[Lord of Abundance] Chapter 16: Follow Me

 Chapter 16: Follow Me

A biting wind, laced with shards of ice, swept relentlessly toward the Fengrao Domain.

Those stationed at the forest’s edge bore the full force of it. The Everdark Forest—standing for tens of thousands of years on the Yongxu Continent—seemed to sneer coldly at the overconfidence of these insignificant humans.

“Ha!”

Mimicking the movements of the Chief of Security and the lord’s guards, Joel swung his axe hard into a frost cedar so thick it would take two men to encircle.

The stone axe struck with a brittle crack, leaving only a shallow mark on the trunk.

Joel didn’t feel discouraged. Frost cedars that had grown for years were as hard as stone. Even a novice warrior couldn’t fell one with a single blow—let alone him.

He kept swinging, carefully widening the notch bit by bit. The stone axe was fragile—one wrong strike and it would shatter—so he had to be especially cautious.

Once the cut reached a certain depth, Joel wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back. Two other workers from the logging team immediately took over.

They held a peculiar tool made of two wooden rods and a hemp rope. After sprinkling sand over it, they pulled it back and forth, grinding steadily into the frost cedar.

Joel moved to another tree and repeated the process.

All two hundred loggers had been assigned different tasks. Everything ran in orderly fashion.

As long as enough trees were felled, the guards under the Chief of Security would stamp his merit card. Different colored stamps represented different values of merit points.

The blue stamp in his hand was worth one point—five copper coins.

Five copper coins… by the Goddess above!

It wasn’t that Joel had never seen five copper coins before. But Lord Tait—the steward of the castle—had made it clear to everyone:

These earnings could be exchanged first at the castle for essential goods—food, salt, firewood, herbs…

All things that simply couldn’t be found in the village right now.

No matter how much money one had, no one would trade food for it—not unless it was direct barter.

Joel did a quick calculation. If he worked a little harder, he could earn two more blue stamps before nightfall—ten copper coins.

Earning that much in a single day… it was something he had never even dared to dream of before.

Still, he suspected the wages might come with hidden tricks.

For instance, inflating prices—where one copper coin should buy a large piece of black bread, they might charge five coins for a single piece that wouldn’t even fill a person’s stomach.

Even so, Joel felt nothing but gratitude.

The work team provided two meals—breakfast and lunch. As Chief Dawn had said, “Going into battle on an empty stomach just won’t do.”

Dinner? You handled it yourself.

But what poor family ate three meals a day? Most survived on two—or even one. Just being able to eat your fill was already a blessing.

The money he earned from logging would be enough to buy food for his mother and sister.

Under such circumstances—without stealing or robbing—being able to feed his family?

There was nothing left to complain about. Only gratitude filled his heart.

Besides, this was only his first day. He still wasn’t familiar with the workflow. Joel was confident that tomorrow he could earn one more blue stamp.

If he saved enough money, he would hire a healer to treat his mother’s cough. Hearing her cough like that day after day… he couldn’t rest easy.

With that thought, Joel felt energy surge through his entire body. Even the soreness in his arms was drowned out by the joy swelling in his chest.

“By the heavens!”

“How did you do that?!”

A commotion suddenly erupted from another logging team nearby, drawing everyone’s attention.

Joel looked toward the source—and frowned.

At the center of the crowd stood Nia, staring blankly at her hands, unable to say a word.

She… just now… might have used—battle aura?

Dawn, who oversaw the site and guarded against wild beasts, strode over and asked,

“What happened?”

Voices overlapped in excitement:

“Sir, that girl Nia—she just used battle aura!”

“Yes! Just like the guards when they chop trees—the axe glowed! Not as bright, but it was there!”

“You’re Nia? Show me again.”

Nia nodded and swung her axe hard—but this time, nothing happened.

The crowd let out a collective sigh.

Dawn placed a hand on her shoulder and said in a low voice,

“Don’t rush. Feel the flow of heat inside your body. Imagine threading a needle—guide it, gather it into your hands. Slowly. Try again.”

Nia closed her eyes and began to move that energy as instructed.

When she opened them again, a faint red glow wrapped around her axe.

The axe struck the frost cedar—

Wood splinters burst outward.

Dawn fell silent for a moment, then asked curiously,

“Have you ever learned how to use battle aura before?”

Nia shook her head, puzzled. She was an orphan, raised on the scraps of the village.

There wasn’t even a single warrior in Emerald Heart—where could she have learned such a thing?

Dawn immediately understood, and at the same time felt a surge of astonishment at her talent.

She had grasped the basics of battle aura… just by watching once?

Did such people really exist?

Dawn had seen many geniuses. The capital gathered talents from across the land—prodigies were everywhere. Even Lord Kun was, in a sense, his student.

The children of the Marquis’s household were outstanding enough—but compared to the girl before him, in terms of warrior talent, they weren’t even fit to carry her shoes.

Moved by admiration, Dawn said:

“You don’t need to keep logging. Starting tomorrow, join the security force. I’ll have someone teach you how to properly use battle aura.”

“Can I learn from you?”

With her short, neat hair and the striking scar at her lips, Nia showed no fear at all.

“If I’m learning, I might as well learn from the strongest.”

Dawn hesitated. He had already promised Kun to take that scrawny boy as a disciple. Taking another?

