Chapter 57: A New Follower

After unleashing her sweeping attack, Perrin collapsed to the ground, utterly spent. Facing Wolf, the werewolf who paid no heed to the gruesome wound on his hand, she finally bowed her head. "I concede! Now you may do with me as you wish—I admit defeat, both in heart and words!"

As she spoke, she raised her sword with both hands in Jazin's direction.

"Magnificent! Lord Wolf is truly unrivaled!" Amber was beside himself with excitement, as if he had won himself. "I absolutely must learn combat techniques from Lord Wolf!"

"Foolish boy! Lord Wolf is of the werewolf tribe, his fighting prowess is innate—how could you ever hope to learn that?" Old Harlin sighed, giving his son a gentle smack on the head.

"I don't care, I still want to learn from Lord Wolf!" Amber insisted, his enthusiasm undampened.

"Jin!" Tina turned to Jazin, speaking in broken Common and with gestures, "You promised me you wouldn't kill her, right?"

"Yes," Jazin nodded.

"Then are you going to treat her like merchandise and sell her at the slave market?" Tina pressed on. "A female warrior like her would fetch a good price. But if you do that, it would be too cruel!"

"That wouldn't be right," Jazin replied. "I won't treat people as commodities to be traded."

"I understand now!" Tina breathed a sigh of relief, then walked over to Perrin and took her sword. "Jin has decided your fate!"

"Speak," Perrin lifted her head, her expression blank, as if the sentence were not for her at all.

"Jin will not kill you, nor will he sell you at the slave market," Tina said with a smile.

"I understand," Perrin replied. She struggled to her feet and, with faltering steps, knelt on one knee before Jazin. "By the name of the God of War, I, Perrin, accept the result of this duel and submit to the victor’s command. From this day forth, I shall follow you and never betray!"

"What did she say?" Jazin didn’t understand and could only look to Tina for help.

Tina came over and did her best to explain: "According to the duel’s rules, the victor has the right to kill, sell, or recruit the loser. Since you forgo killing and selling her, she is bound by the rules to become your follower. She’s sworn by the God of War—she will never betray you!"

Piecing together Tina’s halting words and gestures, Jazin finally understood. So, she was now his subordinate? Though still far from Wolf’s level, at least she was a human from this world who could use area attack skills! All things considered, that wasn’t so bad.

Thinking this, he couldn’t help but smile. “These duel rules aren’t bad at all!”

“If you agree to accept her as your follower, place her sword atop her head,” Tina instructed, handing Perrin’s sword to him. “If you don’t want her as a follower, you may kill or sell her as you wish.”

“Tina, I’d rather not hear such frightening words from you,” Jazin replied with a gesture, then took the sword and lightly tapped it on Perrin’s head.

Perrin looked up at him impassively and said, “May the God of War protect you!”

“Is that all?” Jazin asked.

“Yes,” Tina nodded. “From now on, she’ll be your follower, just like me!”

“No, you’re you.” Jazin gently cupped Tina’s small face and kissed her with a smile. “She’s a follower. You’re my wife.”

Tina, understanding just enough of his words, immediately blushed and smiled, both shy and delighted.

“The duel is over. Everyone, go about your business!” Jazin waved his hand.

Tina translated his words, sending her parents and Amber’s family back to their own affairs. She then asked what to do with Perrin—should she be locked up again or otherwise dealt with? It seemed she couldn’t be taken out for now, as she was too weak and, unlike Wolf, unable to heal her wounds on her own.

After a moment’s thought, Jazin asked Tina to take Perrin to rest in their own house.

Perrin had challenged for her freedom; though she lost, it wouldn’t be right to put her back in a cell. Besides, Jazin fully trusted Tina’s word—if Perrin had sworn loyalty, she would never betray him.

He crafted a bed in an empty spare room, leaving other furnishings for later. Perrin, expressionless throughout, allowed Tina to help her upstairs and lay her down, where she soon fell into a deep sleep.

“Let’s head out!” As planned, Jazin, Wolf, and Tina mounted their triceratops, taking a squad of kobold crossbowmen and patrolmen, and set off to scout the area, gathering detailed intelligence around the base.

Wolf’s regenerative powers were formidable. Riding atop the triceratops, he barely had to move, and the wounds on his arms quickly faded.

The patrolmen advanced ahead, alert for danger. At the first sign of hostile creatures, they would give warning.

“Jin, look!” Though her accent was off, Tina’s Common was still intelligible to Jazin.

Following the direction she pointed, they discovered a small grove of wild fruit trees, each about as tall as a one-story house, bearing fruit much like kiwis from Earth.

“Samiki!” Tina exclaimed happily. “Food, fruit, delicious!”

“Samiki?” Jazin clapped his hands, and all the kobold crossbowmen scrambled up the trees to gather the fruit.

“Here!” Taking the samiki from the kobolds, Jazin handed one to Tina with a smile, then tossed a few to Wolf.

“Bah!” Wolf spat out a bite in disgust, then looked at Jazin. “Meat tastes better!”

Jazin took a bite himself—crisp and sweet. Tina, nestled in his arms, smiled in delight, clearly enjoying it. Only Wolf’s palate seemed different.

Jazin stored the gathered samiki in his virtual pack, then took out white paper crafted from wood and plant fiber at the workbench, and marked the spot with a feather quill: “This is a wild samiki orchard. Must clear the weeds and care for the trees soon!”

The group pressed on, soon reaching an open-pit mining area. Using his ore detection skill, Jazin found not only abundant iron and copper, but also a small vein of gold.

“Better than nothing!” he wrote on the map. “Mine No. 2—small gold deposit.”

Circling the base, the white paper gradually filled with resource locations: wild fruits—samiki, bona, kuku; a larger No. 2 mine with gold; and creature populations—giant centipedes, mushroom sprites, landbirds, three-legged deer, giant caterpillars, huge pythons, and a variety of river fish.

Fortunately, the giant centipede and python lairs were far enough away to pose no threat to the base. The wild kobold den had already been wiped out by the pythons, so at least for now, this region was safe!