Chapter 307: A Bandit = A Big Fat Pig
The news that the Salvation Army was preparing to take action against the bandits in the Cave Forest quickly spread throughout Jeanne d'Arc.

Along with it, a papal decree also flowed out.

“Starting tomorrow, each 100-household district will thoroughly investigate potential bandits or former bandits. If you fail to report them, your tax exemption will be revoked. If you report them, you will be rewarded with a full set of iron farm tools or a big fat pig.

If the person surrenders himself and no one accuses him of the crime, he will only need to undergo one month of labor reform or pay a ransom. If he identifies his accomplices, the period can be shortened to seven days.

Anyone who shelters a fugitive bandit will be guilty of the same crime as the bandit himself and may be sentenced to death by hanging."

On the day the decree was issued, waves of patrolling monks and gendarmes on horseback left Fort Joan of Arc, with Joan of Arc as their center.

On the muddy ground after the rain, the horses' hooves kicked up splashes of mud and water, and the slanted cloak was covered with water droplets from the branches that were shaken off by the sound of the hooves.

"Captain, please come out quickly!"

The cavalrymen pulled the reins and faced sideways towards the villagers hiding behind the wall.

Before long, a centurion would arrive in a hurry, disheveled, and as long as the centurion arrived, the gendarmes would not waste any words.

"The Pope's decree..."

Under the gaze of the crowd, the wandering monk began to read the decree.

After the announcement was completed, a gendarme jumped off his horse, took down a small wooden bucket, applied glue on the notice, and posted it.

After the patrolling monks and gendarmes hurriedly left, the villagers gradually gathered around, and a few former armed peasants who could read read aloud haltingly.

The centurions were not so pleased. They would probably jog to find the captain of the crusade first, and then summon the decanters.

"Go, go call all the representatives and the heads of the ten households, and get them here before lunch. Go quickly!"

In the more than 300 centurions of Kush Territory, the anxious shouts of centurions and captains of the religious armies continued to be heard.

Under the orders of civil and military officials, the crusaders carried spears and sticks and delivered the news to every village.

The ten heads of households were even more terrified. They put on vicious expressions and checked and intimidated every household, for fear of missing a lurking bandit.

Almost as soon as the news came out in the morning, people kept coming to the captain's office to surrender, identify and report in the afternoon.

After the centurion handed the bandits over to the returning gendarmes at night, the next day, the informants came back happily driving big fat pigs or carrying farm tools.

After discovering that Horn really sent out big fat pigs and farm tools, more people immediately rushed to report it.

Many of them even came to surrender eagerly. After all, if they went too late, they might be taken away by their uncles, aunts, neighbors, and others in exchange for fat pigs.

…………

"Can they be bribed with a few big fat pigs?" Looking at the bandits standing dejectedly on the edge of the field, Bunaford held his stomach, looking confused.

It has only been a short time. The order was given on the first day, and hundreds were captured on the second day. Now it is the evening of the third day, and there are nearly a thousand here.

"That's a really big fat pig. Besides, in the past, if this decree could spread throughout Kush Territory in a month, it would be great."

Unlike Bunaford, Sid is a city hall worker and is very familiar with the efficiency of the past.

In the past, it would take two or three days for the scribes to finish writing the decree.

Then the process of passing the order back and forth among the messengers and servants would continue for another day or two, and in the end it was often a few knights who delivered the order reluctantly.

It took half a month for the decree to be conveyed to the entire Kush Territory, and another half a month for the first hidden bandit to be discovered.

Sid couldn't understand. The people were still the same group, just with a few so-called itinerant monks and autonomous tax collectors added.

How come those low-level monks and scribes who were always lazy, procrastinating, and nagging were suddenly so efficient?

"After all, our pope was born in the battlefield. This is applying the method of managing the army to monks."

Everyone looked in the direction of the voice and saw Ernst, the head of the Dye Guild, with a quirky mustache. "Aren't the Cheka and the military police military judges? The Pope can manage the army to defeat the Imperial Order Company, but can't he manage these powerless monks?"

"So, is it really possible for the Salvation Army to become independent?"

"There is a high probability that the Thousand River Valley will become the territory of Grand Duke Meliati, oh no, the Grand Lord."

"Lansand County is in this state. If the Salvation Army really wins, Grand Duke Meliati might just take advantage of the situation and give this place to our 'Pope'?"

"That's hard to say. As long as His Highness Horn is willing to take off the Pope's hat, he can still keep his title of Duke."

Listening to the chattering of these citizens, Sid rolled his eyes and came to a skinny old man with his hands covered in lime.

"Master Fant, I heard that your grandson Witt is working for the Pope on Autumn Sunset Island?"

