Chapter 822: Lunch and Moving into the South Side of the Town

At noon, Jier and Bata'er Jiaoshi specifically had lunch inside the Baron's Mansion.

The location was the main dining hall next to the mansion's great hall; in order to entertain the visiting Knight and ease the previously tense and stiff atmosphere, the cooks of the Baron's Mansion brought out their best efforts.

Even though Yemei Town had been blockaded and surrounded by monsters for a long time, the food inside the Baron's Mansion—at least for the Baron Family—was not a problem at all.

Seemingly to specially cater to the appetite of Jier, this young Knight, the cooks specifically slaughtered a wild deer raised in the mansion's horse paddock, sliced the thickest, fattest, and most tender venison into pieces, and pan-fried them into steaks in large skillets, serving them one by one in front of Jier.

Unlike venison roasted while hunting in the wild, the cooks not only selected the best meat but also marinated it with various spice powders and large chunks of locally grown spices, which were also used in the frying of the venison steaks.

Holding a silver table knife and a small iron fork to cut the steak, Jier continuously popped pieces of meat of appropriate size into his mouth.

While eating, he kept praising the craftsmanship of the Baron Family's cooks.

The others seated did not eat much; the old man who had had a significant disagreement with Jier earlier could not chew the meat well and was currently sipping small mouthfuls of meat soup, also made from venison. His portion of soup was more suitable for the elderly, as not only was the venison in the soup cut into very small bits that required no chewing, but it also had plenty of vegetables added to it.

The middle-aged lady across the table ate even less; she simply ate a few pieces of small lamb chops specifically roasted for her and did not eat anything else.

However, some men and women who had newly joined the table ate quite a bit during the meal. These people had not appeared during the earlier conversation, but since they could sit at the table to dine at this time, they were likely members of the Sasi Family, just without the qualifications to participate in the important family affairs at this moment.

The noble etiquette of the Sasi Baron Family seemed to be well-taught; apart from a brief introduction before the meal began, almost no one spoke loudly while eating. Even when they did speak, it was only in low, brief sentences to those sitting next to them, which did not affect the atmosphere of the entire meal.

Moreover, in a corner of the dining hall, there was an elegantly poised middle-aged male musician playing light, cheerful tunes on a flute, preventing the entire mealtime from appearing too dull.

Bata'er Jiaoshi ate quite simply; since there happened to be Agricultural God Church Priests stationed within the mansion, the cooks specifically prepared a very standard Agricultural God Church Priest lunch for him.

A small portion of stewed beans, half a piece of coarse-ground fermented bread, a large mug of non-intoxicating fruit wine, and several slices of cured pork with a mix of fat and lean meat.

The beans were a selection of every type the cooks could find in the Baron's Mansion, and they were added to the pot in sequence according to the precise cooking time required for each type, ensuring that every bean served on the table was cooked to perfection.

The bread did not use finely milled wheat flour; to be honest, even the food eaten by the servants in the Baron's Mansion was finely milled, so finding a bag of coarse-ground wheat flour was not very easy.

The fruit wine was made from a local fruit similar to an apple, but the fruit was very small and only suitable for brewing, not for eating directly. The wine was newly brewed last autumn and had not undergone long-term settling and fermentation; at this time, it was served directly after being filtered multiple times. The large wooden mug containing the fruit wine emitted an astonishing fruity aroma, causing Jier, who was nearby, to keep sniffing his nose.

The cured pork was, of course, not served raw; although it was not impossible to eat raw, the cooks still pan-fried it to render out the fat. The oily, large slices of meat were very satisfying to Bata'er Jiaoshi, who broke off pieces of bread to dip into the fat.

The Baron Heir sitting at the head of the table seemed to have a poor appetite. Despite having undergone Knight Training just like Jier, he only frowned and ate a normal portion of food before finishing his meal under the service of a servant, picking up a cup of fragrant flower tea and remaining silent.

Although there had been significant disagreements between the two sides before the meal, they had finally negotiated some matters.

