Enemies Are All Nourishment for My Fungi

Oona quickly curtsied with her brother, watching Ye Nai walk away before they hurried to set up their tent.

The Wizard Academy did not cultivate pampered young lords and ladies, so nobles could only bring one personal servant to take care of their daily life; for all other wizard-related affairs, students had to do things themselves. The first lesson for new students was to take them to the mountains for an experience, where countless of them had their pants scared off by the roars of mutant beasts several kilometers away.

Therefore, Oona knew how to independently set up a tent, and under her direction, her brother was responsible for assisting. The siblings quickly set up the first tent and then the second, planning to set up all three tents before moving in furniture and daily necessities.

The Duke's family was originally complacent about obtaining the most supplies, but seeing the empty-handed siblings still getting a heap of items from the Great Witch, they felt a surge of dissatisfaction.

Having observed this process, both the Baron's family and the Knight's family had an idea, no longer complaining about this or that but quickly writing a list with increased quantities.

The Duke's family had no paper and pen, but they were reluctant to bow their heads to the Great Witch.

Looking at each other they hesitated until the Duke's third daughter-in-law stepped forward, approached Ye Nai, and gave a curtsy and an apology.

This third daughter-in-law had never confronted Ye Nai directly, and since Ye Nai showed her a bit of a good face, she gave her a set of paper and pen. Wanting an extra set was out of the question, given that she was the only one from her family there.

"What is your name?" Ye Nai asked after giving her the items, as everyone in the family had the same surname, and individual names were needed for identification.

"I am Ramee."

"Alright, Ramee, since you came to me for the items, should I take it that your family has designated you to represent them and handle liaisons with me, and that in the future, I should approach only you for any matters concerning your family?"

"This..."

"I won't make it difficult for you. Don't take the items yet. Go back and ask, you've seen it, the women who stepped up for those two families are the ones who have a say in their homes. Do you have a say in yours?"

"I don't hold sway, I'll go back and ask."

Ramee was helpless; her husband was the Duke's third son, with an older brother as the heir. Although she lived with her husband at home accompanying the parents, the decision-maker in the house was still her mother-in-law.

The elderly Duke couple saw their daughter-in-law return empty-handed with faces longer than a horse's. Learning that the pen and paper signified the authority of the head of the household, responsible for daily liaison with the Great Witch, conveying her commands, and ensuring smooth execution, they realized that a mere ordinary family member, lacking authority, couldn't achieve this.

Thus the Duchess rose, her face wearing the last vestige of noble pride, and accompanied by her daughter-in-law, went to Ye Nai to collect two sets of paper and pen.

As they turned to head back, the Knight's family approached with their list ready.

Ye Nai frowned upon seeing the quantity; it wasn't that she couldn't supply, but the request was excessive, clearly testing her limits.

Yet she didn't show anger, but instead took out her red pen and directly modified the list, then stood up and led the Knight's family to their campsite, never once looking up at them throughout the process.

Would a slave master care if the slaves cursed them a hundred and eight times in their hearts every day?

No, what the slave master cared about was only that the slaves feared them, dared not rebel, worked well, and then picked out the meek and capable to promote, allowing them to manage amongst themselves.

Ye Nai wasn't really skilled at management at all; she hadn't even been a group leader throughout her childhood. But what did that matter? With so many historical examples to draw from, could she not mimic the slave owner's tactics from the books and treat the prisoners as slaves?

Besides, as long as she kept it secret, who would know that she was keeping prisoners?

Walking to a spot about twenty meters from Oona's tent, Ye Nai stopped, took out supplies according to the gender and number of people in the Knight's Family, and gave them an extra tent to use.

Their family was large, so she provided two ton-barrel water towers.

Giving more water towers was also to avoid the need to frequently come over and refill; the best solution was still to use a high-powered outdoor water purifier, the kind that could produce one hundred tons of clean water a day.

Besides, buying it back in her country wasn't realistic; she had to think of another solution.

The Knight's Family didn't dare to argue or demand more supplies when Ye Nai crossed out the quantities they had written; they knew she had seen through their intentions.

After distributing the supplies, Ye Nai instantly disappeared from the spot, reappearing in front of the table and chairs where she had previously eaten.

A kilometer's trip was too much for her to walk back and forth; it was the perfect opportunity to show off her strength and discourage the prisoners from thinking she was approachable and easy to rebel against.

Before she could sit down, the Baron's family arrived with a list.

Ye Nai instantly teleported them to a spot about twenty meters away from where the Knight's Family was.

As the Great Witch appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, bringing a crowd with her, the Knight's Family scrambled together like startled chicks, squatting on the ground and holding onto the tightly tied military tent in disarray.

Upon landing, the Baron's family felt so dizzy that they all ended up sitting on the ground, unable to stand, evidently never having experienced such a thing before.

It was then that Ye Nai started to examine the list they had submitted, altering some quantities of excessively requested supplies before tossing the items down in a clatter, with two water towers, just like the Knight's Family.

Nina was picked up from the ground, and after Ye Nai instructed her to keep an eye on the water towers, she disappeared again and returned to her table and chairs.

She had hardly landed when she saw the Duke's family fighting; a son had slapped his own wife while young children nearby cried in fear.

Ye Nai immediately made the legs of the whole family go weak, causing them all to fall and sit on the ground.

"Why the noise? Don't you see I'm busy? Are you thinking of rebelling?"

"No, no, we aren't thinking of rebelling, it was just a minor verbal dispute," Ramee quickly denied, covering her swollen face.

"You are now prisoners; recognize your status. Don't entertain unrealistic thoughts; no one is coming to save you. You no longer possess any noble privileges. In fact, each one of you is an individual; there's no concept of family here, just like you treated my people of Blue Star in the occupied areas. The only purpose of age-appropriate males and females being together is to have children, but they aren't called a family."

The Duke was furious and his eyes bulged, but he didn't voice any objection, knowing what she said was true. They had indeed managed the native inhabitants of the occupied lands in the same way: natives handled all the hard and dirty work, and there, even the lowest-ranking soldiers lived comfortably with daily attendants. If any newly born native children were gifted, they were slightly trained just enough to gain some abilities but not to be overpowerfully useful, which helped them manage the natives better.

"We could have settled everything before nightfall, but since you wanted to make trouble, as a punishment, you'll spend tonight just like this. After all, you grabbed so much of the supplies, I assume that should be enough for you."