When Weide took off his patched-up coat and put on the brand-new uniform, he felt warmth spread through his body.
The surface of the clothes was thick leather, with a cotton lining inside, providing both the warmth of leather and the softness of cloth. Just the materials alone were probably worth several silver wolves.
Its design was similar to the town hall uniform, but the colors were vastly different—the base color of the clothes was pure black, with white stripes and frills on the shoulders, collar, and cuffs, making it very conspicuous. After the fifteen men put on their new uniforms and stood in a row again, they couldn't help but puff out their chests a little higher.
"Good," Carter smiled with satisfaction. "Now, follow me."
At this time, the sky was still filled with light snow. It was the first time Weide had seen snow falling non-stop since autumn. Gold穗 City would occasionally snow, but it would stop after a day or two at most. Children often built snowmen by the side of the street or threw snowballs at each other, so there was a saying that snowy days were a childhood festival. However, for adults, it was very inconvenient. The accumulated snow would make shoes damp and moldy, the streets would be difficult to walk on, business in the shops would be deserted, and occasionally it would even collapse the roofs of houses.
At such times, the patrol team would definitely not go out. If they did, they would only look for a tavern, and everyone would sit around the fireplace, drinking warm ale and flirting with the waitresses.
All of this was not seen in Border Town.
Every day, someone cleared the snow on the streets, sweeping it to both sides—this was a long-term recruitment issued by the town hall, which could be settled daily or monthly, and was considered a low-return, quick-money job.
There were many townspeople coming and going on the street, some wearing straw hats, some wearing cloaks, all busy with their own work. If all the snow in the town was removed, there would be no problem saying it was summer.
If he hadn't witnessed it with his own eyes, Weide would never have believed that a small town located on the border of the kingdom would look even busier than Gold穗 City. If it weren't for the lack of towering churches and bell towers in the town, he would have really thought he was in a big city.
Soon, the group arrived at the pier. More than a dozen sailboats were parked in the Redwater River, and hundreds of people had gathered on the shore. This scene seemed familiar... That's right, Weide thought, it was the same scene when he and other refugees from the Eastern Region arrived in the town.
"Report! These people are..."
"Refugees from the South and the North. His Highness has specially sent people to Border Town to ensure they can spend the winter safely. Your task is to assist the town hall in maintaining order, so that these people line up one by one to pass through the checkpoints, and then undergo quarantine and registration," Carter instructed. "There are still few policemen now, so First Army soldiers will assist you. In the future, this work will be done independently by you."
"Yes!"
It didn't sound difficult, just like directing refugees to line up for porridge. Weide walked to the checkpoint and began to shout loudly, telling the people nearby to obey his command and gather around.
"Your name? Where are you from? Do you have any specialties? Can you read?"
Every refugee who passed through the checkpoint was questioned by the town hall staff and then roughly recorded. Weide knew that this was only a preliminary statistic. After everyone was settled, there would be further review and verification. Those with expertise would be given priority to be transferred to the inner city—he had personally experienced this set of procedures once.
Suddenly, there was a commotion behind him. Weide turned around and saw a man wearing a fleece robe, protected by a group of guards, came to the dock area. The flying gray hair indicated his identity—the local lord, His Highness Roland Wimbledon. In addition, there were several people in fancy clothes standing beside him, who should all be the heads of the town hall.
Weide was a little surprised that His Highness the Prince would brave the wind and snow to personally inspect this group of refugees. In the cold season, few nobles were willing to leave their warm beds early in the morning, especially when they had servants to take care of everything.
"My name is Mane, a Northerner, um... I'm good at, good at farming. Can't read."
"Farming?" The town hall official ticked the corresponding box on the record form.
"Okay, you can go."
At this moment, Weide noticed that the other party glanced in the direction of His Highness the Prince as he passed through the checkpoint. There was not a trace of awe in his eyes, completely different from the eyes of ordinary civilians.
"Wait," he said subconsciously.
"Wh-what's wrong?"
"Are you a farmer? In what month should winter wheat be sown?"
The town hall official also looked at him, his face showing some impatience. "This is just a preliminary registration, and I don't have time to distinguish whether they are telling the truth one by one. Didn't Lord Carter explain the process to you clearly? You only need to help me maintain order."
Hearing what the other party said, the man immediately closed his mouth.
What an idiot! Weide frowned and ignored him, "You don't sound like a Northern resident. You sound more like a common accent from the central region of the kingdom. Which town are you from in the North? I'm very familiar with that area."
Mane hesitated, but still didn't answer.
"And your attire, if you dressed like this in the North, even if you didn't freeze to death, your fingers should be frostbitten. It's below freezing point there all year round." Weide grabbed his right hand. "Where are your gloves? Don't tell me you came to Border Town and found that the temperature here is warmer, so you threw your gloves away."
The checkpoint staff also realized that something was wrong. If someone lied about being good at something, it might be because they wanted to get better treatment. Concealing one's origins was a very strange behavior. "Where exactly are you from?"
Mane gritted his teeth, suddenly took out a red pill from his pocket, slammed it into his mouth, and roared, "Get out of my way!"
Weide suddenly felt that the other party's wrist became scalding hot. He reflexively wanted to push Mane to the ground, but found that even if he used all his strength, the other party still didn't budge. Then, Mane raised his arm, and Weide felt that his whole body was flying.
He fell heavily to the ground, with a burning pain in his back. Damn it, the wound was cracked. He spat out a mouthful of saliva, shook his dizzy head, and rolled over to get up. Mane was no longer in the same place.
Four or five more vagrants sprang out from the crowd. Their movements were as agile as the demonic beasts outside the city walls. They took a few steps and directly jumped over the temporary railings set up by the town hall, heading straight for His Highness the Prince.
The purpose of these people was very obvious, they were aiming for the high-level officials and lords of Border Town.
Thinking of the strange power that Mane had exploded, Weide could almost imagine the scene of His Highness the Prince's guards being torn to pieces on the spot, and even the Prince himself would not escape.
However, none of this happened.
He soon heard a series of clanging sounds—just like the situation when the soldiers on the city wall were fighting against demonic beasts.
Puffs of white smoke rose in front of the Prince.
Mane's head turned into a burst of blood in the smoke.