Divine Kingship

Chapter 575 Where to be smuggled? To labor camps, of course!
Rand once again visited the filming location for the commemorative play.

The production crew has now grown by many more people.

Some extras were used to portray Rand's kindness and his happy life after the labor camp ended.

In fact, if Rand had considered things earlier, he wouldn't have needed to use acting to demonstrate his mercy towards those who surrendered and his commitment to keeping his promise to the prisoners.

At least for his own people, even those who were undergoing labor reform, surrendered soldiers, or slaves who had been captured or bought.

Rand is also someone who always keeps his promises and never goes back on his word.

Rand could achieve excellent results simply by making a documentary about the lives of the people in his territory.

Unfortunately, it can only be said that Rand was not a wise man who could foresee everything. The current psychological offensive plan was only conceived after arriving at the military camp, so there was no opportunity to film a documentary in advance.

However, we did film a promotional video for the resort before, and the footage of the resort's beautiful scenery can be used now.

Filming for the drama is now in its final stages.

To be honest, although this is a staged drama for posterity.

But the content itself isn't actually that false.

Vanilla is a member of the Elven royal family, so it wouldn't be too wrong to say she's a princess from another country. And Vanilla did indeed once long to escape the Elven forest to find her own freedom.

Now, Vanilla has found her freedom and has completely embraced her role as a member of the Sanctuary.

Wind Chime was a prisoner who was captured by Rand, then sent to a labor camp, and finally gained his freedom.

Now that Fengling has been redeemed, she is completely free.

Fengling was very familiar with the process of being arrested, sent to a labor camp, and then gaining freedom because she had experienced it firsthand.

Although Wind Chime has now come to realize the wisdom of Vanilla not redeeming her, she feels that being free and not being free seem to make no difference.

Now that she's been redeemed, she'll be working at the resort.

As for Rand's arrangements, Wind Chime, now a free woman, could of course refuse.

But the price of refusing is losing the job at the resort and the benefits he had worked hard to accumulate.

They really didn't want to give up at all.

Now Fengling is starting to regret spending the money to buy her freedom.

The extras in this performance included both the officers directing the labor camp and other labor camp inmates who played the wind chimes.

They were mostly outstanding individuals who had genuinely undergone labor reform and were later released.

To be honest, many people, including Vanilla, lack acting skills.

But his natural performance made up for this.

Vanilla's yearning for freedom.

The convicts cherished their time at the resort.

As for Fengling, she is now a master of performance; whether it's a natural performance or not, she can do it very well.

“As long as this commemorative drama is properly publicized, the benefits of surrendering will be very clear,” Marcus said confidently to Rand, still dressed like a seasoned director.

“Yes, yes, yes, Your Majesty the great director Marcus,” Rand replied, playing the straight man.

After inspecting the film crew for a period of time, he then...

Rand then left again.

Marcus is quite reliable during work hours. To be precise, Marcus is reliable most of the time, unless he comes up with a crazy idea.

There shouldn't be any problem with promoting the benefits of surrendering here, so for Rand, the next task is to make the enemy realize that they have no third option but death or surrender.

When Rand returned to his office.

I discovered there were visitors.

They appear to be envoys from other neighboring countries.
Olena quickly leaned close to Rand's ear and whispered, "They're here to put pressure on us."

……

The secret agents in the city received orders.

These shadowy figures have begun to operate once again in the besieged city.

The atmosphere was noticeably different this time compared to the last.

If last time all I could feel was the tense atmosphere and the residents' worries...

This time, it was already quite obvious that there was distrust in each other's eyes, and even fear of the future.

The spies' mission was to provide these residents, as well as other soldiers and even knights who were terrified of war, with a way to smuggle themselves across the border.

It would be very foolish to directly spread fear among these residents and even soldiers; it would be very easy to arouse suspicion and then be arrested.

But if a seasoned veteran says I have a secret smuggling route, that's a different story. Even if someone doesn't need this route, it's hard for them to decide to report the smuggler, because in the current situation, who can guarantee they'll survive this war?

Having a secret smuggling route is crucial for surviving in critical situations.

The spies only need to do this one thing now.

After that, things will be very simple.

With the assistance of the fleet outside Land City, the smuggling routes provided by the spies would indeed be relatively more effective.

As more and more people mysteriously disappear from the city, the upper echelons of the Bolun royal city will realize what has happened.

This will then create and escalate the conflict between the illegal immigrants and those who are arresting them.

This still won't cause any large-scale reaction.

But it will definitely have a subtle and gradual influence.

As for how to proceed after the internal conflicts within the city escalate, that is naturally a matter for the great and wise Duke Rand to consider.

After fighting on and below the city walls for half a month, they rested.

Allen was able to take leave from the military camp to take care of his own affairs or buy some things in the city.

Although there are hardly any shops open in the city anymore.

Soldiers who had fought for some time were allowed to leave the camp to rest, which was actually a somewhat risky decision.

However, this meant keeping all the soldiers in the barracks and subjecting them to a high-intensity military lifestyle.

So, facing the relentless onslaught of the Frostmoon Kingdom... it might turn the military camp into a powder keg.

Although there is no such thing as a powder keg in this world.

In other forms of warfare, such as invasions, a way to relieve pressure on soldiers and knights was to allow the plundering of villages.

If a castle is breached, it will also be permitted to plunder a portion of the property of nobles in castles that are not directly under the control of the castle.

This is something that even conscripted soldiers might get some benefits from.

And defending the city...

In the later stages of a siege, in order to sustain the battle, either all the citizens inside the city were brought to the city walls, or soldiers were allowed to plunder the city. War has always been this cruel.

Fortunately, the capital of Bolun has not yet reached the point where people can eat each other.

The port has not been significantly affected so far, and large ships continue to bring in supplies and manpower from outside.

