These surviving serfs could not understand why their companions had hidden money. Every time they won a battle and survived, they received dozens of Su in reward money and even got to eat a meal with meat.
A few serfs understood the helplessness of those who hid money. Even if they survived now and received rewards or a good meal, it was only temporary.
Once the war ended, they would still be serfs, continuing their miserable lives. So they wanted to hide one or two coins in exchange for a little security—at the very least, they could eat a little more grain every day.
Just then, Philip, who was in charge of commanding the New Recruit Squad, ran over covered in blood and reported, "My lord, we found some Parchment! There's writing on it that we can't understand."
Glen waved a hand and said, "Pack all those Denar into crates and carry them out. Boman, Fas, you two supervise."
"Henry, it seems we have an unexpected gain as well," Glen said.
Henry had originally wanted Bain to go over and supervise. He looked around and found Bain checking whether his horse and Henry's horse were injured.
Henry shook his head and called several New Recruits over to follow him.
"Mm, take this Parchment back and hand it to Count Sebastian. We should be able to exchange it for a large reward."
Glen smiled. If the Parchment contained intelligence about the Half-Orcs, then it was indeed valuable—extremely valuable.
The damaged human weapons and armor alone were already worth a great deal of money, not to mention the direct gains in gold and silver. Even if all the serfs they had brought died, they would still have made a huge profit.
How much could serfs possibly cost? If one bargained hard and bought in bulk, perhaps nine silver coins—or even six—could buy a serf's life. It might even be possible to get one for three silver coins.
Of course, that was the price for selling to nobles. For ordinary Landlords, free farmers, and workshop owners, they would naturally cost much more.
"Put away these letters, count the useful spoils, and prepare to withdraw," Glen ordered.
The soldiers began counting the spoils and tallying the casualties.
Glen's forces had lost more than a hundred serfs, one heavy cavalryman, and four Light Cavalrymen.
Between Glen and Fas, only twenty serfs remained. Three of Boman's crossbowmen had died, all of them killed when Kobolds bit through their throats.
One of Fas's squires had also died, unlucky enough to be taken out by a Gnoll javelin.
Henry had suffered the fewest losses: one heavy cavalryman who had fallen from his horse, eleven dead serfs, and six casualties in the New Recruit Squad. More than forty others were wounded.
Henry's New Recruit Squad earned endless praise from Glen. In the frontal infantry formation, it was these New Recruits holding shields and pushing forward that had kept the line intact. Otherwise, the serfs would have long been scattered by the Gnolls and Kobolds.
One crossbowman had died. Neither the Skirmishers nor the Spearmen had died, though all were injured. One Spearman had even lost an arm; even if he recovered, he could only retire. One heavy cavalryman had died, and two were wounded.
The weapons of these fallen soldiers belonged to their original nobles.
The remaining spoils had also been counted: 2,367 Denar. That was an enormous sum.
There were huge quantities of Half-Orc armor and iron weapons. Their value could only be determined after they were taken back for the Armor Smith and Weapon Smith to melt down and reforge.
There were seventy-seven sets of human iron armor that could be repaired and used, over three hundred pieces of Leather Armor and Cotton Armor, and more than a hundred swords, blades, and spears.
There were also large quantities of human silver tableware, women's jewelry and Jewels, thirteen bags of salt, various animal pelts, and some gold and iron ingots.
As for food, aside from dried meat and a little grain, they found nothing else.
These things were the accumulated wealth of the Lesser Nobles who had died this time. Hundreds of Barons and Knights had been attacked, and no one knew how much the Half-Orcs had plundered from the Empire.
Perhaps the fleeing Half-Orc remnants had taken a great deal with them. Otherwise, the haul would have been even greater.
But now, these things belonged to Henry and the other three.
"What an excellent haul!" Glen said with satisfaction as he looked at the mountain of wealth before him.
"This time, your New Recruit Squad in particular gave me a huge surprise."
Henry nodded and said, "You had more serfs, Glen."
Glen continued, "Then let's follow the original plan. You and I take sixty percent, while Boman and Fas take forty percent. How about it?"
"Fine."
The soldiers began moving, packing the valuables into crates and bundles, then carefully loading them onto wagons. On the road back, Glen considered his next plan.
"Glen, what are you thinking about?"
"Henry, I was thinking... forget it. We don't have enough manpower now. More than two hundred serfs have died. If we keep pushing deeper, we'll all die here."
Henry stared at Glen in shock. He had not expected this kid to be so bold. Even he, with his cheat, had not considered fighting two battles in a row.
"Glen, we've already accomplished our objective this time. It's enough. Don't take risks. That's what the Dean taught us during the investiture."
"Of course. I have always kept it in mind."
This small hunting operation would take roughly a month and a half for the round trip. Henry could earn at least six to seven thousand Denar, an extremely considerable income—enough to revive his depleted finances for a while.
At the very least, Boman buzzed in Henry's ear every day, saying that he had struck it rich this time and could buy nearly a thousand serfs, build two more villages, and reclaim seven or eight thousand mu of land.
Wouldn't that improve their quality of life?
Normally, the wealth of Henry and the other three would have made others green with envy. Under ordinary circumstances, a Knight with an estate and a village of forty or fifty households would already be considered well-off.
But Henry and the others were different. Their wealth far exceeded that of affluent Barons who owned Fortified Manors.
It could not be helped. Henry was the Dean's Fief-holder, while the others were the King's Fief-holders. The difference was enormous.
But for Henry, his greatest gain should have been the... bug in his Overlord Personal Panel and Total War panel?
Not only had there been no new statistics, but garbled text had appeared, making them impossible to open.
If Henry had not tested whether skills could still trigger by throwing Boman over his shoulder, he would have thought his system panel was broken.
On the way back, Glen and Henry also noticed a serious problem: there were many other destitute nobles, Exiled Nobles, and Mercenary Groups along the road.
These people all looked exhausted and bore wounds, as though they had gone through fierce battles.
This was not normal. Count Sebastian had only given three Joint Forces the right to hunt and scout. Why had so many people appeared?
Glen frowned, unease rising in his heart.
He asked Henry, "It seems we returned at just the right time. Something may have changed in Autongard."
Henry nodded in agreement. They had been away from the Empire's border for over a month, and during that time, no one knew what had happened in Autongard.
Most importantly, Henry's reckless, life-threatening fighting had earned Glen's admiration, so he did not dare forcefully give orders.
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