Standing at the harbor and breathing in the sea breeze tinged with the smell of fish, Jem slightly furrowed his brows.
He didn't particularly like this scent, as it made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Although a significant portion of Maddon Duchy's territory lay along the coast, Jem had never been fond of seafood since childhood. Every time he came to the harbor and caught a whiff of this smell, he would feel a bit uneasy.
However, he didn't show it outwardly. After all, as a crown prince, maintaining a proper image was essential. Displaying disgust toward his own domain would undoubtedly dampen morale.
A military officer, around thirty years old, stood beside him, reporting the general situation:
"A total of 76,445 enemy prisoners have been captured and transported to the harbor. Among them, only 23 are uninjured, 35,525 have minor injuries, and 40,897 are severely wounded. Of these severely wounded, 3,221 are in critical condition and could die at any moment. It's estimated that they likely won't survive the journey to Darmobis Island. As for transportation, we've mobilized all nearby vessels, and it should take no more than eight days to complete the transfer."
After listening, Jem felt relatively satisfied with the numbers and nodded, saying, "It's fine. Save those who can be saved, and let go of those who can't. As long as we ensure that over 70,000 living prisoners make it to Mobius Island, the rest is no longer your concern."
Seeing that his superior had no issues with the report, the officer breathed a sigh of relief.
However, after hesitating for a moment, he still advised, "Your Highness, I actually think handling these prisoners doesn't need to be so complicated. There are simpler methods that could achieve the same effect. Transporting them to a desolate island seems like a waste of manpower and resources."
He wasn't the only one who thought this way. Many of his colleagues were equally puzzled when they heard that Jem planned to send tens of thousands of prisoners to the remote Mobius Island for a survival ordeal. They couldn't comprehend the purpose behind it.
Even keeping them locked up and waiting for Yar Principality to pay a ransom would be better than this!
In response to his advice, Jem simply shook his head calmly, offering no further explanation.
Over this period, others had also tried to persuade him, and he was growing tired of it.
If possible, he wouldn't have chosen this method to deal with the prisoners, but he had no other option.
The reasons behind it were impossible to explain to others, leaving him feeling helpless.
Seeing that Jem.Woz had no intention of engaging with him, the officer could only sigh and silently take his leave.
Observing the scene before him.
Unlike the other officers who couldn't understand Jem.Woz's motives.
Duke, the Baron, knew that those who boarded Mobius Island weren't going for a survival challenge or long-term imprisonment. They were being sent as sacrifices, with little chance of ever leaving alive. After some thought, he softly suggested:
"Your Highness, when Yar Principality sent envoys recently to sign the compensation agreement, they proposed an idea—to redeem their soldiers. I think, while it's impossible to let them redeem all of them, we could allow them to pay a hefty price to retrieve a few of the more important nobles. This would also avoid completely alienating the noble factions of Yar Principality."
Regarding Duke's proposal, Jem waved his hand and directly rejected it:
"No need, there's no such thing as offending or not offending. Since we've already gone to war, we are enemies. Even though they have now signed the compensation agreement, their fundamental stance won't change.
Those captured nobles, although not the fatal weakness of the Yar Principality, if they were to die, the noble forces of the entire Yar Principality would regress by about ten years. While this would make them particularly resentful towards us, it would also inevitably cause conflicts between them and the Royal Family of Yar, who led this war. This is of great significance to our country, which is hostile to them."
In Jem's mind, after this battle, the Yar Principality would not be able to threaten the Maddon Duchy for at least twenty to thirty years. Although it might be impossible to completely annihilate it due to the watchful eyes of other principalities, letting it go free was even more impossible.
In this era where many principalities have developed a tacit understanding over a long period of time.
Crippling a principality is one thing, but trying to annihilate it would face many obstacles, so weakening it as much as possible is the maximum limit.
And those great nobles are the means he uses to trouble the Yar Principality...
As for how to operate the process, he still needs to think about it.
At the very least, he cannot directly bear the reputation of sacrificing to demons, and he must find excuses for their deaths...
Just as he was pondering this issue, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
Looking up, he saw Harry, the commander of the Yar Principality's army, shouting his name.
At this moment, Harry no longer had the high spirits of before. He was covered in blood, wearing handcuffs and shackles, confined in a separate prison cart.
It could be considered a high-level treatment befitting a commander, having a small private room!
Although it was no different from being paraded in public, he could only endure the pointing and staring of the crowd, which made him feel utterly furious.
Noticing Jem's gaze, he suppressed the urge to strangle the onlookers and shouted, "Jem Woz, remember this, the humiliation you brought me, I will return it to you one day!"
Clearly, he still felt deeply resentful about losing inexplicably in a favorable situation.
"..."
