Dressed in brand-new boots and a crisp uniform, with a grand and beautiful badge and armband, the warden Maxillin walked down the corridors of the prison with his head held high, a man of about thirty years old with neatly groomed hair and well-trimmed beard, smiling reservedly along the way, keys and batons hanging from his belt and clanging with clanging keys.

This is a newly renovated prison, as new as the "government hall" in the city, the prison has wide and bright corridors and sturdy and beautiful cells, and one of Maximin's daily tasks is to patrol all the corridors and rooms with two prison guards to ensure that there are no prisoners escaping, self-harming, sabotage of prison facilities, and private brawls, which is quite a boring job, but for Maximin, who likes regularity and order, this work is in line with his appetite.

The situation in the regular control area is normal, and the people who are locked up here are basically some petty thieves and drunken and reckless people, some of whom are not even worthy of being put in prison, but they are only sent here for a few days because of the limited space in the temporary cells of the Public Security Department, they do not dare to deal with the guards, and basically do not fight in private to prolong their detention time, and the patrol of this area has always been the most relaxed and comfortable.

After walking through the regular containment area, Maxiillin led the two guards to the Extraordinary Containment Area, where the warden glanced at the working heat exchanger and ventilation on the wall next to him before the staircase leading to the basement.

After confirming that everything was in order, Maximillin couldn't help but mutter, "It's a good time...... It's so comfortable to go to jail. ”

Walking down a flight of stairs and through a fence gate, there was a heavy alloy gate, and when he came to this gate, Maxiillin straightened his belt and uniform, and his expression became slightly serious.

Behind the gates is the deep part of the prison, a room dedicated to the criminals of the Transcendent.

Starting from this area, there are induction runes and alarm devices that detect magic fluctuations everywhere in front of you, and the cells are much stronger than other areas, and there are many traps and traps set up specifically for countering spellcasters, although there has not been a rebellion of the transcendents since the construction of this area, Maximilin, who has faced the transcendents on the battlefield, will instinctively raise his vigilance and become serious.

He subconsciously touched the scar on his chest, which had been cut by the hot blade of the transcendent, and after recalling the burning pain, he turned on the shield generator on his waist and pressed the mechanism on the back of the baton to ensure that the "magic counter" was ready to fire at any time.

The two accompanying prison guards also checked their equipment, and then stepped forward, one left and one right, and attached two keys to both sides of the gate at the same time.

With the creaking sound of the mechanism, the heavy gate slowly opened in front of Maxiillin.

The warden turned his head slightly and ordered his subordinates: "Check and protect." ”

The two alerts went to check the integrity of the protective rune, and Maxillin walked through the gate and took a look inside.

The rooms used to contain the Transcendents were significantly smaller than the normal cells outside, with a total of four small cells for solitary confinement, and at this time there were only two prisoners in the entire area:

In the first room on the left, a reckless arcanist who had just been locked in yesterday had killed his neighbor's dog with a shot of an arcane missile after he was seriously drunk—because he had mistaken the dog for a sacred duel against him. This terrible act meant that he had to stay here for another week after being legally compensated, but Maxiillin suspected that at least half of the week would be spent sobering up by the Arcanist.

This is a guy to be wary of and wary of, after all, he's still drunk - maybe he'll take the caretaker who comes to round the room like another duelist, and fire an arcane missile.

The "guest" in the second room on the right has been here for a long time, an unknown druid, who has been imprisoned for unlicensed spellcasting and smuggling, and in the eyes of Maxiillin, this taciturn druid is a bit more "safe", although his temperament is a little gloomy.

