Drawing Cards in the Middle Ages to Rise in Ranks-Chapter 355 - 44: Plump Rats

"You see, this is why I say you are arrogant."

Anna felt a sense of inevitability in Losa’s response.

"I’ve learned about your actions in your territory. You generously exempt your subjects from taxes, lend them farming tools, and allocate land to them."

"You live up to the reputation of being generous and merciful."

"But I don’t understand why you do this. After all, you’re not that wealthy now; one might even say you’re somewhat impoverished."

"You could squeeze more money from them, and they wouldn’t oppose you for that."

Losa frowned and said, "I’m not really that good to them."

"In my rule, commoners still need to serve without pay, and they still have to pay a twenty percent tax. The cattle and farming tools loaned to them must be bought back in the future at their own expense."

"Isn’t that enough?"

Anna’s beautiful eyes were filled with confusion.

In Europe, there is no notion of the value of the people being higher than the rulers, and nothing like the deafening cries during the uprising led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang in Daze Village.

Peasant slaves are often depicted as opportunistic, deceitful, unkempt, rough in appearance, hideous, and utterly devoid of honor, deserving no trust, only fit to eat thorns, straw, and bean pods like livestock.

There’s a saying: torment a peasant slave, he will bless you; bless a peasant slave, he will torment you.

Although Europe occasionally saw peasant slaves unable to bear the oppressive exactions of the lords, raising flags in rebellion, turning into marauding gangs that burn, kill, and plunder, they were limited by the fragmented territories of the lords, finding it difficult to unite.

They had no clear goals or program, meaning their uprising was doomed to failure from the start.

They shouted slogans against the nobility, not the King, and even hoped the King would stand up for justice.

They never considered making themselves King, for the noble are innately noble, while they are born lowly.

Little did they know, the King is the greatest noble, and there’s no chance he’d pardon these "mobsters."

This is not due to the ignorance of the commoners.

It’s because they have no opportunity for education, laboring on the land all day, worrying about oppressive taxes daily, never enjoying leisure or comfort.

Like hamsters on a wheel, they are constantly running.

They must alert day by day to the chance that marauding robbers and mercenaries will plunder all their belongings.

Bound by rope, dragged, and trampled by warhorses.

Their wives and daughters violated, their homes set ablaze.

Losa thought about this and said heavily, "Some say peasant slaves are born to suffer; when they are born, pain is born with them."

"Many under my rule are escaped slaves from the lords of Europe, and from them, I’ve heard all sorts of tragic stories."

"As a lord, I only hope my subjects can suffer a little less."

"And I believe they will repay me with loyalty.

When enemies arrive, without my summons, they will unhesitatingly take up weapons to fend off the invasion—because they are not only protecting me but also protecting themselves."

Losa’s voice came clearly, seemingly carrying some intense ambition.

He had no intention of challenging the established rules of this world, but he would at least be a merciful lord.

Anna was slightly startled and thought for a moment before saying, "I understand."

Just like the former peasant soldier system of the Empire.

Those peasant soldiers with landownership were the strongest walls of the entire Empire.

...

In the dark sewer.

A bright lamp shone.

Li Yena, dressed in a black robe, covered her nose with one hand and held a cluster of orange flames in the other, tiptoeing through the filth.

She thought:

If only there were a kind of shoe with long heels, like the stilts worn by Gypsies when performing circus acts.

That could maximally separate herself from this filth.

Ahead, rustling sounds reached her ears.

Li Yena looked ahead, illuminated by the flames she held, and saw an ugly group of rats, likely covered in sores due to long absence from sunlight and living amidst filth.

These rats were really big!

Li Yena thought as she casually tossed a fireball.

Squeak—

The rats’ screams suddenly ceased.

"Go to hell, you ugly things."

Burning a group of rats improved Li Yena’s mood considerably; even the thick, rotten stench in the air seemed to lighten.

"I’ve heard that Marquis Losa is also very skilled at flame magic."

Li Yena swallowed. She truly wanted to have a deep conversation with Losa, but judging by his appearance, he seemed to have no interest in her—what a pity.

Constantinople boasts a complete drainage system, used, repaired, and maintained over thousands of years, resembling a huge underground palace beneath the city.

But it’s also a breeding ground for demons.

Ghouls, water ghosts, night ghosts, fear demons... No one knows how many demons are hidden down here.

Indeed, a small ecosystem has already formed here.

Ghouls and water ghosts feed on corpses, excrement, and other waste. Night ghosts feed on ghouls and water ghosts, with fear demons even higher up the chain.

This helps control the number of underground demons, keeping them from becoming overly rampant.

Constantinople usually adopts a laissez-faire attitude towards demons that do not threaten human survival.

Because they’re like weeds—you cut them down, and they always grow back.

No one knows how ghouls and water ghosts come into being. Like cockroaches, they forever reside underground in Constantinople.

Li Yena had no intention of meddling. Her goal was simply to clear the ghoul lair nearing the western suburbs.

Her footsteps echoed through the deep sewers.

Up ahead, a rapid splash of water suddenly rang out.

From experience, Li Yena could judge that most likely a water ghost had jumped into the sewage, waiting to ambush her.

Water ghosts, as low-level demons, have poor combat ability, even weaker than ghouls.

If not for their ability to attack from the water, they wouldn’t even be a match for an adult male on land.

Like a layer of black grease, the water was filled with filth, and suddenly a shadow shot out.

Li Yena frowned.

Her gaze was full of disgust.

Crimson flames swirled around her, instantly burning the attacking water ghost to ashes.

Smelling the thick stench in the air, Li Yena cursed Anna a hundred times in her heart before she continued with a composed face deeper into the tunnel.

It should be quite close now.

On the edge of the tunnel, she saw bones, gnawed clean with tooth marks, not even a shred of flesh left.

There were human remains, and also those of poultry like chicken, duck, and goose, and livestock like cattle, sheep, and horse.

Various bones scattered across the ground.

Stepping on them made a crunching sound.

Li Yena frowned; as a witch with a passion for adventure, she had a high tolerance for the harsh environment before her, yet she still felt intense discomfort.

She quickened her pace, indifferent to whether she would alarm the increasingly close ghoul lair. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Ghouls are much braver than water ghosts. These social demons would never abandon their lair because of a little noise.

On the contrary, Li Yena eagerly anticipated the ghouls approaching her upon perceiving the intruder’s presence to meet their end.

Unfortunately.

Li Yena reached the far end of the sewer, yet the ghouls didn’t appear.

"Could it be the wrong place?"

Li Yena murmured quietly, arriving at the sewer’s end.

Here was a high platform resembling a cliff, with pitch blackness ahead.

She was about to conjure a fireball to illuminate.

But suddenly discovered numerous terrifying red lights glowing in the darkness, seemingly numbering in the thousands.

"Well, this is... hell."

Li Yena instinctively stepped back, but realized she was stepping on a shriveled, tooth-marked grotesque head.

This is...

A ghoul’s head?

Li Yena’s eyes widened.

It seems she hadn’t made a mistake with the location, but rather, these ghouls had already been preemptively wiped out by "someone."

She turned her gaze back to those red eyes ahead.

These were a group of fat rats, like a carpet, spread across the ground and the walls.

Their skin was festering badly, their eyes red as though bleeding, staring at Li Yena with a gaze full of cruelty and desire.

If it weren’t for the fireball Li Yena held, they would have already charged her recklessly.