Chapter 871 — The Courage to Face the Sea
Blade of Dawn · Page 1 of 4
The civilians who had come to "make trouble" were led away by soldiers. They would be assigned to the construction site in the western district of Northport, where there was plenty of work that required little skill waiting for them. Their status would be that of "rioters sentenced to labor for provoking disturbances"—and given their conduct, they would be sentenced to several hours of labor. Yet out of obvious and basic survival needs, they would also receive a hot meal, a hot bath, and "a negligible stipend for their hard work."
Victoria had never seen such an operation before.
"Rules can be too rigid at times, so we have to improvise on the spot—especially in a place this far from the imperial capital, with such peculiar local customs," Byron said with a shrug, glancing at Victoria, who had just emerged from the curved-light force field and was staring at him in bewilderment. "These civilians were 'incited' by the local minor nobles and estate owners. That was how it started.
"The Construction Corps' work here at Northport clearly provoked certain people—and the influence of the Wilde family kept them from acting openly. So these people tried to probe our strength by other means. They incited or bribed a number of ignorant civilians, and those civilians really were furious when they first arrived. But they soon discovered that we were more 'kind and generous' than the people who had incited them. The Construction Corps has ample supplies, and the civilians want very little. They can do some simple work here and trade it for food they would otherwise only enjoy on special occasions.
"But what made an even bigger difference was hot water. Our communal bathhouse is the most popular place here—more popular than I expected. The camp now has two waste-heat recovery centers and a central heat-exchange station, and the residents near this cold beach clearly don't get many chances to bathe in hot water. My military doctor believes that bathing these outsiders can effectively prevent them from spreading disease through the camp. And now the latter have fallen in love with the abundant hot-water supply here..."
Victoria's expression had changed more times today than in the past half month combined. Frowning, she looked at this "Imperial General" before her with a strange expression. "So... these people come here often? They protest to you, get 'arrested' by your soldiers and put to work, and end up with a good meal and a hot bath..."
"And a small stipend. As you know, imperial law stipulates that those undergoing labor reform may also receive a modest wage for their work. It's meant to encourage their enthusiasm for earning a living through labor."
At this point, Byron paused before continuing. "At first only men came. They had been incited or bribed. After several rounds of forced labor and payment, some of them tried to smuggle food back home to their families. I noticed, but I didn't stop them. There was nothing wrong with it. But the people standing in the shadows clearly didn't want to see that outcome—they must have forbidden it. You can imagine what happened next: these people began bringing their wives and children along. In fact, they even intended to bring the elderly and the very young, but that would have been too dangerous. I couldn't allow it..."
Victoria listened as Byron described all this in a relaxed, cheerful tone, yet her expression gradually grew serious. Only when he finished did she exhale and say in a low voice, "So these people, who were once incited... are now completely on your side... and the ones who incited them still haven't realized how serious the situation is."