Chapter 24: Successful Capture!

The firehorses, sensing the arrival of these two-legged creatures, struggled even more fiercely.

Seeing this, Gervas led his men to a distance of over ten meters, no longer daring to delay.

“Throw!”

His men took a deep breath, swiftly swung their lassos, and hurled them toward the herd ahead.

One, two, three… seven!

Their luck was astonishingly good—every single one of the seven firehorses was caught, proving the guards had indeed trained hard.

Catching a firehorse with a lasso was already half the battle won.

The men who had been pulling the ropes from behind immediately split in half and rushed forward.

Firehorses, being such powerful creatures, could not be controlled by a single man.

Soon, the support of over a dozen men stabilized the still-struggling firehorses.

Once all the lassos were secured to the wooden stakes, the capture of the firehorses was fully successful.

“Ha! We did it! We succeeded!”

“That’s right—seven firehorses, all caught! I can brag about this for the rest of my life—I caught firehorses worth dozens of gold coins each!”

The guards cheered wildly. Laurens laughed and said, “This capture was arranged and organized by the Lord himself—when you brag later, don’t forget to mention the Lord’s achievement first!”

“Of course we will—we’ll always lead with the Lord’s glory!”

“Hahaha!”

Laughter filled the scene.

Gervas was also pleased, but though the firehorses were caught, getting them back still seemed difficult.

The firehorses were temperamental and refused to let anyone approach.

Anyone who came near would charge forward, kicking fiercely with their hooves.

Thud! Thud!

At that moment, the sound of hoofbeats approached—it was Zhuoyue arriving.

Earlier, Gervas had worried Zhuoyue’s presence might alarm the firehorses, so he’d kept him far from the pasture.

Zhuoyue must have seen the capture was over and returned swiftly.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

And Zhuoyue’s arrival indeed made the firehorses even more agitated—they stamped and struggled, nostrils puffing hot breath.

“Quick, secure the ropes tighter!” His men panicked at the sight.

Gervas frowned.

Just as he considered ordering Zhuoyue to leave, Zhuoyue suddenly spread his wings, reared up on his hind legs, and let out a long, piercing neigh.

In that instant, his slightly protruding horn emitted a faint white glow.

Though the glow was barely visible under the blazing sun, something miraculous happened.

The previously furious firehorses instantly fell silent and stopped struggling, staring dumbly at Zhuoyue, each as docile as a baby.

“This…” The guards were stunned.

Gervas’s eyes widened in awe. “Zhuoyue—I never knew you had this ability?!”

In response to the shock of Gervas and the guards, Zhuoyue lifted his head slightly, wearing an air of superiority—as if to say, “You only just found out?”

But then again, it made sense—the firehorses, though possessing dragon blood, had an extremely diluted lineage.

So it was natural they would be cowed by the Unicorn, the King of Horses.

Gervas ordered his men forward to lead the firehorses, confirmed they no longer resisted, then instructed them to prepare for the return journey.

Notably, though the firehorses no longer resisted,

they still refused to be ridden. Gervas had his men try—anyone who attempted to mount them met resistance, though the force was weaker.

But this was no longer an issue.

Now that the firehorses were in hand, everything else was manageable!

“Let’s go! Head back!”

At Gervas’s command, the party loaded their haul and began the return journey.

Of course, before leaving, more night-scented grass had been harvested from the ground, leaving only one-third behind.

Whether the remaining night-scented grass could regrow didn’t matter—Gervas would never engage in overharvesting.

…

“Rest here!”

The party reached Tianehu. Gervas ordered a halt.

Then, leaving his men behind, he rode Zhuoyue toward the southeast corner of the lake.

As vast patches of yellow and red tulips appeared ahead, Gervas knew they had reached the location described in the system’s intel.

“Zhuoyue, look around—there’s a fruit here that can help you grow faster. Find it!”

“If you find it, consider it your reward for helping subdue the firehorses!”

“Food that can make me stronger?” Zhuoyue, sensing Gervas’s intent, widened his eyes.

“Exactly. Find it—and it’s yours.”

Roar!

With a cry, Zhuoyue didn’t hesitate.

Though divine beings possessed noble bloodlines, their juvenile growth required considerable time.

So they, too, never passed up any chance to accelerate their development.

Originally, the Magic-Scent Fruit had been hidden among the tulips, nearly impossible for beasts or monsters to detect—otherwise, it would never have survived to full maturity beside Tianehu.

But since Gervas had confirmed its presence, Zhuoyue’s keen senses quickly located it.

It was a plant as tall as the tulips, bearing a purple berry no larger than a fist.

Mixed among the tulips, it was invisible to the naked eye without close inspection.

Fortunately, magic-infused plants emitted faint scents—and Zhuoyue found it.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Sensing the dense magic within the Magic-Scent Fruit, Zhuoyue immediately neighed and cried with excitement.

“I know you’re eager—here you go!”

After observing for a moment, Gervas held the Magic-Scent Fruit to Zhuoyue’s mouth.

Zhuoyue gulped it down in one bite.

“You’re the best master!” After swallowing the fruit and feeling its magic surge through his body, Zhuoyue nuzzled Gervas affectionately.

“Now you know how good I am, after seeing how desperate you were earlier!” Gervas laughed—the creature even knew how to flatter him after the fact.

…

“Wow, look over there—what’s that?”

“Good heavens, what a towering horse! Why is it a full head taller than ordinary horses?”

“Yes! That horse is bigger than Baron Cain’s warhorse!”

“You’ve never seen one before? That’s a firehorse. When I worked in the stables under Baron Ma Qiaoer, I overheard him and his knights talking—they said firehorses on the Chaos Wasteland are worth seventy or eighty gold coins each!”

“Seventy or eighty gold coins each?! Good heavens! Is that true?”

“Of course it’s true! The warhorse is half as big again as others, and its entire body is reddish-brown—that’s exactly how Baron Ma Qiaoer described firehorses!”

When Gervas returned to Maicang Town with his men, it was already noon.

Unexpectedly, the town was packed with people.

For peasants who labored day and night to avoid starvation, this was rare.

But once inside the town, Gervas understood why.

His announcement yesterday of recruiting guards had drawn every subject in the domain away from their work to join the recruitment.

For in any noble’s domain, recruitment as a guard or servant was the only chance for a peasant to change his fate.

No one wanted to miss this opportunity.

The peasants, of course, had also seen the Lord’s new firehorses—and murmurs and gasps erupted through the crowd.

Especially when someone revealed the firehorses’ value, the peasants’ mouths dropped open in O-shaped astonishment.