dognovel Chapter 111 Bloodshed
Chapter 111 Bloodshed
Autumn 1446
As the autumn wind blows across the land of Franche-Comté, the original grasslands become barren, indicating that some people will not survive this winter.
However, due to the bumper harvest from the reclamation of farmland in the territory and John's exemption of most taxes except agricultural taxes, the people could be said to be able to make a living.
In the Earl's Castle, John, wearing a fox fur coat, was in his office processing reports from various departments this year.
Thanks to the previous renovation of the castle by the Count of Franche-Comté, a house was designed that achieved floor heating by laying water pipes underground and injecting hot water into the pipes. Now John does not have to worry about a fire caused by heating, but this is only limited to his own room. The other rooms still need stoves for heating.
"Knock, knock." There was a short knock on the door. John heard it and said without raising his head:
"come in."
The door was gently pushed open, and the centurion of the White Wolf Knights who was in charge of training new recruits came in. After saluting John, he said:
"My Lord, I have something I want to discuss with you."
"Well, is it about the new recruits again?" John asked. He no longer had any expectations for these young masters. He just wanted them to become complete knights without any problems.
"Yes, it has been almost half a year since the training began, but these recruits have never fought before. Although it takes a year for a knight's squire to participate in battles, time is too tight at the moment. We need to let them see blood."
"I also think that this kind of knights trained in a short period of time have no combat effectiveness at all. A real knight cannot go to war just wearing armor and riding a horse." John said following the centurion's words.
In John's opinion, those high-ranking officials of Windham may really have little experience in war. When did even heavy cavalry like knights become like infantry and can go into battle and kill the enemy after just a few months of training? So when John received the order at the beginning, he knew that there may really be no useful knights in the rear of Midland. Even the king began to try all kinds of methods in desperation. No wonder he had to employ the Eagle Corps, a mercenary group of civilian origin, and the Black Dog Knights composed of a group of scum and criminals.
"So what are you going to do? You can't let them go south to fight the Yoda people when winter is approaching," John asked the captain.
"Not a big shot. What I mean is, why not use some prisoners of war to make these new recruits bleed? At least let them be able to hold the sword when killing people." The centurion explained.
"No, this won't work. You know how important prisoners of war are to the economy of our territory." John rejected the idea directly after hearing what the centurion said.
Ever since John tasted the sweetness of slave trading, he began to purchase Yoda prisoners from the southern battlefield, took them to the northern port of Forest Territory, took a ship to Chusda, and sold them to the Isu slave traders waiting there, thereby making a profit from the difference.
No one knew how much Issu was in need of slaves. Even if Simon raised the price of an adult male slave to 5 silver coins, he would be snapped up by slave traders. As a result, the slave trade ranked third in fiscal revenue, second only to mercenary trade and agricultural taxes.
If he used prisoners of war to kill the new recruits at this time, not to mention where these 5000 prisoners of war came from, even if there were really 5000 prisoners of war, John would be reluctant to kill those new recruits with a single knife. Instead of doing this, it would be better to let the prisoners of war become serfs and farm the land.
But it is indeed necessary to let the new recruits see blood. These people are not soldiers recruited through the system. They do not have skilled combat skills and a strong heart from the beginning. What's more, these are some young soldiers who have never killed even a chicken.
So John began to think about whether there was anyone who could replace the prisoners but was of little value to make the new recruits bleed.
After thinking about it, John looked at the cross next to him and suddenly thought of something. He said to the captain:
"Call Pross here."
After more than ten minutes, Pros, who was exhausted, walked into the room where John was under the leadership of the centurion.
"Cousin, what do you want from me?" Pros asked tremblingly. He had been sleeping soundly in the manor when he was suddenly called out of bed by the centurion to see John. The cold wind along the way almost broke his small body.
"Pros, let me ask you, where are there more cultists imprisoned in Mitran right now?" John asked.
"Ah?" Pross didn't know what John was asking him, so he could only say roughly:
"If they are cultists, they are probably in the chaotic areas or in the religious prison in Wendam. No one can release them without the order of the archbishop."
"Well, then you should write a letter to Archbishop Midland immediately, saying that the newly formed Knights Templar need blood, and ask him if he can give me a few thousand cultists. The price is negotiable." John said to Pross.
These words completely confused Pros. What does the Knights' bloodshed have to do with the cultists? And what about the price? What the hell is going on?
However, Pros did not dare to ask, so he could only write to Archbishop Midland according to John's original words.
After the carrier pigeon flew in the autumn wind for two weeks, the letter finally arrived in the hands of Archbishop Midland. The Archbishop saw that it was sent by Pros, and hurriedly opened it to see if there was another outbreak of cultists in John's place. After a quick glance, the Archbishop thought to himself:
"What the hell is this?"
The Archbishop always receives reports about the presence of cultists somewhere, but has never seen any reports about the shortage of cultists somewhere. Why is John planning to keep them for fun?
