If you want to thrive, you have to put down roots here. If the land is not good, you can reclaim wasteland, and if the territory is too small, you can expand outward, but everything is empty talk when people leave.

If a piece of land could be given up at any time, who would want to buy a property here, and who would want to produce with peace of mind?

After the assistant minister retired, Roland summoned Carter Lannis, his chief knight.

"Take your men and bring me some local guards, hunters, or farmers who have been in this place for more than five years and have lived through the Demon Moon. It's best if someone has fought an evil beast. ”

The knight took the order to leave, and Roland rubbed his forehead and continued to look through the collected information.

The main output of the border town is minerals and animal skins, and the bulk import is grain, and all transportation is through the Chishui River to Changge Fortress or Liuye Town. There are all kinds of ores in the minerals, iron, copper, sulfur, crystal, ruby, sapphire...... This has completely surpassed the concept of associated mines. He remembered that Anna had said that the North Slope mining area was rumored to be a lair of unknown monsters underground, and until now it has not been fully understood how many forks in the bottom of the mine are.

Turning to the grain item again, Roland frowned, most of these ores were sold to Changge Fortress, but the other party did not pay with the Kingdom Golden Dragon, but with grain. It stands to reason that gems and the like can be regarded as luxuries, but after a few years of trading, the border town has not saved much surplus grain, and the financial revenue is not surplus.

In other words, the annual mining output of the border town was only exchanged for a year's ration for 2,000 residents. Considering that the lord of this place was himself a person in the line of Duke Changge before the prince was airborne, it is understandable that he produces and sells his own products. Anyway, in their opinion, no matter how much food is stored here, it will only be cheaper than those demon beasts.

The fur trade, on the other hand, belonged to the local people, who went west into the Hidden Forest, hunted some birds and animals, or sold them to the buyers of Changge Fortress, or sold them to the residents of Liuye Town. The border towns did not set a tax on this transaction because there was no way to regulate it.

Roland thought for a moment, since he came, then the ore output could no longer be used as a price for grain. The branches of the Chishui River run through almost the entire kingdom, and the traffic is not closed. With this transportation artery, even if the Changge Fortress no longer provided food, he could buy it from other places.

The premise is that he can stop those damn monsters here, in the border town.

Carter moved quickly, and the next day he found two guards and a local hunter, "These two are patrol captains in the border towns, and they are responsible for setting off the beacon fire every year." This hunter said that he had fought with the evil ****, and he also cut off the head of an evil beast with his own hands. ”

The three of them bowed in unison.

Roland nodded, told them to step aside first, and stepped forward one by one.

"Honorable ...... Honorable Prince's Palace...... Your Highness," the first guard to be called up was so nervous that he couldn't even speak, "Brian and I are both ...... It's all people here, eh...... When it snows, we ...... We will go to the Beacon ...... in the North Slope Mining Area Beacon. Where can the ...... The first time you see the movement of the monsters, if they cross the maze...... Hidden in the forest, we'll ...... Lighting the beacon fire and ...... from an early age The trail was withdrawn and the fast boat that had been prepared before was withdrawn...... Leave. ”

"Since it's together, let's call your partner to come up and answer," Roland shook his head and said, "What do the evil beasts look like, can they be killed?"

Although the other guard was also nervous, at least he didn't stutter, "Your Royal Highness, it should be okay." They were originally just ordinary animals in the forest, and although they were infected by the breath of hell and became manic and vicious, they could still be killed. Every year after the Demon Moon has passed, the Fortress of Long Song will send out a cavalry team to clean up the remaining evil beasts on the land route from the fortress to the border town. ”

"How long will the Demon Moon last?"

"It's usually two to three months...... It depends on the sun," Brian said.

"Look at the sun?" Roland wondered.

"Yes," explained the guard, "Your Highness, you have only been here for a short time, so you don't know it. Once it snows in the border towns, it doesn't stop until the sun returns to its brightness and the snow melts. ”

"The Demon Moon won't end until the snow melts?" Roland thought back, at least the snow in Grey Castle wasn't like this, it basically melted every other day, and he didn't see any change in the sun.

"That's why the longest Demon Moon I've ever experienced was two years ago, and it lasted for nearly four months, and many people didn't make it through. ”

"Why, doesn't the Changge Fortress even have an extra month's worth of food?" Roland asked.

Brian's face turned a little bad, "They have. However, Ferrenau, the mayor in charge of the supply at the time, said that we would only produce enough ore in the autumn to buy three months' worth of grain, and that the fourth month would not be distributed until a new batch of ore arrived. But the Demon Moon hasn't passed yet, and we can't leave the fortress at all. ”

"I see...... I know. ”

It's a fool who isolates himself from the people. If the Changge Fortress treats these border people as warm as a spring breeze, it may not be easy for him to leave them behind, but now it seems that those guys who are cowering behind the city wall are not a good thing. Roland summoned the last person to answer with an expressionless face, but wrote down the name in his heart.

The third man was powerful, approaching six feet when he stood upright, which made Roland feel very stressed. Fortunately, he knelt down on one knee as soon as he stepped forward.

"You said you killed the beast?"

"Yes, Your Highness," his voice was low and hoarse, "a wild boar breed, a wolf breed. ”

"Seed," Roland repeated, "what do you mean?"

"This is Orion's name for the beast, Your Highness. The more ferocious the animal before the mutation, the more difficult it will be to deal with after the mutation. And they multiply the body's original strengths. Like the wild boar species, its back fur is extremely hard, and it is difficult for even a crossbow to penetrate it from fifty meters away. The wolf species is more cunning and runs at an incredible speed, and to kill it requires setting a trap in advance. ”

"The strong are stronger, the fast are faster," Roland nodded, "but still animals." ”

"That's right, none of them are the most terrible enemies," Orion swallowed, "and the most terrible are the hybrids. ”

"They are the embodiment of the devil, and only hell can create such terrifying monsters. I've seen a hybrid that not only has the limbs of a beast, but also has a pair of large wings on its back that allows it to fly short distances. And it seemed to know where I was, and it could get me out no matter how much I hid. It's not preying, Your Highness, it's just teasing its prey. Orion lifted his clothes and saw a huge scar extending from his abdomen to his chest, "I survived by jumping into the Chishui River before I fell unconscious. ”

"There are still such monsters," Roland felt that this world was becoming more and more fantastical, a strong city wall could block all ordinary evil beasts, but what if they could fly?"