After confirming that the drunken arcanist was still talking nonsense, Maxillin went straight to the guy named "Bard?? Outside Wendell's druid cell, he knocked on the alloy fence inlaid with the magic guide material with a baton: "Hey, it's time to make rounds. ”

In the small cell, a middle-aged man in a gray and white prison uniform sat on the bed with his back to the cell door, and when he heard the movement behind him, he moved his arm and said without looking back: "Wait a minute, I will soon solve this problem." ”

“…… Ha, you're like living in your own house," Maximillin laughed angrily, "I shouldn't have found you a math textbook to relieve your boredom—look what you've drawn on the walls!" ”

In the small cell, almost all the walls and floors are painted with dazzling numbers and symbols, as well as some improvised poems and short sentences, which can be described as very lively - writing and drawing on the walls of the cell can be said to be the "reserved hobby" of many prisoners, and the guards have always turned a blind eye to this behavior, but it was really the first time that Maximillin had ever seen someone write on the wall a system of equations and long and short sentences for two walls, and this was really the most special prisoner he had ever seen.

Maximillin, who had been a knight's apprentice for a short time, was literate, but what Bard wrote on the wall was still beyond his comprehension, and he only instinctively judged that the prisoner inside might have some origins, but how many transcendents did not have a background?

In the cell, Bud, who was sitting on the bed, finally finished solving his equation, and the middle-aged man with messy hair stood up, put down the scratch paper and pen in his hand, and said, "Don't worry, sir, I'll wipe it off myself later." ”

"Of course you'll erase it – because you'll have to write new equations!" Maxillin glared at Bard inside, "I came to inform you that your detention time has come again, you can leave tomorrow, and after you go out, quickly find the government affairs department to apply for a migration population registration ......"

The warden's sentence was halfway through when Bard in the cell pulled out a small piece of hard dough that had been secretly hidden from under his pillow and threw it at the wall not far from the fence - with the amazing force of his wrist, the small piece of dough hit the wall like a stone bullet, and the latter rippled open a protective film, followed by the sound of an alarm......

Maximin and the two prison guards who had just walked in had no time to stop them.

"Damn! You can't use this method to prolong your detention every time! Maxillin suddenly shouted angrily, "This is a prison, not a hotel for you to stay in every day!" Did you listen to it...... What are you two doing in a daze? Go turn off that damn alarm! ”

The two alerts ran to turn off the alarm in a panic, while the drunken arcanist was talking nonsense in a room not far away, and Bard in the cell shrugged at Maxilin: "It's good to live here, I'm not going anywhere." ”

"Next time I'm going to search all the things in your room, and I'll take your pen and your bread," said Maximillin, angrily, "and I'll see how you make trouble." ”

Bard thought for a moment and said seriously, "I'm not a weak mage - I can trigger alarms with boogers. ”

Maxiline: "......"

The warden couldn't think of a moment how to respond to this impeccable answer, and he could only watch as the hateful druid slowly walked back to his bed, and lay down like an animal ready to hibernate, slowly covering himself with the quilt, and the roots of his teeth itched as if no one was around.

"You're wasting the Empire's money!" Maximillin finally couldn't help but shout, "Listen, I'll report to the General Security Bureau and the Government Affairs Department when I go back, this loophole will be closed soon, you can't eat and drink here forever!" ”

From the bed came Bud's voice: "I trust your dutiness, sir—but until then, I just want to get a good night's sleep." ”

Maximillin finally left with a sigh of annoyance, just like the previous two times.

The heavy alloy gate closed little by little with the sound of the mechanical device, and the containment area fell silent again, and the muffled grunt of the drunk man in the adjacent cell gradually became low. Wendell opened his eyes and looked at them, then slowly closed them again.

For all these years, it was the only place where he could sleep peacefully.

Maximillin finished his patrol of the entire prison and returned to his office in a state of annoyance.

As someone who started as an apprentice knight, participated in the first generation of Cecil's combat corps, experienced all the territory defense battles and the southern unification war, and had adapted to the basic environment of "every ordinary person is working hard", he couldn't understand why a transcendent person would be willing to sink into that way.

A few minutes later, the warden picked up a pen and paper on the table and began to write a report.

If nothing else, at least find a way to get that Bard?? Wendell got out of the cell—or he'd be in this prison longer than he was as a warden!

……

"This is Norris' latest report from the Plains of the Holy Spirit, Ancestor, please take a look."

In Cecil City, in Gawain's study, Hetty placed a thick report on his desk and briefly relayed the contents of the report.

