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Chapter 8 Where There's a Will, There's a Way

"Will they wrest the food during the harvest?" Henry frowned.

"Of course, the weak are also be wrested," Mila affirmed because she have followed the tracks of bandits.

Henry's brow furrowed tightly. The autumn harvest was just around the corner, with only a few weeks left. He immediately understood why the Carter had sold him the city and its lands.

"What will you do now? I found no knights, no guards, not even a single servant in the castle," Mila remarked.

With her arms crossed, she continued, "Without knights, you won't endure the attack of the bandits. You might even lose your life, and they could take over your castle, becoming the new lord of Eldoria."

Mila heard of such occurrences before, bandits openly lived in the seized castles.

"The former knights and guards were taken by Carter," Henry sighed.

After over twenty days, his life as a lord would come to an end.

"Would you like to come with me?" Mila suddenly spoke, her cheeks slightly flushed. She quickly added, "It's just to repay a debt. Yes, that's it."

Henry chuckled, gazing at Mila with composure. "We still have more than twenty days, don't we?"

Mila, looking at his confident smile, held back her words of persuasion and said in annoyance, "Well, I hope you won't be dead in the end."

Without waiting for Henry's response, she swayed her hips and tail, leaving the study to give him some space to think about.

She was indeed a considerate catgirl!

Henry watched the door gently close, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "Carter, you've planned well, but..."

He was not an ordinary man; for others, this would be an unsolvable situation.

Either abandon the city and leave or wait to be robbed. If lucky, he might survive, but if not, death is the only outcome. However, he had a trump card.

"It seems I need to plan carefully. Being a lord is no easy task."

Muttering to himself, Henry took a piece of parchment from the desk and began writing with a pen.

In this world, paper was a luxury, with most people using parchment made from sheepskin or pieces of cloth.

After a while, Henry put down his pen and rolled up the parchment, leaving the study.

Along the way, he pondered on one question: how to quickly assemble a capable force which was his top priority for survival.

Looking at the empty castle, Henry sighed, "I should go and bring Uncle Wyatt's family here first. With their help, things will be better."

Uncle Wyatt's family was the first family he had met in this world, and they had saved his life. He had spent most of the past month living with them.

He found a wooden board and fixed the rolled parchment on it. Then he carried the board and left the castle, placing it in the small square.

Immediately, some curious onlookers approached, but no one dared to come too close. Henry smiled and left.

As soon as he walked away, the crowd gathered around the wooden board, staring at the parchment in astonishment.

"Hey! Can anyone read it? What does it say? Are they raising taxes again?"

For people struggling to survive, being able to read was a luxury.

If Henry had not met Uncle Wyatt's family, he would not have understood the written language of this world. After a month of learning under Wyatt's guidance, he could understand most of the written language in this world.

Vincent, around fifty years old, was one of the few literate people in Eldoria. He came to the wooden board, read it silently, and then his eyes widened in disbelief. He exclaimed, "120 copper coins?"

"What 120 copper coins? Mr. Vincent, please read it out loud."

Vincent regained his composure and read aloud, "The Lord's Mansion is now recruiting three scribes who can read and write. Upon a successful interview, the monthly salary is 120 copper coins. Interested parties can now go to the Lord's Mansion for an interview.

"Experienced hunters, aged 16 to 30, limited to 50 people. Those who pass the trial in three days will receive a monthly salary of 100 copper coins.

"Physically strong individuals with no criminal record, aged 16 to 30, limited to 100 people. Those who pass the interview in three days will receive a monthly salary of 80 copper coins.

"Both requirements are for joining the army. Interested parties, please come to the front of the Lord's Mansion for testing in three days."

As soon as Vincent finished reading, the people present were stunned, and they erupted into a strong commotion.

"Is this a scam? 80 copper coins a month for joining the army?"

"Yeah, 100 copper coins for hunters, that's too much."

"The previous Lord only paid 50 copper coins a month for joining the army. Is this new Lord really wealthy?"

In this world, the average monthly salary for people working to help others was only 40 to 50 copper coins, and most soldiers received 50 copper coins.

A family of three could barely make ends meet with a monthly salary of 60 copper coins, considering that a kilogram of coarse wheat costs 2 copper coins in Eldoria, along with other expenses.

And now, Henry's recruitment offer was a monthly salary of 80 copper coins, a 30% increase, immediately tempting many people.

This was one of Henry's strategies; he was not short of money.

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