Chapter 204 Boritz's Little Plan

With his hands covered with blood scabs inserted into the gap between the tiles and the ground, Boritz straightened up with difficulty and walked towards the small square in the middle with the strong farmers.

As one of the first people to arrive on the island in the lake, Boritz had been playing with the dust for two days.

As a notary who once enjoyed a high reputation in France and a half-legal scholar, Boritz had never done such tiring work.

Even though he became a refugee and worked as a laborer, his daily life was still to work as a copyist for others. When he was most tired, the only thing he felt was sore wrists.

He followed the Salvation Army at first because he was afraid that after the Imperial Order Company arrived, they would start a massacre of refugees. Following these rebels, he at least had some ability to protect himself.

But later, when he learned that the Salvation Army had used some unknown means to get the Grand Duchess to act as a guarantor, Boritz complained bitterly again. If he had known earlier, he would have stayed at home and not gotten involved in such a mess.

However, Boritz was keenly aware that after Juanno's death, the Archduchess and the Church would inevitably fall out, and the asylum would not last long.

Besides, maybe he could follow the Saviors to the Blackbone Swamp and become a local chief, so Boritz convinced his companions to come here with him.

But now, his companions are on the verge of falling out with him.

Because the beastman tribe in the Blackbone Swamp is a matriarchal clan, men are not allowed to be kings.

A kingdom was actually only the size of a village. When Boritz first arrived at the capital of Carthage, he almost fainted.

Is this a kingdom? You dare to call a village with less than a hundred people a kingdom?

Boritz originally wanted to escape, but it was easy for him to get into the Blackbone Swamp but difficult to get out. After thinking it over and over again, he found in despair that the only way now was probably to continue following Horn.

Veins bulged on his forehead as Boritz followed closely behind the other young men, his calves trembling uncontrollably.

The pile of bricks in front of him seemed hazy in his eyes. He was a noble college student, how could he have fallen to doing such a thing?
Mechanically following the young man in front of him, Boritz walked to the pile of bricks, but he was still complaining about himself in his mind. He hugged the bricks with both hands, aimed at the top of the pile, and dropped it heavily.

"what!"

The shrill scream made the child soldier who was maintaining order look up. He put down the brick in his hand, squeezed through the crowd and came to Boritz's side.

"what happened?"

Boritz held his left wrist. The nails of his left index and middle fingers were cracked and turned outward. Blood was dripping from between his fingers. He felt so painful that tears were about to fall.

The child soldier looked at the bricks he brought, which were only half as heavy as the others, and shook his head helplessly: "Go to the entrance of the town, there is a temporary clinic, ask the medical soldiers to bandage you, and then go and clean up the garbage with those women."

There was an immediate burst of laughter all around, and Boritz's face turned red.

But when he saw the boy soldiers with daggers tied around their waists, he muttered like a deflated ball: "I am a college student..."

Holding his wrist, Boritz walked dejectedly towards the entrance of the town.

For some reason, Horn never gave the town a name, and everyone just called it "the town".

Soon, Boritz arrived at the entrance of the town. This area was the first to be cleared, and compared to the area they had just worked on, it had already taken shape.

Many temporary administrative agencies are set up here, such as the police station, health center, prayer center, canteen, etc. Although they have not officially moved in, some basic needs still have to be met.

Boritz tried to find his place in these institutions, but he didn't quite fit in any of them.

The security station was originally an outpost of the Aiel Legion in the civilian city. The chief of security is Chap, an old player of the Moulin Rouge Village. He had been a night watchman for a few days before, and he has a calm and reliable personality to the point of being a little dull.

Horn ordered the dormitory of the outpost to be converted into a prison, and specially selected a group of disabled old soldiers and child soldiers to serve as night watchmen. Their weapons were not hook spears, but a trident similar to a halberd, which was used to block the weapons of criminals and restrain their movements.

In addition, there are shields, fishing nets, ropes, javelins, and even holy guns.

Unlike normal night watch guards, the night watchmen in the security station are not free labor, but are paid. Although most of them are temporary workers, their income is quite considerable year-on-year.

Horn attached great importance to order and security, so people who could join this organization had to be at least Gulag veterans, and Boritz did not meet the requirements.

Opposite the police station is the prayer house, a simple house made of canvas propped up on the ruins.

The director of the prayer house is Armand, who, in addition to performing religious ceremonies and confessions for believers, also serves as a grocer.

Due to the current shortage of supplies, Horn has adopted a rationing system. Under the rationing system, if the prayer center wants to buy something, in addition to money, it also needs to take indulgences with a specified limit.

Boritz had tried this place before, but for some reason, Armand refused.

Walking further along this street, passing several brick-and-mortar construction sites where roofs were being renovated, the clinic finally appeared in front of us.

The clinic was converted from a moneylender's courtyard. The clinic's director, Ceci, knocked down a wall and turned it into a semi-open medical facility.

However, at present it can only treat headaches, fever and simple fractures and injuries.

Boritz was also not selected because he had no relevant knowledge and the clinic was already filled with former battlefield medics.

After walking for a few minutes, Boritz felt the pain in his hand gradually fade away, turning into a slight pain and numbness.

“… Arriving at the Holy Capital of Autumn Dusk Island, the Salvation Army, in accordance with the will of the Holy Father, turned all residents into freemen, regardless of whether they were previously citizens, refugees, or public registered farmers or armed farmers.

On this basis, we are going to count the residents and transfer their household registration. Therefore, we need literate registrars, so we are recruiting scribes and accountants who understand grammar from the majority of believers..."

Boritz, who was walking towards the clinic, stopped, turned around and looked in the direction where the sound came from.

However, there was a notice posted on the broken doorpost, and a priest from the Holy Trinity Education Team was reading the words on the notice loudly.

"No age or gender restrictions, those who know arithmetic will be given priority, daily salary 2 dinars, food and lodging included..."

At this moment, Boritz didn't even care about his hand injury and ran straight to the goalpost, where a lot of people had already gathered.

Squeezing to the front row, Boritz began to read the announcement. For him, this simple announcement of only a few hundred words was easy to read with just a glance.

Recruiting literate people for a census? Registering the household?
Boritz was cheered up. As a notary who was closer to the upper class among the citizens, he had too many similar experiences.

While others might have viewed it as just an ordinary temporary job, Boritz immediately sensed something different - wasn't this just a prelude to establishing a town hall?

This Black Bone Swamp is about the size of a township, and can be used for both crop production and fish farming, and perhaps even for smuggling through the Sweat Road.

If the Salvation Army can set up camp here and build a city, it might not be impossible for me to get into the inner circle and get a position.

But this would mean he would be completely on the Savior Army's pirate ship. Boritz hesitated. Now that the announcement was in front of him, he had to consider whether this would be his only chance.

Boritz looked at the wound on his hand, gritted his teeth, cursed, and walked towards the priest who was reading the notice.

"I want to apply. Where can I sign up?"

(End of this chapter)