Edward brought Charles, the commander and lord of the city, over for more than just to eat.

The prince's personal move was to convey to Henry that Charles was his confidant, which meant that he had revealed the identity of the sage to Charles—and in that case, he was clearly seeking some advice.

Considering that Henry had already discussed the post-war situation with Edward, and that these issues were far beyond the power that Charles had as a city lord, the Sage speculated that the question they came to him was about the construction of the city.

Sure enough, after dinner, the three of them began to discuss these issues.

"Build roads?" Charles' thick eyebrows furrowed, his dark skin darkening in the firelight, making the city lord's face look like a towering boulder.

"Yes, build roads. Henry took a sip of spruce tea, then nodded.

"......" Charles was lost in thought, and Edward on the side looked at him in silence.

They all understand why they do this, but there is a very important reason why they don't do it when they always understand it.

- Vawasika, a fortress.

Difficult roads were also part of its defenses, and in such a rugged and easily lost field, even if horses and infantry were able to move forward, wagons carrying heavy supplies would get into all sorts of trouble.

With the Grigley Rift on one side and the rugged mountain roads on the other, the enemy forces that chose to attack Vavasika were doomed to get stuck and suffer heavy losses from either direction. This is why the West Valyers did not choose to attack it a few days ago.

But like anything else, the terrain was a double-edged sword, and the barely walkable roads for the transporting of supplies and commercial wagons were just as troublesome for the Avenelas themselves, and in fact Edward had traveled lightly the other day, using only some pack horses to carry supplies, and if the Sivaliers had delayed their attack for a few days, they would have immediately begun to starve - we had pulled away.

Returning to the question at hand, Henry's reason for proposing to build the road was obvious, but Charles pondered whether to abandon the natural barrier on the outside.

In normal times, according to the conservative thinking of Avenella's generals, he would definitely refuse outright. But this attack on Sivalier reminded him of something - if the roads on Vavasika's side were easier to follow and there were many merchants operating here, how could the Sivaliers make it to Haiti and capture Fort Ellen Guard?

- Or to put it more simply, if Vawasika's path was smooth, they could have sent a cavalry to patrol the northern border of the kingdom.

"Well, that's true. Charles nodded, and Henry continued.

"Smooth roads are only one thing, and if there are not enough civilians to live here and provide support for various industries, Vawasika will not be able to become more prosperous, and to attract civilians, it must have its own highlights. The sage said, and both looked at him earnestly.

"What do you mean, sir, Vawasikado is a highland, and although there are small flats, the area is far from enough to feed itself if it is to be used for cultivation. Charles learned the same title from Edward, and the West Coast lingua franca pronounces the word sir the same as jazz, both of which are respectful of men. And a prince and a lord of the castle used honorifics against him, which made Henry's expression a little subtle.

"If the quantity cannot be satisfied, it is better to win by quality. Henry took another sip of spruce tea, and then said, "What is the favorite drink of the Avenella people?"

"Ordinary people prefer ale wine, but if you want to talk about merchants and nobles who have some money, I'm afraid it's tea. He smiled, and Charles and Edward's eyes lit up.

"Yes, it is true that the highland soil near Vawasika is as fertile as the rest of the Acasta Plains, and with all other factors, it is quite suitable for the cultivation of tea trees. Edward touched his chin and nodded, and Charles agreed in the same way.

"If the expensive tea is cultivated in a large area in the vicinity, the farmers who settle here can have a stable income, and the road expansion is convenient for trading-" The lord smiled slightly, and if the territory he owned as a lord became prosperous, the direct benefits would naturally be multiplied several times.

"Thank you, sir, Your Highness, without further ado, I will retire first. Charles stood up in dejection and saluted, then turned and ran out.

Edward smiled bitterly and watched him trot all the way, then turned to look at Henry, and the sage shrugged: "It seems that Your Excellency the City Lord is poor. He said, and the prince nodded, "Charles's knights and sergeants are notoriously poor, which is why the main force of the city defense is the civilians recruited nearby. But it's hard to blame him, Vawasika is a border fortress, and he was sent here to be a subservient. ”

Edward had something to say, and he looked at Henry.

Mila on the side cleaned up the tableware and placed it neatly, then took off her apron, walked over and sat down, took a sip of milk tea that had become a little cold.

"Will you be my court mentor, sir?" said the blonde-haired prince earnestly, "Avenella needs someone like him. ”

His tone was sincere, and Mira, who was drinking tea, looked at the two of them attentively.

"Nope. But Henry only shook his head, Edward did not insist, he seemed to have expected such an outcome a long time ago.

"I really don't want to touch politics and the intriguing palace is too stressful for me. The sage smiled and said this, and the prince sighed helplessly, knowing that this was nothing more than an excuse for Henry, and that this level was not even pressure on him.

"But......" Henry paused, then continued, "I have no objection to you treating me with money. ”

The unreserved words of "......" made Mira in the back almost squirt out a mouthful of milk tea, and Edward was stunned for a moment, his expression distorted for a while and became crying and laughing: "...... As a sage, you are really undisciplined, sir. ”

The prince said this in a subtle tone, and Henry shook his head with a serious face: "No, I'm just poor. ”

"......" Shaking his head angrily and amusedly, Edward stood up, then turned and walked behind him.

