Chapter 15: Winter is Approaching

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“My lord, when will Knight Hallmark be notified?”

Lucy recorded everything and closed her notebook.

Wang Lun waved his hand airily and said, “I will send someone to inform him later. If you are free now, bring them to find a place to stay!”

“Me?” Lucy froze and pointed at herself.

Wang Lun laughed. “What’s wrong with that?”

Lucy leaned close to Wang Lun, and an aromatic fragrance struck his nostrils.

The hormones in Wang Lun’s body instantly surged, and he quickly turned his head away.

“My lord, I’m scared!” Lucy said in a soft, shaky voice.

She didn’t dare let the minotaurs hear her, afraid that she would be torn apart by them.

Wang Lun chuckled. “Why? They are not that scary. Or do you expect me to go instead?”

Wang Lun didn’t show a little compassion at all.

Lucy shrank her head, pouted her lips, and whispered, “All right…”

“My people, this young lady will bring you around to find a place to stay!”

Wang Lun grabbed Lucy’s shoulders with both hands and pushed her out.

The minotaurs looked at Lucy with frightening eyes.

“Sorry for the trouble, young lady!”

Lucy had no choice but to brace herself and take up the job.

Upon seeing that the minotaurs had secured jobs, fellow refugees were instantly discontent.

“We came to Yale City together, but why did those lowly half-beasts find jobs before us!”

“Yes, we were here first!”

“These low-born half-beasts are only worthy of being slaves. How could they be given jobs?”

The refugees stood near Wang Lun, so naturally, he heard their complaints.

“My people, welcome to Yale City!”

A welcome ceremony was necessary and Wang Lun didn’t want to leave a blemish on his reputation in their impression.

“Greetings, city lord!”

Among the newly-arrived refugees, a white-haired and bony old man stood out and bowed at Wang Lun.

“Head to the Security Bureau and register your identity cards first!”

Wang Lun pointed to a building not far away and said.

As there would be immigrants, Wang Lun set up the Security Bureau not far from the main city gate.

Although the people still held some ambiguity towards Wang Lun’s attitude with the half-beasts earlier, how would they dare to go against the city lord’s will?

Wang Lun followed up by explaining. “You may not have heard of what an identity card is. It is something that the people of Yale City use to prove their identity. With the identity card, you are officially permanent residents of Yale City. In the face of danger, Yale City will protect you!”

“Permanent residents?”

A middle-aged man among the refugees was puzzled.

Wang Lun nodded.

These refugees had been displaced almost all their lives and didn’t dare hope for a fixed residence at all.

“Go register yourselves first. The people in the Security Bureau will tell you the next steps to take in Yale City.”

Without asking any more questions, the refugees bade farewell to Wang Lun and headed to the Security Bureau.

The refugees were used to seeing the terrible attitude of nobles toward half-beasts. So now, such a huge contrast in treatment toward the half-beasts would inevitably be unacceptable to them.

However, they didn’t know that the reason why Wang Lun did that was for the construction of Yale City. He needed the minotaurs to work even harder for that purpose.

The population had already exceeded 10,000, which was beyond his original plan. Despite that, he didn’t give the order to stop accepting refugees.

With the increasing number of refugees, the food problem still hadn’t been effectively solved.

Bran had advised Wang Lun several times to stop sheltering refugees. If he kept going on, Yale City would eventually revert to its previous state where everyone had no food.

By then, not only would the people have no access to food, but the city hall would also be affected. Even if there was food for the city hall, the people would certainly rob it like a bunch of madmen.

When a life was at stake, one wouldn’t care if the food belonged to the city lord. One would do everything one could to survive.

But Wang Lun didn’t have much reaction at all. He simply remarked that this was the beginning of the development of Yale City, and labor was the primary force. Without labor, the city wouldn’t be able to grow.

At that point, building a civilized city would simply become empty talk.

It was already late autumn. The air was so cold that it was able to penetrate bones.

Wang Lun sauntered out of the room in a coat. He squinted at the sky.

The weather wasn’t too great, with thick layers of clouds covering the sky.

“It’s getting colder!”

Wang Lun wrapped his coat tightly against his body. He couldn’t stand this cold temperature.

If he were on Earth right now, he wouldn’t need to wear a coat. However, this world was too counterintuitive. Although it wasn’t to the point of freezing yet, the cold air was still unbearable.

It was early morning, so Wang Lun headed directly to the dining hall.

Before arriving at the dining hall, he encountered Bran and Hallmark.

Wang Lun felt too lonely dining alone, so he gave an order for the two of them to dine at the city hall every meal if they didn’t have to attend to any urgent matters.

“My lord, did you just wake up?”

Hallmark spotted Wang Lun and spoke first.

Wang Lun turned toward him and smiled. “Yeah. You guys as well, huh?”

“My lord, I need to talk to you about the current situation of Yale City. Now that winter is approaching, I’m afraid we don’t have enough food in the city to support the people.”

Bran came to Wang Lun’s side with an anxious look.

“He’s right, My lord. We’re slowly running out of food in the city.”

As Hallmark managed the soldiers, he had noticed that there were some changes to his soldiers’ food recently.

Wang Lun chuckled. “I know that, but there is no need to worry. Although the food we grow has almost been finished, don’t forget that we can still import them.

“When I first came to Yale City, I relied on the grains I bought to feed the people in the city.”

The two of them, both of whom had followed Wang Lun for quite a while, were deeply aware of this matter.

“If the city hall doesn’t have enough funds, don’t forget that there is more than one store in Yale City. Will those merchants give up such a good opportunity?”

Wang Lun shrugged. “As capitalists, their hearts will never allow them to do so.”

One after the other, they entered the dining hall and saw that breakfast was already prepared at the table.

Lucy came to the dining hall early. Upon seeing Wang Lun and the other two men, she got up and pulled out a chair. “My lord, please take a seat.”

Wang Lun sat down on that chair. Hallmark and Bran didn’t receive the same special treatment, so they each found a seat and also sat down.

Lucy was also a diner at this meal.

The three of them held knives and forks, while Wang Lun was the only one who held a pair of chopsticks. They were puzzled by his dining habits.

“Lucy, how much money is left in the treasury?” Wang Lun asked.

Upon hearing his question, Lucy put down the knife and fork in her hands and answered, “The treasury is almost empty. Most of the money had been used to purchase food!”

Wang Lun nodded, responded with a casual ‘oh’, and continued eating his breakfast.