One of his subordinates whispered,

“Captain, Steward Tait is here again… ‘inspecting.’”

Inspecting? More like causing trouble.

Dawn glanced up—and sure enough, spotted an old man in a fur hat craning his neck and peering sneakily into the crowd.

Dawn immediately changed his mind. Herding one duck or two—it made little difference.

“Fine. But you’ll have a senior apprentice. I’ll teach both of you together.

“He’ll return in a few days. Until then, don’t train on your own. You’ve awakened battle aura, but you’re using it incorrectly—it could harm you.”

He paused, then added:

“When the lord returns, I’ll ask if he can grant you a suitable cultivation manual.

“My aura is wind. Yours seems to be fire. The method I created won’t suit you.”

Though Lord Kun was a mage, he had practically emptied half a marquis’s treasury before coming here. Dawn didn’t believe for a second that he lacked decent manuals.

“Alright, disperse! Back to work!”

The guards drove the onlookers away, though they couldn’t quell the excitement in their hearts.

That girl—what fortune. To become Dawn’s disciple in a single step—it was like ascending to the heavens.

A pity about the scar, though. Probably not becoming the lord’s wife.

In the crowd, Joel felt genuine happiness for Nia.

Even though she hadn’t spoken to him since last night—clearly still angry—he was still glad.

He didn’t even know why. It felt as though he himself had been chosen.

Nearby, Redo—a tall youth with a hooked nose and a slightly sinister expression—looked down at his hands.

He believed he wasn’t inferior to others. But reaching Nia’s level? Impossible.

He’d have to find another way into the security force.

—

Old Tait had been rebuffed by Dawn and turned down by Nia. She refused to join the lord’s guard.

The twenty guards originally under Kun had been split—half remained with him, the other half joined Dawn’s security force.

Though the guard unit had once been under Dawn’s command, now that he was Chief of Security, he was no longer directly affiliated with it. So Kun temporarily placed it under Tait’s management.

Tait had long been dissatisfied with Dawn pulling all the elite soldiers into his own unit—even if it had been approved by the young master.

Approval was one thing—but going this far?

Was the young master’s safety less important than the territory’s security?

And besides—he had spotted that girl first!

By all rights, she should have joined the guard.

In short, he had come to poach talent—and failed.

From the moment he saw that fearless girl, Tait had known she was promising. That’s why he had spoken with her more.

But he hadn’t expected her talent to be this monstrous.

“The young master was right… man proposes, heaven disposes,” Tait muttered with a sigh.

Feeling his age, he swaggered over to where lunch was being distributed and casually picked the best portion—the one piled high with meat.

“Um… Steward, that portion belongs to the Chief of Security.”

Tait chuckled.

“Oh? Really? My apologies. Then he can have mine.”

The guard didn’t dare stop him and could only watch as Tait took Dawn’s meal.

As for Dawn eating Tait’s portion? Impossible. How could he leave so many people unattended to return to the village?

Tait wandered off happily with his prize, searching for a place sheltered from the wind.

Then he spotted Joel, sitting alone behind a pile of felled cedar, quietly eating.

Raising an eyebrow, Tait changed direction and walked over.

Of course he remembered the boy. Only seven villagers had come to register—each one left an impression.

Truth be told, recruitment hadn’t been going well. It had already delayed the young master’s plans.

Plopping down beside him, Tait startled Joel.

Tait narrowed his eyes and stopped him from getting up.

“Sit, sit. This isn’t the castle—no need for formalities.”

The young master hated such tedious etiquette anyway. Otherwise, why would a rough old coachman like him be made steward?

Old and young sat together in the icy wind, amid the solemn forest.

Hungry, they ate their coarse grain. Thirsty, they stuffed snow into their mouths.

Neither spoke.

What was there to say? A servant born in a marquis’s household and a peasant boy from the frontier—what common ground did they share?

After a while, Tait suddenly asked:

“What do you think of the lord?”

Joel froze for a moment, swallowed quickly, and said,

“Good.”

After thinking for a bit, he added:

“Very good. The best lord I’ve ever seen.”

If the previous lord—who had tricked the village men into slavery—deserved to be flayed alive in hell, then this new lord…

…must be a divine envoy sent by the Goddess to save them.

Tait grinned, his voice slightly whistling through his teeth.

“Don’t be so nervous. Just asking.”

He glanced at Joel’s bowl.

“Why aren’t you eating the meat? Don’t like it?”

He chuckled at his own question. Who didn’t like meat?

Every worker received a small piece of meat at lunch. The top three performers got an extra drumstick.

“…I want to save it for my mother.”

Joel lowered his head, staring at the thumb-sized piece of meat in the corner of his bowl. The once-delicious food suddenly tasted a little bitter.

“I see.”

Tait’s tone softened. He said nothing more.

It made sense—first day on the job. He didn’t understand how things worked yet.

Though dinner wasn’t provided, a small canteen had been built in front of the black stone castle. Workers liked buying dinner there—cheap and good.

From the very beginning, the young master had personally set the prices.

No free dinner—but very low prices.

Vittorio, who managed the finances, had objected.

The young master had simply asked:

“Do you know what the most delicious dinner in the world is?”

“Once you’ve had it, you’ll never forget it.”

“And if you want it again…”

“…you’ll have no choice but to stay here, wholeheartedly.”

Follow me…