Lord blessed by the elves

Chapter 86 Pine Cones
Kruse pretended to walk around the pine tree a few times, and even nimbly climbed up to carefully examine the peculiar pine cone.

With his current strength as a Bronze Knight, climbing a tree is a piece of cake for him, and even if he accidentally falls, he can handle it with ease.

This pine tree is not tall, even shorter than other pine trees, probably to conceal its pine cones from being discovered.

The moment he gently touched the surface of the pine cone, a faint murmur, as if from the depths of his soul, entered his senses like a flickering candle in the wind.

"Energy... requires... magic..."

It was an ancient and pure language, not heard by the ears, but resonated directly in the consciousness—it was Elvish!
Kruse immediately understood.

This unborn sprite is clearly experiencing a delay or even halt in its birth due to insufficient magic and natural energy required for its development, and it instinctively craves nourishment.

The idea of ​​an experiment arose in his mind.

He decided to give it a try and see if he could induce its natural birth by supplementing it with external energy.

He carefully took out a handful of jade powder from the small leather pouch he carried with him and sprinkled it evenly on the surface of the pine cone.

Sure enough, just as he had predicted, the surface of the pine cone seemed to possess a life-like suction force, and the fine jade powder slowly seeped in and disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye, being absorbed into it.

The faint life force inside the pine cone seemed to have intensified slightly.

Kruse, now confident, nimbly slid down from the tree. He immediately said to Sam, who was waiting anxiously:
“Sam, from today onwards, your task is to take good care of this pine tree, fertilizing and watering it appropriately.” He pointed to the Hornas pine. “I cannot yet be 100% certain that this is indeed the tree of the spirit insect, but it certainly contains strange magic, that’s beyond doubt. I plan to invest resources to carefully nurture it for a period of time and observe whether it can eventually give birth to a spirit insect.”

Upon hearing this, Sam's face instantly lit up with excitement and honor. He quickly bowed and said, "Yes, young master! I will protect it with my life and never let any person or wild animal get close!"

"Hmm." Kruze nodded. He was never stingy with rewards for loyalty and discovery. "Since you've taken on this important responsibility, from today onwards, your daily food ration will be doubled. If the elven insect is successfully born, you'll receive the ten silver coins I promised you before, without missing a single one!"

Upon hearing this, Sam trembled with excitement and almost knelt down to kowtow.

The doubling of food meant his family would have enough to eat, and the promise of ten silver coins gave him hope of changing his fate!
Looking at the excited Sam, Kruse understood the plight of these lowly serfs.

In Lion's Tooth Territory, the vast majority of serfs like Sam belonged to the lowest rank of Polda serfs.

The word "Polda" originally meant "a person who lives in a humble hut" in the Holy Brittany, derived from a word meaning "cabin".

They were mostly "marginal laborers without a complete share of land," possibly the second son of Vilannu who could not inherit land, or peasants who had lost their own land, or people who had to rely entirely on the lord for survival due to extreme poverty.

They were, in effect, slaves in the truest sense, with no personal freedom, their lives and labor entirely controlled by their lord. The food they consumed daily was rationed and distributed by the lord, barely enough to survive and prevent starvation.

Kruse's reward of doubling Sam's food allowance was an immense blessing and a tangible improvement to Sam's life.

This is exactly the example that Kruse wanted to set: loyalty and dedication will be rewarded far more than usual.

Having resolved the potential problems with the new sprite bug, Kruze's attention finally fell on Elena, who was trying to minimize her presence.

Elena reacted quickly, like a startled rabbit, darting behind Lauru. Then, she peeked out and shouted preemptively, "Big brother! You have to stand up for me! Lauru was deliberately making things difficult for Sam, refusing to let him see you to report! Luckily, I caught him! I... I came to check myself in case we missed any clues about the elf bugs! I'm trying to help you out!"

This tactic of "the guilty party accusing the innocent first," "shifting the blame," and "taking credit" was used with consummate skill, instantly drawing Kruse's attention completely to the ashen-faced Rauru.

Kruze's cold gaze turned to Lauru. The snippets he had overheard at the castle gate, combined with Elena's accusations, gave him an immediate understanding of the situation.

Raul's legs went weak under Kruze's sharp gaze, his face turned deathly pale, and cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead. He stammered, trying to explain, "M-Young Master! I'm innocent! You were indeed busy just now, and I... I just felt that I shouldn't bother you with every little thing. I wanted to help you out by filtering things out first..."

Seeing Laur's panicked and incoherent state, and recalling his arrogant attitude towards the serf Sam earlier, Kruze's face darkened completely, and a surge of anger rose in his heart.

He never expected that this kind of "workplace bullying"—deceiving superiors and subordinates, using his meager power to make things difficult for those at the bottom, and blocking their voices—would happen so quickly in his territory, right under his nose!
And this happened right at the crucial moment when he was trying to encourage his people to report actively and establish a system of rewards and punishments!

This behavior not only corrupts public morals, but also fundamentally undermines the order and trust he is trying to establish!

If even the lowest-ranking officials at every level dare to outwardly comply while inwardly resisting, then none of his policies will be effectively implemented at the grassroots level.

"Share the burden?" Kruse's voice was so cold it seemed to freeze the air. "I think you've forgotten who you are!"

The low shout exploded in Lauru's ears like a thunderclap, startling him so much that he fell to his knees with a thud, trembling like a leaf, unable to utter a single word in defense.

Elena hid behind and quietly stuck out her tongue, knowing that she had passed this test. But seeing her older brother's unprecedentedly stern expression, she quietly put away her playful thoughts and realized that Raul was probably in big trouble this time.

Kruze looked at Raul, who was kneeling and begging for mercy, and had already made up his mind.

He must make an example of one to warn a hundred, and use the harshest methods to tell everyone that such a parasite will never be allowed to exist on his territory!

(End of this chapter)