Chapter 314: Walton the Traitor
The sky gradually brightened and the sun rose.
Mei, who was dozing by the fire, was pushed awake. When she opened her eyes, she found that the female orc militia who was taking care of them was shouting at everyone to stand up and line up, as if to ask them to move.
Mei rubbed her stiff knees and stood up. Just as she was about to follow the team, a female orc militia stopped her and carried her to the carriage where the wounded were riding.
It was the first time that Mei enjoyed the treatment of being taken care of because of her young age. She lowered her head flattered, and only dared to look up quietly and peek at the back of the female orc militia after she walked away.
Mei forced herself to fall asleep only when the undead came out of the town. She remembered that the undead seemed to have all run to the square at that time...but now there are no undead in the square, and she doesn't know where they have gone.
At this moment, the square was divided into several areas by the militia. One area was used to store the goods confiscated from the caravans, and the other was used to temporarily detain hundreds of traveling merchants.
There was also an area that attracted the attention of almost all the rescued people...
In the largest area of the square, separated by stones and empty carriages, rows and rows of half-naked men were placed, including young people , old people, and even some women mixed in.
Most of the men were left with only their underwear, but the women had more clothes left on them. All of them had their hands and feet tied with thin white straps (zip ties) that looked very sturdy. They looked disheveled and dirty, and some of the men who looked very strong had scars on their bodies and faces.
The freed slaves, who were led by the militia across the square and toward the town, looked at these people quietly.
They would never mistakenly think that these people were also trafficked slaves like them, because the overall complexion, appearance, body shape and physique of both parties were so different.
Even a skinny old man has fairer and more delicate skin than a civilian woman; even an adult man with rosacea has skin on his feet that is much more delicate than that of a young slave.
Not to mention those strong men - these thugs and private soldiers serving the slave traders, each of them is at least one and a half times bigger than the male slaves. Their plump cheeks, strong muscles, and thick waists and abdomens are not found on the male slaves who are often hungry and cold.
All the rescued former slaves slowed down at the same time, and everyone looked at the miserable enemies in the prisoner camp with hatred or excitement in their eyes.
The beastman militia also slowed down their pace, showing no intention of urging them forward.
When the man who had been flogged and could only lie on the carriage struggled to stand up and wanted to see the face of his enemy, the militia kindly lent him a hand...
Until people entered the town and were arranged to live in old Stuart's almost empty house, everyone was still lingering about everything they had just seen - the most simple and rustic emotional need that evil will be punished is common in any world, and is loved by the people.
The gold and silver accumulated over the years by old slave trader leader Old Stuart had been taken away by the undead for auction and flowed precisely into Yang Qiu's pocket. The City Hall obviously had no chance to profit from this... Fortunately, a large amount of food, spices, textiles, table salt and other daily necessities were stored here, so the City Hall was not completely empty-handed.
After settling these first batch of slaves to be rescued, the militiamen were busy moving around the town, transferring the slaves that had been previously housed in various locations and concentrating them in several adjacent houses.
The slaves rescued from the caravan were protected by the militia from Innadri for a whole night, and were willing to trust these people who came with good intentions. In addition, many of the slaves controlled by the slave traders witnessed the undead brutally kidnapping and robbing the slave traders and thugs, and although they were trembling with fear , they were still docile in their behavior.
The militia assigned temporary accommodation to all the rescued slaves according to their gender, and city hall staff came forward to organize these people who had been detained for a long time to bathe in batches and shave their body hair - almost all of them had serious external parasites, and they had to shave all their body hair.
After eradicating external parasites by shaving, they also distribute "Tarantan External Ointment" (actually Piyanping) to some people with more serious skin diseases - due to the poor living environment, many people have skin diseases of varying severity.
Next, deworming medicine was distributed uniformly - due to long-term hunger and lack of attention to food hygiene, all employees had serious problems with internal parasites.
There are also some women who have mild or serious sexually transmitted diseases due to being raped and forced into prostitution. This is not something the operators can solve. They can only register the number of people and send them back to Innadri along with the injured for treatment.
These procedures are the resettlement experiences summarized by the City Hall when it cracked down on slave traders and demanded the return of slaves from the nobles of Innader. They can be used directly.
In addition to the injured, boys and girls under the age of sixteen, such as Mei, were also selected, registered separately, and sent to Innadri to attend literacy school.
After taking a shower, shaving her hair, and getting a set of clean clothes, Mei was queuing up to register under the arrangement of the city hall staff. When she heard that she was going to be sent away separately, she asked nervously: "Can I go with the others and not leave?"
