Chapter 10

"Sir, look at what I found, there must be at least 300 gold coins here!" Statuenko, his face brimming with excitement, secretly dragged Du Yu into a black tent in the middle of the camp to the left.

Statuenko, who had lived in the military camp for a long time, knew that the army usually stored supplies in the tent at the upper left of the center, as this position was close to the center, well-defended, and not easily noticed.

Especially earlier on the mountain, Statuenko had carefully observed that among the few tents in the center, only this one had no lights and was guarded by sentries. All these details matched the characteristics of a supply tent, so as soon as the battle ended, he immediately ran into this peculiar tent.

By the light of the torch, Du Yu saw several red-brown wooden chests filled with all sorts of glittering items. Du Yu felt that these chests must contain the wealth that Marquis Ketoka had plundered from the villages. He never expected that Marquis Ketoka's hard work would end up benefiting him, an "outsider."

"Go out and call a few people to carry these chests to the center of the camp," Du Yu said, closing the chests. His words left the excited Statuenko stunned, completely unsure what this eccentric lord was up to. According to tradition, all discovered war spoils belonged to the lord.

The hunters were busy capturing the frightened horses that had fled, while the peasant soldiers were stripping the leather armor from the enemy corpses and picking up their weapons. Although these items were not worth much, they were still considered their war spoils.

Although the raid had easily defeated the enemy, three peasant soldiers were killed, and eight were injured to varying degrees, four of whom were accidentally stabbed by their own comrades in the crowded formation.

Seeing their fallen comrades and the wounded soldiers moaning in pain, the entire group was enveloped in a heavy silence. Suddenly, they saw their lord directing a few peasant soldiers to carry several large wooden chests to the center of the camp. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around.

Du Yu looked at the soldiers who had gathered around. Under everyone's puzzled gaze, Du Yu suddenly kicked one of the large chests. The chest immediately shattered with a "bang," and the contents spilled out, rolling and clinking on the ground. The glittering wealth made everyone's eyes widen in amazement.

"Your performance today has pleased me greatly. As I promised, all this wealth belongs to you, the true warriors! Everyone will receive one gold coin as a reward, and those who died or were injured will receive an additional gold coin!"

Du Yu's words sent the entire camp into a frenzy. A gold coin was equivalent to a farmer's twenty years of income. Under the severe exploitation by lords and landlords, many farmers never saw a gold coin in their lifetime, and even seeing a silver coin was a matter of pride in the village.

The peasant soldiers never expected to receive a gold coin as a reward that night. The previously low morale soared, and everyone cheered excitedly, "Sir, you are the most generous person in the entire kingdom!"

One of the wounded soldiers even wept, covering his face. This soldier had thought he would not receive a substantial reward and would have to return to the village with scars.

But now, the lord's generosity was enough for him to propose to the wealthiest woman in the village, or even buy a large piece of land and become a leisurely small landlord, living a comfortable life for the rest of his days.

"As long as you are willing to follow me, I promise that you will receive much more than what you have tonight!"

Du Yu was very satisfied with the enthusiasm of the peasant soldiers. An army is like a bloodthirsty wolf; it needs not only sharp claws and teeth but also a desire for food. He intended to train these ordinary farmers into true warriors who yearned for battle.

He believed that if an enemy appeared before these peasant soldiers now, they would viciously pounce and tear the enemy to pieces. Tomorrow, he would lead this battle-hungry army to completely destroy Marquis Ketoka.

Lord Keslato's castle was not far from the Ketoka family's camp. As the sky began to brighten, Du Yu, who was on the move, could already see the small stone castle of Lord Keslato in the morning mist of the distant village.

The entire small castle was built on the low hills behind the village. The outer walls were made of randomly collected stones from the surrounding hills, forming a low, semi-circular wall about thirty meters wide and two meters high, with a semi-circular gap in the middle.

The outer defenses of the castle were so simple that there was not even a moat. Instead, a deep trench was dug around the castle, and a wooden watchtower was set up at the main gate, with a wide wooden plank used as a drawbridge to span the trench. It gave Du Yu the impression of a small Japanese pillbox.

A long, swallow-tailed flag without a coat of arms flew atop the castle, as Lord Keslato was not part of the kingdom's noble ranks but a title granted by a lord to his subordinates or relatives, and thus had no right to display a coat of arms on the flag.

"Sir, those white tents to the right of the castle should be Marquis Ketoka's encampment. I heard that Marquis Ketoka's territory has a large sheep farm, and these tents are made of sheepskin, which won't leak even in the rain. They are very valuable and can sell for three gold coins each on the black market," the hunter leader Krolisat said excitedly, pointing to the circle of white sheepskin tents outside the small stone castle, looking at them as if they were bulging money bags.

The battle last night had earned each hunter a gold coin, and the ease with which they had earned so much money had left the hunters沸腾 with excitement. They only hoped their lord would fight a few more battles so they could return to their women and children with full money bags for a comfortable winter.

Originally, the hunter leader Krolisat had not been optimistic about his employer's night raid, but he never expected his employer to be so miraculous, easily defeating the army of Marquis Ketoka, known as the "War Vulture," with just 200 peasant soldiers who had been trained for only a month.

Especially after the battle, when Du Yu not only distributed the wealth plundered from the villages to the soldiers but also gave an additional gold coin to the three dead and eight injured peasant soldiers, all the peasant soldiers cheered and privately called their lord the "most generous person in the kingdom."

The long, mournful sound of a horn came from the distant small castle. It seemed that Lord Keslato's attempt to seek peace had not gone as planned. From a distance, a few dozen soldiers could be seen running out of the white tents in front of the castle, gathering behind the tent with the vulture flag flying at the top. They slowly carried out a large pile of wood, like ants moving, and began to build something.

"It's a small siege catapult! I didn't expect them to bring this!" As the structure gradually took shape, Statuenko, who had participated in sieges, whispered.

Statuenko's words cleared up Du Yu's confusion. "So, this cunning Marquis Ketoka never intended to negotiate. He brought the small siege catapult to completely吞掉这个不安分的‘穷邻居’."

Poor his "fickle" father-in-law, who was only a lord and not a formal noble, would not have anyone stand up for him if he were occupied by the cunning Marquis Ketoka.

With a sharp mechanical screech, a diamond-shaped stone from a nearby hill was launched in an arc by the newly assembled small catapult, landing on the castle's stone wall and sending a shower of debris flying.