[Chapter 27 Preparing for the Return Trip]

The place that Maloney-Mansfield arranged for David and Laura was located in the outer part of the inner city. It was not a good location. When you opened the window, you could see the tall inner city wall. In addition to the pots of green plants on the windowsill, there were only the green grass and flowers downstairs to appreciate. The

furniture and bedding inside were not made of any high-quality materials, but they were clean and tidy, making people feel very comfortable, and there was no strange smell, which made Laura, who had walked all the way from the outer city, breathe a sigh of relief.

“The environment here is not bad.”

After Maloney’s attendant Huey brought the two here, introduced the basic situation, and arranged adjacent rooms for the two, he said goodbye – he said goodbye, but Huey actually lived on the first floor, and David and Laura could find him at any time if they needed anything.

“It’s like two different worlds from the outer city.”

“In fact, it’s two completely different worlds.” David looked at the tall city wall. This huge city wall is not only the strongest line of defense of Iron Tree Castle, but also a barrier between the two worlds. If ordinary people do not choose to join the pioneering team, they may never have the opportunity to enter the inner city in their lifetime.

However, David was not thinking about such lofty questions as how to change the world. He was thinking about something very practical: Should we build a wall for Winter Village?

After thinking about it, it seems that it is not necessary for the time being. With only a few houses, a few fields, and a few people in Winter Village, everyone can find and deal with any problems at the first time. There is no need for things like walls.

When the village grows and the population increases, and more ordinary people who need protection live in the village, walls will be needed as defense facilities.

“What are we going to do in the next few days?” Laura walked around the room twice, went to her room to check, and then sent back to David’s room: “Are we going to wait here for the inspector?”

“I’m going to say hello to Addis and tell him about our arrangements. By the way, let him help ask if anyone is willing to move to Winter Village.” David himself also has to go to the outer city to issue a notice to see if he can attract some farmers and blacksmiths.

“I’ll go with you!”

After listening to David’s arrangements, Laura didn’t want to wait here. It was really boring.

After going downstairs and calling Huey, David first asked about the announcement. He learned that it was very simple to issue a notice, but if he wanted to issue a notice that would be notified to the entire outer city, it would cost some money.

In this era when communication was basically based on shouting, the civilians in the outer city could not be expected to have enough culture. If he wanted to publish the notice to the entire outer city, the only reliable way was to hire people to go around the city and tell people.

If he wanted to hire people, he would have to spend money! But the key to the problem was that David had no money.

After Huey knew that David had no money, he did not mock or show any disdainful expression. He had the basic professional qualities to become the most trusted attendant of the officials.

“If you don’t want to spend money…” Just changing the way he said it made David feel much more comfortable: “Then you can only post the notice in the square of the outer city, where you can spread the news as much as possible. You can also ask people in the town affairs hall to help write this notice.”

The solution given by Huey was the most reliable solution at present, but someone still needed to stay by the notice to answer some possible questions.

David nodded. Huey stopped talking after he said the solution. Someone had to be on guard next to the notice. One reason was that not many civilians were literate, or even very few. In addition, the notice only said that a new village had been established in the north and that farmers and craftsmen were recruited. It was impossible to write down all the specifics, so someone needed to answer them in time.

If David had money, he could of course hire someone to guard the notice to do this. If he didn’t have money, he could only do it himself.

“By the way, generally speaking, how many days does the inspector need to make various preparations?”

“I’m not sure about that.” There were some things Huey could answer, but there were some things he couldn’t give an accurate answer to, especially when it came to matters related to his master.

David estimated in his heart that if the inspector Maloney-Mansfield was a relatively hardworking official, then two, three, or five days should be enough. He was afraid that this gentleman had a serious “procrastination disorder”. Anyway, for this gentleman, the situation of the village in the north was not very important to him. What would happen if he waited a few more days before setting off? In

that case, it was uncertain how long he would have to wait.

Fortunately, the situation that made David extremely entangled and depressed did not happen. After meeting Addis and greeting him, he asked him to help find some farmers and craftsmen who were unhappy with their lives in Iron Tree Castle and wanted to change their lives. Then he went to the Iron Tree Castle Affairs Hall to write a notice and posted it on the square of the outer city. After being watched by a group of people for half a day, he

returned to the residence arranged by Maloney and just finished dinner when someone came to find Huey. Then Huey informed David: “Lord Mansfield has confirmed the departure date. We will leave after breakfast four days later.” It was

about the same as the fastest time David estimated. It seemed that the inspector was a very diligent official.

