Today, the town of Dodan has entered the lane of rapid development, and the town's thriving commerce and trade have led to the rapid development of agriculture and animal husbandry, forestry and mining in the surrounding area, and the town is not only building new houses on a large scale, but also renovating old residential areas.

Surdak brought back a large amount of Warcraft materials from the Invercargill Forest, and once again became a commodity that the merchants of Dodan Town competed for.

The Thunder Rhino Merchant of the merchant Malacombe was mainly responsible for transporting copper ingots from the copper mines, and was not very interested in the hard armor of the ghost-patterned soldier ants.

A large number of hard armor skins hunted in this northern expedition were brought back to Dodan Town by Surdak and piled up in the square in front of the military camp station, and the merchants who got the news ran to the town one after another, and asked for specific information about these magical beast materials through Lady Luna and the tax collector of Batra.

Other businessmen also approached Aung San, an indigenous man who was also a popular man for Viscount Surdak and had a team of more than 1,000 laborers, mainly responsible for various construction projects in the town of Dodan and the copper mines.

The junior warrior academy in the town of Doden was also built by the Labor Corps of Aung San under the responsibility of Marin. Baron Martino is responsible for the design and production supervision.

The entire mound was already filled with cornerstones of various sizes, and the site looked very messy, and even looked a little depressed after a few snowfalls.

The construction of the Junior Warrior Academy required a large amount of stone, which was mainly supplied by the quarries in the town of Dodan, but some of the fine marbles and statues were purchased in bulk from the art center in Wilkes City.

Unlike the Temple of the Two Goddesses, which was built quickly, the War College took two years to build, most of the buildings were made of rock, and once completed, the Academy would be filled with artistic statues and reliefs.

Now the foundation of the college has been built, and dense wooden shelves have been built around the mound.

Rows of elaborate wooden houses have been built in the vast open space between the Warrior Academy and the town of Dodan, all the way to the south bank of the Dodan River, and these wooden houses are not even painted, revealing the original yellowish wood grain, and many of them are actually inhabited by merchants who have come to do business in the town of Dodan.

Surdak rode through the residential area on horseback and saw many four-wheeled wagons pulling bundles of firewood to sell to its residents.

Smoke wafts from the chimneys of wooden houses, and you can smell the aroma of bacon and grilled fish from the corner of the street.

A group of bear children stood in the castle made of snow, threw snowballs at pedestrians on the street, and when they were spotted, they scattered into the back alley and fled.

The surface of the Dodan River had completely frozen into ice, and he couldn't help but think of the Gana mermaid named Thea, who was afraid that life would not be easy even if he hid in a wooden house in such a cold weather.

Surdak stood in front of the gate of the Temple of the Two Goddesses on the north bank of the Dodan River, and today happened to be the day of prayer for the townspeople, many of whom came to the temple to pray to the goddess, and it was also the busiest day for Selena, Nika, and Signa.

The bell rang for the end of the prayer in the temple, and a group of townsfolk in thick coats came out of the temple side by side, all heavily dressed, walking and talking, creaking on the snow on the ground.

Surdak didn't wear salamander leather armor, he put on a random wool cloak, and walked leisurely through the snow to the backyard of the temple, like an ordinary traveler, so that the townspeople didn't realize that the man standing in the snow in the courtyard was the town mayor.

……

When it was completely dark, the town's residential areas were lit up, and the street lamps were lit up by the night watchmen.

Selena and Signa walked out of the temple with Signa and Nika, locked the door of the temple, and turned and walked along the riverside building towards the riverside cabin.

Surdak then greeted him and appeared in front of the three of them.

Seeing the hoarfrost on Surdak's beard at his mouth, Selena looked at Surdak in surprise and asked him:

"How long have you been waiting here? It's such a cold day, why don't you come in? ”

Her voice was soft and sweet, and it warmed Surdak's heart.

Approached and took Selena and Signa in his arms.

Signa broke free from Surdak's embrace, looked up at Surdak's side face with a hint of majesty, and said with some confusion: "Dak, it feels like you have become a little different from before......"

Signa's voice was still like that of a kitten.

"What's the difference?" Surdak leaned over to Signa and asked.

"I can't tell!" Signa shook her head hesitantly and said.

