The banks of the Great Fish River teemed with people, and the calls of cattle, horses, and sheep rang out without end. It was incredibly noisy, but Victor stood on the shore watching the scene without feeling annoyed. After all, these were the foundations of his future territory.
"Lord Victor, our food stores are extremely tight right now. We originally brought enough supplies to feed the first group of 2,500 people for two months, but the herders captured in these two battles number more than 4,500. Including our original people, the territory now has 7,500 residents. Our grain will only last twenty days. Even if the fleet returns to the territory immediately, it will still take twenty days to come back, and preparing the fleet for the return journey will take at least another day." Powell reported to Victor, sweating profusely.
"No need to worry. James still has some food reserves. He did not bring serfs this time, only soldiers and supplies, so his provisions are plentiful. Go ask him for a loan and promise to send the first engineering team to build a garrison in his territory. Just make the promise. He was planning to spend the winter here with his people anyway, and his food should be enough to hold us out until the second fleet returns."
Powell felt much more at ease. Since the boss had said so, all he had to do was carry it out.
"Also, Powell, arrange for another five hundred horses to be sent back to Bole County, mainly draft horses, with fifty warhorses mixed in. Bole County may need draft horses more in the future." Thinking of something else, Victor sent someone to call Ron over.
"Ron, can you pick out some captives among the slave herders who are skilled at caring for horses? Preferably ones with families. Have them return with this fleet so they can tend to the horses along the way."
"That will not be a problem. If you do not set too many conditions, I can pick out five hundred for you. If they are only caring for horses, they do not have to be young and strong. We can send some older ones too."
Victor shook his head. "That is fine, but try to find ones in good physical condition. They will have to spend ten days aboard ship to reach Bole County, and those in poor health could easily run into trouble. I want them to help out after reaching the territory, not to reduce food consumption."
"Do not worry. I will go make the arrangements now." Ron left as soon as he finished speaking.
Victor then rode away from the riverbank and took his horse for a leisurely run along the edge of Wood Fort Town. Grape was young and loved to run. Every day, Victor rode him around for a stroll, both to relax himself and to please his mount.
At that moment, Victor saw two Cavalrymen circling a Barbarian boy west of Wood Fort Town. Curious, he urged Grape toward them.
As he drew closer, Victor discovered that one of the Cavalrymen was his own attendant, Michael. Since they were inside the settlement, Victor was confident in his own strength. The territory was desperately short on manpower, so he had sent out all his attendants and guards to take part in its various tasks. He remembered that Michael had been assigned to Jack to help patrol the territory.
"Michael, what is going on? What are you doing?" Victor asked directly. Michael had been born a serf, but he was cautious, intelligent, and an excellent learner. Victor did not believe Michael would deliberately target a Barbarian boy.
"Lord Victor, why are you here?" Michael started to dismount and salute, and the other Cavalryman did the same, but Victor stopped them both with a wave.
"Tell me, what is going on with these two little ones?" Only after approaching did Victor realize that the Barbarian boy looked very young, around ten years old, though his build was more like that of a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old. He was holding a little girl of one or two in his arms, and their clothes were tattered.
"Lord Victor, this fellow has been trying to run away. This is already the third time we have caught him. You have treated them so well, yet he does not know gratitude. Please allow me to kill him now." As he spoke, Michael moved to draw his sword.
Victor quickly stopped Michael and turned to ask, "Boy, what is your name? How old are you? Who is the one in your arms?" He found this Barbarian boy interesting. Even when Michael had moved to draw his sword, the boy had not looked away. There was no fear in his eyes.
"My name is Paru. I am about eleven years old. The one in my arms is my little sister. Her name is Little Mouse, and she is two years old." The boy did not speak the Barbarian language. Instead, he used Common Tongue, and his sentences were clear and well organized.
"What is your relationship with Paru of the Green Grass Tribe? Why did you want to escape? Can you really keep yourself alive while taking care of such a young girl alone?" Victor was very interested in the name Paru. He felt that he might gain something unexpected.
"I was once a slave in the household of a noble in the duchy. I did not have a name. Paru of the Green Grass Tribe saved me, gave me a name, and told me to call him Teacher. I picked Little Mouse up from the tribe's abandoned-baby grounds. I named her, and she is my little sister. I am very good at finding things on the grasslands. I will work hard to keep Little Mouse alive. Teacher taught me that tumbleweeds are the freest of all. Wherever the wind blows, that is where they go. Paru is a tumbleweed. Do not be a slave. Be the freest person." Little Paru spoke excitedly, his eyes full of determination.
Victor walked straight up to Little Paru and smiled as he patted his head. "No wonder he died so decisively. It seems he has already passed down what he wanted to leave behind."
Then Victor continued, "Little Paru, what do you think freedom is?"
"Freedom means not being treated as a slave and being able to do what you want and what you like."
"Then escaping was something you wanted to do. But going alone onto the grasslands to search for food and support yourself and your sister, is that something you like doing? You should know winter is coming soon. By then, relying only on yourself, even if you spend every day searching for food, it will be difficult to keep the two of you alive. Do you think you would like doing that?"
Little Paru hesitated for a while, then shook his head.
"Is there anything you like doing, Little Paru?" Victor continued.
"I like riding horses, running everywhere, seeing different places, seeing how every patch of grassland differs, what the soil is like, what kind of grass grows there, and what animals live there." Little Paru spoke of what he wanted.
Victor nodded. "Then follow me. For some time, I will be traveling around the territory to take a look at different places. I will hire you to do what you like. I will not treat you as a slave. I will have someone take care of your sister, and your payment will be the supplies needed for you and your sister to survive. What do you think?"
Little Paru hesitated, then finally nodded.
"All right, Michael. Go find the manager of the herder camp and have him assign a Barbarian woman to look after this little girl every day. Her pay will be one jin of wheat a day. After that, you will be responsible for Little Paru. Starting tomorrow, accompany me on patrols around the territory." Although Michael did not quite understand Victor's intentions, he still carried out Victor's orders eagerly.
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