What did you do with the dice?

The treasure that this answer points to is far more valuable than the life of his third son.

The prerequisite is that he has to deal with the last protection of the treasure - the Pearl Tear Territory.

"Pioneering, miners, blacksmiths."

Looking at the intelligence in his hand, Lord Ropa slowly exhaled and muttered, "There's no mercenary commission. He's already prepared his troops and is treating the Great Mine as part of the Pearl Tear Territory, preparing to re-garrison and develop it."

A middle-aged man bowed his head to the old man and said, "Father, why should we endure such a barbarian? My poor brother Runo is dead, killed by the Lord of Pearl Tears himself. I cannot swallow this humiliation. Father, can you just watch the murderer go unpunished? For this reason alone, our revenge is only natural.

Even if we are criticized later, it is impossible for Pearl Tear Territory to have another heir. We can completely take over the Pearl Tear Territory through the Viscount's connections. I can manage it on your behalf and ensure that the family's honor will not be tarnished."

"You want to kill a legitimate noble of the kingdom? What gives you the right to kill him?"

"Father, we still have..."

The old man raised his hand to interrupt him.

He looked quietly at the man below and sighed. This second son had been stepped on by his older and younger brothers since he was a child. No matter whether it was wisdom or knowledge, he was far inferior to the other two. Moreover, he was timid. Ever since his brother got into trouble, he no longer dared to compete with the third son for the right of inheritance, so he completely gave up on himself and chose to give up.

But now that his third son was dead, he began to think actively. After a brief period of grief, he thought of the fatal flaw of his eldest son and thought that he might have a chance to compete. So he began to covet the position of the head of the Ropa family and wanted to show his ability before announcing his heir again. Lord Ropa certainly knew about his feelings.

But he knew Rukasha's methods better. At least the level of the staff member beside Rukasha was definitely not some bard picked up by chance.

Because a bard might be able to gain Rusalka's trust through sweet words, but he couldn't make him possess the knowledge of negotiation and the courage to charge into the battlefield out of thin air through his mouth.

When the redeemed captives told them that it was the bard's shouting that prompted the militia to launch a general attack, and that the bard was the first to rush out from behind the carriage, Lord Ropa knew that this guy was no ordinary person.

Perhaps he was a spy sent by the Eastern Eside Papal State?

But at least so far, apart from doing his best to help Zhu Lei Territory regain everything it originally had, he has not revealed any flaws.

However, Lord Ropa knew that he could not wait for the day when Lord Zhulei would be exposed, because if he really wanted to use Lord Zhulei as a puppet, then his own Ropa family would be the first obstacle on the road to the next goal of making Lord Zhulei flourish.

Perhaps the second son was right. He was now charged with the false crime of killing the entire Pearl Tear Lord family. He should just go all out and get rid of Rusalka. Having to choose between a dead man and a dying man, the Viscount could only side with him.

What punishment could he receive? Deprive him of his title? Then, before the Viscount issued his order, he would simply have to die and pass the title on to his descendants. According to the laws of the kingdom, as long as he wasn't committing treason, his death could atone for his crime.

Killing the Lord of Pearl Tears would at most be a fight between barons of equal rank, a life for a life.

His time is running out, and he has to use his life and reputation to exchange for the final future of Zhulei Territory. Even if he is despised and dies in disgrace, at least in the genealogy of the Luopa family, his name will definitely be the one that will be remembered most by future generations.

"Father, please think twice. If we don't take action first, they will become even more aggressive."

"Idiot, if you want to do something, you have to wait until you meet him in person. Do you take Viscount Concenutt seriously?"

The second son shuddered slightly, lowered his head and took a step back: "I was negligent."

Lord Ropa waved his hand and sent him away.

----

Rusalka was riding on a horse, followed by several refugees covered in dust who came to open up the wasteland and settle down, carrying their own tools and belongings. Most of these refugees were thinking of reversing their fate, or they were hidden fugitives or something else, or they were poor and displaced and had nowhere to go, or they might be spies who had sneaked in.

In short, they represent the lower class in this viscounty. Sanitieta and Rusalka have no expectations of them. Their biggest worry is that they will cause trouble due to land allocation or housing issues and disrupt the security in the vicinity.

So Sanitta selected the most handsome one among them to be the manager of this group of 50 "pioneers". His name was Custer.

His extraordinary appearance was secondary; the main thing was that this guy was really different. Everyone else was genuine lower-class people who had brought their families and received land reclamation subsidies to come to Zhuleiling to register as "temporary residents." Even the intelligence spies who had sneaked in dressed themselves in rags and sneaked in humbly.

