A Realistic Mount & Blade Game

The battle ended quickly.

When that skeleton appeared inside the bathroom door and entered the apartment, its eye sockets blazing with eerie blue soulfire, only a few seconds passed.

The Swadian recruits swarmed it, wielding their long-handled scythes, and scattered it into a pile of bones in a few strikes.

It fell at the bathroom doorway, returning to its skeletal state.

"This feeling of having subordinates to help resolve battles is really quite nice."

Shen Mu did nothing, feeling a bit strange.

He took out a match and casually lit the rough, homemade candle made of wax and cotton thread, placing it in the bathroom to let the flickering candlelight dispel the darkness within.

'Whoosh!' The candle flickered.

The wisps of gray mist born from the darkness in the bathroom encountered the tiny, bean-sized candlelight, and were instantly dispelled, like cold butter meeting a hot butter knife.

It was as if they had encountered an absolutely restraining nemesis!

Indeed, that was the case.

The memories left from Shen Mu's predecessor clearly told him that light and flame could dispel the gray mist and darkness.

It could drive out the evil rules born from the dead spirit realm.

Forming a temporary safe zone.

This was also why, during the daytime, after the sun rose, the whole world would return to peace.

"But it's still quite safe now."

Shen Mu at least didn't have to worry about the undead monsters that would occasionally emerge from the darkness, filled with hatred for the living, and launch direct attacks.

The 15 Swadian recruits were now sitting against the walls or in any available space.

Each of them had placed their fan-shaped assembled wooden shields beside their legs, and the sharpened long-handled scythes, capable of both stabbing and slashing, were leaning against the walls.

But if anything happened, these Swadian recruits could immediately stand up, grab their weapons, and fight.

After all, in Calradia, a war-torn world full of bandits and robbers, even the most ordinary farmers had received military training.

This was why, even these young men who had just come from the countryside and been conscripted as recruits, remained calm in the face of danger.

They were just animated corpses and skeletons, clumsy and foolish.

Could they be worse than the cruel bandits or robbers, or even the lords who often slaughtered and burned villages?

"And then there's you two."

Shen Mu turned his head, seeing the two robbers huddled together in the corner.

"Sir, we are bankrupt individuals from Dhirim. We originally invested in a bakery, but the continuous wars have kept grain prices high. We really had no choice but to become robbers."

The two robbers, whose mouths had been freed from the rags stuffed inside, but whose hands and feet were still tied, were pleading their innocence and misery.

But their shifty eyes clearly indicated to anyone observant that this was just their lies.

"Be honest!"

Therefore, on either side, 3 Swadian recruits stood nearby, holding single-handed axes used for chopping firewood, coldly watching the two unpardonable robbers.

That's right, these Swadian recruits, who were previously farmers and now employed as soldiers, still retained most of their farmer mindset and deeply loathed these robbers.

Because every time they went to town to sell crops or buy tools or cloth.

The most frustrating thing they encountered was these robbers!

Including bandits, robbers, or even the Green Hoods who roamed Swadia in groups.

In short, they were all beings that the commoners or farmers of the Kingdom of Swadia deeply resented and hated.

So, these Swadian recruits didn't give these two captured robbers any good looks.

"Wait a minute."

Shen Mu's eyes suddenly showed a dazed expression, as if he had seen something.

A dialogue box from the system appeared in his mind.

[Ding! The temporary task system has detected an event!]

[Task issued: The handling of the robbers.]

[Task description: You captured 2 robbers in the previous battle, but because your current area of activity is not within Calradia, the former laws do not seem to apply to the current situation, and you are in a troubled situation.]

[Task conditions: You can choose to 'release / kill' these 2 robbers to carry out different processing methods.]

[Conditional reward ① Release the robbers: You release these 2 robbers, your name will be circulated around the robber circles of Dhirim, people will sing your name, and when you obtain a 'Swadian Stronghold', you will receive the building 'Robber Contact Point' to provide you with fencing services or purchase supplies.]

[Conditional reward ② Kill the robbers: Your troops will receive a +2 morale boost.]

"Temporary task?"

Shen Mu was slightly stunned, and then realized that when he had previously merged all the Mount \u0026 Blade games, he had casually compiled a small program that could retrieve protagonist events and automatically issue temporary tasks and added it in.

It seemed that even after crossing over to this world and activating the Mount \u0026 Blade system, this little program had come along with him.

But looking at the rewards on this temporary task.

Shen Mu pursed his lips slightly.

"This doesn't seem to require a choice, does it?"

Shen Mu immediately made a decision: "Choose to release these two robbers!"

"Thank you for your kindness! Sir! Thank you for your kindness!"

The two robbers immediately raised their heads in surprise, their faces filled with joy after surviving a catastrophe.

There are clear legal regulations in Calradia.

If you encounter robbers or bandits, then no matter who it is, killing them is guilt-free.

Even if you capture these robbers or bandits and sell them as merchandise to those slave traders to earn some denars, it is still a legal transaction and will not trigger any kingdom's laws.

So, when these robbers and bandits are captured, they are usually either sold or killed.

Such a direct release is really too rare!

"Untie their ropes."

Shen Mu ordered.

"Understood."

The Swadian recruit who was standing behind the two robbers nodded, took out his single-handed axe, squatted down, and used the equally sharpened axe blade to directly cut the ropes on the robbers' hands and feet, freeing them.

"We will remember your kindness, Lord Shen Mu!"

The two robbers stood up, excitedly bowing repeatedly to Shen Mu.

"It's nothing, you are free."

Shen Mu waved his hand, signaling the two robbers to leave.

This was just a part of the task anyway.

"Lord Shen Mu, please believe us, your kindness will eventually bring our gratitude."

The two robbers didn't say much, and after bowing respectfully again, their entire bodies gradually turned illusory.

Shen Mu's expression was somewhat surprised as he watched.

And these two robbers turned from reality to illusion, the color of their entire bodies disappeared, and they truly disappeared without a trace.

Only in Shen Mu's mind, it turned into a dialogue box from the Mount \u0026 Blade system.

[You have released the robbers.]

[Because your personnel has not reached 30 people, and they are mainly Swadians (70% ratio), a 'Swadian Stronghold' cannot be formed.]

[Your legendary reputation among 'Robbers' +1 point.]

"Requires 30 people before a Swadian Stronghold can be formed?"

Shen Mu raised his eyebrows slightly.

He turned his head and looked at the 15 Swadian recruits still crowded in the apartment, and he was a little helpless.

He didn't know how to increase the population.

"Or complete a battle and then get a reward?"

Shen Mu thought, after all, the 10 Swadian recruits he just obtained came that way.

And when it comes to battle.

Shen Mu looked at the tightly closed apartment door.

"If I think according to this idea, it's to go outside and fight those undead creatures?"

Shen Mu pursed his lips, but there was some hesitation on his face.