The next morning, just as the sun was streaming into the room, Martin washed up and ate breakfast before calling Roland into his room. He handed him a space ring containing the magical beasts he had hunted the previous afternoon, precious medicinal herbs he had found, and a communication crystal.
Martin said calmly, "I'll leave these to you. Whether you take them to the capital to sell or dispose of them yourself, it's all up to you. I want to see a satisfactory result in a month."
If you don't meet my expectations, you'll be a slave." He then checked Roland's loyalty through the system and found that it had reached fifty.
Roland knew in his heart that this was a severe test from Martin and also his last chance.
After all, Martin had entrusted him with the interspatial ring, along with the priceless monster carcasses, precious medicinal herbs, and gold coins he'd previously owned. If he couldn't handle this, he'd probably end up as a slave. But what if he did? Roland didn't think about it any further.
Martin then ordered Lucas to stay with Roland, both to monitor and protect him. After Lucas and Roland left, Martin went out to play in the town.
He would first go to the auction house to see if there was anything he liked; if not, he would go to the arena to have some fun and add some fun to his life. In addition, he would also take time to exercise or chat with his mother, Mrs. Ellie.
While talking to her mother, Lady Ellie revealed a piece of news: "Earl White was dismissed from his post as commander of the Royal Tenth Regiment. I heard that the position was given to a duke."
Martin didn't seem overly surprised. The kingdom had previously bestowed numerous rewards, but hadn't allowed Earl White to accompany them to the capital during the reorganization of the legion. From these signs, it could be guessed that the kingdom's high-ranking officials, or perhaps a prominent figure, no longer wanted Earl White in charge of the Tenth Royal Legion.
Earl White must have noticed something, but he never mentioned it. If Marquis Roderick hadn't mentioned it to him, he would probably have pretended not to know.
After chatting with his mother for a while, Martin hung up the communication crystal and started to deal with other matters. His life continued in an orderly manner.
Time flew by like a white horse, and in the blink of an eye, it was the end of the month. Twenty days had passed since Martin arrived in Luoqiu Town from the Sword Oath City.
When he first arrived, Martin was busy handling various affairs and making many arrangements at the town hall, but the days that followed were quite leisurely. After all, if he did everything himself, what would the use of his subordinates be?
Martin would occasionally ask Betan and DeLuna about the progress of their training and studies. They would always confidently reply that everything was going smoothly and that they estimated Martin would be able to come and review the results in ten days or so.
As for Roland, Martin never asked about him. He wasn't well-versed in business matters, and he knew better than to interfere. Besides, with Lucas watching, Roland couldn't pull any tricks.
The construction of the castle was progressing as planned, but Martin's gold coins were gradually decreasing, now down to just over 2,000 gold coins. Most of this money had been invested in the construction of the castle.
Martin wasn't anxious, however. After all, he had several Golden Knights under his command. If he was truly desperate, becoming a bandit outside the earldom and robbing the rich to support himself wasn't a bad option. After all, hard-earned money couldn't be earned quickly. Of course, this was only a last resort.
Ten days passed in a flash, and Martin's gold coin reserves gradually ran out. Fortunately, the town's taxes were collected in time.
After a careful count, the amount was indeed almost the same as the amount on the previous report, a total of 189 gold coins, plus some silver and copper coins. However, this amount of money was just a drop in the bucket for Martin's current expenses, probably only enough to sustain him for about two days.
Meanwhile, Betan and Deluna sent a message to Martin via the communication crystal, informing him that his training results were ready for inspection. Upon receiving the message, Martin first went to the town hall and deposited 139 gold coins from the tax into his interspatial ring, keeping the rest in the public account for salary payments and other expenses. He then prepared to head to the valley to inspect Betan and Deluna's training results.
Soon, Martin and two guards rode towards the valley. When they arrived outside the valley, Betan and De Luna were already waiting respectfully. When they saw Martin, they immediately stepped forward to greet him.
As we walked into the valley, the scene before our eyes was completely new. We saw rows of houses neatly arranged and a wide training ground that had been cleaned up.
Martin's first reaction was to inquire about the number of fatalities. After all, each strong slave was worth two gold coins, and such a large loss was truly heartbreaking, even if a certain death target had been set at the outset.
Seeing this, Betan and Deluna hurriedly reported the numbers to Martin. Betan's male slaves had died, over a hundred, while Deluna's had lost about thirty, for a total of nearly two hundred. Martin couldn't help but feel a pang of pain upon hearing this.
Seeing Martin's dismal expression, Betan hurriedly explained, "Master, most of those who died lost their lives while trying to escape. Only a very small number died during training. Master, we broke their slave group contracts on the first day, so they started to have some inappropriate thoughts."
Upon hearing this, Martin said with a hint of dissatisfaction: "So, it's my fault?" Betan was so scared that he quickly knelt on one knee and responded in panic: "No, Master Martin, how dare I blame you." Martin waved his hand to indicate that he was not angry and asked Betan to stand up.
"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Go down and get ready. I want to see what these slaves look like now."
After Betan and De Luna went down to prepare, Martin walked to the shade of a tree to avoid the scorching sun. Not long after, Betan sent someone to invite Martin to the podium to watch the review.
When Martin arrived, he was greeted by the sight of slaves standing at attention under the scorching sun. He walked up to the podium and addressed the audience, "You've undergone nearly a month of training and study. Today is the day to test your results. Now, each of you step up to the stage and let me take a good look."
Under the orderly guidance of Betan and the others, the slaves took their turn on the podium. Martin used the system to check their loyalty levels one by one. The numbers varied: some were fifty, some twenty, some thirty, and quite a few were over sixty. Martin assigned them to either side of the training ground based on their loyalty levels.
Time passed quickly, and before he knew it, it was already afternoon. Martin hadn't even had time to eat. Finally, near dusk, Martin finished all the inspections.
Then, without hesitation, he ordered Betan and his men to execute all the slaves on the left whose loyalty levels fell short. After a cleanup, only about three hundred male slaves and fifty female slaves remained. After witnessing this bloody slaughter, the remaining slaves' loyalty levels rose to varying degrees.
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