Work Prophet
Chapter 624 - 56: How Heavy are the Rewards?

Chapter 624: Chapter 56: How Heavy are the Rewards?

Before the banquet concluded, Lord Hels finally brought up the matter of the rewards, and the Lady beside him immediately set down her grape wine and pricked up her ears.

Lord Hels first once again highly praised Sir Ireya and her army’s outstanding performance in the previous battle, thanking them for defeating the invaders and defending the Western Frontier.

He then announced that all the warriors who had gone to the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range, dead or alive, would each be given four gold lions as a bounty.

His words had scarcely finished before they were met with a round of applause from the assembly.

Because the recipients of Lord Hels’s rewards were not only the five thousand led by Miss Rabbit but also the initial ten-thousand-strong army that had followed Marquis Kuren into battle, including those who had died, all were to receive the reward.

The Lady quickly calculated that the Figrola family would need to pay out more than sixty thousand gold lions, which was doubtlessly a massive sum.

She believed that the warriors and their families who received the money would be immensely grateful to Lord Hels.

However, according to the tradition of the Western Frontier, usually, the reward money would first be given to the Lords who led the troops, then distributed by them to their subordinates.

This time, however, Lord Hels directly took it upon himself to distribute the money, which, although it struck the nobles as somewhat odd, did not arouse much suspicion.

After all, it had not been long since the death of Marquis Kuren, and Lord Hels was taking charge of this land for the first time, so a minor oversight was forgivable.

But the Lady still felt a twinge of puzzlement because before heading into the mountains, she had promised that for every enemy killed, two gold lions would be rewarded, and now Lord Hels was giving out four per person, which felt as though he was intentionally trying to overstep her.

This thought merely flickered through Miss Rabbit’s mind before she saw Lord Hels looking at her again, his expression serious as he said,

"Sir Ireya, you are the commander of this great army. Your contribution is the greatest in thwarting the Dwarves’ conspiracy to invade the Western Frontier, and this is already the second time you have saved the Western Frontier. Everyone on this land is grateful to you."

"Oh... it’s not as exaggerated as you say," Miss Rabbit said modestly.

Though she expressed humility, the girl was now blushing, with her ears on her head involuntarily quivering.

Those who knew the Lady understood that she was indeed very proud inside, especially when she heard Lord Hels say,

"These past days, I, along with several eminent ministers in the city, have been discussing how to reward you. We all agree that it should be a reward of substantial significance."

"Ah, how embarrassing, you’ll have to spend again, hahaha, but speaking of which, exactly how much is this substantial reward?"

Miss Rabbit laughed but didn’t forget to inquire about the amount.

However, Lord Hels said, "It’s not money. As far as I know, you’re not exactly short of money now, so this time I have decided to bestow upon you another piece of land."

"Land?" The Lady was momentarily stunned.

More than nine hundred years had passed since the founding of the Empire, and there were no longer any leaderless lands in the Western Frontier. As a result, it had become increasingly difficult for the great families to expand their territories, almost to the point of impossibility.

From this perspective, land was indeed extremely valuable.

However, Miss Rabbit didn’t know if it was because she had recently become especially connected to land, but this was already the second piece of land she had acquired in a short period of time.

"I do not know which piece of land you plan to grant me, Lord Hels," the Lady asked.

"Just about three days ago, the Family Head of the Kovat Family, Willkin, came to me, saying that he and his family could no longer fulfill their loyalty to the Figrola family and, therefore, decided to return his fief," Hels said.

"Did you agree to his request?"

"No, the ancestors of the Kovat Family followed my own ancestors to the western frontiers. It was because of their bloody battles in the old days that we now have the prosperity and stability of this land.

"Moreover, the Kovat Family has remained loyal to the Figrola family for hundreds of years. Now that they have fallen into difficulties, I, as their liege lord, cannot sit by and do nothing."

"Therefore, after reclaiming their fief, I decided to regrant Acorn Castle to them. That castle’s original owner, the family head of the Viers, Hugo, betrayed my father.

"I have already dispatched an army to subjugate him, and Willkin has also gone along. He will become the next owner of that castle."

"However, this has left Solid Stone Castle without a master, and considering its location on the westernmost edge of the Empire’s territory, only separated from the Dwarf Kingdom by a span of the Dragon Ridge Mountain Range, I wanted to find a capable and valiant lord to defend it.

"And you, Sir Ireya, were the first person I thought of."

Miss Rabbit frowned upon hearing this. If she had a choice, she would honestly prefer money over land, even though the latter was evidently of greater value.

After all, in the Red Lion Empire, you could use land to offset debts, but it was very difficult to buy land, no matter how much money you had.

Besides, unlike Crab’s Corner, which was far away in the new lands, Solid Stone Castle wasn’t too far from Green Field, only about four or five days’ journey.

But because it was located on the western border of the Empire, without any special produce, usually only travelers with too much time on their hands and nothing better to do would go there.

Additionally, as Hels mentioned, it was very close to the Dwarf Kingdom. While relations between the two had been peaceful before, they became tense almost immediately after the death of Marquis Kuren.

Solid Stone Castle became militarily significant as a result, but unfortunately, it had already been raided by wildlings once before and was almost indistinguishable from a piece of barren land.

If the Lady truly accepted that land, she would have to fortify it with a stronghold and garrison troops, which would require a significant amount of money.

The Lady felt this deal was not very advantageous, but the praises from the other nobles, including Hels, had nearly deified her as the guardian spirit of the western frontiers.

Now Miss Rabbit found it difficult to find a reason to refuse Hels’s reward, and considering the new head of the Figrola family was seemingly resolute in not spending any more money on her behalf.

So, in the end, the Lady accepted her new fief and added yet another title, Baroness of Solid Stone Castle, to her already lengthy one.

When Li Yu came to work in the evening, the girl recounted the day’s events to the Prophet of the Double Rest Sect, hugging her knees while lying on the bed.

"Really, I was just hoping to get some money like last time after slaying the dragon when the Figrola family happily gave me twenty thousand. Why have they become so stingy this time?" she said.

Li Yu quietly listened to Miss Rabbit’s complaints and then said, "That’s because your reputation now is different from before."