Chapter 427: The Price of Loyalty
Both of their artifacts had been confiscated, leaving them completely powerless.
"Let the little angel decide what kind of work they’ll be doing."
It was a pity they had already been contracted. Otherwise, he could have simply contracted them himself and never worried about them again.
"Phield, our mission has a deadline. If we don’t return on time, our sisters will come looking for us," Elin said timidly.
The moment she noticed Phield looking at her, she instinctively shrank back, afraid he might charge over again.
"So they’ll all come over, play their defeated heroine scenes, and eat Nightfall Domain into bankruptcy?"
"Of course not. Our strongest sister can..." Hwaily hurriedly covered her mouth. "I didn’t say anything."
"We’ll talk about going back later. For now, just stay here and work honestly. I’ll provide food, lodging, and wages. All I ask is that you behave yourselves. Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve worked with Night Owl. I’m sure you know exactly who I’m referring to."
Phield left the name unspoken.
His tone suddenly turned cold.
"That said, if you insist on dropping your equipment for me, I certainly won’t object."
"Mmm..."
The two girls lowered their heads miserably.
After sending the two high quality laborers off to work, Phield suddenly remembered something.
"Right. It’s time to distribute the Mana Awakening Potions."
During the ruin exploration, he had obtained one hundred Mana Awakening Potions.
Keeping them in storage any longer would simply be a waste.
Phield headed to the City Hall and summoned the new generation he had personally nurtured.
"Good morning, my lord!"
The children greeted him in unison.
"Good morning."
Phield nodded before smiling mysteriously.
"Come on. Let’s take a little ride first."
He led them on horseback through the entire Starnight Estate before touring Starnight City.
Only after returning to City Hall did everyone gather once more.
They were among the earliest batch of children he had taken in.
After years of selection and training, thirty two remained.
Their intelligence, discipline, and loyalty had all been thoroughly tested.
In the modern world, they would barely qualify as elementary school graduates with a little military training and internship experience.
In this ignorant era, however, they were exceptionally valuable talents.
Naturally, each of them excelled in different areas.
Sarah possessed remarkable culinary talent, and many of the territory’s new dishes had been developed under her guidance.
Tom was incredibly skillful.
Not only could he read and write with remarkable speed, but he was also an excellent blacksmith and carpenter.
As for the cat girl Lumi, she was adorable.
Besides being adorable, she was still adorable.
"Do any of you know why I took you all around the territory?"
Phield swept his gaze across their faces.
"To survey the land for new construction projects," one boy guessed.
"Maybe to count the population," another suggested.
"So we could go out and have fun," Clara answered softly.
Phield shook his head.
"What I wanted to show you is that this territory was built through the efforts of every single one of us."
"You must understand who you are. You weren’t born as the son of an earl or the daughter of a princess. But in my eyes, that is nothing to be ashamed of."
"What truly deserves shame is obtaining power only to turn around and oppress the people of this territory, or betraying everyone who trusted you, including your own past."
"And anyone who does that will never receive my forgiveness."
Reality was not a game.
There was no such thing as one hundred percent loyalty.
People had emotions and desires.
The last thing Phield wanted was for the talents he had painstakingly cultivated to become twisted monsters.
He had no need to worry about his Divine Chosen.
But if these children ever abused his authority in secret, sacrificing innocent citizens under his name, the consequences would be disastrous.
It was the first time they had ever seen their lord speak with such seriousness.
Although none of them fully understood why, they all nodded earnestly.
"Very good."
Seeing their reactions, Phield motioned for the soldiers to bring over the chest of potions.
"Considering your past performance and unwavering loyalty, I have a reward for all of you."
He lifted one of the bottles.
"This is a Mana Awakening Potion. After drinking it, you have a chance to awaken mana and become a Mana Knight."
The room instantly erupted.
Everyone was so overwhelmed they nearly exploded with excitement.
Their blood rushed through their veins as they stared in complete disbelief.
Even the children of many noble families never received Mana Awakening Potions.
Yet their lord had somehow obtained an entire chest of them.
More importantly, every single person present would receive one.
What shocked them even more was that their lord truly intended to give them away instead of locking them inside the treasury for his own descendants.
They were still young and did not fully grasp the value of such a gift.
Even so, they understood enough to be utterly stunned.
This was something capable of changing a person’s social status and even the very nature of their life.
Who wouldn’t dream of obtaining extraordinary power?
"If you fail to awaken after drinking it, don’t worry."
Phield smiled reassuringly.
"Perhaps we’ll obtain Aura Awakening Potions in the future. There’s no reason to feel inferior."
Awakening Potions did not guarantee success.
"Yes, my lord!"
Many of them were already in tears.
Amid endless words of gratitude, Phield personally distributed the Awakening Potions before storing the remaining supplies back in the warehouse.
"That means we’ll need more mana potions and mana cultivation manuals."
He searched through the warehouse.
"There are plenty of mana equipment pieces for now, so that’s not something we need to worry about in the short term."
After checking the inventory, he found several mana potions that had been seized as spoils of war during previous campaigns.
There were only enough for roughly ten people.
"I’ll need to purchase some First Tier Mana Potions."
"And while I’m at it, it’s about time I made another trip outside."
Agriculture, industry, and construction throughout the territory were all progressing steadily.
There was no need to rush.
Most of the newly acquired slaves had already joined the effort to reclaim the Corrupted Lands.
Phield estimated that three quarters of his private farmland would be planted with wheat and oats.
The remaining quarter would grow grapes and sugar beets.
As for vegetables, those would be left to the freemen.
The land they rented belonged to them, and they could decide what to grow.
Construction remained focused on road building.
New roads were being laid toward Bull Domain and Dawnfall Domain, passing through both the iron mine and salt mine outposts.
Turning toward Ashina, Phield gave his next order.
"Prepare the carriage. We’re making a trip to Bull Domain."
"Bull Domain?"
Ashina’s wolf ears flapped excitedly like she was shooing away flies.
"Are we going to rob them? Yay!"
"We’re only paying a normal diplomatic visit."
Phield laughed.
"Bull Domain is now under Count Swaro’s control. Naturally, he won’t be managing it personally. One of his relatives is probably overseeing it instead. We’ll pay them a visit while we’re there, spend some money, and discuss potential cooperation."
No matter how many gold coins he accumulated, they would only gather dust if they remained locked inside the treasury.
"Oh, and bring Charlotte along as well."
"She deserves some fresh air now that there’s not much work left in the fields."
Charlotte had devoted herself wholeheartedly to securing the territory’s food supply.
Three days later, after making all the necessary arrangements for the territory, Phield departed the Border Fortress with Ashina, Firomina, Charlotte, and a large shipment of goods.
Even after all this time, Bull Domain had yet to recover from the devastation of war.
Ruins and piles of trash could be seen everywhere.
Broken banners scattered among the overgrown grass silently testified to the ferocity of the battles that had once raged here.
"The Gray Mist has disappeared."
Phield gazed into the distance.
"I wonder whether it was the Tidebind Lattice of the Surging Realms that drove it away, or whether the local lord managed to disperse it himself."
The villages that had once been consumed by corruption were now free of both Gray Mist and corrupted corpses.
All that remained were shattered walls and abandoned ruins, leaving behind a scene of utter desolation.