Chapter 29: Reward
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Zhao Hai stood up happily and said, “Quick, bring me to see this person.”
With that, he grabbed Meg’s hand and walked out of the house. Meg was stunned for a moment. Then, she looked at the hand that Zhao Hai had caught and a trace of joy flashed across her eyes, which was then replaced by shyness.
However, Zhao Hai was not in the mood to pay attention to this. Merlyn and the others did not pay attention either. They followed behind Zhao Hai and walked towards the outer fort.
As soon as the few of them appeared in the outer fort, they saw a slave standing there. However, this slave surprised Zhao Hai because it was a woman.
Zhao Hai had thought that the first to step forward would be a man, but he did not expect it to be a woman. Zhao Hai stood there in a daze and looked at the female slave standing at the small gate between the inner and outer fort.
This female slave looked to be in her twenties. Perhaps because of malnutrition, she looked a little thin. She was also petite. Her brown hair looked a little dry. She was wearing rough clothes. Her skin was dark and rough, and her looks were ordinary.
She stood there nervously, her entire body trembling. When she saw that Zhao Hai and the others had come out, she immediately knelt on the ground and did not dare to move.
Meg immediately said to Zhao Hai, “Young Master, it’s her. Her name is Dou. She’s twenty years old.”
Zhao Hai nodded. He knew that in this world, slaves did not have surnames. Their names usually only had one word. If they used a name with two words, they would be crossing their limits and they would be executed.
Zhao Hai looked at the girl called Dou and said in a low voice, “Raise your head.”
Dou trembled and raised her head, but she still did not dare to look at Zhao Hai. She knelt there. Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Your name is Dou?”
Dou kowtowed again. “Yes, Master.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “You know how to weave? Where did you learn it?”
Dou said, “Master, I became a slave two years ago. I used to be a commoner and often made things with grass at home.”
Zhao Hai nodded. He realized that although this girl called Dou looked timid, her words were very organized. It seemed like this had a lot to do with her being a commoner before.
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Go and get some grass. Weave something for me now.”
Dou immediately agreed and left. After a while, she brought over a large pile of dry grass. It seemed like she had been prepared. These dry grass had been watered with water and became more flexible.
Dou bowed to Zhao Hai and said, “Master, please forgive my insolence.” Zhao Hai nodded and Dou immediately sat on the ground and began to weave. It was obvious that she was going to weave a mat, and her actions were very fast. After a while, a small mat was woven. The surface of the mat was very smooth, and it was soft. It looked very beautiful.
Zhao Hai nodded and looked at Dou who was kneeling on the ground. He said in a low voice, “Alright, Dou, you have contributed a lot to the Buda family. From today onwards, you are no longer a slave. You are a civilian of my Buda family’s black soil territory. In the future, you can just bow and not have to kneel when you see me. In addition, you will be given a separate room. You will be paid a silver coin every month. I will also give you the surname Buda. From today onwards, your name will be Dou Buda. Hmm, the name Dou is not suitable for girls. Your name will be Ju Buda.”
Everyone in the square heard Zhao Hai’s words. They had never expected that Dou could become a commoner with just her skills in weaving grass. Most importantly, Zhao Hai had actually given her his family name. This was an extraordinary event. Many commoners on the continent did not have surnames.
Dou, no, she should be called Ju Buda now. She knelt there excitedly, her entire body trembling. She really did not expect that she would really become a commoner and not a slave anymore. All of this was like a dream.
The reason why Ju Buda had such courage to be the first to stand out and say that she had skills was completely because she wanted to take a gamble. Her family were not slaves originally. Two years ago, her family had still been commoners. They had their own land. Although it was only five acres, it could support the family. In addition, her father knew some masonry skills, so the family did not have to worry about food and clothes.
However, one day, a plague of insects appeared on their land. The five acres of food was eaten by the insects, and not a single grain of rice was left. There were many people who had the same fate as them. Then, because of the large-scale food shortage there, their family was about to starve. In order to fill the family’s stomachs, their father had to work day and night. However, he was injured one day and could not continue working. Her family had to sell their land and house to treat her father’s illness, but they still did not have enough money. They had no choice but to borrow high-interest loans from a noble. In the end, her father could not hold on and died of illness. Their family did not have the ability to repay the money, so the noble captured her mother, her, and her brother and made them slaves. However, her mother died not long after because of grief. Before she died, her mother’s only wish was to restore their family’s status as commoners.
