The Exiled Lord: My Maid is a Battle Goddess

Chapter 303: Rot and Redemption

Fily and the other Cocogoat demi-humans struggled together to push over the chaotic pile of rotten wood on the wagon.

Crash~

The decayed wood collapsed like an avalanche onto the ground, and a rotten, damp stench rushed straight into Fily’s face. She immediately sneezed twice, tears nearly forced out from the choking smell.

Sniffling hard, Fily opened her eyes again, only to find her clansmen already crowded together, all searching for the best pieces of wood.

"Hurry up, you incarnations of demons, damned blue haired devils."

The human foreman shot the Cocogoat demi-humans a look of disgust before taking out a bag of crispy bread cubes from his pocket and carefully pinching a little for the other two guards.

"Praise the goddess, big brother, you actually have snacks." The guard holding a wooden spear accepted the food with both hands, grinning so hard his face nearly split apart. "Being management really is different. Fifteen copper coins going into your pocket every day. This whole bag of crispy bread cubes probably costs ten copper coins, right?"

"So delicious. Salty and crunchy." The other guard praised endlessly.

The dried bread cubes tasted somewhat like broken biscuits.

"Hahaha, praise Lord Phield." A man named Veil waved his hand grandly. "The people living near the city hall said these crispy bread cubes were actually failed leftovers from whatever those things called cookies that Lord Baron tried making. But I don’t believe it. Lord Baron is blessed by the gods. How could he possibly fail?"

"Exactly. Lord Phield is our hero," the guards agreed.

Veil nodded firmly. When he first arrived here, everything had been unbearably difficult. Aside from a pair of tattered linen pants, he had possessed absolutely nothing.

But strangely enough, from the very first day onward, they had never gone without food, though the portions used to be smaller. Now food was no longer distributed directly, but they had shiny copper coins instead, enough to buy food, water, and even snacks at the market. Life was improving day by day.

"By the goddess, snacks... something I wouldn’t even dare dream about."

Veil became so excited thinking about how the baron planned to expand the territory’s food variety that he could barely sleep.

"What are you staring at, blue haired devil? Hurry up and move your wood to build your shack." Veil glanced at Fily before instantly changing into a vicious expression. "All your building materials are right here. If you don’t build a shelter, heh, you’ll freeze to death the moment it rains."

"Yeah, get moving. I don’t want my pay docked because some slave froze to death."

The two guards continuously barked at them.

With great effort, Fily tore her gaze away from the fragrant food and slowly picked up a piece of wood taller than herself. For a moment, she had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Good grief, they’re unbelievably stupid. They should be thanking us. If they had been the first batch to arrive here, they’d probably already be dead inside some corpse monster’s stomach."

The three men shook their heads while watching.

If these had been human slaves, the townsfolk might have willingly taught them how to build shacks or tents.

But blue demons? Forget it. These horned monsters belonged in hell.

Fily leaned against the wooden beam as though she were supporting a gravestone, glancing around in confusion without the slightest idea how to begin.

"Is there... a cave somewhere? We don’t know how to build houses."

Using clumsy Imperial language, Fily asked softly.

But her voice was quieter than a mosquito’s buzz. Even the others beside her failed to hear it.

"Alright... if you don’t want to answer, then never mind."

Fily looked deeply disappointed.

"A bunch of horned idiots."

A female White Wolf clanswoman who had been watching for a while sighed helplessly, then took out a chunk of smoked cured meat from her satchel and handed it to Veil. "For the sake of the Winter Goddess, I’ll teach them how to build shelters. If they all get drenched to death in the rain, my lord will be angry."

"You’re actually pretty kind."

Veil accepted the cured meat without hesitation. Meat was hard currency no matter where one went within the Empire.

"Don’t get too close to the slaves. You know how things are. Ever since the last slave riot, management’s become much stricter."

"I won’t cause trouble."

The wolf demi-human picked up a thick log and hammered it into the ground before turning toward the Cocogoat demi-humans.

"You lot, copy me."

Most of the Cocogoat demi-humans hesitated briefly before beginning to learn how to build shelters.

"Rotten wood can’t be used to make bows."

Fily simply tossed her wood aside. More than building houses, she wanted to sit blankly in a corner and zone out.

And just like that, an entire morning was wasted.

"Hey hey, the real work hasn’t even started yet, and you’re already slacking off and sleeping!"

Fily was startled awake by shouting. Groggily climbing to her feet, she opened her eyes and immediately saw Phield standing there.

Fily jumped in fright and instinctively shrank her neck. Her amber eyes blinked pitifully as she prepared herself for lashes or fists.

But the expected beating never came.

Instead, Phield viciously cracked his whip through empty air. Empowered by magic, the whip moved like a blade and instantly sliced a rotten log nearby into two perfectly smooth halves.

"Next time, it won’t just be the wood getting cut apart. Remember this well. I only give opportunities once. If you don’t believe me, go take a look at the dried corpses hanging in Windrise Town’s slave camp. They’ve already become scarecrows."

The masterminds behind the previous rebellion had all been dried beneath the sun.

"Mmhm."

The Cocogoat demi-humans were thoroughly frightened and nodded frantically. Fily especially looked so obedient that the word itself might as well have been written across her face.

Phield nodded in satisfaction. What he wanted was fear mixed with gratitude, not pointless slaughter.

Every time new slaves entered the territory, Phield would personally make a trip there. First, so the slaves understood exactly who fed them and who their master was. Second, so the citizens understood that slaves were the lord’s property, constantly under his watch, not something they could casually kill or embezzle.

"Veil, same rules as before. Let them all try working in the farmlands, ranches, and industrial district. Pick out the best among them."

"I am your loyal servant, my lord. I will absolutely give my all."

Veil wore a thoroughly flattering smile.

"Nina, have the ladies distribute food to them."

Phield casually sat down in a reclining chair, crossed his legs, and leisurely flipped through the book in his hands.

"Rabbit girls, put some energy into your work."

Maid Nina waved her ladle twice, and the dozen rabbit demi-humans immediately sprang into action, bringing out bread and vegetable soup.

After a period of adjustment, the rabbit demi-humans had perfectly adapted to the territory’s needs. They could be found everywhere in agriculture and service industries. Though they possessed absolutely zero combat power, they worked extremely diligently and belonged to the category that could be thoroughly exploited.

Since Fily had been singled out earlier, she stood near the front of the line. Very quickly, she received half a loaf of black bread, a fist sized lump of salted mushrooms, and a large bowl of vegetable soup.

Salted mushrooms had recently become incredibly popular in the market.

"So... so much food."

Fily could hardly believe her eyes.

"Is this really something slaves are allowed to eat?"

"As long as you work hard, you won’t go hungry here."