What did you do with the dice?

Rusalka: (Oh, go on.)

Sanitta: (Ever since you joined the Gods' Council, I've been reading books about gods and faith, and I've found quite a few about fallen gods. At first, I wasn't sure which assassination-savvy god Phoenix was a follower of, but after she broke the black line, I confirmed she was a follower of Lady Shadow.)

Rusalka: (A walking dictionary? You cow?)

Sanita: (Of course, the [Multi-Strike] talent you selected took effect and was displayed in the PL channel at the time, which is also one of the supporting evidence. There are only three gods with powers related to "assassination": "Arcane Supreme", "War" and "Shadow Lady".

The belief in the ability to enter another dimension precludes war, and Cat is likely not a mage, so it must be Lady Shadow. High-ranking followers of Lady Shadow can freely travel through a secondary plane called the "Shadow World," where time flows at a ratio of approximately 2:1 to the speed of reality, meaning movement within it is roughly twice as fast as outside.

Rusalka: (And your joy?)

Sanita: (The Goddess of Pleasure is also a declining faith. It was originally supposed to be a universal faith, and its followers were simply kindhearted and fun-loving people whose goal was to bring joy and positive energy to the world. Their followers also chose the most creative and joyful humans. However, in this garbage world, good people die the fastest, and humans are always fickle. Anyway, it just fell into decline after being subjected to alienated doctrines.)

Rusalka: (Then how do you know that the followers of these two gods have a good relationship?)

Sanita: (They're all members of Lost Faith, and everyone's doomed together. How could it not be good? What could be a stronger bond than meeting on the rooftop? And I think the historical evaluation of the Joyful Believers is... quite subtle. A bunch of clowns willing to sacrifice their lives to bring joy to everyone?)

Rusalka felt that this setting was somewhat like looking in the mirror. Now that he and Phoenix were like this, what was the difference between them and the Joker? Thinking about it this way, was he a believer in happiness who sacrificed himself to bring happiness to his brothers?

Sanitta: (In short, there really is something wrong with her faith in the Lady of Shadows. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain why such a high-level believer like her doesn't seem to be twice as fast in the Shadow World. Otherwise, she wouldn't be hit by you on the spot and use the life-saving secret technique of "transforming shadow into line").

Rusalka: (Can't I be stronger?)

Sanitita: (Don't be ridiculous, bro. Do you really think she wiped out two teams without taking damage because her opponents were too weak? Once there's no way to counter her after entering the Shadow World, she's capable of turning any number of enemies into endless one-on-one assassinations. To be honest, you might not like it, but at a time when her faith was wavering and her strength was affected, she encountered you, a wall-climbing figure whose attacks ignored all planes. As a result, she was hit twice by a lack of information. It was really bad luck for her.)

Rusalka chuckled triumphantly: "Brother, what should I say? My build is a dead end for her, isn't it? Isn't she forced to give in? I have the skills. I can defend against anything this DM can come up with."

Sanitta: (You're right, but I have to admit that your luck played a role. Think about it, if it was her who was dragged into the God's Council, once she accepted the blessing of the True God and completely chose to convert, her strength would return to its peak, just like Theresa. In that case, it would be difficult for the two of us to win.)

Rusalka didn't want to think about all this nonsense. Anyway, the threat from Phoenix was lifted and everyone was happy.

Oh no, he is unhappy, he is heartbroken.

Chapter 37 Bronze Team

Sanita has been very busy these days. He ran around the territory to summon guards, asked the only armed messenger in the territory to issue a curfew, went to merchants to buy some warning items and gave them to Custer, then asked Rusalka to purchase a batch of supplies, wrote several recruitment orders for building city defenses, and hired a group of workers to build simple city defense fortifications for Pearl Tear Town and Stone Town.

Even though it's just a pile of stones with a few sharpened wooden sticks stuck on the outside, it will collapse if the opponent hits it with a log hammer a few times. It's not very solid at all, but it's professionally designed to defend against cavalry.

