Release that Witch - Chapter 16

[Chapter 16]

The fire in the fireplace was burning brightly, dispelling the chill that seeped through the cracks in the doors and windows.

A deer head with huge horns hangs on the top of the fireplace. Under the light of the fire, the projection of the horns on the wall behind is like huge minions.

On the opposite side is a long dark red wooden table filled with parchment scrolls and books, most of which are executive orders waiting to be signed.

Normally, Roland handles official business here—since he transformed the third-floor room of the castle into an office, he gradually fell in love with it.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, he could see the small town stretching in front of him, with endless mountains at the end.

That is the impenetrable mountain range that almost runs through the continent, separating the kingdom of Graycastle and the wild land on the east and west sides.

The North Slope Mountain is just a branch of the Impassable Mountain Range.

And at the foot, you can see the garden surrounded by wooden fences.

The wooden shed used for Anna’s training has been dismantled, and the brick pool has been turned into a long table for the convenience of placing tableware during afternoon tea.

If the weather is good, he will also go down to bask in the sun, or lie in a custom-made rocking chair for a nap.

Although the castle is not big, it can be regarded as a medium-sized villa with an independent garden.

In the previous life, it was almost impossible to own a real stone castle. You have to pay for the entrance ticket just to visit it.

But now, he not only owns the castle, but also a town.

“Your Highness, the cost of recruiting craftsmen and handymen has been quite high recently, and the money is all taken out of your pocket. If this continues, I’m afraid it won’t last until next spring.” Barov held a stack of parchment and turned to Roland. Report recent financial situation.

Originally, Border Town’s income and expenses were very simple. One line was the trade of ores and gems.

This line is monopolized by the Longsong Fortress, and the output of the North Slope Mine is exchanged for wheat or bread. There is no tax in the middle, and the fortress sends people to host the exchange of resources.

In layman’s terms, the North Slope Mine is a joint-stock project of the nobles of the Changsong Fortress.

The nobles stationed in Border Town can be regarded as supervisors sent by the shareholders. Most of their fiefs are in the east of the fortress, and they only come here temporarily, and the number of people who come here is different every year.

In fact, Border Town’s history is less than 30 years old. Compared with the nearly 200-year-old Longsong Fortress, it is like a newborn baby.

Originally, Duke Lane only planned to establish an outpost here to give an early warning of evil beasts’ invasion.

But unexpectedly, the pioneers found rich mineral resources in the North Slope Mountains, so they simply set up a town here and named it Border Town.

In a sense, it was the mines on the North Slope that made the town.

In order to prevent stealing and concealing reports, the Duke did not adopt the proposal of the nobles to send their own people to mine. Instead, they hired local residents, nearby refugees, and even criminals as miners. The ore produced was distributed in proportion to the resources invested by each family .

The fortress only needs to provide the employer with food and a little commission for the whole year. These remunerations are fixed amounts and will not change depending on the output of the mining area.

Of the more than 2,000 residents in Border Town, most of them serve the mining area.

The other line is other industries in the town-such as blacksmith shops, taverns, textiles, and so on.

Border Town’s meager taxes mainly come from here, and it is difficult to have much left over throughout the year.

The previous lord didn’t take this barren land seriously. Since Roland was sent here by the king of Graycastle, he simply couldn’t stay in the fortress.

Therefore, if Roland wanted to hire someone to repair the city wall, he could only pay from his own pocket.

If it was the previous fourth prince, he would definitely not be willing to say anything, but for Roland, as long as he could gain a firm foothold in Border Town, it would be worth spending all his property.

Anyway, the ore trade in the future will no longer be settled in grain. If it is settled in currency, this investment is simply a drizzle.

The only question is whether Longsong Fortress is willing to give up the monopoly and conduct normal trade with Border Town – this is a bit like a tiger’s mouth, but the inventory data provided by Barov shows that it is limited by the low efficiency of human mining and inconvenient transportation. The value of the ore produced by the upper mining area every year is no more than a thousand golden dragons, which is only a drop in the bucket for the entire revenue of the fortress.

The only ones who lost their interests were the nobles who invested in partnership.

Considering the long-term development of Border Town, this line must be retracted.

Roland knew in his heart that even if the investment of those people had been recovered more than ten years ago, they would not let go easily.

Mosquitoes are meat no matter how small they are, not to mention this kind of good thing that can make money while lying down.

He is willing to give certain discounts and compensations to previous investors, such as half-price purchases and the like.

But things like dragging a boatload of ore back and only getting half a boatload of grain are not allowed to happen again.

While Roland was staring at the list and thinking, Barov was also watching him.

In the past three months, to be precise, in the last month, some unspeakable changes have taken place in the fourth prince.

Outsiders may not be aware of it, but he is with the prince every day, and this change cannot be hidden from him.

Back in Graycastle, he had heard about the notoriety of the fourth prince, Roland Wimbledon.

It’s its own way, it’s reckless, it’s not aristocratic…that kind of thing.

In short, he never makes big mistakes and keeps making small mistakes, which is far behind his two brothers.

When he was sent here by His Majesty, he was full of disappointment. If His Majesty hadn’t promised to appoint him as the official Minister of Finance after the king’s struggle was over, he really wanted to quit.

In the first two months after arriving in Border Town, the fourth prince showed extremely naive behavior as usual, offending all the local nobles who could be offended.

Fortunately, the town itself is very small, even if all the administrative positions are vacant, he and the dozen or so civilian staff he brought can still fill them.

After that, something changed.

When exactly did the change start?

He thought, probably… it started from saving that witch.

It’s not that Barov didn’t suspect the possibility of demon possession, or that the prince himself was being manipulated by another hidden witch.

But this possibility is extremely slim. If devils and witches have such abilities, why would they find the fourth prince?

Wouldn’t it be better to directly control His Majesty or the Pope?

Another thing that dispelled his doubts was that he saw the prince holding the God’s Retribution Lock with his own eyes.

This thing is the church’s trump card to deal with witches. Any demon power will collapse in front of the God’s Chain of Retaliation, but Roland held it directly.

In other words, if he is not the fourth prince, but a demon king who does not even need to fear divine power, then is there any need to expose him.

Saving your own life is the first priority.

The prince’s style is still going his own way and acting recklessly, but the two give him different feelings.

No, Barov thought about it, it should be the exact opposite.

The biggest difference should be purpose.

He sensed that Roland was planning something, and in order to achieve his goal, he had to use some methods that were difficult for ordinary people to understand.

Just like the other party trying to convince himself why he wanted to save a witch, the plan may be immature and full of loopholes, but the prince is indeed moving forward with the plan and has no doubts about the result.

This is the most confusing part. The throne may be born among any of the Roland brothers and sisters, but it will definitely not be the fourth prince himself.

He should be very clear about this kind of thing, talking about development in a small place like Border Town?

Even the gods can’t do it!

What kind of crazy plan did Roland conceive, so crazy that a small town built outside the border defense line could develop better than Jinsui City, and he had to convince himself that the plan would definitely succeed?

It would be fine if it was just a lunatic’s delusion, but the city wall that Roland vigorously built showed that it didn’t seem to be the case.

He really intends to stay here and rely on the alchemy product “cement” to build a city wall that is almost impossible to complete according to common sense.

There was an alchemist in Barov’s family, but he had never heard of such a thing made by an alchemy workshop.

Is it self-confidence or randomness to base the wall-building scheme on something that no one has seen?

Expanding to the entire plan planned by Roland, how many things does the fourth prince hide that he doesn’t know?

He found that he had a faint interest in the days to come.

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[End of this Chapter]