81: Rest and herds

Colt glanced at the subordinates gathered around him, then looked at the enchanted longsword in his hand.

"That person is merely hiring us to do a bit of work; why not do it if there's payment to be had?"

"Boss, so you mean you're planning to agree to work for that noble?"

Colt knew that some of his men were extremely hostile toward nobles; no matter what, they wouldn't work for Wren, and no amount of words from Colt would help.

"We've been drifting and wandering in the wilderness for so long; are we going to go on like this for the rest of our lives?"

"Now that there's a better chance to live a good life, I also want to find a way out for the brothers. I see that lord is someone meant for great things, and he's generous too. Working for him isn't a bad thing."

"However, I also know you brothers have different ideas. We've survived in the wilderness together through thick and thin, so I won't force anyone. Any brother who doesn't want to stay can leave now. Let's part on good terms."

Colt's men hadn't expected their boss to suddenly say such a thing.

They didn't expect Colt to plan on splitting the group just because of a noble stranger he had only just met.

"Boss, you!"

One-Eye looked at Colt in disbelief. Upon seeing that Colt was certain about working for Wren, he became extremely furious.

"You've disappointed me too much, Boss."

"Since you've made your decision, then so be it. If you want to be that noble's dog, go ahead and be one. I won't!"

"A laughable choice!"

Although One-Eye was Colt's confidant, his choice at this moment was extremely decisive. Once Colt's intentions were confirmed, he immediately chose to quit and left without looking back.

Following One-Eye were over a dozen others. Most of them were reckless thugs who did whatever they wanted, and killing or arson was common for them.

In their minds, becoming a noble's dog? Impossible.

With those dozen or so people gone, the intentions of the remaining ones were naturally clear; they all agreed with Colt's idea.

Fermon watched everything with a cold eye before stepping forward.

"Boss, that guy One-Eye doesn't know how to be flexible. Don't mind him. If we can latch onto that lord's leg this time, our lives will definitely be much better in the future."

"This is a good thing with all benefits and no harm, so we definitely have to agree. Anyway, whether we work for him later and how we do it is all up to you, Boss. That person can't be watching us every day!"

Fermon, who started as a thief, was best at following the wind. He was very adept at this sort of thing.

"Alright, after all, we were brothers. Let's not talk about them."

"That lord is not an easy master to get along with. If we don't satisfy him with our work, we won't have a good time. For now, let's do as he says!"

With their thoughts unified, Colt took his remaining subordinates and the Kobolds to find the temporary stationing point Wren had requested.

On the other side, One-Eye, having left the team, galloped across the wilderness with the dozen or so men.

They planned to go to a stronghold they had established previously, replenish some supplies, and then leave this wilderness to find another way out.

"Boss has really gone crazy, actually thinking of being a noble's dog."

One-Eye turned his head and roared, "Shut up, all of you! He's not the boss anymore. Now I am the boss!"

Just as One-Eye finished speaking, his head was pierced by a sharp arrow, and his body flew off his horse.

Subsequently, over a dozen sharp arrows flew out, and the dozen or so men One-Eye had brought out were instantly shot dead on the spot.

Only a dozen or so masterless warhorses remained, wandering aimlessly and confused.

Ross walked out with his men, rounded up the dozen or so horses, and left after confirming everyone was dead.

Soon, Ross rushed back to the main force.

"Lord, it has been settled!"

"Mm!"

Wren had never trusted Colt's band of bandits, nor did he trust the band of Kobolds led by Godo.

Around Godo and Colt, there were Wolf Packs monitoring them at every moment. If they ever went out of control, Wren would know and handle them immediately.

"These dozen or so warhorses came at just the right time. The losses of the Cavalry Squad can also be replenished."

Although everything had gone smoothly in this great battle, losses were inevitable. During the charge, eight members of the Cavalry Squad disappeared into the foreign race army, and most of the remaining people were wounded.

