Chapter 16: Maid

After sending Freya away, Farra’s household immediately became much quieter.

He settled the two extra servants he had brought when he purchased Freya into his home as retainers of the Farra Jago household… in other words, maids. They were quite useful for cleaning and cooking and the like. However, there was still hard labor that two women alone could not handle, so Farra added several servants specifically responsible for carrying heavy loads and fetching water. Of course, all of them were paid extra grain as labor compensation.

“Although you are all my slaves, in my territory you are also my people. As long as you work, you will receive additional compensation. Therefore, from now on, each of you will receive an extra half jin of grain every day, and I will have Mas arrange new housing for you.”

Farra said to those kneeling below him.

“Thank you, Lord!”

The slaves, whose foreheads were pressed to the ground, trembled with excitement that they could not contain. It was the first time any of them had heard that slaves could have their own housing! Before this, in other places they were basically no different from livestock. They were all kept in one place and treated like animals. That they could each be assigned a separate room… they wouldn’t have dared dream of such a thing. At most, they dreamed that they might have enough to eat tomorrow. Although those dwellings were still very rudimentary, at least they were places for people to live, not like livestock kept in enclosures.

“Enough, Mas. Go and make the arrangements.”

“Yes, Lord!”

After returning to his own room, Farra looked at the only two maids in his household. They were slaves and behaved extremely humbly in his presence.

“You two, what can you do? What skills do you have?”

“…Lord, I… I know a little sewing…”

“I… I can cook, Lord…!”

After hearing their answers, Farra asked again, “Have you not learned basic arithmetic or similar skills?”

The two women looked reluctant and said, “Lord… that is something only wealthy families can afford to learn… we…” They had no money. Not only that, but they themselves were only slaves. How could they have the opportunity to learn such things?

“Fine, you may go for now.” Farra waved his hand.

“Yes.”

After a period of rapid land clearing and construction, Bichi Village had now expanded several times over. The houses were arranged in pleasing irregularity. Every path was perfectly straight. The residential areas and livestock pens were clearly separated.

Farra, pulling Mas and the others to the place where they normally planned things, found that another rainstorm forced him to move the meeting into his own home. But this was not proper. Afterward, Farra simply built an independent wooden cabin at that spot, dedicated solely to holding deliberations. As a result, the whole of Bichi Village became more hierarchical. The first level consisted of Farra’s residence and its surroundings; the second level was the homes of his main subordinates and the communal meeting area; the third level was everything else. Currently, levels two and three were mixed together due to a severe shortage of talent. Farra did not like this. He could understand a lack of conditions, but whenever the opportunity arose, he would swiftly fill the gap.

By April, all the supplies that Farra had purchased with Kone’s 500 silver coins had finally been delivered to his territory. Among them were a small number of city dwellers who had once enjoyed certain privileges but had since completely fallen into ruin for various reasons. Their abilities were far more useful than those of the original villagers, who could only grasp Farra’s intentions in a rudimentary way. After these special slaves were delivered, Farra personally came to take a look. Most of them looked utterly destitute; none struck him as exceptionally remarkable at first glance. Farra felt a bit disappointed.

After circling around a few times, his gaze locked onto a figure deliberately hidden at the back. “Bring her out.”

“Yes!”

Yanis, who was beside Farra, immediately complied. However, he was soon blocked by a man standing in front.

“Wait! You… !”

Yanis frowned and snapped, “Do you intend to defy the Lord’s orders? Step aside!”

“No, I’m not… It’s just… she’s weak, very frail, and of no value!” the man said to Farra with panic on his face.

“Whether she has value is not for you to decide, Mr. Harper.”

Seeing the shock on Mr. Harper’s face, Farra sneered, “Don’t think I don’t know your background. Do you know why you’re here?”

Upon hearing Farra’s words, Harper, face ashen, lowered his head to the ground and pleaded, “Please, you may do whatever you wish to me; I can work, do anything, but please… have mercy…”

“The choice is not yours to make. Now, bring her out so I can see.”

“Yes!”

Yanis ignored Harper’s obstruction and directly reached out to pull the crouching girl out. The girl looked terrified and tried to struggle but had no strength. “Let go of me, what exactly do you intend to do?!” She was filled with fear, her face twisted in terror.

Farra glanced at her with the System’s Information Probe and discovered that her Spirit Attribute was very low. Indeed, encountering someone like Freya, who was suited as a retainer, had been an unbelievable stroke of luck. It would probably not be so easy to find another similar candidate.

“I’m asking you, have you previously studied basic arithmetic and writing?” Farra asked with furrowed brows.

“I have…”

“Very well, you will serve as a maid in my household to do chores.”

Upon hearing Farra’s words, the girl immediately broke down. “I…I don’t want to be a maid…!”

To go serve as a maid in a noble household? No matter how she thought about it, it was a miserable prospect. According to rumors she had heard before, this was like opening a blind box and could be worse than being a slave.

“Hmph, is that so? Then what do you ‘want’ to do? Want to die?” Farra said, his expression darkening.

Harper, who had been kneeling, immediately crawled over and hurriedly said, “Wait, Lord! She… she’s capable; she can be a maid! Please don’t kill her; her arithmetic skills are quite good!” As he pleaded, he kept glancing wildly at the girl beside him, making frantic gestures. Seeing this, the girl could only show an expression of resigned acceptance.

“Hmph…”

Farra glanced at her. “Don’t speak of wants or not wants in front of me again, or you can go ahead and try.”

“…!” Shaking at the sight of those distinctive black eyes, the girl trembled all over.

After dealing with this little farce, Farra took another round and, finding nothing overlooked, could only draw out all the women of suitable age from among those who had received education. There were six in total, including the girl who didn’t look old. Being able to receive an education meant none of them came from ordinary families, but they had fallen into ruin, and quite severely at that.

Looking at their varying expressions, Farra announced their fate: “From today on, you six will all come live here and serve as my maids. If you have any objections, speak up now!”

“….”

No one dared to speak.

“Very well.” Farra showed a faint, satisfied smile. “I spent a lot to buy you all back; you’d better make it worth the price. Otherwise, hehe.”

“!”

Hearing Farra’s cold laughter, all six girls trembled. What would happen if they didn’t? Farra didn’t say, but they could imagine it themselves. The unknown fear hung over them like a blade.