Chapter 442 The Laws of the Ranch
"Catastrophe OL" official website forum, pioneering communication section.
Too handsome to sleep: "Brothers! Big news! A swordsman with a greatsword has come to Wheatfield Village! He's bringing a boy of about fourteen or fifteen with him!"
This player, who had no name, said, "Get lost! It's just a mercenary. There were weirdos sneaking in every day before. This is nothing new."
Lighter: "+1, no work to chew lighter."
Too handsome to sleep: "Fuck! I'm serious! That guy is awesome, he cut down more than 20 logs with one sword! But he doesn't know how to build a house, he didn't even know to lay the foundation first! In the end, it was me who taught him how to do it, hehe."
The tree-climbing pig: "And then?"
Too handsome to sleep: "Then, probably because he felt bad for taking advantage of me, he taught me that wood-cutting trick! I think it's called sword energy! It's different from the Dragon God Sect's 'qi', his sword energy is not only sharper but also more precise! It's just that I'm stupid and didn't learn it."
Gou Shi: “What the hell?!”
Calabash Kid: "You're still a master???"
When they heard that this NPC also knew martial arts secrets, all the stupid players couldn't sit still anymore. They immediately changed their rebellious faces and knelt down to beg for strategies.
The player named [Too Handsome to Sleep] did not keep the audience in suspense, and described vividly how he met the strange man with a big sword, how he triggered the hidden task, and how he triggered the NPC's thanks, etc.
This handsome guy who is unable to sleep also mentioned that the swordsman with a big sword seems to be planning to build a hotel. Such a large project obviously cannot be completed in one day.
In other words—
This task is still doable!
After hearing this, the players were overjoyed and rushed into the game and went to Wheatfield Village to practice.
Unfortunately, the swordsman was too cold and indifferent to everyone, and most people were turned down.
His apprentice, Yulien, was quite talkative, able to strike up a conversation with anyone who spoke human language. However, he was also a rookie himself, unable to trigger hidden quests or teach the so-called "martial arts secrets," and was quickly abandoned by the real players.
The vast majority of players are going for the swordsman named Gaunt!
"Damn it! I took a special trip via the teleportation array, but why didn't he pay any attention to me?"
"You're the undead, right? He doesn't talk to the undead!"
"Fuck! Racial discrimination! Bad review!"
"What kind of race are you, the undead? You're just a corpse!"
"I suggest you just help him with the work! This guy seems very socially anxious and doesn't like to owe favors to others! If you just help him, he might teach you!"
"That's too much trouble. I'm not a professional gamer and I'm not interested in that kind of thing. Can I just give him the ghost money?"
"You can try and see if he beats you up!"
“…”
The hesitant newbies are still complaining on the forum, while the hardworking workers have already started operating in the game.
They first cleared the ground of rocks and tree roots, then tamped the ground flat. This work had to be done very carefully, because if the foundation was not flat, the house would be crooked when built.
Then comes the tree cutting.
Twenty logs were clearly not enough; they needed to cut down more trees and then take the wood to the sawmill by the river to be processed into the right shape.
In any case, chopping with a sword is obviously not an option. Even if the control of force is very precise, the person using the sword must fully understand what shape to chop into.
Obviously, the great swordsman had no idea about this.
By the way, in the past, if the villagers of Wheatfield Village wanted to do this job, they had to bribe the lord's forester with some dried meat and wine, or promise to help him repair the fence to persuade him to turn a blind eye.
But now, they just need to tell the Salvation Army what they are going to do with the wood, and whether they are going to sell it, and then they can go into the forest with their axes and work.
The above is just the first step. Next, they have to go to the river to dig clay, get some licorice or straw, mix them into the clay, add water, and stomp on it or rub it with their hands until it becomes sticky and thick...it becomes putty that can be used to paste walls.
After all the preparatory work is done, you can start laying the foundation with stones, using thick wood to make load-bearing columns, and building the main frame of the house.
According to players' aesthetic tastes, a medieval inn must have at least two floors. The first floor is the tavern for adventurers, and the second floor is where they stay.
In addition, there are stables, warehouses, and even cellars for storing wine... Regardless of whether the person who planned to open the hotel considered it or not, they had considered it all for the NPC!
At the same time, at the edge of Wheatfield Village.
Gaunt, carrying a greatsword, looked at the undead - oh no, holy spirits - busying around in his hotel, and was so stunned that he couldn't speak for a moment.