Jier would take some of the Lumberjacks from the team and strive to get enough firewood for Yemei Town before dark, and not only that, but he would also bring more the next day. He aimed to transport at least a month's worth of firewood for Yemei Town within a day and a half, assuming frugal use.

Yemei Town was located on a relatively broad plain, and there were no large forests nearby for the town residents to gather firewood, only some small patches of woods where the Baron Family raised animals outside the town. To get firewood, one had to go to the edge of the mountain forest further away.

Except for the south side of the town, there were Lumber Yards in every other direction outside the town that reached the edge of the mountain forest surrounding the Sasi Family territory, supplying Yemei Town and the surrounding villages. These Lumber Yards cleared the forests in front of the vast mountains, providing the people of the territory with sufficient timber (for construction, making furniture, wooden tools, cooking fuel, charcoal production, etc.) while constantly expanding the land controlled by Humans.

It is said that many years ago, when the Sasi Family led the migrants to arrive here, the plains suitable for Human habitation were not that broad.

In addition to Jier's side helping the local rulers solve the firewood fuel problem they could not spare the manpower to handle during the two days the team was resting near the town, the local ruling family would also settle Jier's team outside the southern wall of the town, where there were fewer Refugee Villagers.

Because the 'Bandit' from the previous period had attacked the town from this direction, the Villagers in this area had suffered heavy losses, and most of the remaining people did not dare to live here for long, crowding into other places on both sides.

Jier's team could be temporarily stationed here.

Not only that, the town also agreed to exchange some daily necessities that the town did not currently need or have a use for at a low price for some items in the hands of Jier's Refugee Team.

Especially the iron nails removed from various residential buildings after the buildings in the south of the town were burned and demolished; these were items that the Refugee teams desperately needed when settling down to build houses, and they basically wanted as many as they could get.

As for what Jier's side could offer, it was mostly useless weapons and equipment seized from the Bandits, and Yemei Town would take as many of these as they could get as well. Because of the lack of fuel, the town's blacksmith shop had long since extinguished its furnace fires. Although there was no shortage of iron material in the town, the town's guards could not fight by holding Iron Ingots and swinging them like bricks, right?

Let alone whether they had combat effectiveness, this stuff could not deal with those parasitic Monsters that were the great enemy hanging over the town's head at this moment.

After lunch, Jier returned one step ahead to the Refugee Team still outside the town to the northwest, heading to the area outside the southern wall of the town that had been agreed upon. Bata'er Jiaoshi, on the other hand, had to find the Agricultural God Church Priests among the Church Priests gathered on one side of the Baron's Mansion. He was very familiar with these priests and was considered to be in a superior-subordinate relationship with them. Now that he had finally arrived here, he naturally had to notify his priest friends of the mission he held and the various news from the outside world.

Especially the changes in the Borisfa City diocese at the higher level; they had to be notified. Even if the great Agricultural God did not allow these nearby priests to participate in the past, the matter had to be notified.

Of course, Bata'er Jiaoshi did not think that this trip could recruit any extra Agricultural God Church Priests to help in the battle. Just like he himself was busy for the religious Villagers of Changmai Cunzi, the people of Yemei Town, especially the religious people who believed in the Agricultural God, were what these priests cared about most.

If the Agricultural God Church Priests of Yemei Town were to protect and defend these people, they would naturally use the power they possessed without hesitation, but for the Villagers of the remote Changmai Cunzi in the south of Sasi County, it was almost impossible.

It was not that they did not care about the lives of the people who also believed in the Agricultural God, but that the priests in each region had their own 'spheres of influence' and religious base; local affairs were handled locally, and even within the church under the same deity, they rarely interfered with each other.

If the dozen or so Agricultural God Church Priests of Yemei Town intervened to help rescue those religious Villagers in Changmai Cunzi, what would happen if those believers were coaxed—no, that's not right, persuaded and convinced by these priests to follow them away?

Should Bata'er Jiaoshi become a commander with no troops and start developing believers from scratch again?