"Investigators from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Temporary Office for the Reconstruction of the Plains of the Whitsunday have entered the southern part of the fertile woodlands to make rough counts and assessments of the towns and farmlands along the way. The task force believes that the most polluted areas are further north, probably in the area around Boulder and Fort Solin, and that more than 50 percent of the fields found so far can be recultivated in a year, and Norris stresses that these recultivated areas are not only lightly polluted, but may even be more fertile in the coming year due to the burning and recuperation of vegetation. ”

"This is rare good news," Gao Wenshu frowned, "The crystal cluster pollution was stopped in time, the crystal dust and the associated plague have not had time to soak into the soil too much, the land can be directly recultivated, and most of the food shortage crisis next year will be solved." ”

"The key now is the abandonment of infrastructure such as towns, roads, and water sources," Hetty nodded, "All the original residential areas are the areas where the Crystal Giants are most severely affected, and they have been bombarded and burned by artillery fire, and the infrastructure has been completely destroyed. ”

Gawain rubbed his chin and said thoughtfully, "...... This is indeed a problem, the Holy Spirit Plain is too large, even if it is only the eastern part of the plain, the area is almost equivalent to half of the southern ......"

Norris has a suggestion for that.

"Oh?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "What advice?" ”

Hetty organized the language slightly: "Norris has met many returning refugees in the less polluted areas, all of whom have fled the polluted areas, wandered out of our control, and finally heard about the refugees who want to return to their homeland after the war, and after inquiry, and the rough statistics of the southern, western, and eastern passes of the plain, these people may account for about a tenth of the total population of the eastern part of the plain—which is more than we think." ”

Gawain blinked.

After the disaster, there were a large number of displaced refugees wandering in the plains of the Holy Spirit, which was what Gawain had expected from the beginning - the "Cecil Order" was indeed efficient and strict, able to effectively manage the population and rescue refugees, but the premise was to spend a lot of money to establish an effective administrative organization, and the plains of the Holy Spirit were not southern after all, and it was impossible to manage them carefully by relying on the limited resettlement team and the assistance of the Provisional Government Office, which would inevitably lead to the emergence of a large number of displaced people.

One tenth......

This number is shocking, and the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plains, which was once prosperous, is now really empty.

But at least one room is not empty.

"These wandering displaced people need to be resettled, and it is very dangerous for them to wander unorganized in the polluted areas, so Norris suggested that we form a 'joint reconstruction team', led by the Supreme Government Office, with the Recruit Construction Corps and the official pioneer regiment as the core, set up several reconstruction teams, and then attract, collect and recruit those displaced people through various means, and also encourage those who are interested in returning to their hometowns and have temporarily settled in other places to join the team and come back to rebuild their homes......

"The displaced people only need the most basic survival support, and we can not only give them survival support, but also give them construction tools and guidance, and the motivation to return to their homes and land should be many responders. Using the experience gained in the construction of New Cecil, and organizing a group of young clerks and newcomers to the government office who needed to be trained, plus the construction corps as the core, the reconstruction corps would be large enough to take back more land from the weeds and jackals before it was completely abandoned. ”

"Take back the land from the weeds and the jackals...... This can be a good propaganda symbol," Gawain nodded, satisfied with the proposals, but also pleased with the growth of government officials like Norris over the years, "Is this all for Norris's plan?" ”

Hetty nodded, "Yes." ”

"Then let me add that after rebuilding the town and social order, the reconstruction team can take root and set up an administrative office on the spot, and simultaneously complete the construction and network of transportation, communications, and commerce."

The eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plains is already a blank sheet of paper, and Gawain now wants to directly cover it with the complete Cecil order, and when that wasteland is rebuilt, the fertile land in the eastern part of the Holy Spirit Plains will become a "new land" like the south, and this new land can be directly connected to the old royal capital of St. Sunil from the south to the north, and it can also lead to the north and the east......

The wasteland that was once burned will eventually sprout new sprouts, and the flesh that will regrow after the carrion will be healthier and stronger than before.