Chapter 26: The True Purpose

  The rising sun illumihe verdant wilderness.

  In the fields by the northern riverbank of the vilge, where spring pnting was about to begin, faint weeds were growing.

  More and more people gathered at the northern vilge entrance.

  The buzzing noise of versation filled the air.

  Many were attracted by the hiring annou.

  Others watched from the sidelines, having fiheir fishing gear repairs but not believing in this so-called hiring.

  In their view, most nobles only knew how to exploit them by colleg more taxes.

  Still, they were happy to watch the otion.

  Since spring pnting hadn’t started, they had nothing else to do.

  The vilgers of Bay Vilge were not wealthy, having just survived a winter, and most waunt expressions.

  They wore coarse linen clothes patched in multiple pces. What attracted them might not be the daily wage of five copper s, but the promise of a hearty meal.

  In stark trast to the noisy crowd were the cart pushers who had arrived with the caravan.

  They were all robust, with proud smiles on their faces.

  Having been arrao rest in wooden s outside the lord’s manor st night, none of them wao leave despite their ck of freedom.

  Steward Ralph sat at the long table, with Old John and Captain Sean by his side, while the vilge elder Field, whose hair was streaked with gray, introduced the vilgers to him.

  All the caravan members lined up, except for a few soldiers statio the lord’s manor.

  Several wagons filled with goods were pced on both sides, attrag the curiosity of the young ones.

  Steward Ralph Old John, who then used all his strength to shout in a booming voice:

  "Quiet!"

  The noise instantly stopped!

  What really made the crowd listen wasn’t the fully armed soldiers, nor Old John's burly physique.

  It was the box of shiny copper s by Ralph’s hand!

  k, k!

  Steward Ralph picked up a handful of copper s aly tossed them onto the table, and the king sound of those boung s captured everyone’s attention.

  Done!

  Steward Ralph o the people behind the long table, then handed out the prepared paper and pens, breaking the sileh a clear voice:

  "The purpose of gathering everyooday is that the lord wants to repair the vilge’s defensive walls."

  "Aween the ages of 16 and 6ardless of gender, register and sign up."

  "Each person will be paid five copper s a day, wages paid daily, with a hearty lunch provided. The work will st half a month, and for every day finished early, each person will receive an additional five copper bonus!"

  As soon as these words were spoken, the entire vilge of Bay erupted iement.

  "Regardless of gender? Is that for real?"

  "If the wages are paid daily, the most we lose is one day’s work…"

  "Why ’t people over 60 work?"

  "Too old, ’t hahe work, they’re being excluded…"

  "Go call your mother and sister!"

  "Yes, and don’t fet to call your aunt…"

  People huddled together, discussing it in disbelief.

  Some quick thinkers eyed the idle children and had them hurry home to fetch the busy women.

  Seeing that the timing was right, Steward Ralph loudly tinued:

  "Alright, time is precious! Line up in four different queues acc to your area aer."

  "Children and elders also e forward. If they register, they’ll get a meal. Families that have all gathered will get priority registration."

  "Line up properly! Anyone causing trouble will be disqualified, and soldiers, keep a close watch!"

  "Yes!"

  After the battles of the previous night and the trials of the long journey, all the men, except for the few timid cart pushers, had been drafted into the ranks of soldiers by Matthew.

  Each would receive 20 silver s a month!

  Grateful for this, they were absolutely loyal to the lord's orders and authority!

  Seeing these fierce soldiers, the vilgers of Bay fell silent. Most dared not act out, while a few secretly pouted but didn’t dare show their dissatisfa.

  "What's your name? Hoeople are in your household? Are there any professionals? Do you have any skills?"

  "My name is Cartman, I'm 31 years old, and there are five people in my household."

  "This is my mother, Hosseren, she's 47. This is my wife, Aina, she's 30. These are my two sons, Adam and John."

  "I do logging and carpentry. My two sons are already 12 years old; they help too..."

  "They’re too young. The lord has other pns for them. Go queue over there; here’s your ake it and e back for lunch ter."

  "..."

  A total of 20 people were registered and verified by Elder Field.

  In about an hour, all the popution and household data of Bay Vilge had been thhly recorded.

  Arrivih a sleepy Yaya, Matthew casually flipped through the data.

  "A total of 2346 people, with 651 children under 15."

  "30 professionals, 15 warriors, 10 hunters, and 5 rogues. Only Elder Field is a level 6 mid-tier hunter."

  "There are 1455 people aged 16 to 60, and only 240 elders over 60."

  pared to most vilges on the Carl Pins, Bay Vilge had fewer elderly, as the area was more dangerous and severely cked medical resources.

  Holding a thick stack of household records, Steward Ralph realized the immense value of this method.

  "Now the eerritory’s demographics are clear. If this approach spreads further..."

  "Is this the lord’s true purpose? From this perspective, having everyone help build the walls was merely a warm-up for the pn…"

  "Perhaps I learn a lot from this…"

  Matthew remained calm, pyfully teasing the food-loving Yaya, then looked at the dark forest a few kilometers away and said:

  "Tell Ange and Old John to gather all the newly recruited soldiers, get their gear ready, and bring some stru tools."

  "Today, we'll clear out the dark forest to ehe woodcutters' safety."

  "Assign Captaio guard the supplies and watch for any potential spies."

  Steward Ralph nodded and quickly began anizing everything. Soon, everyone found themselves divided into twroups and then further into smaller teams.

  One group of weaker middle-aged men was assigo the vilge outskirts to dig trenches along the square route Matthew had marked.

  The weaker womeasked with preparing lunch for the entire vilge.

  The stronger young men with logging experience were sent with the soldiers to the dark forest a few kilometers away.

  All the professionals were called forth, led by Elder Field, to apany Matthew.

  Their task was to guard against the dangers lurking in the dark forest and resolve the long-standing issue that had pgued Bay Vilge.

  The trolls!