The refreshing wind blows across the vast wilderness, rolling dry sand and dry fallen leaves. On the deserted land, the ditches that were once used for irrigation have dried up due to the interruption of the upstream, and a collapsed wall has fallen into the soil. , covered mostly by yellow weeds.
An abandoned old mill stands alone on the roadside. The huge windmill blades that fell off from the mill are like some kind of stumps and broken arms, and they are placed on a half-collapsed red brick wall. Burning and explosions can be seen everywhere around the mill. A scorched road sign stood crookedly at the crossroads in front of the mill, and the blurred writing on the road sign was faintly visible:
"Longtail Woodlands - Cabre Township"
A gnarled, bony hand brushed over the sign, wiping off a layer of charred ash.
Norris looked at the black ashes stained on his hands, then rubbed his fingers, and looked at the old abandoned mill not far away.
A gust of autumn wind blew, and the cold air carried by the wind poured into Norris's lungs, which were no longer healthy. He couldn't help bending down and coughing continuously.
Several young people who accompanied him immediately stepped forward, and someone supported the slightly shaking Minister of Agriculture: "Minister, are you alright?"
"It's nothing, I'm old, the wind in this season is not very friendly to me," Norris waved his hand, rejecting the support of his subordinates and apprentices, and slowly looked away from the direction of the mill, "I've heard of this place... It is said that the long tail The most fertile land around the woodlands is here... ”
"It's all deserted," a young official said with a sigh. "When the troops arrived here, the entire Longtail Woodland had been occupied by the Crystal Cluster Legion, and there were less than a hundred survivors gathered. The bombing was followed by burning of the entire town, including settlements around the town."
"Desolation...Desolation is not terrible, the desolate land can still be saved," Norris said slowly, looking at the weed-covered farmland not far away, "I am afraid that there will be residual pollution. Let's go there have a look."
The accompanying young officials turned their heads and ordered a few magical vehicles to stop by the side of the road to stand by, and then followed Norris' pace.
The once fertile fields have been abandoned, and after the weeds grew, they were bombed and burned again. After the burning, new weeds grew with several wind and rains. Today, the old farmland is almost completely invisible from a distance. Norris squatted down beside a barely distinguishable ditch, reached out to grab a handful of soil, and rubbed it slightly with his fingertips.
The black soil mixed with plant ash has a wet and sticky texture, and it falls to the ground with fingers rubbing.
"What a beautiful soil..." Norris stretched out his hand, letting the entourage look at the soil left in his hand, "How can there be such a good land in the south?"
After sighing, he clapped his hands and began to order the sampling personnel to collect local soil samples. An accompanying clerk took out the folder he carried with him and found the corresponding report: "This place and the surrounding fields are 'Velvet Sedge Manor' Part of it belongs to the private property of the Viscount Cabret, but it is difficult to calculate the exact population of the entire town of Cabret, and it can only be roughly estimated at about 300 households, excluding the more remote villages and a mine."
A young technician wearing field overalls and wearing an imperial-style rattan ring druid badge on his chest said while inspecting the soil: "The soil here still looks healthy and fertile. Compared with the two polluted areas found before It looks much better…”
"Let's mark it green for the time being." Norris propped his knees and slowly stood up, "Before the next planting season, we must collect as much land data as possible for recultivation, and we must not forget to mark the heavily polluted areas... "
"Yes, Minister. Wait a minute, shall we..."
An accompanying official from the Ministry of Agriculture responded, but just halfway through his words, the guard standing on guard on the side ridge suddenly shouted not far away: "Who is it? Come out!!"
A few pairs of eyes immediately turned to the direction where the guards were yelling at. Norris raised his eyelids, and saw that there seemed to be figures shaking in the abandoned mill not far away. After the guards shouted for the second time, the two were hiding in the mill. The figure finally came out from the abandoned building.
It was a man and a woman, they couldn't tell how old they were, they were wearing gray clothes, their hair and face were dirty, they bent over carefully and walked towards this side, with humility and fear, as if I am afraid that if I make a wrong step, I will be arrested by the "big shots" in front of me.
The expression on Norris's face trembled subconsciously after seeing the man and woman. He recalled himself a few years ago... that humble and cowering posture had been engraved in his bones for decades, and he was really too familiar with it. .
"Survivors? There are survivors in this area?" A young clerk whispered in surprise.
Norris frowned, and asked after the two men approached, "Why are you here? You've been hiding here?"
"Master, we are... we came back from the town in the south... We hid before and fought a war, and we came back after the war here."
The hunchbacked man spoke cautiously, and kept pulling the thread on his clothes with his hands as he spoke. His words were confused, but Norris quickly understood the meaning of the words. The two did not hide all the time. Those who were in the mill, they should have escaped with everyone when the accident happened before, and then they were lucky enough to escape from this hell alive. Most of them wandered and fled in Pompeii or Scotland during the past six months. Now he probably ran back after hearing the news of the safety of the north.
