Chapter 29: Professional Soldiers
Watching the scene before him in disbelief, Elder Field had imagined many possibilities.
The worst-case scenario: he sacrifices himself, the trolls escape, and Bay Village never dares to set foot in the Dark Forest again.
A bleak outcome: the trolls are killed, but the lord's soldiers suffer heavy losses.
The lord, angry and humiliated, gives up on developing the territory and no longer cares about the villagers, becoming a typical spellcaster lord.
Field had seen and heard of many such examples.
The best-case scenario: the trolls are dealt with successfully, and the losses are minimal.
In this case, Matthew, the new lord, would command the soldiers to hold off the trolls while demonstrating the destructive power of an arcanist, killing them swiftly.
After all, arcanists were the true rulers of this country, and only an arcanist lord had legitimacy!
But Elder Field never expected that the lord barely lifted a finger.
First, the soldiers dug a large trap, and with the suppression of the contracted dragon, the trolls were easily dealt with. It all felt surreal to him.
At the same time, Elder Field felt a strange sense of hope.
"Perhaps the lord can truly lead us to a better future…"
The first troll, exhausted, was bound with chains by the soldiers. Its skin was turning pale from blood loss, which had severely weakened it.
The second troll held out under Yaya's attacks for about 30 minutes.
Yaya, finding no challenge in the troll, released it and returned to Matthew, calling out, "Yaya!"
The little foodie was hungry again!
The waiting soldiers, under Angela and Old John's command, rushed in with battle cries.
The troll, dizzy and dazed, became their sparring partner, struggling for a long time before it was finally subdued.
As for the two trolls in the trap, Matthew hesitated for a moment before deciding not to kill them.
The opportunity to capture live trolls was rare, and he couldn't guarantee success after just one or two experiments—he needed more specimens.
Old John looked down into the pit at the two lively trolls, feeling a bit troubled. Their strength and agility made it difficult to bind them.
Fortunately, Elder Field came up with an idea. Bay Village primarily subsisted on rice farming but had an impressive secondary trade.
"Years ago, Bay Village was an outpost for the eastern province near the coast. It was meant to be developed into a port city for deep-sea fishing."
"Unfortunately, due to various reasons, support from above was suddenly cut off. However, we still have a large fishing net in the warehouse, designed for catching whales!"
Half an hour later, with no escape, the trolls were "scooped" out of the pit using a large iron net.
At first, the trolls were defiant, but Angela and Old John led over a hundred soldiers in beating them into submission.
After two hours of effort, nearing noon, they finally captured them, though still somewhat unsatisfied.
"Tie them up tight. Don't let them escape; they'll be our training dummies from now on."
Leon said this with a proud smile, though wincing as his injured lip throbbed painfully.
The injury was a trophy from challenging the troll head-on. Although it hurt, his fear was gone, and he was determined to trouble the trolls more often in the future.
Rebecca rolled her eyes at her goofy brother, uninterested in his antics. She stared curiously at the trolls struggling in the iron cage, still feeling like she hadn't fully woken up.
"Did we really capture them just like that? Yaya is amazing!"
"I wonder if I can become like Yaya someday? Master said that once I level up, I should be able to…"
The thought of becoming like Yaya and playing more happily with her gave Rebecca an overwhelming surge of motivation to increase her strength.
Hearing his sister's muttering, Leon shook his head in exasperation, suddenly curious about her master. He asked:
"Where did your master go? I heard Uncle John say that any mid-level or higher volunteers or professionals who join Bay Village get a 50-gold reward from the lord…"
Rebecca's eyes sparkled with excitement at the mention of 50 gold coins, saying:
"Is that true? 50 gold coins—that's 50,000 copper coins! I could buy so many dried fish! Yaya and I could eat until we're full..."
Stroking Yaya, Matthew couldn't help but twitch a smile at Rebecca's mention of her master, piquing his curiosity.
However, he didn't have much time to search for talents. He had to rapidly develop the territory and build a professional army capable of fighting!
Starting next year, the entire material plane would be in turmoil!
Recalling the vivid memories of the Grey Tide, Matthew's face turned cold:
"This time, I won't fail!"
As the trolls were transported back outside the village, the busy construction site erupted in a frenzy.
Despite Elder Field's repeated warnings for everyone to focus on work, most people couldn't resist peeking at the struggling trolls in the cage.
The monsters, once so fearsome, seemed much less terrifying when locked up, boosting everyone's confidence.
Some bold children picked up clods of dirt and stones, hurling them at the caged trolls.
The trolls roared and growled, initially scaring the children, who quickly recovered and retaliated even more enthusiastically.
Amusingly, even some of the adults looked tempted, though they were stopped by Elder Field and the soldiers nearby.
"Get back to work. There will be plenty of time for this later!"
"Everyone must follow the lord's orders—no slacking off!"
"Make sure the trenches are deep enough. If monsters break in, we'll all suffer, so don't get careless now!"
"That's right. The lord worked hard to capture these trolls, not for you to slack off. Lunch will be ready soon, and you'll have plenty of time to look later..."
"Soldiers, keep an eye out! Don't let anyone get too close and risk the trolls escaping…"
Elder Field and John kept the villagers in line, reaffirming the lord's authority while boosting morale.
Everyone was itching to know what had happened, gossiping and working hard at the same time.
"Is it really those trolls? I mean…"
"Yes, it's them! See that lump near his eye? Old Kent's family was killed by that one..."
"The lord is that powerful? It hasn't been that long…"
"No wonder Sean and the elder listen to him. They weren't this obedient to the old knight…"
"Don't the soldiers have to work?"
"They're professional soldiers now, getting 20 silver coins a month from the lord!"
"20 silver coins a month? I want to join!"
"Don't get your hopes up. Unless you're a professional, you don't stand a chance. Just focus on waiting for lunch…"
"How much longer until lunch? I'm eager to get my revenge…"
"Call me when it's time. I'll go too..."
"..."