Chapter 216: The Dead and the Living

Behind the low wall of the cemetery, the trees were lush and the flowers were dense, creating a solemn and quiet environment. The green pines and cypresses all around were thick and flourishing. The shrubs beside the trees were dense and low, with an emerald green color. Flower stalks sprouted from between the leaves, one flower per stalk, arranged in a scattered but pleasing way; they looked ancient, the flowers were small and exquisite, and the colors were harmonious.

Bright yellow buds were surrounded by fiery red petals, looking like small burning candles. To George, that red was the color of joy, but at this moment, it perhaps represented sorrow. George was not actually very used to the strange customs here, because death did not mean the end but also a new life. That blood-like bright red was the highest etiquette to send off the warriors.

In the middle of this vegetation full of the breath of spring was a narrow flat ground—it was both a passage and a small square for holding memorial services. On both sides of this open space, many green stone tombstones stood neatly.

Although the basic appearance of these tombstones was exactly the same, there were thousands of differences in the details. The unique patterns of their respective family crests allowed people to know the general ownership of the tombstone even without paying attention to the text on it. The front of the tombstone, in addition to the name, identity, and time of death, also recorded their life deeds.

Most of the people buried here were Knights, Knights who had defended this city. Their funerals often had no crying, only a faint sadness. George had experienced such a funeral once; the oppressive atmosphere made people almost unable to breathe. But perhaps because they had experienced too many partings of life and death, the men beside him all had serious expressions as they sent that elder on the final journey of his life, while only the female relatives covered their faces with their silk handkerchiefs and sobbed silently.

This was completely different from any funeral George had experienced before he crossed over. The sad crying that should have been heard was gone. The funeral, lacking appeal, could not give George much of a stir, plus the dead were not companions he was with day and night—all this was like watching an old black-and-white movie, more or less revealing a sense of unreality.

The dazzling sun hung high in the sky, and warm golden light shone through the dancing tree shadows onto the cold stone tablets. It seemed to be listening to the desolate wind accompanying the lonely whispers of the zither sound coming from afar. The rustling sound rose with the wind like singing that ancient nursery rhyme, mourning for the deceased sleeping here. If asked what she was mourning, there was no answer, only her song echoing in the blank forest.

In this shadow was a huge circular mausoleum, in front of which were placed wreaths woven of pine resin and cypress, white and goose-yellow wild daisies, and lit beeswax candles.

The mausoleum was overgrown with green grass, swaying in the early spring breeze, and the snowdrops with dew not yet dispersed gave people a feeling of pity. But the majestic monument stood tall in the center of the cemetery, and a solemn and respectful atmosphere rushed towards the face.

The large blocks of granite looked so simple, and the unpolished surface felt pitted and a bit prickly to the touch. The text on it was only the name, identity, and birth and death dates. It was this “monumental simplicity” that made people admire and respect it more than those who used marble and luxurious decorations to modify their graves, and it was easier to live in people’s hearts, because the person buried here was himself a monument. This was the public cemetery for the soldiers of the Bolerum Territory who died on the battlefield throughout history, and the brand new names on it were just carved a few days ago.

Some people said that the cemetery was deep and profound, philosophical, and made people see through life and death. But for George, lively lives disappeared before his eyes, and yesterday’s smiling faces turned into cold numbers today.

For those young and middle-aged people who shed blood for the safety of the Territory, George could not be said to have deep interaction with them. But at least he could match faces with their names.

The memory and emotions of a lifetime could not be wiped away in just a dozen years, and a heavy sense of powerlessness pressed on George’s heart. He could only touch the stone tablet, pick off the residual flowers, and silently look at this standing monument. At the same time, in the depths of his heart, he constantly reviewed and reflected on his actions and performance after his new life.

Looking at George who was bowing his head and saying nothing in front of the monument. After waiting for a while, the coachman Old Clapson, feeling that the time seemed a bit wrong, was about to speak to remind his Young Master. If they didn’t leave now, let alone the schedule arranged for this morning, even lunch time might be missed. According to his experience serving George for so many years, George would definitely go to City Hall to show his face! If he reminded him now, not only would he not be blamed, but he would likely be praised.

However, Hiren standing by the side pulled the coachman back at once. In his opinion, George should have reached some critical moment now, and of course, he could not be disturbed at all. As for the work at City Hall, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be delayed. And things like this that might affect the transformation of the soul, if you miss this village, there won’t be this shop!

Not mentioning the depressing cemetery contemplation on George’s side, in one of the arcade buildings opposite City Hall, two well-dressed wealthy merchants and celebrities were planning something between cups.

This was on the second floor of the arcade building, and the new glass had already been reinstalled on the Ebony framed floor-to-ceiling windows. Lace-edged elegant light gauze thinly blocked the window, and from the outside, everything inside looked hazy and so unreal.

