Chapter 97: Military Merit

Watching the villagers blocked outside the wolf carcasses, Xia Duo beckoned Jibu over, "Hurry and process these wolf carcasses. We'll take the furs, but leave the meat; leave it for the village."

"Alright."

The wolf carcasses were nothing; the real big-ticket items were the three Magic Items. Xia Duo called the other three Apprentices together to discuss; this time, the Magic Items would only be split among the four Mage Apprentices and Aiwa.

Of course, because Xia Duo had used up two Magic Scrolls and acted as bait, he would take the lion's share during the actual distribution, to which everyone else agreed.

Soon, the wolf carcasses were processed, but the snow fell heavier and heavier. The villagers even invited Xia Duo and the others to stay in the village temporarily and return after the snow stopped.

But now that the road-blocking wolves were gone, how could the Apprentices, who were anxious to return, possibly stay behind!

Just like that, the group stepped into the wind and snow under the gaze of the villagers.

There were no more accidents on the way back, but the wind and snow made the road difficult to travel, and the group finally arrived at the south gate of the town near noon.

Similar to them, some other squads also returned around this time. For a moment, the south gate became exceptionally lively; some were showing off their spoils, and others were shouting their friends' names loudly.

"Xia Duo, see that? Those people caught a live Orc!"

Looking in the direction Dien pointed, it was indeed a living Orc, tied up tightly and being dragged across the snow. Even upon reaching Savile Town, the Orc was still struggling unwillingly.

Sami, who was nearby, also took up the conversation, "If this one Orc is sold to the Golden Lark Chamber of Commerce, it could sell for 100 Gold Coins!"

"Maybe even more! Once the Orc Tide is over, there definitely won't be many Orcs left, how could it only sell for 100 Gold Coins?!" Dewan immediately argued.

And Dien also joined in, "Don't say that, if it's too expensive to buy, how many people can afford it? Besides, the Lord must have also captured many Orc Slaves. I think it's already pretty good if that Orc can sell for 100 Gold Coins!"

"By the way, Xia Duo, what do you think?"

"Me—"

Xia Duo looked at the Orc as if he were seeing individual shiny Gold Coins, "I'm regretting now that I didn't catch a few live Orcs!"

Hearing this, Sami also let out a howl of regret.

"Alright, no more joking, it's almost our turn." Xia Duo gave a reminder, and the other three fell silent.

The group entered through the south gate one by one and headed straight for the Military Camp.

In the Military Camp today, the busiest place was the Quartermaster's area. A large crowd blocked the entrance to the military warehouse, surrounded three layers deep.

Today was not just about handing over Orc heads; it was also about tallying all past military merit and distributing rewards, which made squabbling all too easy.

Xia Duo even saw more than one scene where squad members started fighting directly, because after today, the Adventurers and farmers who had been temporarily conscripted would all be released. Even if they wanted to continue serving in the Territory Army, they would need to go through other channels.

"Mage Xia Duo, Mage Xia Duo, look at how I performed in this mission? Lord Xia Duo is so wise, you surely wouldn't forget me, Xiaohuzi."

Seeing this situation, Xiaohuzi, who was an Adventurer by trade, immediately leaned in, laying on the flattery thick.

Although there were fewer people around Jibu, several were still gathered there, and Dien's squad—himself and Captain Wuke—was also surrounded by people.

And Xia Duo had only just learned that military merit was decided jointly by the squad's Mage and the Captain. Facing the flattery of Xiaohuzi and the others, Xia Duo felt a sense of emotion.

During the mission, although they obeyed orders, they had been quite cold toward Xia Duo and the other Apprentices. After all, an Apprentice was just an Apprentice; after the mission, who would even recognize whom!

But now—

"Rest assured, everyone's usual performance has been seen by all. You should have an idea of how much military merit you deserve; there's no need to come looking for me or Captain Jibu."

Some people walked away sheepishly, but Xiaohuzi remained like a dog-skin plaster that couldn't be shaken off. And honestly, the feeling of hearing others praise oneself was actually quite pleasant.

Although Xia Duo refused with his words, he was actually quite pleased inside.

Soon, the people in front became fewer and fewer. When it was Xia Duo's turn, he and Dien handed over their Time Tower Badges together. The Arcane Mark on the back was their image; looking closely, one could even see a tiny marked number "12".

The Quartermaster first carefully inspected the Badges and let out a sound of surprise, "Eh—you are the squad responsible for the 12th Area?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." The Quartermaster looked at Xia Duo and the others with curiosity, then read out, "12th Area, military merit 600, Xia Duo individual extra military merit 200."

Even Xia Duo knew where the problem lay now. Among the many people before, not one had ever had individual extra military merit. He immediately thought of the mysterious Mage he had killed.

Clearly, someone had counted the killing of the mysterious Mage as military merit, and it had been credited to his personal account.

People nearby who heard the Quartermaster report the military merit suddenly became interested and began asking Xia Duo's squad about the situation, and Xiaohuzi immediately stepped forward and began to brag—

"We encountered an evil Mage during the mission, with a ferocious face, exuding an evil aura that was almost suffocating. Fortunately, our squad's Mage Xia Duo used a clever plan to end the opponent, otherwise we wouldn't have made it back!"

As he spoke, Xiaohuzi even squeezed out an expression of lingering fear, which was very exaggerated.

At this time, someone nearby asked, "What did the evil aura you mentioned smell like?"

"This—" Xiaohuzi touched the small mustache on his chin, pointed directly at the boots of the person who asked, and said, "If you don't take off those boots for a month, they'll have a bit of that evil smell!"

Hahaha—

The crowd burst into laughter!

Xia Duo had black lines on his forehead, but such "evil" was indeed quite evil.

"12th Area, how are you handling your military merit?"

"Six people will count it as military merit, the rest will all be exchanged for Gold Coins."

Then Xia Duo reported the names of Jibu, Wuke, and the others who were originally Territory soldiers to count the military merit and distributed their respective shares. As for the other military merit, it was exchanged for 780 Gold Coins.

After the tally was complete, they went to another Quartermaster, handed over the Orc heads and one Wolf Tooth Amulet, and exchanged them for over two hundred more Gold Coins.

As for the other two Magic Items, they belonged to Xia Duo, for which he needed to compensate the other Apprentices and Aiwa with some Gold Coins.

Inside the previous camp, Xia Duo gathered everyone to start distributing the Gold Coins, "Jibu, Wuke, you six will retain your military merit, so you won't be splitting the military merit Gold Coins."

"The following is the distribution of all the Gold Coins—

"Dien, 110 Gold Coins.

"Jibu, 3.

"Xiaohuzi, 20."

"Laosuotou, 18 pieces.

Yidimu, 15 pieces."