Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Winters entered the city, and Andre immediately dragged him to see the warehouse.

"Revodan is simply oozing with surplus!" Andre was all smiles, riding horses with Winters speeding towards the barracks, "Now we have everything we need!"

The parade ground of the military camp still had many dry bloodstains, only the corpses had been cleared away.

The granary was in the corner of the barracks, cornered off by walls into a yard.

Andre kicked open the door of the granary, and a series of widely spaced plank houses and grains appeared in front of Winters.

It had been a long time since Winters had seen so much food. Although he was somewhat mentally prepared, he was still quite shocked.

Andre introduced with a beaming face, "I've checked, the grains are split equally between miscellaneous grains and wheat, all from this year. Not bad, eh?"

"Good, I'm happy, and a bit unhappy," Winters looked at the granary with a complex gaze, "With these grains, we won't have to starve then feast. But we've got to know, all this was snatched from the common folk."

"Why think so much? In our hands, it's ours!" Andre laughed heartily, wrapping his arm around Winters' shoulder, full of ambition, "And there's the treasury! The armory! All ours! The city is the place to be!"

After inspecting the granary, Andre was eager to check the treasury and the armory with Winters.

Wealth tends to concentrate in cities, and just considering the spoils of capturing Revodan, raiding a thousand grain carts couldn't compare.

"Where's Bard?" asked Winters.

"Old Bard is in the archives, fussing about who knows what. They're just scraps of paper, what's there to care about?" Andre dismissed, pulling Winters along, "Come on! Let's look at the armory!"

Speak of Bard, and Bard would appear.

He came into the granary with a scroll, and seeing both men there, he asked with a smile, "How is it? Is the granary good?"

"Great! Just fantastic!" Andre laughed boisterously.

"I bring you something even better," Bard handed the scroll to Winters, "Better than ten, a hundred granaries. If you ask me, add up all other spoils of Revodan, none is as valuable as this."

"What is it?" Winters took the scroll.

"Records of all land transactions, tax payments, and population migrations in Iron Peak County for the past thirty years," Bard's eyes twinkled with a hint of mirth, "All of them."

Winters unrolled the scroll; he was holding a list of all the archives and records of the Revodan garrison's possessions—so long it seemed to have no end.

"Land deeds require triple verification; the archives in each town are kept in the town halls, many of which have been destroyed. The deed held by the buyer is insufficient and unreliable! Only Revodan's records are the most dependable," Bard's voice quivered slightly.

Wolf Town's deeds had turned to ashes with the old town hall, and many other towns' deeds were also lost.

The contracts in the hands of purchasers were hard to tally and could be forged, but Revodan's deeds were beyond mistake.

Hearing Bard's words, even Andre seemed contemplative.

"Having these, we'll know which lands are owned, which are not; we could measure the acreage, distribute arable land; we could plan and map out the land as per our wishes!" Bard's eyes reddened with emotion as he asked Winters, "Don't you want to smash this goddamn world? This is your first cornerstone."

"No, you're wrong," Winters grabbed Bard and Andre's arms, "It's ours."

...

At noon, Captain Montaigne entered the city.

In the afternoon, the [city councilors] were "invited" by ferocious-looking soldiers to attend a meeting at the city hall.

There were in total twenty-one city councilors in Revodan, twelve selected from within the city, nine from the outside.

A complete Revodan included not only the city area but also the surrounding villages.

Some farmers near the city would even go out to farm during the day and return to the city to rest at night.

Although not "citizens" in the usual sense, these farmers too had the civic rights of Revodan city.

Additionally, now that Revodan had city walls—although quite low—it could also be referred to as a "city," not just a "market."

The city councilors, trembling with fear, arrived at the hall, ready to be intimidated.

However, what they met was a kind-looking young officer: broad-shouldered, big-handed, with a wide mouth and a high nose, his eyes always smiling, giving off a very sincere appearance.

This young officer, named "Bard," almost immediately won the trust and favor of the councilors.

Lieutenant Bard patiently explained the policies to the city councilors.

Simply put, it was one word: unchanged.

No additional levies, no apportionment, and no demands for the councilors and citizens to swear allegiance.

Whatever the former garrison was responsible for, the new one would handle similarly.

The old garrison collected a certain amount, the new one would collect the same, with consideration given to eliminating some unreasonable charges.

Yes, even the signboards and office locations would be the same, "Blood Wolf Gang" was now officially referred to as "(New) Garrison."

If they could stay in Revodan, the "New" before [Garrison] would likely soon be omitted.

The city councilors breathed a sigh of relief; they were well-off, living stable lives, and the last thing they wanted was chaos.

If it went as Lieutenant Bard said, their lives would be almost unaffected, just a change of personnel managing the garrison.

Because Revodan was always autonomous, the garrison only managed three things: collecting taxes, selling lands, and dealing harshly with any troublesome bandits.