Friend, you are about to die, and I think you won't be able to return this humiliation to me.
After hesitating for two seconds, Jem Woz's remaining conscience prevented him from further mocking the other party, instead giving him a meaningful look.
Watching Harry, who was shouting and being pushed onto the ship, Jem Woz, considering his noble status, mourned for him for a second, then turned to Duke and said, "You stay here to handle the remaining affairs, and by the way, tell the people below that the person who was just shouting should be the first to be sent to Mobius Island."
'Although generous people like me usually don't care about such things, as a noble and a commander, I think he should lead by example!'
Thinking this way, Jem felt much more comfortable in his heart. After all, being petty is impossible, how can a crown prince not have some magnanimity??
So he mounted his warhorse, ready to return to the capital to attend the celebration.
Someone needed to take charge there, and as the crown prince, it was good to make an appearance at this time.
The next day, at noon.
Jem Woz woke up with a headache, clutching his head as he got out of bed.
Yesterday, during the celebration, he was surrounded and besieged by hundreds of people. Even with the strength of a Grand Knight, he almost vomited on the spot.
In the end, he couldn't drink anymore; he was genuinely scared!
He only managed to escape by pretending to go to the bathroom.
Now, just waking up, he felt a bitter taste in his mouth, like herbs.
He knew it was the hangover medicine the maid had forced him to drink; otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to get up until the afternoon.
To be honest, although his head hurt a bit, he was in a good mood.
Because settling the affairs of the Yar Principality had also eliminated a major threat, completely stabilizing the situation in the Maddon Duchy. That's why he drank so much yesterday, even though he usually hardly drinks at all.
Putting on his clothes, he habitually took out his Knight's sword and swung it a couple of times in the room. Feeling the sluggishness in his movements and the awkwardness in his grip, he realized that the alcohol was still affecting his mind and body.
Just as he was about to do some physical training to recover, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps reached his ears.
He frowned instinctively because he had said yesterday that unless something urgent came up, he didn't want to be disturbed today; he wanted to rest.
Someone suddenly coming to see him undoubtedly meant trouble had arisen.
Which made him feel genuinely annoyed...
But he also understood the importance of the matter.
Before the person outside could knock, just as they stopped in front of his door, he proactively asked, "What is it?"
The person outside was momentarily stunned, probably not expecting Jem to wake up so quickly.
Yesterday, he had drunk an excessive amount. An ordinary person could only handle two or three small cups of strong liquor, but he had directly consumed an entire barrel that reached up to an adult's knee.
If it weren't for his exceptional strength and physical condition far surpassing that of an ordinary person, he would have had to lie down and be rushed to the doctor.
In response to Jem's question, a woman's voice came from outside the door: "Your Highness, a Bishop from the Church has come with some people, saying there's something very important they need to discuss with you. They also brought an Emergency Document from the Church."
"The Church? An Emergency Document?"
Jem was puzzled. He couldn't understand why a Bishop would come to see him. Could it be that they wanted to build a large cathedral in the capital?
A few years ago, a Bishop from the Church had approached his father, hoping to build a cathedral in the center of the capital.
Originally, it wasn't a big deal. After all, if you want to build it, go ahead. Although the royal family didn't like the Church, they usually turned a blind eye to such matters and didn't interfere much.
But the problem lay elsewhere.
That was, the other party wanted the royal family to bear the cost of building the cathedral, which the royal family found utterly absurd. Jem's father had immediately retorted, "If this were a few hundred years ago when your Church was at its peak, I might have tolerated it. After all, you were the top dog. But now, why don't you take a look in the mirror? Do you really think we're pigs to be slaughtered?"
Thus, the meeting ended on a sour note.
At this thought, Jem Woz felt a faint sense of disgust. He decided that if they came to discuss church matters again, he would simply dismiss them...
Since hundreds of years ago, the influence of the mystical side had begun to shrink significantly.
After several rounds of policy reforms and the announcement of the Royal Power Act, the royal families and the church had become somewhat at odds.
The church wanted to restore its former glory, to make divine authority superior to royal authority, and to rule over everything!
But those who had risen to power did not want to return to the past!
This was undoubtedly an irreconcilable contradiction!
It was only because both sides still had reason, knowing that other races were trying to rise from the ashes, that humans themselves didn't end up fighting for decades.
The current rules in the Yar Principality and the Maddon Duchy, which allowed for serious injuries but not fatal blows, were a tacit understanding they had maintained over a long period.
Once things escalated to an uncontrollable level, other forces would intervene to stop it.
This was both to prevent humans from severely depleting themselves and to avoid any one faction from becoming too dominant.
'But holding an Emergency Document, it shouldn't just be about building a church, could it...'
At this thought, Jem Woz's expression began to change...