The four of them walked side by side along the riverside path, Selena leaned to Surdak's side, raised her chin slightly to look at him and asked, "I heard that this northern expedition did not go well?" ”

"It's fine." Surdak smiled and said.

"When I come back this time, the Northern Expedition will be over?" Selena asked with concern.

"It's over!" Surdak exhaled a white breath and looked at the river covered with thick snow, and said.

Signa cheered, "Ha, that's amazing......"

Three magic caravans are parked at the gate of the riverside cabin.

Surdak and his party walked over.

Lady Luna, Tax Officer Batra, and Aung San pushed out of their carriages, stepped down quickly, and greeted Surdak, their eyes full of eager conversation.

Surdak looked left and right, looked at the wooden house without any smoke and fire, and hesitated for a moment before saying:

"Haven't you had dinner yet! Let's go, find a warmer place to eat together, and by the way, listen to what you have gained in the recent past and what difficulties you can't solve. ”

Lady Luna and Tax Officer Batra hurriedly invited Surdak and Selena to board the magic caravan.

Aung San smiled, didn't argue about this, and quickly returned to his magic caravan, letting the magic caravan follow.

Sitting in the magic caravan, the tax collector of Batra proposed to Surdak, "Then go to the new barbecue restaurant in town, where the chef is from Bena City, and the cooking is very good." ”

Surdak nodded and asked the tax collector of Batra, "Is there any problem with the town's finances?" ”

"It's the end of the year, and some documents require your stamp to be filed...... said the tax officer Batra

"With such a warrior academy, is there a lot of financial pressure in the town?" Surdak asked again.

The tax collector of Batra leaned forward and said to Surdak, "The junior warrior academy has paid one-third of the construction money, and the quarry is basically paid monthly, so the pressure is not great. ”

Not far from the Surdak Riverside Chalet, this new barbecue restaurant in the town is a one-story wooden building facing the street on the west side of the central shopping street, and the glass windows at the entrance are very clean, and from the outside, you can see the chefs feeding skewers into the huge oven, and there is a delicate aroma of grease wafting outside.

The open kitchen structure allows customers to see the inside of the store at a glance.

There are a lot of customers eating at this restaurant in the evening, and there are even more than a dozen customers waiting in line at the door.

The tax collector of Batra stepped out of the carriage first, and then asked Surdak to get out of the carriage with Selena and Mrs. Luna, and the waiter at the door seemed to know the tax collector of Batra. Hurriedly ran to the hall to invite the restaurant manager out.

The well-dressed restaurant manager respectfully invited everyone to a well-decorated private room.

This move inevitably caused the guests waiting in line to protest, but a waiter immediately stepped forward to appease them.

When the hall manager introduced Surdak to the restaurant's specials, Surdak learned that the so-called specialty of the restaurant was the use of silver oak nuts as charcoal to roast the limestone iguana, a specialty of the Bena Province......

Everyone didn't have much interest in iguanas, so they just ordered some foods like smoked fish and lamb shanks.

While waiting for the appetizer, Surdak asked the three of them:

"Now, what do you want to tell me?"

Lady Luna coughed lightly, then reported to Surdak, "President Barkley wants to apply for fifty copies of the Mercenary Guild's hunting credentials in the Chain Bridge Hunting Grounds......"

Surdak snorted and said noncommittally:

"Ask him to come to me tomorrow morning at the town hall."

Hearing Surdak say this, Mrs. Luna knew that this matter was probably not a joke, and she couldn't help but complain a little about the president of the mercenary guild.

At this time, the tax officer of Batra hurriedly leaned over and whispered: "The owner of the tailor shop, Epson, heard that the miners in the mine wanted to order uniform clothes, and the styles of clothes sent to them did not pass, so he wanted me to inquire about you......"

Surdak has rarely asked about such trivial matters lately, and these are basically the decisions of the mine manager of the copper mines......

Surdak said, "What is there to inquire about this, Aung San, what kind of clothes would you wear if you were a jungle hunter?" ”

Aung San was at the dining table, using a silver table knife to deal with a piece of fried meat, when he quickly raised his head and said without thinking: "Of course, it's leather armor, and you have to do some jungle camouflage." ”

Surdak asked again: "Batra, you are a tax collector, what kind of clothes do you usually wear?" ”

"Just dress, you can put a charcoal in your breast pocket, and you can put a ledger in your pocket......" replied the tax officer Batra.

