pertwk Page 11
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"If you can obediently serve your master, and your master can further develop your body, your stats can continue to rise."
"In that case, I'll have to trouble you to take good care of me, Master."
"I'm afraid I'm a waste of sperm."
Aponia placed her hands together in front of her lower abdomen, bowing gently to Ushio Tatsumi, letting his large hands knead her breasts as if kneading dough. Even though the beautiful woman's fair and delicate face was flushed, and his words were excessive, she didn't seem to care. It was only when Misato Shizuku couldn't bear it any longer that she stepped in to stop him:
"You idiot, don't do such embarrassing things. Think of a way to repel those thieves and protect the village. Didn't you say they would come back soon?"
"Cough cough cough... Well, of course, let's get down to business first. We can develop the abilities later, after we defeat the thieves. Aponia and I can slowly work on them in bed... For now, let the villagers use the church as a base to hold out. Don't expand the area. This church looks pretty sturdy."
Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Village's Preparations for War
Chapter Twenty-Nine.
"But what if these people enter the village? How are we supposed to resist them? We can't hold out for long just by staying in the church."
"It doesn't matter. We just need to feign weakness to lure these people into the village, and then we can set fire to the village and burn them to death."
"You're really clever. What will happen to the people in the church if you set fire to it like that? What will happen to the village if you burn it down?"
Shizuku Misato, holding her lotus-root-like arm, couldn't help but start mocking Niu Zida's idea. Niu Zida explained:
“We have fewer people here. Even though Aponia has activated her abilities, it’s still a question whether the three of you can handle hundreds of thieves. We’ve already ambushed the thieves twice. If this group of thieves comes again, they will probably strengthen their defenses. Before, I was in the shadows while the enemy was in the open, so we could launch a sneak attack. Now that we have the village, the enemy is in the shadows while we are in the open. It won’t be so easy to rely on the enemy to launch a sneak attack again. It’s even possible that the enemy will turn around and ambush us.”
"Master, so you want to concentrate the villagers near the church for defense, to protect the children from being ambushed?"
"Yes, next I'll go back and bring out all my goblins, ambush them in the houses in the village, and then set the houses on fire at night. That way, we can attack in the chaos and defeat the enemy."
"But master, if the whole village is burned down, how will we survive the winter?"
“I will have the goblins help the villagers rebuild their homes. If we don’t completely defeat these bandits, these houses will be looted sooner or later even if we guard them. You don’t have any decent weapons to attack directly, so you can only deal with hundreds of people at a time by burning them.”
Upon hearing Niu Zida's opinion, everyone present fell silent. Even Yoel, who was ruthless in dealing with enemies, could not agree with burning the village down before resisting the enemy. However, time was of the essence, and Niu Zida knew that he had to make a decision quickly. After all, the village was only a few dozen kilometers away from the bandits' lair. He could run back with the children for a day and a night. If the bandits were prepared, they could launch a counterattack within a day.
"In short, let's start with my plan. It's worse to make no decision than to make the wrong one."
Niu Zida no longer hesitated. Seeing that the maids could not persuade him, he simply used his authority as master. This time, the three women had no more objections. After all, under the contract of service, if the master insisted on his opinion, the maid could not object.
"In that case, Master, what are your plans?"
“I’ll ride back to the farmhouse right now and call the goblins there. Aponia, you’re in charge of persuading the villagers to accept the fact that the goblins are helping them, no matter what method you use. With the feat of rescuing the child, I think they’ll accept it easily if you use your Discipline ability this time. Misato Shizuku, you’re in charge of helping Aponia. If we encounter a counterattack by the bandits before I return, you two try your best to protect the villagers and hold the church until I come back.”
Niu Zida knew that Yole was exhausted after a day and a night of work, but time was the most precious thing right now, so he could only let Yole suffer one more time. Fortunately, the gentle Yole did not complain. She also knew that this was to save the village, so she carried Niu Zida back to the farmhouse quickly. By then it was already getting dark again. Yole had hardly rested at all during this day and night.
"Yor, why don't you eat something and rest for a bit?"
"I'm alright, Master."
"This won't do. We've been traveling for a whole day and night. You'll collapse from exhaustion."
He forcibly ordered Yor to eat something, and then, following the cow's lead, went to the farmhouse and briefly explained the recent situation to the old woman. He left her with two goblins for protection, and the old woman shook her head and said:
"Since there's a war over there, take all the goblins with you. I'm just an old woman, I'll be fine."
