Regardless, Hudson couldn't believe that no one had discovered the swamp outside his own territory. It might be understandable that ordinary nobles encountering it would not give it much thought, but surely the Gryphon Cavalry flying overhead weren't completely ignorant of its existence?
Using his own serfs to fill in the swamp would severely harm his reputation. If losses exceed an acceptable limit, the serfs could potentially stir up trouble and it could turn into a massive scandal.
Contrarily, using Orc slaves wouldn't bring such troubles. No matter how heavy the casualties were, the outside world wouldn't pay attention to it.
After a short pause, Hudson tentatively asked, "If you need to come in person, presumably, the batch of slaves you have must be quite significant in number, right?"
