novelraw Chapter 435: Death of the Count
Chapter 435: Death of the Count
The warm setting sun was like fire, making even the evening breeze gentle.
In the early winter season, such weather was truly too rare. Especially paired with the curling smoke rising from chimneys, the mixed scent of food and burning vegetation, and the crisp laughter of children.
Ah, it truly was Quiet And Peaceful Years.
Li Wei toyed with that Prestige Stone, his mood also extremely good. Before his eyes, streams of human-figure images resembling projections continuously flickered and vanished, displaying the current status of all the Freemen in real time. Of course, others couldn't see this.
However, as he watched, his expression also became subtle. The foundation of these Freemen was a bit terrible!
Yes, he knew previously that it was very terrible. The bodies of these Freemen were all very poor. Could his 10.5 Perception see it wrong?
However, physical weakness and frailty were easy to deal with. With Life Potions, stamina potions, plus Profession Cards and Clearance Token Upgrades, they could all rapidly grow up.
Back then, even a late-stage terminally ill patient like him could rise anew!
But his Perception wasn't omnipotent either; there were still many things he was Unable To See Through.
For example, he didn't know that out of these four hundred plus Freemen, 75% unexpectedly only had a third-grade elementary school education level, belonging to semi-illiterates!Especially when he used the Prestige Stone to trace back, he discovered that Windbreath Count had constantly been executing this kind of obscurantist policy that stuck right to the bottom line of Humanistic Care.
Because doing so could maximize the conservation of resources and Mana, and then use the good steel on the blade's edge.
Newly born children would undergo potential measurement. The good ones would be given Priority for focused cultivation, while the bad ones would be given the most basic life skills to farm in the fields for a lifetime.
So this couldn't be considered wrong.
But this caused Li Wei's current awkwardness!
With a foundation like this, what was he going to use to rebuild Gale Fortress?
He himself lost confidence.
"Alright then, I'll try first. The first Territory mission next will be set to—rebuild Gale Fortress?"
As Li Wei's thoughts moved, the Prestige Stone had already automatically generated the relevant main mission as well as various branch missions. Well then! That old fellow Windbreath Count was quite lazy; he unexpectedly chose to use the Prestige system to act as the Internal Affairs Officer?
Fine, it's not like it's impossible.
At the very least, all the Freemen could be Clear at a Glance. How much who worked every day, how much remuneration they would obtain, what who was better at, who was to be grouped with whom—it was all extremely clear.
For example, within this main mission of rebuilding Gale Fortress, there were as many as twelve branch missions.
For instance, the first branch mission was to clean up the site ruins. Priority: Five-Star. Currently, it had already designated fifty Freemen to start proceeding from tomorrow, estimated to be completed within five days. But behind it, there were three selectable options: A. Increase/decrease manpower; B. Increase/decrease the mission completion time; C. Provide remuneration incentives, initial remuneration five copper coins per person.
Good Heavens, it was just like a game! But this was the characteristic of letting the Prestige system act as the Internal Affairs Officer: it would be extremely Unreliable.
Could fifty Farmers complete the clean-up work of the fortress site ruins within five days?
They could!
If costs weren't considered, they might even complete it in four and a half days. But many people had injuries on their bodies. If they truly worked so desperately, they probably wouldn't live past this winter.
As for speaking of Humanistic Care, as long as they didn't freeze to death or starve to death, if they merely died of illness, this couldn't be considered lacking Humanistic Care, right? Who didn't experience birth, aging, illness, and death? Not having a doctor isn't my fault either.
Li Wei almost laughed watching this. Windbreath Count had already fumbled out a baseline for Humanistic Care!
Moreover, this was only the first branch mission.
Following that, he respectively looked at the other branch missions. These included felling timber, quarrying stone, burning lime, rebuilding the blacksmith workshop, constructing temporary wooden cabins, as well as temporary Warehouses, temporary food storage Warehouses, making padded cotton clothes, supplying firewood or charcoal for winter heating, and repairing the City Wall breaches, and so on.