A day ago, Mei dreamed of leaving this valley town, but now the town has changed its owner. These gentle militiamen and kind operators in front of her have become the new owners of this valley town. Mei is not willing to leave... She is afraid that there will be no one out there who will treat her as well as these militiamen and operators.
The registration officer smiled and said, "No, Mei, children your age have to go to school in the city. This is the rule of the city hall."
"But, but I...Sir, I, I..." Mei felt very uneasy, but she didn't dare to cry, for fear that people would dislike her if she cried. Tears welled up in her eyes.
Seeing this, the female orc militia who was maintaining order nearby advised softly, "Don't be afraid, little girl. The principal of the school you are going to is Ms. Sibel, a very, very gentle and intellectual lady. Children of our orc tribe as old as you also study in the school. My child is there too."
Mei had no choice but to nod obediently and press her fingerprint on the registration column.
The mother and her two children were waiting in line to register after Mei. The mother was quite uneasy about the fact that her son and daughter were going to leave her. After persuading her for a while, the operator in charge of registration promised the mother that he would help her get a job in the logistics department in the city so that she could live with her children.
When a father and son came to register, the father expressed his wish to return to his hometown. After learning about Innadri’s resettlement policy, he was puzzled: “Sir, why can I go home but my son can’t?”
Upon seeing this, the agents simply suspended the registration and asked the militia to gather together all the minors and relatives of the rescued people, and carefully explain to them Innadeli's resettlement and repatriation policy.
All slaves rescued by the Naderi City Hall who are healthy adults and can remember their hometowns and are willing to return home can receive travel expenses after working for the city hall for three months. The city hall will also issue them with identity certificates to ensure that they can restore their household registration after returning home.
Young people under the age of sixteen are temporarily unable to return to their hometowns, regardless of whether they remember their hometowns or not. They must be forced to attend literacy schools, and if they are still under the age of adulthood after graduation, they must work and live in Innaderi until they are sixteen years old before they are allowed to leave.
"Why, sir?" the father, who wanted to take his son home, asked incomprehensibly.
"Because our city hall needs to ensure that these children who are temporarily unable to protect themselves will not appear in the human market again." The city hall staff looked at the father with a vicissitudes of life and said meaningfully, "You know, some children are not here because they were trafficked."
The father who longed to return home, holding his son's hands trembling, said with a red face: "We are not...we are..."
The operator looked at him and smiled without saying anything.
The father, who was about to explain something, finally lowered his head dejectedly... Of course, he could guarantee that he would never sell his son, but it was indeed because of him that the child, who was less than ten years old, was abducted with him and suffered for so long.
This policy of forcibly carrying out "concentrated socialized education" on some minors is indeed unreasonable, but considering the people's sentiments at the bottom of this world, it is completely necessary - rather than letting these young people waste their study time, do simple physical labor, or get married and have children, it is better for the families to pay for all these young people to study.
The new regime of Naderi needs more industrial population who have received basic literacy education. Even if they are working on an assembly line or moving bricks on a construction site, people who have basic math knowledge and can understand blueprints and numerical labels are better than illiterate people who cannot read a single word.
Mei, who was still naive, got on the carriage back to Innadri with dozens of young people and the wounded.
When these young people, who were confused and dreaming about the future, were sent to Inadli, the second team sent by the city hall arrived at the valley town.
The leader of this team was Patton's old boss, former lieutenant Wagner Pitt.
Patton, who had hurried to the valley entrance to meet the reinforcements, saw Wagner, who was exhausted, and immediately understood something...
"Thank you for your hard work, Patton. You can leave this to me." Wagner, with a tired face, said to Patton without any pride at all.
Patton didn't feel that he was being taken advantage of at all - he knew better than anyone that the only reason the black magician asked him to lead the team to "attack" the southern wasteland of Adler Territory was because he was relatively close to it - whoever was sent to this vast wasteland that had been abandoned for more than a hundred years would have a real tough job!
"Lieutenant, do you need any other help?" Patton was eager to hand over the tasks at hand to Wagner so that he could go back to look after his old territory, Yongwang Town, and he did not forget to sell it well verbally.
Wagner smiled and said nothing, then turned and looked behind him.
Patton followed his gaze.
Among the chariot team brought by Wagner, a man jumped off his horse, took off his helmet, and walked towards them.
Seeing this person clearly, Barton took a deep breath...
Ben Ham Walton!
