Chapter 25: The Self-Sacrificing Maid!

Hearing the serfs’ chatter, Laurens and the other guards puffed out their chests.

Though the serfs were praising the lord himself.

Yet they felt half the praise was meant for them, and took great pride in it.

Gervas found this amusing, but seeing the crowd was large, he decided to send Laurens and the guards immediately to restore order.

Of course, to reward them for capturing the firehorses today, the guard squad would have roasted meat tonight.

And upon hearing they’d get roasted meat, the guards became even happier!

“Come on, let’s return to the castle first!”

After settling matters in the village, Gervas immediately set off for the castle with four knights and the firehorses!

“Is that your new lord?”

“Yes, Master Kunto!”

“He actually got the firehorses—what luck!” Kunto’s eyes brimmed with greed.

“Master Kunto, once we kill that guy, the whole domain will descend into chaos—then the firehorses will all be yours!” Codo grinned wider.

Now, with such a huge profit at stake, Kunto would surely give it his all!

“Kunto said nothing, but his tongue had already licked his lips—he was clearly impatient.”

…

“My lord!”

Back at the castle, Gervas ordered his men to take the firehorses to the stables; Mi Gen arrived at the front courtyard at once upon hearing the news.

“Mi Gen, back so soon? How did the task go?”

“My lord, as you ordered, I bought all seventy-three green spirit fruits from the Baka adventurer—for seventy silver coins!”

“Excellent!” Gervas didn’t delay—he immediately went to inspect the green spirit fruits.

Though green spirit fruits have nourishing effects, they’re mostly for commoners, like ginseng tonic in my past life.

Gervas carefully searched through the seventy green spirit fruits and quickly spotted two that were different.

Though their color and shape closely resembled green spirit fruits, when exposed to direct sunlight, the skin of these two life fruits shimmered with seven-colored light—none of the other green spirit fruits had this effect.

Of course, there was another way to verify: take them into a sealed room with no light source.

Just like the red spirit fruits before, true magical herbs containing abundant magic emitted a faint glow in darkness.

When Gervas brought the two life fruits into the pitch-black storage room, he indeed saw a soft green luminescence swirling.

Though faint, it was enough to prove their uniqueness.

Gervas didn’t hesitate—he washed the life fruits clean and began devouring them greedily.

The moment the life fruit entered his mouth, Gervas’s eyes instantly lit up.

The warm flow he’d felt after eating the red spirit fruit returned again—more comfortable than the best massage.

The warm current surged for five or six minutes, and this time, no martial qi breathing technique was needed.

The life fruit’s energy integrated into his body on its own.

According to noble tradition, life fruits weren’t as miraculous as the youth-preserving pills in cultivation novels—eating one wouldn’t instantly halt aging.

Rather, they slowed aging: a thirty-five-year-old might still look like someone in their early twenties.

Roughly speaking, one life fruit delayed facial aging by about fifteen years.

Also, life fruit effects didn’t stack—so one was enough for Gervas himself.

Was there something stronger?

Of course—elfkind’s Spring of Life. One sip could revive a dying man; two sips granted eternal youth; three sips added hundreds of years to life.

But such things were exceedingly rare—even kings struggled to obtain them, so he’d have to wait and consider later.

For now, one life fruit remained, but Gervas hadn’t yet decided what to do with it.

…

“My lord!”

At this moment, Lei Meng had shed his leather armor, replacing it with coarse linen robes.

To look more like a serf, he’d smeared mud on his face and clothes.

“You’ve suffered for me, my knight captain!”

“No, my lord—this is what your servant must do!”

“Then let’s go. Now we wait for the bait to bite—I’ll net them all, and never let your efforts go unrewarded!”

Gervas then led five knight retainers toward the village.

Lei Meng walked onto the dirt road and blended into the crowd of serfs.

“Here he comes, Master Codo—the lord has arrived on the square!”

Codo beamed and immediately glanced at Master Kunto.

“Go!” Master Kunto was equally impatient.

Twenty gold coins alone were enough to tempt him—let alone the seven firehorses.

Soon, the group reached the square.

The square was packed; serfs jostled each other around the open ground, while the lord sat on a wooden platform at its edge.

The platform was hastily built—for better viewing of the recruitment, and for safety.

This lord clearly feared death: five knight retainers blocked the platform’s steps, and ten guards surrounded the area.

“Master Kunto, is this going to work?” Codo worried—this assassination had to succeed, or his suspicion would be greatest!

Kunto found it slightly tricky, but remembering the lord had no titled knight, he said, “Relax, just wait to pay. When we get close to the platform, make a commotion over there…”

Thus, Kunto led his six subordinates into the crowd and slowly edged toward the platform.

Once near, they waited for Codo’s signal.

Meanwhile, the lord on the platform sensed no danger—he was calmly eating grapes while a beautiful maid served him.

“Damned noble—I’ll kill you, and then I’ll take your maid!” Kunto lowered his head, already imagining the thrill of seizing gold, firehorses, and the maid.

“Ah! Murder!”

“Oh my god, run! Someone’s killing!”

At that moment, a cry erupted from the square’s edge.

The crowd instantly surged into chaos, pushing and shoving.

“What’s happening? Go check!” The noble on the platform ordered the guards.

The guards rushed toward the commotion, leaving only five knight retainers to protect the lord.

“Now!” Kunto’s lips curled—he was certain this deal would succeed.

His six subordinates drew swords and charged the five knight retainers.

As his men clashed with the retainers, Kunto cunningly slipped around the side of the platform.

With a light leap, he scaled the one-and-a-half-meter platform in one bound.

“Die, damned noble!” Kunto raised his sword horizontally and thrust straight at the noble.

A trace of martial qi clung to his blade—he was a great knight.

Gervas had sensed Kunto’s movement long ago, but to lure the fish in, he feigned panic on his face.

Kunto grew even more excited.

“My lord, watch out!”

But the maid—who should have been frozen in terror—suddenly screamed and threw herself in front of Gervas.

This sight caught Gervas off guard.

He’d brought Carolin only as a prop—to make his image as an unsuspecting, careless lord convincing, so bandits wouldn’t suspect a trap.

Thus, Carolin knew nothing of today’s plan—she truly acted without regard for her own life.