It was obvious who Sanita was guarding against, but he also had his miscalculations. While he had made everyone in the Pearl Tears Territory nervous, unexpectedly, everything remained calm for over a month.

During this period, Rusalka also attended a meeting of gods. Theresa told him that the first reconnaissance team she sent out had about 30 people and they had successfully entered the territory of the Kingdom of Snidi - taking the Casco Trail.

Rusalka had heard of that trail. It was a steep mountain trail that only people in high-risk professions like herbalists would go. This kind of mountain trail was extremely difficult to walk on. In bad weather, it would mean it would be impassable. It was also time-consuming and laborious. Only two or three people could pass shoulder to shoulder at a time. Transporting troops along this trail was as difficult as the Long March. If ordinary soldiers climbed the mountain, it was estimated that the non-combat casualties alone would reach 10%, and transporting combat equipment would be impossible.

Therefore, this road is just a green channel for some experts to cross the border back and forth. Since there is a forest at the end of the channel, the Kingdom of Sinidi can only set up a few secret sentries in the forest and report their movements every once in a while. It is inevitable that some people will be missed in many cases.

Viscount Consenat's White Horse Light Cavalry Squadron had been silent for a long time, and this had delayed the time when the support troop from Saint Theresa came to visit the Pearl Tear Territory.

When the armed messenger, carrying the sentry's warning, hurriedly arrived to tell Rusalka about a "large number" of invaders in the southern forest, Sanitta was actually a little puzzled. Did Viscount Consenat also like to brag? How did the promised ranger squad become a group of infantry? Where did his horse disappear?

In fact, Sanita had thought that the support from Theresa arrived first, but this damn hunter was obviously not a professional scout. The number of people including the commander was only 29, but when he said it, it suddenly became a "large number" and "50 people", almost doubled, which was inconsistent with Theresa's statement.

For a moment, Sanita was hesitant to confirm it.

There was no other way but to ask Phoenix to take care of the family again. He and Rukasha went to the nearest Stone Town to meet the troops. They seemed to be marching at a leisurely pace and even took the time to find merchants to supply them with daily necessities. They did not look like an "army" coming to fight at all.

It is actually quite degrading for the lord to do everything personally, but there is no other way. This is how it is in the early stage of development. Many situations cannot be controlled without a leader like Rukasha with 524 points and 20 points of charm.

After arriving, Rusalka, standing on the battlements, hadn't had time to question the infantrymen who had apparently been stationed at the town's gate for some time when the enemy commander, seeing the Pearl Tear flag raised on the city wall, stepped forward and said, "Respected Lord Pearl Tear, we are mercenaries serving Lady Claire."

This sentence immediately extinguished the excitement of Rusalka, who was waiting to start the city defense battle mod. Damn, it turns out that he is one of us. That’s all right.

Rusalka only managed to count 29 people no matter how hard she tried. She glanced at the hunter and asked, "Are these the 50 you mentioned?"

The hunter lowered his head and said timidly, "My Lord, I'm truly sorry. The wind was strong in the woods, the shadows of the trees were mixed, and the light was flickering. The shadows of the trees and the figures mixed together, so I couldn't see the number of people clearly."

Rusalka, his interest gone, used his usual style of looking for fun. He pointed at the hunter who lowered his head with an embarrassed look on his face and said to Sanita, "Go, give him two big slaps in the face. See if he dares to lie about military intelligence next time."

The Sunny Tower is numb.

Since Rukasha had said so, and it wasn't in the private chat channel, Sanita couldn't "openly disobey orders". He could only roll his eyes, say "Yes, sir", and then symbolically slap the fearful hunter on the other side twice in the face.

Rusalka: (Oh, you really hit me, I was just kidding.)

Sanitita: (Are you kidding? You are now the Lord of Pearl Tears, and I am your guest. How can I refuse your order?)

