Chapter 389: Meeting
Chapter 389: Meeting
"Good. It’s a deal."
Airkly nodded in satisfaction.
"We’ll be setting up camp nearby over the next few days and conducting our exploration. Once the appointed date arrives, we’ll notify you. When the time comes, bring the Silver Key and meet us."
"So there’s still some time left. No problem."
Phield agreed without hesitation.
It was exactly the breathing room Nightfall Domain needed. The scars left by the recent war had not yet fully healed, and the territory needed time to recover.
"Oh, one more thing, Mr. Phield. If possible, we can also establish trade."
The moment the conversation shifted to business, Airkly instantly adopted the demeanor of a merchant. Her sun-bronzed face practically lit up with enthusiasm.
"Wherever we go, we trade. The whole world is our marketplace."
"Why not? I respect the traditions of a mercantile nation."
Phield gave her a thumbs-up.
Nightfall Domain could also sell its goods to them and make a quick profit.
After reaching a verbal agreement, Phield led his people away.
Ashina carefully remained at the rear, meticulously erasing every footprint they left behind to prevent anyone from tracking them.
Upon returning to the territory, Phield immediately summoned everyone for a meeting and began issuing a series of new directives.
The first topic was military reorganization.
He dissolved the previous guard units, border troops, and Nightfall Domain’s original standing forces, then promoted the soldiers who had distinguished themselves during the Border Fortress campaign into officer positions.
The army was reorganized into the First Army and the Second Army of Nightfall Domain, each with an establishment of five hundred soldiers.
The one hundred heavy cavalry and one hundred raider cavalry would remain as independent formations for the time being.
As for the temporarily conscripted militia, they were all dismissed and sent home.
Naturally, none of the units had reached full strength yet.
Recruiting replacements and training them would take time.
"This mining expedition ended in failure, but fortunately the casualties were extremely light. We’ve investigated the entire incident. The primary cause was the sudden ambush by the Corrupted Beavers, combined with the convoy commander’s lack of experience and overly aggressive decisions."
After failing to locate the Holy Light Ore at the original lake, they should never have continued upstream.
Fortunately, Nightfall Domain’s troops had never stubbornly fought to the bitter end.
Instead, they remained inside the wagon fortress, preserving the overwhelming majority of their strength.
The losses amounted to seven slave laborers and one soldier.
"Officer Newte demonstrated sound leadership throughout the operation and will therefore return to active duty in the First Army."
"As for Miss Alexia, you’ll continue attending Nightfall Domain’s training courses."
"In addition, you’ll assist your father, Tate, in managing the slaves. We’ll be bringing many more of them into Nightfall Domain."
Originally, Phield had intended to appoint Alexia as a village chief.
Now he realized that wouldn’t even come close to unlocking her potential.
"Yes, my lord."
Alexia quietly lowered her head.
Compared to before, however, she had become noticeably calmer and more mature.
She now carried the quiet presence of an older sister rather than the mischievous little girl she once was.
Nightfall Domain desperately lacks people capable of standing on their own, Phield thought with a silent sigh.
"Now let’s move on to domestic affairs and the economy."
With that, he put the matter behind him.
"My lord, I’ve already done the calculations."
Steward Kaor raised his hand and presented what he described as a delightful burden.
"This campaign has brought us an enormous amount of grain. Our warehouses can’t even hold it all."
"The weather is hot, and without proper storage facilities, the grain will spoil easily."
"Perhaps we should export some of it. I’ve heard the three western provinces are suffering from famine, and Rick Province is filled with displaced refugees."
"We could make a fortune."
The grain stockpiled inside the Border Fortress alone was enough to feed two or three thousand people for an entire season.
Afterward, they had looted the three surrounding territories, captured massive supplies from the rebels, and even received additional provisions from Simon.
There was simply too much food to consume.
"But... those poor people probably don’t even have money to buy food."
Tisiana pouted sadly.
As a devoted follower of the Holy Light, she couldn’t bear to watch people suffer.
"We could donate some of it. Everyone would praise you for your kindness, my lord."
Ashina disagreed immediately.
"I’d rather let the grain rot inside Nightfall Domain than give it away."
"When our soldiers were bleeding and dying, where was everyone else’s support?"
Phield quietly nodded.
He didn’t refute either opinion.
"Do you really think we’ll run out of uses for grain?"
He twirled his feather pen thoughtfully.
"Starnight City is practically empty."
"What we need now is population."
"A massive population."
"This time, I intend to purchase enough slaves to increase our population to fifty-five hundred."
"That many?"
Kaor’s face immediately fell.
The territory currently had only around twenty-eight hundred residents.
Their lord intended to nearly double that number.
He could already imagine the overwhelming workload waiting for him.
"It’s not that I’m unwilling to help people by giving away grain."
Phield gently rejected Tisiana’s proposal.
"The problem is that it would be almost impossible to ensure the food actually reached those who need it."
"Transportation losses, taxes, and corruption along the way would swallow most of it."
"By the time ten sacks of flour arrived, we’d be lucky if half a sack remained."
"I’m sorry."
Tisiana sighed softly.
"I only wanted to help those who are suffering."
"How about this?"
"We can accept some refugees instead."
"The western three provinces and Rick Province are suffering from famine."
"Women and children will undoubtedly suffer the most."
"I’ll assign Alexia to rescue women and children."
"If there are people skilled in ironworking, weaving, brewing, or other useful trades, bring them back as well."
"Let’s set the target at eight hundred people."
Most of Nightfall Domain’s civilians were men.
When Phield had originally purchased slaves, he naturally prioritized strong male laborers.
Now that many of them had become free citizens, they would inevitably want wives.
Perhaps they could solve both problems by bringing in refugee women.
"That’s perfect! That’s perfect!"
The military officers all looked delighted.
They had been worrying about finding wives for their soldiers.
Tisiana smiled gratefully.
Simply knowing that they could help unfortunate people filled her with happiness.
"My lord, I promise I won’t disappoint you this time."
"Oh, right, my lord."
Charlotte, who normally devoted all of her attention to farming, rarely offered suggestions.
"Since we’ve acquired so many supplies, why don’t we sell them through the territory’s marketplace?"
"A lot of people have been complaining that food prices are too high."
"If we release more grain onto the market, prices should come down."
"Good idea."
Phield gave her an encouraging smile.
"Clothing, furniture, and daily necessities should all be sold as cheaply as possible as a welfare benefit for our citizens."
"As for food, we’ll release only a limited amount."
"Just enough to reduce prices by around ten to twenty percent."
"Why?"
Charlotte leaned back slightly, looking genuinely confused.
"Because we need to maintain stable prices."
"If grain prices fluctuate wildly every day, our people will become anxious."
"Besides, harvest season is only about half a month away."
"No farmer wants to see the crops they’ve worked so hard to grow suddenly become worthless."
Phield explained,
"In fact, after the harvest, we’ll even purchase part of the farmers’ grain ourselves."
"Oh, and starting with this new batch of slaves, the cost of purchasing their freedom will no longer be one gold coin."
"Huh?"
Kaor sprang out of his chair.
"My lord, don’t tell me you’re making it free?"
"Of course not."
Phield smiled.
"I’m increasing the redemption fee."
"It used to cost one gold coin."
"From now on, it’ll be two gold coins and fifty silver coins."
"After all, we can’t allow newcomers to enjoy the fruits of everyone else’s hard work for practically nothing."