"You came before me and asked me to pull out a gold bar for you without hesitation. Judging from the respect that Kamel commanded at the time, you shouldn't have had such confidence." Rohr immediately explained his question further.
Surprised that Rohr would actually take the initiative to think about such a complicated issue, Jon's face stiffened for a moment before he spoke slowly: "The reason I was confident in instigating rebellion among Kamel's personal guards is because..."
Jon thought for a long time before translating an ancient saying from his previous life into the common tongue of Westeros: "The people do not suffer from scarcity but from inequality."
"The people don't suffer from scarcity but from inequality?" Rohr repeated Jon's words, obviously not quite understanding what this meant.
"Do you know why I wanted you to throw those 80 gold dragons?" Jon asked immediately.
"I couldn't get too close, lest those mercenaries become wary," Rohr guessed.
"Half correct," Jon did not voice these words aloud: "It's because I wanted the mercenaries who remained loyal to Kamel to see their companions dividing the money. They watched them scrambling for the gold dragons scattered on the ground.
You know, in the eyes of Kamel's cronies, the mercenaries surrounding me at that time were just a bunch of losers, complete traitors and scum.
But this group of scum, these men who were no different from them just moments ago, suddenly received a huge sum of 80 gold dragons.
How many times had they risked death to earn a few silver stags, barely enough for a few nights of drinking, while this group did nothing—truly nothing. They simply came to me and swore an oath, without fighting, without risks, without injuries.
These 'traitors' each pocketed more than 10 gold dragons for doing nothing, while they received nothing for their loyalty and honor.
I wanted them to watch the traitors share the money. I wanted to wound their hearts!"
Rohr said nothing, but his expression betrayed his surprise.
"And just when the hearts of Kamel's guards were consumed by jealousy and regret," Jon slowed his tone and continued, "I once again gave them the opportunity to get money, and sweetened the deal. The bounty of 80 gold dragons was increased to 150, with the possibility of knighthood also offered. And then—boom! The defenses in their hearts crumbled."
After listening to Jon's words, Rohr was stunned for a long time, then lowered his head respectfully. "Thank you for clarifying my doubts."
Jon smiled back, quite pleased with the outcome of this conversation.
Despite his eloquent speech, he could actually sum it up in one sentence—the confidence that comes from hindsight.
Because events had unfolded and he had succeeded, whatever explanation he gave would seem right.
As for his confidence in instigating a rebellion against Kamel's personal guards?
He was just making it up. How could he have been confident? He had merely taken a chance.
When it came to confidence, he only had the confidence to run away if his instigation failed.
As he had noted earlier, Kamel only had five horses. If he turned and fled, Kamel could only bring four men to chase him.
With the strength of Case and Rohr, they might struggle against fifteen mercenaries, but they would have no problem handling five. After all, they were elite fighters on par with the Warrior's Sons and the Kingsguard!
Later, Rohr and the others confirmed this in battle. The two of them fought against four mercenary cavalry, including Kamel, and dispatched them as easily as killing chickens.
Of course, he couldn't possibly tell Rohr these thoughts.
The reason he explained his strategy to Rohr was to improve his image in the other man's mind.
After all, Rohr didn't feel like an NPC with artificial intelligence, but more like a normal human being with independent thinking. For such an NPC, Jon needed to rely on his own abilities to maintain the other's loyalty.
"Rewarding NPCs can ensure absolute loyalty," Hikaru's voice suddenly sounded in Jon's mind, contradicting his speculation.
"Oh? How can we guarantee it?"
"The S-level NPCs rewarded by the system are all religious warriors trained by the organizers in this world from childhood. Their loyalty will even exceed that of the Unsullied."
"Trained by the organizer? No wonder there are those professions that disappeared long ago." Jon nodded thoughtfully.
"In their understanding," Hikaru ignored Jon's words and continued explaining, "the players assigned to them are incarnations of the gods they worship. So although all rewarded NPCs are living people with various life experiences, they remain absolutely loyal to their chosen player and never question any of the player's decisions."
"So it's like using religious brainwashing to explain the competitive behavior between players?" Jon understood somewhat. "This way, the core NPC, as the player's confidant, won't question the player's strange behavior or knowledge that doesn't belong to this era?
But why recruit locals as NPCs? Wouldn't it be enough to use androids like the players and give them AI?"
"Our laws forbid putting AI into androids," Hikaru explained. "In short, using natives of this world as NPCs helps improve the players' 'immersive experience.'"
Jon pursed his lips when he heard this. Only a fool would believe such an explanation.
After all, they had already traveled to a real world, so why would they need to improve immersion? And if they truly wanted to improve immersion, wouldn't it be more perfect to simply remove the system altogether?
But what Hikaru said at the beginning about banning AI in androids might better explain things. Jon had long suspected that the game's organizer was an advanced civilization.
(This setting doesn't affect the plot of this book. Readers can understand that this civilization is the world we live in, and the organizer is a company called "Qidian Reading")
Well, there was no point dwelling on this. What mattered more was that after confirming the NPCs were 'religious warriors,' Jon no longer needed to hide anything from them or defend his identity. There was no need to worry about their loyalty or make up stories to cover his plans.
By the gods, how could there be such a perfect reward in the world?
After learning about these 'Religious Warriors,' Jon was in a good mood as he looked at his two new subordinates.
"My lord, where are we going now?" Rohr asked after seeing Jon emerge from his thoughts.
As for why Jon had suddenly fallen into a daze, neither Rohr nor Keith showed any curiosity. Weren't priests always like this?
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