Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 104 Funeral and Promotion

On the southeast side of the Pioneer Territory's city wall, a funeral was being held on a cleared lawn that had been cut down separately.

This place is very close to the farm on the east side of the territory. Standing on this slightly higher gentle slope, you can see a flat farmland not far away. Several huge agricultural alchemy beasts are driving in the black fertile fields with the assistance of farm workers.

The lawn is not very large, similar to the civic square in front of the lord's castle. The only difference is that it is surrounded by a low wall made of cobblestones, but it can only block the herds of animals grazing on the hillside. Ordinary people can climb over it with just one hand.

Vaughn stood side by side with two newly promoted military colleagues, wearing the brand new black winter uniforms that had just been issued to them, and a white frost flower pinned on their chests. This flower is a unique flower plant in the northern wasteland and only blooms in winter.

He had never heard of a funeral ceremony. His impression was that when a noble or high priest of the evil orc tribe died, they would build a bonfire to burn their bodies, and then take away the charred skull as a sacrifice in the subsequent sacrificial ceremony.

Ordinary orcs or human refugees would not hold funerals. They were always like weeds in the wind in the wilderness, living in fear and dying quietly.

If they are lucky, their relatives will secretly carry them to a secluded place and bury them in a pit, but they will definitely be dug out and eaten by wild beasts after nightfall.

Those who were unlucky had their bodies dragged back to their tents by the hungry evil orcs before they could even cool down, and were eaten as an extra winter snack.

But today, he was notified to attend the funeral of more than a dozen ordinary soldiers who died in battle on behalf of all the soldiers in the army, together with two other battalion commanders of the same rank.

Vaughan actually knew the details of these soldiers very well.

Some of them were veterans who were recruited at the same time as him. When fighting against the evil orcs, they did not have time to replace their ammunition and were unfortunately knocked down by the evil orcs and had their heads chopped off by an axe.

Some people followed their companions and sneaked out of the outpost fortress in the middle of the night, trying to snatch the remains of their comrades from the giant beast puppets, but ended up leaving themselves there.

Some people had just joined the army and received only one month of training when they were rotated to the valley outpost. As a result, the first time they encountered the enemy, they were so unlucky that they were pierced through by a bone spear and died before they could be sent to the medical station.

……

Most of them are like himself, bachelors struggling to survive in the wilderness. Not to mention starting a family and raising children, they have hardly even touched a woman's hand.

There are also a few who come with families, with wives and several well-raised children. The youngest was born after arriving in the territory and can't even walk.

If it were in the past, the wife and children he left behind would have been miserable. The woman could find a similar man to live with, but the children would be a burden that wasted food. They would usually be taken to the wild at night and thrown away, making them an easy target for the wild beasts that hid during the day and came out at night.

But Lord Harvey seemed to be particularly concerned about the orphans and widows left behind by the dead soldiers. He not only fulfilled the promise he made when he established the regular army - to give the families a generous... uh, pension.

Their offspring were also provided with free admission to public schools and an additional ration of food and charcoal each month.

This means that the families of these soldiers who died in the war can support their children even if they do not work, until they leave school and become adults, and can learn to read and write, and get a high-paying job similar to that of an officer in a factory that they themselves do not understand.

No wonder even a fool like Duff couldn't help but shout out his envy.

This kind of treatment, even I feel a little envious... Uh, damn it! Vaughn shook his head violently, trying desperately to drive this stupid idea out of his mind.

He didn't want to die on the battlefield and then have his wife become someone else's wife!
Wait! Vaughn suddenly remembered that he didn't have a wife... He had never even touched a woman's hand!
……

Mr. Asdalen was in charge of presiding over the soldier's funeral, but the ceremony speeches were a little too long, and Vaughn only heard a few sentences that he could understand.

Things like "We will always remember those who sacrificed their lives to protect their homes and loved ones..." and "The souls of the soldiers who fought bravely will surely return to their territory..."

These words made Vaughn feel a warm current flowing in his heart, and his eyes and nose felt a little sore. Those people who were walking around in front of him not long ago were now put into small pottery jars.

It was inconvenient to transport the bodies of the fallen soldiers back to the territory, so they were collected by themselves, burned and brought back ashes.

The last part of the funeral was the burial. The pottery jars were neatly stacked in a pit dug in advance. Mr. Asdalen asked all the officer representatives to line up in turn according to their ranks and positions, shovel a handful of soil and fill the pit.

The first one to come was Vaughn, who was at the head of the team. He was now the most senior battalion commander among the three battalion-level officers, so naturally he was at the front of the team.

He held the shovel and stuck it into the pile of earth in front of him. He felt inexplicably heavy in his hand. The dozens of officers standing behind him stared at him in silence, making him slow down his movements.

After filling in a handful of soil, he couldn't help but pick the white frost flower from his chest and gently placed it on the stone tombstone erected in front of the pit. He only recognized a few of the words on the tombstone, which were probably their names.

Vaughn knew that many soldiers who were born refugees did not have complete names, and were usually given easy-to-remember nicknames. However, when the lord was compiling the list of the dead in battle, he simply gave them all new names and surnames.

Mr. Asdalen said that by doing this, even decades later, when people come here to pay their respects, they will not confuse their identities and origins.

That's great, Vaughan thought.

If his final destination is also here, he will be fortunate enough to obtain the surname bestowed by Lord Harvey himself. He has never had a surname before, and it seems that his father and grandfather did not have one either.

It would be nice if I could use "Floyd" as my last name after my death. No, no, my status is too low, I can't tarnish Master Harvey's last name...

……

After the funeral, Asdalen hurried back to the lord's castle to report to Harvey.

"Sir, the soldier's funeral has been completed." He seemed to be in a complicated mood. "While I was presiding over the ceremony, I observed some rather interesting behaviors and attitudes of the officers..."

Harvey put down his quill, raised his head, and asked curiously, "Oh? Aren't funerals supposed to be solemn and dignified? Why do you find their behavior and attitude so amusing?"

"No," Asdalen shook his head, as if unable to accurately describe his feelings. "I can't describe what this feeling is... I have never seen any nobles or high-ranking wizards treat lowly commoners like this before."

Harvey laughed heartily. "That's normal, since I'm neither a noble nor a high-ranking wizard from ancient times."

He pushed Asdaren to sit on the sofa and explained with a smile: "But you think their reaction and attitude are very good, right?"

Without waiting for Asdalen's reply, he continued, "This is what I was telling you: another disguised way of winning people's hearts... It's different from rewarding them with money, but the goal is the same."

Harvey's ultimate goal is to make these soldiers of civilian origin start to think and understand why they are fighting.

When they understand that fighting bravely and defending their homes can earn them the same high honor as noble knights, they will also be praised and remembered forever.

Then this army composed entirely of civilians will undergo unimaginable ideological changes.

(End of this chapter)