Farmer, groom, lumberjack, miner, charcoal burner, forester, carpenter, blacksmith, small trader......

There are no people in Serindil that a town needs to build a basic industrial chain, which is a headache for Byron.

In the past, the Kingdom of Svadia would attack or even occupy it every time it went south, but every few months it would withdraw, and the inhabitants who had fled would return.

But now that the kingdom of Svadia had the upper hand in the war, and Fort Gruenwald had been taken by them, Count Dirinald's troops were directed at Viruga, and the inhabitants of Serindil could not return, leaving the town empty.

The population of the town was not to be returned after the war, but Byron really didn't want the town to be so empty.

Fortunately, many refugees were displaced by the war, and the war also caused some of the residents of Serindil to completely lose their original families and properties. The part they have left out is just right for the newcomers to flow out.

Byron sent Jamila and a group of soldiers to promote his new policy, offering that refugees who wished to settle in Serindil would be given a single acre of unclaimed land and some timber and stone for the construction of houses, and even lease them cattle and farm implements. Although the refugees want to return to their hometowns the most, these benefits are enough for those who have lost their homes to settle in Serindil.

In addition, because Byron had a large amount of dinar silver, he had enough capital to repair the ruined buildings in the town, and to buy cattle and other necessities for the village, such as enough forage for food and metal utensils.

Of course, Byron would prefer to recruit some skilled people here. Serindil's infrastructure is fairly sound, and there is even a dedicated shopping street and a coachman's rest station. The blacksmith shop also has ready-made buildings, but a blacksmith is missing. There are people in the church who have a place, but some necessary supplies need to be repurchased.

As Jamila leaves, she is stuffed with a list of things that need to be added. Byron gave her 5,000 dinars and told her to watch and buy.

Kenrad also received a new order, Byron had him lead a team of 100 men to clear the area around Serindil of bandits and rebels.

Fort Gruenvod has been taken by Svadia, and even if the war is armisticid, King Haraus will never give up the land he has occupied. Byron already considered himself lord of the town of Serindil, so he had to keep his territory safe and trade routes open so that he could get the most customs and taxes.

The fief granted to him by King Harlaus was the main town of Serendil and the two small villages around it, which had not decreased in population, and the elders of the villages also came to the town at Byron's request to meet the new lord and explain the situation in his jurisdiction. Byron also sent four soldiers to each village to patrol and maintain law and order in what is now unprotected by the militia.

The two villages have a flat terrain suitable for farming, and a small mill. The previous lords let them use grain as a tax deduction, and every year they received dozens of bags of ground fine flour. The other village had a slightly smaller population than the previous one, and there were not many fields, but it was close to the forest, and in the forest there was a logging site and a charcoal kiln for charcoal, and there were several hunting areas in the woods that were also within the boundaries of this village, and because the game belonged to the lord's property, this place could bring Byron a lot of money.

Byron, a village suitable for grain production, was given to Phatis, and a woodland village was given to Elleon. The two of them can get a part of the tax revenue in the village, which is owned by them, and the security is also handed over to them. They also have to do their duty. When Byron needed them, they had to take the soldiers of the village with Byron to fight, and they could not refuse.

Byron got off his horse and took up residence in the stone tower. After the departure of the Count of Prais, Byron was left with a lot of work, and there was no suitable person to help, so Byron had to deal with these chores by himself. The two military clerks hired by Byron were literate, but they could handle the copywriting work, and none of the others could make their own decisions.

After two days of blind work, Byron finally figured out the state of his territory, and set himself three short-term goals based on the feedback of the elders of the two villages and his soldiers.

The first is the issue of law and order, which the two elders repeated several times during their visit to Byron. Bandits of refugees, bandits who took advantage of the war to raid homes, and a detachment of Swadian deserters were scattered between the villages of Serindir and Fort Greyward, robbing homes and kidnapping for ransom. Swadia's army seized the weapons and equipment of the local militia as they passed through here, but neglected the problem of law and order, resulting in the gangsters running rampant and the villagers lacking the means to resist.

The cavalry under Kenrad and the mercenaries sent by Byron are all good hands, plus the approximate location given by the villagers, Byron estimates that it will be a time gap to solve this point.

The second is about the fields, where the loss of population, the barrenness of the land, the lack of labour has been going on for some time, and this year's harvest has been cut in half.

But this is very embarrassing, because no one wants to do day work for others, and the farmers in the village will not do it if they do not get any benefit from helping others to farm. And Byron's soldiers don't have to think about it, let them go to farm, they will probably turn against Byron directly. Being a mercenary is to make some quick money without farming, and Byron can't let the family go back to farming.

This is difficult to solve until Jamila finds a refugee who is willing to come here, because many fields have owners, and if Byron casually promises to go out to others, it will be troublesome to wait for the owner of the field to come back, because neither side will let go, and then they will have to find Byron to fight a lawsuit, and it will be very troublesome.

The third point is about Byron's troops. Byron had promised them too good, but not much had been fulfilled. These soldiers would rather go to a certain city or real town to have a good time and waste their idle dinars, rather than sit in an empty town and eat bread and jerky and count their fingers to pass the time.

And the form of the war is not easy to say, and the Rhodok forces of Fort Agorloon may raid the town at any time. Byron also had to arrange for soldiers to be stationed at various posts, and to repair the walls and gates. And doing this work requires manpower, which also can't be too troublesome for the peony mercenaries who have been working hard for a while.

There are a lot of things to do, but they all have to be done.

Byron sighed, drank some wine, and sat down at the table to discuss with his heroes where to start.