"But I'm really worried about you if no one is protecting you."
"If I have goblins with me, I'll be in danger if those thieves come. If it's just me, an old woman, alone, I can just steal some things and leave."
Niu Zida thought about it and agreed. An old woman in the middle of nowhere, even if a robber passed by, he probably wouldn't pay any attention to her. He would even think that she was too slow and wasted food if he took her back to cook.
Niu Zida summoned all the goblins with the goblin bone whistle. During this time, the goblins obeyed his orders and dutifully gathered food and hunted nearby. Looking at these short goblins carrying wooden sticks and crudely made daggers, Niu Zida knew that these weak goblins could not fight the band of thieves head-on. He had only so much wealth, but this time he had no choice but to go all in. If he really lost, he would take his three maids to a cave to bide his time and learn his lesson over ten years. In any case, he could bring back a bunch of his sons to take revenge in a few months.
Niu Zida wanted to let Yoel rest a little longer, but Yoel refused, insisting on setting off immediately to save the village. Niu Zida felt sorry for Yoel, but Yoel said:
"Thank you, Master. But the people in the village could be attacked at any moment. I just ate something and I feel much better now. Let's set off quickly."
"Here's what we'll do. You should eat some cheese. I'll feel at ease once you've regained your strength. Otherwise, I won't be able to let you continue fighting."
"Huh? But???"
When Joel heard that she was going to eat cheese, she blushed a little. After all, the cheese was made from her own milk. But she couldn't disobey her master's order, so she could only blush and open her tender little mouth to eat some of the cheese made from her own milk.
"How is it? Is the Joel brand cheese good?"
"Um???"
When Niu Zida asked her this with a lewd grin, Joel's fair face turned as red as a tomato, and she could only lower her head and shyly answer.
"Okay, let's go."
Fortunately, Niu Zida didn't want to tease his maid any longer. Seeing that Joel had recovered enough strength after eating the cheese, he climbed onto Joel's beautiful back, put on the stirrups, and led the goblins back to support the village.
It was already dark when they returned to the village. Fortunately, the round trip was relatively quick this time, and the village had not been attacked yet. Niu Zida quickly set up goblin sentries outside the village, instructing them to keep watch at all times and to report immediately if any thieves came. In order to keep abreast of the enemy situation, the sentries were even set up five kilometers away from the village.
"Has everyone else in the village been evacuated?"
"Yes, Aponia's commandments are still effective. Although the villagers still disagree with the method of burning down the village to resist the thieves, under Aponia's orders, everyone moved into the church with their food and children. The church is quite crowded now."
After inquiring with Shizuku Misato and hearing that Aponia had indeed followed his instructions to evacuate the villagers, Niu Zida felt the pressure. If they didn't win this battle, wouldn't they be letting down everyone's sacrifices? It seemed that they could only win this time.
Chapter 30 Battle Against the Thieves 1
Chapter Thirty.
"In short, prepare for the thieves' counterattack at any time."
Under Niu Zida's arrangement, the villagers moved as much of their grain as possible into the church, and then many goblins were hidden in the houses of various villages. As expected, about a day later, several hundred thieves came to attack the village in a large force. This time, several hundred people were mobilized, even more than last time. This time, it seemed that they had come out in full force. It seems that Niu Zida's sneak attack to rescue the children last time really angered these thieves.
The goblin sentries that had been set up earlier quickly relayed the message to the village, while Niu Zida, along with Yol and Sanxiang Shizuku, ambushed outside the village. Inside the houses in the village, the goblins had prepared materials for setting fires and hidden them away.
Seeing that the villagers had returned to the village instead of defending themselves outside, the thieves assumed they were afraid of them and simply stormed into the village. However, having suffered two losses in a row, they learned their lesson and were no longer careless in entering the village to rob. Instead, they found the villagers gathered in the church and began to surround it, trying to persuade them to surrender. They told the villagers that if they handed over the hostages, food, and valuables, they would forgive their previous attacks.
The villagers naturally wouldn't believe such words. Besides, under the commandments of Aponia, everyone was prepared to resist to the end. When the thieves saw that they couldn't persuade them to surrender, they simply began to attack the church. However, this time the villagers relied on the church's sturdy stone structure for defense. The thieves attacked for a whole day but couldn't break in. Seeing that there was still no breakthrough by nightfall, they could only surround the church from the outside and even began to threaten to set it on fire.