After reading it carefully several times, the archbishop finally understood the meaning of the letter. Did you use the cultists as your new recruits for training?
Although the archbishop initially felt unwilling to go through the trouble of transporting the cultists from one place to another, he felt relieved when he saw the words "the price is negotiable" at the end. After all, no one can resist money, and preaching also costs money.
With the seal of the Midland Church affixed to the agreement, a document was passed from the church to the Inquisition in Windham.
"Clang!"
The gate of the court was opened, and the prisoners inside were blinded by the sunlight they had not seen for a long time. Then several soldiers came out from outside, and the leading officer shouted loudly:
"Get up, you heretics!"
Most of the people here are well-known cult leaders or influential cult members from all over Midland. Many of them have several, even dozens or hundreds of people on their hands. Basically, cultists who have not killed enough people or whose methods are not cruel enough are not allowed to come to this place. However, these cultists who were originally unforgivable crimes outside now burst into tears when they meet these soldiers.
"We are wrong, sir, let us out!"
"We've had enough!"
The officer rubbed his ears. Basically, he had to listen to the howling of these heretics every time he came, but he probably wouldn't be like this in the future. Thinking of this, the officer shouted:
"Alright, alright! You're going to be out soon! Now line up and get in the carriage."
After hearing what the officer said, the cultists couldn't believe it at first. But after they reacted, they rushed out of the cages one after another. Then, without any supervision, they lined up in a row and left the prison under the guard of the soldiers.
When they returned to the surface and felt the warm sunshine shining on them, these cultists felt the joy of rebirth and freedom.
Amid the officers' scolding, the cultists boarded the carriages one after another. Under the gaze of the soldiers, the cultists found that the carriages were heading east, and the prison was gradually getting smaller and smaller until it disappeared from their sight. It was not until this moment that they realized that they had left the prison that had tortured them for decades. Immediately, the carriages became boiling, and a series of emotional sounds such as laughter and crying filled the convoy.
After venting, some cultists asked the people around them:
"Where are they taking us?"
However, another cultist said: "No matter where he takes us, I don't believe there is a place more cruel than the Inquisition." It was as if he had forgotten the unscrupulous things he had done to civilians before.
As time passed, the convoy drove into a fortress in Franche-Comté. The commander of the convoy opened the door and woke up the sleeping cultists. They got off the carriage in a daze, and soldiers immediately held them down. When they looked around, they saw a group of young men in armor, in addition to some knights wearing wolf helmets. Only then did they realize that they had come from one hell to another.
Just when the cultists were terrified and didn't know what to do, the centurion on the stage said:
"New recruits, this is the first day you see blood. It is also the day you grow from new recruits to warriors. After today, you will become warriors. Now, raise your swords and kill these heinous cultists in front of you. There are a total of 1523 cultists transported here this time, and the number is limited. Whoever kills a cultist first will not only have the honor, but also three days of vacation."
Hearing about the vacation, some of the timid recruits were already getting eager to try it, but no one dared to be the first to do so.
"I come!"
Just then, Savile walked out of the crowd and took the sword handed to him by the White Wolf Knight. Only then did Savile realize that the sword he had used before was nothing compared to those of these knights.
Taking into account the casualties during the training, the swords John gave them were unsharpened. However, the sword in Xavier's hand was a real sword used to kill the enemy. Under the sunlight, the tip of the sword shone with white light. At the same time, when he held the hilt, a murderous aura came to his face, proving that the owner of the sword had used it to kill countless people.
When Xavier walked up to a cultist, looking at the cultist's terrified face, Xavier raised his sword above his head, ready to deliver a fatal blow to him.
The cultist understood his fate after seeing this. Out of fear of death, he kept struggling to break free from the chains. However, his hands and feet were tied up. Now he was like a fish on a chopping board, struggling to death.
As Savile swung hard, the sword hit the cultist's head. As a large amount of blood flowed from the neck, the cultist's body twitched a few times and then there was no sound.
After Savile started this, the rest of the recruits also began to complete their first bloodshed one after another. However, most of them were not as calm and composed as Savile. Many of them failed to chop off the heads after several attempts because they did not control the strength well. The screams and blood of the cultists also made the recruits dare not take action again. In the end, they could only watch these cultists die from lack of oxygen and bleeding, and then they sat on the ground or vomited on the spot, and were helped back to the dormitory by the soldiers who rushed over.
Savile refused the soldiers' help and went to the sink alone to wash off the blood. Behind him, Anderson also washed off the blood and walked to the sink tremblingly. Looking at Savile who remained calm, Anderson was surprised at his companion's strong heart and praised: "Savile, you were so handsome just now. You killed the cultist with one sword..."
Before he could finish his words, Xavier seemed to have thought of something. With a "wow" sound, he vomited directly on the sink.
Seeing this, Anderson ran back to the playground and shouted:
"Doctor! Someone here is suffering from sequelae, come quickly!"