12 Meanwhile in Border Town

The next morning after Calista and Nightingale contacted Roland, he prepared a stage to talk about the recent events and solutions.

Even in front of this dense public, Roland knew that he had to do it, so he waved with his arm, and everyone quieted down.

"People of my territory, good afternoon. I'm the 4th Prince of Graycastle, Roland Wimbledon. At this moment we gather together, because there is an important message I have to tell you!" Roland said while watching the public reaction and then continued,

"Four days ago the ambassador of Longsong Stronghold arrived, his mission was to receive the mined ore. We all know that a month ago, we suffered from a disastrous accident, the collapse of the mine in the Northern Mountain Slope. Even today, the mining area isn't fully restored so we can't produce as much as we used to? The result of the accident was that we only output the equivalent of two months in the last quarter. "

"I explained the situation to the messenger, since I hoped he would loan us three months' worth of food, and we would pay the missing ore at the end of winter, but he refused! There was no room for negotiation, he refused to set aside any more food – just like they did two years ago."

The crowd started to feel restless.

"This time it will be even worse. The Longsong Stronghold astrologer told me that this time the Months of the Demons will be even longer, most likely lasting more than four months. That means, this time all of us will face two months of a food gap. Two years ago, we lost 20% of the population. Someone lost a brother, someone lost a child, but this time, how much will we lose? "

"No! Your Highness, you have to save us!" Someone shouted from underneath, then more people shouted, "Your Highness, I beg you to help us!"

Roland raised his hand again, suppressing the voices of the people, "Of course, I will not leave my entrusted people, I will never do that! You may not know, but Longsong Stronghold annually ships wheat and bread to us, and they carried away the ore we mine, but it isn't equivalent to the normal market price. According to the market price, two months of ore should be enough for half a year of food! I have sold the ore to Willow Town, their cargo ship full of food will soon arrive at Border Town. In addition to bread, there will be cheese, honey and meat! For a whole winter, everyone can eat one's fill!"

"However, this is equivalent to breaking off relations with Longsong Stronghold, so they will not accept any person during the winter. As a result, this winter, we will all have to stay in Border Town. Most people have been at the west border of our town, there we are currently establishing a strong wall. I know many people are anxious of the invasion from the demonic beasts, but we can block them. I want to tell you, that the demonic beasts are not much more powerful than normal forest beasts. Although they have rough skin and thick meat, they cannot climb walls and they also cannot eat stones. They have a thick skin but they are just a group of easy to aim at targets! "

"Tell me, my beloved people, are you willing to hide in Longsong Stronghold, living in shacks and starving to a useless death? Or under my leadership will you protect your loved ones and children, guarding Border Town until the last minute? I promise, everyone who stays until the end of the Months of the Demons and protects the other townspeople on the city wall will get a reward of 25 silver royals. If someone sacrifices himself while defending the town, his family will receive a compensation of five gold royals! "

"Your Highness, we want to fight with you!" Under the guidance of his own people placed in the crowd, more and more people swore to wage war.

...

While Roland was sitting in his office, reading the documents about the wall ecc... he felt a earthquake and started to panic.

Walking to the window and seeing a mushroom of black gas in the distance, Roland was shocked and thought, 'Isn't this an atomic explosion?! How is that possible?! Does this world have a modern civilization?!'.

Seeing more and more people leaving their house confused and starting to questioning what was going on, Roland sighed and facepalmed.