Under the light of the torches, the cleaning up of the bloody mess continued. As per Anthony's instructions, the bodies of the imperial soldiers were to be piled up and burned, but not after everything valuable was stripped off them.
Thus, the villagers diligently looted the corpses, taking away their weapons and armor, and all other belongings. They brought all their finds to Anthony, not keeping a single thing to themselves, out of respect and fear.
Anthony did not have high expectations with their war booty. They were, after all at best used, and at worst, damaged goods. But the system would price them higher than he would have thought.
The mound of weapons and equipment would suddenly disappear, as he took everything into his inventory. The villagers watched the disappearance with lesser bewilderment, having seen more unbelievable deeds from the mage.
There, in the virtual storage, the items were automatically sorted out, divided according to their designation and their quality.
Anthony started with the looted armor.
[Are you sure you want to sell Damaged Navian Coat of Mail x4?]
[You have obtained Tokens x6800]
He scratched his eyes in disbelief. In video games, damage equipments are almost sold for junk.
He browsed the armor store and saw that the brand new Navian Coat of Mail sells for 2,000 tokens. It was an expensive item, but the greater surprise was that the penalty for quality degradation was very low.
The four coats of mail he just sold, have big tears, left behind by the piercing shots. But each was only 300 tokens less than the undamaged ones.
Excitedly and with high hopes, the next thing he sold was the remaining coats of mail, all of which has been categorized by the system as used.
[Are you sure you want to sell 'Used Navian Coat of Mail x12?]
[You have obtained Tokens x22,800]
His expectations have not been betrayed. The penalty has been reduced to a hundred tokens. With just the first item sold, his overall available Tokens have increased to 36,490. More than enough to send them their way.
But there were still plenty of things to be sold. The villagers tried to ignore the smirk that was on his face, while he was immersed in the process. He could not help it, especially if things were going better than he would have ever dreamed.
He sold the helmets next. Only three helmets were damaged and sold for 80 tokens each. The rest would be sold for a hundred tokens each, for a total of 1,340 tokens
Then the weapons, 14 swords and 14 daggers, none of which had been damaged. The swords sold for three hundred fifty tokens each, and the daggers fifty each, amounting to 5,600 tokens.
The leather boots turned out to be very expensive, with a price of 500 tokens per pair. While the leather bracers, leather greaves and leather gloves were cheaper, with a price of 70 tokens per pair.
Then their personal belongings including miscellaneous jewelry and imperial coins along with their military badges made of sterling silver, which all amounted to a whopping 8,000 tokens.
Finally were the horses which proved to be the most the most expensive loot out of all. All of them were stallions and of a good breed, befitting of the empire's most elite soldiers.
They caught eight imperial horses and each sold for a mind boggling four thousand each. And just the mounts alone we're nearly equal in value with the rest of the war booty.
[Tokens Available: 85,170]
Joy and relief filled his once troubled heart, upon seeing his current token balance. With that amount, he could afford a better mode of transportation and luxurious meals for him and Irene all throughout the journey. He could also buy another occupation, and he already had his choices ready through all the window-shopping he did every night.
"My lord, the corpses are ready to be burned." Jason informed him, and Anthony had to check himself.
A pyre has been constructed, and all the bodies have been piled up unto each other, wearing nothing but their undergarments.
The burning of corpses, as he had learned from the villagers, were said to be a form of body deposition only reserved for those who do not deserve to have an afterlife. The fire burns the body as well as the soul.
Therefore, what they were about to do was an act of judgement. Dooming the souls of the brutal and sinful imperials, along with the soul of the traitor Basil, into oblivion. They would never rise again.
Hearing of it, made Anthony's skin crawl. For him, it was too harsh of a sentence, at least for Basil. The village chief did betray them and brought all of the village to harm, but aside from his fanaticism, he believed he was not an evil man.
But he could not refuse the proposition, especially in front of the grieving families.
He was led beside the pyre, where the scent of oil and blood dominated his sense of smell.
In front of him were the villagers, who only had hatred for the dead men in front of them. They awaited his speech, a message of damnation as the messenger of the gods.
And so, he spoke words, most of which he has taken from the mouth of a certain Austin preacher. Calling the imperial soldiers murderers and sinners, and worthy of the ultimate punishment.
Yet, he could not help but think, that some of them only followed orders. That some of them were once innocent boys, only led astray by bad company. And who was he to judge their souls?
But the thoughts remained thoughts, and would not come out of his mouth. He was not brave enough.
The speech was succeeded with silence. Only the crackling of the torches and the sound of the frogs could be heard, as the villagers awaited his torch to drop unto the pyre.
"May the Lord have mercy on your souls." he whispered as he turned towards the bodies. And only the wind would hear.
He threw the torch and watched the fire spread and devour the wood, then the cold pale bodies… until everything have been engulfed in flames.