Chapter 108: Hope

“Fish? Real meat?” Karn said in surprise.

“Of course it’s real,” the caravan guard said with a smile. “Alright, we’re heading to the market now. Hope we meet again.” After patting Karn on the shoulder, he left.

The refugees from the caravan had a designated settlement area. Outside the town, there was a shelter specifically for gathering refugees. All refugees coming to the territory needed to gather here first.

“Kevin, don’t run around. Stay close to me,” Karn said to the boy behind him. Then, holding Kevin with one hand and a young woman with the other, he walked toward the shelter. Around them, more than ten militia members maintained order. The refugees were very curious about Northguard Keep. To them, this place was incredibly clean.

The stone roads were swept spotless. There was no smell of waste or filth fermenting in the air. The people didn’t have that obvious stench either. It was different from all the cities they had seen along the way. There were even flowers and plants planted on both sides of the road.

“Karn, is that a bridge?” the woman asked, pointing at the aqueduct not far away.

“I don’t know either. Bridges should be over rivers, right? But this is too magnificent.”

The most striking structure in Northguard Keep was this aqueduct. In this era, buildings over ten meters tall were very rare, let alone this structure that was several kilometers long and a full thirty-five meters high. In the eyes of these refugees, this building was simply a miracle.

Walking along the smooth stone road, many people around were watching this group of refugees who had traveled a long distance. However, no one bothered them because they had their own work to do. If they were caught slacking off, they would definitely have points deducted. Points were related to their future farmland and housing, so they couldn’t afford to be careless.

Karn and the others soon arrived at the refugee shelter. The officials at the shelter took out parchment and checked and registered all the refugees. Only after everyone was registered did they have people take them to a public bathhouse next door to bathe. Surprisingly, everyone was given two sets of clothes.

Though they were just rough hemp clothes, they were much better than what they were wearing.

“Everyone listen up! After you bathe, all of you must change into the new clothes. Then someone will take you to eat. Throw your old clothes directly here. Those who don’t change won’t get any food!” a staff member said to the refugees. Then, all the refugees entered the public bathhouse in groups to bathe.

After bathing and changing into new clothes, these refugees finally no longer looked like beggars. Next, Karn took his wife and Kevin and followed that staff member to eat. The eating place was very close by. Everyone was given a plate and a spoon, then lined up to get food.

Surprisingly, besides a portion of mashed potatoes, each person also got a bowl of fish soup. The last time Karn had eaten meat was several months ago when he caught a rabbit. He never expected to have fish soup right after arriving here.

A bowl of fish soup wasn’t much, but everyone ate it completely clean. They even licked the fish bones until not a shred of meat remained. After the meal, the same staff member took them to assign housing. Families were assigned according to family units, while single people shared a room with several others.

The houses were newly built. Though not large, they were clean and tidy, with quilts already provided inside. Compared to where they used to live, this place could be called heaven.

Soon, guards came to tell them which areas they couldn’t go to—those were restricted zones—as well as the various rules and laws of the territory. Also, the houses they were living in now didn’t belong to them; they were only for temporary stay.

To obtain housing, they needed to use money and points to exchange for it. And besides today’s food, starting tomorrow, if they wanted to get food, they had to work. After working each day, they would receive points and money according to their work. Here, if they wanted better food, better housing, or farmland, they needed to work hard.

If they had skills, they could report them and take an assessment. After passing the assessment, they would be assigned to suitable positions. Masons, blacksmiths, carpenters, brewers, carvers—women who could cook or sew clothes also had advantages. If they really had no skills, that was fine too; they could do laborious work like carrying loads, unloading goods, or digging soil.

The daily rewards they could earn were at least thirty Copper Nales, with a maximum of seventy Copper Nales. These rewards were slightly lower than in Karlt City, but working in Northguard Keep included daily meals, with at least one meal containing meat, plus points.

Points were very important here. To buy farmland or houses, a certain amount of points was required. Without points, they would need to pay double or even triple the price.

Houses, land.

After hearing these words, Karn’s eyes instantly became intensely fervent. As a commoner, he originally had three brothers, but only the eldest had inheritance rights and could inherit their father’s few acres of land and house.

He and his younger brother could only leave home after reaching adulthood to farm and work for noble lords. If the noble lords didn’t need them, they could only go to the city to find work, becoming refugees with uncertain futures.

For them, nothing was more appealing than land and houses. If they could obtain a piece of land, they could establish themselves here. The points needed to exchange for land and houses were considerable. An ordinary person needed to work diligently for about three years to exchange for a piece of farmland or a house. Of course, if it was a couple, this process would be much faster.

Of course, if they didn’t want to slowly accumulate points to exchange for houses and farmland bit by bit, they could also sign up for the military. Northguard Keep also calculated military merits for soldiers. Compared to points, military merits required much less to exchange for land and houses.

Just by participating in killing a few enemies, they could earn enough military merits to exchange for land and a house. What was even more thrilling was that after reaching a certain level of military merit, they could exchange for a noble title from the lord.

Of course, this noble title was the lowest rank of knighthood, and this title came without a fief. It only provided some conveniences within the territory and a slight improvement in status and position. Beyond that, there were no other benefits, but there were still many people who wanted to exchange for knighthood.

Karn clenched his fist. Just today, he had killed two Gnolls on the battlefield. Though it was with everyone’s combined effort, it gave him the courage to join the military.

Though he had been here for less than a day, Karn already felt a strong liking for this place. Because in this city, he saw something he could never see anywhere else—hope.