A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 381 In whose eyes are people a resource?

When Rorschach met His Majesty Albert, he was dressed in a military uniform that resembled a dress uniform, with ornaments symbolizing honor hanging on him as if they were free.

"You want to be the King of Medals?" Rorschach wasn't particularly comfortable in the king's military uniform. Previously, this artist, especially opera enthusiasts and patrons, wouldn't dress like this, but it also reflected the tense atmosphere within Byrne.

"Master Rorschach, the speed at which your trading company and factories are developing is truly impressive. Do you have any magic that can be used in business?" the king joked with the young man who had come to pay his respects.

"What, you think my sheep are too fat and you want to slaughter them?" Luo Xia became somewhat wary. To maintain his humility and caution, he quickly replied, "Your Majesty, you flatter me."

Albert then moved on to the next topic: "The training of the Sky Knights is showing initial results, and I'm very satisfied. So, could we..."

Luo Xia bowed slightly again: "Your Majesty, you flatter me."

"..." The king coughed, then reorganized his thoughts: "The preparation of the new army's equipment could be completed in just two months; that's truly remarkable speed."

"Your Majesty, you flatter me."

"Can't we just talk like this?!" Faced with this little rascal, the old king could only get straight to the point: "Mage Rorschach, recently the Sky Knights patrolling the border have discovered an increasing number of refugees entering our country from Valuva, causing great distress to the southern towns. Could you mobilize your workshops and trading companies to resettle some of them?"

In the initial turmoil of the Holy Kingdom, the majority of the exiles were nobles. Now, with food shortages and internal wars, more and more capable commoners are fleeing. Furthermore, the Imperial army has swept through like locusts, plundering all the food, forcing local residents to leave their homes and escape famine.

There are three things that are not good for the refugees in the northern part of the Holy Kingdom:

I will not go to Istani because it is across the sea; I will not go to the south of the kingdom because it is short of food; I will not go to the southern countries of the continent because they are too far away.

So a group of people from Ulala traveled through mountains and rivers and chose the seemingly peaceful and prosperous Kingdom of Bain.

At first, a few beggars with accents from other places appeared in border towns and rural areas, but later they came in groups. Some even had horse-drawn carriages, and some were literate. They would come up to the town hall and beg for protection, bringing gold and silver jewelry to try to buy a small piece of land and Byrne citizenship.

As things stand, Sky Knights have discovered large groups of refugees moving into Bain's territory from the southern forests and plains during their patrols. According to reports from various city halls, the total number of refugees, both those who have arrived and those who have not, is probably in the tens of thousands.

The border troops merely controlled the refugees, but did not expel them all. The reason was simple: two legions of Bain had been incorporated into the Imperial Army, and new legions were being formed. The weather was warming up, and spring planting was approaching, foreseeable as a labor shortage was expected.

So, after the king and his ministers determined that there was no shortage of food in the country, they decided to take advantage of the people who came to them.

These refugees are theoretically a relatively high-quality labor force—they moved long distances while starving, eliminating many of the old and weak, resulting in a "healthy" population structure; they entered Bain without citizenship, making them cheap enough.

Unfortunately, this is only theoretical. The main difficulty lies in managing and organizing these people, transforming them from a liability into a manageable human resource. The biggest problem with refugees is their inability to quickly integrate into Bain's civil society. Cultural and religious differences lead to conflict, and clashes between locals and outsiders greatly threaten the kingdom's stability and drastically increase security costs.

What the court is now interested in is Rorschach's experiment in the steel mill: he turned a large number of farmers into workers. These displaced people did not immediately become ordinary citizens in the town, but were densely packed into prefabricated houses, forming a collective population in which the company intervened in and semi-controlled all aspects of their lives, so as to produce industrial products with high efficiency.

These people are in a middle, adrift state between rural and urban populations. They have lost their land and cannot return to farming, herding, and weaving, nor do they possess any skills or meager assets to operate and establish themselves in the city. The new labor skills these urban residents possess are highly tied to factories; they must follow instructions, cooperate with fellow workers, and work in harmony with machines to achieve production.

The officials of the palace and the city hall did not know what such a group was called, but as long-standing rulers, they keenly perceived that such a form of organized labor was very fascinating!

They are easier to manage and more productive than scattered peasants in the fields, and they are more docile than literate commoners who won't cause a ruckus in the palace or city hall.

In the eyes of the king and his ministers, Rorschach was a magician with Midas touch, capable of transforming unruly people and old farmers into numbers and human currency. How wonderful it would be to convert those refugees in this way! Throwing them into factories would isolate them from the local citizens, saving a lot of trouble.

After consulting with the prince and courtiers, Albert offered a significant condition: "If you can settle the refugees and prevent conflicts and unrest, I am willing to appoint you as a border count in the name of the Lord of Byron, granting you the honor and privileges of a nobleman."

Byrne once held a border lordship (a border lord is legally equivalent to a marquis), but it is now part of Valois. Albert certainly didn't propose this rashly; presumably, other nobles and the town hall had already approved the plan.

Rorschach's territory was designated with Kempson as its capital, extending to the border where Byron, Valois, and the Empire met. This unprecedented and unconventional investiture was similar to a betting agreement from a previous life.

Rorschach was to take in and settle refugees in his territory. The most demanding thing was that the first few years of establishing a territory were usually tax-free, but the king's conditions were the opposite: the Earl of Kempson's Borderlands was required to pay double the amount of grain that the territory had in previous years at the summer harvest, as well as to supply a legion of Byrne with military equipment during the war.

If the above conditions are not met, Rorschach's fiefdom and title will be revoked.

The standard opening of what you call a wizarding lord novel is wrong; it should be "the most wonderful opening ever." If it were a novel, it should start as a lowly knight, but now there's a chance to become a marquis in one step. If the Merklers back home heard this, they would surely faint with happiness. A city plus a vast border territory—this is far better than the manors of the imperial military nobility.

Rorschach's eyes sharpened. He was confident he could meet the excessive conditions the king had set after taking in the refugees, but the actual conditions were far more than that.

For example, consider the proposed location of the earldom. It's at the intersection of three borders, and the border earls would certainly face immense defensive pressure. Today they are refugees, tomorrow they might face a large army. Furthermore, the kingdom's current armaments are purchased from Rorschach's steel mills. If supplying an entire legion with armaments becomes an obligation, then profits will turn into losses.

To put it bluntly, military spending is too expensive, and neither the palace nor the city hall can afford it. They want to get rid of a "negative asset" and use titles and rotten land to get something for nothing from the biggest supplier.

"What's your intention, Master Rorschach?" Albert asked, his voice urging. In this critical moment, if Rorschach agreed, he would have found a sucker to dump the most pressing problems on this extraordinary man.

However, Luo Xia slowly shook his head; he had actually resisted the temptation of the "Marquis" title!

Rorschach smiled calmly: "Your Majesty, I was not born in Byrne, nor do I have any merits. I am grateful for your high regard, but if I rashly accept the title, I am afraid it will be difficult to convince the people."

No, no, no, we all think this is a good deal! Albert quickly said, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. In ancient times, the Ludwig family was also ordered to resist barbarians and guard the borders, which is why we have the Kingdom of Bain today. Now the situation is complex and volatile, and this is the time for you young people to make your mark." Rorschach, where is your youthful drive? Why are you being so calculating?

Your Majesty, why does what you're saying sound like you're inciting me to rebel? Rorschach felt that the king was so eager to push him into the pit that he was speaking without thinking.

Having no other option, Rorschach could only come up with another idea for the Byrne royal family: "Your Majesty, have you ever heard of a 'special zone'?"

(End of this chapter)