Su Qin was naturally very fond of the lad because his loyalty was high. Soon, Su Qin had recruited a hundred servants. In fact, many people failed to make the cut.
Su Qin rejected those whose loyalty was below 80 outright, though he still gave them silver coins. Small favors were not to be underestimated. To homeless people living in misery, every bit was precious.
Everyone Su Qin recruited had loyalty above 80. Su Qin believed that, with his continued efforts to win them over, they would all become loyal to him. After all, he had the system as his cheat.
With the system, friend and foe became perfectly clear!
Some applicants had negative loyalty. Su Qin quietly marked an x beside their names, planning to have his intelligence minister, Kelun, investigate thoroughly afterward to find out whose lackeys they were.
Su Qin first gave those who qualified their money and sent them home to get ready, telling them to report to the manor that afternoon!
That afternoon, the hundred servants entered the manor. The male servants were assigned to the servants' quarters outside the castle, two to a room. Most were refugees, and they looked forward to their new lives. Su Qin first instructed the head maid, Yira, to have them bathe in the pool.
Of course, he also arranged lodgings for them. There was even a married couple who had come together, and Su Qin specifically had Yira find them a wooden cabin.
Naturally, Su Qin separated the male and female servants. Men and women could not live together, especially the young ones. Problems could arise all too easily.
The male servants currently had no leader, so he naturally left Nack to handle the matter. Nack dealt with people more often at the tavern, so he should be capable in this regard.
At dusk, Su Qin sat in the training room on the first floor. It was spacious, primarily a place for the lord's family to practice martial arts. They could train regardless of wind or rain!
Twelve people stood opposite him. Su Qin would perform a miracle for them. This first group consisted entirely of young men; after all, women were unsuited to these kinds of physical jobs.
Su Qin stood atop the steps in the training room, looking at the twelve people brought inside and slowly nodding. Their loyalty met the requirement. Dressed in black with silver seagull patterns, his expression solemn, he slowly began, "I specifically chose you for this private conversation because I have something very important to discuss with you!"
Su Qin slowly rose and paced before the two rows of people. They all watched him.
"You are all refugees, all homeless. But pity is not why I specifically sought you out."
"I have a special magical gem. I know you are all very loyal, and that is why I sought you out." The twelve began looking at one another. They certainly seemed shocked.
Su Qin continued, "I do not believe in the Seven or the Old Gods!" Some began to look frightened. That meant oaths would be invalid!
"But I believe in the Dragon God. The oaths I swear today will still hold!"
"I know you may find it difficult to believe me. Now I will show you my sincerity!"
Su Qin immediately reached into his clothes and took out twelve gold coins. Nothing demonstrated sincerity better than a generous sum. Su Qin wanted their complete loyalty, because they would learn his secret.
One by one, Su Qin slowly lifted their right hands and placed a gold coin in each palm.
The refugees' hands trembled because they had touched their lord's warm arm. This was a first for them, and they were beginning to feel that this lord was different from other lords.
Watching them stare in astonishment at the gold coins in their hands, something they had never seen before, Su Qin nodded in satisfaction.
"Now, I ask you to swear to the Dragon God that you will remain loyal to me forever. I will give you the best treatment on the entire continent!"
"Remember, forever. Those willing to swear, raise your hands!" Su Qin looked at everyone.
A boy immediately raised his hand. "My lord, I am willing!" He was the young man who had been the first to raise his hand that morning.
Su Qin nodded. The group's willingness was very encouraging!
"My lord, I am willing too!" Another person raised his hand. The others looked at one another and nodded.
"My lord, we are all willing to swear to the Dragon God that we will remain loyal to you forever!" Su Qin smiled in satisfaction and sat back down.
With a wave of his hand, a huge image of the Dragon God slowly unfurled behind him. The divine dragon's upper and lower halves were distinctly black and white. Its eyes were one black and one white, its scales gleamed, and it stared intently down below! It radiated divinity!
Yisha beckoned to two maids whose loyalty exceeded 90, and they slowly emerged from either side. Nack and Luke came out as well. These were his trusted followers.
When the image of the Dragon God unfurled, everyone was awed. Though made of woolen cloth, this image had to be a wondrous religious object! The dragon's eyes looked alive.
Su Qin nodded to Yira. She smiled and led the others back into the group before him, then began explaining the formalities of the oath-taking ceremony.
Soon, more than a dozen people knelt before the image of the Dragon God. Seated above them, Su Qin said, "Begin your oaths!"