The injured could still be treated, but the eight people dragged into the foreign race army had already vanished completely in the sea of fire, their bones unrecovered.

The infantry squad, because they stayed behind to guard, did not suffer much loss.

"Let's return to the territory to rest for a few days. Once we've replenished, we'll go south and have some fun with our good neighbor."

This foreign race invasion was caused by the Blackstone Territory. Wren was not the kind of person to just take a loss; he wanted Viscount Black Stone to know that he, Wren, was not to be bullied.

This fire was just a greeting gift; the main event was still to come. Wren looked at the southern sky lit with fire, already planning his next move in his heart.

Without external interference, this fire could burn for many days. He believed it would be enough to give the Blackstone Territory a lot of trouble.

At this moment, Eric suddenly arrived by Wren's side with a few people.

"Lord, look, we have an unexpected harvest!"

A group of Northern Black-Backed Cattle was driven over.

"A herd of cattle?"

Wren looked at the cattle in surprise. He had always wanted to expand the livestock scale of the Red River Territory, especially to increase the number of plow oxen and warhorses, but due to practical reasons, the results had been minimal.

"Where did you encounter them?"

"Discovered them nearby. It seems there are quite a few more animals on the nearby wilderness. Besides the cattle, the brothers also found some other herds."

"It should be that the fire forced these animals out of their original habitats."

"Perfect. Have the warriors search the vicinity and gather these herds as much as possible. Whether you can eat meat every day this winter depends on yourselves."

"Yes, Lord!"

Eric, Dean, and others excitedly led their teams to hunt for herds everywhere, with Ross and Wayne nearby to back them up.

Wren also had the two nearby Wolf Packs cooperate with everyone's search... A few days later, Red River Territory.

Wren stood on the stone bridge with a smile, watching ox-carts full of grain being transported from the wide stone road all the way to the granaries in Red River Town.

After entering September, the grain in the fields began to be harvested one after another. The progress of the harvest in the Red River Territory was not delayed at all by the foreign race invasion from the south.

"Lord, the grain harvested this time is extremely substantial. It is estimated to exceed three thousand tons."

Bar reported the results of his recent hard work to Wren.

Fornal, who was following nearby, also preliminarily accepted this outsider from the Redwood Territory after the bumper harvest.

Wren did not have Fornal's notions of birth and background. He had always been very satisfied with Bar's performance. This young man worked steadily and diligently, was clever, and executed all of Wren's orders without fail.

"Very good, Bar. However, the follow-up work must also be handled well, especially the grain storage. You must ensure fire prevention, understand?"

"I understand, Lord!" Bar nodded.

"Also, once the grain in the fields is harvested, arrange for people to harvest the crops and wild grass from the fields near the territory that weren't cared for before to use as fodder."

"Collect as much fodder as possible before the heavy snow arrives to reserve enough winter fodder for the herds in the territory."

A few days ago, Wren had brought back hundreds of Northern Black-Backed Cattle, hundreds of wild horses, and thousands of various other herds that could produce meat.

These herds caused the livestock scale of the Red River Territory to expand dozens of times over instantly, and the original space and fodder reserves became severely insufficient.

Several large livestock farms were being built in a hurry under Johnny's leadership, while the fodder needed to be resolved from the wilderness.

Once the heavy winter snow descended, these wild grasses on the wilderness would be covered and difficult to collect. Wren needed to gather enough fodder before then to let the territory's herds survive the winter peacefully.

"Yes, Lord!"

"Rest assured, Lord, we will certainly store enough fodder before winter sets in."

The herds Wren brought back made Fornal pleasantly surprised. These herds greatly strengthened the territory's meat reserves, and Fornal was extremely attentive to them.

"Mm, I'm at ease with you handling things!"

With Fornal watching over it, Wren no longer needed to worry about these matters.

In the past few days, he had hurried to arrange all the territory's affairs to prepare for the upcoming southward plundering plan.

"It's also time to settle the score with Black Stone!"