The sunset glow was as red as the burning clouds. A cool breeze blew gently, making people feel relaxed and happy. Brettel City had been repaired during this period of time. All the holes and scars had been repaired.
The two tall magic crystal cannons at the city gates flickered with a faint red light under the sunset glow, as if they could spit out huge tongues of flame at any time.
Helen Tina, who'd been forced by Han Shuo to sign a contract, looked at the two magic crystal cannons that should've belonged to her at the city gates. She felt very upset. Han Shuo was all smiles as he stood on the city walls. Holding the contract, he waved goodbye and said, "Honorable Duke Helen, we won't be escorting you."
Helen Tina cursed all eighteen generations of Han Shuo's ancestors in her heart. She was worried that Helon Duchy might rebel at any time. Her mental strength recovered, and she slowly used a levitation spell to fly into the sky. Her bright eyes glared fiercely at Han Shuo for a while, then she gritted her teeth and said in a low voice, "Greedy demon, I will definitely come back for revenge!"
"Have a safe trip. Remember to pay me back the gold coins you owe me within three months!" Han Shuo smiled wholeheartedly as he shook the contract in his hand, as if reminding Helen Tina not to renege on her debt.
"Humph!" Helen Tina angrily turned her head and slowly flew in the direction of Helon Duchy like a fiery shadow. Under the illumination of the sunset glow, this fiery shadow was like a rainbow cutting through the sky.
"My Lord is really too evil. Not only did he take possession of this poisonous beauty, he even extorted a large amount of gold coins. He really eats people up without spitting out the bones!" Chester shook his head and sighed. His gaze towards Han Shuo was full of worship.
"I didn't think that this Helen Tina would be so beautiful. No wonder Benedict of Narsen Duchy is so infatuated with her. What a pity, what a pity. He definitely didn't think that my Lord would be one step ahead of him and pluck this flower." Dick laughed mischievously, taking pleasure in other people's misfortune. He maliciously speculated about Benedict's ugly expression when he found out about this.
"Lord Castellan, I believe that with Helen Tina's viciousness, she won't be satisfied after she leaves. Mm, as long as she releases the news that our Brettel City has four hundred thousand gold coins, I think the seven grand duchies will definitely have greedy hearts. "Faulke, who was leaning against Han Shuo, said worriedly to Han Shuo after Helen Tina left.
Han Shuo frowned and pondered for a while as he looked at the rosy sky. He then looked at the blurry shadows of the mountains surrounding Brettel City. He said to Dick in the distance, "Dick, send some people to the surrounding mountains and invite the mountain chiefs to Brettel City. Tell them that I'm treating them to a meal."
"My Lord, the previous city lords of Brettel City were all mediocre and incompetent people, never able to help them resist the bandits. Therefore, they have never had a good impression of Brettel City's city lords. Naturally, there's no reverence for them. I can pass the news to them, but I'm afraid that they'll look down on us and refuse to attend the banquet. "Dick had an awkward expression on his face, hesitating for a moment before explaining to Han Shuo.
"That was then and this is now. Fulkin of Mount Tali will definitely come. If he passes the news to the others before coming, I believe that the chiefs of the other mountains who know of our strength will also be willing to come down. Heh heh, the past is the past, the present is the present. All of Brettel City is my territory, and they are all my subjects. If these people really don't know what's good for them, I'll let them know how to respect a city lord. "Han Shuo said unhurriedly to Dick.
Dick nodded and replied, "Alright, I'll definitely inform them."
Dick was also a mountain person. He'd been in contact with the mountain people in the surrounding mountains before Han Shuo had come to Brettel City. He'd secretly maintained a good relationship with them. Dick originally didn't hold any hope for Han Shuo, but now that he'd witnessed Han Shuo's strength and methods, he understood that if his unruly compatriots provoked Han Shuo, they wouldn't be able to bear the consequences.
Therefore, as soon as Han Shuo's words fell, Dick made up his mind to persuade his unruly compatriots to come. He didn't want them to die under Han Shuo's undead army.
After Dick left, Han Shuo said to Faulke, "Use the gold coins in our hands and do everything in our power to arm the entire Brettel City. I've already commissioned some trading companies to transport war chariots, catapults, kerosene, goblin missiles, and other firepower equipment. All you need to do is have the masons tamp down any weak spots on the city walls and increase the height of the city walls that aren't high enough. "
"City Lord, the craftsmen are already working overtime to complete these tasks. What we currently lack the most are manpower and soldiers with combat strength. Brettel City has experienced the poison of war and the total number of citizens in the city is only about fifty thousand. Compared to some large cities with millions of citizens, the population is pitifully small. We've been recruiting soldiers recently, but we've only recruited two hundred or so soldiers despite such a great temptation. The number of people is far from enough!
With such a large Brettel City, it's basically impossible to rely on the three thousand soldiers in the city to defend the four city gates. Even if we have powerful firepower, we still need people to operate it! If we can't solve the population problem, I think Brettel City will always be this lifeless. " Faulke was indeed worthy of being a knight who had experienced the fires of war. He could see what Brettel City lacked the most with a single glance. This was also the biggest weakness of Brettel City.
This was indeed a difficult problem. Han Shuo also understood that what Brettel City lacked the most right now was manpower. However, he didn't have a good way to solve this problem. Brettel City had always been in the flames of war. After so many years, some of the residents who had come out of Brettel City had already compared it to hell on earth. Not only the original residents, but also the civilians from other cities who knew of Brettel City would probably not be willing to move to Brettel City.
What Han Shuo could do now was to first ensure the safety of Brettel City, and then start from all aspects. Through good policies, safety conditions, and benefits that would be beneficial to their development, he would slowly attract residents from other cities to settle in Brettel City.
