Mountain and Forest Kingdom

"Two barrels!"

"bump!"

The problem of the hot bed between his wife and children has been resolved, and Lawrence plays cards with the women at home to enhance their relationship.

The mahjong in his hand was made from the bones of a previous sea dragon. Lawrence liked to make the collected things into something practical and convenient.

On the left and right of Lawrence sat Rastana and the Elf Queen. Sariel sat next to Sofia and watched her play the cards, and from time to time looked at the cards that had been played.

Behind Jade and Cassandra were also standing maids and helpers.

These witches like to play together. It is more interesting to watch others play than to play by themselves.

Lawrence only had two hands, so he touched the cards with his hands, not the breasts.

Compared to women, games are more interesting.

The winter nights in the land of ice are particularly long, so a three- and four-player game such as poker and mahjong was easily promoted. With sailors and businessmen from all over the country, the wooden card game was spread to further places.

It's hard to sit all day and all night, but playing mahjong and poker is a waste of time, and time passes before you know it.

Lawrence felt that he was almost done, so he stood up and said, "Sariel, you play for me, I have to go to work."

"Okay!" Salil is also a veteran of card games and has a good memory, which makes her very suitable for playing cards.

Cassandra also has a high memory ability, and Jade is almost the same.

The witches' card game is much slower than the normal card game. They are all used to waiting quietly and don't mind if the time is extended.

Lawrence came out of the card room and got down to business, first discussing this year's wool business with the house officers.

Wool is still an indispensable best-selling commodity in the frozen land, and every spring is a good time for shearing sheep.

This year more wool was delivered to the port of Dom on larger ships.

Workers in the port of Durm sorted the wool into yarn and transported it to the town of Pumexiu and the estate.

Lawrence was thinking about the transportation problem in Oak City. The poor transportation problem in the ice land destined this place to be several times harder.

Snow Mountain Fort was originally used as a logistics base and also as a military and industrial backup site.

When the Snow Mountain Castle was built, the elves had not yet been conquered, and even the Western Church was still based on Saadi Island.

Now that there are not so many threats, the Snow Mountain Fortress hidden in the mountains does not have such a big military role.

It was not suitable for accommodating too many people, and transporting wool, ore and other supplies used to be very time-consuming and laborious.

What would happen if... we moved to a more suitable place?

Lawrence had the idea of ​​​​moving the capital, but after the idea came up, he couldn't hold it back.

"Let's wait and see. If my land only has this, then it would be most suitable to go to Io, but now there are still matters in the south and east to deal with."

"And my foundation is still the people of the Ice Land, not the outsiders."

Lawrence still gave up the idea of ​​moving the capital. The current place in Oak City is very good.

It's okay to build a beautiful castle outside, but you don't need to go there every year, just go there every few years.

The land of ice has natural protective capabilities. In addition, it breeds most of the tall and strong ice people, and it has always encouraged those children to explore and conquer.

Lawrence checked the wool receipts of the past few days, and then went to check it himself.

The numbers definitely don't match up, this is normal.

As long as the difference is not too outrageous, Lawrence will not care about this loss.

Sometimes it is not clear whether it is a calculation error or another problem.

Lawrence analyzed his current problem and concluded that there was no problem.

First spread literacy and know who the prophet is, and then talk about other issues.

The issue of cattle has been developing for two or three years. In addition to the previous support for the livestock industry of Haisenli Kingdom, hundreds of cattle can now be purchased from there every year.

Coupled with the calves produced by the family, the number of farm cattle will basically become popular in the next three to four years.

The seeds of crops such as wheat have been optimized for several generations, and elves and farmers still select the most suitable crop seeds for the local area.

“It’s almost time to loosen some restrictions.”

Lawrence thinks about the impact of every decision he makes on the outside world and tries not to touch sensitive issues.

"Start with soybeans, let the people of Io and Gran plant soybeans on the newly opened land, and also tell the three Covenant countries the technology of extracting soybean oil."

Lawrence thought for a while and decided that this was enough.

Agricultural products of the same period as soybeans include sugar beets. Lawrence has not yet opened up the technology of sugar extraction.

Beet can produce a large amount of sugar. Sugar is still a luxury product in this era and is widely used.

Especially the people here in the Ice Land are addicted to sugar.

Start with soybeans and go step by step.

At present, a lot of technology has been given to the outside world. No matter what, I have to keep some high-profit projects, otherwise I will not be able to support such a luxurious life.

The positioning of Snow Mountain Castle became increasingly clear, and Lawrence decided to position Snow Mountain Castle as a research and development base for core technologies and independently produce some secret products that he did not want outsiders to know.

