Chapter 165: A Thriving Settlement
This was still an age of cold weapons, and iron tools were tightly controlled by the Grand Concord court. Ordinary households rarely owned anything made of iron.
But this was the frontier.
The Grand Concord Dynasty had little control here. With Thalric raiders striking so often, the people along the border had grown unusually tough. Many households possessed iron tools.
Some even owned weapons.
With the food crisis resolved, Newhaven urgently needed to expand its population. Caelum ordered the Wardens to search regularly for displaced people and bring them back.
Winter was approaching, and Thalric raids along the Grand Concord frontier were becoming increasingly fierce. Naturally, this created a large number of refugees.
At the same time, the Wardens searched constantly for iron whenever they went out.
As a result, both Newhaven’s population and its military supplies grew at remarkable speed.
Two months later, Newhaven had expanded from a little over two thousand people to more than five thousand.
The iron brought back by the Wardens allowed the number of flintlock muskets to rise to two hundred.
However, the limited stock of powder meant they could not all be issued at once.
Newhaven’s rapid population growth also allowed the Wardens to expand. Their numbers had now passed six hundred, twice what they had been before.
The people of Newhaven no longer needed to farm for food, but Caelum did not let them sit idle.
They either cut timber to expand the settlement or took part in one of Newhaven’s many production tasks.
Everything was assigned clearly.
A full granary did not mean people could eat without working.
Food served as wages. Anyone who refused to work received none.
Caelum had no intention of supporting idlers.
Under this policy, Newhaven expanded at an astonishing pace.
The promise of food drew immense enthusiasm from the townspeople, and the entire settlement bustled with activity.
As long as they worked, they could eat.
In times like these, what more could anyone ask for?
Those who studied hard and learned to read could even earn a reward of one dou of millet.
There was nowhere safer or more stable than Newhaven.
Trees were felled.
Houses were built.
Fields were cleared.
Roads were opened and paved.
Newhaven overflowed with life.
The townspeople looked far healthier and more spirited than they ever had in Westbarrow. Hidden deep within the mountains, the place was almost a paradise untouched by the outside world.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thunderous reports echoed from the training ground outside Newhaven.
Two children climbed onto a rooftop and peered into the distance, but they could not see anything.
One of them asked curiously, "Why is it always so loud over there?"
The other planted his hands on his hips and said proudly, "Our lord in Newhaven is a god. I heard those sounds come from some powerful Arcane Relic he created."
"An Arcane Relic? Have you ever seen it?"
"No."
The child shook his head.
"It is a secret. Ordinary people are not allowed to see it. I have asked my uncle lots of times, but he never tells me anything."
"Hey, what are you two doing up there? Get down. Class is about to begin. Go learn a few more words. Save enough millet and maybe one day you can afford a wife."
A broad shouldered man carrying a log walked past the house and shouted them down.
"Oh."
"We are going now."
The two children moved like monkeys, scrambling down from the roof in seconds before racing toward the classroom and kicking up dust behind them.
The literacy classes had produced clear results.
At the very least, nearly everyone in Newhaven could now recognize a few words.
The rate of illiteracy was falling rapidly.
Just as Caelum had promised, those who performed well received one dou of millet.
The most gifted among them were assigned to administrative work in Newhaven and given minor official positions.
Because of this, the settlement now functioned with growing order and efficiency.
Boom!
Without warning, a blast far louder than musket fire exploded through the forest.
The townspeople jumped in alarm.
The Wardens and Household Guard immediately went on alert.
"Form up!"
At the training ground, more than six hundred Wardens assembled in moments.
Their ranks were neat, their faces stern, and a sharp military presence hung over the formation.
The sound just now had come from an explosive signal charge specially made by Caelum.
If the sentries outside the mountains detonated one, it meant enemies were approaching.
The settlement had to prepare in advance.
Not long after the Wardens finished assembling, hurried hoofbeats sounded in the distance.
A sentry came riding into town at full speed and swung down from his horse.
He reported at once.
"My lord, Torran’s caravan has arrived. However, it seems the Thalric forces spotted them before they entered the mountains. A Thalric raiding party is pursuing them inside right now."
Caelum opened the door and stepped outside.
"How many Thalric riders are coming?"
"Roughly one hundred. All cavalry."
There was no time to waste.
Caelum immediately gave his orders.
"Edrick, have the first through fifth squads arm themselves with muskets. Ten rounds per man. Not a single Thalric is to escape."
"Yes, my lord."
Edrick accepted the command and rushed toward the training ground to relay the order.
Each squad had twenty men.
Five squads meant one hundred soldiers.
Ten rounds per man gave them a total of one thousand shots.
According to Caelum’s estimate, if they prepared an ambush and used the terrain well, they only needed a few volleys to throw the Thalric riders into chaos.
After that, they could pick them off one by one.
No one knew these mountains better than they did.
Once the entrances and exits of the mountain road were blocked, the battle would become a slaughter.
The Thalric horses could not use their advantage in the mountains, nor could the riders launch a massed charge.
The order was delivered.
The Wardens stood ready on the training ground.
Edrick strode in and shouted, "His Lordship commands that the first through fifth squads arm themselves with muskets. Ten rounds per man. Kill every Thalric rider."
"We obey!"
The moment they heard they were going to kill Thalric raiders, the first five squads came alive.
Their faces lit with excitement as they accepted the order, seized the prepared weapons and ammunition, and set out to intercept the enemy.
Before long, they reached the ambush positions prepared during earlier training.
The first and second squads took positions at the end of the valley nearest Newhaven.
The third, fourth, and fifth squads hid in the woods near the valley entrance.
Only a short while passed.
"Move!"
The ground began to tremble.
Torran’s caravan rushed into the valley.
Everyone looked panicked as the horses dragged wagons of cargo through at full speed.
None of them noticed the concealed Wardens.
"Faster!"
Torran shouted, "The Thalric riders are catching up!"
He was drowning in regret.
Winter was nearly here, and the Thalric forces were raiding everywhere.
Traveling to the frontier at a time like this was clearly dangerous.
But the thought of white sugar had brought him anyway.
Great wealth always came with risk.
There was no safe and easy road to a fortune.
If he could establish a stable supply relationship with Caelum, his business would soon rise to an entirely new level.
Clinging to that hope, he had brought a shipment of sugarcane and the materials Caelum requested.
Yet the very thing he feared happened.
Before he even reached the mountains, the Thalric forces spotted him.
His caravan did have guards.
But those men were no match for Thalric cavalry.
Torran never once considered standing his ground and fighting them.
