Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 86 The Downtrodden Knight and the Tutor

After the northern wilderness entered autumn, the temperature difference between day and night became larger, and the weather became colder day by day.

Harvey, who originally needed to meditate late at night, stayed in his warm bedroom on the third floor of the castle for the entire morning and was unwilling to get up.

Although he has not yet obtained the official status of a noble lord, as the only ruling class in the pioneering territory, he has every right to sit back and sleep in.

Especially after the hot water heating system that was first installed and put into trial use in the castle, it further fueled Harvey's reluctance to leave his bedroom and study.

When he finally dawdled until noon, Reiner had returned to the castle for the third time to urge him to report on his work.

"The batch of thick cotton cloth we urgently ordered from the Dragonstone Chamber of Commerce has been rushed into production at the garment factory, turning it into 500 sets of standard military uniforms. They were shipped to the River Valley Outpost this morning."

The valley outpost is now firmly rooted in the forefront of the territory's resistance against the evil orcs. Harvey has divided the total of one thousand territory soldiers into three groups and rotated them on a monthly basis, which not only ensures the team's morale but also helps with actual combat training.

He leisurely picked up a piece of soft white bread, carefully spread it evenly with the territory's specialty wild berry jam, and then stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it with satisfaction.

"Well... not only do we need to consider their winter heating, but we also need to pay attention to food logistics. You need to communicate with Pierce frequently. Last time, Pierce mentioned that most of the soldiers suffer from night blindness..."

Harvey pointed at his well-laid table with his knife. "We need to tell the logistics staff responsible for the soldiers' diet to pay attention and provide them with more animal offal, fruits, fish, and newly planted vegetables like carrots. They should also be delivered promptly after the harvest."

Reiner nodded, not quite understanding, and honestly wrote down Harvey's request.

"The construction of the territory's city wall is progressing very quickly. The northern section, approximately six kilometers long, has been basically completed..."

Reiner closed the booklet, seeming to be hesitant to speak.

"Are you trying to say that because of such a huge project as building a new city wall, the territory's financial expenditure has overspent again?" Harvey put down the half-drunk milk and saw through Reiner's thoughts at a glance.

"Yes... indeed, sir. Since last month, after paying the salaries of the normally working residents, the territory's taxes, house rents, and the sales revenue of various goods in the convenience market have left almost no money. If we don't print more banknotes and gold yuan, the residents working on the city wall construction site will not receive any salary after this month..."

Harvey thought for a moment and then asked, "What kind of feedback have you received since the policy announcement regarding mortgage loans was posted?"

"The number of residents who have inquired and expressed interest in purchasing has surged to approximately one thousand households, but the number of those who have actually paid for the property is less than five hundred..."

Printing banknotes and distributing them within the territory was indeed Harvey's first move to ease his financial pressure, but the territory was now unable to achieve 100% self-sufficiency in material assets. All goods that needed to be imported still had to be purchased from the Chamber of Commerce out of Harvey's own pocket using real money.

After all, he had given away his own little piece of land, but no one would recognize the colorful pieces of paper he printed.

Even if I rely on myself to single-handedly pluck the leeks of high-level spellcasters on the magic net, I still can't support 5,000 civilians in the territory!

Harvey sighed and said slowly, "Print another batch of gold dollars, enough to pay next month's salary, but no matter what, food prices must remain unchanged. Not a cent can be raised!"

"Also, we will relax restrictions on entry into the convenience market, allowing citizens to freely trade their excess goods. The tax rate will remain at the original rate..."

……

Yurio had just arrived in the frontier for less than half a month, but his life was not going well.

He was different from most of the common people in the territory who were originally refugees from the wasteland. He was an apprentice knight from a small border principality in the southern continent. He was unfortunately captured in the battle with the evil orcs last winter, had one of his arms chopped off, and was then abducted back to the north by the evil orcs.

During his captivity, the knight's sense of honor made him contemplate ending his life countless times to avoid further insults from the barbarians, but he was stopped each time by a kind old man who had been captured with him. This old man, named Kelun, now lived with him in the territory. They had been rescued and taken in by soldiers from the Frontier Territory after they had raided the fel orc camp in the Ice Valley.

They now rent a one-bedroom apartment on the single floor.

Yurio used to be a small landowner in his hometown who owned fields and farms. He could only say that this current living environment was acceptable, as it was better than being locked in a wooden cage by evil orcs and exposed to the sun and rain.

But the key point is that he is already a cripple with a broken arm, and Father Colen suffers from severe foot ulcers on both feet. He cannot stand or walk for a long time and has to stay in bed most of the time.

The one-armed Yurio couldn't find a stable job that suited him, so he could only go to the iron foundry every day to do some odd jobs that were paid daily, helping to sort and dismantle some scrapped weapons of the evil orcs that were obviously sent from the front line.

This odd job only required half a day's work, and the salary was one gold dollar, which was enough for him and his father to buy some wheat cakes to fill their stomachs.

He would spend the rest of the afternoon wandering in the bushes and woods outside the territory wall, setting traps to hunt small wild animals such as hares and pheasants, and then selling them at the convenience market.

Fortunately, the lord who was a spellcaster was very generous. Renting the house he built only required paying a very low rent, so Yurio was not worried that they would end up on the streets because they had no jobs.

In the pioneering territory, everyone has a consensus that as long as you have hands and feet and are not a lazy person, you can always easily support yourself.

The trainee knight looked at the stump of his limb that was severed at the elbow and smiled helplessly. He could barely be considered a human with hands and feet.

He pushed open the door of the cabin and saw Father Colen sitting by the fireplace, wrapped in a tattered blanket and warming his feet.

"Little Yurio, why are you back so early today?" the old man asked with a smile.

Yurio gently placed the wheat cakes and coarse bread he had bought from the convenience market on the mud bricks atop the fireplace to toast. He murmured, "I didn't catch any traps outside the city today, so I came back early..."

He didn't want to say what he really thought, but actually, when he was getting off work at noon, he met soldiers returning to the territory from the outpost. They were wearing neat black uniforms and walked past him in an orderly formation.

Yurio was extremely envious of these soldiers who could fight against the evil orcs at the outpost. If he had not been disabled, he would have gone directly to the lord's camp to volunteer for enlistment on the first day he arrived here.

But the reality is that now he can only hide this extravagant hope quietly and retain the last bit of dignity that belongs to the knight.

"Today, the lord's municipal officials came to see me..." Father Colen saw that Yurio was in a low mood and took the initiative to start the conversation.

Yurio looked up blankly and asked anxiously, "What are they doing here? Didn't they say they would collect the rent at the end of the month? I've already collected enough..."

Father Colen quickly waved his hand to calm him down. "That's not the reason. You know I can read and write, and I used to work as a tutor in a baron's family."

As he spoke, he took out a letter-sized contract document from his pocket and looked at Yurio with a smile on his face.

"They invited me to be a teacher at the newly built public school in the territory. Uh, I'll be responsible for teaching the elementary class. The monthly salary is 80 gold yuan. If I am willing to also teach at the nighttime adult literacy school, there will be an additional 20 gold yuan teaching subsidy..."

He struggled to stand up, staggered over to Yurio and patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry, we are not useless people. We are lucky enough to be alive and come to the frontier territory. We have warm and solid houses, warm and filling food, and well-paid jobs..." As he spoke, he pushed the young apprentice knight to sit on the chair.

"Don't dwell on the scars of the past. Live well and enjoy the rest of your life. That's what matters most!"

(End of this chapter)