"Life is not equal."
This sentence is written in black and white in the holy book of the White Church.
As a sect that praises humans as the primates of all things, the darlings of God, and the inherent rulers of all things in the world, the White Church was born when the Druids had become evasive and other ethnic groups did not interact with humans the same way. Such a close era in ancient times.
Therefore, when later generations of continuators of the Holy Scriptures confirmed through renewed exchanges that those races that were human-like but had inhuman characteristics to a certain extent were not fictions of ancient legends but were genuine, how did they explain these existences? There were differences on the issue.
Some people believe that they are a branch of human beings, a close relative group born when the Supreme God created human beings; while others believe that only humans are the real creations of the gods, and those "sub-humans" are just some kind of dark force's influence on the creations of the gods. A parody of.
The difference between these two concepts was one of the many reasons for the Great Schism in the church, leaving behind the Yetinarian sect, which is now the most powerful on the east coast.
This is the second view - that is, the staunch defender of all demi-humans as being inferior to humans.
Thousands of years of hearing and seeing have made this belief, although not profound, exist widely in the minds of the people and nobles of the Padrosi Empire: subhuman creatures other than humans are inferior. Although when it comes to the actual implementation stage, its less profound side will appear: creatures such as elves that are regarded as beautiful according to human concepts often become this exception just because they are good-looking, while dwarves are also highly respected by humans because of their craftsmanship. You can always get an equal identity.
But orcs are always an exception.
Even in the classical era when all races did not cut off contact and legends walked the world, orcs were a lonely and ununderstood race.
The vast majority of orcs have difficulty controlling their animalistic nature, and they will make many "uncivilized" and "barbaric" behaviors. Therefore, since ancient times, there have been rumors along the entire coast of the Mobigas Inland Sea that "Don't go into the deep forest, because there are werewolves who feed on the flesh and blood of innocent people." The concept of werewolves in the forest itself has become a favorite of many families. The dark fairy tale that has terrorized children since childhood - and at this moment, the fairy tale becomes reality.
The light cavalry who escaped in advance informed them of all the previous encounters. Therefore, when Henry and his party returned, the lord and his wife of Chester had already led more than a hundred private soldiers under their command to stand ready on the street.
The anxious lord and his wife saw their children in werewolf state being tied up and carried on horses like cargo. One of them blushed with anger and the other covered his mouth and cried bitterly.
If the two of them weren't both proud of their weight, and their faces were wrinkled into a pie when they were crying and angry, this scene might have aroused sympathy rather than laughter from many people.
"Wind up!" "Pop-pap-pap--" The coastal urban area of Padrosi, which has close ties with the Southern City-State Alliance, is also very fond of crossbowmen due to the influence of the merchant lords. It presents a Pavista shield that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. A bunker was formed on the ground placed in the center of the street, and the crossbowmen behind the defense line used sheep's foot levers to cock the powerful steel-arm crossbows one by one under the command of the sergeant.
Although it is not the heaviest winch crossbow, this kind of steel-arm crossbow has considerable lethality when paired with a short and thick armor-piercing weapon. It seems that one of the light cavalry noticed the fact that their team's protective equipment was not bad, or maybe Is it just that the lord and his wife decided to play all the cards in their hands in a desperate situation?
This is no longer a situation that even Henry's level of combat power can defeat alone.
More than a hundred troops lay across the main street of Chester, where three Imperial carriages could run parallelly. The flat tower shield formed the first blockage, and the crossbowmen set up their loaded crossbows on the tower shield. At the upper edge, they were waiting from behind the bunker.
Behind the crossbowmen were infantrymen holding halberds. A small number of them were equipped with breastplates and helmets, and most of them only wore a light steel helmet. Further back, the most elite sergeants wearing half-body armor surrounded the lord and his wife, forming a tight line of defense.
Such a meticulous defense line and military strength are enough to fight a conflict on the scale of a small or medium-sized mercenary group. To mobilize such a large force for just a few people makes the Luoan girl feel somewhat flattered.
Such a layered and deep layout was naturally not the work of a lord and his wife who devoted all their energy to pampering their children. Standing next to them was a commander with short hair and a gray beard who was blind in his left eye and had a sword wound. He was about 50 years old and had a lean build. He was obviously the initiator.
And when the sage caught his eye through the dense crowd, the commander, who was a former mercenary and was recruited as an adviser after retiring due to injury, was not angry at him, but instead had a look of helplessness on his face.
Compared to the lord and his wife, who were angry and crying and focused entirely on Henry and his party, the commander, although he stood tall and seemed to be glaring at the villain who injured the young master, was actually looking at the surroundings from the corner of his eye from time to time.
——It’s a big deal.
