Chapter 82: The Origin of Names

Knight Wili's house had already been requisitioned by Luoning; he sat on a bench and continued to question Wodun and Dandi, obtaining more intelligence from them.

"I am curious, how did your savage tribes get their names?"

Luoning asked: "The Qingzhu Tribe is located among bamboo forests, so using green bamboo for a name I can understand. Then what do Purple Fruit, Gray Soil, and Black Ridge represent respectively?"

"My Lord, as far as I know, the reason the Purple Fruit Tribe is called by this name is that their tribe produces purple-black and purple-red fruits around June every year."

Wodun replied: "I have had the honor of eating them once; the taste of the Purple Fruit is different from grapes or plums. It is sweet, sour, and juicy, very thirst-quenching. It is just a pity that it is September now, and you, My Lord, may not be able to enjoy them anymore."

Purple-black fruits?

Luoning searched his mind for information regarding this kind of fruit, but found nothing; it seems it must be a specialty of the mountain region?

He had already decided in his heart that once he took down the Purple Fruit Tribe, he would definitely ask for detailed information about the Purple Fruit.

"Then what about Gray Soil and Black Ridge?"

"I know this one."

Dandi scrambled to answer first, "The reason the Gray Soil Tribe is called by this name is because there is a kind of grayish-white soil in their tribe. Because it can be seen everywhere, they gave it that name."

"The Black Ridge Tribe is very similar; their soil is relatively black, so they call it 'Black Ridge'."

Luoning nodded slowly; so the origins of these two tribes' names were both related to soil.

"Do you know what use these two types of soil have?" Luoning asked.

Regarding this question, Dandi shook his head, "It seems there is no special use; it is just a bit more unique, enough to attract people's attention."

Is that so?

Luoning tried hard to recall.

He didn't have a deep impression of grayish-white soil, but he did know about black soil.

"Could it be black earth?"

He had always felt that the soil quality here in Shanlin Town was quite good; otherwise, it wouldn't have such yields under such sloppy planting techniques.

If this black soil was indeed black earth, then once he occupied the Black Ridge Tribe, the issue of food for his territory in the future would no longer be a problem.

"Alright, I have asked about as much as I need to. Since you have already surrendered to me and are willing to offer your loyalty, I will give you two a chance."

Luoning looked at the two Knights before him, "Today is the 21st; until the end of this month, you will both be in my observation period. If you pass the observation, I will accept your allegiance and pay you a salary of 20 copper coins per day, according to the standard for a probationary period."

"If you have no ulterior motives within the next three months, and you execute the tasks arranged by me, the Commander, or the Guard Officer well, then I will allow you to become permanent staff. At that time, you will receive a daily wage of 30 copper coins."

Salary?

30 copper coins a day?

Wodun and Dandi's eyes went wide!

Although they had lived in the Qingzhu Tribe all these years, they would sneak out every so often to purchase daily necessities like salt.

Money, they were not unfamiliar with.

It was just that money had always been held in the hands of Knight Wili, and they never had a chance to touch it.

But now, Luoning was actually offering them a salary, and it was twenty copper coins—that was enough for them to buy a jin of Gasha Salt!

More importantly, these twenty copper coins were just a daily wage; how much would that be in a month?

They subconsciously counted on their fingers, only to find they couldn't calculate it.

At this moment, Luoning's voice interrupted their chaotic thoughts.

"You don't need to suspect that I am lying to you."

He pointed to Tangmu at the side, "His name is Tangmu. When I defeated the person he was once loyal to, he chose to surrender voluntarily. At the beginning, his daily wage was also 20 copper coins, but in view of his excellent performance, I allowed him to become permanent early. Today, his daily wage has already reached 30 copper coins."

Having a concrete example was more persuasive.

Of course, Luoning would not let Wodun and Dandi become permanent early; they were not as excellent as Tangmu.

However, it sounded different to the two of them; they couldn't help but look at Tangmu, as if seeking confirmation.

Tangmu puffed out his chest, "Yes, My Lord not only forgave my crimes but also bestowed upon me everything I have now. If you can serve My Lord with sincerity, I believe you will be the same as me."

After Tangmu's confirmation, Wodun and Dandi finally set their minds at ease.

"Many thanks for My Lord's mercy. I, Dandi (Wodun), from this day forward, am your loyal follower!"

They had already made up their minds to work hard and strive to become permanent as soon as possible.

Luoning smiled and signaled for the two to stand up.

At this time, Aierlong, who had been busy for Along time, walked in from outside.

"My Lord, I have already tallied the accurate number of people and the casualties of the Qingzhu Tribe."

Luoning adjusted his sitting posture, "Speak."