Originally, because they wanted the village's money and food, as well as a few young women and girls, the thieves didn't want to burn down the village church. Niu Zida saw this and that's why he dared to let the villagers hold the church to tire out the thieves. Otherwise, if they were just passively staying in the church, they would easily be set on fire. Seeing that the thieves had been fighting all day without being able to break in, they became angry and wanted to set the church on fire. Moreover, it was getting late, which would be convenient for the goblins to move. Niu Zida then blew the goblin bone whistle, giving the goblins who had been hiding in the houses the order to set the church on fire.
The thieves had been attacking the village all day. Although the casualties were not great, they had made little progress and exhausted themselves. They planned to rest for the night and demolish the houses and burn the church the next day to force the villagers to surrender. Suddenly, they heard a piercing bone whistle outside. At first, they just thought it was strange and thought it was the sound of some animal. But then some thieves from nearby villages recognized it as the whistle of a goblin.
Goblin bone whistles are a common tool used by goblin shamans to command goblins in battle. This is why goblins, who are weak and have low intelligence, can move out in large numbers at night without running around and fighting randomly, and can form an organized group. However, the goblin shaman's bone whistle does not have the special effect of forcing commands like the one blown by Niu Zida, since Niu Zida is a special treasure bestowed by Huanlong.
Some of the thieves began to spread the news among the crowd. As the piercing sound of the goblin bone whistle spread, the thieves became somewhat panicked. Although individual goblins were weak, everyone knew that once the goblin bone whistle sounded, it meant that a goblin tribe had been mobilized. If goblins dared to attack humans, their numbers would be at least several hundred, possibly even tens of thousands. At night, they couldn't take advantage of human strength, and encountering elite goblins would be very troublesome.
Taking advantage of the chaos among the thieves, the goblins, upon hearing the Goblin Bone Whistle's command, began to set fires. Having prepared plenty of flammable materials beforehand, the village was quickly engulfed in flames, plunging the thieves back into confusion. Niu Zida, naturally adept at this, seized the opportunity, leading Yol and Misato Shizuku into the village, where they engaged in another round of indiscriminate hacking and slashing.
The nightmare of being ambushed twice before returned. The thieves still didn't know what kind of fighting force the village had. They could ambush them as soon as it got dark, and the villagers would be killed before they could even see a shadow. However, this time it was not as simple as the previous two ambushes by Niu Zida and his maid. According to the previous plan, goblins also came out to ambush them. At the church, Aponia also led a few strong men from the village to join the attack. With the three of them attacking at once, the thieves suffered far more casualties than before.
The thieves were once again thrown into chaos by the relentless attacks and began to flee in all directions. This time, Niu Zida couldn't give them a chance. After all, he had gathered all his resources to fight the thieves and had to annihilate them in one fell swoop or inflict heavy casualties to eliminate any future troubles in the village. So he directed his maid to lead the goblins in a relentless pursuit, while ordering the villagers to return and protect the church to prevent any stray thieves from taking advantage of the chaos to attack the village.
Along the way, the thieves had no idea how many people were chasing them at night. They scattered and fled, and behind them came the screams of their companions, which were caused by Yoel and Misato Shizuku catching up with and killing them. Goblins were always around, following the fleeing thieves like shadows.
In reality, these goblins were just a decoy, misleading the thieves into thinking they were surrounded by a goblin army. Niu Zida didn't let them participate in the battle too much. If they encountered a few scattered thieves, they could consider a coordinated attack. If there were many, they could let Yor Sansang Shizuku deal with them directly. As for those that couldn't be controlled, they could let the goblins follow them and scare them for a while. It would be best if they could be driven into the mountain ravines and fall off cliffs in their panic. If they couldn't catch up, they could just leave them alone.
They fought their way out for about ten kilometers, encountering lone thieves everywhere and their corpses lying on the roadside. The thieves were in complete disarray. Seeing that Yor and Sanxiang Shizuku were exhausted, Niu Zida ordered the goblins to stop the pursuit. He used the goblin bone whistle to regroup and quickly counted the casualties. Eight goblins had died. It seemed that even in this kind of annihilation pursuit, the difference in individual combat strength was still significant, as several of them had still died.
