Chapter 268 Drastic Changes
The weather in Antolia is getting cooler.
The fire in the fireplace exudes a deep warmth.
Leon, who had just entered the house, was wearing a large cloak made of elk and goose down. He let out a white breath and huddled on a soft chair by the fireplace to warm himself.
Although compared to the weaving of moon velvet, the elk and goose breeding industry has a relatively weak presence in Antolia.
But in fact, the breeding of elk and geese has also brought huge changes to Antolia.
The growth rate of their body hairs far exceeds that of ordinary creatures.
The soft and warm elk and goose feathers are enough to provide sufficient warmth on this cold day.
The sleeping piglet and bear lay limply on the cushion beside him, with the dull hair on his head twitching from time to time.
actually……
The existence of warm stones can already make Leon's lord's study as warm as spring.
But lighting the fireplace is obviously more atmospheric and feels like winter is coming.
After less than half a month of planning, the first phase of the Antolia High School of Magic project has begun to prepare materials.
According to Albert's proposal, Sherman's analysis, and Leon's personal decision, the first phase of the Antolia High School of Magic will mainly include four parts.
Large library, Potions Institute, Magical Engineering Institute and student dormitories.
As for the flowers, campus squares and other facilities, they will be temporarily moved to the second and third phases of the project.
Roll up your sleeves first and get to the most important part.
That's Leon's general idea.
In addition, research in related fields will not stop because of the completion of the campus buildings, so Kerman, as the leader of the potion production factory, has actually started a research plan on the water of the Moon Spring.
Leon straightened up, stretched out his hand, and warmed himself by the fire.
At this time, several months have passed since the war in the Principality of Norton ended.
Antoria, or rather all the lands ruled by the Jimena family, can be said to be prosperous, peaceful and happy.
This also allowed Leon, as the Marquis of Antolia, to finally truly appreciate the comfort of aristocratic life.
Although the productivity of this era is extremely low, as a nobleman, he has the best of everything in this era.
after all……
With the efforts of all the people in the territory to support the family, especially when the Jimena family is still sparse, Leon's living conditions can be described as excellent.
Talking about the thin population.
As the chief steward of the Jimena family, Aaron became increasingly concerned about Leon's marriage during this period.
In this era, Leon, who was just in his early twenties, had already reached the age when he should be engaged and married.
And Leon had no objection to this.
This made Aaron, who had received the acquiescence, work hard and start searching for feasible marriage targets for Leon.
but……
Such a target is obviously not easy to find.
Marriage between nobles will obviously not be pure love.
Not only is it mixed with a lot of interest exchanges and trade-offs, it will also have a profound impact on the future of the family.
As the only direct descendant of the Jimena family, a suitable marriage partner is particularly important for Leon.
In Aaron's view, the Jimena family has actually become the most powerful family in the south of the Kingdom of Andal, and its young and promising lord has already become a hot favorite in the eyes of countless nobles in the Kingdom of Andal.
so……
At the very least, it must be a count family with strong strength and long history.
And that's the bottom line.
Marrying into a ducal family is the normal level.
As a natural ally in the future, it would be best to support and leverage each other with the Jimena family.
Of course, in addition, Leon's requirements must be taken into consideration.
For example...
Although Leon is not disgusted with the exchange of benefits between noble marriages, at least he can't look too ugly, right?
Even though Leon is not a pure beauty, he still has the appearance and face second only to Mr. Reader. If the difference in appearance is too huge, not to mention Leon, even Aaron will not agree.
so……
Leon's marriage really stumped Aaron.
Originally, Aaron's ideal marriage partner was the Grand Duke of the West of the Andal Kingdom, the youngest daughter of the Duke of Mercia.
The Duke of Mercia has also implicitly expressed his intention to marry many times.
However, the reputation of the noble lady from the Mercia family is really hard to describe.
This resulted in Aaron having to shift his target, and even turn his sights further away.
For example, the Kingdom of Iderit, such as the many principalities in the eastern part of the Northern Continent...
However, compared to Aaron who was in trouble.
At this time, Leon was in a pretty good mood.
Just now, the reason why he ran out of the castle in this slightly cold late autumn was to personally see off the first batch of Antolian caravans heading to the Kingdom of Walras, and secondly to inspect the acceptance of Antoli. The first clear glass created by the dwarven craftsmen of Asia.
There is a saying that the world has already had glass.
For example, during the construction of the Antolia Cathedral on the west bank of the White Blade River, Antolia craftsmen used a large number of stained glass for decoration.
Whenever the sun rises, the stained glass windows emit brilliant and stunning colors.
but……
Due to the extremely limited production technology of this era, the glass produced has always been extremely blurry, and its production process and production methods have also been strictly kept secret by a few nobles.
Just like Antolia's magic potions, they are one of the most important sources of wealth for local nobles.
However, blur is still blur, even if it costs a lot of money, it still works after all.
But Leon's purpose in making glass is obviously not just for usability.
His purpose was a telescope.
The army of Antolia is strong, but Leon hopes that the Antolian people will be stronger.
It is precisely because of this consideration that if Antolia's scouts are equipped with telescopes, both their survivability on the battlefield and the movements of distant enemies will become more accurate.
As for the production process of transparent glass, Leon probably knew it.
But generally knowing and knowing everything are completely different things.
not to mention……
Many of the raw materials needed in Leon's memory are not readily available in the land of Antolia.
This also led Leon to arrange the task of making transparent glass long ago, and set an extremely considerable performance bonus for this achievement.
But it was only at this moment that Antolia's craftsmen came up with a relatively satisfactory finished product - a piece of crystal clear glass that could be processed into a telescope!
