The next morning, as the sun began to shine, Lord Link walked out of Carter Zane's City Lord's Mansion with steady steps.
His purpose for this trip was to inspect the "spoils of war" acquired from this battle.
Lucrezia and the others had already finished inventorying the special spoils of war captured from Gray Valley County—a group of Barbarian Slaves.
These slaves were no ordinary people; Carter Zane had acquired them from The Terror Duke Norton Gregg, who was known for his brutality.
The Terror Duke Norton Gregg was responsible for guarding the borders of the Human Empire, and he would burn, kill, rape, and plunder the barbarians living in the wild borderlands. These Barbarian Slaves were exchanged by Carter Zane with treasures from The Terror Duke.
Carter Zane's desire to tame these Barbarian Slaves to serve as his Soldiers was not a wild fantasy.
These slaves had lived for many years in the wild borderlands of the Human Empire, and it was said that a portion of beast-kin blood flowed in their veins, making their physiques far stronger than the average commoner in the Empire.
It was rumored that a fully armed Barbarian Warrior could easily handle two or three ordinary Human Soldiers.
Given the same number of people and equipment, the Barbarian Warrior with a stronger physique clearly had the advantage.
This was why Carter Zane acquired a large number of Barbarian Slaves.
Once these slaves were tamed, he would gain a large number of Barbarian Slave Warriors.
In the slave camp of Gray Valley County, after careful inventory by Lucrezia and her team, they discovered that there were over a thousand Barbarian Slaves and over three thousand Barbarian women and children.
These Barbarian Slaves were all wearing heavy iron shackles and handcuffs, clearly not yet tamed by Carter Zane.
It was no wonder that Carter Zane had not taken these slaves with him on the previous campaign.
They were like caged beasts, bound yet still exuding untamed wildness.
At this moment, over four thousand Barbarian Slaves were huddled together, anxiously awaiting their unknown fate.
The male Barbarian Slaves, though grim-faced, still held a glimmer of hope.
They knew their value; whether used as cannon fodder in war or forced into hard labor, since these great nobles had spent a fortune to purchase them, they would certainly not let them die easily.
However, the mood of the Barbarian women and children was entirely different. They were terrified and their eyes were filled with despair.
These Barbarian women, unable to perform heavy labor and lacking the ability to fight, were almost worthless in the eyes of the victors.
They knew their fate would be to live as slaves, enduring humiliation and torment.
These Barbarian women and children had heard and witnessed too many similar tragedies, and thus they felt extremely pessimistic about their upcoming fate.
They did not know how Lord Link, who had just killed Carter Zane and become their new master, would deal with them.
And the more than a thousand male Barbarian Slaves looked at these women and children with eyes full of sorrow and reluctance.
Among these women and children were their wives and their children.
However, the rules of slavery were so cruel and merciless; they were merely items transferred with the change of victors.
Lord Link stood aside, quietly observing all of this.
Lord Link stood tall on the high platform of the parade ground, looking down at the group of frightened Barbarian Slaves below.
Their eyes were filled with terror and confusion, and they were full of unknown fear for the future.
Lord Link took a deep breath, raised his voice, and spoke loudly: "You need not be alarmed, nor feel uneasy. For you, this is not a bad thing; on the contrary, it is a great thing. As long as you are loyal to this Lord, I promise you that what awaits you will definitely be much better days than ever before!"
His voice echoed across the empty parade ground, carrying an undeniable firmness.
With that, Lord Link did not linger, leaving directly.
He knew in his heart that it was more appropriate to hand over the management of these Barbarian Slaves to Lucrezia.
Lord Link's speech was very brief, not because he was perfunctory, but because he knew that saying more at this moment would be futile.
For these Barbarian Slaves who had endured much hardship and were full of doubts, only by allowing them to truly feel the changes that were about to happen in their lives would they truly understand that changing to a new master was not falling into an endless abyss of hell, but rather arriving at a paradise full of hope.
"Now, everyone, listen to my command!"
After Lord Link left, Lucrezia immediately stepped forward and began to deal with these Barbarian Slaves in an orderly manner, according to Lord Link's previous instructions.
She first sternly ordered these Barbarian Slaves to form neat lines and proceed to a clear river nearby.
She told them to thoroughly wash away the thick grime from their bodies, washing away their past hardships and humiliation.
These Barbarian Slaves initially hesitated and wavered, but under Lucrezia's firm gaze and the supervision of the Winterfell City Warriors, they slowly walked towards the river.
In the river, they scrubbed their bodies thoroughly, and the flowing water carried away the dirt from their bodies, as if also carrying away some of the gloom from their hearts.
After washing, the Winterfell City Warriors had already prepared uniform clothing.
Although these clothes were made of ordinary linen, they were washed clean and felt very soft.
If one smelled them up close, they could even detect a faint floral scent, which the Winterfell City washerwomen had specifically added during washing, precisely so that these slaves could feel a touch of warmth and care.
Immediately after, Lucrezia became busy again, arranging living quarters for these Barbarian Slaves.
She meticulously planned, ensuring that everyone would have a relatively comfortable living environment.
The Barbarian Slaves, who had once been displaced and homeless, looked at the clean and tidy houses before them, their eyes sparkling with disbelief.
After arranging their accommodations, Lucrezia ordered people to bring abundant food.
For these Barbarian Slaves, this was something they dared not even dream of.
They had not eaten a full meal for too long; since being captured, they had barely sustained their lives on meager rations every day.
At this moment, looking at the steaming, fragrant food before them, they no longer cared about their image and ravenously devoured it.
Afterward, under Lucrezia's command, Lord Link arranged enough personnel to orderly lead these Barbarian Slaves back to Winterfell City.
Winterfell City was vast and had many houses, so accommodating this group of Barbarian Slaves was no problem at all.
The moment these Barbarian Slaves stepped into Winterfell City, it was as if they had entered a whole new world.
The streets were clean and wide, people came and went, their faces beaming with smiles of contentment.
They couldn't help but wonder if, in this land, they could truly usher in a new life...