The bronze pendants under the curtains were like small wind chimes; don’t look at their quiet appearance now, but when the curtains danced with the wind, the crisp and pleasant sound would connect into one piece, just like the innocent and naive laughter of girls.

Under the accompaniment of the melodious music of three or four violinists, a girl in the hall was dancing like a butterfly, like a beautiful flower blooming in a pile of rubble. The strings whispered lowly, like clear water flowing through a flat and smooth ditch.

The few people in the hall were all well-dressed, and their silk shirts looked like they were woven in one piece, with almost no traces of stitches or seams. Only the seemingly shallow folds showed that its craftsmanship was still the common ones.

Swarovski-style crystal glasses projected a silver light under the light, and the amber liquid in the cup left strips of wine marks on the inner wall of the wine glass as the glass shook.

The unique fragrance belonging to the mellow brew gradually spread into the air. This fresh, elegant, rich and varied fruit scent served as a slight substitute for the scent of rouge and powder from the dancer. Coupled with the narrow rim of the glass, it all proved the preciousness of the liquid in the glass.

“Alright, Georgia, you called us here today, surely not just to taste your new wine that just came out of the warehouse!” A pot-bellied middle-aged man put down his cup and asked with his fingers crossed.

“Reichweiler, what was the loss situation of your Earth Journey during the riot some time ago?” The slicked-back big back head didn’t respond directly to this. He put the white bone china cold dish back on the table. The crystal clear fruit jelly on the plate not only had a charming color but also emitted an attractive fragrance.

Reichweiler said quite nonchalantly: “What can be done! It was just that a fire was set at the warehouse, but fortunately it was extinguished in time and didn’t cause further losses. But 1000 Gold Coins worth of goods just went away inexplicably. The more troublesome thing is that the guard manpower of the Caravan is seriously insufficient now, and we have to transfer people to protect the trading post. The Caravan that used to be able to set off every three days now has to wait at least five days and has to gather extra people. If luck is bad, maybe we won’t have enough people even in seven days!”

Telling potential competitors about the dilemma of the Merchant Guild he was in, was Reichweiler’s brain broken or was he bought by the other party? No, that wasn’t it, in Reichweiler’s view, as long as the other party wanted to investigate, this kind of thing couldn’t be hidden from anyone at all.

Where did the large number of Caravans come from and where did they go, their every move was almost under everyone’s eyes. This wasn’t that the Caravan didn’t want to hide it, but the difficulty of hiding it was too great.

Eating, drinking, and sleeping for hundreds of people was a big problem in itself, whether it was the rising cooking smoke or the buried excrement, or the traces of setting up camp. These were indelible traces that could allow people who wanted to find them to track quickly. If Magic was used, it would often cause the problem of excessive cost.

Most importantly, most Caravans traveled with full loads of goods. Heavy goods, even with the bearing of Wagons, were difficult to pass in the wild. Only through the post roads built by the local Lord regimes, or the trade roads constantly crushed and cleared by multiple Caravans, could they pass normally. Under this situation of having fixed tracks, it was too easy for the other party to explore these things. Such secrets could no longer be called secrets.

At the same time, the strength of these two Merchant Guilds was huge, and the gap caused by the struggle in one time and one place was difficult to affect the overall situation. This was like assemblies scattered everywhere, as long as they didn’t connect into one piece, then the country could easily suppress and disperse them. It could be said that it didn’t take much effort.

It was precisely because of this situation that although the high-levels of the two Merchant Guilds competed fiercely. But among the business firms scattered everywhere below, the relationship between the managers was often quite good.

Although the resources that both could mobilize were not much, sometimes they could still help each other for emergencies. Who could guarantee that there would be no natural or man-made disasters in operation? In order to avoid possible punishment from the headquarters or to improve their evaluation in the Merchant Guild, sometimes they had to rely on a little external help!

The principle of everyone lifting the flower sedan chair was understood by everyone. In this process of interaction where if others respect me a foot, I respect them a yard, the grassroots of several Merchant Guilds formed a strange alternative interdependence of both cooperation and competition. Sometimes if one withdrew from a certain area, the other often couldn’t last long. And the private communication between the managers of the Merchant Guilds could also be considered good.

“It seems we have encountered the same trouble! Not only is your manpower insufficient, our Ivy Merchant Guild is also recruiting guards on a large scale! But there is no big improvement at all.” Georgia also showed a troubled bitter smile.

Reichweiler, who suddenly thought of something, almost knocked over the cup beside his hand: “I say, Georgia, you aren’t preparing to let the teams of our two Merchant Guilds combine and go on the road together, are you?”

