Two months had passed since that great battle. The temperature had risen, and early summer had arrived. The entire Northlands had returned to peace, and the tense wartime atmosphere that had once gripped every region was gone.
Spring planting in Two Rivers County, which had originally progressed slowly due to labor shortages, had largely been completed. It was now entering the rare lull of the summer farming season.
Villages throughout Two Rivers County had begun to settle into a leisurely rhythm. The busy sight of people leaving at sunrise and returning at sunset was no more. Children were playing everywhere. After all, they no longer had to work the fields alongside their parents and now had time to play with their friends in the fields and along the ridges. Their parents did not stop them.
Meanwhile, militia units across the territory once again took advantage of the farming lull to begin their concentrated summer training. On the Drill Grounds of every village and Border Fortress, these temporarily assembled militia members trained under the commands of militia captains who had once been veteran soldiers.
Yet industrial centers of the territory such as Riverside Town did not share the leisurely atmosphere of the agricultural regions. Factories would not halt production because of the farming lull, and all workers still had to work diligently.
Their children likewise could not run around and play like the children in the countryside. They had to attend the schools built for them by the territory. At present, such educational support was available only in a few areas of the territory.
The entire territory was brimming with vitality. However, unlike the comparatively relaxed common subjects, the administrative system was extremely busy, and many lower-ranking civil officials were worked to the point of mental exhaustion.
Within the county government