On the contrary, due to the disparity in strength and the number of religious people, the Agricultural God Church Priests of Yemei Town could instead conscript other village-stationed Agricultural God Church Priests in the county to participate in church activities and actions, without worrying about subordinate priests poaching the religious people in their own territory.

After leading the team to walk a distance to the south along the entire trench that the Farmers outside the town had spontaneously dug, Jier brought the team to the outside of the southern wall of Yemei Town.

The trench that the Farmers had spontaneously dug here was not yet completed; the inside of the trench was a mess, full of collapsed or empty pits and burrows. There were not many people guarding the trench on the ground, and the various wooden furniture of Farmer families that could be seen everywhere else was not to be seen here at all.

The ground looked as if it had been licked clean; let alone broken furniture, there wasn't even half a wooden board, and in fact, not even a single blade of grass could be seen.

Everything that could be found by the Villagers had been taken away by them. The only things left were a few people who had been injured in the chaos of the previous days or had lost their families, sitting listlessly at the entrances of the burrows they had originally dug, basking in the sun to maintain their slightly cool body temperature after a lack of food.

When Jier arrived here with the team, he first sent out dozens of young men holding Iron Shovels, who moved quickly to shovel soil and level the unfinished trench. They didn't need to shovel it all; just creating a passage large enough for the wagons in the team to enter was enough.

Afterwards, the passage over this trench could just be used as an entrance and exit to defend against attacks from incoming parasitic Monsters. Therefore, after the team entered the open space outside the southern wall of the town, an Armed Squad was immediately stationed here.

The team that guarded the entrance of the Blue Well small village last night performed well, so Jier directly assigned them to continue to be responsible for this duty.

Facing the ground that was pitted and bumpy from the previous digging by the Farmers, Jier waved his hand and had most of the people who had unloaded their luggage and supplies fill it in. As for the injured people who were still left here and had not yet left, or those who were the only ones left in their families, Jier directly and without question incorporated these seventy or eighty people into his own team.

It just happened to fill the population lost by the team along the way.

The Villagers near Yemei Town lived outside the town, basically digging some burrows like cellars to live in temporarily, mainly to let the old, weak, sick, and disabled in the family have a place to hide and rest. As for the young and strong men and women among the Villagers, most of them spontaneously patrolled the dug trenches and the 'borders' with neighboring villages every day and night according to the scale of each village.

Each village often had conflicts over land and water sources, and now that they were forced by the lord to gather in the town, what they had to guard against was not only the cruel Bandits outside the town, but more so the Villagers from other villages.

As for Jier's side, after directly ordering the land to be leveled, he had the team set up all the tents. Of the four Armed Squads, except for the north side facing the town wall which did not need to be arranged, an Armed Squad was deployed in each of the other three directions.

The squad good at defense and vigilance was deployed by him at the trench entrance on the south side, and the other two were deployed one on the left and one on the right on the borders near the areas where the local Villagers lived.

In order not to harass the local Villagers nearby, and not to be harassed by them, Jier specifically left a thirty-meter-wide space on the left and right, and the team patrolled there to prevent the neighboring Villagers from stealing the supplies in the team.

"The wounded and the newcomers, all settle in the center of the team. Let the Cook get them something to eat, but don't give them too much, they will burst from overeating. For the wounded, wait until the Priest returns, let him treat them. Finally, I will lead an Armed Squad to immediately escort the Lumberjacks in the team to the west of the town. That direction is the nearest Lumber Yard, and we must get enough firewood for Yemei Town!"

Jier stood in the center of the team, loudly giving instructions.

Around him, circle after circle of people gathered, and everyone listened quietly to the Knight's arrangements. No one objected, because in the entire team, basically whatever Jier said, that was what it was.

Bata'er Jiaoshi might be able to discuss things with Knight Jier, but since the Priest was not here at this time, everyone let Jier arrange things and obeyed his orders.

"Unload all the supplies and tents from the wagons and donkey carts. The team will set off with empty carts and will soon be able to reach the Lumber Yard in the west. I heard there are large quantities of logs piled up there. Once we arrive, the Lumberjacks must chop the logs into transportable sizes as soon as possible, load them onto the vehicles, and finally strive to return before dark! This rest in Yemei Town will last until the morning after tomorrow, so let's try to make two more trips tomorrow. The town will also try to organize the vehicles they still have. Let's hurry and get some firewood today; this is what the people in the town need most urgently."

