RTW

41-50

Chapter 41 The appearing of the first demonic beasts

As Brian had said, once it began to snow in Border Town, it would not stop soon.

In one night, the town had been covered in a layer of white glaze. During the early morning, the snowfall had eased off. Only a few snowflakes occasionally dropped from the sky, but the weather was still gray. When he thought about how he would not see the sun for several months, Roland thought the idea was still a bit inconceivable.

This was simply illogical, he thought, though it was already very weird that magic was a common thing in this world. However, how could demonic beasts have an impact on the sky? Unfortunately, he didn't have any weather satellites to look at this world's cloud formations.

Walking on the road in the direction of the western city wall, Carter couldn't help but exclaim, "The town is deserted, there were still a bunch of people who followed the nobles who withdrew!"

"That's good, at least they will not hold us back." answered Roland as his breath fogged up in the cold air, "I have arranged for Barov to hold a census during the winter."

"What is a census?"

"It is a statistic produced from going door to door, counting the number of people who stayed behind, asking them for their names and what kind of a job they have. All of this will then be registered." Roland explained, "As a result, during the war we will know how many human resources we can deploy, and after the war, pension can be implemented quickly and efficiently. "

"Uh... What?" Carter blinked confusedly and then laughed, "Your Highness, you are really not the same as before."

"Oh?"

"In the past you would say something, and I wouldn't understand it. You would do some unfathomable and mysterious things, but after all, they did not confirm with the identity of the prince. And now..." Carter paused and seemed to consider his next words, "whether it was those strange training regulations or the novelties of the alchemic workshop, the results were surprisingly effective. Perhaps this is what my grandfather meant when he said, 'extraordinary people are extraordinary, because they can always see possibilities which ordinary people overlook'. I have a feeling that there really is a possibility for you to become King."

"...Yeah," suddenly Roland got a warm feeling within his heart. Is there any better feeling than when other people recognize your hard work? For a short time, he felt full of strength and felt that the gray sky wasn't as depressing as it was before.

As the prince arrived at the wall, the militia, who had already cleared away all the snow, bowed to pay their respects.

Roland thought that they should also learn to salute, and he asked "How was the situation last night?"

"There were no traces of demonic beasts," replied Iron Axe, "Your Highness, according to past experiences, we will still have a relatively stable time period after the first snowfall. During this period, the number of normal animals is still be larger than the number of demonic beasts, and if there are demonic beasts they will be of the weaker species. "

Roland nodded, "You still have to continue to be vigilant."

The regional rear walls had been transformed into barracks, so if there was no danger, most people could stay in the camp to rest and save energy. Roland implemented a rotation system, taking into account the low winter temperatures. Each team would only need to perform two hours of patrolling before they would be replaced.

All these measures were set by Roland. He had asked Brian how it was in Longsong Stronghold and learned that they had no rotation system against the demonic beasts. The new recruits would be assigned to watch the movements of the demonic beasts and had to stay on watch the whole day. So consequently they would slack off, to the point that situations where soldiers deserted would occur. During the winter there were twenty to thirty people who were hanged because of dereliction of duty or violation of military orders.