Chapter 20: New Rules and Army Expansion

Field personally handed out rewards to the guards, moving them to tears. It was hard not to be excited—Hammer, the top earner, received 17 silver coins, a fortune many could never accumulate in a lifetime. Even Field's maids were envious, with everyone else eyeing the coins jealously.

"If I had known, I would have joined the guards too."

"Damn it, I wasn't chosen back then, what a pity."

Those who had been too timid to join were now stomping their feet in frustration.

"Listen up, my people. I am now announcing the development plan for Nightfall Domain, which concerns the future of all of you."

With the allure of money, the slaves perked up their ears, listening more attentively than they did to the priests' prayers.

"First, if you want to leave slavery, earn one gold coin for me. Don't despair just yet—this may be impossible with other lords, but in Nightfall Domain, it's very achievable. Look at the brave Hammer! One day! 17 silver coins!"

Hammer proudly puffed out his chest, even standing on his tiptoes. It was the first time in his life someone had praised him instead of calling him a dumb ox or an idiot. To his disbelief, it was the lord himself praising him.

"Oh, goddess, I must be dreaming. Today must be my lucky day." Hammer felt elated by the envious and admiring looks from everyone around him.

Field smiled. "The same rules apply: kill a zombie, earn a silver coin. Besides that, I will issue a series of non-combat tasks such as farming, building walls, repairs, or other duties, and I will reward you for those as well."

Slaves lacked motivation, and Field urgently needed free citizens. Free citizens not only didn't require care for their food and clothing but could also be taxed and had the incentive to learn new skills.

The crowd erupted into heated discussion, but Field moved on to the second point.

"Second, regarding racial issues—I don't want to see any conflicts as long as you follow basic laws. Although I am not a humanoid, my beloved The Chosen is, so drop your prejudices. Look around at the death fog; don't let meaningless reasons get us all killed." Field paused. "I personally like humanoids. As long as they are hardworking and don't cause trouble, they are good people in my eyes."

Field had noticed over the past few days that humanoids, unlike certain other races, weren't lazy troublemakers. He was happy to accept them. Besides, beast-eared girls were really cute.

Asheena's eyes reddened, feeling respected and equal.

"Third, from now on, include Asheena's name in your prayers."

This point had troubled Field for a while. He wanted to build a more scientific domain. However, the books said that The Chosen's power came from faith and the prosperity of the city. Now that Asheena was a first-rank Chosen, she needed a lot of faith from her people to advance to the second rank.

Field was skeptical of this, as if power really increased with faith, the Holy Griffin Empire's Church would be the strongest entity, but it wasn't. The Holy Griffin Empire had already surpassed the Church in high-end combat power, not to mention other powerful nations on the continent.

"Too bad there's no control group and no room for trial and error. I'll follow the predecessors' experience for now."

Field then recruited more slave soldiers. They wouldn't receive a salary but would get three meals a day. Their only income would be from killing enemies. Unlike last time, when no one wanted to join, a large crowd now clamored to sign up.

Field didn't accept everyone. He pointed to the edge of the territory. "Those who want to join the army, run five laps around my domain. I will select based on performance. And I am very democratic—you can quit anytime."

This simple statement immediately caused six people to give up. They were all lazybones satisfied with just a black bread a day.

"Those who can't even follow basic orders are just looking for free meals," Field said, shaking his head. He didn't need such soldiers.

The rest gritted their teeth and started running. The new recruits were of much poorer quality than the first batch, most being frail and weak, looking like skeleton soldiers. By noon, the last person had finally finished.

Watching the staggering figure, Field was pleased rather than angry. "Physical fitness can be improved, but strong willpower is hard to come by."

Field weeded out two who had tried to cheat by running fewer laps. He ended up with twenty-three new soldiers.

Field then restructured the original thirty-man guard, extracting all wolf humanoids to form a twenty-man raiding cavalry, while the rest formed a thirty-three-man guard unit.

If a noble or knight saw what Field was doing, they would be shocked. Training commoners into an army was already insane, let alone slaves. Foolish, ignorant, cowardly—they didn't even qualify as cannon fodder. They were barely useful for filling enemy moats. Yet Field seriously grouped them and provided armor and weapons.

The butler, Kaa, looked at the newly recruited "skeleton soldiers" with his mouth agape. He was stunned by the lord's actions and approached Field, speaking bluntly, "My lord, the original thirty-man guard was already outrageous. How can you expand it further and give precious warhorses to lowly slaves? They'll just turn around and eat the valuable horses!"

"Calm down, Kaa. Look at Sam and Hammer's performance. They were excellent. We wouldn't have made it here or cleared a foothold without them."

"That's just out of necessity. Faced with real challenges, they'll scatter." Kaa pointed to the sky, confidently stating, "A real soldier is born into a military family, trained in various military skills and weapon techniques, and possesses noble qualities!"

Field rubbed his temples. This guy must have been brainwashed by bards and novelists.

"Then what should we use? We're surrounded by monsters."

"Of course, hire mercenaries and adventurers," Kaa answered matter-of-factly.

Mercenaries? Those unreliable guys? Field worried they would betray him. History had proven countless times that only warriors from the people could form a potentially powerful army.

"Thanks for your suggestion, but I want to give them a chance," Field said, rolling his eyes and speaking in an unquestionable tone. "Kaa, give the soldiers an extra meal, each with an additional egg. This afternoon, I'll take them out to clear the monsters, and they will prove their worth."

With manpower scarce, Field couldn't take everyone away, or it would be disastrous if the base was attacked.