Rusalka: (My my, please be careful next time.)

Sanita was just trying to show it, and the slap was loud, but it was hollow, and he didn't use much force. However, the hunter was smart and pretended to be in pain, covering his face and yelling twice, giving Rusalka enough face, and looking at Sanita with a little gratitude in his eyes.

Rusalka knew that this was a signal that there would be delicious game on the table tonight, so the two slaps were not in vain and were worth it.

----

With such a real army, at least it looked like a regular army before the war, the public security and sense of security in Stone Town were improved several levels. The refugees who had fled here before were very worried about whether the Pearl Tear Territory would also go to war. Now this worry has not been completely eliminated, but the sense of uneasiness has been reduced a lot.

After closing the door, both sides spoke frankly. The other side's commander was a middle-aged man with a square face, who exuded an aura of "reliability" all over his body. He looked like a person whose Supreme Slash could not produce a doubling effect.

"Hello, respected Lord Pearl Tear, my name is Devi Ono."

Rusalka was a little unsure and asked Sani Tattar next to her: (So, Devi?)

Sanitieta: (I told you to read more. Only people with noble titles can address each other by their surnames. Ordinary people use their given names. For example, if your name is Zhulei Rusalka, it's fine to call you Lord Zhulei or Baron Zhulei. These are honorifics. But if I call you by your name, would I call you Zhulei? It must be Rusalka.)

Rusalka learned something new: "Hello, Knight Ono, you can call me Rusalka. I hope this meeting will be the beginning of our friendship. The higher-ups have already informed me, and we will fully cooperate with the Saint's instructions."

Ono nodded after hearing this. "Actually, I've heard that you're a Paladin, so I must have great trust in you. To be honest, I lead a Bronze Knight Order, and I'm a member of the Star Knights. You should be aware of this, right?"

Rusalka nodded slightly and suddenly felt the power of knowledge: What a coincidence, I seem to have heard this from Custer before.

Seeing that this didn't require any explanation, Ono saved himself some effort and went straight to the point. "This time, the Saint Lady wants us to come to this faithless land, where war is imminent, to train. She hopes these new recruits can experience real war, rescue more refugees, and spread the teachings of the Light Church."

Huh? New recruits?

Now Rusalka and Sanitta were both amused. They thought the other party had a pair of A's, but it turned out that you also had a pair of 3's?

Why use the word "also"? Because except for Instructor Custer and a few refugees with some combat experience who have served as adventurers or mercenaries, the rest of the "light infantry squad" of the Pearl Tears Territory are at best "well-equipped militia."

They had thought about whether it would cause some diplomatic problems if the saint sent a super elite knight group here, but now it seems that the old ones are still the wisest. Theresa sent a group of new recruits from the Bronze Knights. With this number and combat effectiveness, it is understandable that they can be called an ordinary mercenary group after removing the church's logo. Indeed, neither the Kingdom of Snidi nor the Kingdom of Esdi would care.

Rusalka was a bit embarrassed. "Since Knight Honor is so frank, I'll tell you the truth. My territory of Pearl Tear is at odds with a viscount. The central government is too far away, and during the war, we can't send troops to support. Look at this map. My territory is divided by this large mine. This is the area where my castle is located. The viscount will definitely not be able to attack. However, the defense on the other side is relatively weak, and I'm afraid it will be difficult to take care of both ends."

Ono nodded: "I understand, that means we need to help you guard another area, right?"

Rusalka: "That's right, but you have to wait until I have arranged things there. You'll be stationed here temporarily for the time being. After you go there, you can do whatever you want, but when it comes to promoting the church, I hope you'll keep a low profile. After all, this is still within the territory of the Kingdom of Snidi, and the war hasn't spread here yet. It's normal for everyone to have some resistance to the church."

Ono nodded: "Of course I know this."

Rusalka: "As a fellow Paladin, I also have great faith in the character of you Paladins. If you need funds or supplies, you can ask me for them. I just hope that you can take good care of the people over there."

