When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 612: Delay, Yes, Delay

"So far, 30 households have joined the sickle..."

"Pah—" Before Henderson could finish his words, he was slapped hard in the face.

In the autumn rain, there was a dark red brazier in the hunter's hut. Adrian sat with his arms and legs crossed beside the simple walnut table.

"You said you could stop these monks. You tried to stop them so many times. Was it effective? Did you stop them?"

Adrian no longer had the boldness and honesty he had in front of Ansel. His eyes even reflected the red light of the brazier, making him look as gloomy and menacing as an eagle.

"With just two of them, Bryson can fool you around. Do you think he's on your side? Can you stop him?"

With his face swollen, Henderson grumbled incoherently: "Sir, it's really blue! They..."

"It's so difficult with just two of us? Don't you care about your dignity?"

Henderson said with a bitter face: "No, sir, he gave money to those stupid farmers. If I had money, I would give it to them, but I don't have that much money. I really don't know how to stop him."

Tilt his head back and close his eyes. Adrian inhaled and exhaled several times through his nose before slowly opening his eyes: "Uncle Henderson, we are a family, right? I held your son in my arms before, and I went to toast when you and your wife got married."

Henderson's expression turned cold, and he replied tremblingly: "Yes, yes..."

"Well, tell your son to take this letter to Mason Parish, and then leave it there and don't come back."

After trembling for a while, Henderson suppressed his fear and nodded: "Now, isn't it a bit early to start now?"

Speaking of this, Adrian's anger, which had just subsided, rose again.

"If you can hold on a little longer, why should I start now?"

He grabbed the whetstone on the table and threw it at Henderson. The flying whetstone drew an arc and hit Henderson's head accurately.

"Ouch." Henderson covered his head in pain and instantly fell to the ground and curled up.

Looking at Henderson struggling and groaning, Adrian's anger was still not subsided.

He had contacted the knights and armed peasants from 20 estates in the three nearby parishes and obtained promises both overt and covert.

The original intention was to postpone the reform of perpetual tenancy rights until early or mid-October, and then use the Salvation Army as an excuse to trigger large-scale protests and riots.

Even if this riot fails, at least that damn farmer Horn can be slapped hard in the face.

The Salvation Army was formed by a peasant uprising. Now they have provoked a peasant uprising. If they suppress it, they will lose face. If they don't suppress it, they will lose money.

And regardless of whether it succeeds or not, before the mountains are closed due to heavy snow, this so-called permanent lease reform cannot be pushed forward and may even regress.

A whole winter was enough for all the nobles in the Thousand River Valley to unite and launch an attack.

At that time, either the two sides will engage in a civil war and suffer mutual defeat, or the reform of the Mountain County will be temporarily suspended and both sides will save face and change their names.

Adrian has obtained a verbal promise and oath from an earl that once the perpetual lease reform in Mountain County is revoked, the eight nearby manors will belong to him, and he may even be conferred the title of baron.

In order to cover this up, he deliberately disguised himself as a drunkard who was indifferent to the world, just to paralyze Ansel and get away with it afterwards.

Unfortunately, before the situation could escalate further, his own home was robbed.

And it wasn't just his own family. In addition to the Mason parish, knights from nearby areas all wrote in to complain, saying that their own manors and farmers had their pure hearts corrupted by the vicious wool spinning.

Everyone was afraid, thinking that if they didn't start now, they would have no chance in the future. Adrian just took advantage of the situation and decided to start early.

According to the plan, the Mason parish would revolt first, then gather together and rely on their familiarity with the terrain to migrate to his parish.

Then they wanted to kill the monks sent by the Holy Grandson, and in order to "protect civilians", the manor knights had to force the mountain people to cooperate with them.

However, Adrian was worried at the moment. The original battle time was one month or even half a month. If it was extended to one and a half months, could they withstand the attack of the Salvation Army?
But it doesn’t matter. As long as the Salvation Army takes action against the mountain people, their so-called “loving believers” image will be broken.

Right, that is it.

While Adrian was thinking, Henderson, who was still calling out, quietly stood up and hesitated for a long time before speaking: "Sir Adrian, this is a matter of life and death. After going to the plains, 15 gold pounds a year is a lot. Why do you have to do this? Or... forget it?"

