Mount & Blade: Pendor Becomes a Dominator Starting with the Creation of a Self-Established Knigh

Chapter 88 The Middlemen of Wealth and Sin—The Red Brotherhood!

Outside the fortress, inside Rogge's temporary camp, the rich aroma of roasted meat was filling the air.

Ten plump sheep were placed on the grill, their fat dripping onto the charcoal fire, making a sizzling sound.

The veteran team members from Duanpo Village were already used to this, and they were all busy with their hands and feet quickly.

Chopping wood, adding firewood, applying oil—his movements were practiced and skillful.

The new members of Gangde Village, on the other hand, were quite different:

They all craned their necks, their eyes glued to the whole roasted lamb on the fire, their Adam's apples bobbing incessantly.

"My God—ten whole sheep! Chief Rogge is so generous!"

A dark-skinned team member muttered to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Indeed, Chief Rogge is so generous!"

"The salary isn't much either—" a young team member muttered, seemingly complaining.

"What are you thinking! No matter how much salary you get, it can't keep you running off to the Happy Hut every day! If you don't want to follow Chief Rogge, then get out!"

When a veteran member of the Duanpo Village team saw the younger members complaining, he spoke up and retorted.

"What more could you want if you could have meat to eat?"

"Back when we were conscripted by the lord to fight, not only were we not provided with meals, but we also had to carry our own rations on the road!"

"Now that I've lost my home and can finally eat meat, I'll follow Chief Rogge for the rest of my life!"

The team size doubled, reaching over seventy people.

Rogge then sent Virgil straight to the lord's livestock area outside the city walls, where he bought more than a dozen live sheep in one go.

Due to his recent frequent and large-scale purchases, the price of live sheep in the area has already skyrocketed.

These breeding industries are basically controlled by Lord Harald and his nobles, who are very good at catering to different people. Seeing that Rogge was spending lavishly, the prices rose by another 20% or 30%, with the premium being ridiculously high.

But Rogge didn't seem to care much about it.

In his view, eating is the most important thing.

The team members followed him through thick and thin, enduring wind and rain. Only by eating well could they maintain their physical strength, boost their morale, and strengthen the team's cohesion.

Instead of saving money to distribute as salaries, only to have them squander it, it's better to spend it on these practical things.

For this reason, Rogge did not set high salaries for ordinary team members, which were slightly lower than the normal level for mercenaries.

At this moment, ten grills were lined up in the camp, each with a person in charge of watching over and turning the grills. This was a special order given by Roger, and no one dared to object.

Even Aunt Silin, who is usually very frugal and always talks about saving money, remained silent today, which is quite unusual.

Wearing a coarse cloth apron, she busied herself between the various fire pits, constantly reminding the team members roasting the lamb to control the heat.

Her son, Gis, was staring intently at the whole roasted lamb closest to him, his mouth practically watering.

This was the first time in his life he had the opportunity to eat a whole roasted lamb, and he had been looking forward to it for a long time.

Seeing her son's greedy expression, Aunt Slin couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head, ultimately refraining from saying anything that would spoil the mood and advise Rogge to be frugal.

After all, she herself had never tasted roasted whole lamb.

Just as the entire camp was immersed in anticipation of the barbecue, old Jalrolf helped Anya stumble into the camp.

Rolf looked anxious. Anya, whom he was supporting, had disheveled hair, chapped lips, and swollen, red eyes, clearly having cried for a long time.

"Chief Rogge!"

When Rolf saw Roger walking towards him, his voice became hoarse and his eyes reddened.

Roger strode forward, his brow furrowing slightly: "Old Jarl, what happened?"

"Weren't you going to the sheriff's residence? What happened to Anya, her appearance?"

Virgil, Aunt Slin, and others also gathered around.

Seeing Anya looking so haggard, Aunt Silin quickly stepped forward to help her up, her face full of worry.

Rolf took a deep breath, trying to calm his agitated emotions, and recounted the whole story in detail.

"Chief Rogge, we—we have nowhere else to go, so we've come here first!"

"That's outrageous! That beast!"

"Exactly! He's supposed to be old Yar's cousin, yet he doesn't even spare his own niece!"

The surrounding team members were immediately filled with righteous indignation, and the new members of Gangde Village felt the same way, each one burning with anger.

