The water vapor condensed into a uniform layer of white mist on the window glass, like a thin gauze curtain. From time to time, the cold wind banged against the window, creating a sharp contrast with the quiet burning of the stove in the room.
Scroll sat in front of the long desk in the City hall office, flipping through thick rolls of documents.
The contents of the documents had nothing to do with education, but the statistics of the various departments. Whenever she had time, she would write down these things so that everyone could refer to them. This was also one of her main jobs recently, since the Ministry of Education didn't have much to deal with. After all, the second round of assessment had just ended, and the next round would probably have to wait until next summer.
After working for His Highness Roland for half a year, she found that His Highness had a special fondness for data. He liked to convert everything into a long list of precise numbers to describe. Comparison, comparison, and comparison were all words that he often used. Now, all the members of the City hall were infected with this atmosphere.
As the population of Border Town increased, the relevant statistics also increased sharply. His Highness entrusted this task to her, and also jokingly called himself Border Town's database. Although it sounded like something like a warehouse, His Highness described it as particularly important. He said that with the database, he could calculate the next year's development, and formulate economic and military plans. Even all the future strategies of the territory would be based on data analysis.
"Lady Scroll." The wooden door of the office was suddenly pushed open, and a woman dressed as an apprentice came in. After saluting, she handed an application form to Scroll. "Hello, I am Fuya. Sir Carter of the Ministry of Justice wishes to obtain the information of the fugitives who passed the residency review last week. His Excellency has approved this application."
Because the number of times the branch ability could be used was limited, His Highness stipulated that when inquiring about complex data, he must first obtain Barov's consent. As for individual data, he could consult her at any time.
"Wait a moment." Scroll glanced at the signature on the form, then summoned the Book of Magic, and the corresponding content appeared on the page. "Well, give this to Mr. Carter."
"Thank, thank you." She carefully held the golden book that appeared out of thin air, her expression as if she was hugging a demonic beast.
"Don't worry. It won't hurt you." Scroll couldn't help but laugh. Most people would show such an expression when they first touched the Book of Magic. "You don't have to return the book to me. It will disappear on its own in four hours. However, according to the confidentiality rules, you can't give it to anyone other than Carter."
"Yes … my lord."
The other party bowed and left. The moment the door was pushed open, Scroll could see the bustling scene in the hall. The noise instantly poured into the room, but it quickly quieted down as the door was closed.
Today was the weekend, which was supposed to be a day of rest, but the City Hall was still as busy as ever. Everyone already knew that Border Town was about to be built, so they worked especially hard. Coupled with the overtime pay that His Royal Highness had proposed, no one was willing to stay at home at this time.
Scroll didn't quite understand His Highness's approach. In her opinion, the work of the City hall wasn't that heavy. Compared to the physical exhaustion of the miners and furnace workers, writing documents, statistics, and producing reports didn't require much effort, and these were the main tasks of the City hall. As long as His Royal Highness gave an order, everyone would gladly obey, so there was no need to increase their pay. For most of the nobles, his approach was too lenient.
His Royal Highness Roland didn't seem like a real lord. This was Scroll's opinion, but it was such a person who had led everyone to this point, which could be said to be a miracle.
She didn't think so because of her respect and trust, but because the data clearly explained everything: compared to a year ago, only the miners had a stable income in Border Town. Today, the lowest paid miners, furnace workers, and handymen were paid twice as much as before, while some new professions, such as steam plant assemblers and acid plant operators, were paid eight times as much, and their numbers were still growing.
As for the changes in the town itself, there was no need to mention it. If one hadn't lived here all the time, it would be hard for anyone to believe that the current town was the same place as a year ago.
Scroll rubbed the handwriting on the document. She couldn't imagine what the territory under His Royal Highness' control would look like in the future, but she believed that it would be a road full of hope and surprises.
"Miss Scroll," the wooden door was pushed open again, and this time it was His Royal Highness' personal guard who came in, "His Royal Highness wants to see you."
…
Back on the third floor of the castle, Scroll saw His Royal Highness sorting out the manuscript in his hands.
"Do you need me to record these things?" She pulled back her black hair, which had been messed up by the cold wind, and tied it behind her head, and took the initiative to ask.
"Yes, in order to write this, I used up at least half of my brain cells," the prince rubbed his neck and muttered some words that were difficult for her to understand. "Even if it was common knowledge at that time, I could only make up a rough idea, and some of the formulas had to be derived by myself."
Scroll had long been accustomed to this, so she ignored those strange words and curiously picked up the manuscript. She saw that the words on the cover were in an unprecedented orange color, and they were also made up of a string of words, which together meant calculus.
After flipping through two pages, she gave up the idea of trying to understand the meaning of the title and concentrated on memorizing the contents. Compared to the equations she had learned before, she found that there weren't even numbers in the formulas on the cover, only strange symbols, just like a new set of words. Perhaps only Anna and Tilly would be interested in pondering this kind of thing.
"By the way," Roland opened his mouth and asked, "What's the current per capita income of the residents?"
"The lowest is ten silver royals per month, and the highest is forty silver royals," Scroll replied while memorizing the calculus. "But to calculate the average, I need to use the Book of Magic, which I've already used today."
"It doesn't matter, just give me the results the day after tomorrow." Roland waved his hand. "I need to use this value to determine the cost of water and heating for the residents. The collective heating project will officially start in a week, and when it's completed, even if it's a long winter, this place will be as warm as spring."
"A Neverwinter city that doesn't fear the cold, this is also part of the miracle," she thought. "If there's no other task, I can give it to you tomorrow."
"Tomorrow … I hope you can turn the Book of Magic into a storybook." Roland smiled and shook his head. "As long as it's something that Anna hasn't read before."
"Storybook?" Scroll was slightly startled, and then immediately understood. "Tomorrow is Miss Anna's …"
"The Day of Awakening." The prince nodded.
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