Chapter 181 Good Brothers, Let’s Gamble
Ramon nodded, looked at the Noldor captives seriously, and smiled with satisfaction: "Not bad. But, are you really planning to retire?"
"Of course, I also want to enjoy life with the girls at the auction house every day like you... I really didn't expect you to leave Singal - if you stayed in Singal, no one would dare to deal with you, but you actually came out? This is really double happiness!"
Fruz shook his head and laughed exaggeratedly, drawing his sword as he laughed - Ramon had no guards around him now.
"Ramon, I have wanted your auction house for a long time. These beauties can get at least 300,000 dinars from the auction, right? I also want to try to become a real master of Singal... By the way, can you tell me where you hide your money, Master Ramon? Hahahaha..."
As Fruzier spoke, he burst into laughter again, for his sword was at Ramon's neck at lightning speed.
Then he turned and signaled a rider behind him to tie up Ramon.
"You really want to kill me, Fruzi... You are such a shameless brother... You say you will never get involved in trafficking, but you want everything in your heart ..."
Ramon curled his lips and a weird smile appeared on his face.
"As expected of Ramon, he can still laugh at this time... ugh!"
Fruz's smug smile suddenly froze on his face as if it was strangled, and he turned his head and tried to look behind him.
Because the Singal rider behind him did not walk up to Ramon, but suddenly drew his sword from behind Fruz!
This was a standard stab in the back.
The Noldor sword stabbed into Fruz's back, the sharp tip of the sword pierced through his chest, and then was pulled out.
Blood was spilled all over the ground.
Fruz turned his head with a fierce look in his eyes, and moved the sword in his hand, as if he was going to cut Ramon's neck and die together with him.
But Ramon grabbed his wrist, and then the sword was easily taken away and fell into Ramon's hands.
It seems that Ramon knows martial arts, and his skills should be quite good, but he probably never showed it.
“…Why! Why…”
Fruz turned around and murmured to the Singal rider whose sword was still dripping with blood: "Why?"
"Fruzi, he was one of the villagers you kidnapped in Yaxing a few years ago... He was once a slave you sold to me, and you never recognized him... You are really his good brother..."
The smile on Ramon's face disappeared. "Fruz, you always capture civilians as slaves. As a result, the number of villagers in the villages around Singal is decreasing, and food is becoming more and more expensive! You always kill innocent travelers, and as a result, fewer and fewer customers come to Singal! You always deceive the nobles, and now there are more and more lords hostile to us. Sooner or later, your behavior will leave Singal with no way out! Since you plan to retire, then retire completely!"
"...No...Then...Isn't it because you want to sell slaves...that I am capturing slaves?"
Fruzi had lost his strength. He fell off his horse and lay on the ground, making a painful and low sound in a pool of blood.
"Yes, I am doing this shameful business, but I know that I will be punished. I don't think innocent villagers are slaves... And you have been planning to kill me for a long time, right? You bribed my brothers, planted spies to monitor my whereabouts, and colluded with Caliph Tahir to deal with me. I know all this... You want to replace me? But do you think my brothers will be so easily bribed by you?"
Fruz's eyes widened, his expression becoming one of horror and helplessness.
He wanted to say something more, but all he could make was a hissing sound in his throat.
"Most importantly, you never intended to be my good brother... I really treated you as a brother before."
Ramon looked him in the eyes and said the last word.
Fruz finally stopped moving, staring straight at the sky.
He died when he was at the height of his success.
The rest of Fruz's men were all watching in panic, but they did not seek revenge for their leader. In fact, they did not move at all because they were surrounded by more than 300 men in black.
"Lord Ramon..."
The Singal rider who stabbed Fruz to death dropped his sword and knelt on the ground: "My dear brother, thank you for letting me take revenge with my own hands, but I beg you, please give these brothers a chance!"
He pointed to the rest of Fruze's men, the Singal riders.
"Of course, as long as they don't attack me, they are still good brothers. I will certainly give them a chance - every good brother will definitely get a fair chance."
Ramon took out three exquisite dice and said to the Singal riders beside the carriage: "Come on, brothers, let's gamble... If you win, you can freely decide your own fate. But if you lose, you must accept the fate I have arranged for you..."
The twenty-two Singal riders looked at each other and slowly walked to Ramon one by one.
Ramon's bet seemed fair and simple, it was purely a bet on size, and he let these twenty-two people bet with him one by one.
After a few minutes, the final result seemed fair - eleven people won and the other eleven lost...
As for the losing riders, Ramon's fate seemed very fair - he let the eleven winning riders decide their fate.
Thus, the eleven losing riders died at the hands of their colleagues.
Because the winning riders actually had no choice - the wisest thing to do was to kill their colleagues as a token of their allegiance, and then join Ramon's men and become Ramon's good brothers.
