rune hunter

Chapter 159

Early the next morning, Tiana convened a second meeting with representatives from all parties. From the dark circles on her face, it could be seen that last night was another sleepless night.El wants to help, but he also knows that with his little ability, he can only help more and more chaos.

The task arranged by Tiana yesterday seemed simple, but in practice, it soon became apparent that the situation was even worse than expected.The expected pursuers did not appear in the direction of Istaron, which made El's troops spend a day on guard in vain, but almost everyone except them did not have a good rest.

Although the street performer Bonaparte does not look like a reliable person, he is very serious in his work.He visited almost all refugee families door-to-door yesterday, and the statistics he got made people not laugh at all.

"In addition to the armed forces, mercenaries, and caravan escorts, the number of exiles who gathered was close to 4000 two hundred people as of yesterday, and two-fifths of them are women and children close to this number. Not a pair One relationship, some families have more than one kid, and there are many young girls and widows who have lost their men... Let Ms. Mediah talk about this part later, the rest are disabled and old men, adult men. The numbers are basically negligible."

Bonaparte put down the parchment in his hand, wiped the cold sweat from his brow, and continued: "At first, the family members of the soldiers basically escaped. There are many civilians who have not yet considered where to escape. Throwing stones... the good news is that everyone is in good spirits, the bad news is - they have nothing but that."

"You underestimate the women in Istaren, Mr. Bonaparte." Mediah, who was sitting next to him, put down his slender pipe, exhaled a stream of smoke, and shook his head gently: "When men fight We women are never idle, why do you think the girls can cheer up? They are the wives and daughters of soldiers! Ms. Ranstadt, if necessary, I can draw a labor force of at least 500 people from the exiles , at least some of them can ride horses and dance swords.”

The stripper who once fascinated even iron-blooded soldiers like the former Grand Duke Caesar is definitely not a powerful existence that ordinary prostitutes can compare to.As soon as Mediah spoke, his tone was full of swords and swords.When she said this, she glanced at El intentionally or unintentionally, and the knife-like gaze made El shiver uncontrollably.

"It's a little better than I expected." Tiana nodded and said

"Girls are very strong, and they will survive. The key is the children. There are too many children." Mediah changed the subject, and his face became solemn: "Two-fifths of the children are more than 500 people. There are 600 children who are almost adults, and the remaining children and even babies. These children cannot take care of themselves and lack the ability to protect themselves. If we cannot find a shelter as soon as possible, their future fate is worrying. "

"The fate of all of us is very worrying." Bonaparte added with a playful smile: "But those little devils are more prone to accidents. I also like children very much, but I must say responsibly that in this situation, Many children will die along the way."

"The purpose of our sitting here is to prevent this tragedy from happening." Tiana said in a deep voice, she turned to look at the noble representative: "Mr. Anderov, what is the result of your research?"

"I'm afraid it's not the news you want to hear." Andlov bowed to Tiana, hesitated and said, "In our opinion, the families of these soldiers are like our relatives. But for those who like For the southern aristocrats who weigh the gains and losses, these women and children can’t bring any benefits to their territory, which means they have no value. Please forgive me, I’m afraid you have to be mentally prepared to face the most unfavorable situation.”

"We will not get any help from the southern lords, and no one will take these women and children. To make matters worse, the migration of large numbers of women and children will soon attract the attention of those slave owners. They will like smell They will pounce on us like stinky flies, looking for any possible profit-making channels, and once they find that we cannot protect ourselves, they will immediately show their fangs and bite off a piece of flesh from us."

The delegates at the meeting fell into a deathly silence as the old nobleman spoke.Most of them have been thinking about how to solve the problem of survival from yesterday to now, but they have never thought that sometimes man-made disasters are more terrible than natural disasters.Although the Kingdom of Auckland has entered the feudal era, there are still many countries in this world that still adhere to the original slavery system.The dirty business of slave trading has always existed firmly on the dark side of the world because of its huge profits.

Istaron's fortified walls and fearless warriors once kept out this murky filth, and the exiles now have nothing left.The old aristocrat's slap in the face shocked everyone, Bonaparte and Media turned black, and the businessmen around Jupiter exchanged glances calmly.When it comes to slave trading, it can actually be regarded as a commodity transaction. The nobles just enjoy the fruits, but the real handlers are slave merchants.