"Yes."

"Master Fant, do you have any information about the Salvation Army's next plan, such as Knight Ibe in the south..."

"I don't know." The master stonemason interrupted him with a serious face, "Witt decided to go there by himself. It has nothing to do with me."

Rockel next to him suddenly started coughing violently, but Master Fattel decided to ignore it and just looked at the passing gendarmes calmly.

Sid didn't say anything. Unlike the widow Isolde, their workshops and guilds had many choices.

Although people are now under Horn's control and have to bow their heads, it is still uncertain in the future.

Jinhe Township has the fertile Ibe Plain, which can mobilize thousands of knights.

Others may not know, but Sid knows that there are three hundred temple knights and one titled knight stationed in the Red Copper Fortress, an important town in Black Snake Bay.

This Red Copper Fortress is located at the junction of Black Snake Bay and Longsand. If the two sides really fight, it is not certain who will win or lose, and Sid will not go to great lengths to support Horn.

Especially when the power of former Chief Justice Sid was undermined by Presiding Judge Mashal.

…………

The hunter's hut in front of the forest is one of the most common outdoor buildings in the empire.

Such huts are not uncommon on the outskirts and inside the cave forest.

But the small house standing on the mound in front of us is different from other places. Its interior is reinforced with wooden boards and iron nails, and the door has iron bolts and chain hooks.

The hut was now filled with flickering flames, and several men in patched clothes were sitting beside the kang.

The firewood in the kang was crackling. Five or six strong men put their feet on the edge of the kang, emitting gusts of foul-smelling steam.

"How many people were arrested over there?"

"Five of us from the same village were arrested."

"What about you?"

"Several people turned themselves in. Those who didn't kill anyone or didn't kill anyone directly, all turned themselves in."

"This demon Horn..." the bandits cursed with gnashing teeth.

"You're lucky. I ran away, but they held my wife and son down and made them shout in the wild every day." A tall bandit cursed while stirring the kang, "If you have the guts, don't touch my family."

"Me too... Oh, it's karma. When we kidnapped someone, we should have thought this would happen..."

The group of bandits who fled here sighed repeatedly.

"Boom boom boom——"

"Is anyone in there? We are Skitarii."

The bandits, who were used to being besieged by their peers and lords, immediately stopped all their actions.

The leader gave a wink, and someone tiptoed to the ladder and quickly jumped onto the beam.

"If anyone wants to open the door, please do so. The Pope has ordered that poor families be given free peat. We are here to bring warmth."

Standing on the beam, the robber carefully pushed open the cover and stuck his head out to check.

"…Is anyone there? I heard your voices. Don't be afraid. We are good people…"

"What's going on? Say something!" A robber lowered his voice and shouted at the investigating robber.

"boom!"

The person who was waiting did not get a response from him, as a bloody corpse fell heavily from the beam.

The corpse knocked over the kang, and tiny sparks flew.

Almost at the same time as the scream, the warm voice outside the door suddenly changed to "Cheka, open the door!"

"Goat damn! Run from the cave!"

The remaining few bandits climbed up with their buttocks sticking up, and rushed towards a box in a scramble.

There was a cracking sound from the iron gate, and wood chips flew everywhere, even piercing the robber's skin.

"Ah! Run!"

A rope hung down from the roof cover, and Cheka, wearing black leather armor, landed on the beam: "Stop! Stand still!"

But these bandits would not listen to him. They opened the entrance of the tunnel disguised as a box and tried to escape.

When the young Cheka saw that his persuasion failed, he simply picked up the dragon bone whistle hanging around his neck and plugged his ears with it.

"beep--"

The sharp whistle seemed to turn into visible ripples, and the several bandits who were lagging behind immediately stiffened their bodies, as if they were standing there in a daze.

Only one robber was immune to the sound. He pushed his companions away in fear and crawled into the tunnel.

As soon as he jumped into the tunnel, several lead bullets flew past his clothes and hit the box, causing it to fly and break into pieces with the sound of breaking wooden boards.

"Mad, let him run away!"

Sliding down the ladder, the young Cheka angrily kicked over the stool on the ground.

After calling a halt to the shooting, the Cheka looked at the tunnel again and discovered that there were multiple entrances, and they didn't know where they led to.

At this moment, the assault team at the door finally broke through the door and quickly ran into the wooden house.

"Have you caught it?"

"One escaped." The young Cheka whispered, "It's still not too late to send someone after him."

"Don't chase them." The Cheka officer poked his head into the dark cave. "It's too dangerous. There's no need... We've caught enough. Let's fill the cave and leave."

(End of this chapter)