Chapter 80: Simulator Cooldown Refreshed, Finalizing Employment Matters

In the early morning, bright sunlight shone upon the wide roads surrounding Wilderness Town as a group of nearly two hundred people hurried toward Wilderness Town along the road from the south.

Caroline had ultimately agreed to Allen's suggestion and brought the wounded to Wilderness Town for further treatment.

However, Caroline had another companion, Baron, the leader of Oak Village, take the remaining clansmen back first.

Her thought was that if anything happened, the entire force would not be wiped out, and if nothing happened, being able to establish a connection with Wilderness Town and Allen might make life for the three villages much better in the future; at the very least, borrowing some grain would always be possible, and if that failed, they could pay off the debt with labor.

This winter, life in the three villages was much harsher than in previous years; after all, there was still more than a month left before the true awakening of all things, and January in Rhovanion was far from warm.

Although in Caroline's view, rashly heading to an unfamiliar place was indeed somewhat dangerous, for the sake of these wounded, and for the elderly and children in the villages to be able to survive this winter, it was worth a try.

Allen had no idea how many thoughts were churning in the mind of this cautious young woman, as he was also pondering many things himself.

To ensure the trip was not in vain, Allen arranged for Desaiwei to take the majority of the horse archers to continue accompanying Tier to survey the remainder of the Old Forest Road, aiming at the very least to produce a plan for road maintenance.

As for himself, he led his other subordinates and these Northmen back to Wilderness Town to contribute to the plan of opening up the Old Forest Road.

Besides this matter, Allen's Simulator, which had been dormant for a long time, finally gave a new prompt after he had killed those Wargs.

【Accumulated 100 points of Soul Energy; amounts less than the integer are not counted.】

【You have unlocked a new world; drawing a new world.】

【Congratulations, welcome to the Calradia Magic Continent, the era of the Dark Invasion.】

【Congratulations, you have unlocked the third world and become a veteran player.】

【Please note, veteran players will gain the following permissions.】

【Gain more hints.】

【Purchasing regular items is cheaper.】

【Shorten certain cooldown times.】

【Higher initial status; no longer starting as a beggar, serf, slave, or similar identities.】

【Simulator cooldown has been refreshed; start simulation?】

【Yes/No】

【No】

Seeing his golden finger finally react, Allen was moved to tears for a moment.

If he could choose in the future, Allen believed he should try to exchange for identities as sparingly as possible; although summoning a large number of followers in an instant would quickly increase his strength in the short term, the Simulator's cooldown time was too long.

Wilderness Town had now entered a stable stage of development, and the population was not particularly lacking.

Once the policy encouraging childbirth took effect, ordinary soldiers could be fully developed and trained here in Middle-earth.

Allen felt the correct way to use the Simulator should be to try to simulate a few times every few days and diligently manage a few identities.

This would make it easier to obtain some Dinar, renown, and Honor.

Renown could also be used to upgrade existing summoned soldiers, making them more powerful, and soldiers upgraded via renown come with equipment included.

As for Honor, Allen hoped to use it to summon more Noldor Elves from Pendor; their combat effectiveness was extremely powerful, and their top-tier units were not much worse than the powerful Elves of Middle-earth. Most importantly, there was no need to worry about their lifespans running out, preventing them from accompanying Allen to the end.

Furthermore, Allen always felt he still owed Holimion a set of Emerald Rune Armor, as that armor had, after all, saved his life.

Only by doing this did Allen feel he could utilize the Simulator with maximum efficiency; when encountering some unsolvable emergency, he could then choose a powerful identity to exchange for directly, pulling out a large number of powerful soldiers to give the enemy a surprise. As for the cooldown, if his life was almost gone, there was no need to consider so much.

In normal times, it was better to try to choose things with shorter cooldowns to exchange for; the drawbacks of a cooldown that was too long were too great.

For example, Allen did not have much Dinar left now; if he hadn't stored a large amount of supplies beforehand, the trade with the King of the Woodland Realm might not have been able to continue.

