As expected, Ola accepted the olive branch Veylin had extended.
And every territory around Graysea Marsh seemed to have received an "olive branch" of its own.
A silent invitation from Newborn Town.
And so, an unprecedented tide began.
No, it was not a tide, but a stream.
A stream made of people.
They came along the dirt roads from the west, crossed the marshes from the south, and trekked through the hills from the north.
Their clothes were ragged, their faces grimy.
Their steps were unsteady, their bellies empty.
Yet every pair of eyes burned with fierce light.
Farmers, hunters, and drifters from different villages and territories gathered on the dirt road outside Newborn Town, forming a slowly inching stream.
The end of the line had already reached the edge of the newly reclaimed fields to the west.
A man named Kale stood in the line, visibly ill at ease.
He was thin, his palms covered in the thick calluses and cracks of a carpenter. He came from Stone Rock Town.
In Stone Rock Town, landless craftsmen like him worked more than fourteen hours a day, earning only enough black bread to barely feed their families and a few copper leaves.
The lord's steward also found all manner of ways to dock their pay.
A week earlier, a passing caravan had brought news of Newborn Town.
"The lord there actually lets serfs earn their freedom through work!"
"As long as you're willing to work hard, you can eat your fill. You can even get white sugar!"
Those words sent shock waves through the poorest people of Stone Rock Town.
At first, everyone was skeptical.
But more and more people returned from Newborn Town, bringing snow-white salt and sturdy leather boots, while caravans bound for Newborn Town passed through in an