Chapter 88 - 84: Population Siphon
Chapter 88: Chapter 84: Population Siphon
Unsurprisingly, Ola accepted the olive branch Velin extended.
And it seemed all the territories surrounding the Gray Sea Marsh had received an "olive branch" of their own.
A silent invitation from Newly Town.
And so, an unprecedented tide began.
No, it wasn’t a tide. It was a stream.
A stream formed of people.
They came from the dirt roads to the west, traversed the swamps to the south, and trekked across the hills to the north.
Their clothes were ragged, their faces caked with grime.
They stumbled with exhaustion, their stomachs rumbling with hunger.
But without exception, their eyes all shone with a fervent light.
These farmers, hunters, and vagrants from different villages and territories converged on the dirt road outside Newly Town, forming a slowly writhing stream.
The end of the line already stretched to the edge of the newly cultivated fields to the west.
A man named Kael stood uneasily in the line.
He was thin, and his palms were covered in the thick calluses and cracks unique to a carpenter. He came from Shiyan Town.
In Shiyan Town, landless craftsmen like him had to work over fourteen hours a day. The pay they received was just enough black bread to barely feed their families, along with a few Copper Leaves.
The lord’s steward would also find all sorts of ways to dock their pay.
A week ago, a passing merchant caravan brought news of Newly Town.
"The lord there is actually letting serfs work to earn their freedom!"
"As long as you’re willing to work hard, you can eat your fill, and you can even trade for white sugar!"
These words sent a violent shockwave through the lower class of Shiyan Town.
At first, everyone was skeptical.
But then more and more people returned from Newly Town, bringing back snow-white salt, sturdy leather boots, and tales of the nearly endless stream of merchant caravans heading there.
The final push that made Kael decide was his neighbor, a lame stonemason.
He had gone for just one week and used his points in Newly Town to trade for enough food to feed his whole family for a month.
After that, no one hesitated any longer. People started to vote with their feet.
They abandoned the lands their families had lived on for generations, turned their backs on their harsh lord, and, risking capture as runaway serfs, set out on the road to the new town.
Kael was now looking up at Newly Town’s walls, which were not particularly tall, but were strangely built.
He could smell earth, wood shavings, and roasted meat on the wind.
It was a smell brimming with vitality.
The temporary recruitment office outside the newly built guild hall was completely mobbed.
Old Walker, his voice hoarse, directed his scribes in registering the newcomers.
"Name! Where are you from! What’s your trade!"
"Next!"
When it was Kael’s turn, he nervously rubbed his hands together.
"Kael. Shiyan Town. Carpenter."
Without looking up, the scribe quickly wrote the information on a form and handed him a wooden plaque engraved with a number.
"Take this and report to the temporary residential area to the west. Someone will arrange your lodging and work. Remember, you are temporary laborers. Room and board cost points. We’ll advance you ten points for the first day, and it’ll be deducted from your wages later."
Kael clutched the rough wooden plaque tightly.
’In debt.’
He was already in debt before he had even started working.
It felt strange, but more than that, it brought a peculiar sense of peace.
At least here, everything had a clearly marked price.
The temporary residential area consisted of several strange, hollow-square buildings. To Kael, they were already incredibly imposing structures. The interiors were simple but spotlessly clean.
One room, five bunk beds. The bedding was old, but there were no fleas or musty smells.
It couldn’t compare to his home in Shiyan Town, but it was a decent start.
In the evening, he went to the communal cafeteria.
His wooden plaque was handled for a moment by a young man in a gray Mage’s robe, and in exchange, he received a steaming bowl of wheat paste. His eyes widened in shock when he saw a few specks of oil floating on top.
He devoured all the food, even licking the bottom of the bowl clean three times.
’It’s delicious.’
Even if this meal cost him one point.
The next day, Kael was assigned to the construction site for the new residential area, responsible for making furniture.
His skilled carpentry quickly made him stand out.
While the other farmers were still clumsily measuring lumber, he could already saw the components the foreman required with precision.
At the end of his first day of work, he had earned twelve points.
"Two meals... minus two points, heh! A net profit of ten points."
For the next three days, he worked like a tireless beast.
He used the points he earned to trade for a strip of cured meat at the redemption store.
In Shiyan Town, this was a luxury only the masters could enjoy.
He carefully wrapped it up, planning to ask a merchant caravan to take it to his wife and child back home.
After doing all this, he counted his remaining points. There were only three left.
Even though almost all the fruits of his back-breaking labor over the past few days had gone right back to the town...
...he didn’t feel the slightest bit of despair.
Kael rubbed his slightly bulging stomach, full from a good meal, and thought of the dry, comfortable bed in the dormitory.
’It was all worth it.’
He even began to calculate, ’I’ll have to work harder, save up enough points to bring my son here, and send him to that "Literacy Night School" they have.’
In his study, Velin was looking over the accounts presented by old Walker.
The parchment was densely packed with records of the inflow and outflow of points.
[Total Temporary Laborers: 2,347]
[Total Points Generated Today: 9,783]
[Today’s Consumption (Food & Lodging): 4,783 points]
[Today’s Consumption (Goods Redemption): 4,952 points]
[Point Balance: 48 points]
Velin’s fingers tapped lightly on the desktop.
A perfect closed loop.
Other than buying some goods from the Golden Sail Commerce Association at cost, he didn’t need to spend much Golden Sun.
By merely lifting a corner of the skirt of the goddess of "Consumption," he had acquired more than two thousand cheap laborers.
’So this is the legendary cycle: earn it in the city, spend it in the city, and don’t dream of taking a single cent home?’
Vast tracts of wasteland were being reclaimed, new residential areas were shooting up, and many of the cleared fields were being replanted with sea salt potatoes.
The expansion speed of the new town was nothing short of a miracle.
Velin couldn’t help but laugh.
He knew that the surrounding lords must be exploding with rage in their rooms right now.
Shiyan Town was a given; its lord and Knight Order had been captured, and the steward was letting the populace do as they pleased.
As for the other Knight’s Manors, they were terrified after the last war. They were all cowering like turtles in their shells, not daring to show their anger or speak out.
Even if they secretly blockaded the roads and sent out pursuit teams, they still couldn’t stop people’s yearning for a better life.
Newly Town was like a dazzling lighthouse in this ignorant, feudal society.
As long as it could still offer hope, this human tide would never stop.