Chapter 557: Freemen

In every universe, all living beings reach a peak in their growth, yet there is always a limit—that is the racial limit!

Just like in his past life, no matter how hard ordinary people tried, they could never match an elephant’s strength, a leopard’s speed, or an eagle’s vision. These were limitations imposed by the rules of nature, unchangeable unless one transcended the ordinary.

Currently, Wu Ming, through his superior insight, has trained William’s body to the peak that an ordinary human can achieve.

His strength, speed, and recovery abilities are unparalleled. Even while wearing armor, he could impersonate a knight. However, there is one point—he has not yet transcended the ordinary!

Takur before him, although his strength is comparable to Wu Ming’s, has already obtained the seed of supernatural power and surpassed the racial limit!

For this reason alone, he is of great research value!

“The skin…”

Wu Ming wore a compassionate expression while performing treatment, but his eyes flickered rapidly, collecting massive amounts of data: “It’s quite tough, seemingly somewhat reinforced. Could it be the effect of that Knight’s Holy Oil?”

“The muscles are extremely developed, the main part of the enhancement, already breaking the limits of an ordinary person…”

“The bones are thick, like steel… No meridians or Qi were found… Could this be purely physical strength?”

He noticed the wound on Takur’s lower back, no bigger than a little finger, not very deep, yet surrounded by a purple ring, clearly poisoned.

“Takur’s strength and constitution are truly amazing…”

Wu Ming clearly remembered the strength of that village he had seen before. To have produced that swordsman and the female archer, their leader must have been a powerful figure.

Even such a figure was beheaded by Takur. Unfortunately, at that time, Wu Ming was focused on his own battlefield and didn’t pay much attention to Takur’s strength.

Takur, who accomplished such a feat, was later shot by a stray arrow, poisoned severely, and finally overwhelmed by a large group of ogres, resulting in his capture.

Moreover, his powerful constitution had already begun self-healing. If not for the cunning ogres administering too much Devil’s Bloom, he might have broken through on his own!

Wu Ming silently pondered, his expression making Takur somewhat uneasy.

He was a man, a completely normal heterosexual man!

Seeing another man staring at his body with shining eyes, what kind of feeling would that be?

At this point, Takur was already shivering inwardly.

“Li… listen, William!”

He immediately said, “I’m very grateful you saved me. Just help me return safely to Nia Town, and I promise you will gain more than you can imagine…”

Under the vague sense of danger, his tongue suddenly regained its fluency, especially emphasizing the word “safely.”

“Lord, it wasn’t just me who rescued you. There was also Andrew, Broken-Tooth Henry, and the big guys Gale and Heim… Unfortunately, the latter two were killed by the ogres…”

Wu Ming withdrew his gaze, speaking in a sorrowful tone.

Takur didn’t doubt this at all.

In his opinion, for a five-man squad to rescue him from the ogres was already a miracle! Losing one or two members was perfectly normal.

“They will be honored!”

Takur looked at Wu Ming: “My promise won’t change either!”

He intentionally concealed a piece of information—that with sufficient food and clean water, he could recover some mobility within half a day, ensuring his safety even further.

But this was his last trump card, naturally not something he would tell William.

“Thank you, my lord. I will risk my life to ensure your safe arrival at Nia Town!”

Wu Ming promised again, inwardly rolling his eyes: “After another day and night, you’ll probably recover seventy to eighty percent of your combat power, maybe even be able to move around in just six hours… So you’re still wary of me?!”

Of course, some things are better left unspoken, so he pretended not to know.

Afterwards, using the opportunity to take care of Takur, he immediately steered the conversation toward questions about knights and other supernatural beings.

All things considered, Takur was a real knight lord, half a noble, and possessed powerful strength. The information he had was much more reliable than that of a wandering bard, giving Wu Ming a feeling of getting more than his money’s worth.

…

Two days later, in Nia Town.

“Finally arrived!”

When they saw the town walls and watchtowers, both Takur and Wu Ming exhaled in relief.

Since Takur had recovered later on, and the two of them had a horse, their movement was much faster than when they had gone with the larger group.

They even rested for half a day, actually taking only a day and a half to return here.

“It’s Lord Takur!”

From afar, a group of soldiers spotted Takur and began cheering.

Wu Ming noticed that there were more people than before on the walls and watchtowers, obviously having heard the news from the front and fearing that the ogres might take advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack.

“I am Takur. Open the gates!”

Takur somewhat regained his former demeanor, looking at Wu Ming: “Dear William, I owe you my life. What reward do you desire?”