However, it was extremely difficult for a slave to restore their status as a commoner. Ju Buda had also seen many slaves like her. In order to restore their status as a commoner, one family had offered the daughter to the noble, but they still could not obtain the status of a commoner. Instead, that girl was tortured to death not long after.
After seeing this, Ju became even more careful. She tried her best not to let others notice her while taking care of her brother. The siblings relied on each other.
Later, Grimm bought them from the slave traders and brought them to the Black Soil Wilderness.
When she first heard Zhao Hai say that as long as they could contribute to the Buda family, they could restore their status as commoners, Ju’s heart was moved. However, she did not stand out immediately. She was afraid that Zhao Hai would not give much importance to her skill. After all, she only knew how to weave grass.
After a few days of observation, she realized that her masters were different from the other nobles she had encountered in the past. They were very easy-going and allowed them to have their fill of food every day. They even prepared materials for them to burn to keep themselves warm.
Ju had no choice but to step forward today because her brother had gotten sick. Although it was not a serious illness, it was very dangerous to continue like this. Ju was afraid. Her brother was the hope of her family. She had to save him no matter what, so she stood forward.
After being stunned for a while, Ju kowtowed again and said, “Master, I don’t dare to ask for your reward. I only hope that you can save my brother. He’s sick now.”
Zhao Hai was stunned. “Oh? Is that so? So you have a younger brother here too. Don’t worry, I won’t take back the reward. Since you have a younger brother here, your younger brother will also receive the commoner status. His surname will be Buda too. By the way, what’s his name? Where is he? What illness does he have?”
Ju was stunned. She did not expect Zhao Hai to do this. He had actually restored her brother’s status as a commoner. Her mother’s wish had been fulfilled just like that. Ju was so excited that tears streamed down her face. She cried and said, “Young Master, my brother’s name is An. He’s in the house now.”
Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Get up. You’re already a commoner. You don’t have to kneel anymore. Take me to see your brother.”
Ju stood up obediently. She had only been a slave for a few years and had not been completely used to the slave identity. In addition, she was very smart, so she regained her composure quickly.
Under the gazes of the slaves, Ju led Zhao Hai and the others to a stone house. This stone house was not very big, only about 20 square meters. It could accommodate four people. These people all lived on the ground, and there was only dry grass on the ground. There was a person lying on the dry grass.
This person looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. His body was quite sturdy and he looked very ordinary. He was dressed in rough clothes and had the mark of the Buda family branded on his forehead. However, he did not look too good now. His face looked green and his eyes were closed.
Zhao Hai glanced at An and turned to Merlyn. “Grandma Merlyn, what’s going on with him? Why is his face green?”
Merlyn glanced at An and said, “Young Master, he is poisoned. It’s very likely to be the poison on the poisonous grass we saw yesterday. Perhaps he accidentally touched that poisonous grass when he went out to work today. He wasn’t affected immediately because of his strong body. The poison slowly acted up, which is why he is like this.”
Zhao Hai really did not expect that the poisonous grass was so strong. He quickly said, “Can he be treated?”
Merlyn smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Young Master. It can be cured.” With that, she chanted a few words in a low voice, and a ball of blue light appeared in her hand. Then, Merlyn slowly placed the blue light on An’s body.
An’s body seemed to slowly emit a blue light. Then, a gust of green gas was forced out of An’s body. When the entire blue light occupied An’s body, his expression slowly returned to normal, and the blue light disappeared.
Zhao Hai did not expect that magic could be used to detoxify poisons. It seemed like he kept on underestimating the magical abilities in this world. This world had always been developing with magic as the focus. Now that it had almost developed to the limit, it was not surprising that there were so many things that magic could do.
Merlyn looked at An’s expression and said, “Young Master, he is cured now. He will return to normal by tomorrow morning.”
Zhao Hai nodded and turned to Merlyn. “Grandma Merlyn, arrange a room for Ju and An in the castle. Prepare some furniture for them tomorrow. They are now civilians of our Buda family. They can’t be treated like slaves. Wood, carry An to the castle later.”