Chapter 132: Chapter 103: Laws and Regulations (3000 words, please vote for recommendation)
“Is this the group?”
Bailuo didn’t come in person; it was Nors who came, the current Chief Instructor of the military of the Yatun Duchy.
Nors had received the Black Little Pegasus and gained Sherri’s Miracle Power. Like the Treant Race, it belonged to the Lower Miracle Race.
But the Black Pegasus was different from Tree Elves, as it was a direct relative of Sherri, a Miracle Creature.
Although Tree Elves are also a Miracle Race, they are, after all, affected by a generational gap.
Therefore, in terms of natural endowment, they should be comparable to the purebred second-generation Pegasus born of the First Generation Pegasus.
Yes, the natural endowment of Tree Elves is not as good as that of the Black Pegasus.
This also means that once Xiao Hei the Pegasus grows up, the enhancements Nors himself could receive would not be less than those of a typical Tree Elf; and since the Pegasus itself was enough to rival the Tree Elf, when combined, Nors’s strength might far surpass that of the Tree Elves.
Of course, that’s for the future.
For now, Nors had just begun to receive Miracle Power and was not yet able to compare with the Treant Race.
“Have they been trained?”
“I’ve been training them all the way here.”
Anderson and Nors had an extremely close relationship, often sparring and exchanging expertise in their own time.
Now, one a Defense Officer and the other a Chief Instructor, even their work had complementary natures.
“May I give it a try?”
“Go ahead!”
Nors nodded with a smile, then he stepped onto the platform, his expression turning instantly very serious: “Attention, all!”
“Shh!”
The days of training made these children immediately know what to do.
Regardless of character or gender, at this moment, they all became new Yatun recruits, awaiting Nors’s inspection.
“Hm, not bad.”
Nors gave Anderson a look that said ‘pretty good’.
“Listen up!”
Nors began his instruction: “I don’t care who you were before or where you came from. Now, you are people of our Yatun, but, just people of our Yatun, not Yatun Citizens!”
“…”
Nors was speaking the common tongue, which the children who understood it translated into various local dialects for their companions.
But there was one tricky part in this sentence, the difference between ‘people of our Yatun’ and ‘Yatun Citizens.’
It was somewhat difficult to translate.
“Report!”
Hailbo raised his hand; whenever he asked something, it was always for the collective, and this time was no exception.
“Speak!”
“What is the difference between ‘people of our Yatun’ and ‘Yatun Citizens’?”
All the children wanted to know the answer to this question.
Nors noted this, seeing that Hailbo possessed a considerable personal charisma.
Such a person was suited to lead others, or, at the very least, become a squad leader.
“Good question.”
Nors said gravely: “This place is called Yatun Duchy, and I am the Imperial Guard Instructor personally appointed by His Majesty! My name is Nors Whitehawk—remember my name!”
Hailbo and Yilona, as well as others, promptly memorized this name in silence.
Nors had just celebrated his birthday, now eighteen years old, tall and sturdy, with a slight beard that added maturity and authority to his handsome face.
As the most prominent male of the Yatun after Bailuo, Nors bore heavy responsibilities and was endowed with the great expectations of the Yatun Duchy.
“We Yatun are a little different from the outside world.”
Nors continued: “One difference is that we Yatun have no slaves!”
“Wow!”
The sudden statement threw the crowd below into a buzz.
The children could not imagine a world where slaves did not exist.
But the question was, if Yatun had no slaves, what would become of them?
Some might say, isn’t it better without slaves?
However, in this world, slaves are considered private property.
When nobles, landlords, and the wealthy flee from disasters, they abandon free people but take their slaves with them.
Free people, when encountering bandits, thieves, or enemies, have a woeful fate, with hardly a trace of freedom.
In contrast, although slaves live a life of poverty, as long as they obey, their masters will not abandon them.
“Yatun has only Yatun subjects, no slaves.”
Nors said: “So from today onwards, you are civilians of our Yatun.”
“But don’t think being a civilian is great.”
Nors: “Above civilians are citizens, and above citizens are vassals!”
“And you now are only civilians of our Yatun, not considered Yatun people, because only Yatun Citizens deserve to be called Yatun People!”
Nors said: “So next, I will train and educate you for a month.”
“After a month, Our Majesty will personally select those among you who are qualified to become Yatun Citizens.”
“…”
For a while below, it was noisy, with 120 children chattering among themselves.
They were, after all, not professional soldiers; just being able to stand in a military posture was good enough, let alone maintain absolute silence.
Nors did not rebuke them, allowing them to discuss among themselves.
“Alright, training starts tomorrow.”
Nors didn’t say anything like “consider it for yourselves.”
They were slaves bought back by Bailuo, in plain terms, Bailuo’s property.
