Goblin Reincarnation in Another World (Anime/Manga)

Page 135

"Of course not. We all come from poor backgrounds, how could we possibly harm other poor people from the same background? Besides, we get along very well with the villagers nearby..."

It seems Ningguang's intelligence was indeed correct. These forest dwellers have formed a community of shared interests with the local villagers. No wonder Baron Ruman found this area difficult to deal with, so he simply transferred the land to himself, which was like getting rid of a big burden for him.

These forest dwellers and the nearby villagers had become one, and indiscriminately exterminating them would not only waste their own strength, but also undoubtedly consume a great deal of their energy in this critical moment of guarding against a possible future attack by Altaïr. Niu Zida thought for a moment and decided that they should use a method of appeasement, so he said to his men:

“Take me to your leader, and I’m willing to talk to him about the future of the Forest People.”

"What's going on in the future?"

"You can't live your whole life by robbing people like this. Take me to your leader, and I can let you live in peace and prosperity in this area, wouldn't that be great?"

"How could a goblin like you possibly make such a decision?"

“Baron Ruman has already transferred all the land in this area to me, so theoretically, this land should belong to me now.”

Hearing Niu Zida say this, the men exchanged glances. Seeing that the other party was beginning to hesitate, Rosalia coldly snorted and said:

"It's alright, it's fine if you don't agree. Killing you won't be difficult for us to find your leader on our own."

In fact, Rosalia was just bluffing here. Although it was indeed possible for her to search for the Forest Clan, it would take a lot of time. Right now, they still had to go to Kuyelburg to negotiate, so they simply didn't have the time. However, the Forest Clan didn't know this, so they took advantage of the information asymmetry to trick them first.

"This……"

Hearing Rosalia's confident words, the group hesitated again. Indeed, they were quite wary of the other party's pursuit ability; otherwise, they wouldn't have ended up being captured. Moreover, these two beauties could easily take down seven or eight of them. If they were to sneak up on the leader, the people around them probably wouldn't be able to protect him. More importantly, they wanted to live.

"Alright, I can take you to see the chief, but you must promise that first, you will not harm the chief's life, and second, you will not bring anyone to wipe us out."

“I told you, I never intended to wipe you out. I came here to solve the problem of the forest tribe. Killing won’t solve the fundamental problem. If I really wanted to start a war with you, I wouldn’t be wasting my breath talking to you here.”

Hearing Niu Zida's words, the men finally agreed to take him to see their leader. Rosalia didn't bind them or even bother to confiscate their weapons.

"Anyway, you can't escape my pursuit. If you think you can outrun me, then go ahead and run. But don't blame me for being ruthless."

From their earlier exchange, the forest dwellers knew they were no match for Rosalia, especially with the usually quiet Joel by her side. They couldn't handle either of them, let alone both. So the leader quickly shook his head and said:

"How could that be? How could that be? As long as you promise me you won't harm the leader, we won't run away."

"I told you, we're here to solve problems, don't worry."

“That’s…that’s…”

After speaking, the group of forest dwellers led Niu Zida through the winding, dense forest. Rosalia and Joel, of course, were not fooled by the forest dwellers' simple obedience. They were careful to avoid ambushes along the way. To prevent any arrows from behind from potentially injuring Niu Zida, who was lying on her beautiful back, Rosalia simply carried Niu Zida forward. After walking for about an hour, they finally arrived at a small camp after passing through a dense forest.

"Our leader's camp is just ahead, but please wait here for a moment while we go to inform him."

"can."

Rosalia gave a curt reply and let the men leave without taking any hostages. Niu Zida couldn't help but remind her:

"What if we let them go and they bring reinforcements to fight us?"

"I did this on purpose to make them understand the huge gap in combat power, so that we can start the negotiations later."

As they were talking, as they followed the men back, a number of forest warriors rushed out of the camp and surrounded Rosalia and Joel. Rosalia and Joel worked together to fight their way through the onrushing crowd and quickly broke through their encirclement, heading straight into the camp.

The people in the camp were probably caught off guard by Rosalia and Joel's quick arrival, and were momentarily thrown into panic. Rosalia and Joel, without a word, raised their weapons and attacked anyone who stood in their way.

.

Chapter 466

They killed them all and charged toward the center of the camp, where they found a tent guarded by several men. This tent was the largest in the camp. The two men nodded to each other and together hacked down the guards to go inside. Inside, they saw the leader they had let go earlier standing on the ground, talking to a middle-aged man with a thick beard.

Everyone present was stunned when Rosalia and Joel burst in. The leader, who had just been released, even collapsed to the ground, pointing at Rosalia and stammering:

"Boss...the boss...it's them..."

"Of course, I could tell too."

The burly, bearded leader cursed at his underlings, then picked up a machete and prepared to deal with Rosalia and Joel personally. Rosalia scoffed disdainfully, and with a sudden thrust, she circled behind the bearded man. Before he could even understand what was happening, he was hit in the back with a flying kick, and then felt a chill on his neck. A dagger was pressed against his throat.

"Do you still want to fight?"

"No...no..."