The nature of businessmen is profit-seeking, and they can do whatever it takes to double their profits. Once they abandon the bottom line of being a human being, even their own compatriots may not be unable to be regarded as commodities.Andlov's original intention was to sound a warning, but it was hard to tell what would happen when he heard it in their ears.

Except for Jupiter who got the news and prepared in advance, several other big businessmen lost a lot of assets more or less in this disaster. Nothing is left.For these businessmen who regard speculation as their life goal, it is often easier to take risks when they are at the end of their rope.When I heard the news just now, although two businessmen were calm on the surface, the flickering in their eyes and the beating of their hearts couldn't hide from El's perception.

They didn't show any abnormalities, and El, who was in an awkward position, was naturally embarrassed to say so.He also pretended that he hadn't noticed anything, patted the clothes on his chest without any trace, and said to Xiao Langa silently in his heart: "Tell Tiana a word-the businessman has an idea."

Although Xiao Langa himself is not very fluent in speaking, it is still no problem to use the soul link to send a simple message.El didn't say much, he just passed the news to Tiana, and letting her know was enough.

The magician girl sitting on the other side was frowning, and suddenly her whole body became excited, and her face changed rapidly. Although she knew that El had an earthworm larva in her hand, it was the first time for her to receive a mind link.However, her adaptability was very quick, she just nodded slightly, and didn't look over to El, nor did she deliberately pay attention to those businessmen.She coughed lightly and said, "Let us consider the most urgent issue at present, Mr. Andlov, if the southern lord cannot accept these refugees, what is our next plan?"

"Actually...although we can't guarantee it, we should at least try to get in touch with some local lords." Andlov seemed to have noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere at the meeting. He covered his mouth and coughed twice, followed Tiya Na's topic said: "For example, the wild boar lord Chalkin in the Camille Wasteland, although he has not been in touch with us these years, he has some connections with our white lion family after all. If you ask him for help, you may get unexpected benefits. reward."

"I will personally write a letter of appeal for help, please choose a reliable person and send it to try it out." Tiana nodded and said.She turned to look at the others: "Any other pressing issues that need to be addressed?"

"Ms. Ranstadt, the students are very emotional, and they want to contribute their strength to the exiles." A mercenary captain said.

"Now is not the time to be willful, I will go to appease them." Tiana shook her head and said, "Is there anything else?"

Jupiter didn't really want to speak at first, but suddenly felt Tiana's and El's eyes looking at him at the same time.The old businessman's heart twitched, but he immediately reacted based on his years of experience, and immediately raised his hand and said, "Ms. Ranstadt, I must seek your opinion on the specific distribution of food."

"The rations of the war horses must not be reduced, even if the soldiers are hungry." El found a reason casually, following the old businessman's words, and said to Tiana "filled with righteous indignation".

"Okay, General El, Mr. Jupiter, you two stay here, let's study it again." Tiana rubbed her temples and shook her head in distress: "Let's dismiss the others first, and continue to collect information. We'll have another meeting tonight."

With the seamless cooperation of the two powerful actors, no one noticed anything unusual, they all got up and saluted and left the venue, leaving only the old businessman sitting there alone in cold sweat, not daring to move.

After everyone left, Tiana's tired expression suddenly changed. She quickly weaved a set of secret gestures, releasing an invisible ripple to cover the entire tent, completely shielding all detection methods from the outside world.

The old businessman looked left and right pitifully, not knowing how these two big men wanted to deal with him, he couldn't help feeling a little uneasy.

"What do you think?" Tiana asked suddenly without going back and forth.

"The point is not what I think." El shrugged, pouted like an old businessman: "He is just like those guys. You should find out what he thinks."

Tiana nodded, then turned to the old businessman and asked, "If you want to sell the refugees in Istaren now, what would you do?"

"Gods! My lord! Ms. Ranstadt! I'm a businessman!" Jupiter froze for a moment, then jumped up in fright, raised his hand and sent a message to all the gods he knew. After making a poisonous oath, he said solemnly: "I never do that kind of unscrupulous business!"

"I just want to hear your opinion." El waved his hand to signal the old businessman not to panic. He and Tiana looked at each other, and already had an idea in their hearts.

(End of this chapter)