The Wine Allen had left behind was barely enough to pay off the debt to Thranduil, but what about after it was paid off? Would the trade stop? Allen was still thinking about purchasing a batch of Elf Bows from Thranduil.

Otherwise, what would the archers trained by Holimion use? Hunting Bows? With that kind of range, what was there to train? Their current level was sufficient.

Nearly a year of reflection made Allen decide that in the future, he must be extremely cautious when exchanging for identities; he absolutely could not let his head get hot and let the Simulator cool down for several years—that would be too wasteful.

Just as Allen was thinking about this and that because of the activation of the Simulator, the group had already approached Wilderness Town.

The Northern Men mixed in the group approached the towering walls of Wilderness Town and saw the elite soldiers on the walls; the soldiers responsible for defending just the south wall were as numerous as the people they had brought this time.

Gale did not think much of it; he and most of his clansmen simply envied the people here for having such powerful protection.

If they had such walls, they would no longer have to worry about those Wargs attacking them.

Instead, it was Caroline's inner world that had refreshed her perception of Allen once again.

If there were over a hundred people guarding the walls in ordinary times, then how many soldiers could be fielded in wartime? One thousand? Two thousand? One must know that the three villages of Caroline and her companions combined did not have two thousand people—no, they had less than fifteen hundred.

Such a discovery did not make Caroline nervous; instead, it made her feel much more at ease.

If a town with such powerful strength really wanted to do something to their villages, there was no need to play any devious tricks; a massive army pressing on the border was better than anything else.

And just as Allen led the group through the city gate, each with their own thoughts, a hurried James bumped into them; he had come looking for Allen.

It turned out that in the meeting a few days ago, Allen had assigned James a task: to organize a group of women and train them to be nurses.

No other skills needed to be taught, just professional training in midwifery; speed was not required, but they had to be diligent, and there would be an examination before graduation. Those who did not pass could not be responsible for the delivery work for pregnant women.

If James needed anything during the training process, he could apply to Allen, and Allen would provide full support.

After all, with the existing medical level and sanitary conditions, encouraging women to give birth was equivalent to encouraging women to walk before the gates of hell; under the stimulus of the policy given by the Cabinet, many women might even be willing to walk there several times.

Allen could foresee that the future hospital would definitely be very, very busy, so he had James prepare in advance to ensure the safety of these pregnant women.

And James had come to find Allen to apply for a sum of money; he had already found the personnel yesterday afternoon, as the kind and benevolent James had an excellent reputation in Wilderness Town.

Such renown was accumulated bit by bit over time by James, the benevolent healer; recruiting a few dozen female apprentices was a very simple matter.

James himself had not expected things to go so quickly and smoothly; he had thought it would take at least a week or more, and that he would apply for funds according to his needs after finding suitable personnel, so he had not gone to Allen to collect the expenses in advance.

Now, having found enough people, James was in urgent need of equipping those nurses with some medical tools to begin his training work, and these tools needed to be ordered from the blacksmith shop managed by Fulei, some of which required Allen to provide.

If Allen had not been stationed in the city, James would have gone to trouble the new Hand of the King, Yamila, at this time.

But now he could go directly to Allen, and James was more willing to talk to Allen about this matter.

So starting from yesterday, James had asked a soldier he was familiar with to help him keep an eye on the outside of the city, and once Allen was spotted returning, to go to the hospital to notify him.

Unexpectedly, Allen returned the next morning, so James hurried out, holding a slip of paper, ready to ask Allen to sign it.

Coincidentally, Allen was also looking for him; seeing James, Allen quickly signed his name on the slip with a charcoal pencil, then grabbed the departing James and told him to first take care of the wounded behind him.

James's reaction was exactly as Allen had anticipated; amidst cries of "Human lives are like grass!" "Nonsense!" and "Who did this?", he led the wounded and the Northmen responsible for their care toward the infirmary.

Allen, meanwhile, led Caroline and Gale toward his lord's house, intending to discuss the employment matter with these two village leaders and have a meal together while he was at it.