What are they...doing?
Unlike his master's bewilderment, Yulien, who was standing beside him, said something excitedly.
“It looks like they’re helping us build a hotel!”
Of course Gunter knew they were building a hotel, but he didn't know why they were doing it.
He had previously specifically asked a "Highlander" for instructions on how to build a house, a task he had originally intended to do himself.
Fortunately I didn’t do it.
Only after seeing these guys did he realize that what sounded easy was actually so troublesome to do! ?
This is not a project that can be completed by one person.
In comparison, it would be easier for him to carve a huge stone into the shape of a house...
At this time, a farmer walked towards this side.
Gunter remembered that his name was Old Hank, and he also lived nearby. Since they had talked before, the two were quite familiar with each other.
Without waiting for the farmer to speak, Gunter pointed to the skeletons busy at work on a construction site not far away and couldn't help but ask.
"Excuse me...what are they going to do?"
"Ah, them, that's what I was going to say," Old Hank smiled sheepishly and said to the Holy Spirits not far away, "Our ancestors welcome you very much... This is their way of expressing their hospitality."
A way to express enthusiasm?
Gaunt was stunned.
He had been to countless places, but this was the first time he had seen someone express their enthusiasm in this way... Uh, the Holy Spirit?
He has recently begun to accept this setting - the "Holy Spirit" of Wheatfield Village is different from those lonely ghosts with incomplete souls and puppets controlled by the necromancer.
They have souls!
Looking at Gunter who had been silent for a long time, Old Hank scratched the back of his head and spoke a little embarrassedly.
"By the way, my ancestor said he wanted to learn swordsmanship."
Gaunt: "...learn swordsmanship?"
Old Hank grinned.
"Yes! They said that if they learn swordsmanship, they can protect us... If it's not too much trouble, please teach them when you have time. If not, forget it!"
Gaunt glanced at the hotel being built not far away at a speed visible to the naked eye, then looked at Ullian with an expectant look on his face, and he couldn't say no.
Anyway, teaching one person or two people is the same, and it doesn’t make much difference to him. Besides, these holy spirits don’t seem like the kind of people who would use his swordsmanship to do evil.
They are all very kind souls.
Compared to the Dragon God Sect's sword skills, which have a large number of practitioners, the Sword Saint Sect he founded is a niche emerging school with not many practitioners.
He is actually very happy that someone is willing to learn.
Gunter nodded and agreed to Old Hank's request.
"That's not a problem... But who is your ancestor?"
Old Hank was stunned when he heard this. He had never thought about this question before. It took him a long time to speak.
"That... I don't know either. How about you teach me everything? My ancestors must be in there anyway!"
Gunter: “…”
Things seem to be getting a little troublesome...
…
Towards the end of May, the thriving Wheatfield Village added a small hotel with stables and a wine cellar, in addition to the lumberyard and brick kiln.
The inn is run by a man who carries a big sword, but he really doesn't know how to run a business and is always in a mess when settling accounts.
Fortunately, the kind-hearted "ancestor spirits" helped him and even taught his adopted son Yulian arithmetic and many other things besides swordsmanship.
In exchange, he would teach the ancestors of Wheatfield Village swordsmanship in his spare time, and the backyard of the hotel became his "sword hall".
Later, not only the "ancestors", but even the mercenaries or adventurers passing by would occasionally take a peek and learn a few tricks.
The swordsman named Gunter never stopped.
By the way, the "ancestors" of Wheatfield Village can also speak, but they need to convey their messages through a crystal ball with language magic attached...
At first, Gaunt frowned and pondered the secret, but after a long time, he found that although the saint and her followers were strange, they were not bad people, so he felt relieved.
Cognition is built up bit by bit.
Once the consensus is formed and spreads, every traveler passing by Wheatfield Village will tacitly agree that the Holy Spirit in Wheatfield Village is different from the spirits in other places.
Over time, the entire Quemu Territory will become the territory where players from the Great Cemetery gather.
Of course, this is not a bad thing for the locals. After all, the undead in the cemetery are much kinder than other undead.
Not only will they not hurt anyone, they will even go deep into the Duskwood to clear out monster nests or bandit dens when they accept missions from friendly forces, doing high-risk jobs that adventurers are reluctant to take on.
The greatswordsman named Gaunt is just an episode in the daily life of the villagers in Wheatfield Village. In addition to this mercenary with a greatsword, every day there are people with various stories written on their faces wandering over from other places in the Twilight Province.
