Chapter 513: I Am the Emperor! I Will Not Die!
"Careful, don't wake it up! One bite from this thing will make your flesh rot!"
Four or five soldiers cautiously approached a scaled beast two men long, with an enormous, gaping maw.
"Make sure you tie its mouth securely, and bind its claws against its body too!"
"Is it done?"
Loop after loop of hemp rope bound the dangerous beast.
"Ready? Come on, lift!"
The soldiers heaved together, lifting the beast and placing it inside a large wooden cage.
"Cover it with black cloth. Cover it up! That'll keep it quieter when it wakes."
Most of the other soldiers nearby were doing similar work.
The many beasts captured in Nolan City were all sorted into wooden cages by the soldiers, then covered with black cloth and loaded onto flatbed wagons.
They only selected living animals, however. Those bitten or trampled to death by other beasts, or killed by smoke, were skinned and butchered by designated workers. The meat gave the soldiers a welcome feast, while the hides and pelts went to the nobles.
Over a hundred flatbed wagons had been requisitioned altogether, each carrying between four and eight wooden cages. More than a dozen additional wagons carrying various supplies accompanied them. After all, the guards needed provisions, and they could not let the beasts die along the way-at least, not too many of them.
This convoy was far larger than the one sent to deliver tribute to the Imperial Capital last time, and its schedule was also rather tight.
Under royal orders, Heno once again personally escorted the shipment, with Brant accompanying him.
Beyond Nolan City, the noble domains and imperial army garrisons throughout the Qinggelie Empire were all conducting hunts, sparing neither creatures that ran on land nor those