Through their time together, he had also come to realize that he had previously misunderstood William. Obviously, the latter had no such inclinations.

Looking at William now, he felt that the man was brave and resourceful, with excellent martial skills, even slightly better than his former squire. Takur had the intention of recruiting Wu Ming as his new squire.

After all, his two former knight squires had died in battle, their corpses having ended up in the ogres’ stomachs.

Thinking of this, his heart ached faintly.

Not out of sorrow for the two squires, but for his heirloom armor!

That armor was worth nearly half a manor, a family treasure! Now all of it had been taken by the ogres and dismantled into so many parts.

Even if he went on another campaign and wiped out that ogre tribe, he might not be able to recover it intact.

“If possible, I would like to become a freeman!”

Wu Ming slightly showed an expression of excitement, speaking solemnly.

Takur was startled, then nodded: “It’s also good to first obtain the status of a freeman. Leave it to me!”

Compared to becoming a squire, obtaining freeman status was not easy either, but it was a lighter favor as a reward. For Wu Ming, however, this was exactly what he needed the most.

After all, the former William was a serf under Lord Terry, having a semi-subordinate relationship with him.

This not only limited his ability to serve other lords but also required William to bring his own food and serve the lord for a period each year, fulfilling labor and military service.

But freemen were different.

They had considerable autonomy, more like guests residing in the territory, free to leave anytime. The freeman’s certificate allowed them to settle in any town on the Windfly Plains without being questioned by the guards.

Of course, they also didn’t have to endure the tax collector’s various forms of exploitation, and they could freely choose which lord to serve or work for.

If one had to classify people into ranks, freemen undoubtedly stood at the upper level of Nia Town, just below the knights. Even officials like Instructor Rorian, Tax Collector Feid, and the sheriff were merely freemen.

For an ordinary person to reach this level meant hitting a ceiling.

To become a noble, even just a semi-noble knight, required opportunity and luck, not something achievable through the efforts of just a few or even dozens of generations.

Creak!

There was a commotion on the city wall. After waiting for a moment, the two gates slowly opened, and a group of people escorted a nobleman out to greet them.

“My liege lord!”

Takur immediately dismounted, kneeling halfway and performing the knight’s salute.

“Oh! Dear Takur, I’m so glad you’re safe!”

It was Lord Terry who had arrived, just as William remembered—around thirty years old, dressed in bright, luxurious clothes embroidered with golden floral patterns, wearing a wig on his head, heavy makeup on his face, and even from a slight distance, a strong and garish perfume wafted toward Wu Ming, causing him to inwardly furrow his brow.

Lord Terry personally helped Takur up: “Hearing that you were attacked by savages really worried me!”

Obviously, he wasn’t a fool, deliberately replacing certain sensitive words like “captured.” Being captured by barbarians as a knight was considered dishonorable.

“Indeed… I was seriously wounded in the attack, and it was thanks to this militia captain, William, who saved me!”

Takur pointed at Wu Ming.

“Respected Baron, sir!”

Wu Ming stepped forward half a pace, feigning nervousness and bowing respectfully.

“Hmm, very good! You’re William, right? You will be rewarded!”

Lord Terry obviously didn’t remember this small soldier under his command, casually saying a few words before taking Takur’s hand, and the two walked through the gates together: “Takur, your return is truly a blessing from the gods. Poor Lady Sally almost fainted when she heard the news… But now everything is fine, her husband has returned intact. To celebrate this, let’s hold a banquet!”

Wu Ming humbly followed behind, vaguely sensing a gaze of slight surprise and astonishment directed toward him.

Following the gaze, he immediately saw Tax Collector Feid, who looked somewhat evasive. Wu Ming couldn’t help but smile, revealing eight pearly white teeth…

Wu Ming once again stepped into the lord’s manor.

In the grand hall, numerous male and female servants bustled about, spreading out white tablecloths, lighting silver candlesticks, and delivering roasted suckling pigs, golden, dripping roasted chickens, large chunks of white bread, and an endless stream of wine to the banquet tables.

Of course, Wu Ming did not have the privilege to enter the banquet hall.

After all, poor William was still just an ordinary tenant farmer, or rather, a mercenary captain. What was he in the eyes of these lords and noble ladies and gentlemen?

However, he was at least a meritorious figure, receiving a small favor—he could get a portion of white bread, two roasted chickens, and a bottle of wine in the kitchen.

After eating and drinking his fill, Wu Ming had no intention of continuing to linger with these nobles. He directly left the manor and returned to his small wooden hut.