According to the news brought by the refugees, Griffin Cliff Castle finally fell, and the Wilfort family fulfilled their oath and became the first earl family to be wiped out in this catastrophe.
The despicable people jumped off the crumbling ship early, while the loyal people eventually died in the sea.
For the Kingdom of Ryan, the "Homeland of Knights" has forever lost a legacy of loyalty. As for what will grow next, it depends on the luck of the people living on this land.
At least it is not optimistic at the moment.
In order to please the "Eternal Hunger Claw" in the void, it is not enough to just chop off a few thousand heads. "Executioner" Aka has to kill even more people.
Not only does he have to kill, he also has to find various ways to instigate one group of people to kill another group of people, so that he can become stronger!
He had a hunger for power that seemed to come from the depths of his soul, as if only this could allow his ugly soul to transcend the mortal world.
After capturing Griffin Bluff, the Green Army had completed the blockade of Dusk City and completely cut off the idea of Count Theron Garde and other cowards to escape to the capital.
In fact, it is not entirely correct to say that they are cowards. After all, the real cowards ran away earlier, and they are the ones who ran slower.
But it doesn't make any sense to say this now.
Only God can decide their fate.
Just as the Green Forest Army was marching towards the Dusk City as the sun was setting in the west, the army of the Principality of Campbell was also advancing towards the Dusk City.
The rebel bandits who tried to stop them along the way were no match for this group of well-equipped and well-supplied militia!
However, when Irene's army advanced to the area of Jingshuitan, they still encountered trouble.
According to the refugees from there, a group of ratmen clans who fled from the Wanren Mountains to the Dusk Province occupied there, and were led by the chosen one of the "Gluttonous Rat" Gerlo.
Although the fighting power of those ratmen was low, three of them combined could not defeat a Ryan man, let alone the tough Campbell people.
However, their numbers were so great that when millions of slave rats ran, the entire forest trembled with fear.
Not only that, they also dig tunnels, set traps, and even use explosives and artillery stolen from the dwarves!
Campbell's militia finally met their match, and the high-spirited Northern Rescue Army finally began to suffer casualties.
However, this setback certainly could not stop the Principality's progress. After all, the enclosure movement in full swing in the rear provided a steady supply of troops to the front line.
Just a few factories could not consume all the landless farmers, not to mention the population from the Kingdom of Ryan and even the coast of the Whirlpool Sea to supplement them.
The security problem outside Thunder City was alleviated almost immediately!
After all, now those who cause trouble do not have to be taken to prison, but are sent directly to the recruit camp and shipped directly to the front line after two weeks.
Thanks to this, the guards are now under much less pressure because the army recruiters are now happy to serve them.
The happiest person was undoubtedly Horace, the owner of the textile factory.
In the past, he survived by chance thanks to the kindness of Irene Campbell. Now, if anyone dares to interfere with his business, the loyal soldiers will pull away the supplies like cattle, so that these guys can use their energy on more worthwhile things.
In addition to the guarantee of manpower, another good news for the Northern Rescue Army came from the diplomatic aspect.
Archduke Edward, who was far behind, mobilized his excellent diplomatic mediation skills and invited the dwarves from the Wanren Mountains to come over.
When his envoys arrived at the Castle of Hatred in the High Mountain Kingdom with the tail of the ratmen and explained to the Justa family that ruled there the relationship between the Dusk Province and the Brass Gate, the Justa family signed a military agreement with the Duchy of Campbell without much hesitation.
The Mountain Kingdom will send 20,000 dwarf warriors to support Campbell's northern rescue army.
Of course, they abide by the ancient covenant and will not intervene in human wars. They only provide dwarven artillery, use dwarven tunnels and mine carts to transport supplies to the Campbell people, and take action against rat-man guerrillas who attack supply lines.
As the sworn enemies of the Skaven, the Dwarves are undoubtedly experts in "rat extermination." To efficiently eliminate these fast-breeding creatures, they have invented a series of highly effective killing machines, including but not limited to flamethrowers, organ cannons, and more.
After the Campbell people got these equipment, they certainly wouldn't just use them on the ratmen. The dwarves had no good feelings towards Chaos, so dealing with those green turbans was just a piece of cake.
famine?
Oppression of the nobility?
Perhaps their uprising was forced, but what does that have to do with the dwarves?
