"Just don't act like a mob, that's all you need. Why did you herd us all like a single mob back there? Let's just split into groups of five, and then combine them into groups of five again — twenty-five people, like a classic raid from some computer game, each with their own commander and number or name. You just shout out what each group should do, and everything will be fine — no more mobs. A couple of battles, a well-coordinated squad, and we're ready. Today I would've sent some against the mages, others straight to the archers, and returned the rest to the rear." — Konstantin spoke all this casually, but he noticed the commander's expression changing.
"And what about the trophies, by the way?"
"Oh, hold on, Semen! Konstantin! When did you come up with all this?"
"Well, just now — when you started talking about the mob. I just remembered how we played in one MMORPG, and in our guild during raid events, it was chaotic at first, everyone getting in each other's way like a herd of sheep, but then they made us act only within our own group, and everything fell into place. No one ran off alone; everyone stayed in their positions."
"Yeah, not a bad idea — we should consider and develop it into a tactic, our own tactic, because none of the local ones suit us. We're faster, stronger, we have mages, we're more resilient, and our regeneration is wild... unfortunately, even the ingenious strategies of the paladin school don't suit us."
"Trophies!!"
"Semen! Are you a hamster? Okay, calm down," Alexander intervened, seeing his opponent beginning to redden. "Since the battle plan is mostly clear, let's move on to the trophies. What do we have?"
"Twenty horses, thirty artifact crossbows and magical bolts for them, there are quite effective spells. We have thirty-four more human muzzles as prisoners now, plus four mages," Konstantin began his report.
"As usual, tents, blankets, warm clothing. Of note — a chest of silver. Quite a lot, enough for the upkeep of both this unit and the vanguard. The army is seriously stuck there. Apart from that, nothing else of interest."
"Alright, good. What about trophies from the slain?"
"Weapons, shields, and helmets are mostly intact. Armor and chainmail have suffered quite a bit — we'll need to refit them to suit our needs. In the soldiers' pockets, mostly copper and a little bit of small silver. That's all."
"And now the most pressing question — the mages! Anything interesting there? New spells, new knowledge?"
"No, unfortunately not."
"Yeah... I had a feeling, but I left that question for last. I was hoping... It's disappointing."
"Well, nothing to be upset about, Alexander — these mages are weak. All the ones we encountered have a straightforward set of attack and defense spells. Even something like 'mirror image' — only one of them knew it. The rest either have 'earth wall' or 'air shield' as defensive spells, and a trio of offensive ones — 'lightning', 'fire arrow', and 'air fist'. Not even one can do a 'fireball'. We just need to capture or invite a decent average mage — give them a drink, maybe a bit of blood. Or even an archmage, who marches with the main army!"
"Let's save dreams for the future and discussions about that future until we return to our camp. Anything interesting in the mages' equipment?"
"No. Just ordinary amulets. And the commander of this unit, and the knight, have nothing interesting either, just the same set of simple amulets, armor, and horses. War horses, good armor — we'll get a good sum for them. And him — he's a baron, by the way, we should hand him over to the locals, let them negotiate the ransom, and we get paid right away."
"Do they do it like that here? It seems like selling," Oksana, who had joined the campaign, was surprised. She was certainly delighted with the trophies and the silver, but some local traditions...
"Well, essentially it is, just called something fancier — transferring rights for ransom."
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