The Minotaur Incident Was No Accident

The meat from over thirty Minotaurs was absurdly plentiful. Lynn had only managed to haul away so much before because he had several hundred people. Now, there was no way he could transport it all, but he could sell it bit by bit. It was no big deal.

Since this was a Western fantasy world, farming did not rely entirely on cattle; horses were used as well.

So there was no issue of cattle being inedible.

Flooding the market with goods would not bring high profits. He certainly could not sell more than thirty Minotaurs all at once.

He would take it slowly.

As he thought, Lynn arrived at the logging team and called out to Eckley, "Eckley, come here."

Eckley immediately jogged over. "Lord Lynn, what are your orders?"

"Eckley, are there any slaves who work particularly well?"

"A few are quite clever, and several are very strong."

"Bring them over for me to see."

After waiting a few minutes, seven or eight people were brought over. All of them were quite thin, ranging from fourteen-year-old boys to men in their thirties. Each had endured a miserable life that had led to slavery.

The tallest was nearly as tall as Lynn, while the shortest was only as tall as Lilim.

After sweeping his gaze over them, Lynn noticed that some of the other slaves were secretly watching as well. He immediately decided to announce loudly, "You people are very good. You have worked well. I hereby declare that you will be free. Your status as slaves is abolished. You will become my Subjects."

Until I have a sufficient economic cycle, I cannot abolish slavery. For now, I can only stir up their motivation.

Removing one's slave status was difficult. This was a world of magic; one could not simply flee, disguise oneself with a new identity, and gain freedom. There were Slave Collars here, crafted through magic. Without one's Master and outsiders, they could not be removed at all.

Unless the Slave Collar was of too low a grade and the slave himself was actually a powerful person.

With a wave of Lynn's Large Hand, the Slave Collars automatically detached. Those people looked at one another, then immediately dropped to their knees and kowtowed fiercely. "Thank you, Lord Lynn! Thank you, Lord Lynn!"

Being fortunate enough to have their slave status removed left them overwhelmed with gratitude.

"This is the reward for your hard work!" Lynn raised his voice again so that everyone could hear him. "From now on, every week, I will select the most outstanding among you and remove their slave status!"

"Would you like to become my soldiers?" After saying all that, Lynn immediately invited those who had just been freed. "I will recruit you as my soldiers. You will receive the same treatment as regular soldiers. What do you say?"

"Yes, we are willing," they immediately replied.

Soldiers were practically lords now. These slaves had been managed by soldiers and Knights, so this was equivalent to rising from slaves to masters. Of course they were willing.

"Good. Tell me your names, and I'll amend your records."

"Eckley, your task now is to train them. In a few days, pick some people. I want to form a merchant caravan."

Over the next few days, Lynn showed himself no mercy, working himself like a beast.

In the mornings, he directed the logging, charcoal burning, brickmaking with mud, and stone gathering.

In the afternoons, he fired bricks while directing the construction of houses.

The Knights and soldiers trained for several days, recovering their condition as they prepared to protect the merchant caravan.

A map was laid out on the table.

It was a map of the Principality of Olexian.

Lynn's full name was Lynn Olesian.

Having been cast out of the family, Lynn was no longer a member of the Olesian Family.

The Western Grand Duke of the Empire—among the east, south, west, and north, Olesian was a Grand Duchy belonging to the Northern Border.

The Empire's enemies to the north were Orcs and Demi-humans. The western threat was the Demon Race, Goblins lay to the south, and other human nations were to the east.

The Orcs followed a tribal system. Occasionally, someone akin to a Great Khan would emerge and pose a threat to the Empire.

The Demi-humans once had a kingdom. Unfortunately, that kingdom had been destroyed overnight for unknown reasons centuries ago. The north of the Demi-human Kingdom was covered in ice and snow, while its southern regions had been overrun by Orcs.

Since the Orcs were no match for a duke unless united, the Principality of Olexian had feasted on land, carving up vast territories and gaining extensive Pastoral areas.

Their number of Knights had risen rapidly.

The Demon Race had gained only a small portion. The other human kingdoms to the east could not divide the land because their territory was near the site of the Demi-human Kingdom's disaster, a place known as the Nation-Destroying Cold Tide.

The place where Lynn was now actually stood on what had once been land of the Demi-human Kingdom.

This was also land Olesian could not conquer.

The first reason was that, aside from the ancestor of the Olesian Family who had gobbled up land so eagerly, the remaining dukes had never obtained the right to expand.

The other reason was this world's Decree of Grace: the Equal Inheritance Law.

The Imperial Royal Family followed Primogeniture, so they were unaffected. Yet they wanted the other Grand Duchies to be affected.

For this reason, the other dukes had splintered apart. The ancestor of the Olesian Family had been farsighted, directly taking control of forty percent of the Empire's military-industrial sector.