Dwarves won't break their oaths over such a small matter... Of course, the Hell Dwarves aren't really dwarves.
In short, they have long disliked these guys who destroyed Greystone Town!
With the support of the dwarves, the Northern Rescue Army, which had been at a standstill due to the intervention of the ratmen, has regained its fighting strength and is beating those little rats and green turbans running around everywhere into a pulp!
Of course, it's true that they have a lot of teeth, so it remains to be seen who will ultimately take over Twilight City...
…
Dusk City.
In stark contrast to the orderly and prosperous capital of King Ryan, the capital of the Twilight Province is now shrouded in an atmosphere of depression and despair.
Under the city wall, countless refugees crowded together. They were pale and thin, with numb eyes, like dead grass forgotten by the world.
The soldiers on the city wall watched them indifferently, and prohibited anyone from entering the city for any reason on the grounds of preventing spies from the Green Forest Army from infiltrating.
Except for the nobles they couldn't afford to offend.
The air was filled with a foul stench of death and decay.
Some of it came from the dead, and some of it came from the living...
It's hard to say which side has the upper hand.
"This is simply hell..." Lyon stood beside a simple carriage for a long time and said in a daze.
Not long ago, Lyon, an apprentice of the great sage Dolulak, arrived in the Kingdom of Lion and warned King Theoden de Valu that the corruption of Chaos was spreading across the province.
However, the great sage's wisdom was met with ridicule and questioning from the king and his courtiers.
The king ordered him to find solid evidence, otherwise he would be punished for insulting the royal family. So, accompanied by the old butler Sclair, Lyon traveled all the way and finally arrived at this city on the front line of war and famine.
According to the travelers he met along the way, that place was the closest to hell in the entire kingdom. When he arrived, the scene that greeted him confirmed those travelers' claims...even if they were too conservative.
Lyon was completely shocked.
He was a scholar who grew up in a high tower. Under the careful cultivation of the great sage, while still an apprentice, he had already come into contact with magic that many magicians would never have the chance to touch in their entire lives.
That's why he couldn't imagine such a thing happening.
They have clearly communicated with the virtual world outside the world, and can even use magic to make bread fly automatically to everyone's table, so why are there people who can't eat enough?
Xuebang is part of the empire, and the Kingdom of Ryan is of course also part of the empire. Why doesn’t the emperor come and take care of it?
Even if the emperor can't see it, what about the king?
He turned to the old butler beside him, unable to control the trembling of his voice.
"Lord Sklar, open your eyes and take a look! Isn't this enough evidence that Chaos's corruption is eroding this land?"
From a scholar's perspective, he believed that famine was unacceptable in the empire, and there was only one logical conclusion:
That's Chaos's doing!
However, after hearing Lyon's accusation, the old butler Sclair's expression did not change at all.
He just calmly looked at the crowd outside the city struggling to survive, sighed as if he couldn't bear it, and spoke slowly.
"Lyon... sir. Whether it's famine or rebellion, it happens in any kingdom. There could be many reasons for it, perhaps the governor is incompetent, the weather is bad, or the farmers are lazy... but that doesn't prove that it's all related to Chaos."
Lyon widened his eyes, unable to believe his ears. Was this still the common language of the empire that he was familiar with?
What is he talking about?!
"Unbelievable... Is life so cheap in your eyes? How is your indifference different from that of the Apostles of Chaos!" He pointed at a child on the side of the road who was starving to the point of being skin and bones, and his eyes fell on the forest not far away where the bark had been scraped clean, and he growled angrily.
This is a pretty serious accusation.
Sclair could have ignored him, or even retorted, but looking at the young boy, he couldn't say anything too harsh.
Perhaps, as he said, the world shouldn't be like this, but the real world does not operate according to the logic imagined by students in ivory towers.
He paused and persuaded in a gentle tone.
"Mr. Lyon, please forgive me for being frank. His Majesty actually has no intention of punishing you. Even though you may not understand, he is actually a very merciful monarch, especially to you."
Without waiting for the angry young man to speak, he continued.
"As long as you admit your words were inappropriate and stop insisting on those unfounded claims, His Majesty will not only forgive your offense but will also escort you out of the country with courtesy... I believe this is exactly why you've come here."
If the Great Sage really felt that there was corruption of Chaos here, why didn't he come here himself, but instead sent a magic apprentice to pass on the message?
It's not that he couldn't leave the tower. He even went to the Brass Pass not long ago. On the way there, he remembered the neighboring Kingdom of Ryan.