Ono patted his armor on his chest and said, "That's our responsibility. Knight Rusalka, don't worry. My only concern is the opponent's strength."

Rusalka: "No more than 100 people, and they are probably cavalry."

A viscount who owns a city must be able to mobilize at least a thousand troops. However, Sanitieta has learned through Crown's intelligence network that the viscount has been busy responding to the Marquis's conscription order recently. Even if he has troops that can be mobilized, he must not use them openly, otherwise the Marquis will think that he is secretly disobeying his orders.

As for why the Viscount did not recruit troops from the Zhulei Territory, this just shows that the Viscount was very dissatisfied with the Zhulei Territory and no longer treated it as his own people to be exploited.

As long as Rusalka doesn't foolishly attack the city of Consenat, the White Horse Rangers are indeed the limit of what the Viscount can send out. This is a team that nominally manages the security of the territory, but in fact it is a violent machine specially used by the Viscount to deal with the baron's disobedience. The team consists of about 100 soldiers.

100 people may sound like a small number, but rangers are far superior to infantry in terms of mobility and destructive power on the battlefield. After all, they are troops built with money, and you definitely get what you pay for. The fodder for 100 war horses alone would cost an estimated 200 gold coins a year, not including the cost of horse replacement and equipment maintenance.

For a country like Zhulei Lord with a fortune of 900 gold coins (he has made a lot of money from trade and mining recently), it is simply not enough to support a 100-man light cavalry squad. At most, it will be disbanded due to military expenditure issues after a few years. In other words, only the viscount who owns a city can afford to support this money-burning thing for a long time.

Originally, for any baron whose territory had no more than 500 people, this small team was already invincible. However, the Pearl Tear Territory swallowed up the big mine and the neighboring Ropa Territory. Even though the town of Ropa over there does not belong to the Pearl Tear Territory now, judging from the population of the basic territory, including the large number of refugees and the miners who stayed here because of the "forced cooperation" of the Kate Chamber of Commerce, the population of the Pearl Tear Territory has now reached 2000, which is 7 times more than when they first arrived here.

In the 21st century, such a population size would feel like an ordinary small town, but the Kingdom of Sinidi does not have 13 billion people. Its population is similar to that of the Qin Dynasty during its unification period, at most 3000 million.

A city may have a population of tens of thousands or even more than a hundred thousand people, and they would look down on a mere 2000 people. However, in this wild barony territory, having a population of 2000 is already a behemoth-level existence.

Under such conditions, if one is prepared, actively recruits and mobilizes soldiers, stops production activities, releases the gold reserves in the warehouse in exchange for war and survival supplies, and expands the size of the militia to the maximum in a short period of time, it is not invincible to fight against a 100-man light cavalry squad.

However, this has a big premise, that is, the neighboring town of Luopa is willing to move here and merge with the two growing settlements in Zhulei Territory, which is unlikely.

However, Sanita was slapped in the face. The next day, a letter came from the town of Ropa.

The content of the letter almost made Sanitieta unbelievable. He confirmed it several times before he was sure that this was indeed the paper and seal used in the neighboring town of Luopa.

Sanitieta: "Ah? Brother Xiao, come and see. The Ropa family hid in a small town for a month. After confirming that you had indeed returned to the Pearl Tear Territory, they brought all the family guards and returned to Ropa Castle. They took away the remaining assets and servants and headed to Consenat City."

Rusalka slapped his thigh and jumped up on the spot, his intestines boiling with regret. He was so angry that he cursed: "Fuck, these cowards who were fed with dog food, didn't you say you would fight to the death? You actually turned back and stole the house, you idiots! We should have brought a sack to fill it with gold coins before returning."

