The banquet was very joyous, but for those who couldn't participate in the battle and didn't get any spoils, the banquet felt a bit sour, and the wine and meat in their hands didn't taste as good.
Those people received so many spoils and rewards from the Prince, while they still had nothing, not even a share in looting the corpses.
Watching those who had earned enough gold show off, the anger in their hearts grew, and some even considered murder and robbery. This army had no shortage of murderers and robbers, but the environment was different now. Robbing within the army was courting death; no one would allow such people to live.
They did want to participate in the battle, but they could only wait on the riverbank. The last group to cross the river all got spoils, but they got nothing.
This made them uncontrollably start complaining about the Prince. If the Prince hadn't delayed in deploying them, how could they have missed the battle?
These people certainly didn't dare to speak openly, only privately, but this was enough to show their dissatisfaction. They didn't understand grand strategies or battle formations; they only knew the Prince hadn't let them get rich.
And in their complaint session, some people suddenly remembered, didn't the Prince tell them to gather supplies?
That was a good opportunity. Everyone knew that with the demise of Akad's main force, his rule was over, and it was unlikely there would be any force threatening them on Bulgar land.
This suddenly reminded everyone that this was a good way to make extra money. Robbing Bulgar villages would bring in a lot of money, and they could also kill and vent their frustration from not being able to join the battle.
So, after the banquet ended, Rostislav suddenly found many people signing up to collect grain, and his personal guards also reported that many units had left the camp without the Prince's permission.
After all, many people came to Bulgar for the purpose of robbery. They were originally fearless forest dwellers, acting naturally on their own accord, with no psychological pressure whatsoever about killing and robbing, let alone that this time they were killing pagans who spoke a different language.
At that time, Rostislav hadn't taken things to heart. After the victory, Rostislav was somewhat complacent and relaxed.
Moreover, at this time, he subconsciously resisted the complicated matters in the military camp. He didn't look closely then and simply ignored the matter.
And soon, Rostislav would deeply regret his decision, regretting it to the extreme. What these people would do was beyond his imagination.
— — — — — — — —
"pagan, quickly bring out everything in your house! We are collecting, collecting, understand? Quickly hand over everything your whole family owns! Bulgar has changed hands now!"
In a village not far from the Winter Army, a group of Rus troops arrived.
A few of them wore chainmail and armor cobbled together from iron plates, but most wore dirty cotton clothes. If not for the weapons in their hands, they might have been mistaken for a group of beggars.
But these people had the Rurik Trident banner, which undoubtedly indicated their identity. Of course, the most convincing thing had to be the swords in their hands. Even if they were actually beggars, they were an armed group of beggars, and it seemed many of them had killed quite a few people.
The villagers didn't flee immediately upon seeing them because Adam's envoy had already told them about the change of power and said that those people were friendly forces and would not harm them.
So, as usual, the Bulgars in this village presented the supplies they had prepared. This had always been the rule.
Although they had already been exploited once by Akad's people, they still managed to squeeze out these things, because they understood that the new victors wouldn't care about the old rulers' levies, so it was better to honestly hand over their last possessions.
Anyway, winter was over, and spring was coming soon. They could just get by in the days to come.
But after receiving these supplies, these Rus people did not leave. Instead, they gathered all the villagers in the village square, and then a Rus person who spoke Bulgar began to speak those words.
Although there weren't many Rus people in the Winter Army who spoke Bulgar, there were quite a few. After all, the Rus people on the west bank of the Kama River were basically absorbed into the Winter Army, and the Rus also liberated many Rus slaves, so these Rus units operating outside had no shortage of translators.
"But we have already handed over everything."
The village elder came out and said, but all he received was a horizontal slash, and then, amidst the villagers' gasps and screams, he fell in front of them.
"Do I need to say it a second time? Quickly bring out all your valuables, or do you want me to sell all of you into slavery? Also, all your slaves must be freed and come with us!"
With words like that, everyone naturally understood what kind of people this group was. Faced with swords, they had no choice but to bring out all the valuable things from their homes, and then all the money was loaded onto the sleds brought by the Rus.
As a village in the Bulgar heartland, this village had many good things, and many daily necessities were things these Rus soldiers had never seen before, so they were naturally packed up and taken away.
The Rus were like a swarm of locusts, taking everything from this village. Even the carvings on the rafters, if they looked good, had to be torn down by them.
Before the Rus came, this village was a prosperous Bulgar village, but after the Rus left, the villagers found they had lost most of their wealth and became destitute.
The only ones happy were the slaves in the village. Their slave status was liberated, and they could even take some things from their masters as compensation, things they had never dared to imagine before.
And as these Rus people left, their leader looked into the distance, because there were flames soaring into the sky, which made the leader sigh.
"God, I didn't expect them to just start robbing and killing. They're much more ruthless than us."
At the same time, a sense of arrogance arose in his heart. These guys were too stupid. Smart people should be like him, only taking things, at most killing a few unobservant ones to deter, so they could smoothly return to the camp, and afterwards no one could find fault with them.
And then the leader saw a group of Rus troops, even more ragged than themselves, walking towards their village. Seeing these people, the leader immediately knew what they were there for.
"Guys, this place has already been levied. Find another place."
The leader, having taken the money, still had some morals, at least enough to deal with other Rus troops, but what he didn't expect was that this group wasn't entirely after wealth.
"To hell with levies! We're just here for killing and girls! Get out of my way!"
A furious response came from the opposite side, and then this group simply passed them by. And as these people approached, their appearance became even more hideous; they were all lean, wearing tough leather and ill-fitting stolen armor.
"Damn it, they're a bunch of forest dogs."
Hearing that voice, the leader knew what kind of people they were. These were proper "forest dwellers," living in those proper old forests, probably robbing passersby on a daily basis. If not for the temptation of the Prince's campaign, they wouldn't have come out.
"Boss, should we stop those guys?"
A voice sounded behind the leader, clearly from a young man.
"Stop those guys? Are you looking for death? And why should we die for strangers?"
The leader answered without hesitation, continuing to grumble.
"Besides, those forest dogs are notoriously reckless and cruel. I want to bring everyone home safely, not have them buried here."
"But didn't we levy their supplies..."
The person continued to speak, and the leader's face clearly showed dissatisfaction. Why was this kid so insensible? Who would want to fight with those forest bandits?
"We're just here to gather supplies, and that's all. We have no other obligations, let alone protecting them. That's the pretty boy's people's business. Let's just go."
After speaking, the leader led his subordinates and the sleds laden with various gold, silver, and supplies away from the place. Behind them, screams rang out, including various horrific sounds, but these Rus people didn't even spare a glance. They simply left this ravaged land.