Magic, steel, heavy industry

Chapter 11 Speech

"Quiet down, everyone! The lord is here!"

An untimely shout suddenly rang out in the already quiet square.

The sound was so loud that Vilan, who was far away, could hear it clearly.

The speaker was dressed in fairly decent gentleman's clothes, though the clothes were worn, he wore an elegant hat and had a carefully maintained mustache.

"Who is he?"

"Young Master Vilan, he is the mayor," Carreras whispered from behind.

Hans, who was standing to the side, was a little surprised. He had wanted to say something to remind him, but the captain beat him to it. But why would the captain of the guard know the mayor?

In fact, there is no position of mayor in Iron Anvil Territory. It is only because no nobleman has been willing to take over this fiefdom that the count's tax officer appointed someone to serve as mayor.

Upon hearing this, Vilan's lips curled up slightly. "So it's him. I'd better give him a proper greeting."

He walked up to the square with a smile, and the town mayor immediately greeted him with a beaming smile.

"My esteemed Lord Vilan, I apologize for not personally greeting you the day before yesterday. Please forgive my rudeness."

The mayor put one hand behind his back and patted the other on his chest, giving a somewhat awkward gentlemanly bow.

"Who are you?"

Vilan looked puzzled, which made the mayor's lips twitch, as if he was losing face.

But he quickly realized what was happening and continued, "My name is Wirtz, and I'm the mayor of this town."

"So it's Mayor. It's an honor to meet you. But why are you here? Do you want to work for me too?" Vilan asked sincerely.

Wirtz's face stiffened, and he quickly nodded. "Of course, it is my honor, but more importantly, it is to keep an eye on these rude serfs. You know, they have no manners whatsoever. If Lord Vilan wants to hire people, if I may be so bold, the free people in the town would be more suitable."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Vilan stared intently at Wirtz.

The latter realized he had misspoke and quickly lowered his head, saying, "I wouldn't dare, I was only thinking of the adults."

Vilan smiled again. "Relax, that was just a joke. Since the mayor has no objections, let's complete this grand performance together."

"Performance?"

Before Wirtz could even process what was happening, Vilan, escorted by Carreras, had already ascended to the highest stand in the square.

The serfs looked up, some with curiosity, at the young lord.

Vilan glanced at the crowd and found that the number had reached nearly 60. It was the first time he had faced his people so directly, and he was even a little nervous.

After a moment of hesitation, he uttered his first words.

"Fellow citizens, I am Wiran Northstone."

"I come from the most noble family in the North, the Stone Family. My maternal grandfather was the Duke of the North, and my aunt was the Chief Consul of the North."

Without batting an eye, Vilan's first act was to boast about his illustrious background.

Although his maternal grandfather ignored him and his aunt disliked and rejected him, so what?

As long as the people think he's great, the details are minor issues.

Sure enough, although the people didn't understand it, they all looked at it with admiration.

In a corner unnoticed by anyone, Mayor Wirtz's eyes revealed a strange sense of apprehension, which, coincidentally, was caught by Igris.

Vilan continued, "I know why you've come. You want bread? That's simple. I guarantee everyone will have bread, provided you work hard."

A chorus of exclamations erupted in the square.

Among them was Carl, who was filled with anxiety.

Although he didn't understand the long string of nouns before Vilan's name, there was one sentence he heard very clearly.

"Everyone will have bread to eat!"

He looked excitedly at his mother and sister beside him, and the two women also cheered.

A huge weight was lifted from Karl's heart, and he began to carefully examine the lord.

A young nobleman with black curly hair that symbolized the purest blood in the North, his clothes were even cleaner than the mayor's hat!

At this moment, Karl heard the lord speak once again.

"As a lord, it is unbearable for me to see my people going hungry, so I have decided that everyone who works for me today will have two loaves of bread and a bowl of meat soup."

"What?! Did I hear that right?!"

Carl's mind went blank for a moment. Two loaves of bread and a bowl of soup? Then wouldn't his family of three be able to eat nine loaves of bread and three bowls of soup?

Is this an illusion...? Is there really such a generous lord?

Everyone else was equally shocked, and the whole square erupted in noise.

The cheers around him grew louder and louder, forcing Karl to push his way forward to hear the lord's voice clearly.

"However, the chaotic work we did yesterday won't work. Only a formal system can improve work efficiency. I don't ask much of you. Just 20 goblin magic cores, any kind will do. As long as you reach this number, you can come and collect lunch once. But the premise is that you must sort the magic cores properly. Red ones can only be put together with red ones, and gray ones can be put together with gray ones."

Vilan stated his requirements, which relieved many people.

Carl clenched his fists, his face full of energy.

Yesterday, he picked up 35 "small stones" all by himself. 20 stones is really not a lot for him.

Vilan's voice came again.

"Some of you may have noticed that I just said you can collect lunch once you reach 20. That's right, as long as you have the energy, keep collecting. Everyone has two chances to collect lunch each day."

"Long live the Lord!"

A loud shout rang in Karl's ears; it was Blackie, that guy was always causing trouble like that.

But for some reason, while he was mentally criticizing his friend, the word "Long live" popped out of his mouth. The sound grew louder and louder, but mixed with the cheers of others, only he could hear his own voice clearly.

Seeing this, Vilan breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the effect was good. For them now, perhaps a full meal is more important than anything else.

That's enough for now; there will be many more opportunities to say the rest later.

After finishing his speech, Vilan stepped down from the platform, and the crowd around him immediately came to greet him.

Igris spoke first, "This is outrageous! My lord, do you expect me to cook lunch for dozens of people in a day? Have you forgotten that my salary is only two silver coins?"

Vilan smiled and casually pointed to the crowd in the square. "Relax, aren't there many farm women and children? I authorize you to be the logistics manager for today. Select some people to cook with you. Of course, the cooks will also get lunch."

After saying that, Vilan emphasized again, "By the way, there must be meat in the broth."

Iglesias breathed a sigh of relief, as long as she wasn't left to do it all by herself.

Next was Hans, whose face was filled with heartache.

"Young Master Vilan, we have only a limited amount of food. At this rate, we won't last more than a few days."

"It's alright, Igris said the bard merchant will be here in the next few days, we can just buy some."

Vilan didn't care about spending gold coins. As long as he could spend them, it wasn't too bad. On the contrary, when he wanted to spend them but had nowhere to spend them, that would be the real end.

After Iglesias and Hans finished speaking, they were surprised to find that the last person to arrive was Mayor Wirtz.

He hesitated for a moment, then whispered to Vilan, "Your Excellency Vilan, you really don't need to do this. For these lowly serfs, half a loaf of black bread is enough to keep them working all day."