Chapter 17: W for Me

  John hurried ring at the fused Leon who io the ground by Yaya.

  His eyes widened in fury, and he raised his heavy cleaver, ready t it down with deadly force.

  Leon, startled and scared, tried to raise his sword in defense, but found that Yaya had already bitten it in half.

  All the soldiers around, even those from Leon’s own vilge, remained cold and silent, watg indifferently.

  Attag a noble was already a grave crime!

  Moreover, Leon had attacked Matthew—a "generous," "powerful," and "well-ected" lord.

  No one would help him; he was as good as dead!

  Just as John's cleaver whistled downward and Yaya prepared to finish the job, Matthew called out loudly:

  "Stop! He was uhe influence of enemy magid not ag of his own free will."

  "But as my mother used to say, 'Death may be avoided, but punishment is unavoidable.'"

  "As punishment for attag me, Leon will work for me for five years, after which he will regain his freedom."

  "Of course, during his time of service, he will receive appropriate pensation. Leon, do you accept?"

  A glimmer of hope flickered in Leon’s eyes. John kicked his shoulder and pressed him to the ground, whispering sternly into his ear.

  "Are you mad? You attacked the lord! Thank the gods his bonded wyrmling stopped you!"

  "Nod your head and agree quickly! You’re lucky to be alive!"

  "The lord sees potential in you; don't mess this up!"

  Snapping back to reality, Leon realized what had just transpired. His face wehly pale in horror.

  Learning of the punishment from John, Leon nodded fervently in agreement.

  At that moment, Leon had no idea that his inal fate had been drastically altered.

  Meanwhile, Matthew picked up the mud-caked Yaya, gently patting her head, and cast a simple ing spell.

  Yaya curiously looked at her now- paws, her big, bright eyes full of wonder:

  "Yaya? (Papa, is that magic? I use it too?)"

  Stroking Yaya's increasingly smooth and refined scales, Matthew pared her to the wyrmlings in his memory, noting that while her physical traits were slightly inferior, her intelligence was far higher.

  "Could it be that the life boween us has strengthened her soul and intelligence while she enhances my body?"

  The thought of experimenting with this e turned over several times in Matthew's mind before he set it aside for now.

  First, they o deal with the current dangers and safely return to the estate. He could iigate this further ohey were secure.

  Raising his staff, Matthew poi toward the battlefield in the distance.

  Magic Missiles x4!

  A series of are missiles shot forth, unleashing 40 mana points.

  After the barrage of impacts, the ten most aggressive mutated fish-men were sent sprawling, their shattered bodies littering the ground.

  The defensive liabilized once more as Matthew leisurely settled bato the wagon. He knew he had to save his remaining 220 mana for critical moments.

  Aood guard at his side, tinuing to and the battle while ensuring no one came within five meters of Matthew.

  The still-shaken soldiers, calmed under Ange's firm leadership, used their newly acquired ons and reinforts to fend off the increasingly powerful mutated fish-men.

  Every time a shield was damaged, John and Captain Sean would charge out as the emergency team, f the dangerous mutants back.

  Fresh soldiers quickly took over from their weary rades.

  After several rotations, the soldiers' coordination improved, and their bat effectiveness grew stronger, starting to resemble hardened veterans.

  As the number of mutated fish-men dwihe pressure began to ease, but Ange grew more vigint instead of rexing.

  Though Matthew’s earlier attack wasn’t her fault, she felt responsible.

  Ange never made excuses for herself!

  She tinued issuing precise orders, ensuring no gaps in defeil the st mutated fish-mao a spear thrust.

  Ange led the soldiers iiculously clearing the battlefield, eliminating any remaining threats.

  The battle was over!

  The soldiers cheered in victory, relieved to have survived.

  Ralph emerged with a disappointed expression, whispering quietly to Matthew.

  "Lord, we recovered fical items from the assassin, two berserker potions, six healing potions, and a teleportation scroll."

  "We also found a spatial belt with a three-cubic-meter capacity, taining 300 gold s, several poisons, and some supplies—no identifying marks..."

  Stroking Yaya's slightly longer horns, Matthew nodded as though this oute had been expected:

  "Yes, if they were so easy to trace, then that event wouldn’t have happened..."

  "Tally up the loot, have John and the others repair the wagons and hahe inated supplies. Then prepare to distribute the spoils, a’s get moving as soon as possible."

  Ralph, though a bit frustrated, observed the others’ excitement a his usual low tone, reining in their exuberance.

  "Don’t celebrate just yet! Check your clothes and your rades' for tears, a immediately if you find any."

  "Bring the bodies of the fallen, record their names and deeds. pensation will be posted oate’s notice board."

  Matthew hummed a tune, feeding Yaya strips of jerky, while watg the soldiers clear the battlefield from the er of his eye.

  Under John and Sean's guidahe soldiers used their spears to poke at the corpse piles, finishing off any fish-men that hadn’t been killed ht, and crag their skulls to check for loot.

  One by ohe bright red flesh cores were ted and carefully tallied for everyoo see.

  Ralph, noting the fifty flesh cores recovered, quickly did some mental math:

  "These cores, when fully refined, should gee at least 1500 gold in profit."

  "bined with previous loot, the gain should be around 2000 gold."

  "While it’s not enough to fully recover the 3000 gold spent on supplies, the lord shouldn't face financial difficulties anytime soon..."

  Poor half-elf Ralph, unaware of how quickly Matthew, as an Arist, could burn through funds, reveled in the success.

  Along with the spoils came the iable report on casualties. Ralph, somewhat relieved, delivered the o Matthew:

  "Four soldiers wounded, none seriously, but they will require purification and ing."

  "Three porters dead; their bodies have beeed to prevent mutation. Once we reach Bay Vilge, they will be cremated and buried. Each family will receive five gold s."

  "Seven porters injured. One purification potion treat ten people. We’ll wo potions, which cost 20 gold."

  "Overall, we’ve collected 50 flesh cores, which will cost us 500 gold to distribute. We now have 300 gold remaining..."

  "However, due to the sheer number of enemies, it’s difficult to divide the s evenly..."

  "This was a tremendous victory, thanks to your leadership, my lord..."

  Though Ralph seemed pleased, his gaze questioned Matthew.

  "My lord, are you sure you want to distribute that much gold?"

  "Or should I ‘take care’ of them?"