This guy, wearing a set of armor that was rusty but almost intact and had perfect defensive functions, holding a war hammer in his hand and three swords, two short and one long, tied around his waist, strode over with a heroic and proud look, saying that he wanted to receive some land reclamation fees.

I don't know if they'll give him the land reclamation fee, but Rusalka is kind of thinking about turning it into experience points. "Dude, as an actor, can you please respect your profession? Today's role is a refugee, not a knight. Did you get the wrong script?"

If Custer dared to say that he was the Downtrodden Knight, and then made up all kinds of excuses without telling the truth, then Rusalka and Sanitta would not bother to talk nonsense with him and would just kill him directly. It was normal to kill an unidentified high-threat unit in their own territory.

However, with just three sentences, Custer became a glorious "half-centurion".

1. I am also from the east.

2. I was once a paladin, but because my faith was shaken, I lost the power of the Holy Light.

3. I came here to say goodbye to the past and try to find the true meaning of life in this land without holy light and weak faith.

Of course, Sanitieta didn't believe this meaningless nonsense. The two words "also" in his reply showed that he knew Rusalka's character and background. This was not a problem, because Rusalka should be quite famous in Esdi. After all, he went to the neighboring Sinidi Kingdom as a "Paladin" to inherit the land. He was half an alien after all, so it was normal for his colleagues to hear about it.

However, there are too many other issues that can be explored in these three sentences. Sanitta will definitely not agree to let him join the Pearl Tears Territory so easily.

But his brother didn't listen to him.

Rusalka was deeply moved after hearing this, and announced on the spot that he would be the knight under his command, and that he, the great paladin predecessor, would guide him onto the correct path of materialism.

This is inheritance.

Inheritance is useless, Paladin and Paladin cannot be considered the same profession.

Sanitieta: (Xiao Ge, are you serious? I can't tell a single truth in his three sentences. Besides, he hasn't even explained why he was abandoned by the Holy Light. In this worldview, the conditions for a Paladin to be abandoned by the Holy Light are more than twice as difficult as for you, a Paladin, to break your oath. Even if he's telling the truth, we still need to ask him what grave sin he committed to betray his faith.)

Rusalka: (Nonono, it's pointless to dig into his details now. His character is so cool. Even if he's a bad guy, I have to keep him by my side and listen to his stories slowly before killing him.)

Sanita: (Okay, you're 6.)

Unfortunately, Rusalka's construction is 528 points, not him, otherwise the Sunny Tower would have been severely damaged by the opponent first, and then he would have been forced to tell the opponent his specific origins.

However, Sanitta had to admit that the idiot Rusalka had hit the jackpot by accident, or maybe it was just his 100 points of luck that paid off. After he directly upgraded Kaster to the steward, a serious, fully armed knight was in charge of managing the refugees, which indeed temporarily stabilized the seemingly unstable group due to the deterrence of force.

Moreover, Esdi's stigmatization of the treacherous Paladin was so severe that it spread widely in the Kingdom of Snidi.

So when most people heard about Custer's background, they instantly labeled him a villain who "burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of evil." Naturally, they dared not disobey the orders given to them, for fear that he would kill them if he was unhappy. Who knows what such a vicious person would do.

But in fact, from the perspective of players Rusalka and Sanita, Custer should be a well-educated and high-quality person, because when managing the team, he would number and count the personnel, distinguish different people with different situations, and then give priority to those in need when distributing food.

When encountering problems, they will solve them in a relatively fair way, instead of choosing to "mediate" with a greatsword that deals 2d6 damage like Rusalka did.

Although most of the time, Custer just walked over and the people on both sides who were at loggerheads suddenly "reconciled".

In short, under his management and Rusalka's leadership, the team smoothly passed through the Pearl Tear Territory and arrived at the northern large mine, which is now in the mountains known as the Test Mine.

Rusalka: (Why don’t we wait until we meet before we start?)

Sanitaita: (Moscow is right behind us. When Pearl Tear Territory owned the mining rights, everyone wore one shoe each. Now Luopa Territory has taken our shoes away. Do you understand what I mean?)

Rusalka: (I understand. Those who are barefoot are not afraid of those who wear shoes.)

Sanita: (Smart, please)

Luopa Territory has occupied the mines for many years and has also set up a checkpoint on the border of Zhulei Territory. However, Zhulei Territory's weak attitude over the years has caused the defense of this checkpoint to weaken year by year, so that now, when a group of people arrived at the checkpoint, there was only a wooden fence gate and an empty watchtower standing at the intersection.

After hearing what Sanita said, Rusalka was no longer polite and directly drew out the giant sword behind him.

