[Ding dong—A new side quest is here!]
[Master, here's your chance to be a hero and gain some favor!]
[The helpless girls have encountered terrifying bandits, with their loyal servants and reliable warriors falling one after another.]
[At this moment, they urgently need a brave young man to rescue them from this hellish situation.]
[Master, what are you waiting for?]
[Defeat the bandits and save the girls in crisis!]
System12345 cheerfully announced.
[Master, joining in a grand escape together instead of playing the hero is also a good choice, you know.]
[Who knows, during the escape, being caught in the rain or getting injured might trigger some special moments where everyone has to be honest with each other...]
[At that time, Master, you can... hehehe.]
Feeling like a thorn in her side, Salia lifted her head dazedly.
What day was it since she became a captive?
Salia couldn't remember.
All she knew was that there probably wasn't anyone more brutal than the Khitan people in the world.
The young Khitan Batulu and his men not only treated them, the captives, as slaves or livestock, but they also completely ignored them.
They didn't provide food, not even a drop of water!
Let alone resting day and night, they would either be out killing or on their way to kill, paying no heed to whether the captives lived or died.
If it weren't for these Khitans occasionally dismounting to rest, she would have doubted whether these guys were even human.
If it weren't for the loyal servants hiding a bit of food, and seizing every opportunity to catch insects or rodents while the Khitans stopped, she and her sister would probably have perished on the roadside long ago.
Yet, despite all this, Saliya was no longer recognizable as a human being.
But even so, there were still people who recognized her.
With a weird cackle, like crows singing dirges on dark tree branches.
"Well, well, well, isn't this our Miss Saliya and Miss Salina?" Lady Mati grinned broadly, laughing wantonly.
"I never expected that even you two noble ladies would end up like this?"
Lady Mati's men joined in the mocking, their eyes burning with raging hatred.
"You are..." Saliya hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously.
"I'm no match for you two noble ladies." Lady Mati removed her handkerchief, revealing a black hole where her nose should have been.
"I'm just a poor creature who lost her land, had her husband and son killed, and barely escaped from the clutches of death."
"...," Saliya lowered her head, silent.
It had nothing to do with shame, purely because she had tangled with so many people over the years, enemies lined the coast of the Sea of Mohai, and who knows who this person in front of her was.
"Do you know each other?" Seeing Lady Mati and Saliya seemingly conversing, Shu Yichao immediately took action, fearing the remaining people would also slip from his grasp.
"Relatives, friends, or some other relationship?"
"But it doesn't matter. Let's make a deal. How about you pay the ransom for them?"
"As long as the price is right?" Shu Yichao gestured with his fingers.
"Respected Khitan Batulu, are you serious?" After some gestures, Lady Mati understood Shu Yichao's meaning and asked in horror.
Saliya and Salina were the daughters of the Ersiman Governor of Mohai, precious commodities indeed. Lady Mati couldn't understand why Shu Yichao would do this.
"Absolutely, completely authentic."
Seeing the deal was promising, Shu Yichao was overjoyed and immediately promised authenticity.
So, after a short while, Saliya and her sister, along with the other captives, were sold off by Shu Yichao.
Once he got rid of them, he happily led his troops away.
"Charge!"
"Our target: the Mohai capital - Sochiya!"
"Hmph," Saliya, knowing she had fallen into the hands of her enemies, remained defiant. "Don't be too happy."
"My father will surely come with a large army to deal with you once he learns of this."
"By then, you'll know how sharp the blades of the Ersiman warriors are!"
She threatened with a stern expression.
"What a terrifying threat," Lady Mati said as she pulled out a dagger and lightly scraped it across Saliya's face.
"But it seems like the Khitans are heading straight for your father's city."
"It seems like your father's own safety is in question."
"Just a few dozen Khitans here," Saliya retorted stubbornly.
"Just here."
"...," Saliya fell silent.
"Come!" Lady Mati shouted, her men, brimming with killing intent, closing in with their swords.
They were itching to charge forward at Lady Mati's command and turn the people before them into mincemeat.
"Don't be impulsive," Lady Mati signaled for them to lower their weapons. "Too many people want them dead."
"Why not take this opportunity to call everyone over?"
"On the grasslands, in the mountain gullies, in the villages..."
"What's going on?" Her subordinates were baffled.
"Tell them the Khitans are heading to Sochiya," Lady Mati looked at her subordinates as if they were idiots.
"If you want revenge, there's no better opportunity than this."
Lady Mati had no doubt that many would respond.
Over the years, the Ersiman people had accumulated a lot of blood debt in the land of Norma, they wanted money, they wanted lives, enemies were everywhere.
As long as they maintained a strong posture, intimidated by their military might, they might be able to maintain their rule.
But as soon as they showed a little weakness, they would undoubtedly be attacked on all sides.
Now, the Khitans had taken the lead, attacking the Ersiman people everywhere, even capturing the daughters of the Mohai Governor and then parading them out as trophies.
And the Governor of Mohai was hiding in his castle like a turtle — hmph, did they even need to think about what would happen next?
[Master, why did you run away?]
[Well, the bandits are scary, I understand running away.]
[But at least take the twin sisters with you.]
[If you don't share hardships, how will you get closer to them and conquer them?]
[Ha — the speed of leaving is getting faster and faster?]
[It's not me saying this, but to court such dangerous girls.]
[Master, you must endure what ordinary people cannot, endure what ordinary people cannot endure.]
[By running away like this, the favorability of Saliya and Salina will be greatly reduced, don't you know?]
[Hmm, in this direction — the Mohai capital, Sochiya?]
[Well, it seems like Master hasn't completely lost his mind, at least he knows to report the incident.]
[Remember to be polite when you meet your father-in-law and raise your favorability a bit.]
[This way, maybe you can — wait, Master, aren't you going into the city? Why are you circling around the city?]
System 12345 is puzzled.
[If you don't hurry into the city to explain the situation to the Governor of Mohai — what if Saliya and Salina are killed?]