A Knight of the Church of the Fiery Sun, the Inquisition of the Church of the Fiery Sun, and the leader of the Fiery Sun Order!
Barton looked at his old boss subtly.
Wagner Pitt, the old boss, nodded slightly to Patton.
——This prisoner who was least likely to "defect" among all the prisoners captured so far, "defected"!
With Patton's cunningness, the expression on his face couldn't be controlled and became exciting...
Walton, who looked the same as when he was captured last year, walked up and naturally extended his hand to Patton; "Good day, I'm Walton."
Not giving the full name was not out of disrespect for Patton, but because Walton knew that the other party was a civilian without a surname.
Patton felt good about this politeness in details. He smiled and shook hands with the other party: "Good day, I am Patton."
"Walton will help me guard this place." After they shook hands, Wagner said, "According to the requirements of the City Hall, we will set up entry and exit checkpoints here to conduct security checks on all inland caravans that apply to enter and exit Innadri. It is strictly forbidden for anyone to bring prohibited items into the country. The slave trade will be severely cracked down on. Any individual or team that attempts to bring slaves into Innadri or take them away from Innadri will be subject to local Innadri legal sanctions."
After listening to his old boss's introduction, Patton, a smart man, immediately understood what the city hall was planning.
Although Innadri actually occupied the southern wasteland of Adler's territory, he would never openly admit to such an unseemly thing as attacking and occupying other people's territory.
Innadri sent people and even troops here with only one purpose: you, Adler, were not doing enough to combat the slave trade, causing our neighbor to suffer greatly from it.
We have come to you with great reluctance and effort in order to protect the internal environment of our own territory and to eradicate the slave trade, a prohibited crime that violates the Constitution of the Kingdom of the Rhine, from the source.
Lord Adler would have to accept this with a pinch of the nose, but if he dares to make a fuss, Innadri will wield his iron fists continuously - all the slave traders we captured can be related to your nobles in Adler, and Sir Stuart, who was personally awarded by Lord Adler, is also in our hands, and he is the main culprit!
If Innadri had a bigger appetite, they might even take this matter to the extent that Lord Adler allowed his subordinates to openly kidnap Innadri's important Tarantan Undead, actively provoking and offending Innadri. We could even directly declare war...
Anyway, there are ways to advance and retreat, and you will not be in the wrong even if the lawsuit is brought to the capital.
"Let me wish you all the best in advance." Patton swallowed, put on a smile, and enthusiastically led his old boss Wagner and new colleague Walton to the valley town.
Three days have passed since we took over this town.
During these three days, Patton not only counted all the spoils and sent back everything that could be sent back, but also sent back all the captured prisoners; currently there are only more than 300 healthy adults in the town who do not need to be sent back to the rear for medical treatment or school, and they are being led by the militia to clear the overly lush green plants near the entrance of the valley.
The town has a very good geographical location, and the city hall also plans to develop this place. Wagner came here to preside over the development work.
The three-story wooden building that originally belonged to the slave trader Augusta was converted into the town hall. In the former chess and card room and current mayor's office, whose flashy decorations had been emptied by the undead, Patton handed over the work to his old boss and asked about the issue of population migration. It was impossible to develop such a large piece of wasteland with only a few hundred rescued slaves and the few hundred people brought by Wagner. Patton naturally thought that the city hall would consider migrating people from the towns of Innadri.
"Ms. Zhao's suggestion is to recruit refugees from Adler." Wagner would naturally not hide the truth from his old subordinates and told them the truth directly.
"Refugees?" Barton was stunned. "I've never heard of Adler going to war with anyone. Where did the refugees come from?"
"They are not refugees caused by the war, but refugees who lost their lands," Wagner explained. "They are the kind of people who used to live in the slums outside the west gate of Innadri."
Patton let out an "Ah" and reacted.
Of course, Patton knew about the slums outside the west gate of Innadri City. Many young and strong contract workers came from there. Now that slum has been demolished, the residents have either been absorbed into various industries in the city as workers, or recruited to work on the farm of the city hall. The shantytown that has continued to expand for decades has become history.
"Ms. Zhao has analyzed it. Innadri has only been ruled by the Bartles family for a little over a hundred years, and its population has been growing rapidly. Land annexation... the nobles have not used various means to seize the land of freemen, but the extent of this is not too intense. Judging from the land ownership transaction change records of the City Hall, less than 50% of the land in Innadri is monopolized by the nobles and the church."
At this point, Wagner's face looked particularly bitter and resentful, and his expression and tone were completely inconsistent with what he said.
