Early in the morning, Roland was awakened by the cold. He climbed out of the cold quilt, put on a wool coat, and immersed his feet in a warm bucket of water.
This was a corrupt privilege he could only enjoy as a prince. Every morning, the maid would put hot water beside his bed, in addition to a clean towel and hot milk, so that his body could instantly recover its warmth.
Of course, compared to the common practice of big nobles, he felt that he was already restrained enough. Originally, Prince Roland had brought the head maid Tyre with this idea, but unfortunately, he didn't get to enjoy it and died. Roland didn't like this practice, so he gave the vacant position to the old maid who was experienced in handling affairs. In fact, this choice was very correct. At present, there were many witches living in the castle, but she still managed to keep the castle in good order inside and outside.
The fire in the fireplace had long been extinguished, leaving only white flying ashes. Behind him, a cold wind blew through the gap in the window. It was so cold that it was hard to believe that it was still mid-autumn. Roland dried his feet and washed himself with another basin of hot water. Then he walked to the window and closed it, which had been open all night.
Although open fireplaces were very common in this era, he was still worried about the problem of carbon monoxide poisoning, so every night when he slept, he would leave a gap. In the first half of the night, the temperature inside could still be maintained in a warm state, but as the firewood burned out, in the early hours of the morning, it was no different from outside.
I have to find a way to solve this problem, Roland thought, otherwise, I won't be able to sleep in the future.
After breakfast, he took Nightingale, the Chief Knight, and a group of guards to the city wall area for a routine inspection.
There was a large grassland between the old and new walls, but now it had become a vast expanse of white. Walking on the thick snow, the soles of his shoes made crunching sounds.
Looking up, the sky was pale gray, and occasionally a snowflake would float into his neck, bringing a trace of coldness. He knew that this weather was likely to last until next spring … or even longer.
"How is the situation of the defense line?"
"It's much better than the last time," Carter Lannis looked relaxed, "Most of the soldiers of the First Army have been to the battlefield, and they also have revolving rifles. A section of the city wall that is about 100 meters long only needs ten people to guard it, and it's enough to suppress the demonic beasts circling below. Moreover, the new city wall was half a meter taller than the previous stone wall. It would be difficult for the wolves to leap onto the top of the city wall. It was completely a target practice for the soldiers. As long as there are no hybrid demonic beasts, these monsters won't be able to cross the line of defense. "
"That's good."
Roland climbed up the city wall. Along the way, the soldiers held their heads high and saluted him. Based on this spirit alone, they were like two different people compared to the militia soldiers from before. At that time, although everyone stood on top of the wall and seemed to thrust their wooden spears in unison, it was only a conditioned reflex formed from repeated training. Their eyes were filled with numbness, and their movements were stiff. If one looked closely, one could even see that most of their legs were trembling slightly.
Now, the eyes of the soldiers were filled with confidence. After saluting, they turned their gazes to the front and continued to monitor the battlefield.
Walking along the city wall to the side of the Concealing Forest, Roland found that it was a lot more lively.
The temporary residences built for the serfs and the fugitives were arranged in this area. Looking down from the top of the wall, one could see a long slope arranged in parallel, like an undulating wave line. Inside each raised slope, there were more than ten rooms, and the structure was exactly the same as a cave. The thick soil walls could maintain the indoor temperature, and with the addition of a heating device, a fire bed, and a linen cover, one could keep away from the cold.
The entire residential area was divided into two large areas. The area close to the city wall was called the Western District, which was used to house the fugitives. The Eastern District, which was far away from the city wall, was divided into serfs.
Every day, the City Hall would send people here to distribute food and charcoal, and the fugitives also needed to provide logistics for the First Army guarding the city wall. As for the serfs, most of them had already saved enough wheat for themselves. Except for some of the more active people who went out to look for odd jobs to earn extra money, the others basically rarely left their warm houses.
At this moment, at the junction of the Eastern and Western District, a fierce dispute suddenly came. Roland looked towards the direction of the voice and saw a group of people surrounding the main road in the center of the residential area, arguing loudly about something. One of them was wearing a blue and white uniform, and seemed to be a clerk of the City Hall. Soon, the quarrel escalated into a fight, and the two groups of people were fighting each other. The scene was chaotic.
"Your Highness?" Carter asked.
"Let's go take a look," Roland nodded.
The group of people arrived at the scene of the disturbance, and the Chief Knight took the lead, rushing straight into the fighting crowd. In two or three moves, the most violent people were knocked down to the ground. One after another, Roland's personal guards pulled out their swords and shouted for everyone to stop. The scene was soon under control.
After discovering that the person who had arrived was the Lord, the two groups of people simultaneously knelt on the ground.
"What's your name?" Roland looked at the clerk who had been punched twice in the face and frowned, "What happened here, who attacked you first?"
"Your Highness, I'm Khoya Jarvis," he shouted while covering his face, "It was that damn fugitive who attacked me first, the guy dressed in brown sackcloth! I was still distributing food when he pounced on me like a vicious dog. "
The fugitive pointed at by Khoya raised his head and said, "Your Highness, it's not like what he said. These people colluded with the serfs to extort us, they charged us money for every oatmeal. When you took us in, you clearly said that it would be distributed free of charge! "
Roland was a little surprised, the fugitives from the Eastern Region had already been sorted out by the City Hall. All the craftsmen, those with special skills, or those who were literate, had been moved to the First Ring. It was reasonable to say that the remaining people were ordinary civilians. However, from the tone of his voice and the words he used, it didn't seem like something a civilian would say.
In comparison, the member of the City Hall, whose mouth was full of insulting words like "damn" and "vicious dog", was really disappointing. Since he had a name … there was an eighty to ninety percent chance that he was one of Duke Ryan's knights.
"I did say that before you were officially incorporated into Border Town, your oatmeal and shelter were free of charge," Roland repeated in front of all the fugitives, "Now, these words are still valid!"
"Your Highness is merciful!"
"Long live the Lord!"
"Thank you, Your Highness!"
The fugitives kowtowed and shouted.
Khoya Jarvis's face suddenly became livid.
"However, fighting and wounding people in the territory is also a violation of the law, especially attacking a member of the City Hall," Roland signaled to the guards, "Arrest all the fugitives and serfs who started the fight and bring them to the castle, I will personally judge this fight."
He paused, then looked at Khoya with great interest, "I also want to ask you, what's the matter with the charged oatmeal."
(To be continued. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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