Chapter 87: Rich Spoils!

The lady baroness left!

After saying her thanks, she left!

And she took away the only surviving captive, Second Master Sai Gao, and the corpse of Scorpion Boss.

First, Second Master Sai Gao did not know who the noble behind the scenes was.

But he could recognize the Violet Family knight who had made contact with them last time.

So by taking him, Catherine could immediately root out the moles inside the castle.

As for the corpse of Scorpion Boss, it was taken to claim the bounty.

Scorpion Boss had committed countless atrocities, raiding many noble territories, and the kingdom had long issued a bounty for him.

Although no one would risk their life for just a few dozen gold coins to oppose Scorpion Boss.

But now that he's dead, the bounty is as good as found money—definitely worth claiming.

The reason it wasn't Gervas himself who went to claim it was mainly because delay is the way of survival.

Although eventually the mastermind would find out it was Gervas who did it.

But every extra day delayed was a day gained.

More days meant his strength could rise further.

"She promised to repay my lord, yet she just walked off like that—isn't this ungrateful?"

Watching the Violet Family's procession depart, Mi Gen and the others felt the lady baroness's gratitude had not been sufficient—she owed too much to their lord's life-saving deed.

"What do you want, then? Should the lady baroness offer herself in marriage?" Gervas laughed and scolded.

"Uh, my lord, I think that wouldn't be bad—the lady baroness is very beautiful and well-built, and very young; she's perfect for you!"

Slap!

Gervas slapped Mi Gen's helmet.

"You dare turn me into a joke?"

"My lord, I'm telling the truth! And I heard the lady baroness is extremely wealthy—you could save yourself years of hard work!" Mi Gen looked utterly aggrieved.

Good heavens, Gervas exclaimed inwardly!

Are you this progressive, Mi Gen?

You already know the benefits of dating a wealthy woman?

Or is this some ancient tradition across all lands?

"Enough. Let's go see our spoils! The lady baroness just wanted to return quickly to stabilize the situation."

"Didn't she say that once she resolved her family's internal affairs, she'd come to Stormhold to thank you?"

Thus, the lord and his retinue returned once more to the Scorpion Bandits' lair.

In truth, the Violet Family's vassal army played a crucial role in today's battle.

Without them drawing all the fire, Gervas could never have slipped in undetected from behind and eliminated the Scorpion Bandits with only five casualties.

Yet Baron Mien and the others still felt that Gervas had already done them a great favor by rescuing the viscount and wiping out the Scorpion Bandits.

So they dared not accept Gervas's proposed twenty-eight split of the spoils.

They said taking even twenty percent would make them the laughingstock of all nobles for life.

Thus, all the spoils from the Scorpion Bandits belonged to Gervas.

……

"What do you think of Gervas?"

Though they had already traveled far, Caroline kept glancing back.

On a whim, he asked his vassals.

Baron Mien and the others exchanged glances.

"Viscount, we believe Baron Gervas is a highly capable noble—he even predicted that the Violet Family might have a mole and had us secretly mobilize troops!"

"Also, he actually has a Magic Swift Hawk—only great noble families can afford such aerial knights."

"The only strange thing is, why did he choose Stormhold, that dangerous territory? Three nobles have perished there in ten years—it's a death zone known throughout the kingdom!"

"I think Baron Gervas simply has a bold spirit and fears no danger!"

Baron Mien and the others spoke one after another.

Catherine listened, nodded, but said nothing more.

Gradually, the Violet Family army grew distant.

……

"My god, so many gold coins! How many caravans and territories did these Scorpion Bandits plunder?"

As chests of coins were carried out, Mi Gen and the knights stared wide-eyed.

Though there were over a dozen chests, most were copper coins; silver and gold were scarce.

After all, whether raiding caravans, noble lands, or refugee settlements, commoners and serfs used only copper coins.

Gold and silver coins were used only by nobles and merchants.

Still, a rough estimate showed these dozen chests were worth at least four hundred gold coins.

"Not much. These bastards were the kind who could make children stop crying at night."

"So if they hadn't already squandered most of their wealth, their hoard might rival a viscount's fortune!" Gervas said.

Of course, besides coins, there were also plenty of grain, cloth, copperware, porcelain, and other sundries.

And the hundred-odd worn leather armors and weapons of the bandits were also spoils.

In total, the loot was worth at least six to seven hundred gold coins.

These cash and supplies differed from the treasures Gervas obtained through intelligence—they could be directly invested into his territory's development.

So, after this harvest, Gervas can accelerate the construction of his territory while expanding the population.

The sun rises in the east, and the morning light filters through the mist, sprinkling down upon Wheatfield Town.

Beams of light intertwine with the mist, making the entire Wheatfield Town resemble a dreamlike fairyland.

Thanks to Gervas's arrival, Wheatfield Town is now flourishing and thriving.

Of course, hope has arisen, but it must be created through diligent hands.

Thus, the diligent serfs have already risen before dawn.

Just as they were preparing to go out to work with various farming tools, suddenly a caravan drove into the small town.

It is my lord!

The serfs were startled; they did not expect my lord to return from an outing so early.

Just as this thought had barely settled, they saw the bright red mass of corpses on the carriage behind my lord.

So many, so many corpses; the last time they saw so many corpses was when those scorpion wild dogs appeared.

So what is it this time?

The serfs, filled with shock and fear, hurriedly knelt to greet my lord.

"People of Storm Territory, do you remember the wild dogs from last time? Those were the interest our great my lord reclaimed for the entire Wheatfield Town!"

"And while the interest has been collected, the principal has yet to be recovered; the Scorpion Bandit Gang has remained at large."

"But they committed such crimes against Storm Territory, challenged the majesty of our great my lord, and deeply hurt the diligent people!"

"Therefore, just yesterday, our great and brave my lord led our Storm Legion to strike, directly overrunning the Scorpion Bandits' stronghold and annihilating all the Scorpion Bandits, including the Scorpion Boss."

"Forcing them to return both principal and interest for the 'blood debt' they owed our Wheatfield Village!"

"This... my lord... annihilated the Scorpion Bandits?"

"The Scorpion Boss... is dead?"

"Is... is it true?"

Hearing Knight Mi Gen's highly infectious and stirring words, the crowd fell silent for a moment.

The serfs all doubted whether they had heard incorrectly.

After all, the Scorpion Boss was not a wild dog.

He was the vicious bandit who had loomed over the heads of all territories along this eastern coastal border for more than ten years!