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Clearly, the approach Lynn had advised was highly effective, it only took as long as one meal to dissolve most of the animosity from the peasants.

Having had their fill of food and wine, Ryder turned down those impoverished commoners and slave miners who wished to join their group, liberating themselves, advising them to think it over carefully for a few more days before making a solemn decision.

While expanding the army was indeed urgent, he was well aware that recruiting too many unqualified people would only make the army lax and bereft of fighting strength.

“You’ll be leading the night watch tonight, make sure to be extra vigilant, and never let your guard down,” Ryder instructed a trusted aide.

The soldiers within the castle might have been eliminated by them, but this did not mean complete safety. @@novelbin@@

...

Previously, he had ordered the infamous rich households and minor nobility within the castle to be rounded up and hanged, but the cleanup might not have been thorough, necessitating vigilance against any residual forces that might attempt a night attack.

After arranging all matters, Ryder, who had been on high alert the entire time, finally allowed himself to relax a bit, just about to get some good sleep when Lynn’s voice echoed in his mind.

“It seems you’ve become quite experienced with these matters!”

Ryder had long been accustomed to the occasional additional voice in his head and wasn’t surprised at all, he scratched his head and said somewhat sheepishly, “I owe it to your guidance, Lord Lynn.”

With no miners around, Ryder shed his disguise. Despite his youth, he often had to feign maturity to instill confidence in the others.

“It’s just guidance after all; when it comes to practice, it’s all on you,” Lynn said with a smile, responding to Ryder’s unexpectedly better performance than anticipated. Initially, Lynn had to handhold him through every aspect of leading the army and tactics, but now, in just over half a month, Ryder was able to make some arrangements on his own.

“However, I must tell you some bad news: The Earl, Joyce, whom you let escape, has already fled to the royal palace, meaning your efforts to liberate the miners in the southern part of the kingdom have been exposed!” Lynn continued gravely. “The army coming to subdue you is led by Duke Rickman, comprising fifteen thousand soldiers, with several bishops and some clergy accompanying them.”

Ryder’s expression became instantly grave; the trouble caused by just one bishop was substantial, not to mention that several were coming this time.

The Thunder Summoning Technique was powerful, but it could only be used to its fullest during thunderstorms, allowing him to compete with the bishops capable of performing Divine Arts, and he couldn’t use it many times.

An army of over ten thousand regular troops could easily obliterate them.

Consider that in the previous conflict with Joyce, who came to quell them, he brought only a thousand men, and the entire garrison of Earl’s territories amounted to around two thousand, most of whom were temporarily recruited peasant soldiers. Even so, they had to resort to deceit to win.

After struggling for a long time, Ryder finally said with a sigh, “I can’t defeat them; it looks like we’ll have to hide in the mountains.”

This was the only way out.

“No, that won’t be necessary; I have a way for you to defeat the Grand Duke,” Lynn’s voice rose again.

Ryder’s eyes suddenly brightened, and he had no doubts about Lynn’s statement; he had witnessed all kinds of ingenious tactics from the other party, very impressive ones that had outwitted Earl Joyce completely.

“I’ve sent you some reinforcements, of course, but you still need to buy some time, about ten days or so, while the legion led by Rickman will be able to arrive in five or six days at most,” Lynn explained.

It was not easy to transport the entire musket team from Iyeta to the Kingdom of [Hadlata], especially the cannons, which could not be moved quickly…

…

A few days passed in a flash, and the great army assembled in the capital, under the rousing call of Grand Duke Rickman, marched valiantly towards the Earl’s territory.

However, halfway there, Rickman experienced just how dishonorable those despicable mine slaves were, not only setting numerous traps along the way but also sending a guerrilla force that hid in the nearby mountains.

During the day they were nowhere to be seen, but at night, when his men were ready to rest, these miners would suddenly emerge from a distance and shoot a volley of fire arrows before fleeing without hesitation, regardless of whether they hit anything or not.

Though because of the long range and it being deep into the night, the aim of the arrows was not very accurate, and they hardly injured anyone, the miners still managed to disturb their peace.

These people were like gnawing rats, squeaking incessantly by one’s ear, and when you got up wanting to hit them, you just couldn’t find where they were hiding.

With no other choice, Rickman the Grand Duke had to enlist the help of the bishops accompanying the army, using Divine Arts to deal with these elusive, annoying “gnawing rats,” capturing in the process a hundred and fifty crossbows in one fell swoop.

“What a foolish tactic, to actually deliver such valuable crossbows to our doorstep!” Rickman said with a cold laugh. He had previously thought the leaders of those mine slaves were somewhat competent, difficult adversaries, but now it seemed they were only capable of lowly tricks.

In an Earl’s territory, scrapping together three hundred strong crossbows would be the limit, the only means those rioters had to oppose them, and yet they had given away half of them at once, which could only be described as foolish!

Stumbling along the way, it took almost eight days to arrive at the destination. Rickman didn’t choose to attack the city directly because Joyce, wanting to leave himself an escape route, had once dug a tunnel from outside the city to the inside of the castle, and now it was time to use it!

Rickman immediately dispatched an elite squad, along with a bishop, through the tunnel, taking advantage of the night to infiltrate the city, opening the city gates, and even coordinating with the city’s minor nobles for a combined inside-outside attack.

The plan went incredibly smoothly, and in less than half an hour, the tightly closed city gates were opened. Rickman immediately led his men into the city, only to be surprised to find that all the rebellious miners had already withdrawn.

It was like punching into cotton, leaving Rickman deeply frustrated.

Upon returning to the castle, Joyce was moved to tears of excitement, but when he rushed back to his manor to open his treasury, he was greeted with nothing but empty space.

All the gold and silver had been distributed by Ryder, the inestimable treasures were buried, leaving behind only the four bare white walls.

“These despicable thieves!” Joyce was so angry he nearly vomited blood and almost fainted on the spot.