Then, in full view of everyone, he put the sword back.

"I thought about it and decided it wouldn't be worthwhile to destroy it." He ignored the Sani Iron Tower who was rolling his eyes beside him, turned around and asked someone to get a hammer, then used all his strength to hit the wooden fence door.

The fence gate had never been able to withstand such treatment. With the blessing of 20 points of strength attribute, Rusalka, whose strength had reached the legendary limit of human beings, blasted the gate directly out with one hammer, and the handle of the hammer made of scrap iron in his hand was broken.

Sani Iron Tower: (As the saying goes, the big hammer costs 80 and the small hammer costs 40. I think this hammer is worth it.)

The loud bang frightened the two old guards who were dozing off nearby. They stared at Rusalka, not daring to move.

Next to them is the ladder to the watchtower. There are flint, fuel oil and firewood in the watchtower. When ignited, they can form a beacon to provide early warning. If they are brave enough, two people can climb the ladder at the same time, one on the left and one on the right, and bet that Rusalka will kill the opponent first, and then sacrifice herself after gloriously completing her mission.

Obviously, the two old guards did not have this awareness. They chose to drop their weapons and surrender.

"Sir, please don't kill us. We are only here for hire. Please take us away from here. We promise not to call the police. If all else fails, you can just tie us up and take us away."

Rusalka smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, we are not here to fight or kill."

Under the trembling gaze of the two guards, the group entered the big mine.

Chapter 17 Different offensive and defensive forces

At the entrance of the mine, there were many dusty laborers pushing ore carts with sweat on their foreheads, heading to the mineral refining warehouse.

Even though this world has the power of magic, human labor is undoubtedly the cheapest method of production everywhere.

Such a large group of people would naturally attract attention.

The guards who came to block the road this time were different from the old guards just now. They were the private armed forces of the Chamber of Commerce. Although they were not as well-equipped as the escort team during the jungle encounter, they were at least equipped with the equipment of regular light infantry. Their crossbows and weapons were all brand new and sharp, standard products that could cut bones like mud.

This is also the reason why they, with only 5 people, dared to stop a group of "refugees" who did not even have regular weapons.

But after taking a few steps forward, they saw the team leader, Rusalka, and Skat beside him. Especially after seeing their seemingly unordinary equipment, they stopped in their tracks, placed their hands on the handles of their weapons, and took a defensive stance. "Stop! Where are you from? This is the territory of the Kate Chamber of Commerce. If you don't have a pass, please leave immediately."

Rusalka was not at all flustered. He extended his hand and greeted them very kindly. In his opinion, such behavior was the perfect embodiment of being "close to the people".

Rusalka: (Oh damn, this vanity of entering the upper class is about to swallow up my pure proletarian heart.)

Sunny Iron Tower: (What are you doing here getting all high? Just wait and see if the other party will give you face once you finish your voice.)

"Hello, I am the owner of this mine, Lord Rusalka of Pearl Tear."

"Rusaka? Are you the new lord of Pearl Tear Territory? I'm sorry to block your way, but I think this should be the territory of Ropa Territory. My boss has signed a trade agreement with Lord Ropa and has the mining rights here."

"Really?" Rushaka's face suddenly turned stern. "But this land actually belongs to the Pearl Tear Territory. Now we want to take it back. For your boss's sake, if you lay down your tools and take everyone away now, then as the lord, I can decide not to pursue the crime of colluding with the neighboring Luopa Territory to illegally exploit our Pearl Tear Territory's resources."

The guards looked at each other in bewilderment. Seeing that Rusalka hadn't drawn her weapons, they could only temporarily send one of them to inform their boss: "We can't make a decision on this matter. We will notify our boss immediately. Please return until we get approval. We don't want to embarrass you, but after all, we are also employed by others..."

"Go, take all their ore carts!" Rusalka ignored their words and waved her hand. After being cursed by Sanita in the private chat, she quickly changed her tune: "Ahem, confiscate them! Of course, be careful not to hurt the laborers."

A group of refugees looked at each other, and under the threat of the guards with drawn weapons, no one dared to move forward.

Scat also looked embarrassed. As a former paladin, he was definitely unwilling to do this kind of robbery. If his opponent was a strong and vicious criminal, he would have picked up the hammer long ago.

But facing several nervous guards and those poor people in the distance who seemed to have exhausted all their strength just by pushing the carts, how could he muster any fighting spirit or enthusiasm?

No one responded, which made Rusha Katon feel embarrassed, but it didn't matter, he still had a second trick.

