Chapter 51 - Ores Arrived (1/2)

The second batch of people, who stayed in Tanzan Town, finally arrived.

This was undoubtedly good news for Gawain.

That meant that they at least had more manpower, that he could finish construction of the pier and the sawmill, that he could consider officially opening the mines in the east, and that he could finally develop this camp into a “territory”.

Though even with the second batch of people, the developing territory had only a small population of over 800 people, but compared to the first group of only 100 people, this was already an incredible improvement.

Knight Philip led several soldiers and a dozen militiamen who remained in Tanzan Town in completing the escort mission. Herti welcomed the young and promising Knight. The arrival of Knight Philip and those soldiers made up for a deficiency that was bigger than their manpower shortage, which was their defense force.

Although there were no signs of monsters or things like that, living in the wilderness made people feel unsafe. Those fences and magic traps could only alleviate this sense of insecurity, but only fully armed soldiers doing patrols could give the people the complete peace of mind.

As for Knight Philip, what shocked him was how large and complete the camp was.

They had actually made so much progress over such a large area? The carpenter’s sheds were already built? And they were even beginning to build a smithy?!

The young knight was almost dumbstruck as he entered the camp, staring blankly at the sturdy and aesthetic large tents and several wooden houses that had been built. He also saw those serfs and freemen who were working in the open field. The latter were busy making basic dried and smoked wood into planks, and further processed these planks into various tools and building materials. This was his first time seeing people working like this. The laborers, who used to need whipping, were working in groups. As one of them gave instructions and coordinated, they were working as seamlessly as hands and feet. If the usual circumstance when they were told to work together was them covering each other’s a*s for goofing off, then this situation was the complete opposite of that.

And where was the supervisor who should be standing at one side with his whip?

Philip looked around and found that the supervisors, who were the clan’s warriors and were chosen because they were slightly more literate, were on the edge of the open field. But they were only walking around to check on the progress of the work. They did not have whips in their hands, but only a wooden board for recording things.

“Amazing, right?” Herti’s voice woke the young knight from his stupefaction. “I never expected these simple measures could make them so diligent. Even the serfs started to take initiatives to learn how to do the work they are not good at.”

“Measures?” Knight Philip said, surprised. “What measures?”

“Ancestor came up with a set of new rules for work…”

Knight Philip’s eyes gleamed before Herti could finish saying. “Ah, he must have influenced the lazy serfs and civilians with the old knights’ sense of honor and virtue…”

“No, he gave them meat.” Herti smiled, her eyes forming crescents. “It’s very simple. They’ll have meat if they work more.”

As she said this, she lamented about how she had used to try this simple method of using rewards to stimulate work efficiency. But it usually only worked in the beginning. Those serfs would quickly find lots of ways to slack off and cheat to get the food. But with the addition of competition, precise records, strict implementation, and the so-called “team mindset”, everything turned out so differently. It was really incredible.

She also learned for the first time that serfs and civilians were not born to be dumb and lazy.

Gawain appeared not far away.

Herti and Philip immediately went up to greet him. Gawain waved and stopped their salutations. He nodded to Herti first before looking at the young knight. “Good work. The people are all here. Let the soldiers and the people take a break first. After lunch, all the workers will gather in the open area in the center of the camp. Herti will tell them the rules of working here. Soldiers, including the militia, will gather at the west side of the camp. Knight Byron will be giving out some new gear.”

Then he looked at Herti. “You don’t have to sort the newcomers into their teams on the first day. The new rules will be too much for them to remember all at once.”

Herti nodded. Knight Philip was a little confused. “New gear? What new gear?”

Gawain looked at him, giving a mysterious smile. “Good stuff definitely.”

After seeing the new equipment, Knight Philip was definitely amazed. He never expected “good stuff” to be this good.

He thought that they would at most just be getting a batch of new swords and armor, or at the very most have everyone issued with a crossbow, but who would have thought that they would be getting a full set of “super gear”?!

Enchanted swords, enchanted armor, and the crystals used by the army back in the ancient empire!

Those longswords enchanted with “sharpness” flickered with cold, white light. The hauberks, carved with “elemental resistance seals” and “lightness” gave a faint gray luster under the sunlight. The ill-educated soldiers had probably never seen how enchanted weapons looked like, but when they realized what they were, they were all unusually excitedly.