The town of Kirk Farm still retained the characteristics of a Viking culture. It was a small town, and the lord's house itself served as the town hall. In the Viking-style home seen in movies, a tall, middle-aged man stood up when Sagittarius's group entered and immediately asked, "Are you the land lord who lured the dwarf king into a trap and achieved a great victory?"
Even in front of NPCs, Sagittarius did not take sole credit. He replied, "I worked together with the other city lords."
Kirk sighed and said, "But I don't have the strength like you to resist the dwarves... I'm sorry."
Melon-chan tilted her head in confusion at the seemingly inexplicable apology. But Sagittarius's next words clarified everything, making her exclaim in surprise.
"The reason you do not allow the townspeople to enter the town, even though you have them work on farming or building houses and repairing your old wooden walls, is probably because you've already submitted to the dwarves, haven't you?"
"Our people don't have the strength to fight. Kirk Farm is just a small town; how could we fight against a million-strong army?" Kirk sighed in shame, glancing at Sagittarius.
The young man continued, "And you've already sent news about me to the dwarves, haven't you? That I'm in your town, as a gift for your submission."
Kirk sighed again. "As expected of the city lord. So wise. Having someone who defeated the iron mine dwarf king makes it a condition that allows Kirk Farm to submit without losing anything." He waved his hand.
Close the door and trap the cat! (Thai Idiom; Bullying someone who cannot defend themselves and has no means to escape)
Why would someone like Sagittarius, who could lure the dwarves into a trap or previously defeat a much larger army on Rigel Island 2, willingly walk into a trap? Because...
He kept glancing back to see if the man carrying a small hammer was still following him.
And he was still behind him!
Sagittarius smiled slightly, observing Kirk's attempt to close the door and trap them. He spoke indifferently as thirty NPC warriors surrounded them from all directions, ready to capture and deliver them to the dwarves.
Sagittarius did not move. He said, "The purpose of my journey this time is truly just to have you accept the citizens from the eight conquered cities outside your town. Since you fear the dwarves and won't accept them, I had decided from the start that if you didn't, I would beat you up first and then think about what to do next!"
Kirk laughed, "Just the three of you? You think you can defeat thirty of us? Haha!" Not to mention those outside.
Although Kirk Farm was a large subdistrict-level town, it could become a city-level one, with hundreds of soldiers of its own!
What could three people do? But they could indeed do it. Not three people, but just one.
That small hammer was thrown out.
Whirring around like a boomerang, Mjölnir knocked down all thirty warriors, rendering them unconscious.
True to the AI's intelligent design in the MGC game, the timing was impeccable.
Lord Kirk was left with his mouth agape. Thor, pointing at Kirk with anger, said, "As Odin's son, we give you humans the opportunity to use your body and spirit to protect your welfare, to fight the dwarves, to show your strength. But you! You cowardly human, you're a disgrace to be a city lord." Thunderous sound effects accompanied his words.
Sagittarius turned back to Thor and explained his calculated plan, "According to the game system, this Kirk is the lord of Kirk Farm. He has the right to accept or deny anyone entry. Since this Kirk has submitted to the short dwarf race, I will persuade no further. Instead, I will take the citizens who disagree with submitting to other races and return to my city."
Melon-chan rolled her eyes but understood. She forced a smile.
If Sagittarius took nearly all the people to another town, when the dwarf army arrived, they would find a town with wooden log walls instead of stone, bricks, or concrete, and with fewer people.
What would happen then?
Both fragile and sparsely populated—Kirk would find it hard to secure a way to survive.
Could Kirk stop Sagittarius? No way. Didn't you see that the gods were angry? There was no way for him to not support Sagittarius taking the people away.
Even NPCs were left without options.
Melon-chan still remembered the expression of Shamshir and Raspberry Pie before their end.
"Why does he always show me his dark side?" Other guys who tried to pursue her never showed their bad side. Some even took multiple showers and wore perfume to hide their flaws.
But with Sagittarius, she had lost count of how many times he had brought her to witness these smooth eliminations. Even though NPCs had no hearts, she still felt pity.
Melon-chan never realized when she started viewing Sagittarius as a suitor.
On the GM's side, seeing Sagittarius' decision just gave him a headache. That's why there's his position, because players never make decisions as they should.
In truth, he thought that Sagittarius would occupy the town of KirkFarm and use the town to resist the incoming Dwarven army.
That would be befitting of the great lord of the metropolis, showing his own strength!
But he led the townspeople away instead.
Thinking it over, he smiled because the NPC character is an AI with thoughts. When the Dwarven AI reaches KirkFarm and sees the town is almost deserted, they will surely pursue Sagittarius.
"Huh, if he occupied KirkFarm and defended it as planned, the quest wouldn't take long, but instead, he chose the hard way by getting pursued. He brought it on himself."
Leading 32,324 townspeople on a long journey back to Chandra City, with the Dwarven forces in pursuit.
It's nearly impossible.
Then a senior GM from the server room next to the North America zone walked in to greet him.
