A magnificent city, neat streets and enthusiastic people? No, no. When Rhodes' troops returned to the north, the place was deserted, just like the capital. People became poor during the war, and the entire country was in civil war.
The war became extremely impoverished. Exhaustion and pain were written on everyone's face. Only a few arms dealers, slave traders and profiteers who dealt in dead people made a fortune during the war. Most people's lives have returned to poverty.
No triumphal ceremony, no celebration banquet, just a low-key return to the city. Even Governor Alvis didn’t know that the King of the North had returned. Well... he was no longer the King of the North, but Kislev.
Duke. But it doesn't matter. It's just a title. Everyone knows that Rodlawn will always be the great lord of the North and the spiritual leader of the North.
Rhodes and Celta were riding black horses, walking in front, followed by fifty northern knights. Snowflakes fell on the group of people, dyeing Rhodes' cloak white. Celta's bearskin coat was also the same.
It was also a field of white flowers. The war horse seemed to be unable to bear the weight of the people on its back, and it gasped once or twice from time to time.
Pedestrians came and went, feeling that this group of people was not simple. As for the specific identity, no one knew. No one would associate the plainly dressed man in front of them with the King of the North. People who had seen Rhodes with their own eyes had no idea.
He is a minority. Most people only think that Lord White Bear, King of the North, and Vampire Terminator Rodlawn should be a very tall and powerful man. His return will inevitably have a grand triumphal ceremony...
It was precisely because no one knew or paid attention that Rhodes saw the real side. Just as Alves wrote in his letter - the North is like a shriveled sponge, and the civil war has squeezed out the last drop of water. Skinny children
Wandering everywhere, not to mention going to school, food and clothing are a problem. The beggars wrap themselves in all the rags and scraps they can find to survive the harsh winter. Rhodes knows that the beggars here are real beggars, not the kind who earn a monthly income
Thousands of professional beggars...
The team walked through the long and narrow streets and stopped in front of the Erengrad City Hall.
…
"Rhode! I can't believe it, why are you back at this time?"
In the city hall, when Alves hurried over, Rhodes had been waiting in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows for a long time. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled into the room through the glass windows, adding a few dark red stripes to the walls, like blood...
Thinking back then, the rulers of Elengrad were slaughtered here. The blood once dyed the floor of this hall red, then was wiped dry, and then dyed red again. Under the sun, Rhodes felt a heavy heart.
, the civil war ended with the victory of the Northern Army, but the entire kingdom was shattered. Just like this city, it seemed prosperous, but it was incomparable to Erengrad ten years ago.
"Haha, what? There is something you don't know."
Rhodes turned around and replied jokingly.
"I don't know a lot of things, and I'm not a god... I only know that you set off from Kislev and returned to the north half a month ago, but I didn't expect you to come back like this... Of course, if you don't want to let
I know, how could I know? Besides, I don’t dare to know.”
Alves walked over. He was not lame, but his legs were as short as hands, which gave people the illusion of being lame when he walked.
"What else are you afraid to know?"
"There are many..."
Alves stood on tiptoes and smiled evilly.
"Okay, no more chatting with you. I've seen everything about Elengrad's situation. It seems like you are incompetent as a governor."
Rhodes joked that he knew this was not Alves' responsibility, and if it had been someone else, the situation would have been worse than the situation in front of him.
"Governing a city is much more difficult than managing a castle, and stabilizing a city during a war is a hundred times more difficult than usual. If I could lead troops, I would rather go to the front line."
Alves said, walking straight to the desk and going to get a drink.
"It's time for you to stop drinking."
Rhodes interrupted him.
This time I'm serious.
"Okay, I won't drink for the time being when I'm with you."
Alves laughed, then put down the bottle and walked back.
"From prominent nobles to refugees, whenever there is something they can't handle, they all come to me. Haven't you seen that I have aged a lot in the past two years?"
After speaking, Alves pointed to his forehead——
"Half of my hair has fallen out. If this continues, even prostitutes won't like her anymore."
"No, as long as you have money."
Rhodes interrupted him with a smile.
"That's right, but I don't have any money."
Alves blinked back.
"I know your purpose of coming back this time. You want to revitalize the Northern Territory and the port of Elengrad. But..." He paused and continued to focus on Rhodes, "But it's not that simple."
"I know. The situation now is much more complicated than before."
Rhodes returned. In fact, this was indeed the case. When Black Hammer Castle was developing rapidly, Alvis managed only a castle with a maximum population of 30,000 people. Now, he manages the city of Erengrad.
It is two different things from the castle. In terms of population alone, Oerengrad is several times the size of Blackhammer Castle, not to mention that it is the most important trading port in the north of Kislev. The old and new forces are intertwined, and the city is large in size, with various
Problems also followed one after another. A series of problems such as sanitation, crowding, public security, the gap between rich and poor, etc. were much more serious than Blackhammer Castle. In addition, during the two years of the civil war, Alves, as the rear manager, also had to raise funds for the army.
Military pay and food... Rhodes guessed that his alcohol addiction was developed during this period.
Today's northern border can no longer be built by just pointing on a map.
"Okay, I'm tired and need to rest for a while."
Rhodes made a gesture, the fatigue of the past few days of traveling was written on his face.
"I will have the room cleaned right now. You will like it. The hotel in Orengrad is definitely better than the one in Kislev." Alves narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, and he snapped his fingers.
The servant trotted over and said, "Tidy up the room on the top floor of the city hall. In two hours, I will see a dust-free room." Alves ordered.
"By the way, now that you're back, I think there's someone you should meet?"
Alves had already walked away, but suddenly thought of something again, turned around and said to Rhodes.
"I know that I will meet you when the time comes. Please don't tell anyone else about my return except you."
Rhodes' expression suddenly became serious.
"By the way, one more thing. The harvester you asked the dwarf engineers to build when you were at Blackhammer Castle was really easy to use. It saved a lot of manpower and animal power. I have been asking the technicians to continue to improve it. Now, Erengrad
In the suburbs, one-fifth of the land has been contracted by these big guys."
Alves is confident and high-spirited. This is the only good news that Rhodes has heard since his return, and it is also the moment when Alves truly smiles.
"Continue to maintain that mechanization is inevitable. We have lost too much to the empire, not only in funds and technology, but also in people's thoughts and concepts."