The soft afternoon sun shines on people's bodies, warm and sleepy. At the gate of Victor's camp, several guards were walking around boredly, as if trying to resist the surging drowsiness in this way.

Yesterday, Mistress Bruce, Captain Nelson, and Mistress Nicole returned triumphantly with the ogre's corpse. This caused the whole camp to fall into a revelry, and the campfire dinner lasted until late at night, and everyone drank a full five barrels of purple cane wine, so most of them were still catching up on sleep, and these hapless guards had to stay at their posts because of their duties.

The neighing of horses from the bottom of the slope caught the attention of the guards, and just as they were about to take up their crossbows, the lookout on the tower shouted loudly, "It's the convoy, our convoy." ”

Several wagons loaded with goods slowly drove towards the camp, led by Victor's village leader, Mo Lin.

Most of the people in the convoy were elated and in high spirits, except for an old farmer, with a somewhat bruised face, who followed the convoy towards the camp step by step.

"Team Leader Morin, what goods are you bringing back?" a guard greeted Morin with a smile as the convoy resisted the camp gate.

"Oh, these are all offerings handed over to the lord by Pinghu Village, and this is the village chief of Pinghu Village, Master Dick. Merlin took the old farmer's arm and teased the guard. Beyer's camp has been named Pinghu Village by Victor.

"It turned out to be a village chief. The guard glanced at Dick with no disrespect.

"Yes, yes. Oh no, it's not a lord. Dick admitted that it was not, and if he didn't admit it, he had to nod vigorously, and with the bruises on his face, he looked very embarrassed.

"Let's go inside!" the guard waved his hand disdainfully, and the people who followed Victor looked down on the freedmen in the territory, even though Victor had approved the status of the subjects for them.

What about the village chief? I'm still a vassal. The guard thought proudly. Although he is not a vassal now, the work he earns after a year is enough to exchange for a small piece of fief that only needs to pay 50% of the harvest.

Dick shrunk and followed Maureen onto a nine-meter-long drawbridge, with a six-meter-wide and five-meter-deep trench beneath the drawbridge. The tall trees on the steep slopes on either side of the trench have been cut down, leaving only low shrubs and thorns.

Dick looked up at the four arrow towers standing behind the 8-meter-high fence, and saw that the soldiers on duty on the arrow towers were looking at him coldly with powerful crossbows, and couldn't help but shrink their necks.

In fact, there were six such towers, two on each side of the camp gate, and if the enemy attacked, the soldiers on these towers could condescendingly use crossbows or military crossbows to inflict great damage on the enemy on the other side of the trench.

The other two towers were on either side of the camp, facing a steep slope, and there were almost no enemies attacking the camp from there, so the two towers actually served as watchtowers to observe the movement at the foot of the mountain.

"Let's go, Chief Dick, the lord is still waiting inside. Seeing Dick's somewhat frightened look, Merlin was secretly smug that Victor had built the camp at his suggestion.

The terrain here is treacherous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the four arrow towers are enough to make people daunting.

Dick followed Maureen into the camp, only to find that the camp was much larger than Bair's, and that there were rows of houses, warehouses, and pens, but also a large vegetable patch, which was full of several kinds of vegetables that only grew during the season of water, such as beetroot, round melon, mustard greens, and so on.

There is a small stream and a 10-metre-square pond on the side of the vegetable patch, and the clear water flows into this pool along an artificial ditch, and then through the entire vegetable patch, and finally flows out of the camp through a hole.

A few farmers were busy in the fields, harvesting the melons and cabbage, hauling them in carts to a low house, where they shouted loudly to pour the vegetables into the barn.

"What are they doing, Captain Morin?" Dick asked curiously.

"Oh, that's raising ground lizards. Maureen explained impatiently.

Ground lizards are an omnivorous lizard unique to the Centaur hills, they are large, adult ground lizards weigh 15 pounds, and the flesh is tender. They grow very quickly and are good at laying eggs when they are well fed, so at Edwin's suggestion, Victor asks the people to start trying to keep these lizards. After more than a month of exploration, the farmers gradually mastered some of the knack of raising ground lizards, and now the ground lizard farm is able to provide lizard eggs to the camp steadily.

"Let's go, don't look any further. Merlin pulled Dick towards the camp on the top of the hill.

"Wait, I want to make it easier first. Dick broke free from Morin's pull and ran toward the corner of the fence, for he was about to see the lord, and he couldn't help but pee a little nervously.