He probably didn't expect that the aristocratic couple he worked for would dote on their children so much.
This doesn't have to be handled this way at all.
Things that can be kept private with money are not considered important. They're just mercenaries, just give them some money and send them over in private and that's it. As a result, as soon as they heard that their child was seriously injured, they immediately mobilized all their private soldiers and mobilized the crowd - now these cheerful and lively citizens of Chester poked their heads out of their windows to watch, witnessing Chester with their own eyes. The wolf-like residents of the young master's house whispered to the lord and his wife who were controlled by their emotions, but they were clearly audible to him.
Combined with the disappearances and deaths in the town of Chester, this outrageous array was a big deal, and it was simply declaring to the people of the town that the murderer was the son of the lord.
Life is not equal.
This is the propaganda of the White Church and the inner creed of many people in the empire.
And even among men, among the Lamanites, life was indeed unequal. The lives of nobles are more precious than the lives of civilians. It is common in this country for aristocrats to kill civilians and not be dealt with justice.
But it would be nice to just kill people.
As we all know, the nobles of Laman are nobler beings than the common people; at the same time, the beliefs of the White Church Yetina Sect also classify demi-humans as beings lower than human beings, especially the orcs who drink blood and have animal characteristics are almost the same as No different than a wild beast.
So a paradox arises here. Is an aristocratic werewolf noble or humble?
The commander didn't want to think about this problem.
He is calculating how much treasure he can take with him if he resigns now.
Because the discussion among the surrounding people has become louder and louder, a complete set of theories has been developed among the whispers.
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He argued with reason. When the light cavalryman with a noble background fled back in disgrace and made a report to exonerate himself, he tried to tell his employers that it was better to send people out of the city. Accept the young master and give the mercenaries some money to secretly redeem the people.
But the angry lord and his wife had no intention of hearing it.
That's their child.
Their most precious child.
Hold it in the palm of your hand and give him everything you want.
He has never suffered any grievances, so how can he endure these pains?
They couldn't listen to the voice of reason, and the young noble cavalryman who ran away without even provoking a decent battle made a strong statement: "The thieves who hurt the young master must be repaid a thousand times!"
It seemed like he would risk his life to fight to the death next time.
How will it end next?
The mighty battle has alarmed the entire town, with hundreds of witnesses, and word-of-mouth rumors will spread to the nearby port of Parnilla in the near future.
The lord and his wife, who have always controlled Chester to do whatever they want, are like the local emperors, but they are not the real emperors after all.
The matter was exposed and the news leaked.
The laws of the Empire and the Paladins of the Church will take notice.
Killing these mercenaries is not the solution to the problem, what happens after that? And then kill the informed people - the people they rule - too?
While the commander was hesitating and observing the surroundings, the lord's wife was heartbroken when she heard the werewolf on horseback whimpering and calling "Mom". She used a sharp voice to accuse Henry and his party of why they wanted to hurt her innocent child. Then he ordered the crossbowmen in front to shoot arrows immediately and execute these unruly people on the spot.
"He's just a child, how could you do such a thing!"
"Kill, kill these daring and heinous villains!"
The crossbowmen did not move. They were the old subordinates brought out by the commander and taken away with him when he left the mercenary group.
"If you fire a volley now, you will hurt the young master, madam." The commander suppressed himself to face the dissatisfaction of the madam who smelled worse and was noisy because of her weight problem. He chose his words as respectfully as possible, but it was still offensive. Madam.
"You rude mercenary, why do you spend so much money every year to hire you? Then shoot those people to death in a way that won't hurt my son?" The madam cursed and spattered the commander's face. , he closed his eyes and spoke again after the violent storm subsided: "The young master is ultimately in the hands of these people. Once they encounter danger, they are likely to do more harm to the young master -"
The commander said this in as loud a voice as possible, and the sage on the other side knowingly pulled out the dagger from his waist and stabbed the werewolf hard on the butt.
"pain!
! pain!
Mommy mommy!
"The roaring scream came, adding a lot of persuasiveness to the commander's words.
"Kill them, kill them!
shoot! If not, you will be executed on the spot! "The lady said loudly with tears in her voice, and the lord next to her also shouted at the lady's shout. The crossbowmen hesitated and finally raised the crossbow machine at the command of the commander, but at the same time, At this point, Henry directly grabbed the werewolf's hair on the back of his neck and lifted him up to block everyone.
“No, stop, stop, don’t shoot, don’t shoot, don’t shoot!
"The lord and his wife, who were still furious a second ago, immediately changed their words, and the sage pulled out the dagger from the werewolf's butt in front of them - and stabbed it back in place.
