Chapter 85: Chapter 84: The Lord Who Puts Capitalists to Shame

Miriel was confident she had the Shaman captivated. He might not divulge High Cliff Castle’s important secrets, but surely he’d be fine with sharing a few irrelevant details.

But as it turned out, she had failed once again.

Sam looked at Miriel’s frustrated expression and cursed inwardly.

’This Half-Elf must have a death wish, and she’s trying to drag me down with her.’

’If word got out that I’d leaked information about High Cliff Castle, I’d probably be strung up from the rafters and whipped by that demon of a man by tonight.’

’No one understood the terror of this Lord better than him. He’d secretly done the math after that war and concluded that the Lord had personally killed at least four or five hundred people, and came out of it completely unscathed.’

’It wasn’t something that could be described as just "terrifying" anymore; only the word "Demon" could do him justice.’

"As High Cliff Castle’s chief Great Mage, I advise you all not to go snooping around. It’s for your own good."

At this thought, Sam’s expression turned cold. After speaking, he rose to leave. But after just a few steps, he came back, picked up the half-full wine cup from the ground, let out a cold snort, and then walked away.

"Hmph!"

Chief Great Mage was, of course, a title Sam had given himself. He believed that by following Levi, it wouldn’t be long before his name rang throughout Debei. He was just enjoying the prestige a little early.

’This wine really is delicious, though.’

Miriel and the mercenaries stared at each other, at a loss for words.

"Those Beastman Warriors from High Cliff Castle seem really tough."

After a long moment, Miriel finally spoke. Being rebuffed twice in a row had soured her mood.

"Not just tough—*extremely* tough!" a middle-aged mercenary with a weathered face and streaks of gray in his hair said in a low voice. "In truth, we’ve visited Beastman Barbarian Tribes before, but we’ve basically never encountered any like them!"

"To be more precise, I doubt even the Chieftains from those other Beastman Tribes could beat a single one of these Beastman Warriors!"

"Normally, Beastmen are known for their Power, but their Martial Arts tend to be lacking. But I saw one of them wield a War Axe as if it were weightless. That’s a High-Tier technique that even a human Weapon Master would find difficult to perform."

The middle-aged mercenary took a sip of the wine. He didn’t actually like this sort of drink, the kind women preferred, but he instinctively did it to mask his shock.

You have to understand, only the absolute strongest Beastman can become a Chieftain. After all, in the Wilderness, the strong are revered.

And yet, every single member of High Cliff Castle’s Beastman Guard Team possessed power on par with those Beastman Chieftains. It was simply unbelievable.

"You all saw it earlier. The moment those Wilderness Bandits saw these Beastmen, they completely lost their nerve. They didn’t even dare think of resisting. It’s obvious they’ve fought before, and that High Cliff Castle’s Guard Team defeated them with an absolutely crushing victory."

"Otherwise, there’s no way they would be too scared to even fight back!" Miriel said gravely.

That was also why she had taken the initiative to lower her guard and establish friendly relations with High Cliff Castle.

After all, it was obvious that if High Cliff Castle decided to attack their caravan, they would be completely unable to resist.

Miriel didn’t actually care what wars High Cliff Castle had been through. What she cared about was how a group of wild and untamable Beastman Barbarians could be so willing to obey a human Lord.

And this wasn’t the kind of obedience bought with coin, either. Miriel could see adoration for their Lord in the eyes of these Beastmen.

’Beastman Barbarians only worship fierce Warriors. Could it be that this Lord subdued these Barbarians with his own martial prowess?’

Miriel’s delicate brows knitted together. ’That seems impossible,’ she thought.

’To defeat one of these Beastman Barbarians in single combat... even a Knight who cultivated Combat Qi would likely find that difficult to do.’

The discussion in the camp fell into a brief silence. Finally, Miriel spoke, a note of relief in her voice.

"Thank goodness this Lord seems to harbor goodwill toward us for now."

"That Lord is definitely going to accomplish great things," the middle-aged mercenary remarked with feeling.

"Indeed. A fully armored Beastman Guard Team, plus the addition of the Feder Tribe... This Pioneer Territory’s strength is off the charts."

Miriel stared blankly at the hill above, listening to the voices that drifted down on the wind. An unreadable emotion flickered in her eyes.

...

「At noon.」

Sam snuck back to High Cliff Castle. He glanced back to make sure no one was there, only to turn around and stumble right into someone.

"L-Lord."

Recognizing the person, Sam plastered a fawning smile on his face.

"Had a good time with Miriel today, did you?"

Levi crossed his arms, a strange, unsettling smile on his face.

As was common knowledge, this Lord was more terrifying when he smiled than when he was serious. Sam’s legs went weak, nearly sending him to his knees. His face crumpled as if he were about to cry.

"Lord, my loyalty is as tenacious as the Bitter Love Flower in the Kas Mountain Range! That Half-Elf tried to seduce me into telling her High Cliff Castle’s secrets, but I didn’t say a single word!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Levi’s lips curled into a smile that wasn’t a smile. He stared until cold sweat beaded on Sam’s forehead. Only after a long moment did he change the subject.

"I believe you’re loyal. I came to find you for another matter."

Levi turned and began to walk away. Out of his line of sight, Sam quietly heaved a sigh of relief and wiped the beads of sweat from his brow.

"I seem to recall you saying that the Kobold race also produces a lot of Shamans, is that right?"

"Yes, Lord. Besides Kobolds, there are also Beastmen and Giants..." Sam answered dutifully.

Soon, the two reached a spot on a slope near the foot of the hill. As far as the eye could see, all the grassland below had been tilled.

Hundreds of Goblins and Kobolds were mixed together, swinging wooden hoes as they toiled under the scorching sun to clear the land.

An old dog-headed man was leading about a dozen of his strong kinsmen on patrol. If he saw anyone slacking off, he would immediately lash out with a whip, cursing and beating them.

Most of the lashes, however, landed on the much smaller Goblins.

"Lord, you’ve finally arrived! These damn mongrels, they start slacking off and trying to get away with things the second you take your eyes off them."

Spotting Levi, Old Neil quickly dropped his whip, trotted over, knelt, and kissed his Lord’s deerskin boots with a fawning look on his face.

This made Sam, who was standing to the side, feel a secret contempt. ’Just as you’d expect from a Kobold,’ he thought, ’a total bootlicker.’

"Old Neil, I’ve seen everything you’ve done. You haven’t disappointed me," Levi praised, satisfied.

Ever since Levi had appointed him as the slave foreman in charge of clearing the land, this old dog-headed man had been even more ruthless in exploiting the Goblins than Levi himself.

First, he had all the Goblins castrated to prevent any distracting thoughts. Their two daily meals consisted of grassroots and boiled insects, which they had to procure themselves, drastically reducing High Cliff Castle’s food consumption.

If their assigned work quota wasn’t met, the Goblins would all starve together. In order to get food, the Goblins worked themselves to the bone every day.

After all, having been relieved of their... distractions, their only goal left was survival.

In just the past two months, they had already cleared a seemingly endless expanse of fertile land.

"This time, I’ve come because I want you to learn Magic," Levi said with a wide smile, "so you can continue to do your part for High Cliff Castle."

’He recalled that the Healing Technique also restored stamina. If Old Neil learned it, then whenever the slaves were about to collapse from exhaustion, he could just cast a Healing Technique on them. Wouldn’t they be able to work for him endlessly, just like a perpetual motion machine?’

’I’m a genius,’ Levi thought to himself.

’If this plan worked, he could extend it to the iron mine. After all, the faster the ore was mined, the faster High Cliff Castle would earn money!’