"Eh, stop, do you want to be whipped, there's a toilet over there!" said Dick's action, which surprised Merlin, who grabbed him and pointed to the two huts on the side of the vegetable patch.

It was then that Dick realized that this was different from the foul-smelling camp he was living in, that it was very clean and tidy, and that there was no excrement or sewage on the ground.

Victor paid great attention to the hygiene of the camp, strictly forbidding the people to defecate in the open, he had several toilets built in the camp, and for those who did not follow the rules, Victor did not hesitate to use whips to help them get rid of their bad problems.

When Dick had solved his personal problems in the toilet, Maureen led him to the ditch in the vegetable field and said to him: "Wash your hands here, remember that the water in the ditch upstream cannot be moved, the water in the pool is for drinking, and the water here is for cleaning, and make no mistake, otherwise you will wait to be pumped." ”

"You have great rules here. Dick said resignedly.

"Hmph, what do you know, this is called hygiene, you know? This canal was designed by the lord himself, and Master Edwin, a scholar of the White Tower, also said that it is not easy to get sick in this way. Morin expressed great contempt for the ignorance of the chief of Dick.

"Nicole, does your arm still hurt?"

In a delicate wooden hut on the top of the hill, Victor is diligently changing Nicole's bandages, and his movements are gentle and precise, making Nicole feel extremely warm.

Nicole didn't speak, she shook her head gently, and her beautiful eyes were full of tenderness and smile.

"Nicole, you're a knight now, do you have any plans for the future?" asked Victor with a smile to Nicole.

"It is customary for Lady Silvia to change my name and surname, and my mother will receive the title of Lady in the family, and henceforth... I don't know... Nicole said with a smile on her face, but the thought of leaving Victor in the end became a little gloomy.

Even if Nicole succeeds in being promoted to a knight, she and Victor have no future, and at most they can only be lovers.

"I mean, when are you going to visit the Swamp?" Victor quickly changed the subject, and suddenly a sad atmosphere made him feel sullen.

"Well, in these two days, we'll be going. Nicole smiled at Victor, and she tacitly didn't dwell on the sadness she had just had.

"And what about your injuries?" Victor frowned, as the saying goes, it takes a hundred days to break your bones, and Nicole had some bone cracks in her left arm during the battle with the old ogre, and now she needs to recuperate.

"It doesn't matter, with the knight's physique, this small injury can be healed in five days, and I am very close to the water element, as long as I run the fighting qi regularly, I can recover in three days. "A knight who can resonate with the elements, the recovery speed of his body is far beyond ordinary people, and the thought that he has become a real knight, the corners of Nicole's mouth can't help but hook up a charming arc.

Just as Victor was about to say something more, Lilia's crisp voice came in.

"My lord, Dick, the village chief of Pinghu Village, is already waiting outside for your summons. ”

"Come in. ”

The petite Lilia walked in with a cowering Dick, and when Lilia saw Nicole sitting next to Victor, she couldn't help but look envious.

"Good day, Lord Nicole. Lilia curtsied to Nicole, usually Lilia is called Sister Nicole, but now Nicole has become a high knight, and there are outsiders present, so today she calls Nicole an adult.

"Sister Lilia, don't be polite. Nicole smiled at Lilia.

may have something to do with her mother's humble status, Nicole is not fake to other men, but she is much more kind to women, she especially likes the delicate and enthusiastic Lilia, who is usually a sister.

"Good day, lord, good day, knight. Seeing the two big men staring at him, Old Dick hurriedly bowed and saluted.

"Is Lilia's offering from Pinghu Village in storage?" Victor nodded at Dick, but asked Lilia.

"Pinghu Village's offerings this time have been put into storage, including 80 iron oaks, 120 hemlocks, 700 pounds of dried fish, 700 pounds of bacon, 47 animal skins, 100 pounds of dried mushrooms, and two wild boars, a total of 2,000 pounds. ”

If Lilia wears a white shirt, a one-step skirt, and black silk heels, she will be a beautiful secretary. Victor couldn't help but think as he looked at Lilia, who was standing in front of him, reporting to him with a warbler.

Victor has been taking Lilia to deal with the affairs of the camp during this time, and has personally taught her some bookkeeping methods and financial knowledge, and now Lilia has been able to arrange the affairs of the camp in an orderly manner according to Victor's requirements, quite a modern assistant.

