The Release That Witch

Chapters 22's

The next day the rain finally subsided, and the Border Town came back bustling. Many villagers gathered in the square, speaking while waiting for the 4th prince's speech.

The day before, Roland had posted a notice about this presentation on the bulletin board. Whoever comes to the square and listens to his speech will receive a bowl of wheat porridge and half of bread. For the townspeople, this was equivalent to a free lunch, so there were more people here to watch than the time when the witch was hanged.

As it neared noon, Roland went up to the stage he had prepared earlier.

Faced with the dense mass before him, he would be lying if he said he was not nervous. Most of the time in his previous life he only dealt with computer monitors, even if he attended meetings he always sat in the audience to applaud, so facing such a battle was his first.

But he had to step onto the stage, if he wanted most of the people to stay in Border Town, they would need a stronger defense, and without motivation they would all leave.

Roland waved with his arm, and everyone fell silent.

He had practiced this scene many times, but when he stepped onto the stage, his mouth was still a little dry, "People in my territory, good afternoon. I'm the 4th Prince of Graycastle, Roland Wimbledon. Right now we're getting together, because there's an important message I need to tell you! "

"Four days ago ambassador Longsong Stronghold arrived, his mission was to receive the mined ore. We all know that a month ago, we suffered a devastating accident, the collapse of a mine on the North Mountain Slope. Even today, the mining area has not fully recovered so we cannot produce as much as we used to? As a result of the accident we only produced the equivalent of two months in the last quarter. "

"I explained the situation to the messenger, as I hoped he would lend us food for three months, and we would pay for the lost ore by the end of winter, but he refused! There was no room for negotiation, he refused to set aside any more food - as they did two years ago. "

The crowd exploded in fear, clearly the suffering of everyone two years ago is still remembered.

"This time it'll be worse. The necromancer of Longsong Fortress told me that this time the Demon Moon will be even longer, most likely lasting more than four months. That means, this time we will all face two months of food gaps. Two years ago, we lost 20% of the population. Someone lost a brother, someone lost a child, but this time, how much will we harm? "

"No! Your Majesty, you must save us!" Someone shouted from below, then more people shouted, "Your Majesty, I beg you to help us!"

It seems that putting a few people into the crowd, who will talk about his interests is the right choice. Roland raised his hand again, restraining the voices of the people, "Of course, I won't leave the people entrusted, I will never do that! You may not know, but the Longsong Stronghold every year sends us wheat and bread, and they carry away the ore that we mine, but it is not equivalent to the normal market price. According to the market price, two months of ore should be enough for half a year of food! I have sold the ore to Willow Town, their cargo ship full of food will soon arrive at Border Town. In addition to bread, there will be cheese, honey, and meat! During the winter, everyone can eat until they are full! "

The box cheered.

"However, this was equivalent to severing ties with Longsong Fortress, so they would not accept anyone during the winter. As a result, this winter, we all have to live in Border Town. Most people have been on the western border of our city, there we are building a strong wall. I know many people are anxious about the invasion from demonic beasts, but we can block them. I'd like to tell you, that demonic beasts are not much stronger than the usual forest beasts. Although they have rough skin and thick flesh, they cannot climb walls and they cannot eat rocks either. They have thick skin but they are just a bunch of easy-to-go targets! "

"Your Majesty, we want to fight with you!" Under the guidance of his own people placed in the crowd, more and more people vowed to fight. Seeing the atmosphere soaring, Roland timely ordered to take out lunch. He did not expect that everyone would live in Border Town. As long as half of those people were willing to stay, he would have a chance to block the demonic beasts from moving forward.

*

While Petrov brought back the message to the six noble families only to be greeted with laughter, he naturally had no idea that the 4th Prince was inciting the townspeople.

"You're saying that the incompetent prince actually wants to chase away the demonic beast alone? Dare to build a wall before winter, I don't know, should I praise him for his bravery or mock him for overestimating himself?"

"His Royal Highness' lack of courage is a known fact, when did the 4th prince find guts? He was just a fool, and nothing more!"

"Yes, he doesn't even have a mason, he's just leaning on a pile of unpolished stones and sticking wet mud in between, I'm afraid this pile of rocks will soon collapse."

"Anyways, that's a good thing. If he escapes to Longsong Stronghold, we will be in the power of nature. But if he dies in the border town ... we can end this joke immediately."

After he pondered the matter, the duke suddenly said, "Prov, what do you think?"

Petrov was surprised, he did not expect that the Duke of Longsong Stronghold would ask for his opinion, "Well, I originally wanted to maintain the monopoly, as long as we can get the ore at thirty percent below the market price, it will remain.It becomes a viable deal for us, but ... "His mind calculated some ideas," but His Majesty had no intention to sell all the ores to Longsong Fortress, he even sold the ores at a price 50% lower than the market price, that is, he even sold them at a price 50% lower than the market price, he plans to make a substantial increase in ore production next year. As long as they are able to increase production by up to double from previous years, we can earn more than ever. But he also intended to sell their own iron production, iron production was hot on demand, and resale would also be very easy.But ... This is not an important point. "

"Oh? What's that important?"

"If he can take control of Border Town, that would also be good news for us. We don't need to focus on dealing with demonic beasts every year, which could save us a huge amount of expenses. The second advantage is that a large amount of land between the fort and the Border Town will be open to all of us. Be it cultivating the land or using it to settle new people, both options would be good. This could greatly alleviate the current status of the overcrowded fortress population . " Petrov recited his ideas one by one, "And the 4th prince will not always stay in Border Town. The seizure of the throne will only last for five years, after five years we will get a more prosperous Border Town, and then we can enter Border Town into a fortress. Then the territory of the fortress would become the third largest territory of the entire kingdom. So my advice is ... "He glanced at the Duke, and said carefully," The Citadel should send staff to assist His Majesty, and we should cooperate in the defense of Border Town. "

"Right," said the duke, "but that is the mind of a merchant, interested only in profit and loss."

When he got to this point, he straightened his body, his eyes slowly sweeping out to each of the participants and his tone became astonishing, "However, his eyes slowly swept over each of the participants and his tone became astonishing, I did not gain my status today by weighing all the gains with losses. Why should I do business with people who are out of my control? Some rules must be adhered to, and if violated, offenders must be punished. Whether Border Town prospered or was damaged was unimportant, importantly it was that no one should think of taking control of me - even if he was a prince, he was no exception. "