Without saying anything, as one of the few people with horses, Kareem shouted "Fight them!" and then, in front of everyone's confused gaze, he directly charged in the opposite direction. It was not until Kareem ran away that the others realized that the boss had actually run away.
Hearing the shouts and screams coming from behind, Karem didn't even turn his head and just kept on riding his horse.
Thanks to the forest environment and the limited number of cavalry in the Governor's Office, the panicked Karem actually broke out of the encirclement in a daze.
However, just when he thought he had escaped and was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he did not expect that a bush under the shade of a tree in front of him suddenly stood up, revealing a deer-headed spirit squatting on the ground with its back to Karem.
Karem was caught off guard and was thrown off the horse's back by the frightened horse's sudden stop. He rolled down the slope and fell in front of the deer-headed demon.
Karem was knocked down by the blow and saw stars. Just as he was about to stand up, he smelled a pungent smell of blood in front of him. Then he saw a human corpse that had been dismembered by the Deer-Headed Spirit less than half a meter away from him. It turned out to be the divine messenger he had sent to lure out the Deer-Headed Spirit.
When the Deer-Headed God lost contact and took back his divine power, these gods' messengers also lost their protection and were no longer regarded as "the same kind" by the Deer-Headed God.
The deer-headed spirit in front of him had already turned around and looked at Kareem...
051. Why is ×× here?
Without the protection of the evil god, the entire battle can be said to be a foregone conclusion.
Because of Dick's bounty order, the reward for capturing a bandit alive was three silver coins, and only one silver coin for a dead one, so the suppression of bandits turned into a happy pig-catching party. Except for a few stubborn elements who still tried to resist, most of the wild people who were captured to be cannon fodder chose to surrender.
There was no other way! These people were so hungry that they could not run. The Deer Head Gang did not have much food in stock, and they were afraid that these barbarians would have the strength to run away after eating, so they did not give them much food at all these days. They only ate half full before leaving for the battle today.
Anyway, Karem had been tricking these cannon fodders into dying as sacrifices from the very beginning, and he didn't care whether the cannon fodders could eat enough.
Of course! In the end, Kareem paid the price for his actions. He lost the protection of the evil god and was torn into pieces by a deer-headed demon.
Xia was standing on the treetop watching all this. After completing the surprise attack on the camp, Xia was ordered to rush to the main battlefield for reconnaissance. She happened to see Karem running away, so she decisively followed him. However, she never expected that she didn't have to take any action at all.
Looking at Karem who had been turned into "fertilizer", Xia couldn't help but sigh.
"It's what he deserves."
On the other side of the camp, Dick was leading people to open boxes and search for treasures, but the result disappointed him greatly, as the poverty of the Deer Head Gang was really beyond his expectations.
Their granaries were so empty that rats had escaped. There were only two or three thousand gold coins and some worthless junk in Kareem's treasure house. It was no match for the Blood Wolf Gang and the Vulture Gang.
This made Dick, who was hoping to get another wave of gold coins, feel very disappointed. He asked the prisoner who led them in confusion.
"Hey! Where's your money?"
“It’s all here.”
"That's it?"
Under Dick's questioning, the captive explained aggrievedly that their main job as a cult was to be bandits, and that being bandits was actually their "side job" after preaching. In addition, in order to build the black stone altar and make magic tools, they needed to purchase a lot of expensive alchemical materials and magic stones, so their financial resources were far less than those of real full-time bandits.
Now that the evil god has been severely damaged, he has taken back his divine power to protect himself, and all of those evil cult artifacts have become useless waste without exception.
Dick was speechless after hearing this, but he had no choice but to accept the reality.
Soon, the main force on the periphery brought good news that they had successfully defeated and captured most of the bandits alive.
During this period, three deer-headed spirits were attracted over, but fortunately White and Black arrived in time to reinforce. As high-end combat forces of the Saint level, the two female heroes had no pressure in fighting the deer-headed spirits alone.
Soon afterwards, Xia brought the news of Kareem's death, announcing the complete destruction of the Deer Head Gang.
Two weeks later, the triumphant army returned to the castle with more than three thousand prisoners, attracting the attention of the townspeople.
Past governors also claimed to suppress bandits, but either it was just a lot of noise but little action and nothing came of it, or they led their troops out of the city to "borrow" a few heads from the villagers just to make things look good.
Only Dick, who had been in office for less than half a year, was really serious about suppressing bandits and had achieved remarkable results.
This time, the punitive operation against the western mountainous area not only destroyed two major bandit gangs, but also captured a large number of villagers who were in collusion with the bandits and wild people hiding in the mountains, restoring the Governor's Office's grassroots management capabilities over the western mountainous areas.
At first, those villagers who were arrested felt that they were wronged. They were just colluding with the bandits for a living, acting as spies for the bandits, selling food and various supplies to the bandits, and directly joining the bandits. How could they be guilty?
Dick was too lazy to watch these real troublemakers begging for sympathy, so he arrested them all and sent them back to labor camps.
