Fifth Chapter Six Hundred and Sixty-Nine: The Threat of Power

As the incomplete spring drew to a close and summer approached, Neverwinter's population growth ushered in its first explosive peak.

The campaign to send people to the southeast to recruit refugees began to bear fruit. With the experience of the previous year, the recruitment efficiency of the envoys' teams greatly improved. Hundreds of people gathered in Redwater City and Willow Town every day, waiting for the ships from the Western Region to take them to the rumored wealthy and stable Neverwinter.

In order to properly settle these people, the City Hall also commissioned merchants to rent temporary barracks at the gathering places, and provided free porridge to prevent accidents from happening to the refugees before they arrived in the Western Region.

The Border Region Wharf became the busiest area of the city. The police force was used to maintain order and register the population. Long queues were always lined up in front of the quarantine checkpoints. The officials in charge of managing the household registration divided the influx of refugees into several major categories, and then moved them into riverside plank houses, cave dwellings in the west of the city, and formal residences according to their categories.

For this reason, the City Hall, which was too busy to cope, gave people a feeling of chaos every day.

"The three sailboats from Redwater City have just arrived at the wharf, a total of one hundred and twenty-six people, with a blue flag hanging on the mast, the person in charge is Babu!"

"Again? How many batches is this today?"

"The fourth or fifth batch? Anyway, don't complain, go pick up the ship!"

"By the way, who is taking over Babu to Redwater City?"

"It's me! Wait a minute, I'll be right there!"

"Remember to bring soap, they don't sell it there!"

Listening to the noisy conversations outside the office, Barov was a little worried. It wasn't that he disliked things being too busy. If it were normal times, the busier the City Hall was, the happier he would be.

But recently, things have become complicated.

The reason lies in Edith Kant.

"Chief Executive, the Department of Justice is urging us to get more people again!" an assistant walked into the office. "Your Excellency Carter requires the recruitment of another one hundred people as reserve police officers. He said that if manpower is not increased, the security of the city will not be able to be taken care of. If His Majesty asks about this, we will not escape responsibility."

Tsk, he is just relying on the fact that he is the Chief Knight and can speak well in front of His Majesty. He has no time to take care of such trivial matters now. While drafting the document, Barov said without looking up, "Put it on the table first, I will deal with it later."

"Yes!"

As soon as the assistant closed the door, Edith's voice immediately sounded in his ear, "This is about the recruitment order, right? Since you are too busy, I will help you take a look."

Sure enough! Barov groaned in his heart, and even didn't use honorifics!

Of course, the other party is the daughter of the Duke of the Northern Territory, and her status is indeed much higher than his. Until he becomes the real Hand of the King, she can directly call his name without using honorifics. But he is also considered a half-mentor of this young lady, right? After all, His Majesty arranged for Edith to come to the Chief Executive's office to learn about the organizational structure of the City Hall and the process of handling government affairs, but she doesn't seem to think so now.

"Well... okay." he said reluctantly.

Even if he is helpless in his heart, Miss Kant's words and deeds are not wrong in any way. If he refuses blindly, it will be unreasonable to be passed on to His Majesty's ears. At this critical moment, he must not leave a bad impression on His Majesty.

He will never forget that Roland Wimbledon is a demon king who can see through people's hearts.

"Thanks."

Soon there was a rustling sound of writing on the opposite table.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Edith put the recruitment order back on his table.

"According to the drafts I have recently reviewed, this type of recruitment generally requires reliable personnel with a clean background. There should not be many such people left in the Border Region. Instead of posting the announcement in the square, asking interested people to come to the City Hall to apply, it is better to directly extract household registrations from the archives and select one hundred locals who do not yet have formal jobs. The Department of Justice belongs to the major department of the City Hall, and the salary and benefits are good, so no one should refuse. If implemented in this way, it will save about a week compared to the normal recruitment process, and the Chief Knight will also complain less. If you think there is no problem, I will approve this and transfer it to the archives."

Her voice was clear and organized, and it was hard to believe that she had only joined the City Hall for about two weeks.

He remembered that at the beginning, she just sat quietly on the side and read the documents he reviewed, rarely speaking, but now she is already handy with various matters in the City Hall.

Is this the heir who grew up in the Duke's Mansion and was educated and trained by the upper nobles?

Barov felt a deep threat.

That's right, honorifics and titles are trivial matters. What he really cares about is the power in his hands. The news that the Northern Territory has fully surrendered is now well known. If Edith was sent by His Majesty to serve as an assistant in order to establish a secondary City Hall in the Northern Territory, it would not have much impact, but what if she stayed?

His Majesty does not yet have a spouse, and the other party is a veritable daughter of the Duke!

Thinking of this, Barov felt a headache.

No, he must let her know that the management of the City Hall is not so easy to master, and His Majesty needs a minister who can coordinate the overall situation for him!

When Edith returned to the office, he cleared his throat and handed the statistical table in his hand to her.

"This is..."

"We have encountered trouble," Barov said in a deep voice, "Neverwinter's grain reserves are likely not to last until the wheat harvest."

"Well, is it caused by the influx of too many people?" Edith scanned the list. "According to the consumption above, the surplus grain should be able to last until the end of summer. Spring wheat can be harvested in mid-July, as long as we stop accepting refugees, this part of the grain is enough."

"But the City Hall must not stop the work of refugee reception."

"Because of His Majesty's ten thousand population target?"

"No, that's not the point," Barov shook his head. "There are still refugees constantly heading towards the gathering places from the southeast. Abandoning them will not only bring the risk of riots to Redwater City and Willow Town, but also ruin the image we have established. It will probably be very difficult to recruit them later. His Majesty once revealed to me that the development plan he formulated requires a large population to achieve, and one hundred thousand people is just the beginning. Therefore, the City Hall cannot disrupt His Majesty's arrangements because of the grain problem. We must solve this trouble, which is also the duty of the Chief Executive," he paused and looked at Edith Kant. "Do you have any good ideas?"