Following Jier's words, the people near the wagons had already started to unload the various boxes and barrels from the vehicles. Even the wagon carrying the long-haired lynx Beast, and the Wooden Box that the Mao Maos crawled into to sleep soundly, were arranged by Jier to be placed next to the entrance and exit of the southern trench, intending to let the Mao Maos help keep watch and be vigilant on the trench at night.

"Mr. Bafute, people from the town will come over later. You communicate with them and show them all the supplies in the team that can be traded, and try to exchange for as many iron nails for construction as possible from them."

"Understood, Lord Jier."

The middle-aged, plump Merchant Mr. Bafute stepped out, bowed with a hand to his chest, and accepted the order.

"Xueya Site, organize an Armed Squad to guard the safety of the entire group. Have the Squad Leaders start patrolling the areas I planned right now. Do not underestimate those Villagers nearby; having been trapped outside the town for so long, they look haggard and weak one by one, but a Wolf Pack is only ferocious when hungry. I know this well."

"Rest assured, Jier. While you lead the team to the Lumber Yard, I will protect everyone in the group with the others."

Xueya Site sat on Jier's carriage and waved his hand.

"Finally, I have a few words to say."

Jier rode on Tianxuecao and said to the people in the group.

"The situation in Yemei Town is not good, and the Villagers here are suffering at this moment; I am well aware of this. Relying on everyone's efforts, our group has a small amount of strength, but I hope everyone understands that although you are all Farmer, we cannot save the people here."

Jier raised his voice and shouted: "Put away your kindness. Those Villagers nearby are suffering on their own land, but at least they are in their own hometowns, their own Cunzi and town. Your hometowns are all far away in other places, and what is under your feet is someone else's strange land. So, put away your kindness, be vigilant in your hearts, and save your pity for our own people in the group, not generously sharing it with other strangers!"

"We understand, Lord Jier."

"Who would care about local matters!"

"Everyone is responsible for their own life and death; you have said this principle more than once, and I have kept it in mind!"

"Anyway, whatever you say goes, Knight Jier."

Seeing the crowd say this, Jier nodded with peace of mind.

He finally pointed at Xueya Site and the Squad Leaders of the Armed Squad responsible for guard and patrol: "If any outsiders want to sneak into the group, drive them away! Be rough. Although they are not as good as the Bandit holding swords and blades we saw along the way, there is no difference. Remember, do not be afraid to see blood!"

Xueya Site shrugged: "I haven't been running around outside for just one day; rest assured, I have seen plenty of these things."

The other few Squad Leaders looked at each other and swallowed their saliva.

Subsequently, Jier took all the vehicles in the group, the Armed Squad that set out together, and all the Lumberjack, all set out by carriage, heading toward the west of the town at a speed several times faster than walking.

Because the Lumber Yard on the edge of the Shulin to the west has to supply wood to the town, the road leading to the Lumber Yard, although a dilapidated dirt road, is not as solid and flat as the Shanglu taken before, but there is no problem for horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts to move forward.

The group soon left the town, with abandoned high-quality farmland and scattered Cunzi on both sides of the road.

Needless to say, Jier's much smaller group looked very much like the persistent Merchant Guild Caravan sent out by Yemei Town before, so in the desolate farmland in the distance, stiff-moving figures climbed up, and in the deserted Cunzi, figures in groups of a few walked out swaying.

Jier saw it early, patted the horse head of Tianxuecao hard to let the horse prepare to enter a combat state, and then drew the all-metal Double-edged Spear from the Weapon Rack behind him.

His movements attracted the attention of the Lumberjack and Armed Civilian on the carriage behind him, who looked around one after another, and then discovered the approaching figures.

"Don't be nervous, how could walking catch up with vehicles? Maintain speed, move forward in order! I will take care of the Monster in front."