You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 385 If I kill you, what's yours will also be mine.
Roman initially felt intense sadness at the loss of his soldiers, but now he could only sigh.

He sent men to retrieve the soldiers' remains and bury them in the cemetery of Origin City, and then reinforced those fortresses with additional troops.

War brings not only losses, but also gains.

Ordinary supplies will not be mentioned for now.

There were two or three thousand prisoners alone.

These prisoners were all ordinary people in the past, and now they have been summoned here, purely to be used as expendable commodities and cheap labor.

Most of them were sallow-faced and emaciated with rotten teeth; even among slaves, they were considered inferior in appearance and wouldn't fetch a good price.

Roman just happened to have so many prisoners—unless it's an encirclement, the victors can't capture many prisoners.

He then led his troops north, sweeping across the land from the front lines in a dignified manner.

Meanwhile, Ed gathered a small number of remaining soldiers and captured the mercenary camp in the rear. A large number of farmers and laborers were unable to escape and became prisoners.

Roman had a complete system for dealing with this group of laborers—the plundering of slaves was his only way of absorbing population.

But not all of these prisoners were manual laborers.

There were also merchants accompanying the army, pageboys of knights, maids of nobles, coachmen who fed the horses...

……

Several days after the war ended.

The sky was overcast, and a light rain was falling.

Fortunately, the rain was light and did not affect the work.

The place where the prisoners were held was terrible—filthy, chaotic, and in poor condition. Because of the rain, the ground was covered in mud and emitted a strong, fermenting stench—this place had been used to temporarily house slaves in the past.

Roman, wearing a rain cloak, rode up on horseback. Behind him were Shasta, Margaret, and others.

Roman had no desire to be in this pigsty-like environment, and he would rather not work here unless absolutely necessary.

A hundred or so militiamen and a company of soldiers were stationed here to prevent any unrest.

Upon seeing Roman's troops, the company commander stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, those merchants accompanying the army have been clamoring to see you."

Roman glanced at it. "A merchant accompanying the army?"

“Yes!” The company commander brought Roman to them.

Those people lived in the best cages, which housed about a dozen people. They were haggard, their clothes were dirty, and they tried hard to maintain a semblance of decency.

When they saw Roman—red-eyed, brown-haired, with a noble air, riding a white horse, undoubtedly the son of the Cracked Armor—they were overjoyed and shouted at the top of their lungs:
"Your Highness Roman, we are not your enemies."

“We are doing business with you, but your soldiers are too rude and have imprisoned us here.”

“I come from the Free City-State, please return our property.”

The moment Roman saw them, he knew who they were.

This land has always been like this; whenever war breaks out, people will inevitably come seeking them out—they do all sorts of businesses, the slave trade is one of them, they are skilled at handling spoils of war, and they are always with the war.

However, if you stand by the river long enough, you're bound to get your shoes wet. Ed treated them all the same, not caring about their origins at all, and sent them all over as prisoners, never considering whether this would cause trouble for Roman.

As it turned out, Roman didn't find it troublesome—he had no interest in them either.

But the squadron leader didn't know how to deal with them.

The squadron leader was named Dai Fu. He was thin with brown hair and brown eyes. He had three fingers on his left hand cut off while on the Pegasus Plain, which greatly reduced his combat strength, but he was still capable of fighting.

Dave said, "Your Highness, the merchants are neutral; they don't take sides. They claim they can do many things for us for free..."

"Is there anything free?" Roman asked. Dave thought for a moment and said, "Maybe this is their money to save their lives."

Roman frowned, looking weary. "I don't want their money."

They also did this for other armies for free, only taking the price difference and profit. The group of merchants accompanying the army were first taken aback, then panicked, trembling like leaves, clearly understanding the meaning of those words.

They've really hit rock bottom this time. They've spent half their lives in business and never imagined they'd end up like this. They'd hoped Roman's aristocratic demeanor would grant them their freedom, but now this is the result.

"No, no, no, Your Highness Roman, you can't do this to us..."

"We're here to do business. What do you want?"

They were terrified. In the past few days, they had overheard the militiamen talking about how King Roman of the Valley had carried out a mass beheading of all the prisoners of war, but they were just ordinary slaves and had escaped the fate of being beheaded.

But living in such a dangerous place, they lived in constant fear, terrified that this cruel lord would also take their heads.

No need to worry now.

My heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally felt relieved!

Merchants pursue wealth, but life is unpredictable; even with a fortune, one can capsize in the event of a storm.

When a scholar meets a soldier, he can’t explain his reason clearly!

It's time to cut our losses and survive!

“I swear in the name of the Hall family that if you spare my life, I will hand over all the wealth I have accumulated. And I promise I will not let you down,” Lant Hall said loudly, trying to change Roman’s mind.

Upon hearing this, Roman turned to look.

"What do you do?" he asked.

"I came to amuse you, sir knight. I have many treasures, but unfortunately, both my treasures and I have fallen into your hands," the merchant replied.

He pointed to another cage not far away, a slave cell consisting of bars and a roof. To save on building materials, it didn't even have a wall panel to keep out the wind and rain. In the middle, many women were lying or sitting on the damp floor.

After being imprisoned for many days, the women were disheveled and exhausted.

"And who are they?"

“Your Highness, they are camp prostitutes.” The one who answered was Dai Fo, who knew the identities of everyone here very well. He said, “In other words, prostitutes.”

Roman turned his gaze to Lant: "The treasures you're talking about are them?"

“They are all money-making machines, female slaves I bought, but only a dozen or so over there are mine. If you let me go back, I will bring you all the treasures I have hidden elsewhere,” the merchant said politely, knowing how to negotiate with nobles.

Roman remained calm, glanced at the apprehensive merchant for a moment, then turned to look at the numb camp prostitutes.

He beckoned to the soldier beside him, who understood Roman's gesture and handed over his spear.

Roman first gripped the spear in his hand, weighed it a couple of times, and the merchant named Lant instantly understood! His eyes widened, his fear evident, and without a word, he turned and fled into the crowd—but his movements were no match for the spear in Roman's hand!

Roman, draped in a cloak, sat astride his horse, his arms muscular and powerful. With a single, forceful thrust, he hurled his spear!
Whoosh!
Precise direction!
Swift speed!

Lant only glanced back for a fleeting moment in his panic...

With a 'thud,' the steel spearhead savagely pierced through his chest at an angle, then protruded from his back, instantly bursting out a large cloud of blood mist. He had no chance to resist, and then the enormous force pulled the merchant's body, pinning him to the ground!

silence!

Silence!

Everyone in the cage turned pale, their lips trembled, and the situation even alerted the slaves in the next cage.

Flowing!

Fresh blood gushed out!

Blood flowed from his body, and Lant lost all ability to resist. Large amounts of blood spilled from his mouth and the corners of his mouth, yet he still murmured, "My...treasure...is all yours..."

"Kill you, and all the treasures will be mine!" Roman said coldly, looking down at her. "Execute them all! Leave no one alive!"

(End of this chapter)