Back at the castle, Dick first took a long-awaited hot bath, then put on a comfortable bathrobe and listened to Befa's work report.
During the period when he led his troops out to suppress bandits, the road to Shannan had been restored, and several caravans and a small number of immigrants arrived in Laguge.
A representative of one of the caravans took the initiative to find the Governor's Office and said that he wanted to discuss a business deal.
"what business?"
"The businessman has his eyes on the prisoners in the labor camp."
"Ha! He is a slave trader."
Without any hesitation, Dick immediately refused. The prisoners were not slaves, and he would not make money from the slave trade just because the empire allowed it.
Besides, what Laguge lacks most is population, and he needs to keep these laborers to farm.
In fact, Befa knew that Dick would never agree, but he still had to ask.
"That's the basic situation, Master. Is there anything else you need to know?"
"Have."
"Please speak."
"Have you missed me these days?"
Befa was slightly stunned by Dick's question, then smiled.
"All the time."
Putting the documents in hand on the coffee table temporarily, Befa strolled to Dick, whispered "Excuse me", then skillfully straddled Dick's waist, guided his hands to climb up her plump breasts, then held Dick's cheek and gave him a sweet kiss.
The master and servant are like an old married couple, and Befa is a considerate and perfect maid. Some things don't need to be said explicitly. An ambiguous look or a suggestive smile can make them understand each other tacitly.
"Thank you for your hard work, Master."
"You've worked hard, Befa. It seems we all need to reward each other..."
Because he hadn't been able to see his beloved master for more than half a month, even Befa, who was usually the most elegant and dignified, couldn't help but seem a little impatient at this moment.
In fact, when reporting on work before, Befa had been trying hard to be patient, because the defenseless master in a loose bathrobe was so cute and attractive. In Befa's eyes, the power of charm was more than ten times stronger than before!
Dick also knew what Befa, who had been staying behind for more than half a month, wanted most at this moment, so he freed one hand that was kneading the dough and reached under Befa's skirt. He found the rope on one side as if he knew the way, and with a light pull, he pulled off the thin piece of lace.
A good maid knows where to create convenience for her master.
On the other side, Natasha, who had just come out of the bathroom, returned to the room and glanced at the empty bed of her roommate Shizuka Marikawa. Even though Natasha knew that she should be in the clinic in town at this moment, some bad scenes unconsciously came to her mind.
Natasha quickly shook her head, trying to put all these distracting thoughts behind her.
Natasha was not dissatisfied with her life since she traveled through time. Although the conditions here were not as good as those in the lower city of Beloberg, fortunately, Dick who summoned them was not a bad person. What Natasha had to do was still to help those in need.
But after arriving here, Natasha unknowingly developed a new worry that she had never had before in Belloberg.
In an excellent team, there should be close relationships between superiors and subordinates, but in Dick's team, the closeness between the leader and some teammates is obviously too much, which is already a negative distance.
Marikawa Shizuka, who was summoned at the same time, fell in love with him at some point, and unlike her usual naive appearance, she was actually playing quite a big game in private.
That day at the outpost, she accidentally ran into Dick and Shizuka Marikawa having a tryst. The magic tentacle PLAY they performed was enough to shock Natasha for the whole year!
She wanted to run away, but her body was out of control. She hid in the corner and peeked for a long time. She also did some small actions that made her embarrassed to talk about them now.
Before that, Natasha worked very hard and didn't dare to let herself be idle, because once she was idle she would be unable to help but have wild thoughts.
She recalled the day in Beloberg when she brought her friend Pioneer to meet her adoptive parents whom she had not seen for a long time. The two elders were very happy at first, but after they found out that Pioneer was a girl, a subtle sense of loss flashed in their eyes. Later, her adoptive mother told her earnestly in private that it was time for her to think about her own life.
Natasha didn't pay much attention to it at the time, but now she suddenly remembered it, and unconsciously imagined in her mind the scene of herself and Dick going back hand in hand to see their adoptive parents.
"Snapped!"
Natasha slapped herself hard on the forehead and felt that her hysteria was getting worse, so she walked to the window, wanting to open it and breathe in some cold, fresh air to wake her up.
But as soon as she stood by the window, she looked up and saw a figure swaying at the window of the study in the direction of the main building opposite...
The author says:
Author's words: I'll update it in the evening
052. Earning less is more painful than losing money
Out of his usual caution, after Dick took over Lagug Castle, he designated the upper area of the castle as an exclusive residential area for himself and his "core members". On weekdays, only some maids who had undergone Tia's loyalty check would come to clean the castle in the morning.
Meetings with lower-level officials and foreign guests are held in another office area.
For Dick, he will be more relaxed here. He doesn't have to disguise himself so carefully, and he doesn't have to worry about his thoughts and secrets being pryed into by outsiders. Therefore, he will be more open.
When Rita entered the room with a pile of documents she had just received, the master and servant in the study were at the climax of the most intense battle. The young man's immature panting and the white-haired older sister's erotic moans echoed each other.