Allen touched the slightly healed wound on his face.

It was slashed by a stray arrow on the battlefield.

The two-week-long operation earned Allen his second paycheck.

The Kingdom of Bolun is a wealthy country, and the capital city of Bolun is particularly rich in assets, so there is no problem with military payouts.

Allen kept the money he had earned at the cost of his life in a small pouch at his waist.

Compared to ordinary soldiers of lower rank, Allen didn't actually need money that much; what he needed was to be promoted to knight.

Before leaving today, his superior, the centurion, encouraged Allen and hinted that if he continued to fight bravely, his promotion to a full knight would be just around the corner.

Becoming a full-fledged knight is something Allen has always dreamed of, but that was something he had only dreamed of before.

Now, at least on the battlefield on the city walls, Allen has witnessed far too many legitimate knights being killed.

Even the finest armor could not stop the sharp spears.

Even with superb martial arts skills, there's not much room to use them in a sea of ​​people.

The death of a knight-errant felt no different from that of a stray dog ​​kicked to death on the street.

The officer said there would be compensation, but what meaning would compensation have for these young people who were eager to achieve something?
And there is another terrifying thing: even if we fight to the end, can the capital of Bolun really be defended?

The number of Frostmoon Kingdom's troops gathering outside is increasing, and their fighting spirit is terrifyingly tenacious.

Although their commander said that the Bolun Royal City had a great advantage in all aspects of defense, and that the Frostmoon Kingdom could only laughably retreat in the end, but... is that really true?

If it were before the war, Eren might have had considerable confidence in this.

Theoretically speaking, the capital of the Kingdom of Bolun, with its superior fleet, should have been impossible to conquer.

But now... now Allen isn't so confident.

Allen touched the wound on his face again, which had stopped bleeding.

Most of the shops on the street were closed, but there were still some shops open specifically for military personnel.

The goods in these shops are either from the original reserves of the royal city or new goods imported from overseas.

After all, there has to be a place for soldiers to spend their paychecks, right?
As for ordinary citizens who are not soldiers...

With the city under siege, it's difficult to consider the interests of ordinary citizens anymore. However, at least for now, they will maintain order to prevent ordinary citizens from being robbed by soldiers or thugs.

But how much effort is needed to maintain order... well, that's a matter of opinion.

Allen bought some bread and fruits and vegetables at the military store.

Then he returned to his home in the royal city.

On the road, he encountered a woman being robbed by men who looked like thugs, and Allen chose to avoid them instead of doing anything heroic.

In the past, he might have shown his bravery and integrity, but now he felt it was unnecessary; if the city fell, everyone would be doomed.

Allen walked alone on the street. Fortunately, seeing his full armor, the thugs didn't dare to provoke a trainee knight who clearly had a lot of combat experience.

After a while.

Allen saw several sailors, who smelled of the sea, walking over.

In the Kingdom of Bolen, being a sailor is a relatively prestigious profession, a job that many commoners in the Kingdom of Bolen aspire to.

The sailor did not stop in front of Allen; he simply brushed past him.

Then Allen found a note in his hand.

In the middle of the night, in an old alley, they smuggled themselves across the border.

The note contained only very brief information.

However, it reveals some very interesting information.

Although sailors have a relatively high status, it is still a commoner's job, and commoners cannot read.

Moreover, illegal immigration is a very sensitive term.

If he were to go back now and find the men who handed him the note, he might be able to uncover some secrets.

But Allen was more interested in illegal immigration.

The sailors who had walked past began to whisper among themselves after turning a few corners.

"Isn't it a bit too risky for us to just pass notes like this?" said a spy disguised as a sailor.

“It’s alright. I’ve investigated this person before, so I have a relatively good idea of ​​what to expect. And since he didn’t chase after us immediately, there’s definitely something going on,” one of the older secretaries replied. “Besides, the place we chose is quite safe. We’ll observe him tonight to see if he comes alone. If he comes with a group, we won’t show up.”

There's no such thing as a completely risk-free secret mission like this behind enemy lines.

This method of passing a note and arranging a meeting place is much safer and more reliable than simply blocking the road and asking for directions.

To achieve greater security and secrecy, that cannot be done in a short time.

After returning home, Allen prepared a dinner for himself.

Then we started making preparations.

He was very interested in keeping the appointment that night.

These soldiers who were granted leave naturally attracted attention, but the upper echelons of the Kingdom of Bolun were not actually too worried about them deserting.

One type of soldier was given leave, and they were generally considered to be in relatively stable positions.

Another reason is that these trainee knights have already registered their identities, and their appearances are familiar to many of the troops managing or supervising the city's order maintenance. These soldiers on leave also have to report their location and situation every now and then.

If they fail to report on time, they will be immediately investigated, making it extremely difficult for them to escape, much more difficult than for ordinary citizens to smuggle themselves across the border.

However, since they were able to pass notes like this, it must have been through some special smuggling channels, which gave Allen a lot of hope of leaving.

As for the merits and glory that I once longed for, it can only be said that if the Kingdom of Bolun were to perish, then any merits and glory would be meaningless.

As night fell, Allen went to the old alley alone.

Meanwhile, several spies continued to observe from a distance, whispering among themselves: "Boss, where are we supposed to smuggle them to again?"

"That's naturally Crescent Moon Harbor," the spy known as the boss said calmly.

"Our Lord Rand has gained a large population in the north, but if we really destroy the Kingdom of Bolen, we will need even more people to build up the territory. For Lord Rand, the more people the better."

Not all the spies understood why Rand needed a population, but since it was a requirement from above, they would certainly comply.

After carefully surveying the surroundings and confirming that no one else was following,

The spies, still dressed as sailors, appeared before Allen.

(End of this chapter)