Chapter 166: Displaced Persons 3

Chapter 166 – Drifter 3
Inside the Lord’s Castle in Lakeheart Town, a meeting was in progress, and present were people from the Council of State as well as the top brass of the army.

“Lord Earl, this trip to the south is very fruitful!”

Hansel proudly reported his achievements, he returned to Lake Town a few days ago, and as soon as he came back, he immediately got into the state, and started the work of resettling the new recruits and the displaced people without stopping.

“In addition to that group of stragglers, this time the recruitment brought 56 talents of various professions, including blacksmiths, teachers, alchemists, healers, and so on ……”

Before he could finish, Paul snapped his hands.

“Well done, Hansel, I didn’t expect you to find so many people willing to come to the Northwest, I thought all the southerners thought we were poor here.”

Hansel said with a smile on his face, “Lord Earl, as long as you look with your heart, you will always be able to find it, there are always some whose lives are not as good as they should be and who want to take their chances ……”

“Alright, alright, let Chief Ford make specific arrangements for the positions of these people. Let’s talk about the stragglers first.”

Paul interrupted Hansel’s introduction, listening to him say so how it seems like the ones who are willing to come here are like the Luther who was eliminated by his own industry, forget about it, he doesn’t need any masterminds for the time being, he can work on it.

“How many stragglers have arrived in our territory now?”

Hansel did a mental math and immediately answered, “According to the latest statistical report, a total of 421 stragglers have arrived in Arda.”

“Will there be more to follow?”

“Of course, Lord Count, and there will be many. The 500 or so I said before was just the most recent figure before I left, but the few shelters we have set up are still continuing to take in, and the stragglers will continue to be sent to the Northwest Bay.”

“I’m wondering, aren’t the kingdom’s army and the rebels facing off in the area of Thorn Fortress? How are these stragglers coming over?”

This time it was Schroeder who answered his question.

“My lord, the Thorn Fortress isn’t used to completely block north-south transportation, the stragglers can easily bypass it.”

“Then what’s the point of building this fortress? Wouldn’t the enemy troops be able to bypass it easily?”

“Many fortresses on the plains aren’t used to completely isolate transportation, take the Thorn Fortress for example, it can house a full 50,000 troops and store enough grain and grass for 50,000 men to eat for a year, there are many roads near the fortress connecting north and south, but they’re all within the reach of its troops. The army is not a straggler, if you want the soldiers to fight without fear, the food and drink supply can’t be stopped, if the army rashly bypasses it and attacks directly to the rear of the fortress, then it will face the danger of the supply line being pinched off at any time. “

Paul came to a realization, “I see.”

He continued to ask Hansel about the stragglers, “Those stragglers that have already arrived, have they all been settled?”

Hansel curled his lips and said, “Your Excellency, you can completely rest assured, they have already been arranged to live in the temporary government house on the south side of the town, enough to comfortably spend this winter, these people after such a long period of displacement, now it’s just like arriving in paradise, and everyone is praising the kindness of your Excellency, Earl. In a word, the whole resettlement of the stragglers is proceeding efficiently and peacefully.”

Paul was about to nod his head out of habit when a voice that spoiled the atmosphere rang out, though it sounded pleasant.

“Efficiently and peacefully? Baron Abbott, efficient might barely qualify, but the word peaceful really doesn’t even come close.”

It was the female counselor, Miss “Betty Diaz”, who was now looking at Hansel with a sarcastic look in her eyes. Paul asked, puzzled, “What’s going on?”

Had Hansel gotten into trouble with the young lady?
Hansel immediately replied, “Nothing has happened, Your Excellency, as I just said, the entire resettlement of the stragglers is proceeding efficiently and peacefully.”

However, he was clearly a little short of breath.

The counselor lady stood up at once and said in an unpleasant tone:
“Count Greiman, do you know how this Lord Head of Agriculture of yours treats the stragglers?”

“How was it treated?”

Irene huffed and said, “The information I got is that the internment staff treats the stragglers quite roughly, beating and scolding them at every turn not to mention, but also throwing or burning their belongings at random, these stragglers left their homes and fled from the battlefield with great difficulty, and came all the way to this place in a state of upheaval to be subjected to hard times, Baron Abbot has gone too far.”

Hansel immediately defended himself, “Miss Diaz, this group of stragglers is described as ‘disorganized and undisciplined’ using a phrase that Lord Earl used to say, they were in an uproar and chaos when they were being examined, in order to be able to finish the whole process as soon as possible so that they could settle down as soon as possible –In order to complete the process as quickly as possible so that they could settle down as quickly as possible, the militia had to come down themselves to maintain order and teach them how to line up, during which a little unpleasantness was unavoidable and understandable at the same time.”

“As for their possessions, O heavenly Father, they have no possessions, just a set of tattered clothes, many of which could not withstand a single wash and rotted away, and had to be thrown away, and didn’t we send them new clothes, which are many times better than what they had.”

The counselor lady was obviously not satisfied with his defense, and the two argued at odds with each other.

“Two bits! Two bits!”

Paul’s head was spinning as he listened, and he gestured for the two to stop first.

After finally getting the argument to stop, Paul said, “Ms. Diaz has a point, these stragglers are already miserable, we can’t add to their suffering. Hansel-“

Hansel immediately stood up, “Yes, Lord Lord please command.”

Paul struck an official tone, “In the future, you must not treat those who are about to become subjects under my rule roughly, but rather let them feel the warmth of a home and the care of a brother or sister, understand?”

But he passed a quiet wink to Hansel while the female counselor’s eyes were not on him.

Hansel’s heart rejoiced: Count Gleiman is supporting me – or at least tacitly approving, and besides, the tone of his words just now, hey, it doesn’t hurt.

His mouth immediately said, “Yes, Lord Count, I will go back and notify the clerks in charge of the sheltering work, so that they can pay attention to their attitudes in their future work.”

Irene had a triumphant expression on her face and gave Paul a sweet smile that made his heart flutter.

In fact, there was another important reason why Irene was so upset with Hansel, besides her own sympathy.

In her heart of hearts, she believed that the reason why these stragglers left their homes and fled around was due to the war between the royal family and the rebels. As a member of the royal family, she wanted to do her best to make things better for them to ease her guilt.

Of course, this reason was something she couldn’t say right now.

(End of chapter)