Captives and Insiders

Are there any swords with such strange functions? What's the use of this thing?

Sorry, sometimes it can be quite useful.

In medieval noble wars, it was generally not customary to kill prisoners. Despite the often ignorant nature of nobles, especially knights in fights, they were particularly brave when it came to killing on the battlefield. However, there were civilized norms for surrendering nobles.

Of course, this seemingly civilized norm was actually based on the premise that the other party would pay a huge ransom or surrender territory. Refuse? Then you'll be imprisoned in a dungeon.

Records show cases of imprisonment for 10, 20 years, or even until death. However, these rules were limited to relatively peaceful areas.

In civilized areas such as England, Ireland, and the Nordic regions on the edge of civilization, there was no need for a reason for a large amount of killing. Damian's brother Schneider died at the hands of Viking pirates.

Another restriction is the status of the target. Most documented prisoners were relatively noble nobles. The Holy Roman Emperor imprisoned his brother for eleven years, and the King of Poland exiled his eldest son, leading to him living in an Italian monastery until three years before his death.

The life and death of lower-ranking knights often depended on luck.

But in any case, the probability of being killed on the spot should be very low if you offer a sword that makes surrender easy.

Before Damian agreed, Joan's eyes lit up, she rode over, bent down, took the sword, and then turned to Damian, "Can I have this sword?"

"No problem, if you like it."

After explaining so much, the surrender sword actually didn't have much use for Damian, who was always in a strategic position, so Damian nodded in agreement at this moment.

Seeing this scene, Henrik collapsed on the ground, and this bandit knight finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Although he was captured and lost his ancestral sword, as long as he was still alive, it was a victory.

Being a bandit knight doesn't necessarily mean they are constantly wandering bandits.

In fact, bandit knights often live in towns, and their lives are not entirely about robbery because they are just driven out of their homes, not sent to prison. These people often have suspicions of collusion with bandits outside the city and frequently gather to rob people from other places.

There was a story where a group of bandit farmers seized a town, and a local bandit knight living there thought they were too weak, forced them to admit they were the leader, then took them out to rob for a month and finally returned with a full haul.

These bandit knights are often accused by the church, guilds, and craftsmen associations. If the local lord has a good relationship with them, he will issue a pardon to evade legal sanctions. If the bandits cannot obtain a pardon, they need to choose between paying a fine, being expelled, or capturing and imprisoning them.

In short, bandit knights are not real bandits; everyone has their own ecosystem.

[Upgrade, available skill points: 1]

Damian saw the prompt but was not prepared to invest it in strategic skills again.

On the three lines of personal, army, and strategy, Damian felt that he should focus a bit on the personal line. In the future, Damian must participate in banquets and battlefield combats. It wouldn't be fun if he was captured on the spot due to inadequate martial skills.

So this time, Damian chose to increase his martial skills.

[Level 1 Warrior: Personal martial skills +10%]

In an instant, Damian's body not only became stronger but also instantly awakened the basic use of swordsmanship, spears, and bows and arrows. Of course, the system provided talents and crash courses. He was still relatively inexperienced and needed some time to train to be able to battle a knight without falling behind.

"Kill him?" the widow Amelia, with a cold expression, caught up. The killing of her husband made her unusually ruthless when facing the enemy.

Upon seeing Joan shining like the brilliant sun and Amelia as sharp as a sword, the bandit knight Henrik couldn't help but plead, "Respected ladies, please don't kill me! I… I am just a vanguard for Count Schmalen von Nosnberg of Bovendon. "

Suddenly, as if he had just thought of something, he hurriedly said:"I… I can tell you about his plans. Schmalen is gathering a temporary bandit knight force, preparing to invade the Gothingen County. He promises us that if we succeed in capturing it, he will expel all the knights in Gothingen and redistribute the territory for us."

Joan and Amelia both snorted coldly, while Damian's eyes were filled with anger.

In the Middle Ages, invasions were divided into two types. One was to only seize the lord's direct territory, leaving the vassals untouched. For this, most vassals could accept the theoretical conquest.

The other type of invasion was despicable, which involved stripping the original land knights of all their lands and redistributing them to their own vassals.

A typical example is Duke William the Conqueror of Normandy. This descendant of Vikings concentrated and redistributed the lands of over two thousand major landowners in the country to about two hundred or four hundred barons.

The unfortunate major landowners had no choice but to flee overseas and live on risky ventures. Many went to Constantinople and joined the Varangian Guard, replacing the Rus people as the new main force of the Varangian Guard.

This barbaric invasion was abhorrent to the nobles.

Now, for the sake of their free city, Damian had to confront Schmalen in a decisive battle.

Realizing he had spoken out of turn, Henrik quickly raised his hand, "I… I can help you get the marching route, just let me go back! I can swear in God's name."

"So, you are quite disloyal," Damian snorted coldly.

There was no need to worry that Henrik would go back on his word. Because devout medieval people rarely broke oaths made in God's name. This almost pathological fixation was a characteristic of the medieval people that is hard for modern people to understand.

"I just heard that I could gain territory by bringing people here," Henrik smiled ingratiatingly.

"Alright, gather your men and go back to tell Schmalen that Gothingen County is out of his reach," Damian thought for a moment and made a whimsical proposal, "If Schmalen doubts you, you can deceive him by saying that I can still negotiate with him."

Henrik naturally agreed to this proposal wholeheartedly.

So, Henrik shouted to his men and, with about thirty to forty people, disgracedly retreated.

[Battle Spoils: 20 gold coins]

After the battle, Damian made a small profit. The bandits' wealth was not valuable, but the dozens of slaves were. These people were enough to bring in another handsome sum.

"Aren't you afraid he will break his promise?" Amelia held onto her sword tightly.

"It doesn't matter, as long as we understand Schmalen's plans, we can unite internally," Damian let Henrik go, preparing to spread rumors.

To be precise, it wasn't exactly a rumor. It was just transferring the things Schmalen was planning to do and informing the knights of Gothingen County.

When it came to protecting their property, the Gothingen knights would display tremendous combat power.

After all, they really had a lot of land.