With an accurate departure date, David could agree on the departure time with Addis, and also set a gathering time with those who were interested in going to Winter Village.

With full of expectations, David went to the place where the notice was posted in the square every day to wait, but unfortunately not many people asked, and no one clearly expressed their willingness to go to Winter Village. After

three days of waiting, he was just lonely. On the third day, there was no one around to watch the notice. Even if David kept promoting his village, at most he got some suspicious eyes.

When he set out on the fourth day, David met Inspector Maloney Mansfield again. The inspector still had a faint smile on his face. He greeted David very kindly and comforted him by the way: “People with adventurous spirit have already joined the pioneering team, so you don’t have to feel discouraged.” Obviously, the inspector

knew clearly what David was doing these days, and he also knew that David had not recruited half a person in these days.

He didn’t find this situation strange at all. Isn’t it the case for civilians in the outer city? As long as they can survive, they will survive. As for whether they will have a better life in another place? They don’t even think about this problem.

Moreover, the people who came back from the pioneering team have described the situation in the north for the past two years. The few people who were interested gave up their “unrealistic” dreams when they thought of these people’s descriptions.

David’s Winter Village wanted to recruit farmers and craftsmen in Iron Tree Castle, which was more difficult than building an ordinary new village.

“Thank you, Inspector.” David was mentally prepared and did not show any particular disappointment. At this time, he looked at the people behind Maloney curiously.

Judging from their attire, several of them were wearing armor and carrying weapons. They should be the accompanying guards. One was Maloney’s attendant Huey, who should be responsible for taking care of the Inspector who was in charge. There were two others wearing light clothes. It was hard to tell what their identities were from their clothes. Maybe they were Maloney’s subordinates?

Maloney had no intention of introducing David, but just motioned David to sit on the mount prepared for him.

Seeing David’s slightly awkward movements, Maloney’s expression did not change. After noticing Laura’s skilled movements, the doubt in his eyes became a little stronger. Finally, he couldn’t help but ask, “I don’t know Miss Laura’s last name?”

“Crawford!” Laura glanced at David, and after seeing him give her a casual look, she said her last name very straightforwardly.

“Crawford…” Maloney thought about it and confirmed that it was not a family in the Iron Tree Castle, or even a big family in the surrounding area or the Royal City of Tilan.

He would never have thought that the Crawford family came from Britain, a country very, very, very far away from the Kingdom of Tilan.

After these few days, David had actually vaguely guessed that this Maloney might have misunderstood something, but he had no intention of explaining it, so he let him misunderstand it. This misunderstanding was not a bad thing for him.

Perhaps the fact that this Maloney was ready in just a few days was related to this misunderstanding. Even the two spare horses next to him might have originated from this misunderstanding – there were several horses carrying goods, but two of them had only saddles but no goods, which were obviously specially left out.

Marlonie Mansfield was well prepared, not only for the work he was responsible for, but also for how many people David would bring back to Winter Village this time. He

had arranged horses for David and Laura, and also for Addis and Alfie who would definitely go with David and Laura.

Passing through the square of the outer city, David saw that the notice he had posted had been taken down. He saw many farmers and craftsmen who had asked him about it in the past few days. At this time, they looked at him with all kinds of eyes. From their expressions, it can be seen that most of these people were just watching the fun, and there was no envy or desire to be together.

Going along the main road – the direction opposite the gate of the inner city will reserve enough space as the main passage for easy entry and exit, and the people on horseback quickly passed through the vast outer city. As soon as

he left the outer city, David noticed two figures, one big and one small, standing on the “roadside” and looking around. They were Addis and Alfie.

Addis had already known that they would be traveling with officials of noble origin when they moved to the north, but he did not expect that the officials would provide David and Laura with mounts. Looking at the team that was all riding horses, Addis thought that he and Alfie would have to go alone. Unexpectedly,

when the team stopped in front of him, David pointed to two empty mounts and motioned Addis and Alfie to ride on them.

“Is there such a good thing?”

(End of this chapter)