After bringing the escaped captive back, Niu Zida first had other villagers simply bandage his wounds. Then, he called Aponia, and using the escaped captive's fear, and Aponia's "Precept" command, he made the captive feel compelled to tell the truth before continuing the interrogation.
"What is the name of the Lord of Duōléi City? How did he know about this group of bandits?"
"The City Lord of Duōléi City is named Spring Dorei. He is the Lord of this area and a Baron of the Atair Kingdom. Because he supported the Atair Kingdom's civil war, he is now extremely short of soldiers. After a large-scale conscription led to a shortage of manpower, he could only think of incorporating bandits within his territory to serve as mercenaries to continue fighting."
Well, he conscripts able-bodied men, disrupting production and social order, leading to a rise in bandits within his territory, and then he incorporates those bandits to fight. It's a perpetual motion machine for conscription.
"What is the situation in Duōléi City? How many people and what kind of power does it have?"
"Spring is a border Baron of the Atair Kingdom, responsible for border defense. His land accounts for at least a quarter of the entire Atair Kingdom, but most of this territory is barren borderland with a small population. Therefore, he is not considered a very powerful Lord within the Atair Kingdom. He probably only has 100 Knights, and can only muster 1,500 Militia. The residents in his territory are less than 100,000."
"Such strength doesn't seem very strong. What is the current state of the war between the Atair and Fortini Kingdoms?"
"The Atair Kingdom is at a disadvantage, as its population is smaller than the Fortini Kingdom's. However, the eastern mining area they are fighting over is the economic pillar on which the Atair Kingdom relies for survival, so even with unfavorable results, the war must continue. Actually, for Spring, his territory is on the border, and he doesn't want to participate in this war. So, after losing a certain number of Knights previously, his attitude towards subsequent participation in the war is not active; instead, he wants to find ways to restore his strength."
The bandit didn't expect Niu Zida, who was just a Goblin, to be so well-informed about the human world, even knowing about the war between the Atair Kingdom and the Fortini Kingdom.
"So, to recruit that group of bandits, you were sent here to make contact?"
"Yes, the date for my return is fast approaching. If I can't return quickly, I will definitely be punished."
"But you can't complete the mission at all. If you go back like this, you will still be punished."
Misato Shizuku said coldly from the side. The captive lowered his head, silent, apparently aware of this:
"Even so, I must go back and be with my family, otherwise, they will surely be dealt with by that ruthless and greedy Spring."
"It seems this Spring is very unpopular."
"Nobles like him are the same everywhere. They don't treat ordinary people as humans at all. In their minds, there is only themselves, and the people are merely tools for paying taxes and grain."
It seems this captive also strongly dislikes this Lord, and was probably forced to serve him. Niu Zida thought for a moment and then said:
"If I let you go back, are you willing to continue serving me in the future?"
The captive was slightly stunned at this, not understanding what Niu Zida meant. After thinking for a while, he nodded and said:
"If you can let me go back, of course I'm willing, but how can you guarantee that I will continue to serve you?"
"It doesn't matter, I have my ways. I'm more concerned about whether you can survive if I let you go back? After all, the bandit group has been eliminated by me."
Niu Zida wasn't worried about this. He had Aponia on his side. He could have her use her ability to impose a "Precept" on this captive, making him firmly believe that he and the Lord named Spring had an irreconcilable hatred. Now, Niu Zida was instead worried that if he really let this captive go, that cruel Lord might not believe his words, thinking he failed to recruit the bandits, and just kill him.
"I don't know either..."
Didn't this guy have any backup plan when he thought of escaping? Niu Zida didn't know what to say, but this also indirectly proved that he was probably not lying. If it were a fabricated lie, he would definitely have thought carefully at such a point to find a reasonable excuse to trick him into letting him go.
"Could the former leader of the bandit group write?"
"There was correspondence."
"Very good. In that case, we'll find someone here to imitate the handwriting and write a letter. Have you seen what the handwriting of the letters looks like?"
"Hmm... I haven't seen it..."
He was really careless. Niu Zida thought for a moment and then said:
"It doesn't matter. If Spring is suspicious, you can say that Karel's hand was injured recently and he found someone to write for him. I will temporarily stabilize Spring in the letter, tricking him into saying that he will return and submit to him in a month. That way, you will have credit. After a month, I will bring people to contact you, and you will act as an inside man to help me take Duōléi City."
It turned out that Niu Zida had been asking the captive about Duōléi City because he was interested in it. But with so few people now, could he really take Duōléi City? Misato Shizuku didn't say anything from the side, but the look in her beautiful eyes already showed her skepticism towards Niu Zida's words.
"Good??? Good???"
It was evident that the captive also felt Niu Zida's words were no different from madness. Although Niu Zida's ability to command villagers and dozens of Goblins to eliminate a bandit group of several hundred people certainly showed his capability, the garrison of Duōléi City was not comparable to this disorganized group of bandits. Besides, without the terrain advantage of this place, how could Niu Zida lead this group of old, weak, sick, and disabled people to fight against the regular Lord's garrison?
Even if Spring's power was greatly weakened by the civil war, he at least had real, legitimate Knights under him. A single Knight in heavy armor could probably fight 100 Goblins, and the Goblins' weapons probably couldn't even pierce a Knight's heavy armor even if they tried until they died, the captive thought.
"Only 100 Knights, it's not difficult to deal with if we find a way. You go back first, and stabilize Spring as I told you."
Niu Zida was full of confidence. He was originally troubled by the limited development potential in this place, but he didn't expect the captive's escape to give him an opportunity. If he could take Duōléi City, he would have his first stronghold.
"Duōléi City isn't very big, is it?"
"Not big. It's just a small town with a population of roughly one or two thousand. Most of the people live in the countryside. Even Spring's Militia are only the number of people he can mobilize; most of the time, these Militia need to farm at home, and the Knights also live in their own territories, busy with the affairs of their fiefs. Otherwise, who would support Spring? On normal days, Duōléi City only has a few dozen Militia and about ten Knights on duty."
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