Damn it, it's all Phoenix's fault for suddenly going crazy and hacking us! I even forgot to open their treasury, and my money was stolen! No, I can't swallow this anger. Go, go negotiate with Phoenix and see if you can get her to compensate me. I don't ask for everything, just a few hundred gold coins as a token of my appreciation. If she can't afford it, that's fine, you can choose to marry me. I'm willing to share the debt with her. There aren't many people like me who are being taken advantage of these days."

It took Sanita about ten seconds to recover from Rusalka's nonsense.

Sanitieta: "What you said before are minor issues. I won't elaborate on the rest. I suggest you go find her yourself, okay? Let's get back to the point. This letter is a request for help. The security in Luopa Town is in jeopardy now. Those two prodigal sons took away dozens of family guards who were stationed in the town to maintain order, and left a rumor that Luopa Castle had been captured by you. The people of Luopa are now in a panic. The townspeople are saying that you fought all the way from the big mine to the people's homes. Now the Lord of Luopa has been defeated and killed, and the rest of his family has fled in a hurry, and you are about to attack the town.

Now the mayor is willing to surrender to you, hoping that our Pearl Tear Territory will accept them and help him maintain order in the town. I suspect his position is becoming increasingly unstable, and perhaps someone has already threatened to surrender him, so he's surrendering first. To him, continuing to serve as mayor is simply a matter of changing his tributary master.

Rusalka understood: What the hell? I just got a town for free? Shouldn't I be leading an invincible army in a thrilling siege, then planting the Pearl Tear Territory's flag atop the town's central clock tower? We're ready to fight to the death, why did the enemy surrender first? And who's going to fill in the leek boxes I'm missing? No, I'm missing the experience boxes.

Sani Tower: That's enough. With just 70 of us, a bunch of rotten bastards without even a proper ladder, we expect to take down a town with a three-meter-high wall topped with iron spikes, a gate raised by an iron winch, and a considerable defensive force? I think you're out of your mind. The best you can do is try to sneak in like a Trojan Horse.

Sanitta was originally worried that if the two descendants of the Ropa family went to the town to negotiate with the mayor, and planned to rely on the supplies and the remaining guards in the town to defend the town and wait for the support of Viscount Consenat, what would he do when he had no ability to attack the city? He did not expect that the other side would run away without any backbone.

Well, now I don’t have to negotiate myself or ask Phoenix to assassinate the descendants of the Ropa family. I can just send the Bronze Knights over directly.

Facts have proved that reality is more magical than creation. Sometimes nobles cherish their lives too much and end up making a mess of things.

Rusalka: (It seems not everyone will hold their ground like the famous generals in history.)

Sanita: (It's rare to hear you say something useful, so this is why they are famous generals.)

Rusalka: (That’s because they don’t understand the sentiment of defending a city. You know, behind the natural barrier of the Yangtze River is the iron wall of the Eastern Wu.)

Sanita: (I was wrong. I shouldn't have responded to you.)

Chapter 38 Preparing for War

It was actually difficult for Rusalka to imagine what it meant to have a hundred people responding to a single call, but when he brought the 22nd Regiment of the Bronze Knights and Sanita, a total of 31 people, to the territory of Ropa and paraded through the border, he really saw the "sir, this way" played out in reality.

The refugees who had been paid to obtain temporary residence permits and who had been exploited to the point of not having enough food to eat all gathered together to lead the way for them.

He didn't even have to do anything. The Bronze Knights only used some daily necessities and food transported on the carriages to attract a group of followers numbering a hundred people - everyone thought they were going to attack the town of Ropa.

Rusalka thought of a very suitable line: The Lord of Pearl Tears is so vicious that they actually distributed food to the victims.

Those new recruits were also passionate young men full of aspirations. Although they might be more open-minded about life and death under different worldviews, and their chivalric education since childhood also made them maintain an inexplicable firmness towards the word "sacrifice", they also had something in common when they were young: they always dreamed of becoming a hero - the same was true for their ambition to join the Bronze Knights.

