A funeral was being held in a wasteland southwest of Border Town.
It was not appropriate to call it a wasteland. Nobody knew when, but this piece of land had been surrounded by a low wall made of rubble. The top of the wall was covered with a thick layer of snow. From a distance, it looked as if it was plated with a layer of silver. Although it could be crossed in one step, when Van'er saw it, he could not help but think of the border wall – they were all the same color and the same shape.
He had only heard of this ceremony from traveling merchants. When a great noble or a member of the royal family died, the deceased's family would gather at the cemetery, play sad music, accept others' condolences, and finally bury the coffin underground. The nobler the status, the greater the sound.
Even the dead were more glorious than the living. At that time, he enviously thought, what if the people of Border Town died?They would dig a hole in the Concealing Forest and fill it. He did not know whether the demonic beasts dug up the corpses and ate them when the Months of the Demons came.
For the residents of Border Town, death was not strange at all. Especially during the winter when they went to Longsong Stronghold to take refuge, everyone huddled in the shacks of the slums, dying of hunger and cold, dying of diseases and injuries, that was the norm. No one had time to grieve, it was better to wait for dawn to go to the center of the city to beg for a piece of bread.
But today, His Highness unexpectedly held a funeral for a soldier!
It was said that when he was chasing a hybrid demonic beast, he was unfortunately pushed to the ground and half of his head was bitten off.
Van'er knew this unlucky guy, he was also an old face in the old district. He did not have a name, everyone called him Aji. He had a wife and two children, the older one seemed to be six years old, and the younger one was just able to walk.
In normal times, this family would definitely be finished, and the woman could find another man to live with, but who would be willing to take two burdens? Either he threw the two little guys to the roadside and let them fend for themselves, or he raised them and went to the bar to solicit sex, and finally died of a variety of strange diseases.
But His Highness seemed to really intend to fulfill his promise when he recruited the militia. The dead would not only receive full pay, but also an extra compensation. What was it called? Van'er thought for a moment, ah … yes, the pension. And the money was actually as much as five Golden Dragon.
Apart from that, they would also be given a certain amount of food and charcoal every month. This meant that even if A 'Ji's wife did not go out to work, she could still raise the two children and survive. Alright, these seemingly beautiful words might just be words of comfort, but the Golden Dragon was real. He saw His Royal Highness hand over the pension to the Chief Knight, and then the Knight passed it to Aji's wife.
Damn it, why did he suddenly feel envious of A 'Ji? "No, no," Van 'er shook his head again and again, trying to get rid of these stupid thoughts. He didn't want his wife to die … and she was likely to be someone else's wife.
After the money was distributed, His Highness gave a short speech, but Van'er heard it clearly. In particular, the phrase "We will always remember the sacrifices made to protect our loved ones and the innocent" made him feel a surge of warmth in his heart. So that's how it is, Roland thought. It's no wonder that in addition to bread and silver wolves recently, I always feel that I have something else to pursue. At least this winter, they can survive by relying on their own hands, rather than the charity of Longsong Stronghold.
The last step was to bury him. A 'Ji's coffin was placed in the dug pit, and the Chief Knight asked everyone to line up. Every member of the militia, whether official or substitute, took turns to fill the grave with soil with a shovel. Everyone was very familiar with lining up, so more than 200 people immediately lined up into four columns. When it was Van'er's turn, he suddenly felt that the shovel became a little heavy, and the gazes of the surrounding militia members made his every movement slow down.
When he stood aside, he passed this feeling to the next person to cover the grave.
A 'Ji's tombstone was a pure white rectangular stone, and Van'er did not know any of the words on it. Moreover, he was not the first person to live in this wasteland.Next to A 'Ji, there was an identical tombstone, the top of which was covered with snow. When everyone left one after another, Van'er saw Brian, the new captain of the Second Militia, slowly pouring a pot of ale on the tombstone.
"If this is my final home, it doesn't look bad," he couldn't help thinking.
"Your Highness," on the way back to the castle, Carter suddenly said, "You did this …"
"Is it inappropriate?"
"No," he thought for a moment and finally shook his head, "I don't know. I just feel that no one has ever treated the recruited subjects like this — they have no title, no family background, and they don't even have a surname or a name."
"But you still feel good about it, right?"
"Uh …"
Roland smiled. Of course, he knew how influential this would be to Carter, who also fought and protected. When people began to think about who they were fighting for and why they were fighting, there would be unimaginable changes in the ranks. For Carter, when honor was no longer the privilege of the nobles, but when those commoners who had nothing, through his training and teaching, could also gain honor by defending their homes, this doubled sense of achievement was simply indescribable.
Of course, a public funeral was just a beginning. Roland thought that he still had many ways to enhance the collective sense of honor, such as making military flags, military songs, setting up heroic examples, and so on.
There was no kind of spirit that could be created out of nothing. Only by persisting in this practice day after day, constantly instilling ideas, would it gradually become effective. In order to ensure the reliable operation of the aftermath system, he even arranged a three-person team consisting of himself, City hall, and the militia to complete the follow-up food and charcoal distribution.
The further he went, the more Roland felt his shoulders become heavy. Border Town really lacked too much. It seemed that the mining industry and the people's livelihood were on the right track, and the food reserves were sufficient. So far, no one had starved or frozen to death. In other towns, this was already a miracle. Even in King's City of Graycastle, many refugees or orphans would be eliminated by the winter every year.
But what he wanted was far more than this. The City hall's operating load had reached its limit. Relying on Barov, the Minister's Assistant, and his dozen or so apprentices, all of Border Town's financial and administrative management were supported. If he wanted to further expand the department, he would have to recruit some management staff. He had also asked Barov if there were any proud students or colleagues left in King's City, but the answer he got was a bucket of cold water: "Even if there were, they would not be willing to come. Your Highness, do you really know how bad your reputation in King's City is? "
Well, it does sound very reasonable. He thought gloomily.
Back to the castle backyard, Nightingale emerged from the fog and gave Vendy, who was standing outside the wooden shed, a warm hug. Lightning was circling around the incomplete steam boring machine. When she saw Roland, she immediately shouted that she wanted to assemble this machine, which was rumored to be able to move on its own.