Edward brought Charles, who was the city's defense commander and city lord, not just for a meal.
This personal move by the prince is to express to Henry that Charles is his confidant, and this means that he has revealed the identity of the sage to Charles - so in this way, the other party is obviously here to seek some advice. Yes.
Considering that Henry had already discussed with Edward the handling of the post-war situation, and that these issues far exceeded the scope of Charles' power as a city lord, the sage speculated that ten of the things they wanted to ask about when they came to him were about The problem of urban construction.
And sure enough, after dinner, the three of them started discussing these issues.
"Building roads?" Charles frowned his thick eyebrows, and his dark skin deepened the outline in the firelight, making the city lord's face look like a towering and motionless rock.
"Yes, build roads." Henry took a sip of spruce tea and nodded.
"..." Charles fell into thinking, and Edward looked at him silently.
They all understand the reasons why they should do this, but there is actually a very important reason why they always know this but don't do it.
——Wawasika is a fortress.
Difficult roads are also part of its defense. In such a rugged and easily lost wilderness, even if the horses and infantry can move forward, the carriages transporting supplies will get into all kinds of troubles.
With Grigori's Gap on one side and rugged mountain roads like this on the other, the enemy troops who chose to attack Wawasika were destined to be stuck and suffer heavy losses no matter which direction they attacked. This was the reason why the Sivaliers did not choose to attack it a few days ago.
But just like anything else, complex terrain is also a double-edged sword. The roads that are almost impossible for carriages to transport supplies and do business are also troublesome for the Avenella people themselves. In fact, a few days ago When Edward attacked, he went into battle lightly, using only part of the packhorses to carry supplies. If the Sivaliers delayed their attack for a few days, they would immediately start to starve - we are digressing.
Returning to the issue at hand, the reason for Henry's proposal to build a road was obvious, but whether to give up the outer natural barrier for this purpose, Charles fell into deep thought.
Normally, according to the conservative thinking of Avenella's generals, he would definitely refuse directly. But this time the Sivalier attack reminded him of something - if the roads on the Wawasika side were easier to walk and there were many businessmen operating here, how could the Sivaliers hide the truth? Capture Fort Ellen?
——Or more simply, if the road Wawasika walks outward is flat, they can send a cavalry to patrol the northern border of the kingdom.
"Well, that's true." Charles nodded, and Henry continued.
"Smooth roads are just one of them. Without enough civilians living here to provide support in various industries, Wawasika will not be able to become more prosperous. To attract civilians, it must have its own bright spots." The sage said so, and both of them looked at him seriously.
"Sir, what do you mean? Wawasikado is a highland. Although there are small pieces of flat land, the area is far from enough to support oneself for planting." Charles learned the same title from Edward, Mr. in West Coast lingua franca The pronunciation of this word and jazz are the same, and they are both respectful titles for men. And a prince and a city lord used honorifics to themselves, which made Henry have a subtle expression.
"If quantity cannot satisfy you, then quality will win." Henry took another sip of spruce tea, and then said: "What is the favorite drink of the people of Avenella?"
"Ordinary people prefer ale, but if you want to talk about wealthy businessmen and nobles, I'm afraid they still prefer tea." He smiled slightly, and Charles and Edward's eyes lit up.
"Yes, it is true. The highland soil near Wawasika is as fertile as other places in the Ecasta Plain. Together with various other factors, it is quite suitable for growing tea trees." Edward touched his chin and nodded. said, and Charles also expressed his agreement with the same action.
"If the expensive tea is planted on a large scale around here, the farmers who settle here will have a stable income, and the road expansion will facilitate transactions-" The city lord showed a smile, and as a lord, the territory he owned became If it becomes prosperous, the direct benefits will naturally multiply several times.
"Thank you, sir. Your Highness, without further ado, I will take my leave." Charles stood up excitedly and saluted, then turned around and ran out.
Edward smiled bitterly as he watched him trotting along, and then turned back to look at Henry. The sage shrugged: "It seems that the Lord of the City is afraid of poverty." He said, and the prince nodded: "The knights and sergeants under Charles' command He is notoriously poor, which is why the main force of the city defense army will be civilians recruited nearby. But it is hard to blame him, Wawasika is originally a border fortress, and he was sent here, which is a waste of his talents. "
There was something in Edward's words, and he looked at Henry.
Mira on the side finished cleaning the tableware and placing them neatly, then took off her apron, walked over and sat down, took a sip of the cold milk tea.
"Sir, are you willing to become my palace tutor?" The blond prince said seriously: "Avenella needs people like you."
His tone was sincere, and Mira, who was drinking tea at the side, looked at the two of them in fascination.
"No." But Henry just shook his head. Edward didn't insist. He seemed to have expected such an ending.
"I really don't want to touch politics. The intrigues in the palace are too stressful for me." The sage said with a smile, and the prince sighed helplessly. He knew that this was just Henry's excuse. , this level is not considered a pressure for him.
"But..." Henry paused, and then continued: "I don't object to you rewarding me with money."
"..." The unpretentious words made Mira behind her almost spit out a mouthful of milk tea, while Edward was stunned for a moment, his expression twisted for a while and he became dumbfounded: "...As a sage, you really don't know anything about it. There is no moral integrity, sir."
The prince said this in a subtle tone, and Henry shook his head seriously: "No, I'm just poor."
