Don't move, it's a robbery!

"If you can't eat it, you can't eat it. Why lie to me? Lying to me is one thing, but hitting me is another..."

"What are you muttering about?"

"No, no! I didn't!"

"Don't talk nonsense, get back to work."

The female neighbor approached the captive Frog with a pitiful expression, then forcibly opened his eyes, preparing to use her charm.

I have to say, charm is a really convenient ability, much more reliable than torture or forced confessions. Tina was initially determined not to tell me anything, but after I used charm on her, she even told me the color of her underwear.

"I didn't say that!"

Look, Tina's face is all red.

Actually, I originally wanted to send two female succubi, but their charms could only turn people into fools, not manipulate them to tell secrets, so I changed it to having my female neighbor use her charms instead.

However, the vampire's charm ability is still far inferior to that of the forest witch. Perhaps it's because the female neighbor's bloodline is not good enough. In any case, she tried several times but failed.

"No, his resistance is too strong; I can't control him."

I nodded, then grabbed a stick and whacked Frog with it.

"Bang!"

The blow didn't knock Frog unconscious, it just stunned him. Taking advantage of his momentary daze, the female neighbor used her charm again and finally succeeded.

"I'm exhausted! Could you give me some blood? Sheep's blood will do!"

"If you work honestly for me, I'll bring you a sheep tomorrow."

"Okay! What do you want me to do next?"

"Control him and make him reveal all the secrets."

The female neighbor nodded, and then manipulated Frog to tell her secret.

"When I was nine years old, I wet the bed one day. I was afraid of being discovered, so I put my mother's dog on the bed and said it was the dog that peed on it."

"When I was 11 years old, I peeked at the maid taking a bath, and as I watched, I discovered that my uncle was also peeping nearby."

"When I was 13, I had a crush on the daughter of the owner of the bakery in the city, but unfortunately she was already married and I was too young to do anything but watch her leave."

"I....."

"stop!"

I quickly interrupted Frog's self-destruction, because that wasn't what I wanted to know.

"Ask him why he was following me, and what his purpose was in coming to Linde City?"

The female neighbor seemed to be listening intently, but she didn't dare disobey my orders. After giving me a helpless look, she changed her orders again.

"Three years ago, the king ordered an attack on Uruma..."

"Stop! I already told you, don't tell stories from so long ago, start from the most recent ones."

I was getting a little impatient, then I looked at my female neighbor and found that she also looked somewhat helpless.

"I can't control it that precisely. I can only influence part of his consciousness. As for how he will reveal the secret, that depends on how he usually describes things."

Seeing my female neighbor didn't help, so I could only patiently listen.

It all started a few years ago, when the Kingdom of Lars was preparing to launch a war against Uruma.

Yes, the war that has brought the Kingdom of Lars to the brink of destruction is indeed a war of aggression, but it was actually the Kingdom of Lars that launched the invasion, not other countries.

The Kingdom of Lars started as a duchy with only one province, but as its power grew and it became adept at diplomacy, it gradually annexed the territories of its neighbors and expanded into a medium-sized country with three provinces.

This is nothing unusual in itself; in essence, it's just normal expansionist behavior, and many major powers have risen to power in this way.

But as mentioned before, the current king of the Kingdom of Lars has a rather peculiar way of thinking. No one knows what he was thinking, but three years ago he suddenly issued a law stating that from this moment on, Lars is the most sacred country in the world, and any act that hinders the expansion of the Kingdom of Lars will be regarded as an enemy of the country.

So, what kind of behavior would be considered as hindering the expansion of the Lars Kingdom?

The number is quite large, including but not limited to: citizens not paying taxes, resisting war, refusing to serve in the military, and engaging in trade with countries at war with the Kingdom of Lars.

It's outrageous, right? But that's not the most outrageous part.

The most outrageous thing about this law is that it also applies to citizens of other countries.

No one knows how much wine the King of Lars drank, but from that time on, the reputation of the Lars Kingdom began to deteriorate drastically. Many countries that were not originally interested in Uruma suddenly began to support them.

Of course, at this point, it was only verbal support, and the Kingdom of Uruma was still being defeated every day.

Two years ago, however, things changed. The Kingdom of Lakbar, another neighboring country of Uruma, accepted a group of refugees from Uruma and granted them citizenship. As a result, the Kingdom of Lars declared war on the Kingdom of Lakbar.

Then an awkward situation arose: the army of the Kingdom of Lakbar was not weak, and the army of the Kingdom of Lars was simply no match for them. The defeat on the battlefield enraged the king of Lars, so he allied with the orcs to attack the Kingdom of Lakbar.

Orcs are incredibly powerful and sweep across the battlefield, but they don't care about the front lines; they only care about plundering. While looting, they also invade neighboring countries, which the locals naturally resented. They organized militias and fiercely resisted the orcs, even pursuing them into the territory of the Kingdom of Rakbar to fight alongside them.

