintly and said, "They're dead." ”

"Huh?" Victor's eyes were cold, and he said angrily, "Who is so bold and dares to make a claim without my order? Isn't that Gru guy? Call him over!"

"It's my order. Lilia met Victor's surprised eyes and explained, "My dear, most of these backbones are Duke Erickson's soldiers, and their families are under the control of Viscount Negus, so it is impossible for them to serve us. Let them go, they will come again, and it will be a woe to stay. Lilia paused and added, "The mercenary group has become accustomed to clearing out bandit gathering places. Our employers always ask us to torture the bandit leaders and cadres before killing them all as an example. ”

Victor stayed for a moment, shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Your current identity is different from the past, don't do the killing of prisoners in the future." ”

Seeing that Victor was no longer angry, Lilia quietly stuck out her tongue and said, "Our people didn't do it, it was those free people who did it...... Gru just provoked. ”

As he spoke, there was a knock at the door, and Victor raised his voice, "Come in." ”

Gru pushed the door open and sneered, "Good day, my lord." Good day, ma'am. ”

"What's the matter?" said Victor angrily.

"Two people from outside the castle want to see you. One of them claimed to be Viscount Negus. ”

Victor was surprised and asked, "What? Are you sure it's two people? Not a team?"

Grubi said respectfully: "A nobleman with an attendant, just two people. No convoy was found within a radius of 10 km. ”

Victor leaned back in his chair and muttered, "Visiting alone, Viscount Negus is so bold." ”