I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 72 Valley Staff Expansion
The battle is over, but the aftermath is far from over.

After successfully rescuing the surviving peasant women in Ward Village, unexpectedly, the two newly freed peasant women picked up sharp stones and stabbed each other's throats. When Old Ek found out, he could only see the two people's twitching faces and gurgling blood.

When Ryan reported the news to Luc who was counting supplies, Luc could only remain silent for a while.

There is no need to guess what the fate of the women abducted by bandits will be. They lose their husbands, children, and fathers one moment, and are then humiliated by their enemies the next. It is no exaggeration to say that their life is worse than death.

When they were restrained and had no choice but to die, it was understandable that one or two people chose this path when they were finally free and had the opportunity to control their own destiny.

Luc sighed deeply and said, "Let them digest it themselves. We can't help with this kind of thing. Go and Robert to collect all the bandits' belongings and see how much they have."

"Okay sir!"

Ryan turned around, passed by Martin who was tied to the tree, spat fiercely, and then moved all the bandits' belongings out of the cave.

The bandits' belongings were very mixed. They rarely had grain or flour, but mostly ready-made foods such as cabbage, chicken, and black bread. In addition, they had farm tools such as sickles and hoes, only two butcher knives, and an axe for chopping wood.

However, there was something that Luc valued, namely the equipment of the bandit Carl.

Carl was stripped naked, and finally he got an armored vest, a broad shield, and a long-handled blade.

This set of equipment is enough to arm a soldier, but unfortunately Carl is a habitual deserter and only dares to bully cowardly farmers. When he meets me, he gets scared before he even takes action, wasting such good equipment.

In addition to Carl, the clothes of the other nine bandits were not spared. Brück planned to take all the patched and tattered linen back to the cabin, wash them and continue wearing them.

After all, they simply don't have the capacity to produce more clothes right now.

Luke picked up the armor. There was a wide range of armor, and Carl's was the lowest grade: several layers of linen stuffed with some scraps of cloth and wool, which could barely be considered cotton armor.

"Counting the chain mail and leather armor, I now own three sets of armor."

Luke smiled and put the armor aside, then picked up a cloth bag on Carl's waist, which contained nearly five pounds of coins looted from Ward Village.

Five pounds is one thousand two hundred pfennigs.

It seems like a lot, but when you consider the seven households in the former Ward Village, the average amount per household is less than 200 pfennigs, which can really be called a very poor village.

Luke hung the purse around his waist. It was the trophy he got from killing the bandits. Although there were still people alive in Ward Village, it had nothing to do with them anymore.

All this property now belongs to Luc alone. No wonder robbery is the most profitable industry.

In fact, the experienced old Eike promised at the beginning that all the spoils would belong to Luc.

After finishing all this, Luc turned his attention to the black donkey outside the cave.

This was one of Luc's most satisfying trophies.

This well-behaved black donkey is as tall as a human. It was on this donkey cart that Old Ek rode to Cooper Castle that he bought Ryan. More than half a year has passed, and the donkey has really changed.

"Well, from now on, I'll use it to plow the fields, and the warhorse can just focus on being a mount."

"grown ups."

After instructing Robert to join the wooden planks of the donkey cart together so that they could carry the supplies, Old Eck led Jill and his group slowly out of the cave. Old Eck stopped the others behind him and walked forward on his own. Luc saw the fatigue on Old Eck's face that could not be concealed by the night, and understood what he was about to say.

As expected, Old Eck bowed deeply to express his gratitude to Luc, then hesitated for a moment and said:
"Sir, I have a favor to ask. I wonder if you would allow Jill, me, and these poor women to live on your estate."

Old Eike sighed. "I know this request is a bit excessive. After all, you only promised me a job at the beginning. But I really have no other choice. Ward Village has been destroyed, and they have become homeless refugees."

Luke raised his hand to stop Old Eike from speaking, and glanced briefly at the woman behind him and the one-eyed man named Gil.

"Sir, do you disagree?" Old Eck's face showed a nervous expression. "Don't worry, these women are just as hardworking as men. They can handle farming and breeding. They won't eat a single grain of your food for nothing."

"No, I don't disagree. I just want to ask, is this just your opinion or is it what all of them mean?"

Luc had planned to capture these captives from the beginning, but he did not want to take in people with ulterior motives, as that would only increase the cost of managing the forest.

Luc has great respect for Old Eike. From the time he met him until now, his actions have made him worthy of the title of village chief.

After hearing what Luc said, Old Eck turned and looked at the women and Jill behind him. They looked at each other and nodded in unison. Old Eck turned back and said to Luc, "This is what all of us mean, sir. We have nowhere else to go and can only ask for your protection."

In fact, there is Cooper Castle to go to, but these heartbroken people don’t want to live with a lord who can’t protect them.

"Okay," Luc said slowly, "I promise you, you can come back with me, but we have to make it clear in advance that everyone needs to contribute to the manor and must obey my orders."

"That's what you should do, my Lord!"

A grateful smile broke out on Old Eck's wrinkled face.

The women behind him also thanked Luc one by one.

"Jill, come here for a moment."

Luc waved his hand and called over to his side One-Eyed Gil, a young man who was unmarried but had lost his parents in a bandit attack.

Gil was a little nervous when facing Luc. Unlike Robert, Luc was the one who truly avenged his blood feud. He witnessed with his own eyes how Luc led the army into the bandit's lair and killed those damn bastards. Moreover, he had just learned from old Eike that Luc was a descendant of the nobility. Unconsciously, he regarded Luc as a hero in his heart. Seeing Luc waving at him, he walked over with a little excitement and gave Luc an irregular salute.

Luc didn't say much. He actually had a very good impression of this young man who suddenly appeared from the grass.

Gil was the one who had doubted his identity as a bard in Ward Village. However, when facing the invasion of bandits, this guy not only rescued Old Ek at the last moment, but also escaped with his life by chance. When he waited for reinforcements from Cooper Castle for a long time and thought that the village chief was dead, he rushed to the bandit cave alone in the dark with the thought of death, ready to take the risk and avenge his relatives. This courage alone was enough to make Luc look at him with respect.

"Go and take that prisoner named Martin with you. Remember, don't kill him. I still have a use for him."

Luc didn't say much. He pointed at Martin, who was looking listless beside him, and gave his first order to Jill.

When Jill saw Martin, his one eye was immediately filled with hatred, but he still held back and obeyed Luc's request.

Afterwards, Luc arranged for Robert and Old Eike to prepare the collected supplies and donkey carts and prepare to return to the manor. Before leaving, Luc and Ryan checked the cave again to make sure that they had not missed any useful items.

When everything was ready and they had a simple rest for one night, Luc led the group of new people on the journey back to the manor.

(End of this chapter)