Do you remember the law we just talked about?

Any action that hinders the expansion of the Kingdom of Lars will be considered an enemy of the nation.

The Lars' army then joined the fight against the local militia. Meanwhile, other nations also realized what was happening, and their regular armies joined the battle, preparing to annihilate the orcs.

However, while the Lars were at war with the world, the orcs had already plundered enough wealth and happily left the battlefield, abandoning the Lars Kingdom.

Although the orcs have fled, the people of the Kingdom of Lars are still here!

Then the Kingdom of Lars got what it wanted. Not only did it lose all the territories of its two northern neighbors, it was also driven back to its own doorstep. Of its three provinces, one became a battlefield and the other even rebelled, causing its territory to return to its original size during the early days of the duchy.

With the war having escalated to this point, King Lars finally regained his senses, his eyes becoming much clearer. He engaged in peace negotiations with the multinational coalition, seeking a temporary halt to the war.

Coincidentally, at this time, the multinational coalition was also having conflicts over the issue of spoils of war and did not want to continue fighting, so both sides tacitly chose to negotiate.

However, some people were unwilling to accept this. These people were not Uruma or Lakba, but the Lars who had previously rebelled, or rather, they should now be called Asarichi.

Yes, those are the people who put a bounty on Tina.

"Damn traitor!"

Upon hearing this, Tina gritted her teeth in anger, as if the Asari were to blame for everything.

I don't really feel anything about this mess, since it has nothing to do with my country from beginning to end, and I'm already getting a little dizzy from hearing so many names of countries and regions.

All I know is that the Kingdom of Lars failed to defeat its enemies and ended up being defeated instead, and is now kneeling and begging for mercy.

However, the story hasn't even gotten to the main point yet.

"What's the secret? After all this talk, why did this guy come to Linde City?"

"You two, stop arguing! I don't have much self-control to begin with, and if you keep arguing, I'm going to lose it!"

The female neighbor's words quieted Tina and me down, and we continued listening to the story.

The Asari people's reason for not wanting the war to end was simple: in the eyes of the Lars, they were all traitors, and once the allied forces left, the Lars would definitely send troops to attack them. As for giving up their territory to others to guard, they were reluctant to do so.

At the same time, these people also have a considerable interest in the remaining territory of Lars.

So they came up with a solution that would satisfy both sides.

"My father has already sent men to assassinate King Lars and His Highness the Prince. If they both die at the same time, Lars will surely be thrown into chaos."

"What?!"

Tina was terrified and hurriedly asked about the specific assassination plan, but Frog didn't know what the plan was, and besides, it had nothing to do with his coming to Linde City.

As soon as I heard that we were getting to the point, I quickly grabbed Tina and asked her why she had come to Linde City.

"When our people were planning the assassination, they inadvertently discovered that the Kingdom of Lars was actually pinning its hopes on the legendary hero. Although the idea is bizarre, it is indeed possible for it to be realized."

"So my father sent me to Linde City to secretly contact the Kadir family. On the surface, it was to form an alliance with them, but in secret, I wanted to find out the whereabouts of the Linde City's heirloom, the 'Tribute' Greatsword."

I was a little confused because the two things seemed to have absolutely no connection, but Tina suddenly looked enlightened and then clapped her hands.

"So you all have the same goal: to find the 'tribute' greatsword!"

"Wait, can you explain to me what a 'tribute' greatsword is, and what does it have to do with the hero?"

Tina explained that some heroes leave behind strange treasures after they die. For example, the ancient scroll she was looking for was a treasure left behind by a hero after his death, and this "tribute" greatsword is the same.

However, these treasures often have strict restrictions on their use; they can only function under special circumstances or can only be used by a specific group of people.

This "tribute" greatsword is a prime example. It's an enormous two-handed greatsword forged from fine steel, about the size of a door, and estimated to weigh several thousand pounds. Even a troll might struggle to lift it, let alone an ordinary person. However, someone who has inherited the legacy of a hero can wield this weapon and swing it with impunity, regardless of its weight.

This weapon sounds impressive, but it's useless to ordinary people and can only be used as an ornament.

But if someone can lift it, then that person is a true hero.

"So, what do you need this weapon for? Do you want to use it to prove your identity after you steal the hero's legacy?"

"Ahem, it's not that I wanted to steal it, it's that my father, uh, no, His Majesty the King wanted it... How can you call it stealing? This should be called, uh, requisitioning."

Tina is too young and not thick-skinned enough. Her face turned red and her eyes darted around when she said this, as if she knew how outrageous her words were.

However, her words did give me some inspiration.

It seems that the so-called king is not much different from me. To put it bluntly, isn't he just someone who steals other people's things? He's no different from a robber!

Wow, the skill ceiling for bandits is actually this high!