Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 248 Rescue Plan
A week later, the second wave of Saint Valen plague refugees who arrived at the border began to pour into the border town of Jackdaw Town.

Although Earl Fagan, the lord of Grizzly Castle, closed the city gates and strictly forbade anyone to enter his fiefdom castle, sporadic cases of infected patients still appeared uncontrollably in the city and spread in just two or three days.

A large number of refugees who were unable to seek refuge in Grizzly Fort turned to other villages and towns around the fortress, seeking accommodation, food and clean water. The same plague broke out among these people, and it was even more serious than before.

Almost half of the people were struck by the plague on the way, and a few adults with stronger bodies only developed symptoms of abdominal swelling and mildew on their bodies after arriving at the border. This means that even if there is no direct contact with the plague, it is possible to be indirectly infected by this strange disease, but the incubation period of the disease is slightly longer.

At the same time, Harvey also received a message from Mr. "Fa Shield" in the forum, as well as a letter from the Dragonstone Chamber of Commerce's branch station in Saint Valen.

After reading the contents of the two letters, he couldn't help but frown and remain silent.

A strange plague is spreading rapidly in the capital of Saint Valen, Jinhui City. The Church uses the scarce treatment drugs to firmly control the nobles and wealthy businessmen in the capital, while claiming that this is a conspiracy of certain evil spellcasters with the connivance and protection of the Federation.

For safety reasons, the Dragonstone Chamber of Commerce decided to suspend the long-standing sales and transportation of bulk materials with Harvey, and consider restarting the cooperation after the plague is under control.

The Federation headquarters in Alaye was plunged into endless debate among various internal factions due to the temporary absence of the three legendary chiefs. Apart from several meaningless verbal battles with the church in the Alliance Committee, it had no other effective means.

"Compared to using new magical tools to reap lucrative war profits on the demon battlefield in the Evil Moon Mountains, the ordinary spellcasters who were expelled and persecuted in Saint Valen are probably not even within their consideration right now..."

Not to mention the ordinary civilians who were unfortunately infected and lost their lives in this plague conspiracy.

Politicians with magic are still politicians. Compared to those foolish and greedy secular nobles, they are just more powerful and extraordinary...

However, Harvey keenly sensed a key point that could help him gain benefits from this conspiracy disaster involving multiple parties.

Instead of hiding in the northern wilderness and remaining neutral, waiting for the church and the nobles to persecute and expel the spellcasters in Saint Valen, and then using faith and medicine to transform the people who survived into devout believers who were hostile to the spellcasters, they should stay in the northern wilderness and remain neutral.

It would be better to seize the opportunity, intervene, and take in these infected refugees who have fled to the northern border, so as to enrich the pioneering territory that is already extremely short of population and labor.

Since the Church and the Federation have already semi-publicly torn their faces apart, once they have withdrawn their hands to stabilize the situation in Saint Valen, they will definitely continue to target and investigate themselves. The previous church investigation team that was ambushed and killed by forum member "Astrologer" and others was proof of this.

However, simply waiting at the border for infected refugees to arrive and then taking them in for treatment is unlikely to be very effective. The epidemic cycle is too short, and most innocent people will suffer heavy casualties in this obviously man-made disaster. Few people will be able to survive and escape to the border area.

The death of every member of the labor force would make Harvey feel heartbroken, so he must avoid such things from happening as much as possible and do his best to retain some future population reserves for the territory.

……

"What? You want to go to Jackdaw Town in person? No, no! I absolutely don't agree."

"Even if we have a cure for the plague, I don't recommend you risk your life. The work of sheltering and treating refugees can be left to our defense forces. They already have some experience. What's more, we have Mr. Pierce and Mr. Asdalen to take charge."

"That's right. Chris and I can lead the doctors from the medical center and go directly to Jackdaw Town to set up a temporary epidemic treatment center. The vaccines we are currently preparing and producing are enough to meet the injection needs of more than 5,000 infected patients." Everyone sat in the conference hall of the territory castle, surrounding Harvey and giving him advice.

The core idea and unified demand is that Harvey, as the lord, cannot go to Jackdaw Town in person to take charge of the situation. After all, if thousands of refugees riot and rebel, the defense force of more than a thousand pitiful people will not be able to guarantee the lord's personal safety 100% even if they open fire indiscriminately.

In fact, Harvey also knew that his military management skills were really limited. Once he left his home in the north, this pioneering territory with nearly 10,000 people living there would become a place without anyone to control. There was no guarantee that the evil orc tribes that frequently harassed him would cause trouble again.

After all, it is approaching autumn, and the harsh winter season when they go south to plunder is not far away.

Generally speaking, compared to taking in refugees, one must never let a fire break out in the backyard of one's own base of residence.

In the end, Harvey was persuaded by everyone on the spot and chose to stay alone in the pioneer territory.

But he must develop an action plan that is as complete as possible.

Harvey had lived in Jackdaw Town for more than half a year since graduating from the School of the Undead. He had a relatively good understanding of the local situation, so he asked Pierce to spread out the paper and start drawing a simple map on the long table in the conference hall.

"Jackdaw Town is surrounded by mountains on both sides, and there is only one official road in and out of the town. However, there are many forest paths along the riverbank, and many refugees will also flee from this direction. After all, this is the only clean water source along the way."

Harvey used a black charcoal pencil to draw two thick lines representing checkpoints. "So, you need to complete two tasks. First, set up epidemic prevention checkpoints on the main road leading to the town. Second, closely monitor the scattered refugees arriving from the riverbank and try to guide them to the reception area we have set up outside the town. Don't let them flood into the town and cause chaos."

Pierce frowned slightly, took the charcoal pencil from Harvey, and drew scattered circles around the town, representing the small villages scattered near Jackdaw Town. "Sir, what should we do if they bypass the checkpoints we set up and attack the surrounding villages in a scattered manner?"

The news of the plague spreading in the royal capital had reached Grizzlie Castle. The petty nobles who had been lingering in Jackdaw Town for the autumn hunt had already fled back to their respective fiefdoms. Even the tax collector stationed in the town by Earl Feigen had quietly returned to Grizzlie Castle at night with the patrol militia he had recruited.

If the refugees rioted due to food shortages and attacked and looted the surrounding villages and towns, this small border area would probably have no official armed forces to suppress and resist them, except for the private soldiers and knights raised by the nobles in their fiefdoms.

Harvey opened his palm and patted the warehouse at the foot of Jackdaw Ridge. "This will be where we set up the refugee shelter!"

"Dispatch all the special operations officers with bloodline talents from the Northern Army to the surrounding villages and towns. Tell the refugees and local villagers that we have a special potion, and guide them to come and receive treatment."

"As for the refugees who have already arrived at the shelter, we promised them that if they joined the pioneer territory, they would receive free food and shelter. Then, we would escort them back in batches of 500 people each."

Reiner leaned over and whispered, "What if they don't want to join us?"

Harvey narrowed his eyes and said quietly, "They should have heard how much it costs to buy the Divine Grace Potion provided by the Church... While we're not as shameless as those charlatans, we won't provide free lunch either..."

(End of this chapter)