Chapter 391: New Breeds, New Hopes
Chapter 391: New Breeds, New Hopes
The next morning, Phield woke to the sound of birds chirping outside and let out a yawn.
"Bring me some oysters," Phield said, dark circles hanging beneath his eyes. "Strange... Why are there sparrows in Nightfall Domain? I only bought pigeons."
"Um... What exactly are oysters?" the maid Nina asked timidly after a brief hesitation.
"Never mind. Forget oysters. No one in the Empire eats them anyway, and Nightfall Domain isn’t anywhere near the sea. Our next objective is to reclaim Dawnfall Territory. Once we do, we’ll feast on seafood."
Patting his cheeks to wake himself up, Phield smiled.
"Then I’ll have a steak and some wheat porridge. I know I shouldn’t be eating such a heavy meal this early in the morning, but I’m honestly starving."
"My lord, you really need to get more rest." Nina’s eyes turned red with concern. She had served him since childhood, and seeing him work himself this hard broke her heart. "Ever since you came to Nightfall Domain, you haven’t had a proper break. You should attend more noble banquets and gatherings. You’re a true noble. You should be enjoying yourself while leaving the exhausting work to your servants."
"Alright, alright."
Phield nodded repeatedly with a smile.
"I want meat too. Double portions!"
Ashina hummed cheerfully as she dried her still-damp hair and sat down at the dining table, announcing her hunger. Then she turned toward the absentminded Tisiana, who had just walked over.
"Little Angel, do you want some too?"
"N... No, thank you."
Tisiana shook her head blankly, clearly still unable to recover from what had happened. She sniffed her palm, then her arm, before pulling open her collar and fanning herself.
"The smell should be gone by now... Right? And what about the bite marks? Why do you bite people, Phield?"
"Uh... I honestly don’t know."
Phield looked thoroughly embarrassed.
Tisiana now carried an added touch of mature elegance. Her long, shapely legs and stunning figure naturally drew everyone’s attention.
"There’s no smell. Don’t worry."
Ashina took Tisiana’s hand with the warmth of a close sister.
"How did these two suddenly become friends?"
Phield shook his head, too lazy to think about it further. Instead, he took out the territory’s financial report to examine its economic situation.
Nightfall Domain’s income consisted of four major categories: taxes, production, trade, and plunder.
Tax revenue was almost negligible. Even after including the redemption fees paid by slaves buying back their freedom, the territory had earned only 232 gold coins this month. It was laughably little, mainly because the population was still too small for an internal economic cycle to develop.
Production generated slightly more income than taxes. Soldiers and free citizens were the primary consumers, contributing over seven hundred gold coins each month.
Trade, however, was the real money maker. A single trading expedition brought in nearly fifty thousand gold coins in net profit.
Plunder was even more outrageous. The mountains of captured plate armor and grain were worth hundreds of thousands of gold coins. The only drawback was that opportunities for such massive plunder came only once or twice.
"Hiss... I shouldn’t keep looking at this. It’s making me want to go plundering again."
Phield set the report aside.
"Infrastructure, housing, the army, and supporting the population all require enormous amounts of gold. It looks like I have plenty of money, but once I actually start spending it, it won’t last long."
Hearing his complaint, Ashina immediately asked,
"My lord, why do we need to build more houses? Doesn’t everyone already have somewhere to live?"
"Because better housing improves everyone’s quality of life. A shack can be blown over by a strong gust of wind. Besides, construction is one of the best ways to put money into the hands of the people."
Phield grinned.
"I’ve been sick of those shacks for a long time. One day, every single resident will live in a proper brick house."
"What a wonderful idea."
Ashina looked at him with eyes full of admiration.
Tisiana was equally astonished. She even forgot about all those awkward incidents from before, her mood immediately brightening as she praised him sweetly.
"You actually want to give money to the people? Phield, if the Goddess of Holy Light ever chose a spokesperson, it would definitely be you."
"It’s simply an economic strategy. Collecting one hundred percent taxes or turning your people into slaves are crude methods. A sophisticated and civilized ruler makes the people willingly hand over what amounts to three hundred percent in taxes without even realizing it."
"Of course, the people’s lives will improve, but as the lord, I’ll benefit even more. It’s a win-win situation."
"Oh... I see."
Ashina nodded repeatedly.
"But that’s a long-term plan. Building public infrastructure is also meant to stimulate economic growth."
Phield gestured in the air as he spoke.
"But for now... can’t I get some good news for once?"
Thinking of that, he angrily bit into his steak.
The good news arrived immediately after breakfast.
The caretaker responsible for looking after the giant wolves rushed over with exciting news.
"My lord has given birth! My lord has given birth!"
The caretaker shouted at the top of his lungs outside the castle. As an ordinary resident, he neither dared nor had the authority to enter the lord’s castle without permission.
"What nonsense are you shouting, you uncultured idiot!"
The castle guard nearly drew his sword in anger.
"If you keep yelling like that, I’ll personally send you to meet the God of Death."
"It’s the giant wolves! After three months and seven days of pregnancy, they’ve finally given birth!"
The caretaker immediately realized his mistake, cold sweat pouring down his face.
"I’m sorry, sir. I’m uneducated."
"Wait here. I’ll inform the steward first."
The guard rolled his eyes.
"And next time, unless it’s urgent military intelligence, report these matters to City Hall. My lord needs his rest too."
Naturally, Phield had already heard the commotion. He stepped out of the castle, smiled and nodded to the guard before turning to the caretaker.
"Take me there."
"I want to see too!"
Ashina’s curiosity immediately flared. She couldn’t wait to find out what Drakewolf offspring looked like.
Upon arriving at the ranch, Phield quickly made his way to the giant wolves’ enclosure.
Inside was an entire litter of tiny "puppies."
Some had black fur, others black and gray, some were black and white, and there were even completely white pups. Curled up beside their mother, they let out adorable little whimpers. They were only about the size of ordinary domestic puppies.
"This isn’t quite what I imagined."
Ashina blinked silently. After summoning the majestic Drakewolf, she mercilessly laughed.
"Isn’t this just a dog?"
"Awooooo..."
Drakewolf looked as though it had been struck by lightning. Two streams of tears flowed from its eyes.
The glorious reputation of its Divine Artifact had been utterly destroyed.
"Alright, Ashina’s only teasing you."
Clearing his throat, Phield patted Drakewolf on the head to comfort it before taking out the Appraisal Tome and using it on the newborn pups.
A burst of black light emerged, gradually transforming into fresh pages that merged into the tome.
"Just as I expected. They’re entirely new species! Looks can be deceiving."
Phield’s eyes lit up.
When the Appraisal Tome examined something it already knew, it merely turned to the corresponding page without adding anything new. The fact that entirely new pages had appeared proved that Drakewolf, just like the Empire’s Griffin, had created brand-new species. And not just one.
"This is the true power of a living Divine Artifact."
Opening the Appraisal Tome, Phield carefully examined the first page.
Illustrated on it were a mottled giant wolf pup and a pure white giant wolf pup.