Adrian, who had been looking down, suddenly raised his head. He looked at Henderson for a long while and suddenly burst into laughter.

"Forget it. How can you ask me to forget it?" Adrian squeezed the gilded copper cup in his hand. "This is the manor that has been passed down from generation to generation to me. Is Melia going to take it away with just one word?"

At this point, Adrian gritted his teeth, and even his lips trembled slightly: "I have seen the god of death so many times in the war in Mound County, and many times he crawled back from the pile of corpses!
Look at me, I have so many scars and hidden wounds on my body. My bones and eyes ache every time the rainy season comes. What do I want? I have done so much. Even if I have no credit, I have worked hard, right?

But when the territory was finally divided, I was eliminated because of my so-called "lack of martial arts skills" and "serious alcoholism."

As he spoke, Adrian approached Henderson step by step, and even his face turned red and ferocious like a devil.

Seeing the knight coming, Henderson was so scared that he fell to the ground.

The knight who drank all day long pounded his chest hard and said, "I know, I know it's impossible for all the mountain people to go to Plain County. Well, for the honor of the knight, I will go home. I won't fight or rob!
I just want to stay at my own manor, go to Moundshire or the Kingdom of Norn for the winter, buy some porcelain and put it in the house, and live in peace and security every year.

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But they want to deprive us of even this little right! What the hell are the hundred households, what the hell are the perpetual leases, they just want to deprive the knights of their honor!

They thought they could trick me with a hundred households and a perpetual lease? They thought they could buy me off with 15 pounds?
I tell you, the Mounts family has been the lord of this manor for a hundred years, and it will be the lord of this manor a hundred years from now!"

Adrian's voice echoed in the dim hut like a night owl, while the previously arrogant and ferocious Henderson huddled in the corner, unable to even speak.

After shouting this, the entire hunter's cabin fell into silence, with only the sound of rain outside the window getting heavier and heavier.

I don't know how long it took, maybe a dozen seconds or maybe a dozen minutes, the suffocating silence was broken by the harsh friction sound of Adrian pulling the chair.

The dim candlelight shone on the log walls, illuminating the tapestries and furs on the walls. When Adrian spoke, even the candlelight swayed: "During this time, you have to do two things."

Henderson, who had been hiding in the corner, immediately jumped up and bowed to receive orders.

"The first thing is to use the time when they delay delivery to reduce the number of new members of the Scythe Brotherhood. The second thing is to find out who are the absolute supporters of Ansel."

"Sir, the second thing is easy, but the first one..." Henderson had suffered a lot after several confrontations, and was no longer as calm and confident as he was at the beginning.

"They used rumors, incitement, and hired a few gossipers. Even though they were so active, they didn't consider those two monks as their own people in their hearts."

Adrian knew these mountain people too well. Even though they were as warm and friendly as brothers now, when it came to a life-and-death struggle, no one would stand on his side, or very few people would stand by him.

The mountain people are both selfish and selfless. They can be as close to others as brothers in normal times, but when it comes to sacrifice, they are much smarter than the farmers in Plain County.

Otherwise, why do the bishops of mountainous counties always complain to the archbishop that “poor mountains and bad waters give rise to unruly people”?

Henderson lowered his head even lower: "But even if I spread rumors that the salaries can't be paid, when they are really paid, won't it have the opposite effect?"

"Today is September 9th." Without answering his question, Adrian suddenly mentioned the date, "There are still seven days until the second payday. Remember to invite as many people from the manor as possible to the main house on that day."

He nodded blankly at first, then Henderson's hair stood on end as if he had thought of something: "You mean, kill all the people outside the main house?"

"As long as we have the land, there are plenty of farmers who lack land in the mountains. Even if we kill 200 of them, are we afraid that we won't be able to recruit new ones?" Adrian said with a gloomy face, shaking the wine in the glass.

"But if that's the case, won't the remaining Gongbo farmers riot?"

"As long as you eight armed peasants stand with me, can the rest of the mortals still rebel? I am extraordinary!" After drinking a whole glass of wine, Adrian burped, and his face was flushed, not sure whether it was due to excitement or drunkenness.

"It's already this late. These people have been poisoned. We have to kill them. Otherwise - hiccup - it won't work!"

(End of this chapter)