A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 378 Too Early to Be Happy

The adjutant, seeing that the woman who emerged was a pretty young woman, stopped scolding them but warned them not to approach. Richard cautiously used his [Mage's Hand] to lift the handkerchief covering the flower basket, revealing several Valuwa pastries inside.

These cookies had been sitting out for a long time in the winter, and their surfaces had lost moisture, but the mixture of sugar, oil, and carbohydrates hadn't gone moldy, so they were still edible. The adjutant and soldiers who saw the snacks secretly swallowed their saliva.

But they all knew that only the acting commander, Major Richard, was qualified to accept and distribute this dessert. However, the person in charge remained unmoved, his cold gaze fixed on the old servant.

The old servant quickly said, "Sir, my master is Count Pont Montville III of Troyes in the Holy Kingdom. My young lady is the second daughter, Teresa, and she... Oh, young lady, you tell her yourself."

Teresa stammered as she recited the words her parents had taught her: "Sir, thank you for taking care of us. These snacks are from my heart. If you need anything else, I'm willing... I'm willing..." As she spoke, she almost cried and couldn't continue.

The adjutant and soldiers were all "pitiful to behold," while secretly cursing that count for using such a test on their superior. What fine young man could withstand such a test?

But Richard remained expressionless, and even his face began to darken, startling his adjutant—a sign that he was about to lose his temper.

Seeing the young lady's disheveled appearance, the old servant quickly chimed in, trying to force a smile, but all that was visible was a set of rotten teeth: "Sir, you are truly a young talent, invincible! The young lady has taken a liking to you, and my master is willing to facilitate this beautiful union. What do you think?"

Sensing Richard's anger, the adjutant quickly spoke up, raising his riding crop and lashing the servant: "Who does your master think he is! A count, no less! He's nothing but a dog in exile! Do you know what a major's status is? The count's second daughter is not worthy to be his mistress!"

The old servant, nearly urinating from the beating, rolled to the ground and begged, "My lord, I didn't know! I've offended you and deserve to die!"

Li realized it was all a farce. He looked at the pretentious adjutant, the curious and laughing soldiers, and the spineless cowards rolling on the ground. An inexplicable anger flared up in his heart.

"Enough!" The adjutant stopped, obeying Major Richard's order: "You supervise this carriage back to the ranks, explain the situation to the Earl, and make sure there is no further disruption of military discipline. Adjutant, you also need to prevent soldiers from harassing the carriage; anyone who violates discipline will receive ten lashes with the whip."

"yes!"

This incident disrupted the rest, and Richard banished the image of the trembling, sobbing girl from his mind, ordering the infantry regiment to continue their march.

Finally, they crossed the wilderness and came to a rather large manor.

At the heart of the manor was a small castle, which hastily slammed its gates shut upon seeing a procession appear on the horizon. Around it were many raggedly dressed farmers frantically banging on their doors.

"Didn't General Karl's troops take it? Or was the castle too small and they missed it?" The adjutant was somewhat puzzled, but Richard had already begun preparing for battle. Since they were a supply corps, this kind of manor would definitely have provisions; they couldn't let it slip by. Could he handle it alone? Richard felt a surge of anger and assessed the difficulty of conquering it as a mage.

Just as they were about to act, the gate suddenly opened again, and a donkey rushed in, carrying a servant of the estate owner.

"My lord from the Empire! There was a misunderstanding. My master has already spoken with the vanguard of the Imperial army, that guy..."

"General Karl."

"Yes, yes, my master has already surrendered to General Karl. It turned out there was more than one Imperial army, hence the misunderstanding. There are too many bandits these days."

After resting at the manor, the estate owner's castle and the villagers' cottages could not accommodate over a thousand people, and the uncultivated fields became military camps. Richard was invited to the manor to wash up and have a meal.

He noticed that the gathered farmers were trembling and staring warily at the imperialist.

Richard, somewhat puzzled, asked the plantation owner, "What are these farmers doing gathered together?"

The manor owner's expression changed slightly: "These are all beggars, but I have no surplus grain either; it's all been donated to your army." He then shouted at the farmers, "Didn't you hear me, you lowly people? The lords of the Empire are here! They're not as easy to talk to as I am. Get out of here!"

After beating the farmer, he winked at the servants. The servants received the order: one group dispersed the farmer, while another group seemed to be moving heavy objects into the castle. Several of them covered up so Richard wouldn't see what they were carrying.

Sensing something was amiss, the major ignored the estate owner and decided to investigate himself. He strode forward and ordered his orderly to bring two farmers over for questioning.

The manor owner stammered, "Sir, they might be carrying a disease. We'd better stay away from them."

Richard used magic to shut up the garrulous manor owner, and seeing the farmer's pale face and cracked lips, he ordered the guards to fetch water for him to drink first.

The small act of kindness eased the farmers' fears and allowed them to explain what had happened.

It turned out to be Karl's vanguard passing through. That scoundrel immediately opened the gates to welcome the army and volunteered to lead the Imperial Army to various farms and nearby villages to requisition grain. With their guides, the Imperial Army plundered all the grain in the vicinity, while the landowners, taking advantage of the Imperial soldiers' power, instructed their servants to smash the farmers' tools and confiscate all weapons.

The farmer spat angrily at the landowner: "You cunning beast, you lied to the enemy, saying you had no food, and led your soldiers to rob us. After the soldiers left, we had nothing to eat, and you took out the grain you had hidden, demanding that we give up our land or sell ourselves in exchange for food."

Richard lifted the manor owner's shroud, signaling that it was his turn to speak.

The manor owner cursed, "You peasants, I wouldn't even want your worthless lives! Sir, please don't pity these people. When the capital was in chaos, someone instigated them to come to my house and threaten me to hand over the land deeds and IOUs passed down through generations, which they burned to ashes! My great-grandfather was a knight of the kingdom, how dare you!"

Having vented his anger, the manor owner instantly changed his expression, flashing Richard a fawning smile: "By the Lord of Order, the Imperial army has arrived. These lowly commoners can no longer be so smug. I merely wish to recoup past losses, sir. Do you think I was wrong?"

Richard shook his head: "I don't care about your affairs. I only care whether you have hidden any grain." As he spoke, he took out his command knife and pointed the tip at the manor owner's dough wrapped in fat.

The farmer let out a gleeful, sinister laugh: "Haha, sir, take all the grain! Let this fat pig starve to death with us! That way we'll die a quicker and more painless death."

Richard, seeing that the estate owner had fainted from fright, ordered the guards to drag him into the castle. He found his adjutant: "Prepare for a forced march. The general intends to launch a major assault on the capital of the Condi district."

The adjutant was puzzled; they had not received any orders from the troops at the front.

"The general didn't wait for us and started collecting food here, which means he has enough supplies and plans to take the city quickly. We need to catch up."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a light cavalry unit arrived. It was indeed the general's order, telling them that they no longer needed to collect grain and that the priority should be given to transporting supplies and ammunition to the battlefield.

"There is still food here. We can replenish our supplies, but we don't need to load them all, as that would slow down our march. We can also leave those exiled nobles here."

The adjutant knew the group still had plenty of food, and the estate owner couldn't take much of the grain he'd hidden: "What if there's any left?"

Richard looked around at the farmers who were being controlled by the soldiers: "Then move them out and distribute them to these civilians for the winter."

(End of this chapter)