Rogge's face also darkened completely.

He had long known that the nobles of this world were greedy and cruel, but he never expected that this sheriff Ramsay would be so shameless as to use his distant niece as a bargaining chip to curry favor with the powerful.

"Let's go to the camp and rest for a bit."

"Old Yar, Anya, don't worry."

Looking at the still-shaken father and daughter, Roger said firmly, "As long as you're in my group, no one can take you away by force!"

He paused, then turned to Aunt Silin beside him and instructed, "Aunt Silin, take Anya inside to rest, and get her some food and drink."

"Thank you, Chief Rogge!"

Rolf was visibly excited, and Anya gave Roger a grateful smile, the fear in her eyes fading considerably.

Aunt Slin carefully helped Anya walk toward the barn at the back of the camp.

Instead of the sheriff's pursuers, they were greeted by Aino and his group returning to camp.

"Captain Aino is back!"

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw Aino being surrounded by a group of jubilant men, striding towards the camp.

Back at the camp, Aino didn't show off; instead, he simply handed the money bag containing the denars to Rogue.

"Brother Roger, a thousand silver dinars!" Aino handed over the money bag, his little face full of pride.

"A thousand pieces?"

"Is this a combination of pirate bounty and intelligence reward?" Roger asked instinctively.

Upon hearing this, Gold looked ashamed, stepped forward, and said in a deep voice, "It's my fault. We failed to bring back the pirate bounty!"

The main fortress doesn't recognize the pirates' ears; they say they only recognize their heads and refuse to pay the bounty!

Upon hearing this, Roger was slightly taken aback, and immediately realized that this was not God's problem, but someone's deliberate act!

And what Aino said next confirmed his guess: "No way!" Aino immediately spoke up and told him about his experience in the main castle in detail.

"That damn supervisor, he thinks he can just get rid of me for fifty dinars!"

"So, this manager was deliberately making things difficult for us?" Roger frowned.

"It's not your fault, don't worry about it."

These hundreds of dinars are a lot, but compared to the safety of our team members, they are nothing.

"If we can't change it, then we can't change it. I'll remember this debt, and I'll get my money back with interest sooner or later!" Roger comforted Gold.

No one knows for sure what this supervisor who is deliberately targeting them is up to.

"Alright, let's not worry about that now! You guys must be hungry, let's eat some barbecue first!"

Rogge's words made the team members temporarily forget the unpleasantness from earlier.

For most team members, who Wu gets into conflict with is not something they need to worry about.

As soon as they returned to camp, their hearts were captivated by the aroma of roasted whole lamb that lingered around the camp.

The thing most team members were most concerned about at that moment was whether they could quickly get a hot bite of barbecue.

South of the fortress, near East Lake, in a dense oak forest, thousands of pirates set up camp.

The makeshift tents were densely packed together in the woods, and the air was filled with the sour smell of sweat and the pungent odor of cheap beer.

The pirates, shirtless, gathered in small groups, their bodies reeking of alcohol, which seemed to have driven away even the mosquitoes.

Some were cleaning their weapons, while others were drinking and gambling. The entire camp was in chaos, yet it exuded a fierce atmosphere.

Inside the largest tent in the center of the camp, Yalgodo of the Kare tribe stood with his hands behind his back in front of an extremely simple sheepskin map.

The map roughly marks their current location, the location of the Ganders Fortress, and a few icons with the word "Forest" scattered throughout.

Stan stood behind his brother, his head bowed and eyes lowered, not daring to utter a sound.

"Stan, I'm very disappointed in you!"

Godot spoke slowly, his voice low and hoarse, carrying an undeniable authority.

"I gave you three hundred elite tribal warriors, and what happened?"

"You haven't achieved anything, yet you've already lost over a hundred men! What are you doing?"

"Brother, it's my fault."

Stan gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice, without denying the defeat.

That village is extraordinary!

They not only anticipated my night raid, but also launched surprise attacks on my camp multiple times while it was undefended! They are definitely not ordinary villagers—”

The thought of that camp built on the mountain intensified the hatred in his eyes.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses! I only care about the results!" Godot's voice suddenly rose.

"Our supplies are almost gone; we simply can't wait any longer!"