It looked numerous and miscellaneous, covering all aspects, very bluffing.
But Li Wei looked at it for a while, then directly deleted this mission to rebuild Gale Fortress.
Because it had no meaning.
Reconstruction could be successful, but after success, how many people would still survive was unknown.
In a word, for the missions formulated by the Prestige system to be so comprehensive, it definitely calculated the maximum upper limit of work capacity that could be squeezed out of these free labor animals. Moreover, it was definitely compliant with the rules, compliant with Humanistic Care, and irreproachable in all aspects.
Furthermore, these Freemen were actually used to it. Windbreath Count had ruled in this world for nearly two hundred years. Even the most untamed and intractable Freemen had either been incorporated or imprisoned; how could they dare have the slightest bit of disobedience?
They were even inferior to those natural humans struggling to survive in the apocalypse. At least the former had experienced a prosperous civilized era, knew how to read, and understood various knowledge.
Relying solely on these four hundred plus people before his eyes, even if he settled the reconstruction mission, they still wouldn't be able to provide Li Wei with more and greater value. Expanding Territory or whatever—don't even think about it.
Among them, aside from thirty-four Soldiers who were Four-Star or Three-Star, the ones with the highest levels besides them were thirty to forty Artisans, Tailors, Butchers, and cooks. The remainder were mostly one-star Farmers, with only a small number of two-star Farmers.
Yes, these Freemen needed to start coming into contact with farming from the age of fifteen to obtain their first Farmer Card. After that, they had to farm in one breath until the age of thirty-five before they could barely upgrade to two-star Farmer. And then there was no "then".
The land was barren, there was no Mana, they depended on heaven for food, and their income was meager. The Farming Experience obtained every year was less than double digits.
To speak bluntly, there wasn't much of a difference between this and medieval farmers. Oh, at least there was no jus primae noctis here, and the Lord couldn't casually hang people. But violating the Territory's laws would equally incur punishment: whipping, imprisonment, public shaming, and even decapitation were also equally present.
Humanistic Care didn't equate to no punishment for making mistakes.
Nor did it equate to having to cure you if you fell ill.
Therefore, counting on such a group of honest, wooden, and ignorant Farmers to develop production, rebuild the fortress, and expand territory... Li Wei felt he must have previously lost his mind to have such thoughts.
At this moment, he truly incomparably missed his Blazing Territory. If he replaced all four hundred plus of these people with the Freemen of his own Territory, the production work efficiency and combat efficiency would at least multiply by more than ten times!
For this kind of numb, wooden old Farmer, even if you forcefully elevated him to a Three-Star Profession and activated and bound three Professions to him, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Or rather, he could handle it, but how great would the invested price have to be, and how much consumed time would be needed?
He only had a little over a year of time before he had to go participate in the Cross-Border Mission.
He truly couldn't afford to play this!
Li Wei looked at the Territory stone in his hand. Before obtaining this thing, he truly felt the situation was not bad. But having this thing was equivalent to showing him the filthiest, most garbage, and ugliest side.
Looking out, everything was deficits, deficits, deficits!
No wonder Windbreath Count was willing to abandon Gale Fortress. Because here, aside from a fortress and a Three-Star Mana Mine, the most valuable things were the twelve Holy Gale Knights and that Second-Tier Caster Agatha who could be resurrected.
The rest truly wasn't important; it was too cheap.
Forget It. He couldn't afford to play either. He didn't want this mess.
With a casual wave of his hand, a Six-Star Settlement Card was taken out. But in the next second, Li Wei's expression froze. Red light unexpectedly lit up on that Settlement Card.
F*ck!
What's the situation? Have I entered combat?
I haven't broken combat?
Are there enemies nearby?
Just as he was thinking this, a Saber-wielding Guard suddenly flew over rapidly from the distance. At the same time, an image also emerged in Li Wei's mind: a full thirty-five Holy Gale Knights, under the leadership of Grand Commander Teren, were galloping over from a dozen or so li away.
