Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 343 - 342: Hope

The Revival Month has arrived.

The long and cold winter in the northern continent finally left this land reluctantly. Although its remnants still instill awe, the gradually warming temperature and several days of sunny warmth have filled people’s hearts with hope—at least in the Cecil territory, ”hope” is no longer an elegant term used by the upper class during meals but has become a tangible expectation for commoners as well.

A baby was born during this early springtime.

In the ”West District Factory Apartment,” which was completed just this winter, a young new father awkwardly entertained the visiting neighbors and friends. The small living room was crowded with guests bearing gifts, though there were only some bland tea and simple snacks to offer, but the guests apparently didn’t mind—few could have imagined that mere months ago, these people were homeless strangers wandering the wilds.

They wandered in the wilderness, settled in the Cecil territory, met in refugee camps, became familiar while building houses, and eventually became friends in the factory. For those who experienced that homeless wandering, having one become a father in a warm home was an extraordinary event.

Just then, someone at the door suddenly shouted, ”The leader is here!”

People were astounded, but the leader did arrive—the tall figure soon appeared at the door, and everyone felt a familiar connection to this figure.

Gawain quickly spotted the young new father amidst the crowd—his joy was unmistakable. Gawain quickly approached, stopping the nervous man from saluting: ”Today is a day you bring hope to this land. No need to salute. Is the mother and child safe?”

”Yes... Yes, Sir...” The young man was clearly nervous but also thrilled with happiness, stammering while rubbing his hands, ”Both are safe, both are safe...”

Gawain smiled warmly: ”May I see the child?”

”Of course, of course...”

The newborn and the young mother were quietly resting in a private room. Though there were many visitors, only a few had gone in for a visit, and Gawain was undoubtedly the most special visitor of the day.

With the spread of the new Magic Web, using magic power-driven heaters and heat-conducting ducts to warm entire buildings has become standard in new constructions on the territory. This apartment building completed in winter is no exception, and warm, constant temperature housing is key to ensuring the safety of mother and child—otherwise, childbirth in winter would be a life-or-death challenge for most commoner mothers.

In the warm inner room, Gawain saw the swaddled infant.

It was a healthy boy, wrinkled and unable to open his eyes, peacefully asleep at the moment.

A Mage apprentice was there caring for the postpartum woman and infant—not some impostor witch or ”quack healer,” but one of Pittman’s personally trained apprentices. Although none of Pittman’s apprentices have become true Druids, in non-magic-requiring fields like pharmacology and surgery, these apprentices are professionals.

Gawain smiled at the swaddled baby.

This is the first newborn on the territory—born almost a year after the construction began, yet unsurprisingly so.

Because the people here were either one of the eight hundred refugees who survived from the old Cecil territory, purchased serfs and slaves, or gathered refugees from the wilderness. Serfs and slaves aside, slave traffickers never sold pregnant female slaves, and refugees and drifters endured the harshest trials during which...

It was rare for any pregnant women or fetuses to survive.

This child is lucky; without his parents finding a safe haven in time, he likely would not have been born safely into this world.

His parents were among the first immigrants here, with the young father working at the Rune Forge Factory, and the mother as a textile factory worker.

”Does the child have a name?” Gawain turned to inquire the young father who followed him into the room.

”Not yet...” The young father clutched his hands, his gaze frequently shifting from Gawain to his child’s face with a simple, earnest smile, ”We were going to give him a random name, but... but I went to school, I want to ask the teacher there to name the child... A name given by someone learned will make the kid smarter, definitely faster at recognizing words than me...”

Gawain couldn’t help but laugh, amused by the young father’s naive and simple thought but also slightly gratified: this person, who originally couldn’t recognize letters, now at least knows the importance of literacy for his child.

He shook his head with a smile: ”In that case, I’ll name him. Let’s call him ’Orse.’”

In the universal human language of this world, this name means ”hope.”

The young father was stunned for a moment before he realized what had happened, and he immediately bowed: ”Tha... Thank you for bestowing a name upon this child!”

Then he muttered to himself: ”Today... Today is really a good day, truly a good day...”

”Don’t forget to register this child as a resident and get the identity card,” Gawain said with a smile, helping this overwhelmed man to stand up. He had already abolished the rule requiring commoners to kowtow to aristocrats, but such habits as bowing or even kneeling were not easily dispelled and could only do it gradually. ”Also, you can report to the Residents Affairs Department of the Administrative Office in three days to receive a package of supplies, including food rations, cloth, nutritional supplements, and common medicines.”

