No matter who had come up with this dirty trick, Adam immediately ordered the corpses burned and issued a gag order to the villagers who did not quite understand what had happened.
"Not a word of this is to leave the village. The circus troupe hasn't come to our village this year, and nothing happened today!"
The villagers naturally nodded in agreement, but Old Adam eyed the newly arrived soldiers with far greater wariness.
Fortunately, the forces in Tervain Village had always been a mixed formation. Keeping a close watch on these soldiers should not be a problem.
Only after ordering that no villagers be allowed to leave the village for the time being did Old Adam finally feel somewhat reassured.
But Ergons knew that his previous assumptions had been overly optimistic. In a peaceful age, in a peaceful country, could ordinary people who had grown up watching a few palace-intrigue dramas really believe they could control the hearts of men and navigate the realm of ghosts?
He had been thinking too much.
It would not be an exaggeration to imagine these nobles' greed as being as vile as possible. If he had not used the so-called miracle of the Holy Light to fool these villagers from the beginning, if he had not possessed the innate advantage of the identity replacing the original body's owner, and if he had not later used the system to keep their loyalty in check—
he probably would not have been able to control this village at all, let alone those troops, or powerful figures like Adam, Adamson, and William Adena.
Even if all these villagers were absolutely loyal to him, whether because of faith or ignorance, they still had their own little schemes and their own lives.
No one was a rigid NPC. They were merely ordinary, ignorant commoners with their own clever tricks and petty cunning.
Therefore, if anyone with ulterior motives wanted to investigate his background, all they had to do was find a way to control one farmer. They might not even need threats, enticements, or torture. A simple lie could coax the truth out of them.
The army was about to set out, and now this mess had cropped up.
For the moment, everything in Tervain Village could only be handled through discussions between Old Adam and William Adena.
Looking at the warrant in his hand again, Ergons genuinely felt rather bored.
This oppressive atmosphere lingered over the entire force until they reached Tewain Village again two days later.
By then, Tewain Village had gathered six landed knights and four court knights. The remaining mercenaries and merchant caravan guards participating in the alliance had all departed from Tevalinburg, Baron.
This time, as the commander holding the warrant, Ergons arrived a day and a half late.
However, the old camp was still there, and the villagers had kept it meticulously clean. The army's arrival proceeded naturally.
Thanks to the solid foundation laid earlier, the soldiers and knights did not overly disturb the villagers, which greatly relieved Ergons.
Because of the earlier "miracle," when Ergons arrived with Pastor Ramses Bolton this time, every villager in the entire village, including the village chief, prostrated themselves in worship.
The soldiers and nobles also displayed immense respect. The nobles came forward one after another to express how honored they had been to fight alongside Ergons and win a great victory.
Some expressed regret over Viscount Swedish's escape, while others wished "Sir Davis Tevalin" and the Baron good health.
Their performance made him feel that Mount & Blade's dialogue design really was spot-on...
However, everyone could see that he was in low spirits, so they did not bother him much. Only after they had settled in did someone come over to chat.
The first person to arrive was Sir Ramai. His son still had not been released. It was not that Ergons was afraid he would blab; he simply had not had the time.
There were some matters in which he could demand that the villagers absolutely say nothing outside the village, but he had no way to stop people of some status from spreading things.
Although those eight attendants had also heard the strict gag order at the time, the relationship values displayed on their relationship panels ranged from fifty to sixty. That told him they would not keep quiet—at least not from their closest relatives.
But if he refused to bring them along because of this, that would seem deliberate instead.
Sir Ramai had always been a seemingly plump man. It was impossible to say that he was not robust, but he gave off the slick, polished air of a smooth operator.
Perhaps it was because of his excessively fair, smooth, oily skin and his face, which radiated great warmth whenever he smiled.
If he had not grown a large beard, people might even have believed he was a jester or entertainer in a count's court.
Sir Ramai twirled his seemingly ridiculous beard and sidled over with a furtive, obsequious look to whisper a few words.
"This time, the soldiers gathered here without disturbing the villagers. That is all thanks to you, and it will make for a fine story."
"Not at all. It was only because all the knights exercised strong discipline. It is a display of your glory."
"Them?" Sir Ramai sounded surprised, then said scornfully, "Wasn't it because the merchant caravans came along? Those soldiers only kept their junk in their pants in check because the wagons were watching them. And you expect them to exercise discipline?"
Merchant caravans?
That was true. This battle was the normal state of affairs. Private wars like those between medieval nobles were businesses too. Whenever a large-scale battle was expected, a huge number of people in related trades would come here to make a living.
Some were mercenaries looking for opportunities in war. Some were laborers who specialized in physical work. Some were wagon masters who drove large caravans, bringing women to give the young men in the war a battlefield where they could fight vigorously for a night.
There were also more advanced and specialized slave traders, who were also called ransom brokers. If two nobles could go to war, there was bound to be an irreconcilable grievance between them.
So if nobles needed to ransom someone, negotiations that did not fit their status naturally could not take place.
That was when professional ransom brokers were needed to act as intermediaries and mediate between the parties.
The corpse, warhorse, armor, and saber of the original body's father, Sir Nova Tervalin, had all been ransomed intact through the mediation of a ransom broker.
Thus, with these wagons present, overly severe disturbances to the villagers could, in all likelihood, be dealt with.
Sir Ramai naturally had more to say after bringing this up. His lively eyes darted around Ergons, and his smile was as wicked as a weasel that had stolen an old hen.
"Dear nephew, you didn't bring the Baron's wife's lover along? It's probably better that you didn't, so the Baron won't feel awkward if he sees him. Still, your evening will be a little less lively."
He froze on the spot. Sir Ramai had clearly misunderstood, and he hurriedly explained with a smile, "Of course I'm not talking about the merchandise in those wagons. I mean there's a ransom broker who has several noble young ladies in his hands. They were captured in the castles after two nobles from Niunan Province fought a private war."
Ergons was even more astonished. In the game, after capturing an enemy castle, one could indeed see women of the household inside. However, they were generally released, earning the player widespread praise.
This could be a business too?
Before you continue