Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 121: Pioneer Territory Police Department
In fact, Harvey has always had a rough plan for the future security and defense system of the pioneering territory.

However, due to the rapid increase in the population of the territory in a short period of time, he turned all his attention to grain planting and material production, which slowed down the progress of these affairs.

After the midwinter, the territory's population had reached about 10,000. In addition to the refugees from the northern wilderness, there were also many serfs from the southern countries. They had originally risked crossing the Divine Spine Mountains to make a living in the north, but were driven into a dilemma by the large tribe of evil orcs who migrated south. Fortunately, Harvey had arranged a number of highly mobile alchemy beasts in advance, and cooperated with small groups of soldiers to scattered around to gather these poor people.

In addition, many ethnic minorities such as orcs and mixed dwarves have joined, further complicating the population structure of the territory, resulting in large differences in the quality of the people, and frequent civil disputes and violent conflicts.

Harvey also felt that even if the defense forces were responsible for handling these disputes and conflicts, he would not have enough free time to act as a judge. Most of the time, he would just be fair and just give them a whip and let it go.

Now is the time to implement a sound public security system. After all, we hold the independent legislative power of the territory, and the corresponding internal violence agencies must keep up with the pace.

The lord personally dictates laws, interprets and adjusts them, and judges major crimes, such as treason and collusion with foreign enemies. The police department apprehends and interrogates criminals according to the law, handles civil disputes, and oversees the integrity of other administrative systems. This effectively slows down the spread of corruption among powerful groups within the territory—but merely slowing and preventing corruption is insufficient; completely eradicating it is, Harvey believes, impossible in any era or world.

At that time, the territories will uniformly implement their own legal stripes and accept the strict control of various administrative departments. The only one who can hold the charter and override the law can only be the supreme lord himself.

As for the current head of the Police Department, Harvey plans to first investigate whether there are suitable candidates in the military and municipal systems, but for now he can only let Asdalen take on the role concurrently. After all, the absolute rationality of alchemical life makes it very suitable for him to do this kind of cold-blooded work as a lord's lackey.

……

When Max Anton limped back to his rented house, his old mother Jenna, who was guarding the door, immediately came to greet him.

"Max, it took you so long to come back. Your leg...isn't healed yet. Can you rest at home more?"

Max lowered his head slightly, grinned and whispered: "It's okay, I just encountered a little accident when I was coming back from the market..."

He tilted his neck and showed the wound behind his ear, which had stopped bleeding but still looked a little hideous, to his mother who was looking at him with concern.

"Hiss! How did you get a head injury? Did you fight with someone?" Jenna quickly took out a piece of clean cotton cloth from her waist and gently wiped the remaining blood stains that had flowed down Max's neck.

"I got hit with a stick, but I dodged it. It was just a scratch." He waved his hand nonchalantly and sank into the chair in front of the fireplace. "Those people from the southern border are ganging up on Aunt Eureka and her family in the market area again. I really can't stand it..."

Aunt Eureka is their next-door neighbor. She was originally a poor refugee from the wilderness. The only special thing is that she adopted two orc orphans. Both cubs are still minors. They are supported by Aunt Eureka who picks mushrooms in the swamp and sells them in the market for gold.

In addition to the strict ban in the military, most people in the territory have a subtle discriminatory mentality towards orcs. Although the lord's laws stipulate that everyone is treated equally in terms of study, work, and salary, this is not necessarily the case in real life.

"Then the Guard patrol arrived and whipped us all..." Max straightened up and opened his shirt. "I was lucky; I only got whipped once."

Jenna gasped, looking at the hideous bloodstain on her son's back. "This is much more serious than the wound on his head. I'll get some hearth ash to put on it for you."

Max waved his hands to stop her. "Mom! Don't do that! Those folk remedies will give me an infection. A doctor I was shopping at the market area kindly reminded me to keep the wound dry and open to air. It will heal in a week at most."

If they were really infected, even though the hospital's treatment and medicine charges were very cheap, they were still unaffordable for a poor family like theirs.

After all, his mother, Jenna, worked part-time on the farm without a fixed contract, earning only 60 gold yuan a month, which was enough to cover the food and rent expenses for two people. Max himself was unemployed and didn't even have a temporary job to make ends meet.

He sat in the chair with his head down, looking at his bent and deformed leg and his right hand that trembled and twitched from time to time with complicated eyes.

When he was still a child, he unfortunately suffered from high fever. Although he survived and saved his life thanks to the strong physique of the wilderness people, the sequelae was this terrible disability that accompanied him throughout his life.

Jenna squatted beside the iron pot on the fireplace, pouring hot soup for him. Suddenly, she sighed softly, "You shouldn't always stand up for others. You have to learn to be patient when you encounter problems in the future, otherwise I will worry..."

Max coughed, interrupting his mother's nagging. "I can't stand it, Mom. You know me, and you should know what kind of people those Southern Territories are like." He rolled up his trouser legs and put his feet close to the fireplace to warm them. "Besides, I'm not stupid. I deliberately picked the right time to fight with them today..."

"You...are you deliberately causing trouble?" Jenna was stunned holding the bowl.

"Every afternoon at this time, a patrol from the defense forces enters the market area to carry out patrol duties." Max chuckled. "I deliberately let them see a group of southerners relying on their numbers to bully an old woman and two half-orc orphans whose hair hasn't even grown out yet."

Max blinked at his mother, who looked solemn, and whispered, "I heard that among the highest commanders of the Northern Army, there is an Orc officer. He's quite powerful. If these things get out of hand, he might stand up for his own people."

Jenna stuffed the soup bowl into Max's hand with a complaint, "You have been smarter than other children since you were young, and your reaction to things is faster than others..." She turned her eyes and saw her son's deformed leg, and fell silent with a complicated expression.

Bang, bang, bang! Someone suddenly knocked on the wooden door of their little house.

Max stood up suddenly, ran over and opened the door.

"Is this Max Anton's house?" The man who came was a man wearing a black soldier's uniform, carrying a long rifle and looking energetic.

"Uh, I'm Max, sir..." Max thought to himself that something bad was going to happen. Maybe the fight in the afternoon had really reached the authorities, and now the trouble had come right to his door.

However, the black-clad soldier did not put a lasso on him directly, nor did he point the magic gun behind his back at his head to force him to kneel down and not move.

Instead, he took out a thin piece of paper from his pocket and briefly checked with Max and Jenna the identity information they had entered when they joined the territory.

"Please report to the police station next to the Municipal Center at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

The soldier said this coldly and turned to leave.

Max quickly called out to him, "Sir? Am I in trouble with some law?"

Without even turning around, the soldier answered loudly, "No, someone recommended you to the police department for an interview. You have the opportunity to become a trainee police officer."

(End of this chapter)