Banner of the Evil God

Unconsciously, Wood has lived in Pyroxene for a week.

During this week, he observed a lot and got to know quite a lot about this town called "Hope of the North" by the Federation. He also got to know its ideas of governance and various key technologies.

As a spy, he did a good job.

But he did not have any pride or complacency, but was full of deep worries.

Why did Pyroxene develop from a dilapidated and almost abandoned border town into a paradise in less than three years?

In his opinion, the key lies in two points.

The first is to increase revenue, and the second is to save money.

To increase revenue means to actively find sources of income for the town. The two most critical sources of income here are the extraction of negative energy essence in the underground farm and several herb fields outside the village. The former can produce medium and low-grade magic materials, and through the methods he has not yet been able to touch, it can be transformed into a variety of valuable resources, which are very popular in the international magic material market; the latter is an important consumer product for people's livelihood. Although the price is not expensive, the market demand for them is endless, and there is no worry about sales.

With these two key incomes, various policies in the town can be supported. For example, "beautify the living environment" - he never thought that a small town would regard the environment so important. On the town's bulletin board, there are scrolls drawn by powerful painters of the town's scenes over the past few years. The scrolls strengthened by magic are extremely tough and can be flipped through at will, allowing people to review the development history of this town.

From the scrolls, when Mayor Felix first arrived, the town of Pyroxene was actually extremely dilapidated. The ground was full of pits and gravel, starving people and feces were everywhere, and the severe cold froze them like stones. The houses were dilapidated and seemed to collapse at the slightest breeze.

But just three months later, when spring came, the houses in the town had been repaired. The wooden houses of all sizes were like clothes that were patched but well-repaired. You could even see a little smoke coming out of the kang under the house. It must be very warm to live in it, and you wouldn't be afraid of the cold at all.

By the autumn of that year, the roads in the town had been repaired, and they were almost the same as they are now. The foundation was a piece of gravel, and then crushed stone powder was poured into the gaps between the gravel, and then watered and rammed to make it solid. In the end, although it was slightly inferior to the complete stone strips, it was flat and comfortable enough.

Moreover, there were many more decorations and celebrations in the square in the center of the town, and several villagers were wearing obviously new clothes and happily setting up the celebration venue.

In the spring of the second year, many houses in the town began to be renovated. Although the repaired old houses could still be used, some of them were either too old or of poor quality, so the villagers demolished the dilapidated houses and the owners of the houses temporarily moved into the mayor's office. The people in the picture, who have become strong and energetic, are not afraid of the cold and work in an orderly manner. At the door of the mayor's office, an old man is looking at the construction site with a smile, and two women next to him are preparing meals in a large pot. The bustling scene moved Wood deeply even if he only saw it in the scroll.

The celebration in the autumn of the second year was quite grand. The scroll depicts the scene at night. Although the sky has completely darkened, the square in the center of the town is full of celebrating people. Several young spellcasters asked the residents to move a little further away, and then cast spells towards the sky to act as fireworks. The light of the spell explosion dotted the night sky. The bonfire reflected the laughing faces of the people, their faces were full of happiness and joy, and full of expectations for the future.

Wood noticed that there were already many green plants in the town in this picture. It seems that the work of expelling negative energy erosion should have been completed during this period.

The last scroll was just completed not long ago. The town held a small ceremony to celebrate the birthdays of several elderly people. Those old people who should have looked depressed and hopeless elsewhere, smiled so hard that the wrinkles on their faces seemed to bloom. There are many more trees around the square and on both sides of the road. The emerald green leaves sparkle in the sun, just like precious emeralds.

Next to this scroll is another bird's-eye view of the town. It can be seen that the town already has beautiful walls, vegetable fields, and medicinal fields. Only the construction site that produces negative energy essence is blank. The painter drew a smiley face in its place and wrote "This is a secret".

Comparing these five scrolls, Wood was very emotional.

He could see that the income of this town was indeed not low. But more importantly, the key lies in the mayor's willingness to spend money.

Are there few high-income areas? Not a few at all. In the Federation alone, there are many towns with multiple stable industries. He dared to bet that the income of many of these towns is definitely not lower than that of Pyroxene Town.

But those towns are completely different from Pyroxene Town. The lords who rule the towns and the powerful people who control various income items are all trying their best to make money, but it is absolutely impossible to ask them to spend money to improve the conditions and people's livelihood of the town. So although the income level may be at the same level, the situation of the town is completely different.

And this is the second reason summarized by Wood.

Save money.

For a territory, no matter how high the income is, it will be meaningless if it is completely plundered by the ruler and only leaks out a little bit from the fingers.

One of the key reasons why Pyroxen Town has been able to develop is that the mayor, Felix, almost doesn't care about income at all.

