Chapter 107.1: Monster X2
Lord Adra III of Indahl had sent his soldiers to deliver a total of 52 sets of full-body armor and over a hundred weapons, including spears, swords, short swords, and blunt weapons, to the players.
Players gleefully brought this equipment, along with the equipment's owners and their mounts, back to Weisshem. Both the captives and horses belonged to Yang Qiu, and as for equipment… half of it also ended up with Yang Qiu.
It couldn't be helped. Firstly, players couldn't use spears and blunt instruments, as these weighed nearly half of a player's skeletal body. Just picking them up would disrupt their balance, let alone actually be effective in combat.
The components of full-body armor, including shoulder plates, chest plates, and steel kilts, were also unusable for players. Their skeleton body couldn't support these heavy pieces of gear.
The riding greaves worn by the cavalrymen were, of course, also unusable for players. Ordinary shoes would already make a player's skeletal frame unable to walk, let alone these boots with a heavy steel shell.
If Yang Qiu didn't offer some reputation, coins, or other rewards in exchange for gear that couldn't be equipped, the players would surely throw a huge fuss and complain on the forum.
In any case, players were delighted that they had managed to plunder helmets, arm guards, guards, leg bindings, long swords, short swords, and other gear. They even complained that Weisshem didn't have enough open space to auction their loot and thus noisily commuted back to Exile Town.
It was also lucky that Weisshem didn't have enough empty space for them to hold auctions; otherwise, Wagner Pitt, who had just become a prisoner, might have been infuriated to death.
When Wagner Pitt was stripped of his equipment, tied up, and taken away on horseback by the undead, he felt utter despair. He assumed that he would have the miserable fate of either having his head chopped off or becoming an undead sacrifice.
However, after being brought to Weisshem as a prisoner, Wagner suddenly realized something was wrong.
The undead had dragged them through the streets, but the townspeople that were returning home didn't run away in panic. Some had even dared to stop and watch!
Wagner even saw the townspeople who stopped by the roadside chatting among themselves curiously as if the high and mighty Indahl city defense force was a circus sideshow…
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtAs they passed through residential areas, even children excitedly ran out of their homes to get a close-up view, only to be dragged back by adults.
Although he couldn't hear the voices of the townspeople due to the constant and raucous "KABAKABA" noises of the undead, Wagner felt utterly embarrassed and wished he could drop dead on the spot… He had never imagined the scene of him entering Weisshem to be this awkward.
Beyond that, Wagner was genuinely relieved—since the undead only captured them alive, and Weisshem, the supposed "nest of undead," was thriving with life, indicating that the new lord, Rex, was unlikely an evildoer. For the time being, the lives of the cavalry squad seemed relatively safe.
Following that, the undead indeed only took away their horses and belongings before placing them under the courtyard wall of Weisshem's town hall. Then, in succession, the skeletons stepped onto a raised platform in the middle of the courtyard and disappeared.
Wagner stared with wide eyes until the last undead "vanished" and sighed, feeling a sense of relief.
That's right, these undead were just tools that the new lord, Rex, had used to deal with them.
Since Rex had gotten these undead to capture them alive, it meant that he probably would take their lives. It was more likely that he would use the captured cavalry squad as bargaining chips to gain something from Indahl.
Wagner struggled to sit up and gazed straight ahead solemnly. He tried his best to maintain some shred of dignity to not appear too disheveled when Rex's people saw him.
Half an hour passed…
An hour…
As the sky gradually darkened, Wagner's legs started to go numb, and the areas bound by rope started to ache. His men were all exhausted and dozing off, yet no one came to deal with them.
The town hall wasn't completely deserted; during the long period of sitting, Wagner saw at least four groups of tanned, young women in neat attire carrying thick folders or holding boxes, coming and going out of the town hall.
These women… weren't very proper. At least, Wagner had never seen young women this age actually going out with such messy hair, not to mention the mud and dust on their shoes, clothes, and even their faces.
