Chapter 68 Funeral

A funeral was being held on a piece of wasteland southwest of Border Town.

It is not appropriate to call it a wasteland. I don’t know when, this piece of land that no one cares about has been built with a small wall of rubble. The top of the wall is covered with thick snow. From a distance, it seems to be coated with a layer of Silver edge. Although it can be crossed with one foot, Faner can't help but think of the border city wall when seeing it - they are all the same color and shape.

He had only heard of this kind of ceremony among the traveling merchants. When a great nobleman or member of the royal family passed away, the family members of the deceased would gather at the cemetery, play mourning music, receive mourning from others, and finally bury the coffin in the ground . The more noble the status, the greater the momentum.

Even the dead are more beautiful than the living, he thought enviously, what if the people in Border Town die? Go to the edge of the hidden forest to dig a hole and fill it. I don't know if the evil beasts dug up the corpses and ate them when the Moon of Demons came.

Death is no stranger to the residents of Border Town. Especially every winter when we go to Changsong Fortress to seek refuge, everyone huddled up in the slums of the slums, dying of hunger and severe cold, dying of disease and injury, that is the norm. No one has the time to grieve, so it's better to wait for dawn and go to the center of the city to beg for more bread.

But today, His Highness wants to hold a funeral for a soldier!

I heard that he was unfortunately thrown to the ground when he was chasing a mixed-species evil beast, and half of his head was bitten off.

Fan Na knew this unlucky guy, he was also an old face in the old district, he had no name, everyone called him Aji. He has a wife and two children, the oldest seems to be six years old and the youngest is just walking.

If it was normal, the family would definitely be over, and the woman could find another man to live, but who would be willing to bring two oil bottles? Either throw these two little guys on the side of the road and let them fend for themselves, or keep them and go to the bar to solicit skin and meat business by themselves, and finally die of various strange diseases.

But His Royal Highness seems to really intend to fulfill his promise when he recruited the militia. The dead in battle will not only receive full salary, but also an additional compensation. Why come here? Vanner thought for a while, ah... yes, the pension. And the amount of money was as much as five gold dragons.

In addition, a certain amount of food and charcoal will be distributed every month, which means that even if Aji's wife does not go out to work, she can still support her two children. Well, these seemingly beautiful claims are probably just words of consolation, but the golden dragon is real. He saw with his own eyes that His Highness the Prince handed over the pension to the chief knight, and then the knight handed it over to Aji's wife.

Hell, why did he suddenly feel a little envious of Aji? No, no, Fan Na shook his head again and again, expelling these stupid thoughts, he didn't want to kill himself but take advantage of his wife... and it is very likely that it will be someone else's wife.

After distributing the money, His Highness gave a speech, which was very short, but Faner listened to it. In particular, the phrase "We will always remember the sacrifice to protect our loved ones and innocent people" made him feel a surge of heat in his heart. It turned out to be the case, he thought, no wonder recently besides the bread and the silver wolf, he always felt that there were other pursuits—at least this winter, they can survive by relying on their own hands, not Longsong Fortress. alms.

The last link is the burial. Aji's coffin was put into the dug earth pit, and the chief knight asked everyone to line up. Every member of the militia, no matter whether it was official or a substitute, took turns to go forward and fill a handful of earth with a shovel. Everyone is very familiar with queuing, and more than two hundred people immediately lined up in four columns. When it was Faner's turn, he suddenly felt that the shovel became a little heavy, and the gazes of the surrounding players slowed down every movement of him.

When he stood aside, his eyes passed this feeling on to the next earth-burdener.

Aji's tombstone is a pure white rectangular stone with characters that Vanner doesn't recognize, and he is not the first person to live in this wasteland. Next to Aji, there is another stone tablet that is exactly the same, and the top is covered with snow. When everyone left one after another, Faner saw the new captain of the second militia, Brian, slowly pouring a jug of ale on the tombstone.

If this was his final destination, it wouldn't look bad, he couldn't help thinking.

"Your Highness," Carter suddenly said on the way back to the castle, "You do this..."

"inappropriate?"

"No," he thought for a while, and finally shook his head, "I can't say it, I just feel that no one has ever treated the conscripted citizens like this—they have neither titles nor family backgrounds, and they don't even have surnames and first names. .”

"But you still feel good, don't you?"

"Uh……"

Roland smiled, of course he knew how strongly this set would appeal to Carter, who also took fighting and protection as his own responsibility. When people start thinking about who to fight for and why, the team will undergo unimaginable changes. What it means for Carter is that when honor is no longer just the privilege of nobles, and those ordinary people who have nothing can also gain honor by defending their homes through his training and teaching, this doubled sense of accomplishment is simply indescribable.

Of course, the public funeral is just the beginning, Roland thought, and he still has many means to enhance the collective sense of honor, such as formulating military flags, military songs, setting a heroic example, and so on.

No spirit is created out of nothing. Only by persisting in this practice day after day and instilling ideas all the time, will it gradually become effective. In order to ensure the reliable operation of the aftermath system, he even arranged a aftermath team composed of himself, the city hall, and the militia to complete the follow-up distribution of food and charcoal.

The further down he went, the heavier Roland felt on his shoulders. Border Town lacks too much. It seems that the mining industry and people's livelihood are on the right track, and the food reserves are sufficient. So far, they have not died of starvation or freezing. This is already a miracle in the eyes of other towns. Even in the capital of Graycastle, many refugees or orphans are eliminated by winter every year.

But he wanted more than that, and the city hall's operating load had reached its limit. Relying on Assistant Minister Barov and the dozen or so apprentices he brought, he supported the entire financial and administrative management of Border Town. If you want to further expand the department, you can't do without recruiting some managers. He also asked Barov if there are any favorite students or colleagues who are still in the capital, but the answer he received was cold water: "Even if there were, they would not be willing to come. Your Highness, you really know that you are in the capital. How bad is your reputation?"

Well, it does sound plausible. he thought gloomily.

Back in the backyard of the castle, Nightingale emerged from the mist and gave a warm hug to Wendy who was waiting outside the wooden shed. Lightning circled around the unfinished steam boring machine. When she saw Roland, she immediately clamored to assemble the machine that was rumored to be able to move on its own.

Looking at all this, he suddenly felt that all the efforts he had put in were worthwhile.

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