Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 264 - 263: Scouts, Excellent Scouts

Upon hearing Aunt Heidi’s words, Gawain wasn’t surprised at all, because he had anticipated everything.

Suddenly resurrected, suddenly returning to the southern borders, suddenly establishing a new region, and suddenly beginning to export cheap ”secondary Alchemy Potions” and magic-conducting machinery... The name Gawain Cecil itself is an eye-catching sign, and with this series of events, it is impossible for both the small and large southern aristocrats not to be curious about this rapidly changing land.

The current Anzu Kingdom nobility is slow to react. When Gawain first began developing and constructing, most of the southern aristocrats didn’t actually react at all. Perhaps in their minds, the idea of eight hundred people going to the foot of the Dark Mountain Range to pioneer for survival was a suicide mission. Even if they survived, it would take them several years to become self-sufficient. Before that, the entire developing region might still need royal family support, so they didn’t pay much attention at first—

No one could imagine how these eight hundred people managed to gain a foothold under Gawain Cecil’s leadership, nor could they imagine how this land had surged to a population exceeding ten thousand in less than a year, built towns, established a stable food base, and even begun exporting products and gaining interests from outside. The slow-to-react southern aristocrats probably only realized the shift in situation when the Cecil Chamber of Commerce’s caravans flooded their territories. When they opened their eyes, they saw merchants under the banner of Cecil Chamber of Commerce spread across the entire southern regions, and only then did they sluggishly take action.

Well, compared to the current aristocratic system, the reactions of the local aristocrats have been quite swift, but in Gawain’s view, they were still slow enough.

Gawain listened attentively to Aunt Heidi’s report, and after she finished speaking, she couldn’t help but curiously ask, ”Ancestor, how did you know in advance that amongst the refugees rushing here during the winter, there would be a large number of spies sent by aristocrats?”

Gawain said calmly, ”It’s simple, the fact that they managed to make it to Cecil alive is the most suspicious point.”

Aunt Heidi paused for a moment, and suddenly understood Gawain’s meaning.

It’s winter in Anzu now, and the southern borders are the most desolate areas of Anzu. The wilderness here is far more dangerous and vast than the central regions, especially for Cecil, situated at the foot of the Dark Mountain Range, where the transportation conditions around are even more dire.

Under such circumstances, how could refugees with food shortages, lack of warm clothing, weak bodies, and no transport make it to Cecil?

As harsh as it sounds, the reality is: real refugees either wouldn’t migrate to Cecil, or they would die on the way.

Thinking of this, Aunt Heidi could only sigh and shake her head slightly, while Gawain casually asked her, ”Did the investigation cause any major disturbances?”

The territory will be in serious shortage of population for a long time to come, and attracting external population will be a long-term policy. So even knowing that some of the refugees contain ”impure” individuals, Gawain didn’t want the investigation to cause much fuss. If it incited panic, outsiders would be wary, and even the newly joined immigrants might become unstable, which is something he doesn’t want to see.

Upon hearing this question, Aunt Heidi couldn’t help but smile. She shook her head, ”Nothing much happened. In fact, it was extremely easy to pick those guys out. Your population registration system and district-based resident management system were new to those guys. They probably never imagined that everyone on this land would have their own identity, name, and registration data. Without the Administrative Office needing to conduct a detailed check, they exposed themselves. Additionally, following your initial instructions, other than those who were caught on the spot transmitting information or attempting to sneak through checkpoints, the other spies we identified have not been alarmed; we are just monitoring them.”

The Cecil territory has an unprecedented population management system for an aristocratic domain in this era. From entry and exit registration to resident household registration and community management, it’s beyond ordinary people’s imagination. However, those spies attempting to infiltrate knew nothing about it—some tried to pretend to be workers and directly slipped into the construction teams returning from outside the city each day, only to be dumbfounded during the workers’ line-up to turn in their work badges and collect meal tickets. Others who managed to sneak into the city and tried to disguise themselves as vagrants were directly taken away by the public security officers in the various districts. Most pretending to be refugees attempted to slip through gates at the docks or city gates... they probably never expected any aristocrat would specifically register every commoner’s name, age, origin, and occupational skills, and that ”commoners” had to undergo observation and education in isolation camps before entering the city. About eighty percent of the spies were exposed during this process.

Of course, quite a few fortunate and clever individuals passed multiple tests, successfully infiltrating the city regardless of the means they used. However, their imagined post-entry actions were, ”As a refugee, I won’t be noticed by the noble lords, and will likely be kicked into the gutter and left to fend for myself, then I’ll move around to gather intelligence when no one is watching, and develop power among the local ruffians.” But in reality, they were registered with a bunch of data and became an honorary Cecil construction worker, equipped with work badges, work identification numbers, living in collective dormitories, and eating in canteens. By the time they remembered they were actually spies, they had already been moving bricks on the construction site for several days...

