Chapter 46.1: Unconventional Battle
"No… No! Stop! Stop right there!" Jorges Andres shouted furiously.
He tried to move his body, wanting to dismount and break through the magic barrier to stop those mercenaries, but he couldn't. The effect of the magical trap hadn't ended yet, and neither he nor his horse could budge an inch from their original positions. Moreover, his voice couldn't be heard by anyone outside the barrier.
With weapons drawn, the mercenaries maintained their loose formation—the sort that could easily be dispersed by a few coordinated cavalrymen—as they passed by the edge of the magic barrier.
"These things sure can run. To think they could flee so deep into the wilderness."
"I'm so tired of this godforsaken place. Let's finish this business and go back for a drink or two…"
Andres's eyes went red, and he trembled slightly.
Andres had only received a narrow-minded education focused on etiquette, respect, and chivalry meant for the "upper class" since he was a child, and he had never thought to pay attention to those undignified lower-class people. But at the very least, Andres wasn't the kind of person who would ignore the "cries he could hear."
He had seen the commoners in the weaving district twice before, and he even remembered the faces of a few individuals. It was impossible for Andres to remain indifferent while witnessing the brutal slaughter of those people at such close quarters. No one with even a shred of humanity could achieve such indifference.
"Black mage!"
Yang Qiu, leisurely flipping through a book, slightly raised his head to meet the furious knight's gaze.
.
"Why are you getting mad at me, young man?" Yang Qiu said with a slight smile. "Who among us can claim to have never stood by and watched tragedy unfold before our eyes before?"
"Nonsense!"
"Utter rubbish!"
Outraged soldiers of the Holy Legion, equally shocked and furious at the events unfolding outside the barrier, began to curse.
"Alright, let me rephrase it then." Yang Qiu, still sitting comfortably in his chair, showed no intention of standing up. "More than a hundred years ago, during my travels across the various countries of the Navalon Continent, I would stay for a while and conduct a small social investigation whenever I passed through towns of a certain size."
"Enough! Black mage, stop them!" Andres howled.
Ignoring everyone else, Yang Qiu only looked toward the black-robed ascetic in front of him. "The Duchy of Shiga's capital has a population of nearly one million. Naturally, I also conducted an investigation there on a subject that interested me. The theme of this investigation was: In respectable households with an annual income of over 10,000 gold coins, how many servants die on average every few years?"
The black-robed ascetic, who had been patiently observing Yang Qiu in silence, couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
His fellow soldiers were momentarily stumped and forgot to continue their barrage of insults.
Undeterred by their reactions, Yang Qiu continued, "According to my investigation, households with an income sufficient to reach that amount annually require at least a viscount title and must possess actual territory, vassals, or hold high positions in the official institutions of the kingdom.
"I found ways to establish connections with the doormen and servants of these respectable households to gain information. The results of my investigation showed that households with wealth primarily derived from land taxes, estates, or plantations practically experienced 'accidents' with their servants almost every year.
"For households whose wealth comes from industries such as running schools, textile production, oil extraction, factory construction, or other handicraft businesses, as well as those with incomes from official positions, the occurrence rate of such 'accidents' was lower, averaging around two to three years between incidents.
"What's even more interesting is that… after classifying and summarizing the origins of several servants who met similar 'accidents' in different households, I discovered something intriguing." Yang Qiu's smile turned chilly. "These frequent 'accidents' that cost the lives of healthy servants in different affluent households often didn't happen to long-serving family servants who had served their masters for generations.
"Most of you here are from respectable backgrounds, and even if you don't have as many servants as those households with annual incomes of 10,000 gold coins, surely a few servants are well affordable. I wonder if anything similar has happened in your own households, or in the households of your relatives and neighbors?"
Yang Qiu leaned his hand on the armrest, supporting his chin with the back of his hand, and stared at the black-robed priest with a sly smile. "Compared to the displaced peasants that you rarely come into contact with, the servants who serve wealthy households are probably the closest to the common folk. Isn't it laughable that you people suddenly show concern and pity for the lower class only at this moment?"
Black-robed Inspector Lowell's lips trembled slightly.
At this moment, from behind the hills behind the barrier, where they couldn't see, came the sounds of desperate and terrified screams…
Lowell, who had already begun to question his understanding of life, felt his clenched fist shaking slightly.
"That's enough!" Andres, the knight whose mental defense had long since crumbled, cried out in despair. "You don't need to prove yourself right anymore, black mage! Do something!"
Finally, Yang Qiu acknowledged the existence of this pitiful knight from Camore. Maintaining his nonchalant attitude as if he had all the time in the world, he smiled at Andres. "Don't be impatient, young man. Didn't I already say it? We just need to remain calm and enjoy a battle that might turn out to be quite novel."
As he said that, the soldiers of the Holy Legion, who were still immobilized in place, were dumbfounded as they witnessed… the mercenaries with a strong sense of killing intent that had just passed by two minutes ago were now screaming and howling in horror as they frantically came stumbling and crawling in the opposite direction.
Andres: "??"
Lowell: "??"
All the soldiers still stuck in place: "???"
What followed after was a strange rattling along with chaotic, rambunctious cries as a large group of armored skeletons emerged from behind the hills, chasing after the mercenaries like a pack of famished wolves.
"WOWAKAKAKAAAA—!"
"KEKUEKEKUE!"
"KULULGUULU!"
Andres: "??"
Lowell: "??"
All the soldiers still stuck in place: "???"
"AH! YAWAKAKAKA!"
Some skeletons spotted the two opposing sides within the barrier and pointed at them in astonishment while making strange noises. But even so, these skeletons did not stop their pursuit as they chased after the mercenaries relentlessly.
Well, the soldiers of the Holy Legion couldn't understand, but Yang Qiu certainly could. This unbridled Fourth Crisis was pointing at him and shouting things like, "Holy sh*t, Old Yang is here," "Damn, this show-off is reading a book on the battlefield," "Is Old Yang meeting an old buddy?" "That black-clothed pretty boy NPC is so handsome," and so on.
The black-robed ascetic could no longer maintain his composure and stood up in astonishment.
A fleeing mercenary happened to fall not far from Lowell. In just a matter of seconds, several skeletons quickly swarmed in and pinned down the unlucky fellow.
Lowell's eyelid started twitching.
…and the bloody and gory scene he expected didn't unfold. Instead, the skeletons that had subdued the unfortunate mercenary stripped him of his equipment with great efficiency and cooperation.
First, they removed the half-helmet with a visor. Then, they took off the wrist guards secured with straps, followed by the belt with a dagger, and even the high-top rubber-soled boots… All of it was swiftly confiscated by the skeletons.
Lowell: "…(° △°)"
And it didn't end there. The stripped mercenary, left with only underclothes, was then bizarrely tied up with plastic strips by the skeletons and dragged away…
The skeletons that had acquired the equipment and captured the mercenary let out even more excited and nonsensical shouts like "WAKAKAAAA!" Then, they spread their legs and took off once more, creating an intense rattling as they enthusiastically chased after the next target.
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