Therefore, when they really met these poor people and were able to lend a helping hand, each of them was very proactive. The kind of self-moved and tireless spirit not only made the refugees willing to follow them, but also deeply touched Rusalka.

Because he was using the name of the Pearl Tear Territory, he had gained a lot of goodwill from the people in the neighboring territories for free. Is this what it feels like to be a leader? He didn't do anything, but he could still earn reputation points without doing anything?

If the world were filled with young people as energetic and pure as them, it might indeed be a better place.

However, Rusalka looked at the new recruits who were distributing food and healing the wounded with faint holy light, as well as Knight Ono who was standing aside, looking at this group of young people with a nostalgic and sad look, but ultimately did not take part in the battle himself. She began to think of a very philosophical question: But if everyone is the same, people will want to become extraordinary, and human beings will eventually be polarized because of their greedy nature, divided into the lofty saints and ordinary peasant women.

When he thought of the saint, he remembered that Theresa was dressed as a fallen angel maid last time. When he saw it for the first time, Lukasha was more concerned about whether the other party's mental state was still normal than whether his second brother raised his head to express his opinion.

I have to say that every time Rusalka sees her, he has the illusion that he has met a worthy opponent. The reason why he still has a sense of superiority is all due to the confidence brought to him by the combined advantages of the 21st century's massive information technology and the network cables across the black fog. If Theresa also came from the 21st century, Rusalka felt that she should inherit the throne of the Cyber ​​Abstract King - she was born in 98, I can't beat her.

After abandoning the abstract content, Sanitieta rarely agreed with Rusalka and asked Rusalka to try not to have offline contact with Saint Theresa.

Rusalka: (Brother, are you afraid that I will become a henpecked husband and ignore you? Don’t worry, women are not as important as brothers.)

Sanitieta: (Brother, I was a little worried that you might be deceived by her just now, but now after hearing what you said, I feel much more relieved.)

Rusalka: (I think I’m reliable.)

Sanitta: (That's ridiculous! Keep thinking like that. While it might be hard to attract the opposite sex, you'll definitely be very successful in your career. After all, every circus leader wants you to be their mainstay. I can't imagine the level of self-sacrifice the Saint must have to endure, even if it means enduring endless mental torture, to deceive you into believing you're the reincarnation of C'Thun.)

If manual input was allowed in the PL channel instead of mental input, Rusalka would have typed a series of question marks, but unfortunately, it couldn't.

----

When the mayor of Ropa heard that a team of several hundred people was approaching, he waited nervously at the town gate early in the morning. He stood there until noon before he saw the team led by Rusalka, which was mostly composed of refugees.

However, the sight of the fully armed soldiers behind Rusalka still made the mayor swallow hard. The tension made him, who was already thirsty from waiting, feel even thirstier, and he could hardly even produce saliva.

Seeing Rusalka dismount, the fat, bald man, who looked to be in his 50s, rubbed his hands repeatedly, squinted his eyes and bent over to come forward.

The mayor said: "Lord Pearl Tear, thank God, you have finally come. I am Shapaelo, and on behalf of all the townspeople, I welcome you. From now on, you are the master of this place, and this land will be renamed Pearl Tear Territory. If you don't like the old name of the town, you can change it to anything else."

Rusalka nodded and said, "Let's call it Ropa Town. That's great. The mayor is thoughtful. He must have waited for quite a while."

Shapaelo waved his hands hastily. "No, we made hasty preparations. Please forgive us if we are not able to provide a good reception."

Rusalka felt that this was the right time to say this: "It's time for dinner, do you have any Tieniu beef noodles without cilantro?"

Compared to the mayor who showed a puzzled look, Sanita next to him kept shaking his head as he listened.

"I'm a bit slow-witted and didn't understand it right away. Lord, you want to eat meat, right? Yes, of course we have it. This meat is all the best monster meat that was just delivered from the caravan this morning. One pound costs ten silver coins. My lords, follow me. I will take you to the best restaurant in town for dinner."