The group all looked toward Su Qin and began reciting their oaths:
"I, the maid Yira, swear here today that I will believe in the great Dragon God and remain loyal to Su Qin Herculys forever!"
"I, the attendant Luke, ... will remain loyal to Su Qin Herculys forever."
"I, ... loyal"...
After everyone had sworn in turn, Su Qin slowly rose again. "You may stand!" The dozen or so people slowly stood, all looking at him. The fire burning in their chests was called loyalty. This was the sense of ceremony that religion brought.
Su Qin looked at everyone expressionlessly and slowly said, "The deity you believe in is no false god, much less an evil god. He will never demand your souls as the price of serving him."
"Nor will I force you to pay any material price to the Dragon God."
"You need only remember, in your spare moments, that you once worshipped such a deity, and he will be very satisfied."
"The Dragon God does not need your gold coins as offerings. What he values is your state of mind."
"Now, let us invite a miracle!" Su Qin turned and dropped to one knee. Everyone immediately followed suit.
Twelve beams of light shot from the yin-yang dragon eyes. Two blue spheres and ten white ones slowly entered the bodies of the twelve new servants!
They closed their eyes and opened them again, their faith in the Dragon God growing stronger. Memories of many skills appeared in their minds: smithing! Carpentry! Construction! Casting, and more!
Even memories of Chinese characters appeared. Yet none of their experiences or memories were lost. It felt as though sweet honey had been poured into their souls, wonderfully comfortable! But Su Qin knew nothing of what they felt, and this also planted the seeds of his later rift with the gods.
After the ceremony ended, Su Qin handed the level-two blueprint to that young man. Of the two blue enhancement materials, one had gone to him, and the other to the second person who had pledged loyalty!
The rest all had white templates. Su Qin appointed those two as artisan officers on the spot. They would lead the twelve artisans into the guest rooms on the castle's first floor.
The chief artisan officer was that boy, sixteen years old and named Gery. The left deputy officer was a middle-aged man named Downton!
Before long, Su Qin instructed them to immediately begin studying and familiarizing themselves with the construction techniques for the level-two smithy, as well as the most important principles of its structure.
After returning from the funeral in a few days, Su Qin planned to begin manufacturing weapons on a large scale. Who knew what would happen in this world?
Jon Arryn still had not taken the seat of the Eyrie, and a rival, Elys Arryn, had even appeared. It was best to arm himself as soon as possible!
Several days had passed. Taking the journey into account, Su Qin would have to leave for Runestone tomorrow to attend the funeral of the Earl's eldest son.
Runestone was over a hundred kilometers from Gulltown, so he needed to set out early.
That day, Su Qin found a separate site for the artisans to build a large smithy, just southeast of the castle.
That night, Su Qin was bathing. Beside the wooden tub, Yira and two maids carefully scrubbed his back!
Yira looked at Su Qin tenderly. Only when he was not looking at her did she muster the courage to look at him. She was glad she had been someone on the fringes, with few opportunities to see the former lord.
Thus, the original owner of this body had never defiled her. Lords abusing pretty maids was something of an unspoken convention among ordinary nobles. Of course, many nobles had good character too. Houses such as Stark, Martell, Tyrell, and Dayne had never had any secret tales of nobles abusing maids come out.
Yira looked at Su Qin. "My lord, you will be going to Runestone with Ser Pukin tomorrow. Do you need me to come along to look after you?" Her oriole-like voice rang out, bringing Su Qin a wave of pleasure.
Leaning against the edge of the wooden tub, Su Qin smiled. "No need, Yira. Take the maids and keep urging the artisans along. I will be very satisfied if they can thoroughly understand the construction blueprints as soon as possible!"
"Yes, my lord. There is something I would like to ask you."
"What is it?" Su Qin was a little puzzled.
The two maids beside Yira pursed their lips toward her in encouragement. Yira said, "My lord, why did the Dragon God not grant us and Luke a miracle? Are we not devout enough?"
Su Qin smiled when he heard this. "I am preparing better miracles for you and Luke. You will need to wait a while! Perhaps a few years. Good miracles are not easy to request!"
Yira felt relieved at his words. So that was it. She replied, "All right, my lord. We will pack your luggage for you tonight."
Her voice was lovely, like an oriole's. She also had a good figure, which Su Qin had remembered at first glance when they first met. Men noticing women's figures was quite in keeping with their nature. Nine men out of ten were lecherous, and the last merely hid it.
Su Qin nodded. Nobles really knew how to enjoy life, with "my lord" in every sentence.