prynovel Chapter 98 New life
Chapter 98 New life
Chapter 98 New life
When Reynolds opened his eyes, he saw an arched ceiling.
Built of red bricks, with light blue volcanic ash lime mortar filling the gaps between the bricks, it was completely different from the leaky wooden roof of my old home.
The air was filled with the scents of herbs and a faint honey. The mat beneath them was not straw, but a layer of clean coarse linen.
Most importantly, it's cool. This is the coolest place Reynolds has felt since arriving at the border. The temperature inside the room is definitely no more than 25 degrees Celsius, which is very comfortable.
"Don't move around now that you're awake." Lillie walked over carrying a ceramic bowl, touched his forehead with the back of her hand, and said, "The fever's gone down. You're lucky you were brought here in time. If you'd been in the sun for another half hour, you probably wouldn't be coming back." She handed him the bowl. "Drink this."
Reynolds took the bowl; it contained salt water, unlike the salt he usually ate, and had no strange smell.
He took a sip, then another, and then held onto the bowl tightly.
Lillie wrote a few words on the whiteboard and turned to look at the next wounded soldier.
Rem's wife waited outside the ward for the entire morning.
When Lillie came out, she only said, "It's alright!"
The woman, who hadn't cried the whole way, squatted in the corridor, buried her face in her knees, and her shoulders trembled for a long time.
That evening, Mrs. Moriel sent people to arrange housing for the newly arrived refugees.
Rem's family was assigned to room number 21 in the earthen building.
The rooms in the Tulou are like a slice of cake, one whole piece, with staircases connecting the four floors.
The elderly father stood in the courtyard on the ground floor of the earthen building, looked up at the surroundings, touched the rammed earth walls, and asked a question that almost made the owner throw him out: "This wall—it won't fall down, will it?"
The original poster, also a former member of the women's fitness team, patted the blue brick facade on the wall, making a loud slapping sound.
"Old man, even if you fall, the wall won't."
Rem soon saw his wife return, her face full of relief.
Rem breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, but still asked, "How is Reynolds?"
Rem's wife, Aisha, asked anxiously, "Is everything alright? He's resting at the hospital now."
"The hospital gave me an IOU for 25 work points, saying we have to make up for it." Aisha handed Rem a piece of paper stamped with a swastika.
The note said "medical expenses" and was signed Lillie.
Clearly, the hospital wasn't free; it kept a record, and they would pay back the money once they earned work points.
"Boss, do you even know what work points are?"
"I know!" Dylan quickly raised his hand and said, "Work points are the points we earn every day. We can exchange work points for food or daily necessities. The elders in the territory say that work points are equivalent to money."
Rem was so worried about her youngest son all day that she didn't hear many things clearly after entering the city.
After entering the city, Dylan didn't rest. During a break from collecting rations, he stopped a militiaman and asked him questions the whole way.
The militiaman didn't mind and counted for him several times on his fingers.
"Are work points hard to earn?"
Dylan explained, "I've already asked. As long as you work hard, earning eight or nine work points a day is no problem at all. A one-pound loaf of dark bread only costs three work points."
Upon hearing this, Rem's entire family breathed a sigh of relief, followed by overwhelming joy.
The elderly father, Karen, counted on his fingers: "Back in our hometown, a family works themselves to the bone all year round, and after paying rent, the remaining grain isn't even enough to feed the whole family for six months. Here, one person can earn three pounds of bread a day?"
Dylan nodded: "That's right, so the people in the territory all say that the lord is a very good person and tells us to work hard after we come to the territory."
"Is everyone here? I am the guard captain of Tulou No. 3, responsible for its defense. Since the Tulou is outside the city, we need someone to keep watch during the day when we are clearing land, and we also need someone to stand guard at night to ensure that we are not invaded by enemies or attacked by wild animals. Each household, please send out two men."
The speaker was dressed in light wooden scale armor and carried a bone spear. Although he was not as intimidating as the heavily armed guards when they entered the city, he still made the surrounding refugees dare not breathe.
In their understanding, anyone who could wear armor was at least a knight in a noble's territory, or at the very least an apprentice.
The future knight lord is not someone that these lowly serfs and vagrants can afford to offend.
A clever man asked, "Sir, if we stand guard at night and keep watch during the day, without doing any actual work, how are our work points calculated?"
"Very good!" The guard pointed at the person who asked the question: "Step forward, and I'll give you the answer!"
"My name is Sok Shanmen! From now on you can call me Captain Sok, or Chief of Guard Sok. I am responsible for sentry duty and guard duty. I can earn eight work points a day. If I successfully issue an early warning, I will be rewarded with two work points. If I fail in my duty, I will be penalized with sixteen work points."
These words immediately caused an uproar among the displaced people.
Sok slammed the butt of his gun into the ground with a sudden thud. The butt of the gun hit the rammed earth and made a dull thud. Several refugees standing in the front row instinctively took a step back.
Sok's gaze swept over them, and no one dared to utter a sound.
"This is a mandatory task. You can refuse, in which case you can live outside the Tulou or leave."
Upon hearing this, the refugees immediately became obedient, and Dylan subconsciously glanced at Sok, his eyes filled with envy.
It was simply because he looked to be about the same age as himself, yet he was a high-ranking knight.
"Very good, you have no objections. From now on, we will set aside one day each week for militia training, and you will receive ten work points on the day of training."
After saying this, Sok turned and left. The resettlement and employment of the refugees were all the responsibility of the host. The reason he was sent here was only to ensure the host's safety.
After all, there were more than 300 refugees who moved in, and most of them were men, with women making up less than a third of the population.
Since they were all displaced, any woman who wasn't stupid could easily leave and remarry any honest man. After all, among the lower-class serfs, women were a precious resource.
Only a few women were willing to come out with their families to become refugees.
In reality, many migrant families would try to marry off their daughters before setting off, not because they were heartless, but because they were forced by circumstances.
Life among refugees is too hard, and many girls simply cannot endure it and die along the way. Marrying them off can reduce the burden on the group and ensure the future of their daughters, which is a good option.
Dylan followed Soker away, because he was the strongest among the group of refugees and was intended to be selected for the militia.
Besides Dylan, four other young men followed behind Sok. Sok made them run laps around the earthen building to check their physical fitness, and then put them through a strength test. If they were in good condition, he would recommend them to join the city guard.
The territory has now divided its army into three parts. The main force is the City Guard, who are elites carefully selected from the militia. Although most of them are still ordinary people, their physical fitness is the best among the militia. The City Guard is not large now, with only 173 people.