If you can make farm tools, you can make weapons.

If you can make clocks and steam engines, you can make rifles and artillery.

After ships and trains were created, cars were not far behind.

Of course, he doesn’t even have the skills to ride a bike now, but that doesn’t stop Lawrence from taking a longer view.

Lawrence returned to the second floor of the ring building, where a circle of rail cars was originally designed to transport supplies.

The idea at that time was that when the Valkyries came outside, everyone could rely on the windows to shoot out, and the rail cars behind them would be responsible for transporting supplies and stones.

Later, the worried problems were solved, and the rail cars became vehicles for transporting commodities.

Later, it may be too noisy, or it may be too troublesome. Everyone feels that it is much easier to move it directly than to push it on the car and then pick it up from the car, so they don’t want to use this track-fixed stroller.

The things that were in the way were put into the warehouse, where they languished for several years and are no longer usable.

Things are evolving, and many problems that seemed troublesome at the time are just like that now when I think about it.

Back then, Emma and others would never have imagined that they would have such a life today. Even Lawrence could not imagine that he could allow the Elf Queen to give birth to a child for him, let alone that the aloof Elf Queen would look despicable.

After looking around in the garbage warehouse, Lawrence saw traces of the past on some old wood and stones.

While reminiscing about the past, Cassandra walked in from outside.

"What's going on?" Lawrence knew that Cassandra came to see him alone, so there must be something going on.

"Both things are external matters." Kassandra looked serious and got down to business.

"Signa II is dead, and now Signa III of the Hokuriku Kingdom has ascended the throne, but he needs your coronation."

"Also, Seravan sent someone to deliver the news, saying that fertile land reclaimed by corpse vines had been discovered in the south. That land had been occupied by a group of refugees from Pig Trotter City for two years. Seravan asked what should be done. ”

Lawrence felt that neither was a big deal.

I visited the Hokuriku Kingdom in the 13th year of the New Calendar. The old king was not in good condition at that time.

The elderly in this era died very quickly, especially the nobles on the seaside who were often tortured by illness and were in agony. When they lost the ability to take care of themselves, it was basically time to end their lives.

Perhaps it was the blessing of the Star God that allowed the old king to die of illness in bed instead of being killed.

Lawrence was a little surprised about the corpse-eating vine, he had long forgotten about it.

Cassandra also knew which one was more important. She looked at Lawrence and asked, "Didn't the corpse-eating vines appear after the elf wizards died?"

"No." Lawrence was very sure of this. "The elves will merge with the trees after death and turn into plant nutrients to nourish the forest. According to the elves themselves, they will return to nature."

Kassandra nodded, "The same goes for people. Dead people will be sunk into the sea and then eaten by fish. We will eat fish again."

Lawrence did not want to discuss this philosophical issue, "There is no need for the existence of forests in the south. Since the corpse vine has developed this land, we must use this land reasonably."

"How can we allow outsiders to take possession of something that occupies this land, puts our mark on it, and appears at our doorstep?"

Lawrence issued a direct order of conquest, allowing Seravan to drive out and repel the strangers who were farming on their doorstep.

Lawrence doesn't need slaves now, nor does he need slaves who can't understand the words here, or have barbaric thinking and logic.

There is a large amount of available labor in both Dumu Port and Feiyu Port, which is Lawrence's confidence.

The next morning, after a long rest, Catherine returned to work and took Lawrence to the forest area on the edge of the Sider territory.

This is the location where the corpse vine appears, and it is also near the village mentioned in the report.

The corpse-eating vines feed on rotting corpses and should have died naturally in the soil soon, but the corpse-eating vines that evolved from the bodies of the three swamp witches did not follow the general rules.

Lawrence found that there were some differences between this place and his memory. The former forest had disappeared and turned into gentle grass.

The outlines of villages and farmland can be seen at the foot of the mountain in the distance, and it is obvious that someone has established a settlement here.

At this time, the messenger has not yet conveyed Lawrence's order to Seravan. This time, in addition to seeing the results of the corpse-eating vine, Lawrence also wanted to see who was living in front of his house.

As he got closer, Lawrence discovered that the lives of these people were still primitive.

Their houses should be regarded as thatched houses with tree branch fences. They are simply built with wooden branches of different sizes and dried plants to look like a house.

There are about two wells in the village, and a river flows not far away. The yards and roads are covered with grass, and there are no livestock in sight.

Because it was early in the morning, the humidity and mist made this village of more than a dozen households seem very quiet.

