Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 264: The Hybrid Elves

Egno, the director of the territory's medical hospital, finished his day's work, changed out of his white work clothes, put on the most popular civilian gentleman's suit in the territory, and walked slowly towards the alchemy laboratory.

Tonight he made an appointment with Chris, the director of the alchemy laboratory, to go to the potion garden to see a strange magical plant that only blooms at night.

The pioneering territory today is completely different from when I first came here. It is hard to imagine that this place was once a ruin of ancient wizard's relics, but now it is covered with gray-black hard and flat roads. Rows of concrete houses are neatly built on both sides of the tree-lined streets. The first floor is used for business and the second floor is used for daily living.

However, there are not many people living in this new residential area yet. The territory city hall has just put them up for sale.

At the intersection, local residents kept stopping in front of the houses to look at them. They must have been families coming to view and select houses after get off work. Each family was accompanied by a young apprentice from the city hall, who enthusiastically introduced the advantages of these new houses to the buyers.

The townhouse is about seven or eight meters away from the street, separated by green lawns and stone-covered gutters, like a clear dividing line - I heard that as long as you buy a house, you can fence off the lawns in front and backyards yourself and get a free garden nursery.

It has to be said that compared to the prosperous but densely populated and cluttered magic city of Alayeh, the cityscape of the Frontier Territory is much neater and cleaner. Whether it is houses, roads, shops or trees, they are all neatly planned in fixed positions, like chess pieces on a checkered chessboard.

This is a kind of uniform beauty, just like the magical plants planted in rows in the potion garden, arranged in a very coordinated manner - according to Lord Harvey, this is the pure beauty of order.

Egno is now quite famous in the territory. Unlike Asdalen and Reiner, who are low-key and don't like to show up in the spotlight, and Pierce, who is serious all day long, he does not have the condescending airs of a spellcaster. He receives and treats the people who come to the hospital for treatment on a daily basis with a very gentle and patient attitude, which makes people feel like they are in the spring breeze.

Passersby he met along the way would nod or take off their hats to greet him, and respectfully address him as Lord Egno with a smile. However, compared to the superior titles of "Sir" and "Your Excellency", he preferred the title of "Mr. Dean", which sounded more friendly and professional.

After crossing two streets in the new residential area, you can see the alchemy laboratory where Chris works. The laboratory is a special institution that is nominally affiliated with the industrial department but actually operates independently. It has always had a close cooperative relationship with the pharmaceutical research and development department of the medical institute.

As Egno reached the door, he saw a population official from the city hall walking out side by side with Chris.

"Lord Egno, you've arrived just in time!" the young official saluted with a smile. "The city registration office sent someone to inform us that seven or eight people have arrived from the southern border, carrying handwritten letters of recommendation from you and Director Chris. However, because their identities cannot be verified, they are currently being stopped at the city gate. I hurried over to inform you two..."

He coughed awkwardly, as if trying to decide how to describe the situation. He raised his hand and pointed at his ears awkwardly, saying, "They look... like they're from the same tribe as you."

"It's Sandra!" Egno excitedly exchanged glances with Chris. "Hurry up and go to the city gate registration office! We have to greet him in person!"

……

Pulling Chris to the south gate, a familiar figure standing in front of the city registration office shed came into everyone's sight. Egno took a closer look and found that it was indeed Sandra, his best friend and fellow tribesman from the southern border, who also had mixed elf blood.

"Mr. Egno! By the Golden Tree! It's really you!" A young member of the tribe, alert enough to spot the two hastily approaching, leaped up and waved his arms in excitement. Chris pulled out a city entry permit signed by Harvey and handed it to the captain of the defense force. "This is a special permit granted by the Lord to recruit talented individuals. It's getting late today, so I'll take them to the City Hall tomorrow to register their identities."

The captain of the defense force saluted, took the entry permit, and carefully examined it. "Sir, before they register their identities, they are only allowed to stay in the guesthouse for foreign guests. This is the rule... Please forgive me."

Egno was already accustomed to the businesslike manner of these civilian soldiers, so he smiled nonchalantly and said, "That's all right. Let's put them up in the guesthouse first. They've certainly had a hard time on this journey."

Finally allowed to pass, Sandra hurriedly followed the two men, muttering softly, "Are these soldiers guarding the city the lord's personal guards? They're checking too strictly, almost asking about my ancestral origins. Even a small bag of silver coins can't get them to give in..."

Chris couldn't help but burst out laughing. "A bag of silver coins? How many are there?"

"A full ten!" Sandra was stunned for a moment, but still answered honestly.

"Hahahahaha!" Chris and Egno exchanged a glance and laughed simultaneously. "Even without the constraints of territorial laws, your small amount of money wouldn't be enough to bribe these soldiers. Their monthly salary is at least 120 gold yuan, which is equivalent to the same amount in silver."

"What are gold coins? Are they the lord's privately minted coins? But... 120 silver coins, that's more than a gold pound! How can an ordinary civilian soldier receive so much pay? Does the lord here own several gold and silver mines?"

Egno stopped laughing and replied seriously, "You can't just copy what you've seen and heard in the cities of the noble lords in the southern border. Compared to the nobles' private armies who make a living by collecting city taxes and extorting civilians, the troops of the Frontier Territory are treated just like the lower-class nobles and small landowners who own a small fiefdom. Naturally, they disdain to bully and exploit others."

"Furthermore, the military laws in the territory are strict. Extortion, looting, or private bribery are strictly prohibited. Once discovered, they will be brought before the military court. At the very least, they will be expelled from the army, while at the worst, they will be sentenced to forced labor."

However, Chris and Egno, as technical officials, were clearly not interested in these territorial policies and laws, and quickly changed the subject. "Sandra, we clearly sent you a letter three months ago. Why did it only arrive here now? And why haven't we heard from you since? I was almost worried that something might have happened to you..."

Sandra sighed and whispered, "As you know, I've been imprisoned at the Union branch in Orland. They initially said they'd send me back to Norien for trial within the elves, but then they dragged it out for some reason. If you hadn't found a way to use your connections with Alayeh, I don't know how much longer we would have been in prison..."

Hybrid elves like Sandra are actually slightly different from Egno. Most of them have some elven blood in their ancestors, and the alien blood in essence is very thin. Apart from retaining some elven-specific facial features, many people do not have a natural affinity for natural elements.

After Egno established himself in the territory through his hard work and outstanding abilities, he immediately thought of his distant relative who was still imprisoned in Orland. He quickly pleaded with Harvey to use his connections with high-level officials in the Federation to release them and invite them to come to the Pioneer Territory to serve the lord.

As for this group of mixed-race talents who were born with a talent for potions, Harvey of course accepted as many as possible and agreed to their request to join the territory with a wave of his hand.

(End of this chapter)