Upon learning of Allen's return, Alice quickly arranged a breakfast: a bowl of milky-white fish soup, a plate of characteristic Hobbit pastries, and a portion of pan-fried mutton sausage.

The three had been on the road all night and were long since famished, so they immediately fell upon the food before them.

Allen never had much decorum when eating; he ate quickly and with no elegance at all.

The other two were even worse, eating with a loud clatter as if someone were competing with them for the food.

The portion of this breakfast was quite large, as Allen usually ate a lot—at the very least, the amount of food for two average subjects.

Allen was full after eating one portion, but unexpectedly, Gale had an even larger appetite; after finishing one portion, he sheepishly indicated he wasn't full and needed another, which was no problem, and Alice soon brought out another serving.

Allen, sitting at the head of the table, noticed that when Gale asked for a second breakfast, Caroline gave the big man a fierce kick under the table.

Gale, however, continued to gorge himself without a care; watching all this, Allen found it somewhat amusing and felt this simple man was very likable, feeling an urge to say, "Come work for me, room and board included."

But Gale was, after all, a village leader, and Allen would not treat him like an ordinary wanderer; that would have to wait for another opportunity.

At this moment, Allen sipped a cup of hot water, waiting for breakfast to conclude.

Soon, Gale finished all the food before him, patted his belly to say he was full, and lavishly praised Alice, who was clearing the table, for her excellent craftsmanship.

Alice did not say much, merely nodding, leaving behind a pot of hot water and two cups before departing the banquet hall.

Subsequently, Allen and the two began to discuss the details of the employment.

"Two leaders, I invited you here not only to treat the wounded, but I also have some matters I wish to cooperate with you on; I wonder if you have any interest?"

Caroline held back Gale, who was about to speak, and was the first to open her mouth: "Speak your mind. You helped Gale and saved his life and the lives of his kin, which is the same as helping everyone in our three villages. We Northmen always repay kindness."

Hearing Caroline answer so straightforwardly, Allen naturally would not hide anything; he actually preferred dealing with direct people.

"Good. Actually, it is not troublesome, and I do not need you to repay me. I intend to hire people from your three villages to help me clear the Old Forest Road. After it is cleared, I also plan to build a fortress at the intersection of the Running River and the northwest of the Old Forest Road. This is a long-term project; are you willing to accept?"

Coincidentally, the villages ruled by Gale, Caroline, and Balen were hidden in the Mirkwood area southwest of the Running River and the Old Forest Road.

The two of them were very familiar with the stretch of road Allen spoke of, as well as the place where he wanted to build the fortress.

Caroline did not dwell on why Allen wanted to do this; she was not particularly willing to try and fathom the thoughts of such a big figure, as long as it was not detrimental to her.

What she was thinking about now was how long this cooperation Allen offered could last, and whether it could allow the people in the village to survive this dangerous winter.

Soon, Caroline reached a conclusion: if they agreed, they could completely overcome this crisis, and perhaps even not have to worry about survival for the next few years.

After all, the area east of the Old Forest Road was completely covered by trees, and the covered road was quite long—at least several dozen kilometers—and with the construction of the fortress, this work could last at least a few years.

Caroline was already somewhat tempted; it just depended on what price Allen could offer.

"My Lord, I would like to know, how much compensation can we receive?"

Allen actually did not know the employment costs in the eastern region of Rhovanion; when he was in Lake-town, these matters were all handled by Bard, and Allen had not been idle enough to pay attention to how much an ordinary worker could earn in a day.

Moreover, Allen's memory did not contain much about the prices in Middle-earth; he only knew that eighty years later, Frodo and his party spent twelve silver coins in Bree to buy a pony, and that was at triple the price, meaning four silver coins could buy a fairly decent pony.

That meant the purchasing power of gold and silver in Middle-earth was quite robust, and Allen, who still sat on one-tenth of the wealth of the Lonely Mountain, was not willing to make the first offer, lest giving too much or too little be bad.

So he ceded the initiative to Caroline, who seemed direct but was actually quite shrewd.

"You name your price. If it is reasonable, I will not refuse." Allen put on an appearance of being very knowledgeable and very wealthy.

