Berserk, Total War: Second Son of Nobles

The man was arrested in the evening, confessed his crime at midnight, and was escorted into the city by Blackwatch mercenaries at dawn.

The group of people who were following Min Caier immediately ran back when they saw a group of soldiers coming from the opposite direction. The infantry chasing them were replaced by cavalry, and a few net bags were used to drag them back to the camp.

When these thugs were pinned to the ground, their trouser legs were still bleeding. As soon as the iron chain was locked around their necks, they began to tremble like a sieve. The crotch of one of them was even soaked, leaving dark stains on the mud. Without much interrogation, they were so scared that they told everything, including who they were, where they came from, and that Fugger had sent them to follow Muenzer.

The leaden morning mist enveloped the gates of Padua as Blackwatch mercenaries escorted prisoners across the drawbridge.

Three thugs with their arms tied behind their backs stumbled as they walked, their shackles making harsh sounds on the cobblestone road.

The citizens rubbed their sleepy eyes, opened the windows, and saw the thugs being paraded through the streets.

Some spectators even threw rotten vegetable leaves at the prisoners, but they immediately ran away because they hit the Blackwatch mercenaries guarding the prisoners next door. Apart from anything else, the nature of the mercenary company Blackwatch and the backers behind it are well known to everyone, so basically no one would regard them as ordinary mercenaries unless they are fools. In the eyes of these citizens, the status of these mercenaries is between soldiers guarding the city and city council officials.

What's more important is that these people dare to fight anything, from pulling a young man from his horse when he was stopped while riding at high speed in the city, to catching thieves and robbers in the city. For a time, the citizens did feel that the security in the city had improved in a short period of time, not to mention the bloody work such as suppressing bandits outside the city. Every time the Black Watch mercenaries escorted bandits into the city, they would always be watched by a large number of people.

After being handed over to the soldiers in the city, these prisoners would be immediately sentenced to death and hanged by the judge in the city square.

This incident led to the citizens of Padua seeing a small-scale parade in the morning, and also allowed the gentlemen of the town hall to know that a country rich man named Fugger had evil intentions towards the clergy.

As for the so-called wealthy businessman, isn't he just a nouveau riche? He wants to hang out with us old money people. How can he get rich without our approval?

The rich old men of Padua stood on their balconies overlooking the passing parade, their silk curtains rustling in the morning breeze.

Their silver telescopes reflected cold light as they watched the miserable appearance of the prisoners in the parade.

The Bishop of Padua, in particular, took this matter very seriously. After all, Münzer was one of his own. If a country rich man dared to disrespect the clergy so much, if he really became a noble and became a member of parliament in the city, would he still take me seriously?

"We must let this upstart know that there are some rules that he cannot break."

The court's letter was immediately delivered to Fugger Manor. As soon as the butler opened the door, he saw the messenger, whose forehead was still covered with sweat. He then handed the court's letter to the butler.

Fugger was just awakened by the morning bell, and the roasted pigeon for breakfast had already gone cold.

“Is anyone coming to my place today?”

"No, sir."

"That's strange, do those people have a place to stay at night?"

Fugger tore off a bird leg, put it in his mouth and chewed it with a crunching sound, while at the same time he couldn't help but think of Münzer, with whom he had had a conflict before.

"How dare a mere deacon offend--"

Before he finished speaking, he saw the butler running in from the door in a panic, holding a message.

……

"The defendant, Fugger, a businessman by profession, was convicted of the following crimes for hiring someone to follow a clergyman..."

Since all the witnesses pointed to Fugger hiring someone to follow Münzer, and there were some commissions as physical evidence, Fugger should have been sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment. However, because Fugger bought an indulgence, the Bishop of Padua asked the court not to investigate the matter further and changed the sentence from fixed-term imprisonment to a fine.

This also made Fugger realize that no matter how low the status of the clergy was, it was not comparable to that of a wealthy businessman like him. At the same time, he said in his heart that he must buy a few more indulgences. As long as it was not a serious crime of murder, this thing was really useful.

