"The ship is here."
A sail appeared at the end of the light gray sea line. There are no other merchant ships passing through here, so all you can see are ships from Sleeping Island.
"Yeah," Tilly replied softly, her voice mixed with the noise of the sea scouring the shoal, which seemed to be indistinct. With his back to himself, Roland couldn't see her expression.
"Let's go," Andrea's tone was somewhat regretful, "I like your territory quite a bit, and I don't know if I can make ice cream bread as delicious as here after returning to Sleepy Island."
In addition to an agreed-upon bolt-action rifle, Roland also gave her the recipe for the ice cream, "As long as there are eggs and milk, the taste will not be too bad, wait for your next visit to Border Town... No, I'll have better food here when I'm in Neverwinter."
"Better than ice cream?" Andrea held her blond hair down and smiled, "The lord can't lie, I remember what you said."
"If you are so reluctant, just stay here," Ashes said, "His Royal Highness Tilly will definitely not mind that there is a guy who can eat like this, but Sleeping Island can't let you open your stomach to eat."
"Oh, is that right? You won't have the ice cream after you go back," Andrea glared at her. "You can eat salted fish for me every day and drink fish soup."
During their routine bickering, the sailboat gradually approached the shore, and from the pink flag fluttering at the top of the mast, it could be seen that it was the Pretty Beauty.
Shawei summoned an invisible barrier, and traveled between the shoal and the sailboat, carrying the books and supplies that were to be brought to the fjord on the boat little by little. Finally, the card-playing trio and the fifth princess were transported. Just as Tilly stepped onto the barrier, Roland stopped her.
"... What's the matter?" She turned her head, with mixed emotions surging in her eyes.
Roland is not good at the occasion of parting, calling out her name is just subconscious, and finally he took a deep breath and said loudly, "If you encounter any problems on Sleeping Island, you can tell me at any time, and I will also Find a way to help you solve it. In addition, Neverwinter will always welcome you!"
"..." Tilly smiled slightly after a while, "Thank you, so do you."
"Goodbye, everyone." Andrea and Sha Wei waved.
Ashes didn't speak, but also waved with the two of them.
After saying goodbye to the witches, the barrier carried four people and quickly slid towards Pretty Beauty.
"What's wrong, I'm reluctant?" Nightingale's voice came from behind.
"It's just a pity, more than 300 witches... It would be great if they could all move to the West," Roland pretended to be relaxed.
"Yeah, then your sins will be even worse," Nightingale rolled his eyes at him.
"Ah... Sin?" Roland was startled.
"Why, isn't life here better than Sleeping Island?" Anna was also puzzled.
"You don't understand," she turned around and walked straight towards the hot air balloon. "This is the most annoying thing."
Looking at the other party's back, Roland breathed a sigh of relief. Two days after disappearing, Nightingale seemed to have returned to her previous state, which finally made him feel at ease.
"Let's go back too, there are still a lot of things to do," Wendy said with a smile.
"Yeah," Roland and Anna smiled at each other, held each other's hands, and walked towards the Distant Watch together.
…
Returning to the office, Roland spread out his notepad and began to think about the development direction of the territory in the new year.
The most important thing at the moment is undoubtedly two things.
The first is to push Tifeko off the throne to prevent him from continuing to consume the population potential of the kingdom with maddening pills. At the same time, it can greatly expand his prestige and prepare for the next unification of Greycastle.
The second is to digest Longsong Fortress as soon as possible, so that Neverwinter City can get on the right track as soon as possible.
Regarding the former, he had discussed many times with Iron Axe, Carter, and Thassa who was far away in the capital, and decided to launch the spring offensive at the end of April, which is the end of this month. At that time, it was the day when most cities started ploughing and sowing. The professional First Army would not be affected by the ploughing period, but it was different for the traditional aristocracy. At that time, a large number of people would be bound to the land, and no one would be affected. Be willing to risk future starvation to start the war. If the army suddenly appeared on the outskirts of the capital, the opponent could be caught off guard.
Now the steam engine factory, the ammunition factory and the cement ship shed are all working overtime to produce war materials, and the logistics work is also running at full speed. Now that the City Hall is fully staffed, the First Army is not the first time to go to war, whether it is the items that need to be prepared or the deployment. Both parties knew the plan, and Roland wasn't too worried about it.
Therefore, the focus of recent work should be on absorbing fortress resources.
Thinking of this, Roland summoned Barov, the chief executive, to the office.
"Have the industries in Changsong Fortress and surrounding territories been counted?"
He took out the small notebook he carried with him, "It's all here, Your Highness. The fortress' income mainly comes from mining and salt industries. Especially in the previous item, there is a high-quality gem mine in the west of Changsong Fortress near the Desperate Mountains. Its output accounts for more than half of the fortress' income."
"Gemstone mine?" Roland was not very interested in such luxury goods. "Don't the North Slope Mine also produce rough gemstones? Why was the town so poor when I came?"
"It's not the same, Your Highness," Barov said, rubbing his hands, "the gemstones in the North Slope Mine are produced along with other veins, and the quantity is very small, and it may not be used as raw materials for jewelry after being cut. But the gemstone mines in the fortress are different. , its rock wall is full of colorful stones, you can get a high-quality five-color stone by knocking on it, and you can sell dozens of golden dragons when you transport it to the capital. The output and quality are far from the North Slope. Mine can compare."
"Five-color stone?" he asked curiously, "what is it like?"
"It looks a little transparent, and it has no fixed color. Under the sunlight, it can reflect different luster, which can change from light green to orange-red. After cutting, it can even show multiple colors on a gemstone at the same time. Compared with ordinary It is more like the crystal of the sun.” Barov paused, “The five-colored stone of Graycastle, the cryolite of Eternal Winter, and the luminous stone of dawn are the most sought-after jewelry among nobles.”
It sounds pretty gorgeous, Roland thought, he will use it to make a ring for Anna in the future, but for people's livelihood construction, gem mines are of little significance. "Are there any other mineral resources?"
"The Maple Leaf Family and the Briar Rose Family each own an iron mine," Barov said, "and neither is as large as the North Slope Mine."
And these two territories are next to the desperate mountains. It seems that the mountains that span the four kingdoms are really a treasure trove. Roland thought that it may be necessary to bring Sylvie and explore along the foot of the mountain to discover Neverwinter City. ore reserves. After all, for industrial production, steel represents power. (.)