However, the rest of the camp thinks that Lilia is going to be taken in by Victor as a valet, and some have even begun to call Lilia his wife, and Nelson thinks so too, so he no longer resists Lilia from contacting Victor.

Victor is furious at being misunderstood by everyone.

I really just wanted an assistant, and I chose Lilia because she was literate, smart, young and studious, and of course she was beautiful, well, in fact, the personal maid was also good.

"Why is there only such an offering?" said Victor, looking playfully at the Dick village chief he had appointed.

"My lord, that's all there is to the village except for the rations left. Dick said to Victor with a bitter face.

"Yes, then it seems that life in Pinghu Village is not easy! I said that the villagers were allowed to settle in this camp, why didn't anyone come? Didn't you convey my meaning to the villagers?" asked Victor coldly, staring at Dick.

"Well, my lord, the villagers are getting used to living over there, and I can't help it. Victor's questioning sent a cold sweat break out on Dick's forehead.

"Oh, yes? By the way, Chief Dick, why is your face swollen? Did you get beaten?" asked Victor, pretending to be surprised.

"No, no, it's falling, it's falling... Dick covered his bruised cheeks with his hands and replied to Victor in trepidation.

"Okay, it's okay, you can go back. Victor knocked on the table and ordered Dick to be evicted.

"My lord, I don't want to go back, I want to stay in this camp. Hearing that Victor was going to drive him away, Dick fell to his knees and cried to Victor.

Dick had a hard time these days, he wanted to put the village chief on the shelf in front of the others, but he was beaten up by Mark and others, and Bair turned a blind eye to this, and the free people who had intended to curry favor with the new village chief suddenly drew a line with him, which made him miserable.

"Dick, I'm disappointed in you! I, Baron Victor Wimbledon, am the master of this realm, and as the chief of the village I appointed, you must pledge your allegiance to me and prove your abilities, and if you are a waste, then go back and be a freedman, I think Bair will not hesitate to kill a freedman." After listening to Dick's cry, Victor had no sympathy, and he had to make Dick understand his current situation.

"My lord, please don't abandon me!" Victor's cold words made Dick tremble.

"Don't you still understand? Although you, as my village chief, will be beaten, they will not dare to kill you, and if you give in to them, you will only die in vain. ”

"So, what should I do?" Dick was completely out of measure by this time.

"Go back to Pinghu Village, no matter how much they humiliate you and beat you, you can't give in, you have to yell at them loudly, you have to win the support of other villagers, the process will be very difficult, but you have to persevere, because you have no way out. "Victor needs Dick to give him a voice in Pinghu Village, so he also needs to give Dick some support.

"Just yesterday, my army exterminated a bandit tribe of ogres and gnolls, you take a good bath and sleep in this camp today, tomorrow I will have someone change your clothes, and send a guard to accompany you to Pinghu Village with the ogre's head, you must loudly proclaim my merits to those villagers, but do not try to provoke the people of Baiernaban, because the time is not yet right. ”

"In addition, in view of your loyalty, I will exempt Pinghu Village from worship again, so the materials you brought this time can be brought back to Yicheng. I suggest you distribute these supplies to the old and infirm women and children in your own name, and remember not to try to buy the young and strong, as it will make you die faster. ”

"Do a good job! If you behave well, I will consider making you my vassal and rewarding your family with land. ”

Dick was the village chief appointed by Victor casually, and he didn't have any outstanding abilities in his own right, so he had to tell Dick in more detail.

Seeing that the miserable old farmer just now was now like a chicken, and after happily retiring to Victor, Nicole asked a little reluctantly, "Will he succeed with this Dick?"

"If he's smart enough, there's a good chance of dismantling that free private land. Victor smiled confidently.

"What if that Baier kills him?" Nicole knew that Bruce had decided not to meddle in the issue of the freedmen in Victor's territory, and was a little worried about what Victor would face if they left.

"I will appoint another village chief among the free people of Pinghu Village, I would love to see how many village chiefs that Baier can kill!"

Victor's eyes were a little complicated, of course he knew that instigating a baseless village chief to fight for power and profit with Baier was purely to send him to death. But if Byer does kill Dick by brutal means, Victor will have nothing to lose, and he will continue to appoint the village chief in Pinghu Village, while Byer cannot continue to kill endlessly, because it will make him lose the support of the free people.

Victor sighed, since he had given up on bloodbathing that camp, he could only disintegrate it by provoking infighting in Pinghu Village.

Ambition can only be dealt with with ambition.