Is this reasonable?
There was only one explanation: the great sage just wanted to train his apprentice, but this young man who had been in the ivory tower for too long really didn't know how to be tactful.
If he had changed his words, he would have gone back to report by now, and there would be no need to implicate himself by following him.
Sklar couldn't help but wonder, how did the great sage choose this guy?
Is there no other talented person in Xuebang?
There was actually nothing wrong with what the old butler said, and the king did think so. It was a pity that a certain magic apprentice did not think so.
He was so angry that he almost squeezed out these words from between his teeth.
"Mr. Sklar, I'm afraid you've misunderstood something. I'm not here to complete a mission, but to save our world!"
Looking at the stunned Sclair, he spoke word by word.
"Compared to my own safety, isn't it true that the people of the kingdom who are suffering right here before us who are truly worthy of our attention?!"
The deafening sound left the surrounding guards speechless.
The same goes for Sklar.
However, the experienced old butler was silent for only two seconds before responding to Leon's anger.
"So, respected savior, did you bring food, an army, or... just a mouth?"
Leon was stunned.
But he was not a brainless person filled with anger. On the contrary, he had a very quick mind and found the loophole in this sentence in an instant.
"You're making unfounded arguments... We're clearly demonstrating your indifference! I'll inform the Great Sage and the guards of Brass Pass of the situation here! But this is your king's direct territory, and your majesty should take the lead!"
"Then please inform the Great Sage. I bet he certainly didn't predict what happened here, haha," Sklar said softly with a nonchalant smile, "But I want to point out something else... Mr. Lyon, is there a possibility that everything we see before our eyes is precisely 'preventing' chaos?"
Leon was stunned, not understanding the meaning of this sentence at all.
Sclair no longer looked at him, nor did he explain. He just cast his gaze at the people struggling to survive in the distance, as if he was looking at the cattle and sheep in the pasture.
Your Majesty is not unaware of this.
On the contrary, he knows everything.
In the distant First Age, people in this land often died due to religious and territorial disputes, but after the First Age, this problem no longer existed... instead, it was replaced by plague and famine.
Is it because the lord is not virtuous enough?
no.
Are people lazy?
Not really.
Is it because of the war at Bronze Pass?
That's even more impossible.
The reason why people died was not for any other reason, but simply because the arable land here could no longer support so many people.
The people here refer not only to the farmers in the fields, but also to the vassals who continue to encroach on the territories directly under His Majesty's jurisdiction, and the priests who continue to expand the parish lands in the name of Saint Sith.
It's time for a massive uprising.
They needed to let the peasants who couldn't survive kill their lords, and then let the nobles and priests who still had martial virtues kill the rebellious peasants.
As long as nine out of ten people died, the land of Twilight Province would be enough for everyone to share, and the royal family would naturally be able to take back the part that belonged to them.
With the empire around, can a group of heretics really cause chaos?
This is why the king allowed the nobles to leave his castle and even allowed those useless people to hide in his palace.
That lord has already made a list of these rubbish. Once this farce is over, all the nobles, regardless of whether they are His Majesty's vassals or not, will be skinned alive!
This is not the first time in the history of the Kingdom of Lane, and it is even the lesson the royal family learned from the separation of the Duchy of Campbell.
A weak Twilight Province is more beneficial to the kingdom, and only a weak Twilight Province belongs to the royal family itself.
This is also the reason why, despite possessing vast resources, the Twilight Province has not become the "Twilight Principality".
The only exception is the dispatch of troops from the Duchy of Campbell, which has never happened before. After all, the Demon King of Thunder County had dealt with them before.
However, Sclair didn't think this was a big problem. His Majesty must have thought of a solution long ago.
"…A wise rancher will set fire to his pasture at the appropriate time. The grass that grows back will not only be more delicious, but also more conducive to the continued prosperity of the pasture."
Leon clenched his fists tightly.
"I can not understand……"
If this was not enough evidence of Chaos' invasion, he couldn't think of any other way to prove it to the king who was pretending to be asleep.
Perhaps, he needs to find the messenger of chaos...
Or, he has to create his own "evidence".
Looking at Leon who seemed to have calmed down, Sclair nodded slightly, ending this meaningless discussion.
The young man is actually not a bad person, otherwise he would not have helped him patiently.
"So you are a scholar, not a king."
(End of this chapter)
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