This beautiful female mage took out almost all the income of the town and reinvested it in the construction of the town, and her own properties-such as the magic school-were built entirely with her own money. Use even a copper penny of public funds.

"Public funds" is a word that the residents of Huishi Town often say when chatting in the tavern, and the source is the mayor himself. She has said more than once that she is the leader of the town, but not the owner. This town belongs to everyone.

Such words seemed vaguely familiar to Wood. He recalled them carefully for a long time, and finally remembered that those were the words spoken by Master Lampelus, the founder of the Federation.

"In the past years, I have seen many cruel and inhumane rulers. As a mage, as a person who has witnessed history, I do not think this approach is correct. So I want to establish a A country where people rule by themselves and the rulers just watch. In this country, powerful spellcasters are the guardians of towns and villages, but they do not own these lands and the various industries on them. We are not lords.”

"I think this approach is good. Spellcasters are busy with research and will not waste any time on plundering people's wealth or indulging their own desires. I believe that over time, this plateau at the southernmost tip of the continent will be able to Become a paradise that people across the continent yearn for!”

Thousands of years have passed since then. However, the Federation has not become a paradise for civilians, but has only become a holy land for spellcasters.

Recalling how I felt when I read that passage in the book, and comparing it with what I saw and heard during this period, Wood, who could sleep and wake up at will, suffered from insomnia.

He thought for a long time, but found nothing.

He knew that the situation in the Federation was not right, and he also knew that what Phoenician Town was doing was the right thing to do. However, both rationality and intuition told him that what Phoenix Town was doing could not be popularized.

The top leaders of the federation are indeed knowledgeable. They noticed the situation in Huishi Town and sent him, an ace spy, to learn the details here. In order to help the federal government and promote federal progress.

But...can the experience here really help the Federation?

He was doubtful.

In order to conceal his identity, he did not hesitate to let the summoned witch drain him almost completely of his strength, which was close to that of a high-level ranger, and turned him into an ordinary person who could only be called a capable person. In order to deceive the detection spell, a high-level mage from the Federation who had found the path to legend came forward and presided over a whole set of plans to hide the truth and ensure that everything he said was "the truth."

All of this came at a huge price.

But, can it really be rewarded?

He was worried.

With these doubts and worries, he couldn't sleep, and when he worked the next day, he had dark circles under his eyes.

"You have to be careful!" In the carpentry workshop, the old foreman in charge of supervision looked at his tired appearance and asked worriedly, "Are you feeling unwell? If you feel unwell, see a doctor. Go to a magic school, then There is a doctor who knows herbal medicine, or you can go to the temple..."

Wood shook his head and said he was fine.

"It's no wonder! Look at you, your eyes are a little wandering!" The old foreman patted his shoulder with dissatisfaction. As a result, his hand slipped slightly and the sharp carpenter's tool rubbed against his leg. After a moment, a wound was opened and blood was flowing.

The old foreman was startled and immediately rushed to the big cabinet at the entrance of the workshop. He took out a wooden box with a red cross on a white background. He opened the wooden box and found that there were several commonly used drugs in it, all of which had been prepared. Okay, one package after another is wrapped in oil paper of different colors, and there are clean bandages. The use is clear at a glance.

The old foreman had obviously received special training, and he applied medicine and bandaged him extremely quickly. The carpenters also stopped what they were doing and came over to help. After the preliminary treatment of his wounds, everyone brought the stretcher placed next to the cabinet, forced him to lie on it, and then carried him hurriedly to the temple.

The priest of the temple asked about the situation, and then gave him medicine that could heal the body and replenish the loss of flesh and blood, and then opened the wound. After careful inspection, he determined that there were no wood chips, iron filings, etc. left, so he washed the wound with holy water, and then healed the wound. He cast a low-level healing spell to make the wound heal slightly and stop bleeding like that. Finally, the medicine was reapplied and bandaged, and he was allowed to recuperate.

"Can't it be completely cured?" Wood asked in confusion.

"General healing spells are actually overdrawing your vitality. I won't use advanced ones." The priest said with a smile, "It is enough to treat you to this extent. The rest can be recovered slowly by yourself."

"But this affects my work..."

When these words were said, the pastor and the workers all laughed.

"Don't worry! This is a work-related injury. Not only will all medical expenses be borne by the town, but your salary will still be paid until the injury recovers."

After that, everyone put him back on the stretcher and carried him back home.

Inside the temple, the priest smiled and started to clean up the blood.

He cleaned up the blood-stained bandages and discarded medicines, and washed the ground with clean water. After doing everything, he wanted to rest, but suddenly froze.

(That's not right! Why did the carpenter's wound... heal much slower than ordinary people? Why is the healing spell so ineffective on him?)