"..." Shaking his head angrily and amusedly, Edward stood up, then turned and walked behind him.
"Then let's say goodbye. The dinner was delicious. Thank you, sir." Edward walked straight to the door, and Henry replied casually: "It's not respectful to have a simple meal."
There was no words for a night, and the next day, the knight from Chester who arrested them last time brought a dozen people and sent them to their temporary residence with the reward in a small exquisite leather bag.
This could be seen as a sign of apology. The knight was polite to the two, and the sage nodded in return.
The sound of footsteps and metal collision sounded. After they left, Henry and Mira opened the leather bag.
"Wow——"
The golden light shone, and Mira's bright eyes almost changed color.
Edward's move was not ungenerous, a bag of 50 gold coins in 4 leather bags and a total of 200 Avenella coins was a fortune that the girl had never seen before, and her little face was red with excitement. He kept looking back and forth at Henry, while the sage smiled slightly and touched Mira's little head.
"Let's go buy something."
…
The whole afternoon passed happily. With their wallets full, the two first went to Feixi's blacksmith shop to select protective gear, and then bought many adventure supplies at a small store that made military supplies.
There were very few customers other than soldiers. The shopkeeper received the two of them with enthusiasm. Henry and Mira, who quickly spent two gold coins in one day, completely changed their clothes from head to toe.
Luo Anda Loli changed into adventurer clothing made of exquisite cotton woven with lambskin as the lining and carefully cut wear-resistant cowhide as the outer layer. The sleeves and neckline were made of fine cotton. In addition to the excellent craftsmanship of cutting it out in a few hours, the price is as high as 450 Dannos - which is 3 Ella silver coins.
This was extremely expensive in Avenella, where ordinary clothes only cost 20 Danos and some of the rougher ones even cost only 10 Danos - less than the price of a meal.
But the money was well spent. Wearing comfortable, light and wear-resistant clothes made the white-haired Luo An feel energetic. The way she looked around and couldn't put it down also made Henry smile. .
The dilapidated boots and dirty leather shoes were replaced by high boots with better workmanship. Henry threw away the tattered black cloak without any hesitation. In the afternoon, the two of them went to the blacksmith Fessy's house. The store collected the armor customized in the morning.
——The reason why the efficiency is so high is because the business in Wawasika is too deserted.
The left shoulder and wrist are equipped with lightweight armor made of cooked leather. It is half a centimeter thick and is very effective in defending against slashes. Part of the body is made of mail. Under normal circumstances, weaving them would have taken a whole month. At least, but because business was bleak, Fei Xi directly used pieces of mail cloth that had been knitted long ago, so he only needed to sew them on the leather jacket as the main body with leather threads to complete the task.
Lightweight chain mail paired with leather armor provides effective defense without being too heavy. After purchasing a large luggage bag and loading it with spare clothes and some daily necessities, they temporarily entrusted the luggage to the blacksmith. Henry and Mira, who were refreshed, walked lightly towards Wawasika's stables.
After spending a lot of money to buy a bunch of things, spare clothes, waterproof cloaks, kettles, iron pots, wooden bowls and drinking glasses, it was obvious that it was impossible to continue walking as before.
So Henry took Mira to Wavasika's stables.
Since it is a place where troops are stationed, the horses for sale are naturally military horses.
West Coast war horses with excellent bloodlines generally have a tall and handsome appearance. With their strong physiques, they can charge at full speed while carrying a fully armed knight on their backs. There is no problem in being used to carry people and supplies.
The price of war horses is quite high, and an ignorant person may spend money on a bad horse.
But this still did not trouble Henry, and he finally decided to buy two horses, one brown and one white, for exactly 28 gold coins. The high price made Luo An feel dejected for a while. When she first got the money, she thought it would be too much to spend in her lifetime, but the two of them spent 31 gold coins in just one afternoon.
This amount of money was just a fraction of what she had never imagined before, and it was just a set of better adventurer-style equipment.
Mira couldn't imagine how much those noble knights spent.
The preparations were completed between three and four o'clock in the afternoon. The two war horses carried the two people's spare clothes, daily necessities, food and water, as well as the weapons used for training.
Mira didn't know how to ride a horse yet, so Henry only bought a saddle, and the other horse carried more supplies and followed behind with the reins.
They didn't notify anyone that they were leaving, but the prince must have guessed it, because when the two were about to walk out of the city gate, several people stood in front of them.
"..." Bernie, who had blond hair, stopped in front of them with Ming Na, who had recovered from her injuries.
The girl reached out and pushed her father, urging him to take a step forward. The strong man was silent for a while, and then bowed deeply to Henry and Mira.
"I'm sorry." The simple words revealed the man's responsibility. Even if it was indeed out of duty, the fact that he betrayed his friend did not change. Bernie had no intention of justifying his behavior, he just said it seriously and sincerely.
Minna looked at the two of them. Mira held the front edge of the saddle as an armrest and nodded to her.
"Take care." Henry was silent for a while, and then said slowly.
"my friend."
"..." Bernie straightened up, and the two of them slowly left. The brave man looked at his back and let out a soft breath.
"Let's go." He said to his daughter without looking back, and Mingna had a smile on her lips.
"Father, do you know that when you are happy, your whole ears will turn red?"
"... Long-winded."
