"Huh?"
Hunter Five was directly stunned.
Next to him, Wood Eight, Stone Six's group and the others all burst out laughing.
You have to know, even though Wood Eight's group only got one weapon, at least it was the lord's personal sharp metal axe, with attributes on it.
As for Stone Six's group, that goes without saying. They became the largest group among the four that head out, in terms of headcount, which was already something.
On top of that, each of them had a weapon, and they even had two extra bows.
It was enough to make everyone else green with envy.
But Hunter Five's group had pretty much been ignored by the lord.
This made Hunter Five's group feel wronged, and at the same time they suddenly felt weak, pitiful, and helpless.
"But…", Ethan continued.
It was obvious there was more to come after those two words, so everyone immediately stared wide-eyed, waiting for Ethan's next sentence.
"Resident No. 001, come out for a moment!"
"Eeya~ Lord, what do you need me for?"
This ladyboy Resident still wasn't exactly polite to Ethan.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
[Resident (ID 001): Gender – None]
[Special Ability: Foresee danger, suitable for exploring the map. As long as you give him a sharp dagger and enough torches, he will become your best support in exploring new areas.]
[Loyalty: 70%]
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
But his loyalty had already gone up quite a bit compared to yesterday.
Still, who told his talent skill to be so special?
So Ethan was still very patient with him. Talented people ought to be a bit proud, after all.
"From today on, your name will be Ivankov!", Ethan said, then pulled the sharp dagger from his waist and handed it to Ivankov, "I'm entrusting this dagger to you. Assist Hunter Five properly and explore the new map for me."
"Eeya! A sharp dagger?"
Ivankov's eyes lit up. He hurriedly dropped to one knee, delighted, "Thank you for the lord's reward."
[Resident (ID 001)/ Ivankov: Loyalty +10]
[Ivankov has awakened talent skill: Danger Sense]
"Awesome!"
When Ethan saw Ivankov's stats change, his eyes instantly lit up. He really hadn't misjudged him.
'This damn ladyboy really is capable."
Not that kind of capable.
Anyone whose thoughts went crooked, go kneel in the corner.
———
Only now did Hunter Five finally understand.
The lord hadn't forgotten his group at all, he just had other plans.
He himself didn't get any special equipment, but his teammate did.
And the stats weren't any worse than Wood Eight's group. Was he proud or what?
"See that? A fine dagger. Even a dwarf master's peak work would be nothing more than this!"
Hunter Five was overjoyed.
But Wood Eight wasn't having it, "You're the captain and you don't have a weapon!"
"So what if I don't have a weapon? My teammate does! And did you not see? Damage +100%!"
"You're the captain and you don't have a weapon!"
"Genmu Kenpachi… no, Wood Eight! Are you done yet! One is enough for our group!"
"You're the captain and you don't have a weapon!"
"Wood Eight, if you've got the guts, then stop bringing that up!"
"The lord forgot you!"
"Damn!"
"Come on then!"
"Ivankov, get him!"
"Holy crap!"
Everyone who got equipment started fooling around happily.
Only then did Ethan raise his hand and press down to quiet the noisy Residents, "Alright, alright! It's getting late. Everyone get ready to set out."
"Yes, my lord."
Everyone dropped to one knee, thanking the lord.
"Oh, right!"
After speaking, Ethan lowered his head and asked Cook Four beside him, "The jerky and water bottles I told you to prepare for everyone, are they ready?"
"Reporting to the lord, they're all ready."
Cook Four knew the lord didn't like women being long-winded, so she was learning to behave.
After hearing this, Ethan finally rubbed Cook Four's head in satisfaction, "Not bad. Keep it up!"
"Thank you, lord!"
Cook Four's face lit up with joy, the excitement in her eyes practically spilling out.
She hurriedly stumbled to her feet, ready to go tell the kitchen to bring out the jerky and water bottles, but because she had been kneeling too long, her legs were numb.
"Ah!"
The moment Cook Four stood up, she face-planted.
Her body instinctively tried to grab something next to her, but at that moment, the only thing next to her besides the lord, was nothing.
So…
Cook Four just like that, hugged Ethan's thigh.
Riiip!
The sound of fabric tearing rang out.
And then… everyone saw something they really shouldn't have seen.
'Holy crap!'
People from Stone Six's group took one look at the lord's special "part," then looked down at the wooden handle of the pickaxes in their hands.
'This…'
'The lord really is a beast!'
'The lord truly is worthy of being the lord. Even that place is stronger than anyone else.'
All the male Residents present instantly lowered their heads in shame, while all the female Residents covered their eyes one by one with their hands, but the gaps between their fingers were big enough to fit an eyeball through.
At that moment, each of their eyes was shining with a hungry light.
'Ah!'
'Such damnable power!'
'Who wouldn't want to be conquered by such a powerful lord?'
The Residents all had different thoughts in their hearts.
But Ethan had no time to care what they were thinking. He glared at Cook Four, then hurriedly pulled his pants back up.
Cook Four gave an awkward smile and said, "Lord, how about I help you put them on?"
"Get lost!", Ethan glared at Cook Four.
Then, a bit annoyed, he turned around and walked away from this group of idiots. Even though he really didn't want to show off, being seen like that still made him very unhappy.
Once Ethan had walked some distance away, the Residents finally came back to their senses.
The lord really was a good lord. Not only was he very strong, he even remembered to prepare water and rations for them. They all spontaneously dropped to one knee in the direction he had left.
On one knee, they said in unison, "Thank you, lord, for your reward!!"
"Thank you, lord, for your care!"
[Resident (ID 021): Loyalty +10]
[Resident (ID 008): Loyalty +5]
[Resident…]
Loyalty kept rising.
And three Residents, because their loyalty reached over 90%, even awakened the talent skill [Great Strength Creates Miracles].
They just happened to be from Stone Six's group. Mining is nothing if not hard physical labor.
'Looks like treating them better, raising their loyalty, is really useful.'
———
[Back In the Villa]
Ethan glanced at the magic book. The time was already 07:35.
There was still less than half an hour before the sun came out.
He opened the trading channel for a look.
Yesterday, he had originally put 12 kerosene lamps up on the [Trading Channel] for sale, but because he received an outsourcing commission, 50 kerosene lamps were given 100 lamps' worth of materials.
So Ethan's number of kerosene lamps went back up to 62.
In the end, 62 lamps got him 1000 iron ore, 5 Residents, 1 treasure map fragment, 500 spirit stones, 20 earth-type beast cores, 10 water-type beast cores, 100 bronze, and 200 coal oil.
This batch of materials directly made up for his recent huge expenses.
And next, with 25 Residents going out to work, they should be able to bring him back quite a few surprises.
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.