Listening to Heidi’s report and the various situations discovered during the investigation process, Gawain even felt a bit of empathy for those spies.

Aunt Heidi, with a smile throughout, couldn’t help but sigh after her report, ”Ancestor, your design for these personnel management methods is truly a stroke of genius—while it requires some manpower to operate and maintain, with these systems in place, no ill-intentioned person could possibly sneak into the territory!”

Gawain raised his eyelids and glanced at his granddaughter, ”And yet, you were complaining to me every day back then?”

Aunt Heidi’s face immediately showed a bit of embarrassment, and she slightly lowered her head: ”At first, I really thought I would be worked to death— but now it’s better, the Administrative Office is up and running, and most of the work has been taken over by the newly recruited clerks and secondary managers, so I can finally have a bit of leisure time.”

Gawain nodded with a smile. Aunt Heidi was someone who would never show signs of fatigue or any imperfections in front of others, but in front of him, the ”Ancient Ancestor Jiaguan,” she had become more accustomed to letting her guard down. Perhaps it’s because of the immense pressure she normally has to bear alone due to her status—now that she finally has an elder to whom she can complain and whine, she has gradually adapted to this way of interacting.

But no matter what, he still needed to remind Aunt Heidi to prevent her from becoming too complacent: ”No system is entirely perfect, there’s always someone who can find a breach. You mustn’t rely solely on the hope that the opponents will always be that stupid.”

”Yes, I understand,” Aunt Heidi nodded immediately, and then asked, ”Ancestor, how do you plan to deal with those families with ulterior motives? They’ve already started sending spies to the Cecil Clan...”

Gawain waved his hand nonchalantly: ”No need for extra responses.”

”Huh?”

”The Cecil Chamber of Commerce has already begun operations, and this network will infiltrate the entire southern part of the kingdom, perhaps even the entire kingdom. Its development is the priority. Now we just need to steadily build and perfect this intelligence and economic network; there’s no need for additional actions,” Gawain leaned back in his chair and spoke slowly to the surprised Aunt Heidi, ”Those who are ’curious’ about the Cecil Clan won’t disappear; as long as we continue to develop, there will always be more eyes watching us. And with the spread of magic-conducting machinery and the Magic Web, their attention will only increase—in the current situation, we cannot deploy troops to sweep away all the southern aristocrats, it’s better to let them wait calmly, waiting for Cecil’s economic and intelligence network to permeate every corner of their territories.”

The noose is slowly tightening, and pulling out the knife too soon will only scare the prey in the loop away.

”But what about the spies who have already infiltrated the territory... should they be executed?”

”Executed? Why execute them?” Gawain smiled faintly, ”They’ve already been exposed, and with their common knowledge and ’professional standards,’ no matter how they jump, they can’t escape the management system of the Cecil Clan. Executing a large number of these spies from various southern aristocratic domains doesn’t benefit us much and would instead stimulate the delicate nerves of the local nobility. They might not act openly, but our commercial expansion would definitely be affected. After all, everyone still wants to maintain a friendly appearance.”

Aunt Heidi frowned: ”Then you mean...”

”Send all those directly caught spies to the northern banks to open up new lands. As for those identified but not yet alerted spies... haven’t they already become honorable Cecil construction workers? Organize them into new construction groups, responsible for the construction of each new district—the western part of the territory is currently building a new industrial zone and just happens to be short of manpower, so this can be their new work assignment. Remember, this is a normal job transfer, don’t let them suspect anything.”

Gawain paused for a moment, then continued: ”Name the new construction group ’The 25th Production and Construction Brigade’, implementing separate management and isolated production and living. They can communicate with the outside world, but all communication must be reviewed. If any new spies are discovered from now on, first assess their abilities. The more foolish ones should be sent to open up new lands or mine, while the smarter and better at disguise should be sent to the 25th Brigade.”

Aunt Heidi was momentarily confused and asked blankly: ”Wouldn’t these people realize something is wrong immediately? If their actions and communication are restricted, they should immediately realize they’ve been exposed...”

Gawain smiled faintly: ”No, you just have to tell them this—’Don’t ask questions, you are executing the Duke’s secret plan,’ the rest, they’ll imagine for themselves.”

Aunt Heidi was dumbstruck: ”...”

A moment after being stunned, Aunt Heidi managed to squeeze out another question: ”But if they observe those around them, wouldn’t they still realize the true nature of the 25th Brigade... Ah, no, they won’t realize it!”

”Exactly, spies who managed to infiltrate the territory without being discovered at first are undoubtedly excellent spies. Later recruits to the 25th Brigade will also be excellent spies. An excellent spy would never expose themselves,” Gawain said delightedly, ”Every member of the 25th Brigade will believe they are the only spy. Of course, there might be cases where two or three entered together and got sent to the 25th Brigade together, but that doesn’t really matter.”

Aunt Heidi remained speechless: ”...”