Leon was naturally very happy about this.
You must know that the military value that the telescope can bring will play a great role in Antolia's future wars.
therefore……
Just before Leon returned to his lord's castle, Leon also specifically emphasized the importance of building telescopes to the craftsmen of Antolia, and paid out all the performance bonuses he had promised before.
And this will undoubtedly allow the craftsmen of Antolia to spend a joyful holiday.
Yes, in a week, Antolians will usher in their most important festival of the year - Whitsunday.
As the most important traditional festival in the minds of Antolian people, Whitsunday has extraordinary significance to the Antolian people.
In fact, this was originally just one of the most common festivals in the northern continent.
Except for the Antolian people, few people remember this festival, and no one can tell the origin of this festival clearly, but the Antolian people remember it!
Because in the past years, Whitsunday was the last holiday before entering the cold winter.
After the Holy Ghost Festival, the plateau hounds that will sneak up every year in the year of the jackdaw will inflict lifelong trauma on the people of Antolia.
so……
Although Whitsunday is unremarkable in the rest of the northern continent.
But in Antolia, this is very likely to be the last day for the people living here to reunite with their families in their lives!
In present-day Antolia.
The pass at Bergori Pass held back the Highland Hounds from the Forsaken Land.
However, the importance of this festival in the eyes of the Antolian people has never diminished in the slightest.
Soft and delicious white bread, game from the mountains and forests, pike from the southwest highlands, various dried meats...
Every family living in Antolia will have a sumptuous dinner on this day and sit around the fireplace to review everything that happened during the year.
As a lord, Leon is naturally happy to see all this.
after all……
Even though they are both nobles, compared to those noble men who try their best to squeeze the people when they see their subjects living happily, Leon's policy measures can even be said to be benevolent.
Therefore, for traditional festivals like Holy Ghost Festival, which can not only enhance the cohesion of the Antolian people, but also promote the assimilation of foreign refugees to a considerable extent, Leon naturally has a positive attitude and is willing to go along with the flow.
for example……
At this moment, Amir Lugo was quite excited.
As a refugee who had just moved to Antolia during the Andal Kingdom's civil war a year ago, this was the first Holy Ghost Festival that Amir spent in this land.
Whether it is the new city or the old city in the Thorn Territory, the faces of the Antolian people are filled with joy and vitality.
In the past, Whitsunday might have been the last reunion of the people.
But now, Whitsunday has become a feast for Antolian people to bid farewell to the past and welcome the future.
Most of the shops on both sides of the street have posted various notices.
Although the Antolians cannot read, they can draw pictures.
White bread, which you usually want to buy but don’t dare to buy, has seen a big price cut during the holidays.
According to the shop owner, the large-scale price reduction is due to the subsidies from the Jimena family, which is a gift from the benevolent Marquis to the people under his rule.
For that young lord, Amir Lugo's heart was filled with gratitude.
As a refugee, the fate that greeted Amir Lugo's family would have been hunger, cold, and no stable place to live.
But on the land of Antolia, under the governance of the Jimena family, he not only owned a house, but also had enough to eat and a job!
As long as he can pass the review of the Antolia Internal Affairs Department and obtain Antolia's household registration, he can get a job provided by the Jimena family.
Although the job you get may be very heavy physical work, for ordinary people, strength is the least valuable.
But the work points and money he can earn are all real, and he can spend them all!
As for daily food...
It is naturally impossible to have white bread every day.
Even respected craftsmen in Antolia do not have white bread to eat every day.
But brown bread is enough!
For Amir Lugo, this is a day he never dared to imagine!
To be honest, just a few days ago, Amir Lugo was full of anxiety about his future.
Because he was originally moving bricks on the construction site of the Antolia Cathedral.
However, the main project of the cathedral is almost completed, and the remaining interior decoration will naturally not require so many people.
But soon...
Even before Amir Lugo had time to think about his future, the news that the Marquis planned to establish the Antolia Higher Magic Academy spread from people's mouths.
Amir Lugo knew nothing about magic or non-magic.
Because he doesn't feel that the respected mages have anything to do with him.
But what he knew was...
Whether it is the cathedral he is building or the so-called Antolia High School of Magic, if you want to build it, you need coolies.
And he has a lot of strength!
The fact is just as Amir Lugo expected, he can still work hard on the construction site. The only change is that the location of the work has changed from the Antolia Church in the center of the new city to the southeast of the new city. .
On the contrary, it is closer to my home!
Amir even heard that the Antolia High School of Magic project may even have a second or third phase. As long as he is willing to work on it, he will have a stable source of income within a few years or even ten years!
How could he refuse to do such a good job? !
It was precisely because of this sudden good news that Amir not only bought a large bag of white bread, he even bought a large piece of dried meat for the first time!
It is said that it was cut from the body of a plateau hound!
That night.
The Thorn Territory was shrouded in darkness.
Sitting around the blazing fire, Amir looked at the big boy who was working hard to cook with a look of relief.
To children, fluffy white bread is almost a delicacy.
Then put the dry and hard meat in a pot to boil a pot of steaming broth. Although there is not much oil and it is still quite dry and hard to chew, it is meat after all!
Looking at the scene in front of him, Amir only felt that his life had hope.
However……
Just when Amir wanted to express his feelings about all this...
A dull and strong roar suddenly echoed in Amir Lugo's ears.
It seemed to come from afar, but it was so clear and strong.
Rumble——
It was a roar coming from the south.
The south of the Thorn Territory is an abandoned place shrouded in black mist... (End of this chapter)