Some of the dilapidated houses look very much like the shacks Lawrence built fifteen years ago.

Lawrence left this quiet village on a unicorn and continued to the deep forest to search for traces of corpse-eating vines.

The corpse vine would often appear from the ground. Lawrence and the other witches did not understand the principle and reason, but the corpse vine would regularly emerge half of its body from the soil, and then burrow into the soil from a new ground.

The location of the corpse vine can be found from the dug mounds of soil and traces of movement.

Corpse vines will not damage crops. They prefer to follow the smell to find decayed nutrients to eat, and they will also avoid the roots of big trees.

Where big trees have dense roots, these corpse-eating vines will subconsciously stay away.

How exactly, Lawrence is not sure.

Just when she was thinking about how to find the corpse-eating vine, Catherine suddenly stopped and couldn't walk away.

The grass ahead began to swell, and something surged from beneath the turf.

Lawrence took out the fine iron sword slung on his shoulder and dropped it from the unicorn's body to the ground.

When Lawrence's boots hit the ground, the thing crawling in front finally revealed its head with white hair.

There is a clear difference between the corpse vine and the corpse vine in memory. The current corpse vine looks like a terrifying earthworm man.

Its face looks like an old witch, its curved body looks like a crooked old woman, and its body has a large number of punctures that look like the cuticles of its skin, but also look like nails and teeth.

"Lawrence...Lawrence..."

The earthworm's mouth made an incomprehensible and disgusting sound, muttering Lawrence's name.

Lawrence scolded in a cold voice: "How dare you call me by my name! You are seeking death!"

Lawrence slammed his foot on the ground in front of him, and a stone was shaken up.

The tough long sword slammed against the stone, and the next moment a large amount of gravel and sparks were shot out towards the earthworm monster.

The broken stone shot into the corpse vine's skin, and the powerful impact smashed a piece of the corpse vine's head into pieces.

Lawrence rushed over, swung his long sword and struck four times quickly, cutting the corpse vine into several pieces.

The corpse vine's head is gone, but it still makes unpleasant noises with its tail.

"Curse...curse you..."

"Because my name is destined to be recorded in the history of this continent, and glory will be bestowed upon me forever. If you want to curse me, then you'd better curse me to live longer. People can only live long if they live longer. Mistakes will continue to be made.”

Lawrence looked at the corpse-eating vine that quickly stopped. Those three swamp witches were really not fun, and they would cause trouble even if they died.

Dealing with supernatural events was not Laurence's specialty. The ones best suited to deal with witches had always been wizards.

Not a wizard like Lawrence, but a wizard like Alondo and Will.

Lawrence rode the unicorn back to Port Dum, and sent people to the death row island in the north to call back Will, who was studying the structure of the human body and the secrets of immortality.

What Will did was a very evil thing in this era, dissecting and studying corpses, but Lawrence didn't care about this. As long as Will's research can make medical progress and solve problems that cannot be solved in this era, then Lawrence is willing to put him Those prisoners who deserved to be executed were handed over to the elf wizard for recycling.

When Will, who was studying the mysteries of death and consciousness, heard that Lawrence had summoned him, he quickly put aside what he was doing and came to see this generous, kind and wise donor.

"Greetings to you, Your Majesty the Great Prophet."

Lawrence looked at this slovenly elf and said directly without any nonsense: "Will, there are two zombie vines transformed by swamp witches in the southern forest. Go and deal with them and tell me why they are still conscious. "

"Yes! Your Majesty, the merciful and great prophet." Will quickly agreed to this errand that interested him.

Even if he is not interested, Will will agree, because such a good boss is really hard to find, and it is necessary to do something for him.

Lawrence watched this obedient elf leave here, and he knew very well that this elf wizard was more dangerous than Alondo.

Aaron knew the current affairs, and this Will was a bit crazy. The reason why he surrendered was not because he was afraid of death. He had the idea of ​​joining after learning that Lawrence accepted wizards from many schools.

But madmen are good for madmen, and dealing with swamp witches requires some mentally abnormal but extremely determined wizards.

Will just wanted to figure out the mysteries of life and death, so he killed many elves for this purpose.

Except for not eating, Will is no worse than the three swamp witches in every aspect.

Lawrence supported Will's research, helped him obtain some troublesome materials, and provided a safe and undisturbed research institute. He was a benefactor to Will.

If Lawrence is killed, then Will will definitely help Lawrence get revenge, because it will definitely mean that he will no longer have the support of a financial sponsor in the future, and this hatred will definitely be engraved in his heart! (End of chapter)