This point was crystal clear in Hailbo and Yilona’s minds.
As for not having slaves, it was merely a change of name; if they really took Nors’s words seriously, they wouldn’t even know how they died.
Even so, the respect Yatun showed them was something both felt deeply.
“Here, I will announce a few of the most important laws you need to follow in Yatun.”
“First, do not steal.”
Nors: “Everything on this island of Yatun, from the grass to the trees, belongs to my lord. You may use them, but you must not wantonly destroy or take without permission!”
In simple terms, everything on the island, even a stone, did not belong to them.
‘This rule must be directed at those with a habit of theft.’
Yilona immediately understood the meaning behind Nors’s words, and then heard Nors continue, “Second, do not harm your companions.”
“Not just the people around you,” Nors said, “but also the birds in the sky, the fish in the water, and even the small animals in the forest.”
“…..”
“Huh?”
Yilona and Hailbo both showed a look of confusion: ‘What sort of law is this? It’s so bizarre!’
But upon further thought, if the mountain and forest were also considered the possession of the lord, then the wildlife naturally belonged to Bailuo, and they certainly couldn’t hunt at will.
Birds cannot be hit, fish cannot be caught, beasts cannot be hunted.
It all made perfect sense!
“Third, do not do anything that damages the interests of Yatun.”
“As for what things you can’t do,” Nors took out a small booklet, “the specifics are all written inside here.”
“Your task for today is to memorize it. I will come check on you tomorrow.”
“Those who can’t read can have someone who can read it aloud to you.”
It’s still early, around eight or nine o’clock in the morning, and there are nearly sixteen hours left in the day. Yatun’s basic decrees are not many, only about twenty or so; memorizing them is not difficult.
“I don’t need you to remember every single word, just understand the general meaning.”
At this moment, Elsa caught Nors’s attention, and our Head Instructor immediately said, “Next, under Miss Gonnia’s leadership, everyone will choose their dormitories.”
“Hmm?”
The crowd was somewhat puzzled, but Gonnia quickly took over, and only then did Nors have the time to find Elsa and ask, “What’s the matter, girl, is something wrong?”
“There’s someone, over there, that one, yeah, the Silly Big Guy.”
“What about him?”
“His brain doesn’t quite function properly,” Elsa said, “if you ask him to memorize something, I’m afraid he won’t be able to recall it.”
“No way, even if his brain’s not that good, surely it’s not that bad…”
When Elsa didn’t respond, Nors exclaimed in surprise, “Really, is that true? There’s such a person?”
“According to Sister Gonnia, he probably has incomplete brain development.”
“That unique?”
Nors looked toward Big Chunk and asked, “What’s his name?”
“Big Chunk.”
“…..”
Goodness gracious, he didn’t even have a proper name; they just called him that.
Elsa explained Big Chunk’s situation, and Nors thought that maybe Big Chunk was some Miracle Descendant: “Maybe we should bring him to Grandfather.”
Grandfather was Uncle Saros.
His ability to judge people was always precise, and there were also Andrew and Elder Shan, two old men with a wealth of experience.
Perhaps they could discern something.
“Silly Big Guy!”
Elsa waved at Big Chunk, this three-hundred-pound child subconsciously wanted to come over, but he seemed to remember something.
“Big sister, that young lady over there is calling me.”
After several days of training, even Big Chunk knew to follow the rules and not leave the group on his own initiative.
“Go ahead.”
Toward this simple-minded, very naive, and innocent big boy, the people of Yatun held a rather good impression.
“Hello, big brother.”
When Big Chunk saw Nors, he completely ignored his status as the Head Instructor, but Nors wasn’t angry. Instead, he raised his hand and patted his shoulder, “Hmm, quite robust. If you were fully armed, you’d be a veritable human tank.”
Nors also showed interest in Big Chunk and pointed to a building, saying, “From now on, that’s where you’ll live.”
The space in that small house was rather large, originally intended to house four people.
But now, it could only accommodate Big Chunk alone.
“Really, really?”
“We, we can stay here?!”
“Can we truly live in these houses?”
On the other side, the boys and girls were completely stunned by Gonnia’s words of ‘choosing a house.’
The houses at the port of Yatun were unbelievably beautiful, even the landlords in their countryside didn’t have such good living conditions.
Though they looked simple, the place was really too beautiful!
What’s more astonishing was that Gonnia said ‘choose on your own.’
She wasn’t asking them to squeeze several people into one house; instead, they were free to pick, and it didn’t matter even if they wanted to live alone.
But Yatun ultimately didn’t do this.
While the bunk-bed dormitories could better integrate them into Yatun, Bailuo was more interested in seeing their reactions when left on their own.