Surdak then explained to the tax officer Batra:

"What the miners on the mine need is a kind of work clothes sewn from tough and relatively cheap linen, the focus is on wear-resistant and practical, but also relatively inexpensive, I don't want to see these miners wearing the kind of clothes that are made of linen bags, with no sleeves and no trouser legs, and anti-smashing leather shoes, by the way, tomorrow you ask the shoe shop owner to come to my town hall."

The tax officer of Batra hurriedly nodded and said, "Got it, I'll bring him here in the morning!" ”

In addition to the tailor shop owner Tobatra tax officer asking Surdak about the details of the miner's suit, several merchants also entrusted Batra tax officer to ask Surdak what would happen to those Warcraft materials......

Surdak thought for a while and said: "These Warcraft materials and frozen meat will be shipped to Bena City, there is a leather merchant company in Bena City that can handle these hard carapaces, and the frozen meat will be sent to the free trade market over there, but the amount of materials shipped back this time is huge, and it is not impossible to trade with me, and the merchants who can come up with the recent tax payment receipts ten times can come to the town hall to find me......"

Lady Luna and Tax Officer Batra get the answers they want from Surdak and shut up and stop talking.

Aung San began to report to Surdak on the progress of the Junior Warrior Academy, as well as on the renovation of houses in the Imperial Settlement and the construction of residential areas on the south bank of the Dotan River.

In the last year, Aung San has transformed from an ordinary hunter to a small-town builder, not only creating countless fortunes for the indigenous people, but also turning his own life upside down.

It all started after he worked as a guide for Surdak.

Not only in the town of Dotan, but also in the copper mines and the gorge camp, there is also the Aung San Labour League.

"Viscount Surdak, do you want to build a long wall on the cliff on the south side of the mountain stream?" Aung San glanced up at Surdak and said respectfully to him: "This is a big project, if you have such a plan, I will take someone to cut the wood in the winter, and start building the ...... next spring."

Surdak put down the knife in his hand, took a sip of sweet wine, and then said: "There is no need for a defensive fence now, you have a general understanding of the terrain over there, in fact, I have some considerations in the past few days, that is, I plan to establish a hunting ground in the area north of the chain bridge camp and south of the poison swamp......

Aung San did not expect Surdak to adopt such a radical plan, and he immediately thought that the northern expedition seemed to be a complete victory.

Thinking that Surdak's cavalry battalion was indeed capable of fighting against the ghost-striped red ants, he said, "Hunting grounds, this is a good idea, then I will build some wooden houses in the camp of the chain bridge......"

Surdak shook his head and said, "Your next task is to take the labor regiment down to the tribes. ”

He touched the clothes on his body, tapped his fingers on the plate on the table, looked up at the room in the restaurant, and said to Aung San: "We need to gradually change the living conditions of the indigenous tribes, and the initial stage is nothing more than changing their food, clothing, housing and transportation. ”

"In the future, we will also let the children of the tribe enter the warrior academy to study, and since I have become a subject in my territory, it is my responsibility to improve their lives."

Signa and Nika sat at the table with some restraint, looking at Surdak with adoration.

The candlelight reflected on their flushed faces, giving them a sparkling light in their eyes......

It wasn't until the end of the dinner that Surdak and Selena took Nika and Signa back to the riverside cabin in a carriage, and Selena whispered to Surdak, "Can I pass on the teachings of the Goddess of Darkness to those indigenous tribes from now on?" ”

"Of course ......"

Surdak looked at the glimmer of gold in Selena's eyes and immediately replied without thinking.

……

Samira received a letter from the city of Warjmara, the maca plane, from an old lady in the asylum to Samira.

The general meaning is that they have received a large amount of money, so they are going to renovate the house and take in more children, which can last the shelter for a long time, so there is no need for Samira to continue sending money.

There is only one thing that the letter mainly says, and the rest is all kinds of blessings from the children, some of them write blessings and their names on the letterhead, some of them draw some patterns, and the envelopes are mixed with some small gifts, small dolls with rag heads, grasshoppers woven from blades of grass......

Samira sat at the bed in the attic of the garrison camp, her eyes softened by the moonlight......