I Become a Landlady in the Game World

Brooke looked at the crowd, which had calmed down because of Finn's words, and quickly organized his thoughts before responding.

"As long as you want to leave, there will be people outside to meet you."

When Brooke said this, he was very confident.

Since they came to Barnes Village to recruit people, they naturally considered every aspect carefully.

On the matter of meeting them, they had made thorough preparations outside the territory of Barnes Village and had prepared various plans.

"Really?" the crowd unconsciously blurted out in response.

Brooke's statement was very absolute.

"Really, deceiving you does me no good, after all, you all know I am in Hope Village, and my family is there; I can't run away." Brooke continued to assure.

He felt it was not appropriate to discuss their plans here.

If someone was unwilling to leave, it wouldn't be good if they accidentally revealed anything.

As long as they were willing to go out, as soon as they did, there would instantly be someone to meet them and ensure they had no chance to regret their decision, since nobody knew whether there might be spies among them.

This did not need to be specifically stated.

Finn, seeing Brooke swear so earnestly, was already quite convinced.

Not to mention the others.

Their minds had been stirred up from the outset, and now without any further concerns, they were becoming restless again.

"Will there be someone to meet us if we go out now?"

"Is there any sort of signal, maybe?"

"Or is there a designated place?"

"Or perhaps something as a token?"

"..."

Many people were still willing to give it a try, especially those who had no dependents; they could indeed just pick up and go.

"No need, you just have to follow the normal road out of the territory of Barnes Village, and there will be someone to guide you," Brooke replied.

Listening to Brooke's words, some people immediately headed toward their homes.

Although Brooke had said there would be people, if they wanted to leave, the sooner the better—what if they were stopped later and couldn't leave?

Additionally, they still needed to speak with their friends and family, as leaving together would provide companionship and make it less likely to be bullied in the new territory.

In a short while, a large part of the crowd dispersed.

Watching this scene, Brooke's mood also began to lift.

In his view, each resident represented an increase in "Contribution +1+1+1+1+1…"

At that moment, Finn approached Brooke.

"Do you have something you want to ask me?" Brooke said in a gentler tone as he looked at the young boy.

To him, this was still a child, albeit a somewhat intelligent one.

Finn's "troublemaking" had actually helped him.

Seeing Brooke's gentle tone, Finn's opinion of him rose a few notches.

People returning had also mentioned that the folks from Hope Village were very kind and helpful.

Though skeptical at first, hearing it repeatedly had made an impression on him.

"You mentioned that bringing more people to Hope Village benefits you. If I can help you bring people to Hope Village, is there also something in it for me?" Finn asked, his eyes filled with a hint of anticipation.

Brooke hadn't expected this young lad to be so keen and bold.

Certainly, others in the crowd must have thought the same, but no one asked Brooke, since they relied on him for escape; they couldn't risk taking his "livelihood". Besides, their main desire now was to leave Barnes Village, not to earn money.

But Finn was different; as an orphan, whose daily concern had been simply how to survive, he understandably had little savings.

Now facing a relocation, he naturally wanted to have some savings and mustered the courage to speak to Brooke.

Seeing Finn's anxious look, Brooke straightforwardly said, "Once you're in Hope Village, as long as you're willing to work, you'll definitely have earnings. Don't worry about not being able to survive; there are many opportunities for common people there."

Finn was slightly surprised by Brooke's response but persisted, "I still want to save some money."

Having food in hand puts one at ease.

He couldn't just think about depending on others.

Brooke immediately understood Finn's mindset; perhaps it was Finn's continuous effort to be self-sufficient that made people willing to constantly support him.

"Then you go ahead and pull in people! I'll keep the records," Brooke made a promise.

Hearing this, Finn's heart leaped with joy, and he continued to ask, "So it's okay no matter who, as long as they are residents?"

"Yes," Brooke nodded.

"Thank you." Leaving these words behind, Finn happily ran in a direction.

Watching the direction in which Finn had gone, Brooke paused for a moment.

Was that... the Slave Camp?

The Slave Camp was not unfamiliar to Brooke. After each Territory War, the residents of the opposing territory captured by his side gave his Lord the right to take these residents as slaves.

Generally speaking, Professionals were more valuable and were taken in as residents, but ordinary people, without any special skills, usually became slaves.

Most of these slaves were used as cannon fodder in the next Territory War.

Brooke had just threatened them with such an end.

However, he suddenly remembered that Hope Village did not have the custom of taking people as slaves.

During the last Territory War, when Fasal Village was used as cannon fodder to attack Hope Village, those captured were just sent to prison. Soon after, they were put into a road construction crew as unpaid workers. Once their Contribution was sufficient, they could regain their freedom.

After an initial unease, these people quickly integrated into Hope Village, now cursing Fasal Village alongside the others, even more bitterly than anyone else.

Hope Village truly had a unique charm in winning over people's hearts.

Thinking of this, Brooke couldn't help but smile.

If Finn succeeded, those slaves would also embrace a new life.

He left that to Finn and continued to work hard among the masses.

While Brooke continued his "masses" approach, Finn had already quickly run to the slums within the territory.

The slums were not a separate area, just a small row of makeshift wooden houses near the farmlands of the territory estates.

Slaves had no right to own property; their food and drink depended wholly on the estate managers, so their wooden houses were extremely simple, with beds made of layers of straw.

Under normal weather, their lives in such a place were bearable, but during special weather conditions, some would not survive.

At this moment, many slaves were relieved since it had been a long time since the last special weather, and their recent days had been somewhat better.

"Don't be lazy, work hard. If I come back and you haven't finished planting this field, you won't be eating tonight," the plantation manager stated before leaving outright.

It wasn't like they could watch them all day. They just needed to issue the tasks and wait for the right time to return. If it wasn't complete, the blame would fall on the slaves.

Once the plantation manager had left, Finn, who had been hiding, stealthily emerged and directly sought out a particular house.

"Frieda, Frieda..."

As he called out, a dark-skinned girl emerged from the crowd.

"Finn, what are you doing here?" Frieda quickly walked to Finn's side, nervously speaking, yet her face still held a trace of joy.

"I'm leaving Barnes Village," Finn declared.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Frieda's smile froze on her face.

The next moment, Finn continued, "I want to take you with me."

Hearing this, Frieda was stunned but then shook her head, "That's impossible, we are the property of the Lord..."

"You can escape."

"Escape to where? As long as we have these slave marks, no territory will accept us."

"There is one, there is a territory that will accept you!"

"..."

"That territory is Hope Village, it is now taking in people from Barnes Village. I asked their residents, they want anyone from Barnes Village! Come with me, and once we're there, you will be a resident too," Finn spoke excitedly.

At this moment, the surrounding slaves, hearing the loud words Finn had let slip, had their attention captured.

What did they hear?

Slaves could also become residents???

And Frieda, hearing these words, her eyes widened in disbelief, voicing the question others wanted to ask, "Really?"

"Really!" Finn declared robustly.

Then looking at the other slaves who were all ears, he repeated, "If you want to become residents, you can come with me too!"

The fists of the slaves clenched together, their hearts pounding vigorously.

Amidst their frenzied heartbeats.