Godot walked up to Stan, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a slightly more gentle tone, "I'll give you another three hundred men!"

Godot pointed to the area surrounding the Ganders fortress on the map and said in a deep voice, "Have no scruples! Loot all the villages and towns around the fortress! Take all the food, valuables, and women you can, and burn everything else to the ground!"

"Even if that coward Harald doesn't dare to come out of the city for a decisive battle, we won't lose out after looting these villages."

"If he dares to leave the city, that's perfect; we'll wipe him out in the wilderness!"

Stan nodded emphatically, his eyes burning with fierce fighting spirit: "I understand, brother!"

"Be clever this time and lure them to this location. That will be a great achievement for you! Don't let me or the entire Kare tribe down."

As Godot spoke, he pointed to an area on the map.

"Don't worry, brother!"

Stan clenched his fist, his tone firm: "I've already cast out all the bait I needed to."

I deliberately let the prisoners see our camp, which only had about five hundred men, and also let them see our troop deployment.

Those escaped prisoners must have already relayed the false message that we only have five hundred men to Harald!

"Now I'll launch another large-scale looting campaign and make an even bigger commotion. He can't possibly sit idly by!"

After all, these villages and towns are his foundation and the main source of his tax revenue!

"very good!"

Godot nodded in satisfaction. "I'll wait for your signal!"

As night slowly fell, the main castle of Ganders Fortress was deathly silent.

The room of Castle Master Terry was brightly lit.

Terry sat behind a large oak desk, his face so gloomy it could drip water.

He carefully considered everything that had happened during the day, and combined it with his own understanding of Lord Harald, he immediately realized that the lord could not possibly have bestowed such a large sum of dinars!

I've been scammed!

His fingers unconsciously traced patterns on the table, his eyes filled with resentment and anger.

His heart was filled with worry.

If the lord finds out about this, he will only think that he failed in his duties and that he is incompetent!

What you fear most is what will happen.

Just as he was thinking this, the young servant who had obeyed his orders pushed open the door and came in, whispering a few words in his ear.

"What did you say?" Terry suddenly looked up and asked in a shrill voice.

"My lord, it's absolutely true!"

He just went to the finance officer to ask for the note you wrote today for the 1,000 dinars, and you gave it to him!

The treasurer asked him what he needed it for, and he replied that it was for the lord's use—

"If the lord really knew, there would be no need for him to ask for my approval slip; he could have just dealt with me directly!" Terry exclaimed in shock and anger.

"asshole!"

Terry slammed his hand on the table, spilling tea all over the surface.

He instantly understood what was going on.

That study attendant must have overheard his conversation with Aino and knew that he had been swindled out of a thousand dinars by a young girl. He wanted to use this opportunity to complain to the lord and remove him from his position as supervisor!

"That fool who doesn't know what's good for him!"

Terry said through gritted teeth, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Lord Harald is out tonight, meeting with someone, and is not in the castle at the moment.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his agitated emotions, and instructed the young attendant, "Go find him now and tell him that the lord is looking for him. Bring him to the lower city no matter what!"

"Yes, sir." The young servant nodded hurriedly, turned around, and quickly walked out.

After the young servant left, Terry suddenly stood up, knowing he couldn't just sit there and wait to die.

If this matter were to reach the lord, he would lose his position as supervisor and even his life!

Terry straightened his clothes and strode out of the main castle.

Arriving at the backstreets of the downtown area, Terry walked expressionlessly along the narrow, dirty streets, wandering aimlessly as if searching for something.

He then entered an extremely simple brothel, but did not order any female services.

Not long after, a plain-looking man, dressed like a commoner and easily overlooked in a crowd, appeared at the brothel where Terry was staying.

"Good evening, Manager Terry!"

The man spoke in a low voice, his face expressionless.

"Do you need any kind of service? Any kind of service is fine!"

Terry looked him up and down and said coldly, "My request is something that ordinary people can't do."

The man smiled slightly, his tone calm yet carrying a chilling confidence: "We sell desire. We can fulfill any desire you have. It's just a matter of money."

"Everything has a price! Name your price, Manager Terry."

Terry's pupils contracted sharply. Even though he had already guessed the newcomer's identity, he couldn't help but feel a chill: "The Red Brotherhood?!"