In summer, warm and humid air currents from the Talon Sea meet the cold air of the northern wasteland, creating a continuous stream of rain that falls on the barren land.

Sitting in the office and looking out at the drizzle outside the city is a bit of a pleasant feeling. Aside from the humidity, there's nothing bad about summer. Unlike the southern part of the empire, or regions like the Tyrells, which are plagued by mosquitoes in the summer, the summers in Kislev are not too hot. If you have a safe and beautiful town, Kislev is a great summer retreat.

"My lord, what do you want for lunch?"

Murros, the butler, walked in from outside the door, and he was as usual, with a serene and peaceful look on his face.

"Noodles, an eel noodle, the kind with mashed potatoes. I've always felt that noodles are the only things that fill my stomach. ”

Rod smiled. With that, the butler Muros turned around and left, arranging the lord's lunch.

After a while, a bowl of fragrant boiled eel noodles was served to Rhodes' table.

"Let's do it together. ”

Seeing Murros standing aside, Rod invited the old butler to join him for lunch. In private, Rhodes had no shelves at all. This is one of the reasons why many servants are willing to faithfully follow their lords.

"Thank you, my lord, I've had lunch. ”

The old butler replied with a smile.

......

"How's the wall going?"

It wasn't until after lunch that Rod and Muros chatted about business.

"It's not bad, it's progressing very fast, according to your plan, a third of the work has been completed so far. It is expected to be completed in two months. Autumn, before autumn comes, we can definitely build this stone wall. ”

When Muros spoke, he deliberately emphasized the word "stone wall". Because no one had ever imagined that the project would be built at such a rapid pace before. For the construction of the outer city of the Black Hammer Fort, Rhodes used the rubble wall, in short, it was to use local materials to build the city wall with those discarded stones, because the rubble has not been processed, most of them are angular and angular, and the size is different, after they are piled up, the gaps are filled with cement as a binder, and after the air drying, a natural stone wall is formed. This is the most efficient way to build the wall, otherwise, with the existing labor force of Black Hammer Fort, if you have to cut the stone and pile it up neatly, I am afraid that the city wall will not be completed in three or five years. The use of cement, more of a function, is to bring the whole wall together to form a whole.

"Okay, let the workers get up to speed. We're going to race against time, and those beastmen don't know when they're going to attack the town again. The early completion of the walls helped to boost the confidence of the people. ”

Rhodes said.

"I understand, sir. ”

Muros nodded.

"Muros, there's one more question I'd like to discuss with you. ”

Rod asked suddenly with a sudden turn.

You say. ”

"Those Norscans, how do you think we should manage them next? ”

Rod sighed. It's almost a professional force, and in addition to training, they hunt. However, the small Norsca army was still easy to manage, and once the size increased, and there was no fighting, it was a big problem.

"I think they need a place to go, a place to vent their anger. ”

Muros lowered his head and whispered.

"I've allowed merchants to build brothels here. ”

"No, it's not a brothel, that place alone isn't enough. ”

"And what do you mean?"

Rhodes asked, looking up.

"These Norscans, they need a place where they can fight in normal times. ”

Muros suggested.

"Arena?"

Rod frowned.

"Yes. Wrestling and women, now that they have one of them, they need another. The arena can meet the needs of these people. ”

"But ......"

"I know your concerns, my lord, if you don't want to be like the Ring, and turn it into a public sport. It can be built underground. ”

Muros said with a smile.

"I understood that this project could be included in one of our city plans. For the time being, there is no need to divide the construction of the wall, but once the walls are built, this is the next step. ”

After Rhodes finished speaking, his eyes returned to the map again. The map of the North hung on the wall of his office became the object that Rhodes had stopped and stared at for the longest time in the past two days.

"Muros, one more thing. I want more farmers to get out of the city and go outside to cultivate new land. ”

Staring at the map, Rod said with a heavy heart. Economic and military are indispensable. Militarily, with the Norscans as a strong force, the defense of Blackhammer Fort is not too much to worry about for the time being. However, to feed such a force, the economy must keep up. Although the fur obtained from hunting and the timber obtained from logging can be a good economic income.

But this is not sustainable, because once winter arrives, hunting operations are restricted. There will be fewer animals in the forest, and it may take a long time to find a lone animal every time you go out hunting. In this way, fur cannot be obtained in large quantities.

It can be said that fur is scarce all winter. And once the Evil Moon approaches again, all kinds of beasts and werewolves will increase again. It's okay to fight with the beastmen in the wild, it's a fool's thing to do. So, over the course of the winter, Blackhammer lost two sources of income – wood and fur.

To do this, Blackhammer Castle has to deal with the long winter months at any time.

"New Land...... Sounds good, but my lord, I'm afraid no one wants to go to the countryside to cultivate farmland. With all due respect, people in the town don't feel safe right now. Not to mention the suburbs. ”

Muros was honest. He was a loyal steward, and Rhodes liked such practical people. It's a pity that Muros is old, and Rhodes doesn't know how many more years he can do, he is almost seventy years old, and his legs and feet are a little disadvantaged. But the mind is still very flexible and clear.

"So I'm going to help these adventurers build towers. "Use the materials we used to build the walls." ”

"And what is the tower for, dodging the beasts?"

Muros asked.

"Not only to hide from wild beasts, but also to serve as a beacon. In other words, when a beast is attacking, the farmer can hide in the tower and light a beacon fire, so that the guards on Blackhammer Castle can be the first to know the warning of the beastman's attack, and send troops to support the farmers who are in danger. Of course, the cost of building the tower had to be paid for by Blackhammer. In the beginning, we always need policy encouragement, don't we?"

Rhodes said.

"Sounds doable. But what about crops? You know, if it's wheat, in a climate like the north, it's cropped up to one crop a year. In the event of a snowstorm, a farmer may not be able to harvest a whole year's work. ”

Murros still had sorrow on his face. He had been in the castle for decades and was already familiar with the operations of Blackhammer. Basically, before Rhodes took over Blackhammer, the economy here relied on the mine, producing ore, which was then sold for crops and currency to maintain soldiers' salaries and rations. In Rhodes' generation, there were a few times when they almost went bankrupt.

"I've already thought about it – potatoes. A specialty from the New World, it is cold-resistant, drought-resistant, and does not have a long growth cycle. Buried in the ground, you can avoid being ravaged by beastmen and all kinds of strange beasts. ”

Rhodes returned.