F*ck!
Have the frontline battles yielded a result?
Li Wei didn't dare be negligent. He hurriedly took out that Sheriff's commission letter, then arrived at the intersection below the fortress City Wall, awaiting the arrival of Grand Commander Teren.
Very soon, with hoofbeats like thunder, the thirty-six Holy Gale Knights arrived nearby. Observing from afar, Li Wei felt the vitality and spirit of this bunch was a bit weak. Although their equipment all looked exceedingly high-level—an average of Four-Star Enchanted Heavy Armor, and Grand Commander Teren even more so wearing Five-Star Enchanted Heavy Armor—Good Heavens!
However, something wasn't quite right. Their Souls seemed very pale, as if the lifeblood within their marrow had all been exhausted. Outwardly strong but inwardly dry, as frail as a flickering candle flame.
What the heck?
"Neighhh!"
With Warhorses neighing, these thirty-six Holy Gale Knights stopped uniformly in front of Li Wei. Their gazes, hidden beneath thick helmets, were so exhausted and numb, resembling old men with one foot in the grave.
Li Wei watched in surprise, but his heart understood: dying too many times, resurrecting too many times... ultimately, there was still a toll. This wasn't a game account where one could restart countless times after dying. They weren't game players either; they weren't the Fourth Scourge. Even if they could be resurrected, with every resurrection, they would lose a portion of their Soul.
Just like Li Yue and Second Aunt. They didn't even have a way to experience death once more.
Human power has its limits, and the power of Deities is sometimes not omnipotent either.
"George, you are still alive. This truly gives me a pleasant surprise. I am very glad you were able to hold this Gale Fortress for us!"
Grand Commander Teren spoke hoarsely. His aged voice sounded like a Ghost, but he was indeed a living person.
"I am very sorry, I actually didn't do anything. The fortress now only has the City Walls left."
Li Wei smiled bitterly.
"I know. Because this was originally a link in the plan. We won a Heart's Content victory; the price is everything before our eyes."
"I don't quite understand—Lord Commander, do you intend to take back the management rights of Gale Fortress? I will immediately hand over the fortress to you."
Li Wei was very confused, but he also immediately spoke. He had a not-too-good feeling regarding Windbreath Count.
"There's no need to rush, George. The Windbreath Count who founded the Gale Knights was killed by the enemy in a crucial battle not long ago. His injuries were so severe that even the Priests of the Temple were unable to resurrect him. He will slumber eternally in the Windbreath Central City from now on. Prior to this, I had already led my brothers to launch dozens of attacks against the enemy across several battles. We killed who knows how many enemies, but we also continuously died, continuously resurrected, and were then immediately teleported back to the battlefield via Arbitrary Doors."
"It wasn't until we were resurrected for the seventeenth time that we were told we could retire. We could return to our own Homeworld, bringing the Warhorses and armors rewarded by His Majesty the King, bringing enough Gold Coins, and return to our Homeworld to peacefully enjoy our twilight years. So, we came back."
"The Windbreath Central City is not our Homeworld; Gale Fortress is. Even though the Gale Knights also cease to exist at this moment, we look glamorous on the outside, but in reality, we are just a bunch of old men with one foot in the grave, flickering like candles in the wind."
"George, before we die, we still have a tiny wish. And that is to be able to rebuild Gale Fortress to comfort those souls who died unjustly. In the past, they died unjustly because of our erroneous decisions. By a Stroke of Luck, we had you, George. You saved these survivors, otherwise, our sins would be even deeper and heavier."
"We can already no longer obtain redemption, and the Holy Gale Knights are even more shamed because of this. However, could we please ask you to save Gale Fortress once more? To rebuild it, and lead these ignorant, numb, and oblivious Farmers to survive. We are willing to attribute all the glory we obtained on the battlefield to you."
(End of Chapter)