"Phield, the almond biscuits you wanted have been successfully developed by Miss Sarah."
Tisiana carried over a delicate little plate piled with rough-looking round biscuits.
"Reward her with a silver coin. By the way, what do you think?" Phield picked one up and tossed it into his mouth. The biscuit carried a rich fragrance, and the taste was surprisingly good. "That gay sheep milk tastes far better after being turned into biscuits."
The newly made biscuits looked ugly, but the ingredients were lavish. Flour, butter, sheep milk, and almonds were all expensive resources.
Tisiana elegantly took a bite and let out a soft hum, her holy eyes sparkling brightly.
"It tastes wonderful. Is this so kind of high-end dessert you’ve eaten before? I’ve never seen anything like it."
"Not really."
"Tell them to research hamburgers, wraps, and noodles too. I already explained everything in detail, so it shouldn’t be difficult. Eating grilled at every day is starting to get tiring."
Phield wore the expression of a wealthy landlord. "My kitchen only has Ned as the chef, and counting Sarah as his student, that’s just two people cooking. How is that enough? Open up three assistant cook positions to the territory. It’s ti to give the citizens so benefits."
One of the best jobs in the territory was becoming a castle servant.
"Hehe, this is the first ti I’ve heard soone describe enjoynt as a benefit for the people."
Tisiana covered her mouth and giggled nonstop.
"Too lazy to explain. Massage my shoulders. We’ll inspect the iron mine outpost this evening."
"Alright, but don’t suddenly pull into doing strange things again this ti." Thinking about the previous incident made Tisiana’s face burn. "H-how did you even beco interested in legs... ugh, never mind, I don’t want to talk about it."
"Relax. I’m not shaless enough to do anything to you in public."
Though privately was another matter entirely.
As the slaves began working, Phield enjoyed the perfectly balanced shoulder massage and could not help sighing emotionally. No wonder so many people wanted to beco landlords. This kind of life really was comfortable.
That evening, Phield brought Tisiana, the guards, and a group of sixty laborers toward the iron mine outpost.
Even laborers and soldiers needed periodic rotation and rest, otherwise their ntality would eventually collapse.
After traveling for an entire day, Phield had not even seen the iron mine outpost before hearing an excited wolf howl.
"My lord!"
Ashina charged out from the flank of the group while riding her giant wolf. The montum of the charge nearly caused the slaves to scatter in panic.
Fortunately, Ashina understood Drakewolf’s power well enough to brake midway. In the end, Drakewolf barely stopped beside Phield.
"My lord, you actually took this long to co see ."
Ashina had completely lost her forr calm deanor. She threw herself into Phield’s arms and whispered in a sticky, saliva-laced voice that only he could hear.
"You deserve severe punishnt for this, my lord~"
"???"
Phield instantly felt goosebumps crawling down his spine. At this rate, he would probably lose half his life here tonight.
"Who would be afraid? I’m invincible. Completely fearless." Phield’s competitive spirit instantly rose up as he waved his hand arrogantly. "I’m not scared at all."
"My lord is the best."
Ashina happily wagged her tail before finally talking about serious matters. "The iron mine outpost is just ahead. Following the blueprints you gave , I had everyone pile earth into defensive walls. The plan is to build it into a fortress."
After entering the fogless zone surrounding the iron mine outpost, Phield finally saw the structure under construction.
A long trench blocked the path forward, while the dirt dug from the trench had been piled into an earthen wall on the spot.
The slaves continuously swung their shovels while digging a second trench.
"A moat? My lord, are you building a second castle?" Tisiana was stunned.
"More accurately, it’s a defensive outpost. It’ll beco a fortress, and eventually a stronghold. It’s going to be a long process." Phield spoke ambitiously. "We need aggressive urbanization. Every major route must have a fortress built on it. The Iron Mine Fortress sits along the main routes connecting Cloud Veil Domain and Dragonberry Domain. Having a fortress here will make things much safer."
From the very beginning, Phield had never intended to use this place as rely a mining site.
"Nightfall Domain is not the paradise people imagine. It’s a land surrounded by war on all sides. Around us are Cloud Veil Domain, Dawnfall Domain, the Viscount Territory to the north, and Dragonberry Domain, all crawling with corpses. To the south are Maple Leaf Territory and Bull Territory, and the lords there are hardly good people either."
In truth, the original Northern Province had always been a battleground shared by elves, beastn, dwarves, and humans.
"My lord is absolutely right. Ever since I stationed myself here, I’ve clearly sensed corpse tides constantly flowing over from those two territories."
As Phield’s most loyal supporter, Ashina imdiately agreed. "If this place becos a fortress, then Starnight City’s main stronghold will undoubtedly beco much safer."
"Exactly. And based on my experience from raiding, fortresses are extrely effective at preventing enemy plundering."
Tisiana pressed a hand to her forehead. "Uh... you really didn’t need to tell that part."
As they entered the half-finished iron mine outpost, Phield imdiately heard quiet cheers.
"Baron Phield has arrived. Looks like we haven’t been abandoned."
"Yeah, yeah. I thought we’d been exiled..."
"I’m suffocating here. Next ti I co, I’m definitely bringing so weeds. Everything here is either gray or black."
Just as Phield expected, the workers here were already developing severe emotional suppression.
The terrifying environnt combined with endless labor was torture for anyone.
"Everyone listen up. The day after tomorrow, I’ll bring all of you back to the Grand Manor. Not a single copper coin of the promised paynt will be missing. The sa goes for the slaves. You’ll all receive the rewards you deserve, and soon enough you’ll escape slave status entirely and return to enjoy the fruits of your labor."
Without hesitation, Phield climbed onto a dirt mound and loudly announced it to everyone.
"Hooray!"
The crowd could no longer hold back. Quite a few people even burst into tears.
"My lord, I’ve worked very hard too."
Ashina tugged on Phield’s clothes and stuck out her cute little tongue.
"I want the fruits of labor too."
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