Chapter 277: Waga

"My lord! Blessed by the God of Glory, I have completed your orders—all Fiery Sheep have been captured, not a single one escaped!"

"Good. Each hunter family involved in today's capture operation shall receive fifty copper coins as reward!"

"As for you, Pik, you shall receive five silver coins!"

"Thank you, my lord, for your grace! Your lordship is benevolent!" The hunters beamed with joy.

Pik was also deeply moved, wanting to say something!

"Don't think it's much—it's what you deserve. I, Gervas, have always said: reward merit, punish fault. So, accept this reward without hesitation!"

"Yes, my lord! Thank you for your grace!"

Pik said no more and happily accepted his reward.

He could now go to the town square and make two new sets of clothes for his wife and son!

And this was also why Gervas no longer used food as reward.

The food crisis in Stormhold had passed; only by replacing rewards with copper coins could the serfs be motivated further.

…

The Fiery Sheep were quickly brought back to the pasture below the castle and penned together with the ordinary sheep.

Following Pik's suggestion, a fixed caretaker would now be assigned to manage the Fiery Sheep flock.

Because, each Fiery Sheep could explode once daily.

So, although today's explosion had consumed its ability, it would recover by tomorrow.

The only way to prevent explosions was to keep them penned with ordinary sheep.

Because Fiery Sheep avoided harming ordinary sheep, especially ewes and lambs.

Thus, as long as ordinary sheep remained nearby, the safety of personnel and pasture was guaranteed.

Gervas observed for a moment and found the Fiery Sheep were easier to raise than he'd imagined.

Because they were beasts, once inside the pen, the other sheep automatically submitted and recognized them as leader.

So they constantly stayed by its side—no need to worry about the flock wandering away from the Fiery Sheep.

Only when capturing Fiery Sheep did one need extra caution!

…

"My lord, Old Jack reports the Merfolk caravan has reached the shore, and the Waga Merfolk requests an audience with you!"

At noon, just after finishing lunch, Thomas hurried over.

The Merfolk caravan had arrived at the shore.

"Old John, go notify Lei Meng and Lawren, the Thousand-Captains. Have them assemble immediately and join me at the shore."

"Yes, my lord!"

Less than ten minutes later, Lei Meng and Lawren waited outside the castle gate.

Of course, so did three hundred Stormguard soldiers.

"My lord!"

Just as Gervas prepared to lead his troops out, five figures hurried from the direction of the town.

It was Mik and Mack and the others, only just subdued today.

"Why are you here?"

"My lord, we saw you assembling so many guards—aren't you preparing for battle?"

Mik and the others asked cautiously.

"Correct!"

Thud! Thud!

"My lord, please take us with you! We are willing to fight for you!"

"Though our strength pales beside the Kingdom's titled knights, we can still lend you our strength!"

"Battle carries risk," Gervas smiled.

"My lord, we've lived years in the Chaos Wastes—we fear no danger!"

"Now our families can live peacefully in Stormhold—we have nothing left to fear!"

"Fine. Then come along. By the way, Mik—your wounds are truly healed?"

Gervas had always planned to appoint these men as his guard knights.

But it required a process; he'd intended to let them wait a while, so he hadn't rushed.

Yet since they volunteered, he had no objection.

Their urgency likely meant they wanted to prove their loyalty.

"My lord, the Wizard's treatment has restored much of my strength. As long as I don't face someone like Hutton, I'll be fine!"

"Alright. Let's go!"

Gervas said no more.

The group set off toward the shore.

Mik, Mack, and the others had no horses and walked on foot.

Seeing this, Gervas had a cart brought for them to ride.

"After all, you're titled knights—it wouldn't be fitting to make you walk."

Instantly, they were overcome with gratitude: "Thank you, my lord, for your grace!"

Gervas nodded, speaking coolly: "My domain is still developing. Those with ability and loyalty will never be slighted."

The men instantly understood the implication—their eyes gleamed brighter.

In truth, if these were Kingdom titled knights, Gervas's few words wouldn't have moved them so deeply.

After all, Kingdom titled knights came from noble families—even younger sons weren't swayed by petty favors.

But these refugee titled knights were different.

They were from the lower classes; their Qi breakthrough was pure luck.

So their mindset toward nobles hadn't changed much.

And since their Qi strength was half that of Kingdom titled knights, they felt even less confidence before nobles.

As for why their Qi was half as strong, Gervas had learned the reason.

All these titled knights had grown through potions.

And not perfected ones—still experimental.

The potions came from wizards who traveled to the Chaos Wastes to research them.

So initially, these men were nothing but "test subjects," used to trial the potions.

Later, by sheer luck, they survived and actually broke through to become titled knights.

Of course, these potions carried flaws, weakening their bodies.

But it still changed their fates.

At least, they were far better off than other test subjects who'd been crippled or killed outright.

Even luckier were those like Mik.

They possessed strong innate talent, which the potions awakened, allowing them to rise to Silver Knight.

This let them thrive in the Chaos Wastes.

Had they been born into a noble family, they might have reached Gold Knight without difficulty.

Now, after taking the potions, they'd likely never rise beyond Silver Knight.

…

"Waga!"

"Grand Elder Gervas! You've come!"

At Storm Wharf, dozens of Merfolk and Stormhold serfs stood on the beach.

Around them lay piles of goods.

Now that Buwa had united five neighboring tribes, the goods brought had tripled.

This was even after Gervas ordered Buwa to deliberately limit the other tribes' shipments.

After all, the other tribes had submitted only because they were weak.

So suppression was necessary.

Even, the annual trade quota could become a tool to control them.

Those who obeyed would get an extra one percent share.

Those who disobeyed would lose one percent.

Over time, these tribes would grow accustomed to the rule—and stop dreaming of rebellion.

"Greetings, Grand Elder!"

"Greetings, Grand Elder!"

The surrounding Merfolk kept bowing and greeting Gervas.

Of course, Gervas still couldn't understand their guttural native tongue.

He could only infer meaning from their bowing gestures.

Gervas smiled warmly at the Merfolk, then led Waga aside to sit in a wooden hut.

"Waga, I heard you wished to see me specifically today."

"Yes, Grand Elder Gervas… I… I have a gift for you!" Waga seemed nervous.

"Oh? A gift for me? That's quite a surprise! What is it?" Gervas asked with eager anticipation.

"It's this!" Wagga pushed forward a beautiful little seashell.

Of course, Gervas knew this seashell was equivalent to a wooden box gift container among humans.

What lay inside was the true gift!