Reed's Reward

No sooner had they stepped out of the Manor's gates than Reed, who could hardly contain his impatience, began to report his achievements over the past two weeks to Nord.

"Lord Nord, in these past two weeks, I've planted over a hundred mu of yams on the west side of the village. There's a vast hilly area there now that's entirely our yam fields."

Nord was genuinely surprised to see Reed looking so eager for praise. He hadn't assigned many people to Reed in the first place; most of the village's labor force was already occupied. The adult men were either joining the guard or building the Manor, while the women went into the nearby mountains daily to dig for yams, especially after Nord began purchasing yams at two Copper Be per jin. The village women worked from dawn till dusk, so Reed had very few people under him.

Originally, Nord had only intended for Reed to do some preliminary work, like acquiring yams collected by the villagers and then watering them to make them sprout. Nord hadn't held much hope for the actual planting, as Reed had so few laborers. Nord had planned to wait until the Manor was completed before having the villagers plant the yams. He never expected Reed, who usually seemed so carefree, to achieve such outstanding results.

"How did you manage it, kid? I truly underestimated you."

"Heh heh, Lord Nord, it was nothing, really. It's just that a lot of yams sprouted a while ago, and I couldn't reach you. I was so anxious I was practically jumping to the ceiling! What was I supposed to do with no one to help me? I asked my father, and he wouldn't help either, saying it was my own business and I had to figure it out myself."

"On my way back, I happened to see some of the village's half-grown kids running wild in the road. So, I had a brilliant idea. Guess what it was?"

"You got the village's underage children?"

Nord frowned. Influenced by his previous life, Nord had never considered the village's minors as labor. But this place was different from his previous life; children here weren't the "flowers of the homeland." Teenagers had to help their mothers with housework and farm labor. Not just here, even in the economically underdeveloped mountainous regions of his past life, underage children were like this. Children of the poor matured early.

"I promised them, in the name of the Orderly, that they could serve under me as soldiers when they grew up, plus a bread reward every day, and that's how I coaxed them over! Lord Nord, you have no idea how much these children want to join your guard. They play 'guard' games all day, running around the village."

Nord sighed. This was unavoidable. Nord had originally planned to have Steward Abel recruit some teenagers after he was done with his current tasks, teach them literacy, and slowly cultivate talent from a young age.

Only Colin's family in the village was literate, thanks to Colin's early mercenary life. The leader of his Mercenary Group, who came from a noble background, had taught Colin some writing. Colin cherished this knowledge and passed it on to Ryman and Reed.

"Since you've organized these village children, they'll be under your command from now on. Recruit all children over ten years old. In a while, I'll have Steward Abel teach them. As for planting yams, leave that to the villagers who are free."

"Alright, Lord Nord. I'll take care of the children. Can I come with you to explore the mountains next?"

"Didn't I say you're responsible for recruiting those children? And planting yams is also your responsibility. Going into the mountains... let's forget about it. You're going to be very busy. I'd like to take you with me, after all, you're my Orderly, but you don't have the time."

"Ah? I still have all that to do? I've done so well, can't you reward me with one trip into the mountains?"

"You certainly deserve a reward, but I truly can't take you into the mountains. Uh... let me think. The children you're recruiting should have a formal name. So... let's call them the Youth Vanguard. Reed, I now appoint you as the captain of the Youth Vanguard. You must be like your brother Ryman, and become a mature and steady captain."

Reed's face fell slightly, feeling wronged that he couldn't go into the mountains, but after Nord appointed him captain of the Youth Vanguard, Reed's face lit up with a smile again. Even if he couldn't go into the mountains, at least he got a promotion. "Youth Vanguard Captain"—the name itself sounded very impressive, and Reed loved this position.

"Yes! Lord Nord, I guarantee the mission will be completed!"

Having finally managed to appease Reed, Nord, who had very few usable people under him, could only leave Reed to manage the situation. After arranging the village affairs, Nord took Reed back to Colin's small courtyard, where they happened to encounter Molly coming out of the wooden house.

"Lord Nord, you're back. Would you like to see the wild boars? The piglets have grown quite a bit these past few days."

Molly's reminder made Nord recall that the wild boars he had previously caught were still being kept in Colin's backyard and given to Molly to feed. He wondered how they were doing now. Since it concerned his future pig-raising plan, Nord wanted to check on them. Led by Molly, Nord went to the backyard.

The pigsty was made of thick fences to prevent the sows from escaping. To Nord's surprise, Art and his sister were standing in front of the pigsty, muttering to themselves.

"Big wild boar, come here! I'm not scared of you."

Saying this, Art threw a yam he was holding at the sow. The sow, hit by the yam, didn't react much. Perhaps it thought the two small children weren't a threat, or maybe it was just the inherent laziness of pigs. The sow nudged its head, ate the yam by its mouth, and then closed its eyes again.

Art and his sister heard the commotion behind them and saw Nord, whom they hadn't seen in a long time, was back. They had just been bullying his wild boars, and immediately, they were so frightened they hid behind Molly.

Nord was a bit speechless. Was he really that scary? Logically, his appearance was quite refined, with black hair and eyes, and soft facial features. Why did Art always react as if he'd seen a ghost whenever he saw him? Nord gave a wry smile and dismissed the question.

He walked to the front of the pigsty, which was divided into three pens. Each held a sow and eight or nine piglets. Nord mainly observed the piglets. These piglets were all huddled around their mothers, a full size larger than when Nord had caught them. They had also adapted well to being penned. Seeing the piglets growing so robustly, Nord felt relieved.

He turned to Molly beside him and said:

"You've taken good care of these wild boars; you've worked hard. I'll have Steward Abel give you some wages later. You can also get yams for feeding the pigs from Reed; you don't need to dig in the mountains anymore."

"Thank you, Lord Nord. It's no hardship for me. I feel honored to be able to help you."

After a brief chat with Molly about Ryman's situation, Nord returned upstairs to rest. He hadn't had much rest these past two weeks. Since he had just returned today, he would stay here and get a good night's sleep before heading to the Wild Boar Cave Stronghold tomorrow to prepare for their next departure.

Lately, I've received many suggestions from friends who read my books, so I'm trying out some new things while writing. If you have any issues, please point them out, and I'll correct them. I hope you'll bear with me and give me more support. Thank you very much!