However, this wasn't a process that could be accomplished overnight. It would indeed require a period of transition. At the very least, he had to eliminate the threat of the seven grand duchies. Only then would he slowly let bystanders understand that Brettel City was indeed safe. Only then would he be able to dispel the panic of the fearful.
"Yes, I know this is indeed our biggest problem. We indeed have no way to attract residents to move in for the time being. However, as long as we can stop the seven grand duchies from raiding and spread the news that Brettel City is safe, some of the homesick residents will be willing to come back. Starting from all aspects, I believe that Brettel City will become prosperous sooner or later.
"Currently, we lack some manpower and soldiers. We can start from the mountain people in the surrounding mountains. This is also the reason why I had them come to Brettel City. I heard from Dick that there are thirty to forty thousand mountain people in the surrounding mountains. Among them, there are actually about ten thousand who have the ability to fight. If we can grasp and make use of this force, in addition to our excellent equipment and six magic crystal cannons, we will have a higher chance of success in resisting the invasion of the seven grand duchies. "Han Shuo had long since considered this problem and patiently explained to Faulke the purpose of summoning the mountain people.
"Since my Lordship has already considered everything thoroughly, then I won't say anything more. In addition, young master Lawrence will soon send over a few people who are experts in managing the city's finances. Brettel City's military and political affairs should also be on the right track." Faulke said respectfully.
Nodding, Han Shuo said faintly, "Yes, I'll leave these matters to you for the time being."
Currently, Brettel City had a hundred businesses waiting to flourish and was extremely lacking in all kinds of talents. The military and political talents that Lawrence had arranged could indeed play an important role. However, these people were all arranged by Lawrence. Once the military and political talents took control of important positions in Brettel City in the early stages, it would be difficult to remove them in the future.
If this situation was allowed to continue and Han Shuo kept using Lawrence's people to manage the military and political affairs, this kind of unwitting infiltration could slowly turn Brettel City into Lawrence's. Han Shuo was now much more mature than before and understood this drawback. It was a pity that he didn't have any of his own people that he could use. It was hard to guess whether Lawrence was doing this out of good intentions or harboring ulterior motives. Now was the time when he was most lacking in talents, so he could only leave things as they were.
However, Han Shuo had already started to consider the future and was truly considering using some of his own trusted aides. Whether it was training or digging, this wasn't a simple matter. With this thought in mind, Han Shuo gradually walked back to his room.
After staying in the city lord's mansion for two days, Han Shuo supervised the progress of some of the city's defensive facilities during the day and diligently practiced his magical arts and magic at night. However, the further one progressed in magical arts, the more difficult it became. Just relying on this kind of boring daily practice wouldn't make much progress. On the other hand, Han Shuo, who had the mental strength of a grand magus, could make rapid progress in magic.
Therefore, Han Shuo currently put more of his energy into the study of necromancy magic. Using the secret room in the city lord's mansion, Han Shuo could easily teleport to the Cemetery of Death. The Cemetery of Death was the most suitable place for necromancers to practice cultivation. Not only did it have a dense aura of death, but it also had a complete set of magical tools and laboratories. Every night, Han Shuo would stay in the Cemetery of Death alone and capture some living magical beasts to practice the "Soul Tremor" magic spell.
Now that Han Shuo's magical arts had reached the separate magic realm, his soul had transformed into an even more mysterious consciousness. The consciousness had some very wondrous uses. Based on his research on the soul and his memories of magical arts, Han Shuo gradually felt that the understanding of the soul in necromancy magic and the changes in the consciousness had some similarities.
Especially at this realm, the consciousness that could sense the presence of all living beings in the surroundings, create illusions on people's souls, and plant magical marks on people's souls seemed to have some wondrous similarities with the mental strength that could communicate with the magical elements that were everywhere in this world. On a sudden whim, Han Shuo even considered whether magical arts and magic could be fused together, complementing each other's advantages and disadvantages.
However, for the current Han Shuo, it was still very difficult to implement this wondrous idea. This was because Han Shuo had yet to reach true proficiency in any field. Wanting to thoroughly master the two would be a long and arduous process of exploration. It looked like he wouldn't be able to implement it in a short period of time.
"Soul Tremor" was a magic that used mental strength to attack the opponent's soul. Han Shuo had used living magical beasts to experiment for two days. Adding on to his understanding of mental attacks, he had gradually grasped some of the essentials of the magic.
On the third day, Han Shuo walked out of the cemetery of death. The warm sunlight shone on his body, giving Han Shuo a sense of contentment and comfort. As Han Shuo was inspecting the progress of Brettel City, Dick appeared out of nowhere and respectfully walked to Han Shuo's side, saying, "My Lord, I have already sent out your invitation as per your instructions. The five mountain chiefs in the surrounding mountains have all agreed to attend the banquet in Brettel City in seven days."
Smiling slightly, Han Shuo looked deeply at Dick and said meaningfully, "Dick, you are also a mountain person. I know that you will definitely not be disappointed if I leave this matter to you."
Of course, with your methods, I'm afraid that even the mountain chiefs who dare not come will be met with misfortune. I don't want to become the mountain people's sinner. Dick thought inwardly, but his expression was respectful as he said with a smile, "My Lord's annihilation of the Red Beard bandits has given the mountain people confidence. I think that they will definitely be filled with hope when they attend the banquet this time."
"Perhaps they are a bit more afraid, haha!" Han Shuo chuckled as he looked at Dick. How could he not know what the mountain people were thinking? Dick had said everything, so they naturally knew what to do.
"Eh … indeed, a bit, heh heh!" Dick replied with a dry laugh. Looking into Han Shuo's eyes, Dick felt as if Han Shuo knew everything he was thinking. He couldn't help but feel a bit apprehensive.
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