"Ah - it hurts, ah mother, ah father -" The miserable appearance of the huge but tearful werewolf made people feel a bit unreal, and the commander also spoke at the right time: "Adults , it is better not to provoke these cruel mercenaries anymore, once they are threatened, they will only further harm the young master."
"Yes, yes -" the hesitating lord responded in agreement: "I think what he said makes sense." The lord's wife, who was in tears, wiped her nose and nodded.
"Everyone listens to the order, loosen the string!" The commander raised his hand, and the crossbowmen released the cocking and aiming state in unison under the command.
"Then, what should we do?" the lord asked again. At this moment, he no longer looked as angry as he did ten minutes ago.
"As mentioned before, they are just mercenaries after all. As long as they give money, they can probably redeem the young master -" before the commander could finish his words, he saw the noble cavalry who had escaped before opening his mouth and immediately increased his volume: "Of course, if If there are knights full of honor and courage who are willing to go up and fight these gangsters in a life-and-death duel in exchange for the young master, it is also a feasible solution!"
The cavalryman's opened mouth closed again without making any sound.
"But this, this kind of injustice and suffering, my children have never suffered such a big crime!" The volume resounded throughout the street again, and the whispers of the people followed closely.
"I'm sorry for being rude, but if this situation continues to be stalemate, it will only make the young master suffer more torture. If he can come back first, everything else will be easy to deal with -" He suppressed the discomfort in his mouth and nose and approached his wife and whispered, After hearing this, the lady immediately shouted out at a very loud volume: "That means we must redeem the people first and then kill these villains, right?"
As soon as these words came out, even the hesitating lord next to him knew what would happen next.
Henry took out the dagger again and stabbed it in, this time on the other half of his butt.
He stabbed twice.
"Oh, oh, oh, mom, give them money." Even the werewolf began to admonish his mother.
"Here, give it! Here it is, baby. It's your mother who did something wrong. It's your mother who's sorry for you. Oh, my poor child, you've never suffered this kind of crime." Thinking of it, I felt another snot in my nose. The tearful lord's wife began to cry again, and the commander who finally realized that things were about to turn around and end relatively smoothly let out a small sigh of relief.
"Go to the open space outside the city to give. Only two people can come. One is responsible for paying the money and the other is responsible for transporting the person. When you get the money, you will release the person. The others will all stay here." The sage said as he still carried the werewolf.
"500 gold." He said. This amount of money was nothing to the nobles of the town, but the lady still couldn't help but say more: "You scoundrel! Can't you release my child here in front of me?" I’ll give you the money!”
"Now it has risen to 800." The sage said calmly.
"I-you-"
"Give it to him!"
"I am willing to take the responsibility of paying the money to redeem the young master." The commander bowed to the couple and said.
As Henry and his entourage returned with the werewolves along the same route they came from, to an empty and unobstructed place outside the city of Chester, the more than a hundred private soldiers who were waiting for them fell into an awkward silence.
It was only then that the people's whispering discussions reached the ears of the lord and his wife. Although they could not hear everything, some key words still stirred the lady's heartstrings.
"You bunch of untouchables! My children have suffered so much and you still make sarcastic remarks. Do you still have some sympathy as humans?" She yelled loudly, and then cried because she thought of the sufferings her children had suffered. got up.
The silk handkerchief was wiped one after another, and after being covered with snot, it was thrown to the ground with a "pop".
Henry and others outside the city did not wait long. The commander riding on horseback with his two adjutants approached with a small bucket of gold coins.
Henry and his party, who had effectively completed the internal and external cooperation on the street, naturally knew that the commander was also a wonderful person, so they did not take out their weapons on guard, but stood there relaxedly. This casual gesture was more or less a gesture of goodwill between the mercenaries, and the equally casual commander took off the leather bucket bag containing 800 gold coins from the saddle and threw it on Xian. at the feet of the beholder.
"Okay, you received the money."
"Yes." The sage looked at the two people with some incredulity. He once again grabbed the hair on the back of his neck with one hand and lifted the werewolf who was about the same size as himself like a dog, and then placed him on the adjutant's horse. on the back.
"Go back first." The commander nodded to him, and the adjutant immediately turned his horse's head and ran back in the direction of Chester.
"It's time to resign." Henry said as he looked at this old mercenary whom he had never met but had a tacit understanding with.
"I'll resign when I get back." The commander nodded: "The nature of the beast is really troublesome. It can't control itself."
"Who knows, I think the soul of the beast is pure. The problem is the human part." The sage shrugged and turned around.
"Indeed." The commander thought for a moment, nodded again, grabbed the reins, and turned away.
"Okay, the man was beaten and the money was taken." And the sage grabbed the heavy bag of gold coins.
"It's time to leave."
