When the soldiers could see Fort Dorgnitz, they were bewildered by the sight of a crowd flowing through the castle.
Where did all these people come from?
When the soldiers entered Fort Dorgnitz, they were even more overwhelmed by the bustling and vibrant scene before them. Wasn't Fort Dorgnitz supposed to be a dull castle inhabited only by soldiers?
The castle was now vastly different from when they left. The main streets were lined with vendors, mostly selling food, followed by various artworks, sculptures, and trinkets—clearly items from the capital.
The soldiers looked puzzled, while Yun Zhe was gratified. It seemed that Gao had done a good job with the task he had assigned him.
As Yun Zhe was happily speculating about how many people he could absorb from the war, the vendors on both sides gradually quieted down, and the shoppers stopped in their tracks. Everyone looked with curiosity at the troop whose uniforms were tattered but neat and orderly, and whose movements were perfectly orderly even when riding horses.
More importantly, most of the soldiers in this group had pointed ears, but they were clearly not elves.
The people from the capital, even the refugees, were clearly worldly-wise; they quickly identified the race of most of the soldiers as the Aruru.
The quiet street suddenly returned to its previous hustle and bustle, but this time the focus of everyone's discussion was not the goods, but the soldiers in front of them.
"Aruru people? Mercenaries, I guess. I can't even tell which one is the commander. Huh? How did humans get mixed up with Aruru people? Huh? Look, look, isn't that woman riding a horse dressed in all black?"
"Are they all cavalry? That's amazing! What kind of unit is this? I've never heard of it before."
"Sigh, judging from their appearance, they've obviously returned defeated. Could it be that those bastards from Belvado are about to attack?"
People were talking amongst themselves, and anxiety began to spread. Soon, a voice rang out in the crowd: "The army has been defeated. They even used the mercenaries of the Aruru people, but there's still no hope of recovery. This is a sign of national ruin."
Yun Zhe looked around, then signaled the troops to stop. He jumped off his horse, took a Belvedere flag from his chest, and spread it out on the road.
This action caused a stir among the citizens, who were very curious about what kind of behavior it was and were eager to see what would happen next.
Yun Zhe mounted his horse again and signaled to all the troops to step over the flag and continue towards the inner city.
Soon, the flag was trampled and crumpled, and the surrounding citizens began to relax. Clearly, this action indicated at least one thing: the situation was not as bad as everyone thought, and it seemed that they had returned victorious.
The citizens' emotions gradually shifted from anxiety to stability, and then to fervor. As they watched the horses' hooves pound the flag, they began to cheer on both sides of the road.
Once the soldiers had all passed, the citizens erupted in cheers around the flag. Then Yun Zhe saw a busybody light the flag and shout with excitement. Many others joined in, their emotions running high.
Yun Zhe thought for a moment, then stopped Morrison, "Your troops stay behind. In case of any unrest, bring the situation under control immediately! And while you're at it, spread the word that we won a great victory."
Morrison nodded and led his men to a stop at the inner city gate. Yun Zhe, meanwhile, pondered as he entered the city, "Where are Gao's men? How come such a large castle doesn't have a single soldier in sight today?"
Then Yun Zhe saw a sight that surprised him, and he exclaimed in the same way as the other soldiers.
The rear wall of the entire city has been demolished, and countless farm workers and soldiers are working hard to expand it. The city walls on both sides continue to extend northward and have already taken shape. Further away, there is a newly built small castle, with its sides also extending outward, which is obviously the new inner city of Dorgnitzburg.
"No wonder no one came to greet us," Yun Zhe suddenly realized, and then he saw Gao and Jelock running towards him.
Gao only realized who had returned after seeing the flag. He excitedly rushed to Yun Zhe, pointed to the surrounding walls, and said, "Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to return so early. I was directing people to repair the wall."
Yun Zhe nodded. "You've doubled the size of Dorgnitzburg? That's great. It seems you've done a good job on the task I assigned you, achieving such great results so quickly."
Gao chuckled. "My lord, to be honest, this isn't difficult at all. Refugees are like headless flies; with a little guidance, they'll flock here." Gao's eyes darted around, and a playful expression appeared on his face. "My lord, guess how many people came in total?"
This is really hard to imagine. The capital area must have hundreds of thousands of households. Considering that almost half of the area was not affected by the war, then...
"Could there be as many as ten thousand households?"
Gao looked at Yun Zhe with some surprise, "My lord, you guessed very accurately. There are about 12,000 households, close to 50,000 people, not including the scattered soldiers and deserters who were incorporated, there are also 3,000 to 5,000 of them."
"With so many soldiers, can you control them?"
"Hmph," Gao said with a disdainful expression when he heard Yun Zhe ask this question. "They are cowardly as hell. As long as they are given food, they will stick to you like dogs every day. Moreover, as per your instructions, the officers and soldiers have all been separated. Only about a thousand strong soldiers have been left. The rest have been converted into construction teams." After saying that, Gao pointed to the workers in the distance.
"You only have 500 men left behind, and so many people have suddenly poured in. How do you guarantee there won't be any trouble?" Yun Zhe was shocked by Gao's abilities and couldn't help but ask.
Gao scratched his head, seemingly a little embarrassed. "My lord, actually I haven't managed it much. I've relocated most of them to the area outside the city in the north, giving them land and letting them build their own houses. I don't force them to stay or leave; I just told them that the capital won't be peaceful anymore, and only here can we withstand Belvado and avoid future wars. My main focus is on this new city. I just go to the north every day to check how many people have left."
Then, as if afraid that Yun Zhe would be angry, he added, "Indeed, many people have left, but even more people have come. In fact, the number of people is still slowly increasing."
“Great,” Yun Zhe said, quite satisfied. Although letting them roam freely would indeed result in the loss of many people, this kind of free atmosphere would retain those who truly wanted to stay. “That’s perfect. You’ll continue to be in charge of expanding the castle. I’ll go north to check on the situation of the refugees. Where are those thousand-plus soldiers? How did you handle them?”
Gao grinned. "My lord, those soldiers are all managed by Jerok. You know what, he's quite a capable man. On the first day alone..." Gao then stopped talking, looking at Jerok with great confusion as he stared intently at a female elf on horseback, her murderous aura palpable, ready to erupt at any moment.
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