Warhammer Divine Throne-Chapter 674 - 298: Recruitment! (Second Update!)

PS: Here's the second update of the day!

Early the next morning, Remon and the others followed Bono into the town. It was clear that Bono's willingness to take them in was not without purpose. At the very least, Remon, his elderly mother, and his brother Thomas, all having had a satisfying meal, helped him carry a basket of vegetables. It was filled with tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and corn, along with soybeans and black beans, which are high-quality horse feed. Bono mentioned that these vegetables sell well in town, as many of the Free People are no longer satisfied with just bread for meals; they desire a variety of vegetables.

The group headed towards Gene Town, the road crowded with people and bustling activity.

"Oh my, are those dwarves?" Remon, carrying the vegetables, noticed a few dwarves on the road wearing somewhat amusing thick clothes and carrying tools.

Remon had never seen a dwarf before. Among the peasants, there were only legends passed by word of mouth, saying that dwarves were miserly and brutal creatures who poured molten iron down human throats to force them to reveal their secrets.

"Yes, they are our dwarf friends," Bono said loudly, already used to it. "The greatness of Count Laine lies here; even the mountain dwarves and forest elves are willing to be his friends."

"Elves?! My goodness, I've only ever seen elves once when I was a child on a procurement trip," murmured the elderly mother, somewhat recovered after a solid night's rest and a hearty meal.

The roadside was bustling with people, all discussing recent events. The peasants were curious about what was happening in the north; otherwise, why would so many escapees from the north come to Count Laine's lands recently?

Despite their curiosity, the peasants were not panicked. They seemed to have unwavering faith in Count Laine and his army, believing any strong enemy would fall before the Count. This was not an inexplicable confidence but a heartfelt trust and recognition of Count Laine.

"Five years ago, the Holy Grail Knight, the Divine Chosen Champion of the Lady, our Count, came here. He enacted new laws and proposed new slogans. Honestly, many of the words he spoke at the time were beyond our comprehension," Bono said, carrying a basket of vegetables and speaking to Remon. "But one statement touched our hearts: our Count promised that every hardworking subject in his land would get to eat chicken once a week!"

"Ah!" Remon's mouth dropped open, amazed at such a lord.

"Five years have passed, and our dreams are gradually becoming realized. My family still can't eat meat every week, but we can at least do so once a month. We're no longer starving, and we have some grain stored up. We've switched from black bread to more porridge and fish, and better barley bread. Life is improving, and we're genuinely grateful to the Count for everything he has brought us," Bono earnestly said. "Anyone opposing our Count, I, Bono, will not agree!" 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

They say the south is good, the south is good. Is the south really that good? Remon could only sigh. Along the way, he hadn't seen any drunken idlers collapsed by the roadside or any gaunt-faced peasants. Everyone's faces brimmed with confidence and vitality, with some peasants even wearing new clothes, their faces healthy and ruddy.

Those were fine linen clothes; heaven knows how much such a set would cost?

Merchants drove their horse-drawn carriages, the contents unknown, but they rumbled loudly. Occasionally, a patrol would pass, lively and orderly, with a well-maintained formation.

There was also a group of Sharp Ears! These Wood Elves, even in late winter, wore only single garments, with just a beast-skin cloak draped over them. They escorted large quantities of goods, mingling with human caravans. Remon even noticed some merchants greeting them, with the proud elves positively responding.

Oh heavens! Isn't it said that elves are a group of cruel and unfeeling high beings? Just the mention of elves would drench Remon's family in cold sweat.

The Sharp Ears enjoyed privileges, with humans avoiding their group. The Wood Elf carriage conveying quickly disappeared ahead.

"My goodness, it's my first time seeing elves, and they don't seem to dislike us that much..." Remon whispered to Bono.

"These elves are called Wood Elves. They have big tempers and aren't fond of interacting with people, but I have to say, they're quite alright. Last time I was sick, the medicine used came from Wood Elf trade, cheap too. And Wood Elves occasionally buy herbs from us; anyone with stock can make a quick buck~ From this point, these Sharp Ears aren't bad," Bono replied softly. "Of course, the Count has decreed we should speak less around them, to avoid any provocation."

"Right, right," Remon said, still feeling a lingering fear.

There were many signposts along the road, pointing toward the officials. Count Laine humanely considered that most peasants were illiterate, so the signposts were a bit like strange comics.

The comic depicted a peasant diligently farming and another working hard, with knights holding bread and porridge, offering food to the peasants. Below were two simple words, "Work" "Bread."

Even the most ignorant peasants could understand such straightforward comics: work in exchange for food. Remon's family felt a bit relieved at the sight. Working in exchange for food seemed fair and was exactly what they wanted.

The peasants existed to work for the lord, exchanging labor for food and the right to survive, while the lord would provide military protection for his people. This rule had lasted for thousands of years in the world and would continue in the future. Count Laine demanding these escapees to work for food proved he needed them.

