noveltune Chapter 26: Iron
Chapter 26: Iron
"Very good. From now on, you are all people of my Ashwood territory. Pack your things and come back to the territory with me."
Upon hearing that there was no lord, Ron could not hide his ecstatic joy.
This way, there will be much less bloodshed. As for Lord Wenger, when he returned and found his territory completely emptied, he didn't care about him. If he had the ability, he could come and take it back.
However, they were all exiled to the Blackthorn Wasteland to serve as pioneer lords.
They're either abandoned or their families have fallen on hard times; taking them back is easier said than done.
Simply saying "Don't underestimate a young person's potential" isn't enough.
Old Hall rushed over, his face grim, and said, "Young master, there are still prisoners in the goblin camp."
Ron nodded and followed Old Hall to see the prisoners.
The prisoners were mainly women and children; there were no adult men among them.
"One hundred and seventy-six women and one hundred and thirty-two children."
"Aren't there any men?" Fanta asked inappropriately.
Ron said coldly, "It'll be turned into jerky."
A terrified scream quickly drew Ron and the others' attention.
A large pot is simmering with human bone broth.
The person who screamed was Sanlier. He had been drawn over by the aroma of the soup, but when the lid was opened, the floating human skull and thigh bone made him instantly realize what it was.
Ron frowned and said, "Shanlier, take some men and bury these bones."
"Ah!" Shanlier subconsciously pointed to himself, then realized what he had said and quickly lowered his head in agreement.
When Ron returned to Ashwood, it was already dawn.
The people of Wenger looked at the adobe walls before them and felt an unprecedented sense of security, which was much more reliable than other wooden fortifications.
Because of the severe housing shortage, Ron built five mud-brick houses overnight, which, together with the newly vacated dugouts, were enough to barely settle the people.
After doing all that, Ron went to sleep comfortably.
Old Hall and Fanta will take care of the rest.
When Ron woke up, he walked out of the cave dwelling in the pit courtyard, where the courtyard was already full of people.
The elder representatives of Ashwood Territory include the Halls, Fanta and Doron, and the new representative, Leonardo da Vinci.
The Wenger collar represents a burly man and a middle-aged man with a thick beard and calloused palms.
Not far away, two people were tied up: a woman who had been rescued from the goblins and the former leader of the goblins who had betrayed them.
"My lord!" Old Hall led the way in bowing to Ron.
Ron nodded with a smile, especially when he saw Leonardo da Vinci, and jokingly remarked, "This time the knightly salute is starting to look more like it."
Leonardo da Vinci could only manage a sheepish smile.
"How are your injuries?"
"My lord, I'm much better."
Ron then smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Please sit down! Report the situation first."
Old Hall was the first to stand up and report: "In this battle, our side captured 1,320 catties of grain, more than 3,000 weapons of various kinds. After simple processing, less than 500 weapons were still usable. The rest could only be recycled into materials. We obtained 1201 units of timber, 22 catties of iron, 47 meters of leather, and 340 prisoners."
The profits are quite good. The so-called unit is one cubic meter of volume, while leather is calculated in square meters.
"What about casualties?"
Now it was Fanta's turn to answer: "The militia and the guard suffered no casualties, thirty-two were wounded, seven seriously. The criminals suffered fifteen dead, twenty-one seriously wounded, and others were wounded to varying degrees."
Upon hearing the casualty figures, Ron sighed softly.
"What I said back then, I will keep. I will convey my orders later. From today onwards, they will no longer be criminals, but citizens of the territory. They will receive all the treatment they are entitled to. The women I promised them will be selected from the prisoners and given to them, which will also make it easier to take care of them."
Fanta breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Ron's words.
Mrs. Moriel immediately added: "Of the captured women, 105 are from the newly conquered territory of Fair Territory. However, their territory was conquered, the lord fled, and the men were killed, leaving only women and children, most of whom are girls and only a few boys. Your Lordship, I suggest that women with special skills be incorporated into the lord's manor, while women without skills should be given to those who have rendered meritorious service."
"Special skills? What kind?" Ron asked curiously.
Mrs. Moriel had already registered them, and when asked, she immediately replied: "Ten of them know weaving, seven know brewing and food processing, and two of them also know about herbs."
"Hmm, very good. You can arrange these people, Moriel. The other women will be given as rewards to the soldiers who participated in the battle."
Somewhat embarrassed, Doron asked, "My lord, what about those with wives and children?"
"Afraid of his wife?" Ron glanced at Doron, who would have thought that the second-in-command of the territory's knights was actually henpecked.
Duolong's face flushed red, and he muttered under his breath, "Who's afraid of their wife? I'm afraid I can't afford to support her."
Fanta couldn't help but burst into laughter, dispelling the tense atmosphere of the impromptu meeting.
"So what if you're afraid of your wife? I'll never laugh at you." Fanta patted Doron on the shoulder with a smile, making Doron's face turn even redder.
"I'm not afraid!"
Ron smiled and shook his head: "Doron, if you don't want to, you can return her to the lord's manor. A woman is still a source of labor, after all."
Upon hearing about labor, Doron immediately waved his hand, "Yes, my lord, I didn't say I didn't want it."
Ron nodded in satisfaction: "The matter of rehabilitating criminals will be handled by you, Doron, with Leonardo da Vinci assisting." He told my new subjects that just being released from criminal status doesn't mean they can commit crimes again. If they commit crimes again, their punishment will be doubled, and those with serious offenses will be assigned to the suicide squad until they die from exhaustion or fighting.
Doron and Leonardo da Vinci immediately straightened up and agreed.
Ron then turned his gaze to the two men in Wenger's territory.
Let me introduce you!
After arriving in the territory, the burly men had already introduced themselves to Old Hall and Fanta. Everyone recognized them except the lord.
"My lord, my name is Hilden Lyle, a full-fledged knight, and his name is Ton Taylor, the chief agricultural officer of the territory."
Ron raised an eyebrow. The agricultural officer was practically the lowest-ranking official in the territory, and many people didn't even consider him an official. Yet he was one of the heads of Wenger Territory, which showed that almost all of Wenger Territory's high-ranking officials had fled.
Ron nodded: "Welcome to Ashwood Territory. Give us a briefing on your situation!"
Tang En bowed respectfully: "My lord, there are 321 people still alive in our territory, including 112 men, 72 of whom are currently recovering from injuries, and the rest are women and children."
As for the old men, Tang En didn't say, nor did he need to; they were probably all killed while defending the city.
"The grain brought by the territory is not much, it can be ignored, but there are 2475 units of timber, including the wooden stockade walls that have not yet been dismantled, 224 catties of iron, and 25 meters of leather..."
Upon hearing that Wenger Territory possessed so much iron, Ron asked with a strange expression, "Your territory has iron mines?"
Tang En respectfully replied, "Yes, when the territory was established, it was considered that it was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there was also a small iron mine in the territory."
Old Hall and Ron exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise.
Ron asked, "Where are the builder mages of your territory?"
"He died during the goblin's first attack. He was an apprentice builder, not a mage. The other apprentice builder was Lord Wenger himself."
"My lord, there's something you should know: someone came here before the goblin siege," Hilden asked with a complicated expression.
"explain!"
"Before the goblin siege, someone came to scout outside our territory."
Ron had a vague idea in his mind: "Who is it?"
"A cavalry unit, without any flags, circled the territory twice and left. The goblins arrived the next day."