Chapter 1081: Execution
Hesta laughed. "The Governor has thought this through so carefully. There's no way I'd spend a cent on something like this myself..."
"Don't be so absolute," the secretary said quietly. "Compared with personally spending time and effort to settle disputes in the plantation, spending a little money is far more cost-effective."
Hesta neither agreed nor disagreed.
Before long, the grandfathers' servants brought in several middle-aged men. Though Hesta could not recall their names, she naturally remembered their faces—they were all among those who had caused trouble at the main house yesterday afternoon.
Compared to their impassioned state yesterday, they were all remarkably compliant today. This compliance was not wholehearted submission. Though they harbored deep resentment and reluctance, and their faces occasionally showed disagreement and irritation, whenever it was their turn to speak, every one of them hunched his back and respectfully extended a hand to draw a semicircle over his left cheek.
Victoria heard the term "Salima" again. She vaguely remembered Santa using it for both Hesta and Lairin, so she quietly asked Hesta what it meant.
"It seems to mean leader or lord," Hesta replied softly. "I'm not entirely sure."
The two of them watched as the grandfathers negotiated with the farm's Shelter Dwellers. About half an hour later, the two sides settled on fifteen lambs and one calf—the grandfathers would take the calf and one lamb directly.
They began drawing up the contract. At the final signing stage, they began arguing again over whether it should say "two women" or "many women." Fifteen lambs and a calf could only compensate for the trauma caused by "two women." If it became "many women," the farm would need to offer further compensation.
Victoria yawned. At such a tense moment, her relaxed demeanor seemed somewhat out of place.