On the appointed day for the city's founding, Luo Lan rose early.
He shaved the stubble from his cheeks, gathered his long grey hair behind his head and tied it into a simple ponytail, and finally trimmed his eyebrows with small scissors. After a year of living here, he could skillfully handle these grooming tasks without the need for a maid's assistance.
Looking at his slightly blurry silver mirror, he felt he had the air of a Taoist immortal. If he were to wear a loose robe with this appearance, he could easily pass as a reclusive cultivator.
Luo Lan nodded in satisfaction and went to his office.
Barov was already waiting in the room.
"Your Highness," he greeted, "the carrier pigeon to Longsong Stronghold has been released and is expected to arrive at the fortress castle in half an hour."
"Good. How is the on-site arrangement progressing?"
"It was all completed yesterday afternoon, and currently it's large enough to accommodate the entire population of the town," the chief steward replied.
"Well done," Luo Lan praised, walking slowly to the floor-to-ceiling window.
The Impassable Mountain Range and the Misty Forest in the distance were still covered in white snow, and the morning light reflected off the snow, emitting golden rays. Closer to the town's streets, people could be seen moving about, gathering in groups of twos and threes towards the west, heading to the rubble stone wall area.
As a defensive line that resisted the invasion of demonic beasts last year, the stone wall quickly piled up with cement was indeed meritorious. However, now it has become a dividing line between the inner and outer urban areas of the town. Luo Lan didn't like this clear division of wealth, so apart from the commemorative breach section and the turret area, it would be demolished sooner or later. But before that, it could be used well – the number of people the wall could accommodate far exceeded the plaza, so Luo Lan decided to hold the city founding declaration in the middle of the stone wall.
According to the plan, in order to strengthen the impact of the city founding on the residents of both places, Longsong Stronghold would also announce the city founding at the same time. The synchronization between the two places would be achieved by carrier pigeon. When the first carrier pigeon arrived in Pei Luo’s hands, it would also be the moment Luo Lan took the stage to give his speech.
Now, this falcon carrying the message should be soaring between the mountains and the Clearwater River, as always, delivering the note tied to its claws to both places, Luo Lan thought. But it didn't know what kind of message it was carrying, or what kind of significance it had – from the moment it landed, Border Town and Longsong Stronghold would both... become history.
"Let's go," he gathered his thoughts and turned back.
"Yes, Your Highness," Barov smiled.
……
Pei Luo. Hermon stepped onto the erected wooden platform and looked around.
There weren't many people in the square, far less than the scene when porridge was distributed a week ago.
This was not surprising. People cared little about things other than food and clothing. Compared to the free wheat porridge, the city founding ceremony sounded like it had little to do with ordinary people.
Even he himself felt that His Highness was being somewhat superfluous.
After the Month of the Demonic Moon, the number of townspeople who applied for work at the city hall was less than he had imagined. The notices for recruiting handymen and construction workers had been posted for a week, and now less than half of the planned number had been recruited. And the rats seemed to be making a comeback, at least the number of reports received by the police department was increasing day by day, and it was a headache just to verify their authenticity. His friend, Rein. Mede complained to him that the capture team would have to increase its manpower by at least one fold to cope.
This was very much in line with Pei Luo's expectations.
People were just like that, lazy, greedy, and ignorant... How much return could His Highness get from spending so much thought on them? What puzzled Pei Luo the most was that Luo Lan. Wimbledon was clearly a royal nobleman, so where did that inexplicable confidence in the people come from?
But no matter what, he was already firmly tied to the prince's war chariot, and all he could do was follow to the end.
A hawk's cry came from afar, and a grey figure appeared in the sky.
Pei Luo unfolded the prepared speech.
……
"Your Highness, it's almost time," Barov
reminded him.
The sun had risen to the middle of the sky, and the shadow on the sundial pointed to nine o'clock. Luo Lan nodded and walked to the railing of the city wall. Seeing the prince appear, the noisy conversations below quickly turned into enthusiastic cheers. The townspeople raised their hands, and a wave seemed to be set off in the crowd.
Both sides of the city wall were filled with a dark mass of people, with a total number estimated to be over twenty thousand, meaning that most of the town's residents had gathered here at this moment. Luo Lan was glad that he didn't hold the city founding ceremony in the central plaza, as it simply couldn't accommodate so many enthusiastic people.
He waved to both sides, suppressing the shouts, "My people, hello."
The amplified sound echoed above the town.
"I believe everyone knows what is about to happen today. This small town built for the North Slope Mine will soon become a real city."
"In the past, the Month of the Demonic Moon was a nightmare for Border Town. In order to survive, everyone had to leave this place and flee to the fortress for refuge. Now, we are firmly stationed here. Osmon. Lienne, who wanted to destroy the peace of the Western Region, has fallen, and the Church, which deliberately harmed witches and enslaved the people, has rolled out of this land. Even Tiffyke. Wimbledon, who attempted to destroy me, failed – even if he turned the southern and eastern regions of the kingdom into a sea of fire, the town remained safe and sound. I think those who fled here have a deep understanding of this."
Luo Lan's words were quickly echoed by the crowd.
"That's right, he burned down Eagle City, and Clearwater Port was also looted!"
"The new king swept through Golden Ear City. The knights' actions were no different from bandits, even more excessive!"
"He took away my son, saying he was to serve as the royal guard. God... he's only fifteen years old!"
The prince reached out and pressed down, "And these tragedies will not be repeated. The new city is built for this! Only by uniting more people can we keep the vicious enemies out and let them taste the price of their recklessness." He paused, "And this is my city – I promise here that Luo Lan. Wimbledon will never abandon any of the people who follow him. Even if Graycastle is unified, he will not leave here!"
There was an uproar at the bottom of the city wall.
"Your Highness, you..." Barov behind him was surprised.
Luo Lan made a gesture of silence. "That's right, this will become the new capital of Graycastle, and the kingdom will be reborn here! I believe that even if the boundless cold descends, this city will still be as warm as spring!" He paused for a moment, then raised his right hand, "From today onwards, Border Town and Longsong Stronghold are united into one, and its name is –"
"Long live Neverwinter!"
"Long live Neverwinter – long live –!"
Everyone boiled over, and the deafening slogans resounded through the sky. Snow mist rose on one side of the mountains, and the rolling echoes undulated along the mountains, lasting for a long time...
Luo Lan looked at the cheering subjects, and his heart was filled with excitement. The spark of change had been sown, and one day, he would see this spark turn into a prairie fire, sweeping across the entire continent.
.
The little spark is finished igniting (。)