This is also very normal. At this age, the biggest pain in Wagner's life is his identity as a foreigner. He never realized that during the years when he was depressed about his excluded identity as a foreigner, more terrible and intolerable things were quietly happening.
Patton's reaction was different from Wagner's. He just nodded seriously.
Among the contract workers he has managed, many are unfortunate people whose grandfathers, grandfathers, or even fathers sold their land for various reasons and became marginalized people in the city.
"In comparison, the situation in Adler is much more serious than that in Innadri." Wagner took a deep breath and said, "Since the caravan entered Innadri, the clerks in the city hall have communicated with members of many caravans and obtained information... It is almost certain that 80% of the arable land in the densely populated areas in central and eastern Adler is in the hands of the nobles and the church."
Barton had a vague premonition, but his jaw almost dropped when he heard this astonishing proportion: "Is it so exaggerated?!"
"It's really exaggerated." Wagner nodded solemnly. "During the National Defense War 200 years ago, Adler County gave up part of its northern, western and southern territories, and its population shrunk to the central and eastern parts. After the war, it suffered heavy economic losses and was unable to return for more than ten years. Later, these areas became uninhabited areas. The investment in redevelopment is too huge, and it is far less convenient than annexing the land of free people."
"Many members of the caravan mentioned that the slums in Dutata, the largest city in the central part of Adler Territory, are almost as large as the city itself."
Patton hissed and retreated tactically.
Because the slums outside the west gate of Innadri were not very large and the total number of residents was just over 10,000, the City Hall had invested huge amounts of manpower and financial resources in eradicating this urban tumor; more than a dozen public housing units were vacated after renovation and rented out to slum residents at low prices, not to mention that the clerks in the Civil Affairs Department were almost scratching their heads trying to arrange suitable jobs for these slum residents.
The number of jobless, landless and extremely poor people is similar to that of the urban population... Patton simply couldn't imagine it!
"Dutta is located on the Naunia River, and can be considered a port city, but it cannot possibly absorb hundreds of thousands of poor people." Wagner said with an increasingly heavy expression, "According to the information obtained from the Gold Coin Church, Dutta is the city with the most rampant cult activities in the entire Rhine Kingdom. On average, there are at least a dozen vicious incidents caused by cultists or cult sacrifices every year. Dutta is also the city with the most night watchmen killed. I heard that last year alone, eight night watchmen were killed while handling incidents."
Barton sighed, his face heavy. “With so many people who can’t make ends meet gathering together, of course the cult will grow like crazy.”
The Kingdom of Rhine is the parish of the Church of the Gold Coin, but this does not mean that all citizens of Rhine are believers of the Lady of Gold Coin; even in this world full of gods, there is a certain proportion of non-believers (those who do not believe in a specific god).
Even for believers of the Gold Coin Lady, who go to church regularly to pray and attend worship services, when faith in the righteous God is not enough to alleviate one's spiritual suffering, one's faith will inevitably shift... Either one will become a non-believer, or, one will throw oneself into the arms of an evil god who knows how to win people's hearts and is more in line with human nature and desires.
Wagner was a foreigner and Patton was a very sober speculator. Neither of them was particularly fanatical about the Gold Coin Church, and the topic soon turned to the practical issue of how to attract Adler's landless refugees to reclaim wasteland in the south.
Ben Ham Walton, a staunch religious figure and head of the Church of the Blazing Sun, said nothing during the entire process and just sat there in silence listening.
Walton, a church knight who was born as a night watchman, has always been proud of his experience and identity.
He had worked diligently as a night watchman for more than twenty years on the Kalan Peninsula in the northeast of the continent of Nabarron. He had witnessed with his own eyes the deserted villages due to the blind worship of evil gods. He had personally executed crazy cultists who tried to sacrifice their blood relatives. He had also collected the bodies of young children who were burned to death by cultist mothers with great grief.
Walton's experience as a night watchman made him deeply disgusted with cults, disasters, and all evils that would cause terrible disasters.
After accidentally becoming a prisoner of the evil black magician, Walton never gave up the honor and faith of being a night watchman.
During the days when he was trapped in Westham, he had been calmly watching these country folk from a small border country who trusted the crazy black magician and were willing to accept the rule of the undead. With a kind of superior compassionate mentality, he self-righteously believed that these people would eventually go crazy.
This observation lasted for half a year.
Now, half a year later, Walton sits here and becomes a fellow traveler of Wagner, Patton and other "Innaderian traitors."
