Chapter 217: The Petty Thoughts of a Man!

Originally, the five men had awakened five to six minutes after Freya and the others left.

However, they chose not to leave Stormhold immediately, but instead thought the tribal savages would attack the castle.

That would mean Maitian Town would descend into chaos and be left undefended.

So after discussing it, they decided to stay behind and take full advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When they heard the screams of battle erupt above the castle, they rushed into the town and began looting.

But they never expected that Gervas's Pursuing Moon had been watching them all along.

As they robbed the town, Pursuing Moon found the guards and led them to capture the thieves!

"Given that these five bandits broke into the serf Jonah's home, beat Jonah severely with a wooden club, looted his belongings, and attempted to rape his wife, by Lord Gervas's judgment, these five bandits are guilty of heinous crimes—immediate execution by hanging!"

"Now, the hanging begins!"

"Lord Gervas is mighty! Kill these vile bandits!"

"Lord Gervas is wise! Kill these scum!"

After hearing Laurent's announcement of their crimes and seeing Jonah himself, his head wrapped in blood-stained bandages, being carried forward to testify,

the townsfolk erupted in fury, shouting for the bandits to be executed.

Amid the crowd's cheers and stares, the five bandits were executed on the spot, and their bodies would be hung in the town square for several days as a warning.

When Freya learned these men had tried to take advantage of the chaos, her once-clear eyes grew clouded with confusion.

"This poor child has clearly been sheltered too well by her father!" Gervas marveled.

…

【Ding! Daily intelligence has been refreshed…】

【Intelligence One: With Stormhold's prosperity, some refugees from the wastelands have heard of it.

They are honest, hardworking refugees who survive by farming and foraging in the wastelands, then trading their goods in the kingdom.

In the past, they usually traded in Lord Pat's domain.

Because Lord Pat was greedy enough to turn a blind eye as long as they paid.

But after you defeated Lord Pat, he came to realize the weakness of his domain's strength,

so he began imposing heavier taxes across his territory.

Hoping to use the revenue to develop his lands.

Naturally, these refugees became the first victims.

The goods they sell in Lord Pat's domain now require a seventy percent tax.

Such taxes have driven many refugees to risk traveling to other noble domains for trade.

Your Stormhold, being relatively close and home to wealthy serfs, has become one of the destinations they now attempt.

At least a hundred refugees are expected to arrive at Stormhold today to trade!】

【Intelligence Two: The dangers of the Death Mountains are not unique to humans—they threaten all races.

This morning, at a lake thirty li east of Eagle Peak, a battle erupted between a group of fourth-rank griffins and a group of sixth-rank Iron-Spined Vultures.

In the end, there was no victor; both sides were left severely wounded.

Two Iron-Spined Vultures died outright, while nine griffins perished immediately, and six more lay gravely injured!

Their final moments of life will come this afternoon.】

【Intelligence Three: Do you remember the Holy Light Flower, which can grow in areas tainted by death energy?

It is a light-elemental medicinal plant whose entire body is valuable.

The Holy Light Flower itself can be ground into powder and applied to the skin, granting temporary resistance against dark death energy.

It also repels low-rank dark creatures, who flee from its holy aura.

Of course, its greatest power lies in the Holy Light Fruit it bears when mature.

Consuming the Holy Light Fruit grants permanent resistance to dark attributes and increases affinity with light attributes!

Currently, the Holy Light Flowers have begun maturing and fruiting, growing along the edge of death-tainted zones between the Death Mountains and the Chaos Wastelands.

If not harvested, they will wither and die within a week.】

【Intelligence Four: After months of trade, you have forged deep friendship with the sea-folk Bowa tribe.

Both sides have gained tremendous benefits from this trade.

Yet, unlike your cautious approach and focus on military development, the Bowa tribe's military strength has lagged far behind their wealth growth.

This has made the Bowa tribe a target in the eyes of other sea-folk.

Two days ago, a coalition of sea-folk merfolk attacked the Bowa tribe, killing nearly half their tribal warriors.

Today, Waga will come to Stormhold seeking your aid!】

【Intelligence Five: Today, Lord Pat's castle will receive a secret team from Eagle City,

and the two sides appear to be negotiating something.】

【Intelligence Six: Thanks to your help, the birthday cake made Lord Austin's birthday famous far and wide.

Lord Austin has openly ordered his eldest son to reclaim the family fleet.

After understanding his father's intentions, Adams immediately began efforts to reclaim the fleet.

He followed your advice, especially using gold to pave the way—and the results have been quite promising.】

Gently awaken the slumbering soul, slowly open your eyes!

Another beautiful day has begun.

And the daily intelligence system's ding came as usual.

After carefully digesting today's intelligence, Gervas knew this would be another busy day.

Today's intelligence was mixed.

The refugees attempting to trade at Stormhold, the Holy Light Flowers, the griffins—all promising opportunities.

But there was bad news too: the Bowa tribe was in crisis.

Waga was the only one who could communicate with humans… well, at least the only one Gervas knew of.

So Waga absolutely could not be harmed—he provided Gervas each month with abundant Nightlight Pearls and sea fish.

Furthermore, Intelligence Five was highly significant: a mysterious team from Eagle City had visited Lord Pat's castle.

Though the system had not revealed the identity of this team, Gervas could likely deduce something.

"I hope you'll behave yourself—if not, and you're used as a pawn, don't blame me."

A cold glint flashed in Gervas's eyes.

Ding-ding-ding!

The doorbell jingled.

With a creak, the bedroom door opened.

"Good morning, my lord!"

"Good morning… my lord!"

"Good morning, Carolyne!"

"Good morning, Freya… maid!"

Seeing the two pretty maids, Gervas's slightly downcast mood from the bad intelligence lifted again.

Especially seeing Freya, the maid whose beauty carried a touch of wildness, he felt a surge of pride.

Perhaps this was the petty desire of a man.

Wanting a woman to obey him completely, yet secretly craving to conquer a defiant one.

After days of training, this new maid seemed to be slowly adapting to her role.

Especially when Gervas often muttered about "missing the feel of certain faces," the proud little princess pretending to be a maid instantly lost her temper.

The reason was simple: those heirs were all sons of chieftains from tribes loyal to their fathers.

Their capture by Gervas had already filled Freya with deep guilt.

If she caused those heirs to become Iron Claw No. 2, she absolutely could not bear to see it happen.