Chapter 15: Give Half the Arable Land First!

Tonight, Stormhold is destined to be a sleepless night; although the chickens and ducks have been purchased and returned, the townsfolk are all waiting for dawn.

For the chickens and ducks can only begin clearing the locusts at dawn the next day.

Fortunately, the locusts also need to rest and recuperate at midnight, so there is no need to worry about them causing major damage to the crops.

【Ding! Daily new information has refreshed...】

【Information One: In a thicket five li south of Wheatfield Town, a batch of wild Mana Mushrooms has broken through the soil. Mana Mushrooms have the effect of purifying the body and increasing affinity with elements and Mana, allowing one's cultivation to achieve twice the result with half the effort.】

【Information Two: In the Black Pine Forest on the edge of the Death Mountain Range, a third-tier Iron-Shell Fire Salamander that escaped from the Death Mountain Range has also arrived today. It is worth mentioning that this is an Iron-Shell Fire Salamander about to give birth; after it reaches the Black Pine Forest, it will give birth to two cubs.】

What it does not know is that a cunning Iron-Claw Wolf has set its sights on it, intending to hunt it down during its weakness after giving birth, and then a fierce battle between magical beasts will erupt within the Black Pine Forest!】

【Information Three: At the source of Swan Lake to the south, there is a waterfall, and beside the waterfall is a cave, inside which something seems to be hidden!】

【Information Four: Wheatfield Town will welcome two unremarkable travelers today; the two are father and son. The dust of the journey makes them look particularly down-and-out, but in fact the father among the two, Luka Hammer, is a blacksmith who possesses the memories of a dwarf.】

He was framed by others due to his dwarf blacksmithing skills and was wanted by Count Quake of Quakehold; the two of them, father and son, had no choice but to flee from Count Quake's territory all the way to the border.】

At this moment, they are filled with fear and anxiety, not knowing where they can live safely.】

【Information Five: The Little Mermaid on the eastern coast is still lingering; there are still significant safety risks near the coastline, but their arrival has also brought benefits. A school of deep-sea tuna, driven and hunted by the Little Mermaid, mistakenly entered the mangrove forest at the southeastern estuary.】

After the tide recedes in the afternoon, they can be caught with the simplest fish spears!】

【Information Six: Someone has rumored that they saw a giant dragon soaring across the sky on the edge of the Death Mountain Range; however, this news is questioned by the vast majority of people, because giant dragons are already extremely rare, and many times they live in places where few humans tread, so it is impossible to see them on the edge of the Death Mountain Range.】

Many people feel that it was likely some other large flying magical beast, so this news has not been confirmed!】

【Ding, today's information refresh is complete!】

Gervas woke up comfortably on the goose-down bed; hearing the ding-dong of the information made his mood instantly improve.

He shook the bell by the bedside, and Caroline walked in from outside.

Now that he has officially taken office, the shameless life of a noble lord must also officially begin.

And after being taught a lesson, Caroline has become much more obedient; now she is specifically responsible for serving Gervas.

Under Caroline's service, he washed and cleaned himself, then put on a silk robe.

During this process, Caroline kept her head down, daring not to meet Gervas's gaze; this might be related to Gervas's threat.

However, no matter what, the agreed-upon three punishments must still be carried out.

Just as the maid finished adjusting her collar and was preparing to take her leave, Gervas called her back.

"Caroline, have you forgotten something?"

Caroline's body trembled, and she froze in place; her red lips pressed tight, head bowed, silent, clearly knowing what was in her heart.

"What, Caroline, have you forgotten the matter of needing to accept three punishments? If so, that is lack of repentance, and the punishment must be doubled!" Gervas deliberately lowered his voice and questioned coldly.

Recalling Gervas's threat from that day, Caroline immediately grew anxious. "No, Young Master Gervas... my lord, Caroline is willing to accept the punishment!"

"Since that is the case, then lie on the wooden table and bend over!" Caroline was extremely ashamed, but she obediently did as told.

Then, before she could react, with a slap, she immediately felt a burning sensation on her full rear.

Caroline's face turned completely red; in her beautiful eyes there was both grievance and shame. "Young Master Gervas, servants' punishments are always with a rattan cane!"

This was Caroline's final plea, but Gervas had a very reasonable reason to refuse her.

"A rattan cane would hurt for several days; right now, the castle servants have not yet been recruited; how will you serve me then?"

Caroline was speechless; she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and said, "Just consider it being trampled by a wild boar!"

Gervas said it was punishment, so it definitely was punishment; there absolutely were no other bad intentions, after all, he was an upright lord, ahem...

With the dawn, the locust army had awakened and begun ravaging the territory.

Fortunately, the chickens and ducks from yesterday had also all been deployed and began clearing the locusts.

This matter was jointly overseen by Old John and Thomas, after all, this concerns the food supply for the serfs in the coming days.

It was gratifying that the number of chickens and ducks was sufficient, while the amount of arable land was not large, so the thousands of mu of arable land belonging to Stormhold's estates were quickly secured.

Of course, besides these thousands of mu of arable land, there were actually another two thousand mu of arable land within the territory, but they currently belonged to those wealthy households.

Originally, when the wealthy households heard that the lord had purchased five thousand chickens and ducks, they felt that they too were saved.

But when subsequently they discovered that after the lord cleared the arable land of Stormhold, he had absolutely no intention of coming to help them, the crowd immediately grew panicked.

"Help you? Are they my serfs? Therefore, I have no obligation to help you eliminate the locusts!"

Hearing Thomas's report, Gervas smiled.

The words quickly reached the ears of the wealthy households; to save their crops, several wealthy households immediately brought money to the castle to beg for mercy.

A total value of one gold coin!

"My lord, please be merciful and help us; if you do not help us, our arable land will be ruined!"

"Moreover, half of the grain we grow is also sold to the townsfolk!"

"Is that so?" Gervas accepted the silver coins, hesitating for a moment.

Just as the several wealthy households thought they had persuaded Gervas, Gervas said, "How about this: each of you transfers half of your arable land to me as payment, and I will help you!"

"This is impossible!" The wealthy households immediately cried out, their eyes full of disbelief.

"Then there is no way; you will just wait for your crops to be eaten clean by the locusts? By the way, I heard that last year you purchased several thousand mu of mountain land from Kaelir to plant apples; that must have consumed quite a bit of your savings, right?"

The wealthy households' faces turned iron-green; not just quite a bit of savings, it was completely their accumulation over more than ten years.

If they could not survive this year's locust disaster, they would lose everything.

"Very well! My lord, I agree to your conditions; I will give you half of my arable land, please help us clear the locusts!" Surprisingly, this time it was the wealthy household Kodo who spoke first.

It was no wonder, after all, the wealthy household Kodo occupied the most of those apple orchards.

Of course, from his expression, one could see he was not convinced.

Gervas was not in a hurry; he had said that if they wanted to make them spit out what they had eaten from Stormhold, then they must spit out everything!