Forcing the Issue

Chris listened in a daze as Alibaba preached to the NPCs. He could not even remember when he had returned to his tent.

Lying on his folding camp bed, Chris watched the tent roof sway in the wind. His mind was in turmoil, and he had no idea how he was supposed to fall asleep.

Something was wrong. Was this an exception involving just one player, or did all the players share this view?

Had they only just started doing this, or had they been plotting it for a long time?

At that thought, Chris felt his scalp tingle. How could he possibly sleep?

Seriously, I played that kingdom-conquest scenario for ages, and I was already getting sick of it. Now I've come to a new world, and we're doing it again?

But how was he supposed to tell the players that he wanted a quiet, leisurely life?

Then that led to another question... If he wanted a leisurely life, why had he summoned players?

Because he had no money and could not afford a leisurely life. Summoning players would bring in money.

Yet once he summoned players, he would never have any leisure time...

Holy shit, I think I've done something unbelievably stupid!

Once Chris had thought it all through, he wanted to slap himself twice.

But things had already reached this point. Even if he slapped his face to a pulp, it would do no good.

"Just go to sleep. All I can do now is take things one step at a time..."

Chris comforted himself with those words, then pulled his blanket over his head and closed his eyes, pretending nothing outside had ever happened.

Burying his head in the sand was stupid, but it worked for the time being.

After this incident, Chris became more cautious during the rest of the journey. He began paying attention to the players' conversations with the other NPCs in the caravan.

Then Chris discovered that things were not looking good. The situation was developing in the worst possible direction.

Whenever the ten players had a moment to spare, they chatted with the NPCs around them about the future, about having enough food and clothing, and about what Chris would do after returning to the Kingdom of Bagnia.

In short, the players were talking him up, making grand promises to the caravan workers, and winning them over. They wanted to put together a group that would follow Chris.

Normally, no matter how eloquent the players were, they could at most fool a few young men who had only just come of age. The younger and older hardened veterans who had already taken life's beatings would not fall for that sort of thing.

However, the reputation and prestige Chris had built up through his past medical work were simply too good. On top of that, throughout this month-and-a-half trading journey, Isaac gave the workers a share of the profits every time he completed a deal.

Each payout was small, but over a month and a half, those small sums added up. To everyone's surprise, their earnings from the trading trip exceeded what they would have earned working in Inyama for an entire year.

With both a good reputation and hard cash behind those promises, everyone believed the rosy future the players painted.

Most importantly, as the caravan's leader and deputy, Isaac and Connie knew what was happening within the group. Not only did they do nothing to stop it, they secretly encouraged it.

As a result, the players' recruitment went extremely smoothly. Soon, after entering El Province, a border region of the Bohemian Empire, all fifty-odd people in the caravan had united in their stance and resolve.

They would follow the young prince Chris back to the Kingdom of Bagnia and help him accomplish the great task of restoring his kingdom.

Good grief. When Chris learned about this, he stood rooted to the spot, not knowing what to do.

"I'm screwed. Now... I have no choice but to restore this kingdom!"

Meanwhile, at the rear of the caravan, Lin Ruoyu and several players huddled together as they walked, whispering among themselves.

"How are things looking?"

"Couldn't be better, boss. Everyone in the caravan is determined to follow Chris. Our plan worked!"

"Excellent!"

Lin Ruoyu was delighted. This brought his plan another major step closer to success.

"By the way, have you found out what skills the NPCs in the group have?"

"We've got it all figured out."

Alibaba answered with a cheerful grin.

"Of the caravan's fifty NPCs, eight are veterans. Isaac used to be a scout in the Bohemian Empire, the elite of the elite. He's a smuggler now, and those veterans all served under him. They can fire muskets and fight hand to hand.

"Besides them, the caravan has five carpenters, two master craftsmen and three apprentices, plus two blacksmiths. They can make horseshoes and iron nails.

"Also, a dozen or so people in the caravan can ride horses. They could serve as makeshift caval-"

Pfft... bang...

Before Alibaba could finish his report, the distinctive double report of a flintlock came from the front of the caravan.

The caravan stopped immediately. Lin Ruoyu, Alibaba, and the other players turned and pulled muskets and spears from beneath the waterproof canvas on the wagon ahead, then hurried toward the front.

Everyone in the caravan sprang into action. The drivers jumped down, took hold of the draft horses, and guided their four-wheeled wagons off the dirt road. In the open ground beside it, they turned the wagons sideways and lined them up end to end.

The ten four-wheeled wagons were just enough to form a square wagon fort.

This wagon fort was one reason Isaac's caravan had traveled for nearly two months without a single death.

Once the wagon fort was complete, people took flintlocks and matchlocks out of the wagons and quickly distributed them to the older caravan members.

Under Isaac's command, those men swiftly formed up. Ten of them lined up behind two wagons, forming two simple ranks for lethal musket volleys.

The other workers and players who had not received muskets, more than thirty in all, stood behind the wagons with spears and chopping blades, serving as foot soldiers for close combat.

The draft horses, donkeys, and other livestock were driven into the very center of the wagon fort for protection.

Everyone had a clear role and worked seamlessly together. In just one minute, they were ready for battle.

As the caravan's most important person to protect, Chris promptly crouched behind a large rock inside the wagon fort, covering his head and hiding.

Although Chris could fight, neither the players nor Isaac would let him take part in battle. If he died or was injured, their whole reason for traveling all this way would be lost.

Rather than appear on the battlefield, distract the others, and force them to assign people to protect him, he was better off hiding from the start so everyone else could concentrate on fighting.

Once safely hidden, Chris leaned over the rock and poked his head out, looking around to see which direction the bandits were coming from.

That gunshot had been a warning from the caravan's scout. There were three warning levels, and firing a shot was the most serious.

Before long, a smuggler on horseback came clattering back along the dirt road ahead.

Behind him, another five mounted men were giving chase.

PS: Please spare me some votes. I've really been working hard on the recent updates.