"Master, shall we go back to the village next?"
"No, let's go to the farmhouse next, rest there, and continue the attack on the bandits' lair tomorrow night."
Niu Zida was truly determined to solve the problem of thieves this time, and Yoel and Misato Shizuku had no choice but to follow suit.
Chapter Thirty-One: Battle Against the Thieves 2
Chapter Thirty-One.
Back at the farmhouse, the old woman warmly prepared food to entertain Niu Zida and Misato Shizuku. After a simple meal, the goblins were allowed to rest. Even at this time, Niu Zida did not forget to set up goblin sentries near the farmhouse. After all, he could not afford to lose his meager resources and had to be careful. Otherwise, a dozen or so bandit soldiers might charge and wipe out his dozens of goblins.
As it turned out, Niu Zida's foresight was correct. Because they were quite tired, Niu Zida ordered everyone to rest after arriving at the farmhouse. While they were fast asleep, the sentry sentry issued a warning that several bandits had indeed fled here. After all, it was not far from the village, and it was reasonable for some fleeing bandits to wander here in their panic.
Niu Zida did not order the complete annihilation of these defeated bandits. Instead, he had the goblins surround and capture them. These bandits, already like frightened birds, readily surrendered their weapons after being surrounded by a group of goblins and became prisoners without even realizing it. In fact, in terms of combat strength, including the weapons they had, these people, if organized, were already stronger than the remaining eighty or so goblins.
"Did all of you come out to attack the village this time?"
Bring the prisoners up, and Niu Zida, perched on Yor's beautiful back, began interrogating the captured thieves. The thieves, never expecting their interrogator to be a goblin who could speak human language, exchanged bewildered glances, unsure how to respond. Finally, one of the bolder ones spoke:
"This time it's all of us. The boss is furious about being repeatedly attacked by the villagers, so we must take over the village this time."
"Oh? Were your casualties high in the two previous attacks?"
"We lost dozens of people. Many people said that at night it was like the Grim Reaper was attacking everyone, so they didn't want to continue attacking the village."
"Do you know who the real attackers were?"
"do not know……"
Niu Zida proudly pointed to the beautiful woman carrying him and said:
"It's my maid Joel, and another maid, Misato Shizuku. They're the two who attacked you three times in the past few days. You didn't expect that, did you?"
Hearing Niu Zida say this, the thieves indeed showed expressions of disbelief. They never expected that their three recent attacks were just because of a group of goblins and two women. Although the two women were indeed very beautiful, they didn't seem like the type to kill dozens of their accomplices.
"If you don't believe me, you can try. I'll give you a chance. If you can defeat Yor, I'll release you now."
Hearing such conditions, the thieves naturally wanted to give it a try; otherwise, wouldn't it be too embarrassing to be seen as afraid of a woman? One of the stronger thieves seemed to be the most powerful among them, so he challenged Yor to a duel. However, Niu Zida shook his head and said:
"You all come at me together. I think it's too much of a waste of time to come at me one by one."
He then ordered the goblins to return the weapons to the thieves, while he himself, perched in the stirrups, lay on Joel's beautiful back. Seeing the goblins so disdainful of them, the thieves felt insulted. They had been resentful since their capture, seeing only goblins and women present, and now, given the opportunity, they naturally wanted to retaliate.
However, the outcome of the two exchanges was far from suspenseful. Joel was as swift as the wind, instantly knocking the weapons out of the men's hands. At the same time, he cut a gash in each of their clothes to prove that he could kill them. Because everything happened so fast, the thieves didn't even have time to react.
"How...how could this happen..."
"Now you know, the one who attacked you that night was my maid."
The thieves were truly convinced. It turned out that it was Yoel who had attacked them. The huge difference in combat power completely destroyed their will to resist. They couldn't even win in a head-on fight with weapons in hand. Even if they were let go, wouldn't they just be waiting to be slaughtered?
“We…we are willing to surrender…we’ll do anything you ask…”
Overwhelmed by Yor's formidable strength, these thieves were truly convinced of their superiority this time. Seeing that the thieves were completely subdued, Niu Zida said:
"Besides that cave in the north, do you have any other hideouts?"
"There is another place for storing supplies, not far from the nest, which is also a cave."
Are there many people there?