Perhaps this is what is so scary about Ramon. He did not leave any enemies for himself, nor did he let anyone think that he was cruel and ruthless. In fact, everyone would think that he did give the other party a chance.
Whether his brothers or enemies, they all felt that he was fair and trustworthy and was a good brother worth following.
However, just as Ramon was about to return to Singal with his carriage, a cavalry unit appeared from the other side of the ridge.
Fruz was delayed for a while at the bridgehead next to Qicha Fortress, and Ramon was delayed for a while because of gambling. The continuous delays made the lord finally arrive here before those female rangers were taken to the west of Turda Fortress.
Turda Fortress is the border of the Dzea Principality and also the most important military stronghold in the eastern part of the Dzea Principality. It is only dozens of miles away from the mountains. It controls the passage to the Dzea territory between the mountains and the desert. It is a throat fortress that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Precisely because it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the Dzea Principality declared independence after General Osa gave Turda Fortress and Singal to the Duke of Dzea.
It is very difficult to avoid the fortress and enter the territory of the Principality of Desha with troops. It is a great luck to be able to catch up with the convoy here.
But the problem is that the dozens of enemies that the lord had originally expected have now turned into hundreds!
"Luckily we made it...but why are there so many people?"
The lord's face looked very bad - since he had been chasing at full speed on two horses, it was impossible to arrange any scouts ahead. In addition, the mountain ridge blocked the view. He didn't know that there were so many enemies here!
However, after they came out from the side of the ridge, they were less than 200 meters away from the enemy. At this distance, there was no time to deploy any tactics...
"Lord Leon, do you want to charge straight ahead?"
Wendatil also showed a trace of nervousness. Although she was highly skilled in martial arts, she felt a little timid when she saw the hundreds of people on the opposite side...
"Raise the flag! Slow down!"
Li Ang shook his head and decided not to act recklessly - there were at least three hundred people on the opposite side, all riding horses.
Fifty against more than three hundred, in this kind of defenseless encounter. Even if Wendatil could fight one against a hundred, the best result would be that both sides would suffer losses.
"Who is that person over there?"
The men in black under Ramon quickly gathered together, and a small leader began to shout loudly.
The cavalrymen hoisted a large black flag with a golden griffin.
This was Leon's troops' response to this question, but Ramon's men responded by shooting several crossbow arrows into the open space in front of the cavalry.
It was obvious that Ramon did not recognize the flag.
The two sides were still quite far apart, and Ramon's troops were obviously not firing crossbow arrows at anyone; it was just a warning.
Warning Leon's cavalry not to come any closer was a common way of greeting when two troops from different camps met.
This kind of greeting usually means - I don't want to attack you, but if you want to cause trouble, I won't be polite either.
In this case, Leon decided to give a deterrent response to prevent the carriages from being taken away.
"Can you shoot the man in the middle of them? The one wearing a black noble robe and without any weapon..."
The lord asked in a low voice to the two Noldor elves beside him.
"Of course... Do you think that's their leader? But he doesn't look like one..."
Vendatil took off his bow and replied.
Lisa Dilan also nodded, indicating that it should be fine.
Ramon's outfit certainly didn't make him look like the leader of this group, because he was also wearing a black robe and from a distance he looked no different from the other men in black.
In fact, Ramon didn't even wear armor and looked inconspicuous on the court.
However, he was the only person on the field without a weapon, and those men in black consciously protected him in the middle. He was the only one who kept talking, as if he was giving orders - the lord's observation and judgment were still very good.
"No, you can't shoot him... If you kill him, the Noldor girls in the carriage will probably die... Shoot his horse, and the horses of the two people next to him. Can you make sure that every arrow hits the horse's head?"
It was obviously impossible for Leon to accurately shoot the horse's head from a distance of 150 meters. Lisadiran also shook his head, indicating that he could not guarantee a hit.
Only Wendatil narrowed his eyes and drew his bow: "I understand your intention... I will try my best to let every arrow hit the horse's forehead!"
Ramon was a little confused now. He did not recognize the golden griffin flag hoisted by the cavalry on the opposite side, but the troops that could be encountered in this place should be the troops of the Bacchus Empire.
But the problem is that Ramon has no impression that Bucks has such lancers...
The opposing troops looked more like elite cavalry from the Sarleon Territory.
The small valley where Ramon is now has a ridge on one side, and Leon's cavalry just appeared from the other side of the ridge.
The other side of the valley is basically all flat land - this is the environment where the Lancers are most effective. Having been engaged in prisoner trading and soldier ransom brokerage for a long time, Ramon has a deep understanding of each type of military service.
If fifty elite lancers charged, they could cause great damage. Although he had more people on his side, anything could happen on the battlefield, and Ramon didn't want to cause trouble at this time to avoid unnecessary losses.