Rosalia gave a cold snort, then released the bearded man, not even bothering to kick away his weapon and standing still. The bearded man didn't continue to resist. Judging from how she had defeated him in just one exchange, and how all the men outside couldn't stop this beautiful woman, he knew his resistance was futile. Since she wasn't willing to harm him, she was probably just trying to prove her sincerity in negotiations. So he'd better be sensible. Although the bearded man had a rough appearance, he was a leader not just because of his strength.

"It seems this gentleman has finally calmed down. Now we can have a proper talk. I am Niu Zida, the new owner of this area."

“My name is Dokdar, and I am the leader of the Forest Folk.”

"Very good, very good. It seems that the first step of our negotiations, getting to know each other, has been successfully achieved."

Niu Zida's tone was not without sarcasm, and Dokdar laughed awkwardly. At this moment, some forest dwellers gathered outside the tent, and Niu Zida then said:

"To ensure the smooth progress of the negotiations and the safety of your people, I think it would be better to keep them away from the tent."

Niu Zida used the phrase "ensure your people are safe" to remind them of the huge difference in combat strength between the two sides. Although there were fewer people on this side, he still advised them not to do futile work. Dokdar had learned his lesson earlier and understood this, so he waved his hand to disperse the people around him, leaving only his original guards in the tent and the forest people who had been captured by Rosalia.

“Great. If communication is this easy, I think our next negotiations will go very smoothly.”

"I have done as you said. Now you can explain your purpose."

Dokdar didn't want to be led by the nose by Niu Zida any longer, so he seized the opportunity to ask a counter-question. Niu Zida had been waiting for this question to start negotiations, so he said...

Chapter 340 Incorporating the Forest Folk

Chapter 340.

"Of course, my background is very simple. I just hope to solve the problems of the forest people. I don't think you want to live by robbing merchants for the rest of your lives, do you?"

"What can we do? We are a group of landless peasants who have been oppressed by nobles and wealthy merchants and have come here to barely survive. If we leave the forest, we will have nowhere to go."

"What if I give you a chance to stay here?"

"What does this mean? Does it mean we're allowed to continue living here?"

"Of course, but no more robberies are allowed."

"Then how are we supposed to survive?"

“It’s very simple. I will allocate land to you so that you can live and work in peace and contentment here.”

"Hmph, that sounds nice. You give us land and then impose heavy taxes, but in the end we still can't survive. All you'll do is call us thieves."

It seems that these forest dwellers have encountered similar situations of being granted amnesty before, and may have been deceived quite a bit. Actually, it's quite normal when you think about it. How could those nobles who usually act like tyrants give up their benefits to these peasants? So it's no wonder that they would resist in this way. Otherwise, what other way out would they have?

"Don't worry, this time I really will give you land, as long as you can guarantee that you will not rob passing merchants. Not only that, I will also guarantee that I will not station troops in this area, and you will be able to manage yourselves."

Upon hearing Niu Zida's words, Dokdar looked surprised, unable to understand why the other party was doing this. Did Jingjing not want him to rob passing merchants? But with such strength, the other party shouldn't have cared about a petty thief like him, right? He was increasingly confused about what Niu Zida was thinking.

"How about it? Can you agree to these conditions? If so, I can give you the complete power to divide the land. All you need to do is report the results of the land division."

If that were truly the case, wouldn't he then possess the power of a lord's vassal? He knew that dividing land within a territory was usually either done personally by the lord or by the most important vassal in the household. Was this short goblin trying to recruit him? The bearded man thought Niu Zida's thinking was truly bizarre, completely different from that of ordinary human lords—that a lord would actually try to recruit a rebel leader.

"Who exactly are you?"

Chapter 467

What were you thinking? My patience is limited.

"Yes, of course I'm willing. As long as my brothers can live a stable life, I'm willing."

"Hmm, do you manage all the forest creatures in the vicinity?"

"Of course, our leader is the head of all the forest creatures."

"Alright, then the land allocation is entirely up to you. I will send someone to collect your own accounting records in a month. Apart from that, I will not interfere with any of your allocation plans. Also, the tax rate should be 73%."

"73? Hmm... that's fine too."

The tax rate of 70% for officials and 30% for commoners was similar to that of other nobles. It was a common tax rate among nobles, but since the land was essentially free, the bearded man couldn't say much. Moreover, this tax rate was already much better than that of many exploitative nobles.

"Yes, it's 70% civil and 30% official."

"Wha...what?"

When Niu Zida said this, everyone present was so shocked that their mouths dropped open as if their jaws were about to fall to the ground. Seven percent of the taxes were levied on the people and three percent on the officials. Wasn't such a tax rate like charity? Even the lords who were known for their benevolent rule during years of famine could only manage this much. And Niu Zida actually wanted to make this tax rate the norm?

"What's wrong? You think it's too high? Okay then, how about 80/20? 20% for officials and 80% for civilians, no objections, right?"

When Niu Zida mentioned another tax rate, almost everyone present went crazy. Such a tax rate was something you'd only see in heaven! The bearded man quickly agreed:

"Enough, enough! If this is truly the tax rate, we, the Forest Clan, pledge our eternal loyalty to Lord Niu Zida..."

“I am a viscount.”

