This young master truly has the ambition of a hero.

Dick is temporarily unable to deal with them this year; he'll deal with them next spring.

The two maids are currently training the newly recruited servants for the castle. David dismissed all the old staff from his time, as he was too cautious to trust these guys.

And to be honest, the business skills of David's team were indeed not very good.

As for the Black and White Gunners, Dick gave them thirty cavalrymen to meet the supply convoy.

Dick was worried that something might go wrong, so he sent out his two strongest fighters and repeatedly instructed them to make sure the supplies were safe.

As a result, because he kept nagging, Black Gun got a little impatient. Taking advantage of his height, he grabbed Dick and used a face wash that was hard to refuse to shut him up.

This scene, witnessed by Bai Qiangdai, was so shocking that it left her stunned for an entire year!

"How...how could you be so disrespectful to Master!?"

"Huh? Isn't my respect (pointing to her chest) great enough?"

White Gun: !?

In short, after sending out the reliable and seemingly reliable people, Dick looked at Joel, who was the only one left in the study, and felt that something was missing. After pondering for a moment, he suddenly realized something.

"Holy crap! Where did that clumsy Lily go?"

Chapter 018: I Need Treatment

What's more terrifying than unruly kids... is unruly kids who are out of sight!

Lily isn't the kind of stupid girl who doesn't have a good head for brains. On the contrary, her IQ is actually quite high, and her occasional flashes of inspiration can lead to some amazing and impressive feats.

The problem is that her high intelligence isn't always on point; more often than not, she's off-track than having occasional flashes of brilliance.

What's even more terrifying is that Lily is a poison expert (as she claims to be). Relying on her special "poison immunity" constitution, she frequently uses materials from this world to conduct experiments after being transported to another world, and from time to time she creates some rather dramatic experimental accidents.

That's why, when Lily and Tia were first summoned, Dick didn't dare hide them in the Duke's mansion at all, but instead found a house in the suburbs of the capital to "keep them hidden away".

Now Dick has arrived in Lagug with his entire group. He intends to gradually bring some of the girls with management skills to the forefront, but this does not include Lily, who often causes trouble.

So when they discovered that Lily was missing, Dick immediately took Joel out to look for her!

Then they saw Lily returning with a sack on her back right at the castle gate.

"Young master, I found so many... Ouch!"

After being flicked on the head by Dick's telekinetic power, Lily now looked to him like a silly husky that needed a good beating.

As a spy, Lily is skilled in using poison, but her combat ability is not strong; she is basically at the level of an ordinary person. Therefore, Dick arranged for her to be an "alchemist."

With that chubby little body, the fact that it dared to venture into the treacherous forest without any guards and wasn't snatched away by any ferocious wild beasts is purely a matter of good luck.

Looking at her silly, clueless expression, as if she had no idea how serious the problem was, Dick's concern and his urge to beat her up unexpectedly overlapped.

Carrying her finds from the mountains, Lily ran to the private laboratory Dick had arranged for her. An exaggerated warning sign hung at the entrance, prohibiting the castle staff from approaching at will.

A few days later, Momiji and Ayane returned from their reconnaissance mission, having made a very fruitful trip.

Dick's task for them was to scout out bandits and monster lairs within a 30-kilometer radius of the castle. As a result, they found more than a dozen bandit dens of varying sizes, as well as eight different types of monster lairs.

It's worth mentioning that some bandit hideouts were located very close to residential villages, raising suspicions about their relationship. They also discovered some "savage villages" hidden in the mountains, those secluded villages where people had fled due to the oppressive rule of the empire.

During this time, Ayane wanted to sneak into the village to investigate, but Momiji stopped her in time. Dick's orders were that they were only to conduct reconnaissance and not to have any contact with the target; violators would be punished according to "family rules."

Looking at the red dots on the map that almost completely surrounded the castle, Dick frowned, but he really didn't have the time to deal with them right now.

"Thank you for your hard work. You've done an excellent job. Go and get some rest."

"It is the responsibility of us ninjas to share the burdens of our young master."

"Since you're here to share my burdens, you should get some rest. If you all get exhausted, I, as the young master, will have to worry about you."

After receiving a few words of praise from Dick, Momiji and Ayane withdrew first. Rita led them to bathe and change clothes outside the door, and then they went to the hot spring bath to take a good bath.

Although the Governor's Office is indeed facing some financial difficulties at the moment, Dick Kejian's personal spending will not reduce the treatment of his female subordinates.

Moreover, Kureha and Ayane have truly made a great contribution this time, and a few words of praise are far from enough. Therefore, bonuses and vacations have also been arranged.