Therefore, if fighting can be avoided, it should be avoided as much as possible.
Fortunately, the cavalry stopped and did not seem to want to engage in a conflict.
But just when Ramon thought they could retreat safely, a silver arrow fell from the sky and pierced his horse's head, turning his horse into a unicorn!
The horse died almost instantly - it fell down without even a grunt, and without any reaction.
Ramon was taken to the ground by surprise.
The men around him quickly surrounded him, using their bodies as shields to block Ramon.
At this moment, another arrow hit the head of the horse standing in front of Ramon, and another unicorn was created.
"Don't move! Stand back!"
Ramon struggled to get up and shouted loudly. When he was on the ground, he had already seen the two horses falling to the ground. He realized that the other party was deliberately shooting the horses.
The other party was telling him that he could take his life at any time!
Sure enough, as soon as he said this, the third horse turned into a unicorn and fell to the ground, still beside him.
"Everyone, stand back and put away your weapons!"
Ramon stood between the three dead horses, looking at the three arrows stuck right in the middle of the horses' foreheads. Cold sweat had soaked his back in just a few seconds.
The enemy's formation was still one hundred and fifty meters away and had not moved at all.
He had never seen such terrible shooting skills!
Moreover, these are Noldor arrows!
Ramon already understood why this cavalry came, but he didn't understand why the Noldor arrows came from the human army!
He took the reins from one of his men, mounted his horse, took a few steps toward Leon's cavalry, and raised his hands and waved them vigorously.
Li Ang also let out a long sigh. Fortunately, the other party was not a fool, and fortunately he brought Wendatil with him!
"Don't move, I'll go talk to him..."
The lord made almost the same move as Ramon. He raised his hands and waved them a few times, then slowly approached the other party.
So the two men moved closer to each other and met between the two troops.
"I'm Leon. What's your name, sir?"
"My name is Ramon... Leon? I think I've heard of this name before... You're the casino tycoon!"
"Ramon...good brother, you are the real tycoon!"
"Huh? You've heard of me too? Hahaha..."
The two profiteers started laughing as soon as they met.
The casino run by Ramon just borrowed the gameplay from the casino under Maixiang International this year, and Li Ang had heard of Ramon's name in his previous life...
Maybe we have been friends for a long time.
"Sir Leon, are you here for those elf girls?"
Ramon asked the question.
"Yes, brother, I won't hide it from you. Those girls are my ally's family members. I must take them back..."
Leon told the truth, and he knew Ramon would not lie to him.
He is a big businessman, and so is Ramon. Communication between big businessmen does not require lies, and there cannot be lies.
"Good brother... If you can call me that, then I am a good brother! Those girls were indeed rewarded by me, but I did not want to capture them. It was Baron Aldfred of the Sarleon Kingdom. I am just an agent."
Ramon didn't seem to be trying to fool anyone.
"If that's the case, then that means you didn't pay any cost?"
Leon smiled. Since Ramon didn't suffer any major losses, this matter would be much easier to handle.
"No, I paid the cost. I lost a bottle of expensive medicine worth three thousand dinars, and I also lost the friendship of Baron Aldfred... At the same time, if you want me to give up these elf girls, I will lose at least three hundred thousand dinars in profit!"
Ramon began to settle the accounts.
"My dear brother, regarding your cost... you have gained my friendship now - I think it is more valuable than Aldfred's, so you not only did not lose anything, but you also made a fortune. As for the profits... Ramon, you should know that you can't take those elf girls away. What we should consider now is how to maintain our friendship so that the cost you paid will not suffer irreparable losses."
The lord also began to settle the accounts.
"You have a point... but that's three hundred thousand dinars - and I can use those noble and beautiful girls to organize another super auction that will shock the whole continent, which will bring my career to its peak! Leon, my good brother, you must understand what this means to me... Why don't you give up these Noldor girls? I can bring you more benefits! For example... the army!"
Ramon seemed somewhat unwilling and started reverse marketing.
"Ramon, I've heard about your deeds back then. The entrance fee alone was one thousand dinars, right? And paying one thousand dinars in advance only gave you priority in bidding - it was indeed a one-of-a-kind auction. But, my good brother, if we just repeat this slave auction again without any new changes, it would be a loss. Because your past achievements are no longer unique... Besides, as I said just now, they are the families of my allies. Family, understand? I must take them away."
The lord could understand Ramon's mentality, but there was no way he would give in.
"Family... Well, it looks like we can't come to an agreement, so we'd better decide in a fair way... Brother, do you want to make a bet with me?"
Ramon also sighed, thought about it, and took out his dice from his arms again.
"Okay! Let's take a gamble!"
The lord raised an eyebrow and agreed without hesitation.