As these ladies hurriedly came and left, they would occasionally cast a curious glance in his direction, but there was no intention of engaging in conversation or contact.
In addition to these peculiar women, the undead that Wagner never wanted to see again… also appeared.
In the platform center of the courtyard where the undead had disappeared, varying numbers of undead appeared after a flash of white light.
These undead completely ignored Wagner and the others, chattered in their headache-inducing "KABAKABAKA" noises the moment they appeared, and headed out of the town hall.
From where Wagner was, he could see a little of the street beyond the courtyard gate. He witnessed these undead boldly strolling out and following along the street.
There were residential dwellings in the vicinity of the town hall, yet these undead coming and going without inducing any signs of panic such as screams indicated that besides serving the new lord and capturing outsiders like Wagner and his unit, the undead were also active in the town at other times.
There were people coming in and out of the town hall, and occasionally pedestrians could be seen on the street outside. It showed that the locals didn't deliberately avoid the town hall due to the presence of the undead.
Their cavalry squad, fully armed and trespassing without notifying the lord in advance, didn't in any way look like visitors. Yet, Rex had gotten the undead to spare their lives.
As a beneficiary of this, Wagner was in no position to blame the people of Weisshem for not putting up any resistance and accepting coexistence with the undead…
Wagner continued to ponder, finding it increasingly difficult to understand.
The main enemies Indahl's city defense force faced were bandits, marauders, and beasts from the Sorensen Mountains and nearby areas. Wagner only knew how to combat these adversaries and lacked much knowledge about dark beings.
Knowledge in this world didn't come cheap. Wagner, who had a rough upbringing, was sold into the Rhine Kingdom as a young servant for six silver coins. Even reading a newspaper required guesswork for him, and he had to ask the wives of ordinary citizens for the meaning of slightly obscure words.
Wagner's lack of understanding of the tactics and coordination of these dark beings meant that all he knew was what he read about them in newspapers. Such reports depicted the undead as beings inclined toward slaughter, inherently evil, and entirely incompatible to coexist peacefully with humans.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWhile Wagner reckoned that what appeared in the newspapers had some inaccuracies, he, at least, considered it to be largely the truth.
As he continued to contemplate, two men hurriedly entered the town hall courtyard.
No, it was a young man with a strong physique, visibly formidable, accompanied by an undead companion, and both were pushing bicycles with muddy steel frames. This scene made Wagner do a double take.
The young man also looked at Wagner, and his dirt-covered, sweaty face revealed a surprise. He then turned to exchange a few words with the accompanying undead.
From what Wagner saw, it was unexpected but not entirely surprising, considering that the locals didn't seem to show any intention of avoiding the town hall, which he considered a "nest of undead."
The young man and the undead continued to push their bikes and entered the town hall's lobby.
Wagner glanced at the darkening sky and sighed. It seemed that they would be left to cool off overnight, and Lord Rex, who had established a solid position in Weisshem, would only show up later.
At this moment, yet another large group entered the town hall courtyard.
All of them are young men and women with tanned skin. These people were carrying thick document bags, lugging half-empty cloth bags, wearing backpacks, or jointly carrying wooden boxes.
Most of them had rather delicate facial features, but they didn't seem to care about their appearance. Each of them appeared rather tired, with hair damp from sweat and dirt or mud on their faces, hands, clothes, and shoes.
As they passed through the courtyard, they would glance curiously in Wagner's direction, but no one even spoke as if even talking was a strenuous effort for them.
This group also entered the town hall.
Wagner eyed them suspiciously, unable to comprehend what these young people were up to.
They appeared too fragile to be laborers and didn't seem at all capable of handling such duties.
It was unlikely that they were clerical staff. Most of this group were women, and would any administrative office hire women as clerks, and so many at that?
Moreover, clerks in administrative offices were usually composed individuals, unlike how this disheveled bunch looked.