prynovel Chapter 67: Buying and Selling
Chapter 67: Buying and Selling
In the distant northern wasteland, scattered goblins were fleeing in the darkness, while on the walls of Ashwood Territory, the garrison was counting arrows and gathering the wounded.
Even after daybreak, the thick smoke from the battlefield had not yet dissipated.
Old Hall led the militia to survey the battlefield.
Goblin corpses littered the open space outside the four city walls, stretching from the moat all the way in the direction of the retreat.
The highest pile of corpses was in the barbican outside the south wall, with charred remains of battering rams stuck in the middle of the pile, like some kind of black tombstone.
The bodies were most concentrated outside the north wall, and almost none of the bodies in the catapult's strike zone were intact.
The moat outside the east wall was nearly half filled with corpses.
The final figures were reported by Fanta: approximately five thousand goblin corpses, and fewer than twenty casualties in Ashwood territory.
Ron stood at the highest point of the north wall, watching Old Hall direct the militia to drag the goblin corpses to the designated area. The production line for the magic fertilizer had already been set up for a new batch.
Doron led his scouts on patrols further afield. The hills in the direction of Harland were deserted, and the only thing left at the Angus territory's observation post was a still-warm campfire.
Old Hall walked up the city wall and stood beside Ron.
"Young master, the battlefield has been inventoried. After the captured weapons are refurbished, they can be used to equip another three hundred militiamen. We also have so much magic fertilizer that we can build a few more magic farms to grow rock potatoes."
Ron nodded: "I'll leave this to you."
Old Hall nodded with a smile.
Fanta ran over at that moment, his face grave, and said, "My lord, Thun and five other Grimm men have disappeared."
Ron sheathed the Embroidered Spring Blade, the blade making a very faint metallic scraping sound as it went in.
"Don't worry, he might surprise us."
Ron witnessed Thun's pursuit and chase as he left the city.
He must have gone to seek revenge.
As for whether Thun would run away, Ron didn't care; there were still twenty-five Greens in the city.
If Thun really doesn't come back, then use Thun's betrayal as a reason to kill all the other Grin. Thun proved that the Grin are still goblins and not trustworthy.
The morning light spilled in from the east, turning the wasteland gray-gold.
On the city wall, someone was repairing arrow wounds with bricks and stones; from the pit courtyard came Mrs. Moriel's voice as she took stock of the inventory; and on the roof of Anson Tower, the sweet potato vines were swaying gently in the morning breeze.
Ashwood stood quietly in the morning light, its four walls intact, catapults still mounted behind the crenellations, the south gate reinforced, and Fanta personally replacing the strings of the eight-ox crossbows.
When Ron returned to the pit house, it was already broad daylight.
He leaned the embroidered spring knife against the edge of the bed and fell asleep immediately.
I slept soundly without any dreams, and woke up in the afternoon.
Mrs. Morrill left a bowl of broth outside the door; it had cooled and a white film of oil had formed on top.
He had just taken a sip when Nim knelt down in the courtyard.
"You're Nim!" Ron barely recognized him and asked.
Nim respectfully replied, "Yes, my lord. Lord Thun has already taken over the Two-Headed Bone Tribe and is now sending more men to help, especially since there are quite a lot of supplies there."
"That's quite a lot!" Ron exclaimed in surprise, asking, "What kind of stuff?"
After thinking for a moment, Nim said, "There are tens of thousands of pounds of grain, enough to fill three tents. The damaged weapons filled four carts, and there are also iron pots, earthenware jars, animal hides... Lord Thun said it's enough to feed the entire territory for a month."
After thinking for a moment, Ron called Doron over.
"Doron, you take the scout team and the Green team, along with fifty militiamen and one hundred laborers, to the Two-Headed Bone Tribe."
When Duolong led his team to the Twin-Headed Bone tribe, it was almost dawn.
The morning light spilled in from the east, illuminating the tribal camp in a clear outline: tents, animal skin flags, piles of bones, iron pots, wooden cages, and corpses lying haphazardly all over the ground.
There are not many goblins left alive in the tribe.
Thun only brought five Grimm, but they sneaked in during the darkest hour of the night. Most of the goblins left behind were old and weak who had been eliminated by Dodok. They were slow to react and had low vigilance, and were almost powerless against the Grimm's short swords.
When Doron arrived, the last few who tried to resist were nailed to tent poles. The remaining old, weak, women and children huddled in a corner of the camp, trembling. Thun did not kill them, nor did he allow anyone to approach them.
The campsite was filled with empty tents.
Those tents originally housed all the warriors of the Two-Headed Bone Tribe, but now all the warriors lay at the foot of the Ashwood Territory's walls, with only a few tattered blankets and leftover bones remaining in the tents.
The campfire had long since died down, and the cold ashes were blown up by the morning breeze, drifting into a grayish-white mist over the campsite.
The cages used to imprison people were placed at the deepest part of the camp.
Thick wooden stakes were driven into the ground and bound together with animal sinew to form cages, a total of seven cages.
The three imprisoned human women were prisoners from nearby conquered territories. Most of them had blank expressions and shrank back when they saw someone approaching.
Several emaciated human children were locked in two cages. The oldest was no more than ten years old, and the youngest was still in swaddling clothes, being held by the other children in turns.
There were also two cages containing Grimm, with grayish-green skin, no fangs, and faces much gentler than goblins.
They huddled in the corner of the cage, and when they saw Thun approach, they looked up, their eyes filled with fear and confusion.
They were all disobedient goblins of the tribe, or rather, goblins who had been brainwashed by their mothers.
He was willing to fight to protect his mother.
"Open the door," Thun said.
A Green man used a dagger to pry open the sinew locks on the cage, and the cage doors opened one after another.
The human woman dared not come out; she simply looked up at Thun and saw a Grimm standing outside the cage. For a moment, she didn't know whether to be afraid or relieved.
Thun didn't say much, but simply stepped back to make room, then pointed outside the camp, where Doron was directing the militia and laborers to begin a massive demolition operation, taking everything back, whether it was wood or rags.
Thun walked alone into the chief's tent.
The tent was large, made of animal bones and cowhide, with a low table in the center made of human planks, the legs of which were engraved with the emblem of a pioneering tribe.
Several wooden crates were piled up in the corner, mostly containing looted junk: rags, pottery jars, rusted tools, and a pile of unrecognizable ironware.
Deep inside the tent, Thun found a pile of wooden crates, among which a small crate was the most exquisite, with a pattern he recognized on it.
He dragged the box out, revealing the eagle with outstretched wings.
Thun stared at the eagle for a long time. His mother had drawn the eagle in the sand when she was teaching him to read.
He only remembered his mother saying, "When you see this mark again, it means you've come home."
Thun took a deep breath and opened the box.