When Bell was successfully running his business in the city, these relatives naturally did not dare to default on their debts and had to treat him hospitably. However, once Bell ran into trouble, they just needed to get rid of him, and the debt would never have to be repaid.
If Bell owed them a large sum of money, it might actually strengthen their familial bonds. Because if Bell died, their money would be lost. This is why sometimes debt is more reliable than family ties.
Linley owed a large sum of money on Andros Island, which was actually a good thing for him. Because if anyone dared to betray Linley, they wouldn't just lose their money, but it would also affect the money of others on Andros Island, making them all united against a common enemy.
However, Linley still needed to repay some debts in a timely manner, giving them hope. If the debt seemed completely hopeless, they might just discard the IOUs and then betray Linley.
"Where are we going next?" Linley asked.
"I'm not quite sure." Bell seemed a bit confused.
Linley had a place in mind. "You said the minotaurs are trapped on a farm, where exactly?"
"Minotaurs? They're nearby, but guarded by Romans," Bell replied.
"No problem, let's go take a look," Linley said firmly.
They traveled again under the cover of night. The bright moon hung high, its light illuminating the trees and flowers along the road. Crete is mainly an agricultural island, with a mild climate and abundant crops like grapes, figs, and olives. Various wildflowers grew by the fields and under the trees, creating a picturesque scene.
There were many checkpoints on the road, but not a single soldier was present, as if everyone had abandoned their posts. Even though it was late and people usually wouldn't travel at this hour, such negligence was truly excessive.
They walked for most of the night and finally arrived at a farm by the mountains. This farm was unusual, with deep ditches dug around it and tall brambles growing beside the ditches, making it look like a wall from a distance.
Linley observed for a while and suddenly heard a "ding" sound: "Side quest: Rescue the minotaurs."
"What does this mean?" Linley asked in confusion.
"It means you need to rescue the minotaurs," the system replied.
"All the minotaurs?" Linley continued to ask.
"Of course not, rescuing one is enough, but the more you rescue, the more experience points you gain," the system explained.
Linley carefully observed and finally found a gap in the brambles, and slipped through it. The farm reeked of blood, and a dozen Roman soldiers were roasting meat by a fire. Upon closer inspection, they saw several minotaur children in iron cages beside them, and on the ground was a large minotaur head. They were roasting beef.
Bavaria roared and charged, killing a Roman soldier with a single blow. The other followers also rushed forward, quickly cutting down the dozen or so Roman soldiers.
"Wait," Linley shouted.
The followers finally stopped, leaving three or four Roman soldiers alive.
"What are you doing?" one Roman soldier asked tearfully.
"How can you eat minotaurs! This is cannibalistic behavior! Minotaurs may be a different race, but they are also intelligent beings!" Bavaria said angrily.
In that era, cannibalism was not uncommon, especially in areas inhabited by barbarian tribes. Even in the relatively civilized region of Gaul, traces of cannibals would occasionally appear. In Germania, during times of famine, people would even resort to eating human corpses.
Bavaria's origins trace back to the more barbaric Viking regions of Northern Europe. Hundreds of years later, although the Germanic people had gradually become civilized, the Vikings still plundered everywhere. However, Bavaria, having embraced Dionysus, the god of wine, became relatively civilized and could justifiably condemn the Romans for eating minotaurs.
"What minotaurs?" the Roman soldiers retorted, "We're eating roast beef, real beef, not minotaurs!"
"Ah?" Bavaria walked over to inspect and found it was indeed a real cow's head, not a minotaur. What was roasting on the stove was also beef, not minotaur meat. Although minotaurs are larger than humans, their bones are not as thick as real cow bones.
"Why are you holding these minotaur children here?" Linley had noticed this earlier but hadn't had the chance to intervene. Anyway, the Roman soldiers were enemies, so it didn't matter if they were killed.
The Roman soldiers explained, "Their parents were disobedient and wanted to rebel, so we captured the minotaur children to threaten them. If they continued to disobey, we would roast and eat the minotaur children."
"That's barbaric!" Bavaria exclaimed angrily.
Another Roman soldier added, "We wouldn't really eat them, just kill them."
Linley shook his head, thinking, "Killing them or eating them, is there really much difference? Haven't minotaurs always been well-behaved? I recall that there used to be minotaurs in the Roman army."
Minotaurs are strong and have great impact force. Once armored, they are almost invincible on the battlefield. Although minotaurs under Roman command were not the best, they were a formidable weapon against the Roman phalanx in the Greek long spear phalanx.
The Roman phalanx, armed with short swords and shields, was effective against humans but struggled against heavily armored minotaurs. The minotaurs, under the cover of their own phalanx, would approach the Roman phalanx within forty or fifty meters, then charge, braving Roman arrows and javelins, and smash into the Roman phalanx, breaking their shields and slashing with giant swords and axes.
When the Roman phalanx was in chaos, the Greek phalanx would follow up and deal a crushing defeat to the Romans. However, the number of minotaurs was very limited. Among the hundreds of thousands of people on the island of Crete, there were only a few thousand minotaurs, and even fewer could go to the battlefield. Moreover, the Cretans themselves were unwilling to fight, and after a crushing defeat to the Romans, they surrendered.
That time, the Romans sent elite veterans. When the minotaurs charged, the Romans retreated, and once the minotaurs were exhausted, they counterattacked, encircling and annihilating them, and then dispersed the Cretan phalanx.
This seemed simple, but it was extremely difficult in practice. Just retreating a few hundred meters and reforming the formation was already challenging. Reforming the formation, quickly eliminating the minotaurs, and then continuing to break up the Cretan phalanx required highly trained elite soldiers, high morale, and precise command.
After their defeat, the Cretans accepted their fate and willingly became a Roman province, a status they have maintained to this day. Perhaps these Romans still remembered the painful memories of being trampled by minotaurs, which is why they treated them this way?