The only requirement is that the ninja group must maintain secrecy for now. They can go out shopping, but they must disguise themselves before leaving. Apart from this restriction, there are no other requirements.

Ayane knew that the young master's reward was a tactic of superiors to control their subordinates, but she didn't have a bad impression of Dick; he was much better than her hometown ninja village. Moreover, just as Miss Momiji said, the young master was not only cute, but also kind-hearted. His malice was only directed at bad people, so even after learning about Dick's ambition, Momiji was willing to assist him.

On the way to the bathroom, Ayane keenly noticed that Momiji really couldn't stop talking about the young master. When she mentioned that person, her eyes always shone with a special light, so she couldn't help but tease her.

"Sister Hongye, you really do like the young master."

"Hey! People like the young master and stuff, like a ninja like me..."

"If Miss Kureha feels inferior because she is a ninja, then I think there is no need for that. Master actually likes female ninjas very much, especially the voluptuous older sister type like Miss Kureha. He likes them so much that he can't get enough of them!"

Rita, who was walking ahead, smiled without turning her head, emphasizing the words "voluptuous" and "love it so much".

Hongye glanced down subconsciously, and her face flushed instantly.

Ayane, on the other hand, pouted and muttered something under her breath.

"He really is a little pervert!"

On the other side, after instructing Momiji and Ayane to rest well, Dick went out on horseback to inspect the road construction site.

Although the weather was already quite cold, and a light snowfall last night had covered the mountains and forests with a layer of silvery-white gauze, the construction site was bustling with activity, a scene of great activity.

Dick recruited 5,000 road construction workers in less than two days. Many of them were former miners who had just come out of the mining area. They figured they were just idling at home anyway, so they came out to do some work and earn some extra money.

Dick divided the five thousand workers into one hundred construction teams, each with a foreman from a soldier he had drawn from his private army. But Dick had warned these soldiers beforehand that their task was to supervise; they were allowed to reprimand those who deliberately slacked off, but were absolutely forbidden from hitting anyone.

The various construction teams work in stages and at the same time, with daily project targets that must be met. Otherwise, they will not receive their full pay. However, the three teams with the best daily progress will be selected as outstanding work teams, and the reward is that the entire team will receive an extra half-day's pay.

In addition, if the project can be completed ahead of schedule while ensuring quality and quantity, everyone can still receive the equivalent of thirty days' wages, which is thirty catties of grain.

Then Dick saw that this group of "lowly peasants," whom many noblemen considered lazy, stupid, and who needed insults and whips to learn to work properly, were like squid tentacles on a hot iron plate.

They rolled it up!

Dick, who had been a corporate slave in his previous life, knew very well that what young people hated was never the 996 work schedule, but rather the stupid bosses who grandly told you to work hard but didn't raise your salary and tricked you into doing more work.

If you pay them properly, young people can be so hardworking that it will frighten you!

Of course! The road repair in Dick's area is not very technically difficult. It mainly involves leveling the road surface, compacting and hardening the bottom layer, laying crushed gravel from the mine on the surface, and digging drainage ditches on both sides of the road to prevent water accumulation.

However, once this road is completed, it probably won't be long before the snow season arrives. I just hope the snowfall won't cause any damage to the road.

Dick consulted with local elders and, based on past experience, concluded that this year would be an exceptionally cold winter, something that happens every ten years or so north of the mountains.

Dick thought to himself that he was incredibly lucky; he had just taken office and was already given a huge task.

Laguge doesn't support idlers, does it?

After inspecting the construction site, Dick estimated that with the current enthusiastic work, as long as the weather was good and no unexpected situations arose, it would be repaired in about twenty days.

As Dick estimated, the official road was repaired in twenty-one days, and the Black and White Gunners who were sent out to pick up the people successfully arrived in Lagug with the material transport team from the Marquis of Ulun's territory and a group of dwarf engineers.

Bai Qiangdai reported that they encountered two groups of bandits on their way back.

One group, with a large number of members, attempted to rob the bandits in broad daylight, while the other group, with a relatively small number of members, launched a night raid. Both groups were easily repelled by the bandits, and the bandits even brought back the heads of their leaders.

The captain of the Ulen family's transport team also stepped forward to express his gratitude to Dick for sending people to meet them.

However, Dick noticed that the guy's expression was somewhat subtle, as if he was feeling guilty, especially when Black Gunner stared at him with a half-smile, he would awkwardly turn his head away.

Dick later learned from Black Gunner that when the "transport captain" sent by the Uren family met up with Black and White Gunner's team halfway, he saw that they were both female knights and very beautiful. He couldn't help but flirt with them in a frivolous tone. However, White Gunner completely ignored him, which made him feel that he had lost face. So he changed his attitude and contemptuously mocked them as female knights who were all show and no substance.

