Chapter 179

Holy crap! Mi Gen literally cried out, "Holy crap!"

Our master's tone just now? No one else could pull that off.

Then again, our master already has a unicorn mount.

So, what he just said was perfectly fine.

Maybe in the next one or two years, our master might even find a dragon as a mount!

"Well? Have you decided? If you really don't have the guts, I'll go find Nathan and the others!"

"No, Master!" Mi Gen immediately panicked and stopped him.

Then Mi Gen calmed himself, dropped to one knee, and said, "Lord Gervas, thank you for this grace. I, Mi Gen, have nothing to offer in return—I swear here and now that I will spend my entire life guarding Lord Gervas!"

"If I ever break this oath, may the God of Glory strike me down and cast me into the abyss for all eternity!"

"Tsk tsk, Mi Gen, you've got some flair. Enough with the speeches—I've got things to attend to!"

Gervas slapped Mi Gen's shoulder and handed both men two binding scrolls.

The binding scrolls were purchased by Gervas on his way back from his last campaign.

Five gold coins each—definitely not cheap.

That's why there are so few beast knights in this world.

Think about it: even forming a fifty-beast squad would require five hundred gold coins just for the binding fees.

Add in equipment, training, beast feed, and everything else—it's a monstrous gold-sucking beast.

"Thank you, Master!" Lei Meng didn't kneel and swear like Mi Gen did.

But that doesn't mean Lei Meng is any less grateful.

After all, Lei Meng's life was saved by Gervas—and indirectly, so was his daughter, Liliya.

So Lei Meng felt no need to make grand oaths; from now on, he would repay Lord Gervas by wielding his crossblade in his master's service.

Hummm!

With two hums, the binding scrolls activated.

Lei Meng and Mi Gen immediately wore strange expressions.

"How's it feel?"

"Master, after signing the binding contract, I feel a thread connecting me to this Iron-Scaled Fire Lizard."

"And this thread lets me sense the lizard's current emotions and feelings!" Mi Gen replied, face alight with wonder and delight.

"Master, I feel the same!" Lei Meng quickly agreed.

"This is normal after signing the binding contract. From now on, you two must spend time each day training the Iron-Scaled Fire Lizard in combat techniques and feed it yourselves."

"That will build your rapport and help you fight better together on its back."

"Yes, Master!"

…

"Overseer, ahead is Cain Town!"

"Good! Men, push harder! Once we reach Cain Town, we'll be safe. And when we deliver this batch of barbarians to the trading house, I, Ku Po, will treat you all to a feast—wine and meat!"

"Haha, Overseer, you're generous!"

Soon, the slave caravan entered Cain Town.

They'd passed through Cain Town before; Lord Cain was a reasonable man.

"Rest for half an hour at the town square. Then we resume our journey!"

The entire caravan began to rest.

But during the rest, the caravan members suddenly noticed that the distant castle was being torn down.

Overseer Ku Po rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

Could a noble actually be tearing down his own castle?

Had Lord Cain gone mad?

"Overseer, am I seeing things? I saw people tearing down the castle!"

"You're not mistaken—I saw it too!"

"Uh, Overseer, do you think Lord Cain's lost his mind, tearing down his own castle?"

"Shh, you idiot, keep your voice down!" Ku Po quickly scanned the surroundings, confirmed no one was watching, then whispered: "Bad luck. I don't know what curse we've hit this year—twice now, returning from the southeast, I've felt my heart pounding!"

"Last time, passing through Storm Domain, we ran into Lord Gervas!"

"Sure, he paid for our slaves—but he took a twenty percent tax!"

"This time, we tried to avoid that route—and now we run into this weirdness? My heart's about to leap out of my throat!"

"So tell the men to hurry up and eat. Don't wait for half an hour—eat and leave immediately!"

Ku Po didn't want to stay here another second.

"Yes, Overseer!"

The subordinates also felt the place was eerie, so they wolfed down a few bites of black bread and prepared to depart at once.

Fortunately, nothing unusual happened until they reached the town's exit.

This made Overseer Ku Po exhale deeply.

Boom! Boom!

But at that moment, thunderous hooves rang out ahead—a cavalry unit.

"Strange… I feel like I've seen them before," Overseer Ku Po muttered.

"Overseer, those are Firehorses—looks like Lord Gervas!"

"Him?" The remark snapped Ku Po's memory—he recalled Gervas's uniform crimson-brown, towering Firehorses.

"What rotten luck!" Ku Po grumbled. He could now clearly see Gervas's face.

Yu~

The massive warhorses halted before them.

"Overseer Ku Po, what a coincidence—we meet again?" Gervas smiled brightly.

Ku Po's mouth twitched as he forced a smile: "Lord Gervas, it's an honor to see you again!"

"Huh? Ku Po, your slaves look good—those towering ones, the ones who look like orcs—what are they?" Gervas feigned surprise.

Among Ku Po's slave line stood fifty massive figures, like iron towers.

They stood between two point eight and three meters tall.

Their bodies were broad and muscular, clad only in crude animal hides.

Gervas knew perfectly well—they were barbarians.

Or simply, the Man Clan.

They were not like tribal savages.

Tribal savages were merely uncivilized wild folk untouched by noble society.

But the Man Clan? They were truly different from humans.

Though their appearance resembled humans, like dwarves, they were a distinct race.

Legend says the Man Clan carries a trace of ancient giant blood—so every adult Man Clan member grows over two point five meters tall.

Hearing Gervas's teasing, Ku Po's heart tightened—but then he remembered he was in Lord Cain's territory, and his courage returned slightly.

"Lord Gervas, we got lucky—caught a civil war among the Man Clan. A group of defeated warriors were sold, and I bought them!"

"Then, Ku Po, name a price. We're old customers—you'll give me a discount, right?" Gervas cut straight to the point.

The Man Clan were excellent for labor or combat—top-tier.

But Ku Po shook his head outright: "Sorry, Lord Gervas—I'm not selling these Man Clan this time."

"Maybe next time—if I find more Man Clan, I'll bring them to Storm Domain for you."