Huggins' "Successors" combat squad became the final straw that broke the back of the pirates and barbarians.
Surprisingly, even though they were at a significant disadvantage in terms of combat strength, these raiders from the north still chose to fight to the last moment, with very few surrendering.
The next day, Cumberland returned to Muxi Town with his troops. His force was much larger than when he set out. The army of over two hundred men was escorting more than four hundred prisoners, including more than twenty nobles of various ranks.
If pirates and barbarians are also included, the total number of prisoners captured in Muxi Town exceeds five hundred.
Rather than dealing with so many prisoners, Huggins secretly approached Todd and told him another piece of bad news—Duskwood was out of money.
Todd was initially incredulous, but after reviewing Brother Joe's accounts, he was ashamed to discover that, aside from the construction of a few projects, most of the 'Twilight Mutual Aid Society's' funds were used for its own laboratory. The purchase of experimental bottles, culture materials, consumables, and so on all required a large amount of money.
Another week later, the group that had migrated south returned to Muxi Town.
Under the supervision of the army, all prisoners cooperated with the residents to begin repairing and rebuilding Muxi Town. Many burned buildings were demolished, and blacksmith shops equipped with "bacterial fuel bottles" produced raw materials 24 hours a day. The original wooden materials of the houses in the town were all replaced with cement concrete.
Due to financial constraints, Todd was forced to provide the prisoners with cheap rations. As a result, the captured nobles protested strongly, arguing that being fed the same food as the soldiers was an insult.
After discussing it for a while, the nobles presented Todd with a "minimum standard" for the meal. It included sausages, dried meat, smoked fish, bread, vegetables, and meat porridge.
Looking at the menu, Todd was furious. He only had one sentence to say in response to the nobles' reply.
"Moxi Town is the land under the Father's rule; here, there is only faith, no class."
This continued until late March, when delegations of envoys arrived from Silver Ring City one after another, seeking out Todd to discuss only one matter—the ransom owed to the nobles.
Having no experience with this kind of thing, Todd delegated the negotiation to Cumberland and Mary. After a week of negotiations, the nobles paid a total of 17,000 silver moons in ransom to the Sacred Treasury of Twilight Town.
Another week passed, and Todd learned an important piece of news from the traveling merchants.
The Holy City has officially gone to war with Silver Ring City, and the Holy Knights of the Church have also been deployed to the battlefield as support forces for the former.
In response to this matter, Todd convened a special meeting of the Knights Order to discuss strategies for dealing with the situation in Twilight Town. The meeting location was moved from the original church chapel to the newly built headquarters of the Knights Order.
After everyone was seated, Todd first spent ten minutes explaining the general situation of the Battle of Muxi. Then, Huggins reported on the unit's losses.
The Cumberland army suffered three dead and eleven wounded; the garrison at Muxi Town suffered thirty-seven dead and nearly one hundred wounded in their militia. In addition, a melee-type mutant died during the battle at the guard camp from a severe head injury.
As Huggins spoke about the alien species, the other members of the meeting did not show any unusual expressions. They had heard some news beforehand and knew that there was such a special army in Muxi Town that only obeyed the commander-in-chief.
"How are the mutants getting along with the residents in the town now?"
Hearing Todd's question, Rachel thought for a moment and said, "The vast majority of the mutants have already moved into the town, and according to the classification of their abilities, many shops are willing to hire them. But there are still a small number of people who are not yet used to the presence of mutants, mainly those who have returned from the south."
Todd touched the bridge of his nose and looked at Cumberland: "How are the prisoners in town doing now?"
The old knight stroked his beard: "The prisoners in Silver Ring City are reliable in both their work and discipline. The problem is the pirates and barbarians; since they have blood on their hands, the residents naturally don't treat them well."
Todd nodded, looked at the others, and asked if there was anything else.
Brother Joe spoke up, "The reconstruction progress in the town is not ideal, mainly due to the lack of fuel. Grand Master, could you produce some more of those gas-generating canisters?"
Todd realized that there weren't many "Flame Breath" bacteria left in the lab, so he wrote this down and made it a priority.
Knight Dion, dressed in simple women's clothing, spoke up: "I've heard that the Grand Master can borrow books from the monastery's collection. The students who have come here from the capital hope to read those books."
Todd nodded and said, "No problem. You can contact the monks for the types of books you need, and they will go to the monastery to borrow them."
After answering a few more questions, Todd looked at everyone and sat up straight: "The purpose of this meeting today is to discuss an important matter—what should the Knights do next?"
Cumberland spoke first, saying, "Sacred Guard City and Silver Ring City have officially gone to war, and the Holy Knights of the Church have also joined the battle. Silver Ring City just suffered a major defeat at Twilight Town. In terms of both troop strength and morale, it is only a matter of time before it is defeated in the face of a two-pronged attack from Sacred Guard City and the Church's army. Therefore, I believe that Silver Ring City will bring in the barbarians as reinforcements to counter the enemy."
Upon hearing this, Todd said with a hint of uncertainty, "Introducing barbarians? That would mean Silver Ring City would become enemies with all the parish kingdoms. Would they do that?"
Cumberland tapped the table in front of him with his fingers: "For Silver Ring City, this is the only way to solve the kingdom's predicament. For us, it's a good opportunity to expand."
Todd asked, "Expansion?"
“If the Church defines the Silver Ring Kingdom as a traitor to its doctrine, then this will provide us with the best excuse to send troops.” Cumberland glanced at Todd. “Moreover, most of the Silver Ring City’s forces will be bogged down in battles with the Holy Guard City and the Church’s troops, so they will naturally have no time to attend to the war in the west.”
Todd thought for a moment and then asked, "If it's about expansion, where should we place the attack target first?"
After thinking for a moment, Cumberland said, "Southeast of Muxi Town lies Viscount Bartley's territory; perhaps we can start there."
A week after the meeting ended, news came from the eastern battlefield.
Silver Ring City lowered the drawbridge at Watchtower, allowing the barbarian forces to enter the south. Almost simultaneously, the Church issued a decree stripping Guy VI of his church membership and declaring the Kingdom of Silver Ring a heretic state.
Meanwhile, in Muxi Town, a force composed of mutants and soldiers set off eastward, stepping onto unfamiliar land.
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