"Not many. Almost all of us were taken out to attack the village this time. There are probably only a few people left to guard the supplies."
“We’re going there, you lead the way.”
Niu Zida ordered one of the thieves to lead the way, while the rest of the thieves were tied up and placed under the care of Sanxiang Shizuku and a few goblins. He then led all the remaining goblins and Yor to the cave where the thieves stored their supplies.
After traveling for most of the day, they finally arrived at the cave at night. Niu Zida rode Yor and used his stealth skill to sneak into the cave, causing casualties. Then, he had goblins outside make a ruckus, creating the illusion of an approaching army. Afterward, he deliberately let two thieves escape.
"Master, why did you let them escape?"
"Of course, we should send them back to their main lair to report the news. This band of thieves suffered a setback in their attack on the village and were chased all the way. If they return to their lair now, they'll be like frightened birds. We'll create a show of force, making it look like a large army is surrounding them. Once the people in the lair where the supplies are stored run back, they'll realize that even their backup supplies have been seized and they might be surrounded. The thieves will collapse without a fight. Oh, and order the goblins to set fire to this area, so that the messengers who escape back to report will have a more credible story."
After saying this, Niu Zida ordered the goblins to set fire to the cave. Of course, he was reluctant to burn the supplies inside, but he simply had the goblins gather dry firewood and branches outside to make a show of it, creating the illusion that the place was ablaze.
After setting the fire, Niu Zida led the goblins to surround the main cave of the bandits. Sure enough, there were already quite a few bandits who had retreated there. Some of them were sitting at the cave entrance resting without any precautions. However, when they saw the flames soaring over the stronghold, some of them became nervous and suspicious.
Niu Zida blew the goblin bone whistle, startling the thieves again. He then instructed Yor to use his stealth skill to sneak in again under the cover of night, kill a few people, and then retreat. Since Yor was the only high-level combatant on his side, Niu Zida only instructed Yor to hit and run, except for when he was cooperating with the goblins to make a feint attack. He was not allowed to linger in battle, otherwise it would be dangerous if they found out that there were actually not many people on his side.
Chapter Thirty-Two: Battle Against the Thieves 3
Chapter Thirty-Two.
The thieves, already exhausted and terrified from being chased all the way from the village to the lair by Niu Zida and his maid, were thrown into chaos by the sight of their supply depot ablaze, the goblin clamor echoing from the lair, and the inexplicable killings of their own men. They scattered and fled for their lives, some of them straying out of the way. Occasionally, a lone thief would be attacked by hordes of hidden goblins, their screams echoing in the night. This further fueled the thieves' fears, making them believe they were truly being targeted by a massive goblin army from who-knows-where.
Although individual goblins are weak, they usually appear in groups. In human perception, goblins are synonymous with cruelty, lewdness, and treachery. Women are taken back to be used as breeding tools, and men are killed and stored as food for winter. Once captured by a large group of goblins, the fate is terrible.
This common knowledge on the border deepened the fear of the already jittery thieves. Coupled with Niu Zida and Yor's frequent ambushes and harassment, the thieves in the cave soon completely lost control. They began to scatter in all directions. A tall man with a scarred face, who seemed to be the leader, was desperately trying to gather his men, but no matter how he tried to restrain them, he could not control the situation.
Niu Zida summoned the captured bandit who had led the way earlier and asked him what the bandit leader looked like. The man pointed to the tall, scarred-faced man who was constantly restraining his subordinates and said:
"He is the leader of our band of thieves, Vitsinkay."
"To catch the thieves, first catch their leader," Niu Zida immediately ordered Yor to sneak in during the chaos, find the thief leader, and kill him with a single blow. The remaining thieves beside the leader were stunned by this sight, completely unaware of how their leader had fallen. However, after a brief moment of shock, the leaderless thieves scattered and fled in even greater disarray.
"I am Goblin Lord Niu Zida. Your leader, Vitxinkai, is dead. The rest of you, lay down your weapons and surrender immediately, or you will all be killed!"
Niu Zida then straddled Joel's slender neck, draped his legs over Joel's shoulders, and shouted these words. Seeing that some of the crowd were still running away in panic, Niu Zida simply ordered Joel to kill a few disobedient thieves nearby. Joel naturally did not hold back and killed more than ten people in succession before he could intimidate the remaining thieves at the scene.