Georgia pinched the crystal glass with his fingers and shook it slowly, as if saying it was no big deal: “Why not? This is an extraordinary period, of course, we must be able to adapt! And it’s not just our two Merchant Guilds, I plan to invite all Merchant Guilds in the Bolerum Territory to join in. Then organize joint Caravans according to the destination of the goods. In this way, the problem of insufficient manpower can be relieved to a considerable extent!”

“Are you really planning to do such a thing? This is too easy to be caught as a handle, and if it is stabbed to the headquarters, you won’t be able to bear the consequences.” Although Reichweiler didn’t strongly oppose it, he was reminding Georgia to pay attention to the risks involved.

The reason why unspoken rules were unspoken rules was because they were done but couldn’t be said. Once exposed on the surface, it would bring huge trouble to the people who executed and handled it. It was like the private agreements and tacit understanding between the five great powers, once someone poked it out, it would really cause a huge upheaval.

Georgia lowered his head and said in a deep tone: “As long as we find a way to give this matter a reasonable explanation. After we negotiate, let the Priest of the Church of the Goddess of Wealth and Commerce come forward to organize and initiate the affairs. Even if the above knows what the real reason is, as long as there is such a layer of skin, they won’t do anything to us on the surface. The most important thing is to survive this difficult period, you also know the future of this city, right!”

Reichweiler responded with a quite bad face: “Is there any need to say that? A fortress that even a Dragon cannot break through. Just by this name, the future commercial potential of this Territory is limitless. Powerful strength can provide sufficient protection and sense of security for the industries in the Territory. Excellent ports and supporting facilities, plus the newly renovated roads, make it have the potential to become an important trade node. Do you think I don’t know why the message we sent to the headquarters requesting manpower hasn’t even had a definite reply until now? Our Magic Item for transmitting messages hasn’t had any problems at all. Since it’s not our problem here, could it be that there isn’t even a spare one at the headquarters?”

“It seems you know too. Of course, someone at the headquarters also saw the opportunity and potential here, so they are staring at the position under our butts. And those guys aren’t willing to offer any conditions in exchange, instead wanting to take this opportunity to make us leave in disgrace. To get what they want effortlessly. I will definitely not let them get their wish. Reichweiler, you don’t want to go back to the headquarters to be an idle manager, do you!” Georgia said through gritted teeth.

Reichweiler was still a little hesitant: “Even if we do as you say, such a large personnel gap can’t be filled just like this! Especially the Adventurer part, too many died or were injured in the previous riot.”

To save costs, even the Caravans of such large Merchant Guilds couldn’t keep full security personnel all year round. Before each trip, they would recruit scattered Adventurer teams in nearby Taverns for supplementation. Although the Caravans didn’t quite believe in the ability and conduct of those Adventurers, it was good to have more targets when running away after a defeat. Besides, many times their performance was worthy of the price paid.

In the previous attack on the Bolerum Territory, not only the subjects, soldiers, and Caravan members suffered heavy losses. The most serious reduction in personnel was those Adventurers.

Here, there were not only Adventurers with a strong sense of justice who died or were seriously injured in the fight against Cultists. There were also Evil ones who released their internal energy and joined the smashing, looting, and burning, and were suppressed by the army together with the Cultists. Of course, the largest number was the innocent people who were inexplicably involved in the conflict. Although their casualty ratio was the lowest, they had the largest number!

Looking at the total number of active Adventurers in the entire Bolerum Territory. The number decreased by over 45% before and after this attack. Although it couldn’t be said to share the loss of the Territory. But their further intensification of the chaos produced a certain interference with the plans of those Cultists, which was true.

Originally, the business of the Bolerum Territory this year was much more prosperous than last year. And in terms of the sense of smell for money, those Adventurers were far inferior to real merchants. Under the influence of the dual characteristics of blindness and lag, the number of Adventurers coming to the Bolerum Territory gradually couldn’t keep up with the demand of the Caravans. And the previous attack made the already tense supply-demand relationship even worse.

Although with the passage of time, the continuous recovery of the wounded, and the continuous spread of good news, the overall situation would gradually improve. But the managers of these local firms lacked time the most. Because the circulation of goods couldn’t be delayed.

But such a big event happened, which often indicated the instability of the surrounding situation. Quite a few attackers, because they failed to sneak into the city, were scattered and fled outside the city after being dispersed by the garrison. Although it wasn’t sure if they would become Bandits, the threat to travelers and Caravans along the way was real.

Although George sent cavalry teams to continuously hunt and suppress them, the Bolerum Territory, which focused its main energy on Territory reconstruction and army replenishment, currently saw no obvious effect in suppressing the Bandits. And it would take a not short time for them to free their hands.

Under this situation, if the defense force was reduced, not only would they not be at ease, but those subordinates wouldn’t go to execute tasks that looked like sending themselves to death.

“In this regard, we can ask Lord Bolerum to provide paid guard work for us.” Georgia firmly revealed his determination.