Future Life

Chapter 36: Future Life

"Because we are one family, A loving family."

After several days of cutting wood, Hozzenplozz and the others left the Lohr Town camp by carriage, singing as they traveled towards Wessen Territory.

At first, he was a little worried that if people from Red Mud Village recognized him again, it would cause trouble.

Now he didn't have to worry. Everyone around him was from somewhere else and didn't know him. Nobody recognized him. Now everyone was a brother and sister of Wessen Territory.

Hozzenplozz had made up his mind. From now on, he would just farm and live out his life.

He didn't know that Frederick's order was to scatter and resettle people from different places. He thought Baron Weissen was just taking care of him.

They spent four days reaching the camp outside Hausen Town in Wessen Territory. The next day, someone came to ask them about their specialties.

"I'm a farmer." ×2

Hozzenplozz noticed a woman next to him giving the same answer.

He turned his head curiously and saw that she was also looking at him. She was a little younger than him, sturdy, and somewhat pretty.

"Hello, I'm Lihel."

"Ah, hello, I'm Hozzenplozz."

The two got acquainted.

Red Hat looked at the two of them, both sturdy, and asked, "There's a village to the south, by the mountains. It's not far from other people's territory, and wild beasts often come over there. Are you willing to go there?"

Both of them immediately agreed.

Two more days passed, and Hozzenplozz and Lihel, along with others, rode in a donkey cart, singing as they headed to the place where their new lives would begin.

Lihel in the donkey cart asked the driver, "Do you know how to raise donkeys?"

Hozzenplozz replied, "I know a little. Didn't Red Hat say someone would teach us? We'll learn."

It was impossible for a village in those days to not have livestock. They were needed for pulling carts, grinding grain, and carrying things.

However, Wessen Territory's demand for livestock was too high, and there weren't enough packhorses on the market, so they bought quite a few Ami Donkeys, which were unique to Rhodes in the Aegean Sea.

Ami Donkeys were very strong and durable. Legend had it that on Rhodes, two foreign men and two foreign women worked with one Ami Donkey for two years without a single day of rest.

Hozzenplozz said with a chuckle, "Raising donkeys for the village will earn extra wages. Once I save enough money, I want to buy an Am Mule."

"That's great," Lihel said. "Am Mules are easy to raise. If they don't listen, just slap them a couple of times and they'll behave."

"When we have free time, we can hitch them up to a cart and buy some goods in town to sell in the village."

"I heard there's something called Black Crystal Egg here, made from chicken eggs. I want to collect eggs from nearby villages and make it myself, then sell it in the city."

As they talked, they passed a camp. Simple wooden walls surrounded a cluster of tents, and many people were cutting trees nearby.

By the edge of the woods were several animal-powered sawmills. After processing the wood, it was taken to the camp to build wooden houses.

Hozzenplozz said with some worry, "I hope we can draw an early lot. I'm just afraid winter will come before it's my turn."

Lihel also said worriedly, "Yeah, Baron Weissen said they'd build houses for those with elderly and children first. We who are alone will have to wait slowly."

A young man behind the donkey cart, who was originally chatting with the person next to him, heard them and said in surprise, "You don't know? Only those with families get their own houses. We bachelors all live in collective housing."

Lihel was stunned, not expecting such a rule.

"There are many rules here," the young man said. "It's said that if you perform well, the young people in your family can even go to the city to learn a trade."

"Really?" Hozzenplozz was shocked. "That must cost a lot of money, right?"

The young man shook his head and replied, "I heard the price is very cheap. If someone guarantees you, you can even borrow money from the Baron Lord to study, with no interest."

Hozzenplozz shook his head and said, "I don't believe it. Wouldn't that be the death of the craftsmen?"

The young man gave Hozzenplozz's bare head a look of disdain and said scornfully, "That's why you have to save up slowly to buy an Am Mule."

"I heard that Master Bryant, the best blacksmith in the territory, is preparing to build a Lakeside Blacksmith Workshop by Brombach Lake. He's even cooperating with Scholar Aumert. Apprentices who have studied for two and a half years will be able to work there in the future, and the wages will be much higher than in ordinary blacksmith shops. Even many blacksmiths are willing to go."

"Also, the Baron Lord's ironworks are also starting to be built. They can't possibly find some idiots to work there, can they? Without learning first, no matter how many there are, they'll just fall into the molten iron."

"Besides syrup and Steam Bread, the most famous things in our Wessen Territory are Bearings and steel. I heard that in the future, anything made of iron will be better and cheaper than in other places, and everyone will come here to buy them. The young men who go to the ironworks won't have to worry about not being able to find a wife at all."

"Not just that, Master Benz from the carriage workshop is also recruiting people to make carriages himself. I heard he's cooperating with Master Bryant, Scholar Aumert, and Scholar Basf. The cargo carriages in the future can carry more goods, and the passenger carriages won't be bumpy at all."

"Let me tell you one more thing. Weissenburg University is currently working on a machine for plowing that doesn't need horses. It's said to plow quickly and well, and it can also grind flour. It doesn't need to be taken care of every day like a horse. In the future, a village can even buy a few of them."

"Also, Weissenburg University will send scholars to teach us how to farm and raise livestock. By then, the fields will yield much more grain."

Hozzenplozz, Lihel, and the others in the donkey cart listened to this young man chatter all the way.

In these times, many farmers didn't have much knowledge. Even Hozzenplozz, who considered himself well-informed, was like everyone else. The things the young man talked about were unheard of to them, and they all listened with wide eyes.

After the young man finished speaking, Lihel asked doubtfully, "How do you know so much?"

The others also came back to their senses. They had all fled from other places and had stayed in similar places for similar amounts of time. How was it that only this person knew these things and they didn't?

The young man said matter-of-factly, "My name is Thomas. I was originally a student at Weissenburg University, but I ran out of money, so I came out to find a job. Now I'm everyone's village chief."

The farmers had never seen a higher official than a village chief, and they were all scared, pulling their heads back and not daring to speak. Hozzenplozz shivered, nearly letting his donkey pull the cart into a ditch.

Lihel was a bit bolder and asked Thomas a question that was very important to her: "Village Chief, what's the name of our village?"

Thomas said, "Our Wessen Territory suddenly has so many new villages; naming them has been a real headache for everyone."

"Our village is alright, it has a very clear feature. The mountains there are made of red mud, and there are many pine trees on the mountains, so it's called Red Mud Pine Village."

Hozzenplozz and Lihel both shivered at the same time.