"There were originally 362 savages here. In the battle just now, including Knight Wili, a total of eight people died. The remaining 354 people have all become your captives and are currently being held under guard."

Eight people died after all?

Luoning hadn't expected so many to die; he had thought at most only Wili and that sentry he blasted down would die.

Sure enough, once a battle starts, many things that happen during the process are uncontrollable and unpredictable.

"What about our casualties?" Luoning asked.

Aierlong smiled, "Congratulations, My Lord. In this battle, none of us were seriously injured, let alone killed. The only regret is that four militiamen suffered minor injuries, two of whom didn't watch where they were going and tripped while walking on the slope."

He added, "This battle against the Qingzhu Tribe can be called a complete victory!"

Ruidar, who was at the side, also smiled, but he looked somewhat unsatisfied, "It's just a pity that I didn't really exert myself from start to finish; I only consumed a bit of Battle Qi and shouted a couple of times."

"At least you clashed with that Wili for one move, what about me?"

Maiken spread his hands helplessly, "I didn't even have time to exert myself before the other side surrendered. I feel like following My Lord on this expedition was purely to make up the numbers."

"Me too, hahaha, I didn't even cast a single Healing Spell."

Listening to his subordinates complaining to each other like this, Luoning also started to laugh.

Looking at it this way, he was the one who had acted the most in this battle—one Fireball Technique and one Wind Blade Technique, each taking away one person.

"There will be times for you to take action later."

Luoning interrupted everyone's complaints with a smile, "Wodun and Dandi have just told us the detailed situation regarding the Ziguo Tribe and the Huitu Tribe. Since our battle losses this time were almost zero, let's strike while the iron is hot and take down these two savage tribes as well!"

The Qingzhu Tribe, Ziguo Tribe, and Huitu Tribe were a Three-Party Alliance that jointly resisted the Heiling Tribe.

As two of the few Transcendental in the Three-Party Alliance, Wodun and Dandi naturally counted as part of the core circle, and they certainly knew more than the hunter captured by Ruidar.

According to their accounts, the Ziguo Tribe had the fewest Transcendental, only two; they were a married couple, with the woman being an Intermediate Water Mage and the man an Intermediate Knight.

In Luoning's eyes, such a tribe had no ability to resist at all, and he could likely take it over with minimal cost.

As long as those two were captured, the group of savages living in the Ziguo Tribe would surely all surrender.

"A Magician, huh? I didn't expect a Magician to be born in a savage tribe."

Luoning felt some anticipation.

Although this female Magician named "Jenny Frank" was already thirty-six years old—the age was a bit high—the benefits of taking a Magician into his service would be great.

If the other party possessed a relatively high success rate in crafting Spell Scroll like Aierlong, then the Spell Scroll industry of Shanlin Town would reach a new level.

However, Luoning did not hold high expectations for this matter.

Jenny Frank was thirty-six and still only an Intermediate Mage; her level was likely similar to Pedro's, and the possibility of her being able to craft Spell Scroll was not very high.

Besides the inside information on the Ziguo Tribe, Luoning currently also had a relatively clear grasp of the situation regarding the Huitu Tribe.

As the most powerful entity in the Three-Party Alliance, the Huitu Tribe had absorbed some Transcendental and commoners that should have belonged to the Ziguo Tribe and Qingzhu Tribe while resisting the Heiling Tribe.

Yes, it had absorbed the population of its allies.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Huitu Tribe to possess one Advanced Knight, two Intermediate Knight, and three Primary Knight, totaling six Professional Knight as it did now.

The difficulty of taking down the Huitu Tribe would certainly be much greater than taking down the Qingzhu Tribe, but once taken, combined with the two Transcendental from the Ziguo Tribe, the number of Transcendental under Luoning's command would likely exceed twelve!

By then, he would be able to form his own Knight Squad like a normal Baron.

The only thing that was not easy to handle was that these conquered subordinates were not as loyal as the group of Dawei, Zhuweite, and Ximu, nor could they be compared to the voluntarily surrendered Tangmu; it would take Along time for them to sincerely submit.

However, Luoning was not worried about this; in this world, apart from the three followers Maiken, Aierlong, and Ruidar who were summoned by him, which of the remaining followers did not have their own little schemes?

Tangmu wanted to restore his ancestors' glory, Dawei, Zhuweite, and the others wanted to perform meritorious service or even achieve class mobility, Chahaer wanted to become a grand Steward of the nobility, and so on.

Everyone had their own little schemes.

Therefore, as long as Luoning was strong enough to let these people know that following him could realize their respective little schemes, they would be willing to be driven by Luoning.

(End of this chapter)