The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 713: Effective Escort

The small procession of Trolls around Dominic cleared the road more effectively than the trucks had.

They didn’t have anything that the locals wanted.

At least, nothing that the people wanted badly enough to take the beating that would come with trying to steal it. Plus, Mountain Trolls in full battle armour were absolutely horrifying to the average person.

With that advantage, they made it back to the platform nearly as quickly as they had crossed with the trucks.

But when they arrived, they found that the platform was blocked by a crowd of people.

"The delivery is finished, there are no more trucks coming from Wistover today." Dominic called as he approached.

The crowd parted, allowing them access, but Dominic could see that everyone was tensed for action.

"Is there something you all needed?"

One older man nodded. "We’re leaving. The moment that you open that portal, we intend to rush through. Anywhere has to be better than here."

Everyone around him gave him disbelieving stares. In this situation, you were clearly supposed to lie about your intentions.

Dominic sighed.

"There is no need for all that, I can hold it open for a few minutes. However, I will inform you that the residents of Wistover tend to treat theft as a capital crime if the guards aren’t around.

We have a refugee camp, but do not allow vagrancy.

If you’re planning to find work and become productive residents of the city, we will let you through. If not, I recommend that you stay here, where things are familiar and the laws are more forgiving."

The militia member farmers and the Barons tended to operate on the three S rule for bandits and thieves.

Shoot, shovel, shut up.

If all the thieves went missing, there were no thefts in Wistover.

In fact, the system worked so well that they didn’t even have a dedicated judge. The few crimes that warranted judgment were brought to Dominic, and the rest were handled by Sheriff Nate.

The mention of thievery being punished with death and the Duke looking the other way caused a portion of the crowd to fade back into the city.

They had thought that they could beg in the wealthier city, perhaps a few home visit robberies, and then move on to where nobody knew them again. Wistover was supposed to be the land of wine and honey, the wealthiest Duchy on the continent.

But if the Butcher of Wistover was willing to ignore the law and let his people behave like him, they were out.

Not worth it.

"You’re certain that it won’t cause you issues?"

"Wistover always has issues. But we’re also willing to welcome those who are willing to help themselves. However, you should know that it is not Dagos, and the Dagos attitude toward nonhumans won’t work there.

Much of the population is either a mage or a Sorcerer, and that’s not counting the Trolls.

The best jobs in town require a high degree of either trade skill, or magitech affinity, as Wistover is a magitech manufacturing hub. So, don’t jump in blind, just because things are bad here right now.

We have arranged monthly food deliveries to keep the city from starving, and Albroles will be rebuilt soon enough." Dominic informed the crowd.

That seemed to calm some of them, making them reconsider staring over somewhere completely new.

Others were just now realizing that life with a bunch of nonhumans might not be for them, and that the Dagos culture wasn’t universal. But there was still a core who looked determined to give it a shot.

"We will be making these deliveries the same way every month if you need time to reconsider. They are still handing out ration bags, if you want to go home and think on it.

They’re sacks of potatoes, but they’re good potatoes."

The old man who had so openly informed him of their intentions smiled, then shook his head.

"I’m not so destitute that I can’t buy a sack of potatoes when I get there. I’m certain that they’re quite good. But I’m not from Albroles, I just ended up stuck here after the flooding. I will follow you through."

A few others nodded, but most of the Albroles locals decided to go get the food and wait a month to see if things really did get better here.

At least now they weren’t going to be starving.

That was enough for most of them to give their hometown and their King a chance.

Things had been absolutely awful, they had lost a war, lost territory, and now they had sold off territory to stop the bleeding at the end of a civil war that had split the nation. But there was still some hope for Dagos.

What they didn’t know was that the southwestern region that the King managed to hold was the only truly inhabited region left.

Most of the rest of the regions that broke off from Dagos had under a hundred thousand survivors in their entire region.

After a few seconds of consideration, there were only a dozen left who had decided that they definitely wanted to come to Wistover. That was a manageable number, and from the look of them, they hadn’t lost absolutely everything, just everything that couldn’t be packed into a storage ring.

They weren’t the desperately poor before the disaster, and they still had a bit to fall back on, as no amount of money could buy what they needed in Albroles.

"Alright, follow me if you’re coming to Wistover. There is a bit of a housing shortage, so I will have the guard patrols lead you to the refugee camp. They have the housing and job listings posted there, so it’s the best place to start.

Most people move in and out of there in under a week, so don’t think of it as a long-term situation, more like camping out when you can’t get a room at the Inn.

Which might actually have rooms, if you have coin."

The old man smiled. "That should work out wonderfully. If you’ve got workers, I might even be able to set up a new shop."

Dominic nodded. "We do. What sort of shop did you have before?"

"Hats. Wigin Hat Works was the finest hatter on the entire continent. Now, Wigin is gone, the entire city was washed into the ocean. Not much call for new hats in Albroles these days."

And it would be a job that didn’t require magitech skills. Perfect for those who were struggling in Wistover.