Neil Thompson immediately reprimanded, "You foolish man, even though you all eat like bottomless pits, when has our lord ever complained about how much you eat?"
Mark Evans, hearing this, thought for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed foolishly, "Heh, it seems like you're right. The lord has never complained about us eating too much!"
Mark then turned serious, "But I have great strength and meet the lord's requirements for recruitment. Why won't he let me join the city guard?"
Magnus Valorion put down his tea and explained, "Mark Evans, you must understand that you are the only blacksmith in our town. You are a high-value talent in Greenwood Town!"
Although Mark didn't understand what "high-value talent" meant, he could tell from the tone that Magnus was complimenting him.
"Yesterday, I mentioned that our town is in desperate need of weapons and armor. The reason I won't let you join the city guard is that I need you to forge weapons for the city guards and the patrol officers to defend against invasions."
"Therefore, I have decided to establish an armory, and you will be in charge of recruiting personnel and producing the military supplies needed for the entire town! Rest assured, your monthly grain ration will be higher than that of the city guards."
Hearing Magnus's promise, Mark couldn't help but feel overjoyed. As the saying goes, "A bird chooses a tree to nest in, and a minister chooses a wise ruler to serve." Clearly, Magnus was that wise ruler, worthy of his utmost loyalty.
A loyal servant will die for a wise ruler, and a woman will adorn herself for her lover. At this moment, Mark no longer worried about not being able to join the city guard. Instead, he began thinking about how to help Magnus quickly produce high-quality weapons.
After Mark left, Neil Thompson reported on the day's recruitment progress to Magnus.
"My lord, according to your instructions, we have recruited 68 people for the city guard and 138 for the patrol team today."
Magnus nodded slightly and asked, "Are there any with military experience?"
Neil replied, "My lord, Noah was originally a soldier in Greenwood Town. He lost an arm fighting the Sami and received a pension to leave the army."
If not for Neil's reminder, Magnus might have forgotten that Noah had joined the city guard. Magnus was astonished to think that Noah could lift the 150-pound stone lock over his head with just one arm and hold it for ten breaths. How strong would Noah have been if he hadn't lost his other arm?
Although Magnus hadn't recruited many soldiers, the quality was high. If one day Mark could forge armor for these men, fully arming them from head to toe, even a force of just over 200 men would be formidable.
Whether Mark could produce the needed weapons or Magnus could obtain them through his system, the current priority was to solve the population issue in the town.
Now that Magnus had a "regular army" and a "reserve force," totaling over 200 men, they needed more than just rice and pickles to survive. They also needed money and silver.
Even though Magnus only had 17 taels of silver, with an endless supply of rice and pickles, he wasn't worried about earning money. The task of taking rice to nearby towns to exchange for silver was naturally assigned to his trusted aide.
So, Galen Veritas had another task: leading a team to take the grain and pickles to the nearby largest town, Greenwood Town, to exchange for silver.
Galen's first trip to Greenwood Town took seven days, during which he exchanged ten cartloads of grain and pickles for silver ingots. This trip brought in a total of 3000 taels of silver, a third more than Magnus had anticipated.
Additionally, Galen brought news that the entire Fierce Lion Province was experiencing a severe food shortage. The province had been in a drought for over six months, with the fields parched and cracked. Nearby Greenwood Town and Willowbrook Town had seen their grain production cut by more than half.
"My lord, when I was selling grain in Greenwood Town, the price was increasing daily. The grain merchants in the town raised prices three or four times a day!" Galen reported in detail to Magnus.
The people in the border areas were already living difficult lives. This year's drought had worsened the situation, and with grain shortages, these profiteers were continually raising prices, making life unbearable for ordinary people.
Magnus coldly asked, "Galen, you didn't join them in raising prices, did you?"
Knowing Magnus's kind heart, Galen quickly knelt before him, hastily explaining, "My lord, I wouldn't dare do anything that would tarnish your reputation. As soon as I brought the grain and pickles into town, the merchants bought everything in one go."
Magnus scolded, "Galen, Galen, you fool! A rare opportunity like this, you should have raised the prices along with the merchants."
Galen was stunned. "Did I hear wrong? Isn't the lord kind-hearted and unable to see the people suffer? Why is he suddenly urging me to join the profiteers?"
Seeing the confusion in Galen's eyes, Magnus explained, "Galen, do you know what our town lacks the most right now?"
Galen thought for a moment and said, "Money?"
Magnus shook his head.
"Weapons and equipment?"
Magnus shook his head again, denying Galen's guesses.
"I'm too ignorant, please enlighten me, my lord," Galen asked directly.