He took out a gold coin, threw it into the air in front of everyone, and shouted, "The first one to grab it will get a gold coin! The second one to grab it will get 4 silver coins, the third one to grab it will get 2 silver coins, and so on. Only the first ten to grab it will get a reward! First come, first served."

There will always be brave men when there is a big reward. After a fearless guy rushed forward, everyone rushed over.

The guards instantly raised their crossbows and aimed at the charging citizens: "A bunch of unruly people! Prepare for battle!"

Rusalka sneered and shouted, "Before we proceed, I want to remind you all that they are now my subjects. According to the laws of noble territories, if my subjects are harmed, I have the right to hold the perpetrators accountable for the same harm."

"The Lord has spoken, what are you still standing there for? They don't dare to touch us, let's charge for the gold coins!"

Before these subjects could come to their senses, Sanita once again used his incitement ability to encourage the group to bypass the guards and rush forward from both sides.

The captain of the guards immediately put away his weapon and knocked the man who was rushing in front to the ground with his bare hands.

His actions were very effective and deterred those nearby who wanted to rush forward.

However, before he could open his mouth to use his dominance to drive away the group of people, Rusalka stepped forward and slapped him with one hand, sending him flying into the air. Then, she mercilessly pinned him to the ground in the same manner, and finally stepped on his back. After clapping her hands, she bent down and pulled up the man who was crying out in pain on the ground.

"You're not hurt, why are you screaming?"

"Thank you, Lord. I may have some internal injuries."

"Oh, then you go back and rest, and give the opportunity to others."

Rusalka threw him a silver coin, but the latter took it with a smile, immediately nodding and moving his limbs. "No, no, no, this minor injury is nothing. It's my honor to serve the lord."

After saying that, he spat at the captain of the guard who was being stepped on the ground, like a villain with a triumphant look, and continued to run forward.

The three guards pointed their crossbows at the man, but seeing the captain lying on the ground unable to move, none of them dared to pull the trigger.

How could this fellow before him have the reserve of a noble? His actions were even worse than those of a knight. A knight would at least announce his affiliation before a fight and fight in a proper manner. In comparison, he was more like a gangster, attacking without hesitation.

No one dared to gamble their life on whether Rusalka would kill people. After all, in their eyes, the refugees in front of them were trash who were not worth dying for. Even at the cost of getting injured themselves, it was not worth it to exchange the lives of these trash.

The guards were frightened, enough so that the man rushed over and engaged in a struggle with the laborer. The laborer was already weak to begin with, so how could he possibly defeat a fully fed, fully-fed adult man whose energy had been expended simply from a morning's hike? He was knocked to the ground in a few quick moves, clutching his face, afraid to get up.

But the man didn't want to hit him to vent his anger. Instead, he grabbed the handle of the mine cart and prepared to push the cart back to collect the reward.

When they saw this scene, everyone became anxious and rushed to bypass the guards from both sides.

"No one is allowed to move!"

After hearing this shout, the guards who were holding crossbows breathed a sigh of relief as if they had seen a savior. They saw a team of rangers riding a group of very "flat" beasts that Rusalka and Sanitieta could not name. After blocking the gap, they drove the refugees back with weapons.

Although only more than ten people arrived, the number on the scene has now been tied back to 20 to 50, and the gap in strength between the two sides is too great. If a battle really breaks out here, Suni Iron Tower knows with just a thought that the opponent will win.

Seeing the opposite side lined up, they all made shooting postures with their crossbows raised at the command of a red-haired man. Scat, who was targeted, couldn't help but frown and slowly raised his war hammer, obviously making the worst plan in his mind.

Emboldened by the arrival of reinforcements, even the squad leader who had remained silent even when being stepped on started shouting, "Let me go, you bastard! Brother Helit, they're the ones trying to break into our camp! They even call themselves the Lord of Pearl Tears, but I think they're just imposters!"

"Heh." The red-haired man sneered and didn't respond. After glancing at the guard on the ground, he raised his gaze and fixed it on Rusalka: "Are you Rusalka, the Great Knight of the Pearl Tear Territory?"

Rusalka replied helplessly, "That's right, but I think it's a bit ridiculous that every time an NPC is refreshed, they have to ask me this question."

Helit said in a stern tone, "I've already discussed this with the boss. This is now the territory of our Kate Chamber of Commerce. As a descendant of the nobility, you should also know that our chamber of commerce is at least somewhat famous on the continent. Although this is just a branch, you are just a great knight. Our boss said that if you leave now, these things will be forgiven."

Rusalka asked Sanita in the private chat channel: (What should I do?)

Sanita: (You can retreat at any time if you want. The fact that they haven't taken action means they're wary of you.)