Ch.9Fame

It was around the time when Ignatz and his soldiers were scouring the forest to eliminate the bandits.

Clatter… clatter…

A group of people trudged toward Amurtat, following a small cart pulled by a skinny horse as their guide.

They were slash-and-burn farmers who had lived in lands unprotected by any domain.

Having left behind their village, collapsed by plague and internal strife, they had been wandering aimlessly through mountain paths until they heard rumors of a city called Amurtat that could be reached by following the forest path. Now they were desperately making their way there.

As one might expect from slash-and-burn farmers, their lives had already been barely sustainable. The prolonged wandering gradually ate away at their vitality, and before long, their numbers dwindled from hundreds to mere dozens.

As a result, among the homeless refugees walking without destination, only three elderly people remained.

The rest had either died from the forced march or been devoured by monsters and beasts while they slept.

When you think about it, even having dozens left might be considered quite an achievement.

In fact, if they hadn’t thought this way, they would have died on the roadside long ago.

Survival was their calling and hope, and even becoming slaves would be better than starving to death miserably.

To save at least the emaciated infants they carried, the refugees walked on and on, forcibly patching their worn-out shoes.

And finally, they discovered a checkpoint at the forest entrance, and at last, they could feel alive again after a very long time.

*

“Refugees, I see.”

While their backstories differed, what mattered was that dozens of refugees had requested to join Amurtat.

Usually, such events appeared in clusters during the early game, partly to help players quickly increase their population, but there was also a sinister ulterior motive.

As I mentioned before, more people means more mouths to feed.

Accepting a few dozen might be manageable with a snort, but when that number becomes hundreds or thousands, food supplies are depleted in an instant.

One might think, “Why not just refuse them?” But that’s precisely where novices who know nothing end up failing.

Even in reality, if someone who’s about to starve to death is told to get lost because you have nothing to give them, they’ll go berserk. Why would it be any different here?

If you press the ‘Refuse’ button, crime rate increase events start popping up shortly after, and that’s when players get backstabbed by the malicious developers.

What kind of developer came up with the idea that if people can’t live in the city, they’ll steal from it?

While it was impossible to steal from warehouse stocks, once desperate refugees started attacking taverns, mills, bakeries, and livestock barns in overwhelming numbers, that’s when naive players would curse their past selves for not checking the ‘Security’ tab in the construction menu.

It wasn’t frustrating enough to quit the game since you could always reload a save, but nonetheless, having the production facilities I’d carefully nurtured get ransacked just because I pressed the ‘Refuse’ button on an event—without any warning or sign—meant that screenshots of cities thrown into chaos by refugee events frequently became top posts in the Polistory community.

Yet all players acknowledged that this event was essential, as it wasn’t simply designed to frustrate players but to comprehensively test how much they had developed their city’s productivity and whether they could protect it from external threats.

And taking a step back, without this event, players would have to wait for the population to grow naturally, which would waste about 20-30 hours of gameplay. There was no better means of rapidly increasing population than this event.

Provided, of course, that one was prepared.

“Will you accept them? They don’t look to be in good condition… they might even be carrying a plague.”

“Hmph. If they had the plague, they would have died long ago. Give them the remaining houses and put them to work in the fields. Anyone who refuses goes to the logging camp.”

“Understood, Your Highness.”

And of course, I was more than prepared.

The herbs gathered by the forest keepers were stockpiled in the warehouse, so I could adequately handle any outbreak of disease, and I had purchased large quantities of bread and preserved meat with the money earned from selling leather, so food was plentiful.

I even had spare housing and jobs available—now that’s what I call a true flex!

*

The interrogation ended quickly.

The bandits spilled everything they knew in hopes of an easy death, and Ignatz showed mercy by personally beheading them.

“Sergeant!”

“Yes, Sir Ignatz!”

“Order the soldiers to prepare for battle! We strike their hideout after breakfast!”

“Yes, sir!”

Striking the enemy’s base with lightning speed would have been the best approach, but how could they fight on empty stomachs after not eating all night?

Though the meal was simple—just oatmeal topped with a few pieces of preserved meat.

However, this was enough to fill their bellies, and being easy to clean up, they could quickly dismantle their camp and raid the bandits’ hideout.

While a delicious meal is important, this was enemy territory. It was a hundred times better to finish quickly with less tasty food than to leisurely cook and risk being ambushed by enemies.

The soldiers seemed to understand this, finishing their meals much faster than usual and beginning to break down the camp.

Having completed all preparations before the sun reached its zenith, the battalion began marching in formation toward the bandits’ hideout, finally arriving when the sun was directly overhead.

“According to the bandits, there are about 130 of them here.”

Though fewer than the forces Ignatz was leading, 130 was still a considerable number.

The fact that so many bandits had been operating in Amurtat’s forest until now made anger rise from deep within Ignatz’s heart.

“We must be careful, sir. In such a narrow cave, there’s a high chance of chaotic fighting.”

Just then, the sergeant approached him with a concerned face to offer advice.

“I’m aware. Position our strongest soldiers with shields at the front.”

“Are you planning to charge straight in? We could also use smoke for chemical warfare…”

“Then we wouldn’t be able to enter either. What if the bandits escape through the billowing smoke? This is their base. It wouldn’t be surprising if they had one or two secret passages.”

“…I see. Then I’ll select our strongest soldiers. Please wait a moment.”

The sergeant’s point was valid, but this was the enemy’s stronghold.

Moreover, not knowing the structure inside the cave meant that the smoke might only gather at the entrance, leaving us vulnerable to ambush as we advanced.

Besides, they had spent considerable time inside the cave; it would be implausible if they hadn’t created at least one secret passage during that time.

“Sir Ignatz, the troops are ready.”

“Good. Everyone, move in!”

“Hah!”

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Two hundred and eighty soldiers formed a loose formation and entered the narrow cave.

And the moment they passed the entrance…

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

“Urgh!”

In the rain of arrows, three soldiers at the front immediately perished, but their sacrifice allowed thirty soldiers to enter the cave—a honorable sacrifice indeed.

“Damn it! What are you doing, idiots! Shoot faster!”

“Raise your shields! Keep pushing forward!”

One side was trying to shoot as many arrows as possible, while the other was trying to advance as far as possible, but unfortunately, the arrows fell faster than the soldiers could run.

Thwack-thwack-thwack-thwack!

“Gaaaargh!”

“Damn it all!”

Another shower of arrows claimed five strong men, and taking advantage of the gap, the bandits began retreating deeper into the cave.

Ignatz grew increasingly urgent, but calculating that even if there were secret passages, there wouldn’t be enough time for all of them to escape, he ordered his soldiers to clear away the bodies of the fallen and continue deeper into the cave.

“Keep advancing!”

“Hold your shields straight! If you don’t want to die!”

Thwack! Thwack!

“Urgh!”

“Are you hurt?”

“No, sir! It hit my shield!”

“Then keep moving!”

The bandits had the initial momentum, but as arrows were blocked by shields and archers began to be slaughtered by swordsmen, the situation dramatically reversed.

The bandits, now out of arrows, were cornered at the end of the cave, with the only exit blocked by the punitive force.

“Surrender, and I guarantee you a merciful execution.”

Ignatz offered surrender one last time.

“Fuck that! If we’re going to die anyway, we’ll take you all with us!”

“The world can go to hell!”

Their response came immediately, and Ignatz had no choice but to order his troops to kill them all.

In this operation, the punitive force suffered forty casualties and twenty-three wounded.

The bandits were completely annihilated; the pile of their bodies in the depths of the cave was surely the angels’ punishment for choosing the most depraved way of life.