Similar situations are not uncommon in this vast area. Although there are few survivors in that disaster, there are always people who can escape.
Some of these people were taken in and protected by the team sent by the southern border, some of them may have found a long-term place to live in the south, and some... It is difficult for them to give up the land that has been cultivated for generations, it is difficult to give up the only familiar hometown, or in the There was really no way to survive in the south, so they ran back and wandered in this land that had been turned into a wasteland of war.
If left alone, most of these people will die of hunger, disease, or the mouth of wild beasts sooner or later, and the rest may become bandits and bandits in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plain, and this deserted land will become a A lawless zone of staggering scale.
But the empire will not leave it alone. Norris and his working group, as well as several other teams heading in different directions, are tasked with rebuilding this "empire granary."
"I'm not a lord. My name is Norris. I'm here to rebuild this place by His Majesty's order." Shaking his head and shaking his complicated thoughts out of his mind, Norris said to the men and women in front of him, "It's not suitable for you now. Settle down, you can go to the resettlement area in the southeast first... "
The woman with dirty hair didn't seem to understand the words behind Norris, but her eyes widened: "Your Majesty? Which Majesty? Isn't His Majesty Francis gone?"
Norris was stunned.
Among the fleeing poor in the central region, the news is so lagging behind. Not only do they not know the establishment of the empire, they may not even know whether the civil war is really over. When did they start fleeing? How long have you been separated from the civilized world
After living in the advanced and prosperous Cecil City for several years, Norris once again saw the familiar poverty and backwardness, so that he forgot to speak for a moment, but the druid technician standing next to him couldn't help but say : "It's His Majesty Gawain Cecil, he is already the emperor."
The man and woman were stunned for a long time before finally exclaiming again and again.
"You go to the resettlement area in the southeast first," Norris said to them again, "We have a car, we can take you there, and some refugees who escaped from the escape are temporarily settling down there. It's too dangerous for you to stay here , there is no way to live here now."
The man and woman finally understood what Norris meant. They hesitated and struggled, but after seeing the entourage and guards around Norris, they showed a nervous and fearful look. After explaining everything, he could only make some guarantees, asked the entourage to take out some food, and emphasized that this was "the order of His Majesty the Emperor", so that they could feel relieved.
But before leaving with the soldiers, the hunchbacked man suddenly opened his mouth again, and said cautiously while pulling the thread on his clothes: "Master, we still have something... can we take it together?"
Norris nodded: "Yes, but not too much, the car can't fit."
The man thanked him very much, and then quickly ran back to the abandoned mill. After a while, he came out pushing a tattered little cart that seemed to be falling apart at any time. All kinds of sundries, old pots and pans and rags that have lost their color are piled up together, leaving a place for people to sit.
This is the entire belongings of the couple. Norris can almost imagine how they fled here with the cart, wandered between the villages and towns in the south, and then returned to this place with the cart.
"That's all, that's all," the man showed a humble smile, "Not much."
The soldier who was about to escort the couple to the resettlement camp took a look at the contents of the car. He wanted to say that the rags could be thrown away. Anyway, the resettlement camp would give the refugees a set of daily necessities, but in the end the soldier didn’t say that. , but sighed: "Oh... things can be brought, but this cart can't, it can't be loaded into our car."
"Old...Master," the man panicked, "I can push a cart and follow you! I can run very fast!"
The soldier shook his head: "No, you don't know..."
Norris interrupted the soldier: "Let's strap this little car to the roof."
The soldier looked embarrassed: "... my lord, this..."
"Do as I say," Norris shook his head. "This is their most precious thing right now."
"Yes, my lord."
"Master, you are really a good man!" The woman with dirty hair said quickly, "You look like a kind noble master!"
"I'm not a lord, let alone a noble lord, you can just call me sir," Norris corrected again, then waved his hand, "Let's go, follow this soldier, our car is waiting by the side of the road. Don't be caught off guard later." The car was terrified."
The man and woman hurriedly agreed, but just after following the soldiers for a few steps, the hunchbacked man couldn't help but turn his head back: "Master... Sir, do you think this place can really return to its original appearance?"
"... will become better than before," Norris said, looking into those cloudy but expectant eyes, "this is exactly the mission His Majesty entrusted to me."
"Then... can we come back then?" The man said quickly while observing the faces of the soldiers next to him, "Our house is in the town, and there are..."
He didn't finish his sentence, and the woman next to him seemed to bump his arm secretly. Norris guessed what the half-sentence would be. A can of wheat? A box of flour? a sickle? Or a few hard-earned silver coins
He didn't ask, but nodded vigorously: "I will come back. This is an order from His Majesty."
The hunchbacked man laughed: "Ah, it seems that His Majesty Cecil is really a good person."
They left.
After a long time, Norris finally broke the silence: "We still have a long way to go."
"Yes, Minister."
"But everything will be fine," Norris turned around. He looked at the vast fertile land that had been burned by war, and said as if talking to himself, "As His Majesty said... this land after burning After all, new shoots will grow."