As for Münzer, although he was also a winner, he was not happy at this time, because Fugger should have been sentenced, so that he would not be able to collect the debts of the miners, but in the end, the matter was left unresolved because he bought an indulgence.

After the trial, Münzer stood on the steps of the courthouse and watched Fugger get into his carriage and drive away.

Similarly, another thing that surprised Min Ze'er was that those who followed him were all escaped slaves from other manors. They were directly sentenced to be sent back to their original manors, and only death was waiting for them. Min Ze'er originally wanted to help those serfs, but he didn't expect that the first person who was ready to harm him was a serf.

After returning to the town, Minzer wandered around aimlessly, thinking about how to help the miners escape from Fugger's clutches.

As he walked, he suddenly saw the home of one of his students not far away. The student's father was also a miner, so he decided to go in and ask about Fugger's background.

"I'm coming."

The moment I opened the door, a strong smell of dust hit me in the face.

A little girl in a patched skirt was leaning against the door frame and looking out curiously, with a few spots of ash on her dirty face.

The space in the room was so cramped that he couldn't even turn around. Apart from his students and the little girl who had just pushed the door, two naked little kids were jumping and playing on the only two wooden beds, making the bed boards creak with a teeth-grinding sound.

A middle-aged woman popped her head out of the smoky kitchen, her apron still stained with flour.

"Master Deacon Minzer!"

She hurriedly wiped her hands and came forward.

"How did you..."

Before he could finish his words, Min Caier raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Just call me Min Caier."

He waved his hand and glanced at the empty pottery jars piled in the corner.

"I'm here to find the child's father. I want to ask him something."

"The child's father won't be back until the evening. If there's anything, just let the children go to school and call you. How dare you make this trip in person?"

As she spoke, she pulled Min Caier's sleeve and invited him in.

"I'm going to the market to buy some bacon. You must try our homemade bacon..."

"No need to bother."

Seeing that the students' families were really not well-off, Min Caier was prepared to watch them eat. After persuading them several times, Min Caier was forced to sit down on the shaky wooden stool and broke off a small piece of black bread and put it into his mouth. It must be said that the hardness of the bread made Min Caier feel like he was eating coal.

When I was halfway through my hard bread, the wooden door was finally pushed open. A man with a face covered in coal dust bent over the threshold, with mud still stained on his pants.

"Master Minzer?"

He wiped his face, revealing the outline of his eye sockets outlined by coal dust.

"My kid got into trouble again?"

"The child is very well behaved."

Minzer broke the bread in two and pushed it over.

"I want to ask you something."

Seeing the miner rubbing his coal-dust-stained fingers awkwardly, he pointed out directly:

"It's about Fugger."

"Master Fugger?"

The miner's Adam's apple rolled violently, and coal dust fell on his coarse cloth apron.

"You ask what he does..."

"To send him to prison, of course."

Min Caier lowered his voice and looked at me with a sharp gaze.

"He's been squeezing you miners. Just put him in jail and your debt will be cleared."

"what!"

The miner looked up suddenly. His expression could not be seen on his face covered with coal dust, but his trembling voice revealed his inner panic.

"You want to send Herr Fugger to prison? What if he takes revenge?"

"You're not even afraid of loan sharks, but you're afraid of revenge?"

Min Caier slammed the table and stood up, causing the clay pots on the table to clink.

"Think about it carefully. With that interest rate, can you pay it off in your lifetime by working hard every day? Lending money at the devil's interest rate and forcing you to exchange your life for money, shouldn't such a creditor go to hell?"

The miner sat hunched on a stool, his face covered with wrinkles and shadows. After a long while, he spoke with difficulty:

"Are you sure you won't get us into trouble?"

Minzer raised his right hand and said, "I swear in the name of the Lord, I just want to ask you if you have ever heard of Fugger committing any crime. The more serious the crime, the better."

Seeing that Münzer swore in the name of God and said that Fugger would go to hell, the miners believed it a little.

“Last winter…”

The miner thought for a long time, then suddenly thought of something and said:

"A thug who was very close to the butler got drunk and let slip that when Fugger was young, he lent money at high interest to a small businessman in the South. Because the businessman couldn't pay it back, he killed the businessman's entire family..."