New Rules, Expanding the Army

Next, Field personally handed out the guards' rewards. The slaves were so excited that tears and snot streamed down their faces.

How could they not be? Iron Hammer, the slave with the most kills, received seventeen silver coins-a fortune many people never accumulated in their entire lives.

Even Field's maid grew jealous.

Everyone else stared enviously at the money in their hands.

"If I'd known, I would've signed up when they first formed the guard."

"Damn it, they didn't pick me back then. What a waste."

Those who had once been too timid now stamped their feet in frustration.

"Listen, my subjects. I'm announcing Nightfall Territory's development plan, and it concerns every one of your futures."

With money dangling before them, the slaves practically pricked up their ears, listening even more intently than they would to a priest's prayers.

"First, if you want to free yourselves from slavery, all you have to do is earn me one gold coin. Don't despair just yet. I dare say that under any other lord, this would be impossible. But in Nightfall Territory, it's easy. Look at the brave Iron Hammer! One day! Seventeen silver coins!"

Hearing Field praise him, Iron Hammer puffed out his chest proudly and even rose onto his tiptoes. For the first time since his birth, someone had praised him instead of calling him a stupid ass or an idiot.

What made it even harder to believe was that the praise had come from the lord himself.

"Goddess, I must be going mad. Today has to be my lucky day." Feeling everyone's jealous or admiring gazes on him, Iron Hammer was positively beaming.

The corners of Field's mouth lifted. "The rules remain the same: kill one Corpse Ghoul, receive one silver coin. Besides that, I'll issue a series of tasks that don't involve fighting, such as farming, building walls, repairs, and other work. I'll reward you for all of them."

Slaves lacked motivation, and Field urgently needed freemen. Not only would he no longer have to provide their food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, but he could also collect taxes from them. Besides, only freemen had an incentive to learn skills.

As heated discussions broke out among the crowd, Field went straight on to the second rule.

"Second, race. I don't intend to interfere with that, so long as you don't violate the basic laws. Although I'm not a demihuman, my dear Chosen One is. So put aside your prejudices and look up at the death fog surrounding you. Don't get everyone killed over some senseless reason." Field paused. "Personally, I'm very fond of demihumans. As long as you're hardworking and honest and don't cause me trouble, you're good subjects of mine."

Through their interactions over the past few days, Field had found that demihumans weren't like certain races that did nothing but laze about, stuff their faces, and cause trouble everywhere. He was therefore quite happy to accept them.

Besides, girls with animal ears really were adorable.

Ashina's eyes reddened. She felt respected and treated as an equal.

"Third, from now on, include Ashina's name when you pray."

This point had troubled Field for a long time. He wanted to build a more scientific territory.

But the books said that a Chosen One's power came from faith and a city's prosperity. Ashina was currently a First-Tier Chosen One, and to advance to the second tier, she would need a great deal of faith from the subjects.

Field remained skeptical. If faith increased power, then the Papal State, whose believers spanned the continent, should have been the strongest power of all. Yet that wasn't the case.

The Holy Griffin Empire had already surpassed the Papal State in terms of top-level combat strength, to say nothing of the continent's other powerful nations.

"Unfortunately, I have no control group, and I can't afford to experiment recklessly. I'll try following the experience of those who came before me for now."

Afterward, Field once again recruited slave soldiers. There were no wages, but they would receive three meals a day. Their only source of income would be killing enemies.

Unlike the last time, when no one had been willing, a dense crowd now jostled to sign up.

Field didn't accept everyone indiscriminately. He pointed toward the territory's boundary. "Anyone who wants to become a soldier must run five laps around my territory. I'll select the best candidates based on your performance. Also, I'm very democratic. You can withdraw whenever you like."

That casually delivered sentence immediately made six people give up. They were all lazy fellows who were perfectly content with one loaf of black bread a day.

"They can't even follow a basic order. It's obvious they're just trying to get free meals." Field shook his head. He didn't need soldiers like that.

The others gritted their teeth and began running.

The newly arrived slaves were far worse candidates than the first batch. Most were weak and frail, each as scrawny as a skeleton soldier. It wasn't until noon that the last person finished.

Watching that final figure stagger along, Field felt pleased rather than angry. "Physical fitness can be improved, but tenacious resolve is hard to come by."

After eliminating two fellows who had tried to be clever by running fewer laps, Field gained twenty-three recruits.

Field transferred all the wolf demihumans out of the original thirty-man guard and combined them with the new recruits to form a twenty-man Raiding Cavalry unit. The rest formed a thirty-three-man guard.

Had any noble or knight come here, they would surely have been stunned by Field's actions. Training commoners into an army was crazy enough, let alone slaves. Stupid, ignorant, timid, and cowardly, they weren't even qualified to serve as cannon fodder. At best, they could be used to fill an enemy's moat.

Yet Field had actually organized them into units and even supplied them with armor and equipment.

The steward glanced at the newly recruited "skeleton soldiers," his mouth gaping wide enough to swallow an ostrich egg. Stunned by his lord's actions, he sought out Field and spoke bluntly. "My lord, the original thirty-man guard was already outrageous. Why expand it again, and even give precious warhorses to lowly slaves? They'll turn around and eat those valuable horses!"

"Calm down, Kao. Look at how Wildcat, Iron Hammer, and the others have performed. They've done very well. We owe much of our success in getting here and clearing a foothold to them."

"That-that was merely a desperate measure in an emergency. Faced with a real test, they'll scatter at once." Kao pointed a finger toward the sky and declared with absolute conviction, "A true soldier must come from a military family, master all manner of military knowledge and weapon skills from childhood, and possess noble character!"

Field rubbed his brow. This fellow had definitely been brainwashed by bards and novelists.

"Then who should we use? We're surrounded by monsters."

"Hire mercenaries and adventurers, of course," Kao replied as though it were obvious.

Mercenaries? Field worried that those unreliable bastards would turn around and sell him out. History had proven countless times that only soldiers drawn from the people could form an army with real potential.

"Thank you for your suggestion, but I intend to give them a chance." Field rolled his eyes and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. "Kao, give the soldiers extra food-one more egg each. This afternoon, I'll take them out to clear away the monsters. They'll prove their worth."

The territory was short of manpower, so Field didn't dare take everyone with him. It would be disastrous if their base was destroyed.