Loot

Li Ang had never intended to occupy this camp.

In fact, after obtaining the map Ralph had provided, Li Ang had realized that this land north of the Tongtian River was not suitable for establishing an initial territory.

Foucher could mess around here, after all. He was a duke's son, with enough wealth and influence to wrestle with a Gatu warlord and negotiate deals.

But Li Ang's meager strength could not withstand the Gatu people's cavalry.

Besides, a dispute between figures like Duke Alma and Count Oden could become a catastrophe if he got too deeply involved. Even being caught in the slightest fallout might spell utter ruin.

And both sides were extremely cunning...

In that final at Mistveil City, after Foucher had been eliminated, Duke Alma had demanded that the final be changed to Armored Combat, the event most likely to get someone killed.

The opponent in that final had been Ryman. If either Li Ang or Ryman had died in the arena, it would probably have been good news for Duke Alma...

Ryman was Oden's son-in-law, and likely Oden's most capable helper as well.

As the famed Furious Lion Knight, Alma would not deal with him openly. He might even maintain an outwardly "good relationship" with him, but underhanded schemes were probably unavoidable.

Ryman had surrendered so readily back then because he had known that perfectly well. He would rather end his undefeated reputation than risk his life fighting Li Ang—though given the situation at the time, he might not have been able to beat Li Ang anyway.

As for Oden, he had asked Li Ang to "wipe out bandits" without telling him that this was a camp built by Foucher. He had clearly been afraid that Li Ang would not come into direct conflict with Duke Alma...

Li Ang had agreed to Oden's request out of necessity. If he wanted to develop a territory around Long River Forest, building a good relationship with Count Oden, who possessed the strongest military force, was essential.

Besides, Oden had sponsored... no, "loaned" him some startup capital.

But after getting the job done, Li Ang truly did not want to get involved in the political struggle between those two great nobles any further.

He still needed to build up his own strength as quickly as possible. Otherwise, he could only become a blade in someone else's hand.

Building himself up required a great many people and weapons, and people and weapons required a great many denars...

Damn it!

No matter how he thought about it, it all came down to money...

By the time he returned to the camp, the battle was already over.

Kloze was leading the mercenaries in gathering the spoils.

There seemed to be quite a lot of loot, as well as a considerable number of prisoners who had lost the ability to fight but were still alive.

But Li Ang was not in a good mood. They had captured so many prisoners, yet they could not carry out Pande's most profitable traditional business: selling captives!

Since the brawny men had all used infantry warhammers and had generally avoided striking the enemies' heads, most of the enemies had been injured rather than killed. Aside from the archers and riders shot down by the crossbowmen, nearly all the other enemies were still alive.

Most of those enemies had had some part of their bodies smashed apart. They lay on the ground, rolling about and wailing in agony. Most kept muttering obscenities, using decidedly uncouth words to send regards to the Meitengheim people's female relatives.

Well, some of them were sending regards to Li Ang too.

Listening to the endless filth and remembering that they were all members of the Crimson Brotherhood, which meant they could not be sold, Li Ang somewhat regretted not having Kloze use the greatswords they were better at wielding...

What the hell was the use of capturing them? They would even consume extra food.

Kloze, however, ignored it all as he directed the mercenaries to strip the prisoners of their equipment one by one, then bind them roughly.

This newly appointed Charge Captain was quite conscientious. He kept a close eye on those Mercenary Crossbowmen to make sure they did not quietly slip any loot into their pockets.

The Meitengheim Infantry had already started eating. When they had launched their surprise attack, the enemy had been preparing a meal, so now they got to enjoy it instead.

Charge Squads generally did not take part in cleaning up the battlefield. That was customary on the battlefield.

It was because they had already done the most dangerous work and should not be made to do hard labor afterward. It was also because, while clearing the battlefield, Charge Squad members might clash with prisoners over grudges freshly born in battle.

After all, the voices full of insults toward their mothers were aimed at them.

Of course, those voices gradually dwindled as the mercenaries tied them up roughly, until the entire camp fell quiet again.

Ansen was treating the wounded.

Although he had contributed absolutely nothing on the battlefield, Ansen was extremely proactive when it came to treating injuries and illness, and his medical skills were quite reliable.

At the very least, he did not resort to bloodletting every other moment like so many doctors of this era...

Several Charge Squad members had suffered injuries of varying severity, but it did not affect their hearty eating in the slightest. Ansen was bandaging one man's arm, where a slash had cut deep enough to expose the bone, yet the man's other hand was still holding a pig's trotter that he gnawed at fiercely.

He looked boldly unruffled.

But the bulging veins on his forehead and the sweat dripping constantly from him still revealed the truth—he was only stuffing his mouth with the pig's trotter to keep himself from crying out in pain.

That was how the Meitengheim people were. They believed that real men could not fear pain, and they regarded groans of suffering as cowardice. Nor would they ever retreat on the battlefield. In Meitengheim, anyone struck in the back would not receive treatment.

That was also the greatest reason why Meitengheim, with nothing more than a poor, tiny mountainous peninsula, had been able to defeat Barkley's colonial army and win independence.

Everything seemed to be going fairly smoothly. The only question was how much loot there would be.

Li Ang looked uneasily at the chaotic camp.

"My lord..."

Kloze, who had been clearing the battlefield, suddenly ran up to Li Ang.

Li Ang noticed that Kloze now had a full-face light helmet in his hands—one that covered the entire head and face, leaving only a narrow slit for the eyes.

This fellow... He would not let the mercenaries hide loot, yet he had taken a piece of equipment for himself first...

But Li Ang did not really mind. The fact that Kloze had come directly to see him while openly carrying the helmet instead showed that he had not hidden anything else.

And as soon as Kloze reached Li Ang, he raised the helmet as if to show it to him.

"You like that helmet? It looks like it suits you. Keep it."

Li Ang was in a poor mood, so before Kloze could say anything, he straightforwardly awarded him the loot.

It could not be helped. Even though he was poor, he still had to be generous to his top enforcer...

"Thank you, my lord... But this helmet was originally mine. I just find it strange—how did it end up here..."

Kloze turned the helmet over in his hands. Along the inner edge was engraved Kloze's name: "Kloze."

Then he put on the helmet.

Li Ang realized that the helmet really was part of the same set as Kloze's Meitengheim plate armor.

It looked exactly like the Meitengheim Great Swordsman from the game in his previous life.

Li Ang immediately understood as well. Kloze had been shipwrecked at sea, fallen unconscious, and been captured by pirates, so the helmet must have been sold off by those pirates. Unlike their surcoats and plate armor, the heads of Meitengheim people were not much larger than those of Pande people.

A helmet sold on the western coast over a month ago had now appeared in the most remote mountains of the eastern continent, and had even ended up in Kloze's own hands. Could this really be a coincidence?

"Whose head was it on before?"

Li Ang found the coincidence unbelievable. The odds were like winning the lottery.