Belfa's maid outfit and other clothes were thrown casually on the sofa, and she changed into a very classic "female teacher outfit". She wore a white waisted shirt on the upper body, a hip-wrapped short skirt on the lower body, and black silk high heels. The beautiful ship girl was sitting on the desk, supporting her body with her hands, and wrapping her two long legs tightly around Dick's waist, bearing the final impact.
Rita leaned against the door, silently waiting for the two to finish, then stepped forward and spoke.
"Befa, why are you wearing my clothes?"
"Of course it's for excitement. You've worn my clothes before!"
After taking another shower and changing his clothes, Dick took the documents from Rita's hand. Befa was still standing beside Dick. Except for the blush on her cheeks that had not completely faded, the head maid still looked as dignified and elegant as usual.
The document Rita brought was a report on the interrogation of prisoners from the anti-bandit campaign in the western mountainous area. Dick's focus was on the transactions between the Blood Wolf Gang and the northern pirates.
The territory of Laguge is accessible to the sea, and there are many fjords in the north that are suitable for building ports. However, two problems have been plaguing the area.
First, the winter is too cold and the waters in the fjord will freeze.
Second, piracy is rampant, posing a serious threat to passing ships.
Those pirates were like migratory birds, they would migrate to the warm south every winter and return to the north in summer. Moreover, they would usually choose places that could only be reached by water as their nests, which made searching them more difficult than in mountains and forests.
Otherwise, Dick would really like to let those pirates have a taste of Belfa's six-inch naval guns.
What disappointed Dick a little but was understandable was that, whether it was the eastern bandits or the western mountain bandits, although they all had some business dealings with the northern pirates to a greater or lesser extent, the trading location was generally chosen to meet at an agreed deserted beach, and no one knew where the pirates' lairs were specifically.
However, Dick noticed that many bandits mentioned the existence of "middlemen" who acted as matchmakers between them and the pirates. Dick felt that this would be a breakthrough point worthy of special attention.
It just so happened that Dick had recently put on the agenda the plan of establishing a secret intelligence department, which would be led by Tia. Members of the spy group, ninja group and assassin group would all be assigned to this intelligence department in the future, so the task of capturing pirate middlemen could be completely handed over to them.
As for Dick, he wanted to focus on territory construction in the next period of time.
At the same time, at the town hotel, the heads of several caravans that arrived at Laguge first gathered together. Everyone had different expressions, some of them frowned as if they were troubled by something, while others were calm and composed, as if they didn't care about anything.
At this time, the oldest businessman among them spoke first.
"Everyone, what do you think?"
"Look? What are you looking at? I think it's pretty good. It's rare to have such a peaceful journey this year. When the convoy arrived in the north of the mountain, we didn't even encounter a single bandit. This new governor is a capable man!"
"Haha, he's not here, he can't hear your flattery!"
When someone spoke well of the Governor, another businessman sitting next to him immediately retorted. Seeing this, the others stopped talking and the scene fell into an awkward silence.
The old businessman looked around and had to start the conversation again.
"Everyone, our first batch of arrivals are basically grain merchants. You have all seen the market conditions here this year. The grain price on the market is unexpectedly cheap, less than 60% of last year, but it is still profitable compared to Shannan. So now we have two choices. Either we ship out the goods as soon as possible and sell all the grain we have shipped. We can hurry up and run the next business, or..."
The old businessman did not mention the second option, but everyone present was smart and understood what he meant, which was to hold on to the food on hand and wait and see if the price would go up again.
According to their past experience, due to issues such as climate and local population structure, although the territory of Laguge is large, it has never been self-sufficient in grain production. Therefore, spring is a "good time" when grain prices will rise sharply, and coarse grains can often be sold at a high price compared to fine grains.
Then they used the money earned from selling grain to buy furs and herbs from the locals at low prices, and transported them to developed areas in the south for sale, making several times the profit in this round trip.
However, this year was different from the past. When the merchants arrived in Laguge, they first learned that the governor had been replaced.
The merchants didn't think it was a big deal at first. The governor of Laguge changed again and again, and it was nothing more than a bastard, a beast, and a parasite. They had prepared the tributes long ago, but they soon discovered that something was wrong.
What’s the situation if local food prices don’t rise?
What's the situation with the new governor not accepting gifts?
Holy shit! They are actually suppressing bandits! ?
One after another, "strange things" impacted the businessmen's three views, but the most fatal one was the "agricultural cooperative" that seemed incomprehensible to them.
It was this institution set up by the Governor's Office that stabilized grain prices and also took the lead in purchasing local furs and medicinal materials. The purchase price they offered was about 40% higher than in previous years.
The price increase and decrease directly cut into the profit margins of merchants. Although they still made some profit after careful calculation, compared with the previous huge profits, the feeling of making less profit made them more uncomfortable than losing money.
Some people even think that the new governor is simply "greedy". Why don't you just exploit those poor people instead of picking on us "kind" businessmen?
So the businessmen gathered together tacitly, thinking whether they could come up with some countermeasures to protect the profits that they thought they "deserved".