"Yes... the forest people are willing to follow the Viscount for life."

Niu Zida was very satisfied with Dokdar's statement. The fundamental problem of the stubborn and unruly people who could not win over the hearts of the people was that you did not give them enough. As long as you give enough, the people will not care what kind of creature you are, whether you are an orc, an elf, or a goblin. They do not care so much about the racial identity of the ruler. These people who struggle to make ends meet every day are the most concerned about practical interests.

“Very good… Next, I will tell you the boundaries of the land.”

Niu Zida then asked the bearded man to fetch a piece of parchment, and on it, he simply circled the area around Lake Carsten that could be designated as land, and told the bearded man:

"You can freely dispose of the land in this area. My requirement is that you register the population and the final land division in this area. The tax rate will be 80% for the people and 20% for the officials. From now on, you will only be loyal to me. But there is one thing: in the future, I will organize you into groups and make you my private subjects."

"Of course, that's no problem. We're willing to serve in the military if necessary."

Dokdar, of course, understood Niu Zida's intention and quickly spoke up. With such a low tax rate and free land, the bearded man finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel and was like a drowning man who had found a lifebuoy. He was bound to rush over and grab it tightly.

Niu Zida nodded, then briefly explained some basic principles of land division to the bearded man before leaving with Rosalia and Joel. After all, he had been out for quite some time, and if he didn't hurry back before dawn, the camp would probably worry about him.

The burly man with the thick beard escorted Niu Zida quite a distance from the camp. Those outside, seeing that their leader was personally escorting Niu Zida, naturally lifted the encirclement. Before parting, Niu Zida said something particularly poignant:

"When you are dividing up the land recently, do not have any conflicts with outsiders or rob the surrounding merchants. I will arrange for people to distribute farming tools, seeds and temporary food to you to help you get through the initial land reclamation period."

"Your Excellency...you are our second parents..."

"It's nothing. All my subjects are my people, it's only right that I care about you..."

After comforting Doctor for a while, Niu Zida left with Joel in Rosalia's arms. The group walked quite a distance before Niu Zida climbed back onto Rosalia's beautiful back, fiddling with her large breasts while riding in the stirrups. Seeing that Niu Zida seemed to be in a good mood, Rosalia finally asked:

Why is the master so kind to these refugees?

Don't you think they are all unfortunate people?

“I don’t think they are all vicious people, but that’s no reason for the master to treat them well, is it?”

"Jol, what do you think?"

Perched on Rosalia's beautiful back, upon hearing the aloof beauty's question, Niu Zida leered and pinched Rosalia's large breasts, then tossed the topic to Joel standing to the side.

“I think the master wants this area to become a shield for Heatherlink. If you send troops to garrison it and disperse your forces, it would be better to divide this land among these forest people. That way, once Altaïr’s army comes here in the future, they will be regarded as invaders by these forest people. In that case, the master will not have to waste a single soldier and someone will help resist Altaïr’s army.”

“That’s right, what Joel said is exactly the first point I was considering…”

Niu Zida grinned lewdly and leaned over, giving Joel's soft, large breasts a reward-like squeeze. Seeing that both beauties were looking at him, apparently wanting to know what his second point of consideration was, Niu Zida didn't keep them in suspense and spoke directly.

"I've always struggled with how to build a human army that truly belongs to me. I've always worried about the lack of loyalty in the territories I conquered later. This time, these forest people are completely independent of any other lord and were conquered by me. I don't have to worry about that."

Chapter 468

I can confidently recruit their loyalty and use them for my own purposes. Besides, they acquired their land through my help. As long as I treat them well and guarantee their interests, they will surely willingly and firmly align themselves with me, sharing both advancement and retreat.

Upon hearing Niu Zida's explanation, the two beautiful maids nodded in agreement, deeply admiring his foresight in considering the issue. It was truly remarkable that a mere goblin could have such thoughts; such a master was indeed someone worthy of loyalty.

The group quickly returned to the camp. The other maids breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Niu Zida return safely, especially Ningguang, who looked worried. Even after Niu Zida returned, she still couldn't help but take him from Rosalia's back and hold him in her arms, examining him carefully from head to toe as if he were a precious treasure. Only after confirming that Niu Zida was alright did she finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"When I heard the commotion, I heard Asuna say that Master had already taken Rosalia and Yoel out. I was shocked. Master shouldn't have been so reckless."

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put my master at risk."

"This has nothing to do with Asuna; I insisted on going myself."

"Of course we can't blame Asuna, I'm talking about you, Master."

"Indeed, it was unwise to launch an attack without understanding the enemy's situation. The art of war lies in knowing yourself and your enemy, and winning before fighting."

Ningguang complained somewhat unhappily, while Xinhai also expressed her worries. It was clear that her maids were very concerned about her, which made Niu Zida quite relieved.

"Alright, anyway, this trip was very fruitful."

Niu Zida then recounted to his maid how he had subdued the forest dwellers. Of course, he wished that no one would tell Baron Ruman about this, otherwise the latter would definitely regret it if he knew that he had come to acquire the land in order to distribute it to the forest dwellers.

Chapter 341 Carriage Planting Rice Seedlings

Chapter 341.