Caroline thought carefully for a moment, then stated a price that Allen felt was no big deal.

"For every person we have participating in the work, we need four portions of rations per day, or the currency sufficient to purchase these rations; Dwarf silver coins will do, gold coins are better."

Allen pondered in his heart; for an adult laborer, a day of hard work in exchange for feeding a family of four, such wages were not expensive.

Thinking of this, Allen was already prepared to agree, but after a slight moment of thought, he added a sentence: "Four portions of food per day, I can agree to that, but this price is for those able-bodied men. If it is for women, children, or the elderly over forty-five, I will only be responsible for providing meals and will not give extra compensation. Of course, I will not have these elderly, women, and children do particularly heavy work. Do you accept this condition?"

In this era, for Humans who could live to forty-five, especially Northmen whose living conditions were extremely harsh, being called elderly was very normal.

Caroline had not thought that Allen would really give everyone four portions of food; after all, this kind of wordplay was something only they would suffer from.

After all, Caroline had made several deals with other Northmen leaders and had fallen for such tricks before.

In her mind, the worst result was that Allen would only hire able-bodied men and give less pay, while ignoring those elderly, women, and children who could not do much heavy work.

But now, the condition Allen gave was equivalent to providing a meal for everyone in the village, and he was even treating those weak ones kindly.

Such conditions, in Caroline's view, were already very good. Relying year-round on hunting, fishing, and planting small patches of land, they often had people die in winter due to food problems, especially this year after being attacked by Wargs.

One must know that those hateful creatures did not just plunder the population; the prey Caroline and the others had stored for winter had also been partially snatched by them. Allen's proposal was simply a timely gift for the three villages.

"Good, I agree." Caroline quickly accepted Allen's proposal, feeling a weight lift from her heart at the same time.

Seeing Caroline agree to his conditions, Allen was also very happy; if Caroline had not agreed to his terms, Allen had intended to summon Stephen to negotiate.

He believed that greedy, shrewd fellow would certainly be able to discuss a price with Caroline that was more favorable to Allen.

In fact, Allen had just thought of his financial advisor, but he was already communicating with Caroline about the price at the time.

To call a fat man in to continue the negotiation halfway through—what a shameful thing that would be. Allen, who was about to become a king, felt his face was more important than a little bit of money.

And Caroline could not wait any longer; she wanted to start this work immediately.

She asked impatiently: "My Lord, I wonder when we can start this work?"

Starting a day earlier meant she could get the corresponding compensation a day earlier, or even get a portion of the compensation in advance; she decided to let Gale go find Allen to talk about this.

She had long since seen that this lord of Wilderness Town seemed to appreciate Gale and wanted to recruit him.

Caroline believed that letting Gale go talk about the advance payment should be very easy; in any case, both were men, and Caroline felt Gale wouldn't suffer any losses.

"No rush. We can wait until Tier returns; it should take about a week. You are welcome to stay or leave during these days, but it would be best to leave some people behind to look after the wounded. Rest assured, for the sake of our cooperation, I will cover room and board."

It was only food for a hundred or so people for a few days; it was nothing, Allen could afford it. Not to mention this, the Cabinet's inventory was completely sufficient for even more people.

Moreover, according to the order Allen issued to the Cabinet, Yamila, with Stephen's cooperation, had already begun to use real gold and silver to purchase the surplus grain from the subjects' homes, at a price slightly higher than the market price in eastern Rhovanion.

After all, Allen was counting on these subjects to use the real gold and silver in their hands to attract more merchants in the days to come; relying solely on the general store in Wilderness Town would soon drive Allen to the point of Dinar bankruptcy.

At this moment, Caroline stood up from her seat and walked toward Allen, extending her slender, powerful right hand; her palm, which had held weapons for years, was full of calluses.

Allen tilted his head to watch the beautiful girl's action, stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

He stood up, likewise extended his right hand, and struck it heavily against Caroline's right palm, completing the ritual of a high-five pledge.

And at this instant, the expression on Caroline's face, which had been tense the whole time, relaxed in a flash.