If he needed escapees, he certainly wouldn't casually execute or exile these poor people.

The peasants never shunned hard work; they feared working hard only to starve.

After several hours of walking, the new sights and experiences left Remon feeling a bit numb.

In the distance, towering city walls and gates appeared before Remon, like deities standing firm on the earth. The five or six-meter-high walls obstructed travelers' views. As they saw the city gates, the Count's family crest and the Holy Statue of the Lake Fairy also came into view.

The red and white shield emblem depicted a golden Holy Grail, then a sharp sword piercing through a book, two ribbons surrounding the shield emblem, and beneath, a family motto that the peasants couldn't understand.

At the city gate, there was a crowd of carriages and people eager to enter the city—serfs, free people, merchants, dwarves, wood elves, and many knights seeking guidance. Some of them were expedition knights on a quest for their Holy Grail, while others were Ranger Knights wanting to serve under Laine and become his subordinates.

The wood elves, dwarves, and nobles were evidently the first to enter the city.

Today, however, the situation was different. Whether serfs, free people, merchants, knightly nobility, elves, or dwarves, they all made way for a lady knight and her attendants to enter the city first.

She was a very beautiful lady knight with golden long hair and a gallant figure, stunningly beautiful, perfectly poised as she rode her warhorse, slowly entering Gene Town amid everyone's reverence. Cheers echoed throughout the process, with everyone shouting, "Our Countess is wonderful" and "Lady Surya is wonderful!"

"Quick, kneel down!" Bono hurriedly signaled to Remon and the others to kneel, as everyone watched the lady knight enter the city slowly.

"Who's that?"

"That is our Countess! She's the daughter of the Duke of Winford and the Count's fiancée, the future Countess! The Countess is very kind! Everyone loves her!" Bono quickly bowed his head, speaking with a voice full of admiration.

"Oh~oh!" Remon had seen the wife of the Master Knight, who was a woman with a peculiar tone, sharp and mean-spirited, who enjoyed teasing the serfs for fun, and the village serfs secretly resented her.

It seems different here, Remon thought secretly.

After queuing for a while, the group entered the city. A part of the sky disappeared behind the towering city walls, revealing numerous vendors. Small tradesmen and shopkeepers were selling their goods at the entrance, including vegetables, meat, and clothes. The array of stalls was overwhelming for Remon's family, and both sides of the street were lined with neat two-story houses, many of them well-decorated.

The old mother was the most surprised, as she was the only one in the family who had been in the city when she was young.

There wasn't the stench she had imagined. In her memory, the city was permeated with stench, with human waste, chicken and duck feces, and countless trash lining the roadsides. Residents on the outskirts of the city had to live among garbage all day: "It's... seems different here."

"You mean the garbage, right? Times have changed." Bono evidently knew this very well: "The Count and his courtiers taught us to use feces to irrigate our fields. I must say, it works really well... although it's a bit smelly, overall it's acceptable. Ever since the fields of the first daring person's family increased their yield, feces have become a hot commodity; everyone fights for it—human, pig, horse feces—these are treasures to us common people."

"Now, there are toilets all over the city, where people relieve themselves, and then the waste is transported out. Everyone wants their fields to yield more, to pay the Count sufficiently, and keep the rest for themselves!"

"Hey, we'll be parting ways soon!" Bono pointed to the dense group of people ahead: "That's the labor office."

"Great!" Remon put down the basket of vegetables, trying hard to pull his family into the dense crowd.

There were too many people, maybe more than a hundred, mostly escapees from the north. The crowd pressed together, emitting a strong body odor, like a slab of spoiled, stinking meat.

But these were still within Remon and the others' tolerance; they pushed vigorously to the front of the crowd.

Inside the labor office were a dozen fully armed soldiers, and apart from them, a man who looked like a sergeant stood on a high platform, his arrogant demeanor reminiscent of many knights.

Behind the platform were many merchants and shop owners, even dwarves—they were there looking for workers.

"Outsiders! I am Deni! I have good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?"

"The bad news!" shouted an escaped serf, who looked young with a buzz cut and no beard.

"The bad news is that recently many northern escapees have flooded into the town, filling many positions; those of you who want to apprentice under a dwarf or work in a textile workshop need to hurry!"

"Then... what's the good news?" shouted an escaped serf.

"The good news is that we have countless jobs and undeveloped farmland here. There's nothing you can't do; we have positions for everything!!!" The sergeant pulled out many papers from his pocket: "So tell me, brothers, who wants to fill their belly?! Who wants to work to earn their lunch, dinner, and a cup of barley beer after work?!"

"I do! I do!!" The crowd went wild, pressing forward.

"Who wants to work hard for the Count, in exchange for the right to settle here?"

"I do! I do! I do!!!" Over a hundred escapees in the labor office had reddened eyes, shouting loudly, reaching their hands out to the sergeant.

"Then let's begin!"