Chapter 87: Rich Spoils!

The Lady Jue left!

After saying her thanks, she left!

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

First, Second Master Sai Gao, though unaware of the noble behind the scenes,

could recognize the Violet Family knight who had previously contacted them.

So by taking him, Catherine could immediately root out the traitors within the castle.

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

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

Though no one would risk their life for just a few dozen gold coins to oppose the Scorpion Boss,

now that he was dead, the reward was as good as found money—of course they would claim it.

The reason Gervas didn’t go himself was mainly to avoid drawing attention.

Though eventually the person behind the scenes would learn it was Gervas who did it,

every extra day delayed was a day gained.

More days meant more time to strengthen his power.

“She promised to repay Your Excellency, yet she just walked away like that—isn’t this ungrateful?”

Watching the Violet Family’s procession depart, Mi Gen and the others felt the Lady Jue’s gratitude had been insufficient, a grave disrespect to their lord’s life-saving deed.

“What, you want the Lady Jue to marry you in repayment?” Gervas laughed and scolded.

“Uh, my lord, I think that wouldn’t be bad—the Lady Jue is beautiful and well-built, and very young; she’d suit you perfectly!”

Slap!

Gervas slapped Mi Gen’s helmet.

“You dare make a joke of me?”

“My lord, I’m telling the truth! And I heard the Lady Jue is extremely wealthy—you could skip years of hard work!” Mi Gen looked wounded.

Damn, Gervas thought, damn!

Are you that progressive, Mi Gen?

Already know the benefits of dating a rich woman?

Or is this some timeless tradition?

“Enough. Let’s go see our spoils! The Lady Jue just wanted to return quickly to stabilize the situation.”

“Didn’t she say that once she settled her family affairs, she’d come straight to Stormhold to thank us?”

Thus, the lord and his retinue returned once more to the Scorpion Boss’s lair.

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

Without them drawing all the fire, Gervas could never have launched a silent rear ambush and eliminated the Scorpion Bandits with only five casualties.

Yet Mi En 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 offer of a twenty-percent share of the spoils.

They said taking even that two-tenths would make them the laughingstock of nobility 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.

Out of nowhere, he asked his vassals.

Mi En and the others exchanged glances.

“My Lord Viscount, we believe Baron Gervas is a highly capable noble—he even anticipated that the Violet Family might have a mole and had us secretly mobilize forces!”

“And he possesses a Magic Swift Eagle—only great noble houses can afford such aerial knights.”

“The only odd thing is why he chose Stormhold, that dangerous territory—three nobles have perished there in ten years; everyone in the kingdom knows it’s a death trap!”

“I think Baron Gervas simply has a bold spirit, unafraid of danger!”

Mi En and the others spoke one after another.

Catherine listened, nodded, but said nothing more.

Gradually, the Violet army grew distant.

……

“Good heavens, 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 were used only by nobles and merchants.

Still, a rough estimate put the value of these chests at over four hundred gold coins.

“Not much,” Gervas said. “These bastards were feared enough to silence crying children at night.”

“So if they hadn’t squandered most of their wealth, their hoard might rival a Viscount’s fortune!”

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

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

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

Unlike the treasures Gervas gained from intelligence, these cash and supplies could be directly invested in his territory’s development.

So after this haul, Gervas could accelerate his land’s construction and expand his population.

……

The rising sun pierced the mist and bathed Wheatfield Town in golden light.

Rays of sunlight wove through the fog, turning the entire town into a dreamlike paradise.

Now, thanks to Gervas’s arrival, Wheatfield Town was thriving.

Of course, hope existed—but only through hard work.

So the diligent serfs had risen early.

Just as they prepared to head out with their tools, a carriage convoy rolled into the village.

It’s the Lord!

The serfs were startled—they hadn’t expected the Lord to return so early.

As that thought faded, they saw the crimson mass of corpses piled on the Lord’s carriage behind him.

So many corpses—last time they’d seen so many was when the Scorpion Dogs were slain.

What could this be now?

The serfs trembled with fear and fearfully knelt to greet their Lord.

“People of Stormhold, do you remember the Scorpion Dogs? That was our great Lord reclaiming interest for Wheatfield Town!”

“Interest was paid—but the principal remained unpaid. The Scorpion Bandits still roamed free.”

“They committed crimes against Stormhold, defied our great Lord’s authority, and deeply wounded our hardworking people!”

“So yesterday, our great and heroic Lord led the Storm Legion to storm the Scorpion Bandits’ lair, annihilating every last bandit—including the Scorpion Boss.”

“They have now repaid every drop of blood owed to Wheatfield Village!”

“This… my Lord… you wiped out the Scorpion Bandits?”

“The Scorpion Boss… is dead?”

“Really… really?”

As Mi Gen’s dramatic words echoed, silence fell over the crowd.

The serfs wondered if they’d misheard.

After all, the Scorpion Boss was no Scorpion Dog.

He was the vicious bandit who had haunted the eastern coast for over a decade.