Chapter 418: Bread and Forge
Meanwhile, the divine power link between Luke and Shelley had already been severed.
"So, did Shelley manage to kill my useless brother, or... were they all slaughtered by some powerful monster?" Luke rubbed the cold pendant over and over as his heart pounded wildly. "Good dog. Clever little dog. You’re finally dead. You died at the perfect time. They should all be dead, right?"
"You were the worthless one, yet you lectured me every day about being immature. You commanded such a massive fleet, only to waste it playing treasure hunting games. You deserved to die." Luke sneered. "I’m not going to waste any more of my youth just drifting at sea."
"Hey, Luke. What are you spacing out for?"
The fleet commander, dressed in luxurious attire, walked over and lightly patted him on the shoulder.
To his surprise, Luke exploded into action. With a flick of his wrist, a dagger slipped into his hand.
"Idiot. Don’t interrupt my thinking."
Slash!
The icy blade pierced straight through the fleet commander’s throat. His eyes widened in horror as he opened his mouth, but only a raspy gurgle escaped from his ruptured windpipe. He flailed weakly at the air twice before collapsing dead onto the floor.
Everyone present was stunned. Before anyone could even react...
"Do it. Soldiers, kill every one of these pirates."
Luke waved his hand.
"What? What are you doing?!"
The crowd panicked, only to realize that all of their strongest Divine Chosen had already departed on the treasure expedition. None of them had anyone left to protect them.
More than twenty Magic Knights emerged from the darkness and began slaughtering everyone in the room. Exquisite dishes and fine wine were overturned across the tables as blood splashed everywhere, staining the hall crimson.
Watching the chaos unfold before him, Luke couldn’t help but laugh.
"Mr. Luke, you’ve done very well."
A nun slowly walked over to his side.
"The Holy Light blesses you. As long as you cooperate with the Church of the Holy Light, you can overthrow the ridiculous rule of the council, restore the monarchy, and become the undisputed King of the Stormsea Mercantile Nation."
"Wrong."
Luke turned around, pulled the nun into his arms, and immediately began groping her without the slightest restraint.
"I want more. Much, much more."
"My lord, a crimson meteor has just streaked across the sky. It landed in the Thousand Reefs Sea to the west."
A Magic Knight entered the cabin, ignored the corpses scattered across the floor, and knelt before Luke to deliver his report.
"Oh? Hurry and absorb the fleets belonging to those factions. I’ll go take a look myself."
The golden flagship immediately changed course and headed west.
Not long afterward, corpses were dumped overboard from ships throughout the fleet, covering a vast stretch of the sea. The fleet abandoned its blockade of Dawnfall Domain’s waters and disappeared beyond the coastline.
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Perhaps because too much blood had been spilled recently, violent typhoons swept across Dawnfall Domain, and even Nightfall Domain was caught in the storm’s reach.
Outside the window, torrential rain poured endlessly beneath roaring winds.
Phield lazily sat up in bed. The maid Scissors immediately placed a soft pillow behind his back. Phield accepted the service without hesitation before casually picking up the domain’s financial report.
"My lord, your breakfast."
The maid Meg stepped forward respectfully and placed breakfast on the bedside table.
"It’s the yeast bread you requested. Miss Charlotte and Miss Sarah managed to make it."
Sarah was one of the children in the territory and usually helped out in the kitchen.
"Oh?"
The moment Phield heard that, he immediately set the report aside and looked toward the wooden tray beside him.
There were fried eggs with bacon, three slices of white bread, and a small clay vase holding fresh flowers.
By modern standards, it was an ordinary breakfast. Yet to Phield, it was a delightful surprise.
"They actually succeeded in making natural yeast. They’ve even figured out how to use it. Excellent."
He picked up a slice of white bread and took a bite.
It was soft and fluffy, almost identical to modern bread, with a pleasant hint of raisins baked into it.
In this era, bread was usually coarse whole wheat. Even the white bread eaten by nobles was as hard as stone.
"Wonderful. Those two girls are so modest. They achieved something this impressive and never even came to claim credit."
After finishing one slice, Phield handed the remaining two slices to the two loyal little maids as a reward.
"Mmm! It’s so delicious! I’ve never tasted bread this good before!"
The two girls took just one bite, and their eyes immediately sparkled with excitement. They completely forgot about acting like proper ladies and eagerly stuffed the bread into their mouths. When they noticed Phield smiling at them, they instantly blushed and lowered their heads in embarrassment.
"You two can learn to make it yourselves. Once you’ve mastered yeast, it’s actually quite simple."
Phield explained generously.
"Use raisins with a little sugar, pour in clean water, then leave it somewhere dark. Open the lid once a day to let fresh air in, and you’ll naturally cultivate yeast. As for baking bread with it, you’ll have to experiment to figure out the exact process."
"If you want to save money, apple peels work too. Waste nothing."
"Huh? Am I really allowed to hear something like this?"
The maid Nina stared at him in disbelief.
"Of course."
Phield shrugged.
"If it improves everyone’s quality of life, why wouldn’t I share it?"
Naturally, only a portion of Nightfall Domain’s upper class could currently afford fermented bread.
"Then... then we’ll go learn right away and make bread for you from now on, my lord!"
The two little maids happily ran off to practice baking.
Smiling, Phield shook his head before picking up the financial report again and reading it carefully.
Over the past half month, the population of Nightfall Domain had continued to grow steadily.
Ashina purchased slaves, while Alexia gathered refugees. Rain or shine, the two of them continuously brought new laborers back to the territory.
Nightfall Domain’s population had skyrocketed from 2,500 to well over 6,000 people, even exceeding Phield’s original target of 5,500.
Excluding the garrison, the Border Fortress employed one hundred workers. Turnip Village housed three hundred residents. The Iron Mine Outpost had one hundred and fifty people, while the Salt Mine Outpost had two hundred and fifty. Everyone else was divided between Starnight City and the Grand Estate.
Of course, all of the newly arrived laborers were now slaves of Nightfall Domain. They handled the hardest jobs such as farming, mining, and construction. Most of the original residents, however, had already been freed from slavery and had become free citizens.
"My Lord Phield, you wanted to see me?"
The little fox girl Gogris gently knocked on the door. After receiving permission, she timidly pushed it open.
Her slender, snow white legs, eyes that had begun to develop a naturally seductive charm, and her delicate, almost fragile figure gave her an irresistibly adorable appearance. She kept both hands behind her back while her large fluffy fox tail swayed from side to side.
She had deliberately changed into slightly more alluring clothes. However, she was still just a petite fox girl, making her look more like an exquisitely crafted doll waiting to be wrapped up as a gift. Once she grew up, she would undoubtedly become a breathtaking beauty. After all, the seductive allure of fox demi humans was something no one doubted.
"Little fox, I need your help implementing staged heating for the blast furnace."
Phield beckoned her over, pulled her gently to his side, gave her fluffy tail a playful squeeze, then spread out a blueprint together with the financial report.
"Over the past several days, the blacksmiths have only managed to produce fifty six usable farming tools. I know everyone has been working hard, but supply is nowhere near meeting demand."
"Mmm... mmm..."
Gogris’s little face turned as red as a boiling kettle while her fluffy tail swished wildly behind her like a broom.