"How's it going, the toughest server in the game?"
The junior GM chuckled and replied that he was currently watching Sagittarius' temple-building quest and relayed the story of Thor giving out an easy quest, which he made more difficult.
The senior GM frowned and said, "With Sagittarius, that guy always plans his next move in advance. In the past, he often found himself in situations without support but always managed to find help every time," while fiddling with the control panel.
As the junior GM managing this server let the senior GM inspect, knowing the senior had been in this room before, ever since before the five lords emerged. Last year, this senior GM requested a transfer to a less stressful server, which the junior GM understood why and took over. The Asia-Oceania room was indeed a tough one.
While thinking about this, the senior GM laughed out loud, exclaiming, "No wonder!"
The junior GM turned to look and saw the senior GM displaying the chart of NPCs following Sagittarius on his journey south to Chandra City. The senior GM slowly scrolled for the junior to see. At first, not much, but eventually, the junior GM also exclaimed.
The city's management and NPC soldier increases are locked to daily increments. To add a lot, one must occupy a town and incorporate its remaining soldiers.
But there are special methods to increase numbers, such as completing different quests, including what Sagittarius is doing now.
After inspecting the professions of over 30,000 refugees, they were various NPC professions, but notably, there were over 10,000 combat-related professions!
Combat strength aside, the support professions were another matter. Alchemists, blacksmiths, healers, and so on were plentiful.
Useless NPCs are abundant in the game. The junior GM thought the 30,000-plus villagers would include half ordinary villagers and half combat or support professions, but it turned out all NPCs had professions in both fields. Ordinary villager professions were a minor part, and most were related to both combat and support, possibly as spouses or children.
The junior GM held his head; how could he forget? After the Dwarves decimated eight city heads, the lagging NPCs would certainly be ordinary villagers! Therefore, those who survived must have significant survival skills!
He accidentally boosted the combat and support capabilities of around 10,000 NPCs for Sagittarius.
Moreover, Sagittarius had funds from the Rigel 2 war, enough to support and develop these NPC abilities, further strengthening Chandra City.
Seeing the junior GM hold his head, the senior GM patted his shoulder encouragingly, saying, "Don't feel guilty. Sometimes our difficulties create opportunities for players. Just learn gradually."
"Hopefully, the Dwarfs can cut down this force a bit," the junior GM felt somewhat unwilling. He made Sagittarius' quest harder because the rewards were too easy. Now, aside from the quest rewards, this guy got a second chance at fortune.
The senior GM could only smile wryly at the junior GM, unable to convey the painful truth any further, and offered a supportive pat on the shoulder."
The painful truth that the senior kept silent isn't much.
On the back of the horses "plundered" from the entire town of KirkFarm, a long procession is heading straight south.
"Moses led the Hebrews to Canaan (God's Promised Land) under God's watchful eye. Now I lead refugees to seek shelter, with the god's assistance!" When it was time to utilize Sagittarius, he did not hesitate to continue praising.
Thor laughed heartily, slapped his chest, and said, "Don't worry, dwarves should stay in Svartalfheim. Father didn't agree from the start. If they show up before us, we won't stand idly by."
The exam between the quests isn't over. The examiner Thor must stay for sure.
With this small hammer-wielding god traveling along, why should Sagittarius fear the dwarves? Even if they came from the entire city of Sirius, Sagittarius wouldn't be afraid!
Anyway, they already made friends, the examiner could also become a helper.
The final test was tied to providing all these refugees with residence and safety.
Fighting might be part of making them safe, but it wasn't required in this sub-quest, so Thor could help without violating the quest instructions.
Sagittarius didn't just plunder horses but also clothes, food, and essential items from the entire town, leaving KirkFarm with practically only "structures" remaining.
Promising to provide homes, food for survival, clothes, and various items was equivalent to "saving lives," increasing the relationship points between Sagittarius and the refugees by +50 each instantly.
All the combat-oriented individuals pledged allegiance, and indeed the young man accepted with a wide smile.
Seeing high-level refugees asking for care made Sagittarius even more pleased, shaking the NPCs' hands vigorously.
Paying these NPCs wasn't a big issue; the important thing was that NPCs could never betray like players!
Sagittarius remained firm in maintaining his army as one hundred percent NPCs going forward.
The city lord, whose main strength lies in the players, is having a headache.
'Even though there's no need to pay players to maintain the army like him, what should we do now!?'
In the office of an ancient European castle, in the middle of Camelot, Guinevere 28 clutched her head, anxiously looking at the list on the screen.
According to the plan she and Guhai Wubian came up with, they would attack the city of Tuguria, one of the eight cities occupied by dwarves, timing it with the betrayal reveal, and then take over completely, seizing Tuguria in the process.
The targets are similar to Sagittarius, which are the giant golems controlled by Guhai Wubian.
The plan may look good, but unlike Mewku Mewku, who knew the 'names' beforehand and could organize the forces appropriately for the takeover,
Guinevere 28 couldn't find a good plan. She decided to log out and seek help from someone trustworthy.