The young father was evidently not expecting that the birth of a child at home would result in a ”reward,” and hurriedly saluted in gratitude: ”Thank you for your generous reward!”

”This is not a reward, remember, rewards and government subsidies are not the same,” Gawain emphasized, ”this is an administrative system, a law at the present stage. From today for ten years, all families of newborns on the territory will receive ’subsidies’ from the Administrative Office, as a reward for your contribution to the population of the territory. After ten years... the Administrative Office will judge whether to continue this subsidy based on the situation.”

The people in the room listened to Gawain’s words with partial understanding. They might not fully comprehend all the meanings and implications of this ”system,” but they certainly understood the part related to their own interests, and that was enough.

After returning to the lord’s mansion, Gawain immediately summoned Aunt Heidi to arrange matters related to the ”newborn reward and subsidy.” Once everything was properly arranged, he sat in his spacious chair, beginning to plan the development route of the territory after winter.

The land on the territory was being developed smoothly, foreign trade was earning substantial wealth, and military defenses were gradually enhancing. Under the premise of having sufficient food and safety, a baby boom would soon arrive.

However, it takes a long time for infants to grow into labor, so in the short term, the population growth of the Cecil still relies on two parts: one part is to continue purchasing slaves and gradually liberate them as free citizens, and the other part is to continue to gather refugees.

In addition, the current population of Cecil actually has an additional large increase—from the residents of the Kant territory, along with the numerous farms and reclamation villages affiliated with the Kant territory, and the large idle population in the eastern hilly region.

These populations are now legally residents of the Cecil, but they must first undergo the ”enlightenment” of Cecil’s laws and order.

Fortunately, ”enlightenment” did not just start in the spring.

Throughout the past winter, Gawain had been subtly influencing the Kant territory—his substantive rule over that land was not limited to simply deploying soldiers to maintain order, constructing roads, and commercially occupying. He was also gradually transferring the rules of Cecil to the Kant Region: initially, craftsmen coming to Cecil for a living followed Cecil’s rules; then, using these craftsmen as breakthroughs, various construction projects were initiated in the towns of Kant—new small factories, shopping streets, and renovated residential areas provided the Kant people with economic sources during the winter and a better standard of living, introducing them to a new lifestyle. Then, soldiers were stationed to maintain the security of new neighborhoods, ongoing propaganda, and Patrick came forward to ”unify the thoughts” of locally influential people...

Now, within the town limits originally under Viscount Kant’s direct control, residents have gradually become accustomed to accepting the order of Cecil, but Gawain still had a problem to solve: the original knight class of the Kant territory.

The control of the surrounding villages, wilderness outposts, and garrison points was in the hands of the old knights of the Kant.

These knights were the very end of the Anzu Aristocratic Land System, the distant extensions of enfeoffment lords. Despite having no legislative power, no independent lord declaration, and lacking many privileges and honors of the formal aristocratic class, they remained part of the old, Anzu aristocratic system.

From a legal perspective, these knights should now pledge allegiance to Gawain Cecil, but they have yet to swear. Even if they swore allegiance to Gawain personally, they have not yet sworn to Cecil’s ”order.”

As long as they existed for even one more day, still maintaining their land and population under the old order, their land and population could not become parts of the Cecil magical industry.

”Get Sir Philip here,” Gawain slightly tilted his head, speaking to the air beside him, ”make haste.”

A faint ripple of breath appeared and vanished in the air, and in the next moment, Amber’s voice came from outside the window: ”Received! I’ll... hey, why are there still mousetraps on the courtyard wall!”

Hearing the noise from outside the window, Gawain smiled contentedly.

Not to mention the courtyard wall, every street lamp top along the road from the feudal lord’s mansion had a mousetrap...

Shortly afterward, Sir Philip appeared before Gawain.

Along with Amber, who was making all sorts of playful faces and antics at Gawain.

Gawain directly ignored the half-elf lady’s antics, looking at Philip: ”We should consider dealing with the old knights of the Kant territory.”

Philip, as a model of young knights, immediately thought of the proper process at this moment: ”Is it to summon them to swear allegiance?”

”Not just to swear allegiance,” Gawain smiled, looking into Philip’s eyes, ”In fact, I’ve always been curious... how do you view the new ’rules’ I have implemented?”