Chapter 837: Valuing the Past Over the Present

"I believe we should primarily use incentives when dealing with the Moon Killers tribes," said Duarte.

Liszt responded neutrally, "Explain your plan."

"Your Highness, our knights have already swept through numerous Moon Killers tribes along the Vortex River basin, capturing nearly thirty thousand Moon Killers serfs. However, as the number of serfs continues to increase, we must allocate a significant portion of our knights for supervision and garrison duties, which severely weakens the knights' overall combat effectiveness."

The knights rely on small squads. Against small tribes of one or two hundred people, a single knight squad can effectively carry out capture operations.

In these small tribes, three or four mediocre Ancient Wizards are no match for the knights.

But for larger tribes of over a thousand people, a single knight squad is insufficient. Often, four or five squads must coordinate to complete the capture. For even larger tribes numbering in the thousands, a full contingent of knights is required, and precautions must be taken against counterattacks from Ancient Wizards.

As the operations against the Moon Killers tribes deepen, even larger tribes have begun to emerge, some with populations exceeding ten thousand.

In such tribes, many Ancient Wizards have reached the level of great magicians. Their coordinated magic attacks can force even the knights to retreat. If the entire knight order of Flame Territory were mobilized for slave capture, even the largest Moon Killers tribes would be no match. However, the number of knights who have arrived at Flame Island is insufficient.

There are fewer than sixteen hundred landed knights here, and the number of apprentice knights barely exceeds two thousand. With the need to maintain camp security and capture natives, they are truly overextended.

"Therefore, I propose leveraging the quality of life in our territory to attract Moon Killers tribes to voluntarily pledge allegiance to us. By offering them protection and food, I believe many Moon Killers would be tempted. Moreover, we could focus on incentivizing the Ancient Wizards among them."

"Incentivizing the Ancient Wizards?" Liszt raised an eyebrow, signaling Duarte to continue.

"The mages of the Magic Guild are analyzing the magical heritage of the Ancient Wizards. Passing down magic first requires passing down knowledge, so the Moon Killers' knowledge transmission almost exclusively occurs among Ancient Wizards. They are a group of self-interested tribal elites, more easily controlled and turned by benefits."

The Moon Killers have lost the flourishing civilization of the Moon Empire era, now living in forests by hunting and gathering, enduring harsh living conditions.

Even the Ancient Wizard class lives in hardship, facing shortages of clothing and food during autumn and winter.

Duarte elaborated enthusiastically, "It's already October, and the weather is cooling. Forest yields are waning, and the Moon Killers' lean season approaches. This is the perfect opportunity to replace capture with incentives for acquiring Moon Killers serfs. Once the Ancient Wizard class is turned, any number of Moon Killers will inevitably become serfs."

"Your proposal sounds promising. In that case, summon all knight order captains and the administrators of Flame Town to discuss this incentive plan."

The meeting was scheduled for the evening in the newly built council hall in Flame Town.

Before the meeting, Liszt first sent for Kenley Truth, the head of Flame Town's Magic Branch, to inquire about Ancient Wizards and the Sacred Mountain. Kenley had originally been leading research in Vortex Town on the Vortex Islands but was transferred to lead research on the Moon Killers after their discovery.

"Your Highness," Kenley bowed slightly. A mage obsessed with magic, she had almost no interests outside it, her life revolving entirely around magical pursuits.

"You've studied multiple Moon Killers Ancient Wizards. How is your progress on summarizing the Lunar Language?"

"The Lunar Language is exceedingly complex. Although the Moon Killers' Ancient Wizards possess its legacy, much of the script has been lost over time, especially records of the ancient Moon Empire, which are virtually blank. Our research has mostly deciphered the Lunar Language used in daily communication."

"What are your thoughts on the magic inherited by the Moon Killers?"

Kenley pondered briefly, "There is some value for reference. A few of their spells belong to extinct traditions and could regain their magic aura with some refinement... However, most of the magic inherited from the Moon Empire is outdated—high mana cost with weak effects."

She then added a reflective note, "I used to romanticize the golden age of mages during the Moon Empire era, believing modern mages paled in comparison. But by casting techniques alone, the mages of that era were far inferior to those of today."

"The world progresses. Though magic may have declined in some aspects, it has also adapted better to the present era. There's no need to yearn for the past; we should look to the future." Liszt smiled. People often romanticize antiquity, viewing it through a lens of nostalgia and distance—the further back in time, the grander it seems, precisely because details fade.

Part of it is nostalgia, part the mystique.

The Moon Empire is a classic example of this nostalgic idealization. Of course, one cannot deny that the era of mage rule created a brilliant magical civilization. Energetic and curious mages could delve into magic, souls, grand projects, even the essence of the world itself.

These were the pursuits mages most aspired to. In today's world, where knights dominate, gold rules all.

What does studying the essence of the world matter if it doesn't yield profit? If not, why bother? Better to spend that time drinking, dancing, and enjoying a lover’s embrace!

Liszt was also a knight.

Although he admired the dedication to magical study of wizards more, from a class perspective, he still had to denounce the glorified existence of the Moon Empire and remain vigilant against the resurgence of wizards.

After chatting for a while, he finally got to the point: "Kenli, have the Ancient Wizards revealed the exact location of the Holy Mountain?"

"None of the Ancient Wizards have been to the Holy Mountain. For the Moon Killers, the Holy Mountain is merely a legend. Their range of activity is quite limited, and their travels are usually confined to a few major tribes."

"Alright."

Liszt frowned.

He had originally thought the decoy mission of "locating the Holy Mountain and investigating the Ancient Wizards" would be easy to complete—with just some questioning, he could find the Holy Mountain. Unexpectedly, no one seemed to know about it.

Though the Holy Mountain remained elusive, clues for the previous decoy mission's reward—"the treasure of the natives"—had been uncovered. The location of the Horn Tribe guarding the treasure had already been identified.

...

After the office meeting, where it was decided that bribery would be the main tactic to acquire Moon Killer natives as serfs,

early the next morning, Liszt set out immediately for the direction of the Horn Tribe. After some searching, he successfully found the tribe, which had reached a population of over ten thousand. The Horn Tribe was located not far from the Flame Mountains, where Liszt planned to build his capital, in a smaller mountain range.

Near the settlement of the Horn Tribe, on a low hill, he discovered the "crumbling tower" that housed the treasure.

There were no guards. The stone tower, already two-thirds in ruins, was just a circle of stones around it, with traces of a bonfire on the nearby platform.

Perhaps the Moon Killers held their bonfire ceremonies here.