A funeral is being held on a wasteland to the southwest of Border Town.
It's not appropriate to call it wasteland. I don't know when, this piece of land that no one cares about has been built with a small wall of rubble, and the top of the wall is covered with thick snow. From a distance, it seems to be coated with a layer. Silver edge. Although it can be crossed with one foot, Fanner can't help but think of the border city wall when he sees it - they are all the same color and the same shape.
He had only heard of this kind of ceremony in the mouth of the traveling salesman. When a great noble or a member of the royal family died, the family of the deceased would gather at the cemetery, play mourning and music, accept the mourning of others, and finally bury the coffin in the ground. . The more noble the status, the greater the momentum.
Even the dead are more beautiful than the living. He thought enviously at the time, what if the people in Border Town died? Go to the hidden forest and dig a hole and fill it up. I don't know if the demonic beast digs out the corpse and eats it when the month of the demon arrives.
Death is no stranger to the residents of Border Town. Especially every winter when they go to Changsong Fortress to take refuge, everyone huddles in shacks in slums, dying of starvation and severe cold, disease and pain, that is the norm. No one has time to grieve, and it is better to wait for dawn to go to the center of the city to ask for more bread.
But today, His Royal Highness actually wants to hold a funeral for a soldier!
I heard that he was unfortunately thrown to the ground and bit off half of his head while chasing a mixed-species demon beast.
Fanner knew this unlucky guy. He was also an old face in the old district. He didn't have a name. Everyone called him Aji. He has a wife and two children, the oldest seems to be six years old, and the youngest is just walking.
If it is normal, the family will definitely be finished, and the woman can find another man to live, but who would be willing to bring two oil bottles? Either throw these two little guys on the side of the road and let them fend for themselves, or keep them, go to the bar to solicit the flesh business, and finally die of various strange diseases.
But His Royal Highness seems to really intend to fulfill his promise when recruiting militiamen. Not only will the dead receive their full salary, but also an additional compensation. What is it called here? Fanner thought about it, ah... yes, pension. And the money actually has as many as five golden dragons.
In addition, a fixed amount of food and charcoal will be distributed every month, which means that even if Aji's wife does not go out to work, she can support her two children to live. Well, these good-looking claims are probably just words of consolation, but the Golden Dragon is real. He saw with his own eyes that His Royal Highness the prince handed over the pension to the chief knight, and then the knight handed it over to Aji's wife.
Hell, why did he suddenly feel a little envious of Aggie? No, no, Fanner shook his head again and again, expelling these stupid ideas. He didn't want to kill his own wife and cheapen his wife... and it might still be someone else's wife.
After sending the money, His Highness delivered a speech, which was very short, but Fanner listened to it. In particular, the sentence "We will always remember the sacrifice to protect our loved ones and innocents" made him feel that a heat was surging in his heart. So it was, he thought. It's no wonder that recently, apart from Bread and Silver Wolf, he always feels that he has more pursuits - at least this winter, they can survive by relying on their own hands, not the charity of Longsong Fortress. .
The final link is the burial. Aggie's coffin was put into the dug pit, and the chief knight asked everyone to line up. Every militia member, whether it was a formal or a substitute, took turns to fill in a pinch of soil with a shovel. Everyone is familiar with queuing, and more than 200 people immediately lined up in four columns. When it was Vanner's turn, he suddenly felt that the shovel became a little heavy, and the gazes of the surrounding players slowed down his every movement.
When he stood aside, his eyes passed this feeling to the next earth cover.
Aggie's tombstone is a pure white rectangular stone, and the word Vanna on it does not know a single one, and he is not the first person to live in this wasteland. Next to Aji, there is an identical stone tablet, the top of which is covered with snow. As everyone left, Vanner saw Brian, the new captain of the Second Militia, slowly pour a pot of ale on the tombstone.
If this was his final destination, it wouldn't look bad, he couldn't help thinking.
"Your Highness," Carter suddenly said on the way back to the castle, "you do this..."
"inappropriate?"
"No," he thought for a while, and finally shook his head, "I can't tell, I just think that no one has ever treated the recruited subjects like this—they have neither titles nor family backgrounds, not even surnames or first names. "
"But you still feel good, don't you?"
"Uh… "
Roland smiled, of course he knew how powerful this set would be to Carter, who also had the responsibility of fighting and protecting. When people start thinking about who to fight for and why, teams can change in unimaginable ways. The meaning to Carter is that when honor is no longer just the privilege of nobles, and those ordinary people who have nothing through his training and teaching, can also gain honor by defending their homes, this doubled sense of accomplishment is simply indescribable.
Of course, the public funeral is just the beginning. Roland thought that he still had many means to enhance the collective sense of honor, such as making military flags, military songs, setting heroic role models, and so on.
No kind of spirit is created out of nothing. Only by sticking to this practice day after day and instilling ideas all the time, will it gradually become effective. In order to ensure the reliable operation of the aftermath system, he even arranged for a aftermath team consisting of himself, the city hall, and the militia to complete the follow-up distribution of food and charcoal.
The further down he went, the heavier Roland felt on his shoulders. The border town lacks too much. It seems that the mining industry and people's livelihood are on the right track, and the food reserves are sufficient. So far, there has been no starvation or freezing to death. This is a miracle in other towns. Even in the Royal Capital of Greycastle, many refugees or orphans are eliminated in winter every year.
But he wanted more than that, and the city hall was running at its limit. Relying on the assistant minister Barov and the dozen apprentices he brought, the entire financial and administrative management of Border Town was supported. If you want to further expand the department, it is impossible not to recruit some management personnel. He also asked Barov if he had any proud disciples or colleagues who were still in the capital, but the answer he got was a drop of cold water: "Even if there were them, they wouldn't be willing to come. Your Highness, you really know that you are in the capital. How bad is his reputation?"
Well, it does sound reasonable. he thought gloomily.
Back in the backyard of the castle, Nightingale escaped from the fog and gave Wendy, who was waiting outside the wooden shed, a warm hug. Lightning circled the unfinished steam boring machine. When she saw Roland, she immediately shouted that she would assemble this machine that was rumored to be able to move on its own.
Looking at all this, he suddenly felt that all the hard work he had put in was worth it.