"Then don't leave it at that, dinner was delicious, thank you, sir. Edward walked straight to the door, and Henry replied nonchalantly: "Coarse tea and light rice are not respectful." ”

After a night of silence, the next day Chester's knight, who had had had had arrested them, arrived at their temporary lodgings with a dozen men, with a reward in small elaborate leather bags.

This can be seen as a sign of apology, with the knight being polite to the two of them, and the sage nodding in return.

The sound of footsteps and metal clashing sounded, and when they were gone, Henry and Mira opened their bags.

"Wow-"

The golden light was shining, and Mira's sparkling eyes had almost changed color.

Edward's move was not ungenerous, a bag of 50 bags of 200 gold Arvenella, a total of 4 leather bags, this is a fortune that the girl has never seen, her little blushing excitement could not stop looking back and forth at Henry, and the sage smiled slightly and touched Mira's little head.

"Let's go buy something. ”

......

The whole afternoon passed merrily, and with a full purse, the two went to Fercy's blacksmith shop to select protective gear, and then bought a lot of adventure supplies at the small munitions shop.

Guests other than soldiers were quite rare, and the innkeeper received them warmly, and Henry and Mira, who had quickly spent two gold coins in one day, were completely changed from head to toe.

Lorian Lori was lined with lambskin, carefully cut hard-wearing cowhide, and the sleeves and neckline were made of delicate cotton woven adventurer's garments - fine materials and excellent handwork cut in a few hours made it cost as much as 450 denor - or 3 silver Ella coins.

This is unusually expensive for 20 denols, some of the coarser ones that can be bought for 10 dennos, less than the price of a meal.

But the money was well spent, and the comfortable, lightweight and wearable clothes on her body made the white-haired Lori refreshed, and her own appearance of looking left and right and couldn't put it down also made the corners of Henry's mouth smile.

The tattered boots and dirty leather shoes were replaced by high-cut boots of better workmanship, and Henry's tattered black cloak was thrown away without hesitation, and in the afternoon the two went to Blacksmith Fercy's shop to collect the morning's custom-made armor.

- The reason why it is so efficient is because Vawasika's business is so cold.

The left shoulder and wrist had light armor made of cooked leather, half a centimeter thick, which was quite effective in defending against slashes, and part of the body was made of chain mail, which would have cost a whole month to weave in the usual way, but because of the dismal business, Fercy directly used pieces of chain mail cloth that had been braided a long time ago, so he only had to sew leather thread on the leather jacket as the main body to complete the task.

Lightweight chain mail with leather armor provides an effective defense, but it doesn't look too heavy. After buying a large bag and packing spare clothes and some daily necessities, and entrusting the bag to the blacksmith for the time being, Henry and Mila walked to the stable of Vavasika with light steps.

After spending a lot of money on a bunch of things, spare clothes, waterproof cloaks, kettles, iron pots, wooden bowls, drinking glasses, and so on, it became clear that it was impossible to continue walking on foot as before.

So Henry took Mira to the stables in Vavasika.

Since it is a place where the army is stationed, the horses sold are naturally military horses.

The well-blooded West Coast warhorses generally have a tall and handsome appearance, and they are physically strong, and they can charge at full speed with a heavily armed knight on their backs, so it is naturally no problem to carry people and some supplies.

The price of war horses is quite high, and it is possible for people who do not know the goods to buy inferior horses for money.

But this still did not bother Henry, and finally settled on the two war horses, one brown and one white, which he bought for exactly 28 gold coins. The high price made Luo Anda Lori depressed for a while, when she first got this money, she still felt that she couldn't spend it in her lifetime, but in just one afternoon, the two spent 31 gold coins.

This amount of money was a fraction of what she had never imagined before, and this was just to buy a better set of adventurer-style equipment.

Mira couldn't imagine how much those noble knights and lords were spending.

Preparations were made by almost three to four o'clock in the afternoon, and the two horses carried the men's spare clothing, daily necessities, food, and water, as well as the weapons they used for training.

Mira could not ride a horse for the time being, so Henry only bought a saddle, and the other horse carried more supplies on his back and followed him with the reins.

They did not inform anyone that they were leaving, but the prince must have guessed it, for several men stood in front of them as they were about to walk out of the gates.

"......" Blonde-haired Bernie stopped in front of them with Minna, who had recovered from her injuries.

The girl reached out and nudged her father, urging him to step forward, and the sturdy man was silent for a moment, then bowed deeply to Henry and Mira.

"I'm sorry. The simple words revealed that this man's responsibility, even if it was indeed out of duty, but the fact that he betrayed his friend did not change. Bernie didn't mean to justify his actions, he just said it seriously and sincerely.

Minna looked at the two of them, and Mira grabbed the edge of the front of the saddle as an armrest and nodded at her.

"Precious. Henry was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"My friend. ”

"......" Bernie straightened up, the two of them had slowly left, and the brave man looked at his back and sighed softly.

"Let's go. He said to his daughter without looking back, and Minna smiled at the corner of her mouth.

"Father, do you know that your whole ears turn red when you're happy? ”

“...... Long-winded. ”