Black Gun didn't tolerate his foul mouth at all, immediately challenged him to a duel, and then beat him to a pulp with his bare hands.

Later, when bandits attacked twice more, Black and White Gunner slaughtered everyone, earning the respect of all with his strength... including the enemy's head.

At this moment, the foul-mouthed knight finally did something befitting of his knightly status. He publicly apologized to Black and White Gunner, demonstrating a good attitude in admitting his mistake.

However, this was at most a harmless little incident. What was truly absurd was the two fellow travelers who hitched a ride with us.

One was a former Saxon servant who was sent to a large southern city to fetch a priest—a tragic and unlucky fellow.

The other was a junior priest of the Church of Light, who was invited to heal Hansen, who was seriously injured and lying on the ground, a pure and innocent victim.

When the two arrived in Lagug, they learned that the Saxon family had been raided and wiped out, and the eldest son was still hanging on the shelf!

The servants were dumbfounded, while the priest looked completely bewildered.

"Damn it! Did I just make a wasted trip?"

"If you don't want to leave, you can stay here for the winter. I can provide you with food and lodging."

Faced with the olive branch extended by the local governor, the priest did not hesitate for a second and was about to follow the Ulun family's transport caravan back.

Are you kidding me?! Spend the winter in Laguge? Do I have a death wish?

Watching the priest's retreating figure as if fleeing, Dick couldn't help but sigh. He had been hoping to persuade the priest to stay, to provide an extra layer of protection against the cold this winter.

Of course! Dick can also choose to pay money and hire him with shiny gold coins.

However, after thinking about it, Dick gave up on the idea.

Although the priest's healing spells are powerful, there is a limit to the number of times they can be used per day. With only one priest and two or three spell slots a day, it's completely useless.

"It seems... what we need more now are doctors!"

In the castle's study, during a meeting attended only by core internal personnel, Dick offered his opinions on the type of talent needed for the next summons.

Dick's recruitment preferences varied at different times. In his early years, when he was hiding in the capital and needed intelligence support, he recruited spies, ninjas, and maids as capable assistants.

Later, when Lagug took office as governor, Dick recruited assassins and knights to strengthen the army.

Now that they have successfully established themselves in Lagug, physically eliminated their rivals, and won over the hearts of the people in their territory, the next step is to allow the territory to enter a development phase, which will require talent in technology and management.

However, given that winter is approaching and the territory will be in a state of hibernation for more than four months, most people will be stuck at home with nothing to do.

At times like these, bringing in technical and management talent is not so urgent.

In contrast, given the high probability of a so-called "extremely cold winter" this year, they actually need doctors even more to cope with cold-related illnesses and other ailments... reliable doctors!

Fortunately, during the raid, although most of the gold coins were spent, some high-quality magic stones were still kept. These stones would be useful for Dick's own magic training, and they were also an essential material for summoning circles.

It's important to know that, theoretically, there is no limit to the number of summons a single person can make.

The real limit is an individual's financial resources.

Moreover, high-grade magic stones are top-tier materials that sometimes money can't buy, making them even more precious.

None of Dick's companions objected to his idea of ​​recruiting a doctor; in fact, they did need a team medic at the moment.

You have to understand that they were all crushing victories before, so sweeping away several local bullies was a piece of cake for them, and they didn't even have to mess up their hairstyles.

But what happens after that?

Encountering large-scale military conflicts, encountering Saint-level or even Demigod-level experts...

How can a fully-fledged team be without a wet nurse?

Dick even felt that recruiting only one or two doctors would not be enough, and that he would need to recruit one or two more medical personnel in the future to set up a "trauma team"!

"In that case, it's decided. The sixth recruitment group will be doctors!"

Chapter 019: The Doctor is Here

The capital city, the Duke of Best's Mansion, is a bustling metropolis located in the heart of the country. The weather at this time of year is just around the Mid-Autumn Festival, a perfect time for clear skies, crisp air, and abundant harvests.

Duke Rune was in his study, elegantly sipping red tea while reading a recent report from his youngest son, sent from the northern border.

Meanwhile, the eldest son, Reinhardt, sat reservedly opposite the Duke, holding a document in his hand, which he had already read. He was now secretly observing his father's reaction.

After a long pause, the Duke spoke calmly.

"Your fifth brother is doing a good job over there."

"But aren't the methods... a bit too ruthless? After all, three generations of Saxon knights have served our Best family, and David is a member of the Potter family. My second mother has been making a scene at the manor for days since she heard the news of his death..."

Reinhardt was speaking when he suddenly noticed his father staring at him with a half-smile. Then, in a joking tone, his father suddenly said something that was sure to shock him.