1 JIN(Catty) = 600 gram(1.32277 pound)
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The first batch of refugees taken away was quite small. No matter how persuasive Kingsley was, most people still didn't believe what he said. So during that initial attempt, he only managed to bring back around a hundred people from the western border — a number that was negligible compared to the thousands of refugees.
In reality, the refugees who managed to flee from their own country to the border and hadn't died from various causes along the way were mostly able-bodied adults. There were very few elderly or children among them.
Moreover, the fact that Kingsley's group didn't discriminate in recruitment — taking in people regardless of age or physical condition — only made others more suspicious. It was hard not to suspect some kind of scheme. Everyone knew that healthy, strong slaves were more valuable and easier to sell, while the elderly and children were generally unwanted unless they had some skills, were particularly good-looking at a young age, or were being sold as part of a whole family unit.
So when the knight gentlemen took away what looked to the refugees like a group of the "old, weak, sick, and disabled," it all seemed rather fishy.
They began to believe that perhaps he wasn't there to deceive them into slavery, but his actions were still suspicious enough to make people hesitant. As long as they still had even a sliver of hope for survival and weren't completely desperate, they wouldn't follow him.
Kingsley, having only taken away a hundred people, felt that he hadn't properly fulfilled the earl's orders. So in addition to those he escorted back, he also left some men behind at the border to continue recruiting.
These men carried the king's edict and had the backing of Earl Williams, which made even the surrounding nobles reluctant to offend them. This gave the refugees at the border a reprieve, no longer having to worry about being constantly harassed or forcibly taken.
But this was not a long-term solution. As more and more people gathered at the border, forming what was nearly a settlement of its own, it became a situation that neither the other nobles nor even the king could ignore. It was highly likely that the government would either send troops to drive them away or simply annex the area where the refugees had gathered into their territory.
Most people speculated the latter was more likely. After all, the country neighboring Pradi had already fallen, its land divided among other nations. So what if they claimed a bit of no-man's-land? Nobody else dared to fight for it at the moment. Years of war had left the surrounding nations too weak to challenge Pradi. It was only because the current king of Pradi wasn't fond of war — spending these years locked in political maneuvering with Romanov — that they hadn't joined the conflict. Otherwise, who knows who would've swallowed whom by now?
Kingsley sent the refugees he'd recruited back to Sardinson, while he returned swiftly to report back and switch posts, taking only a few subordinates by sea. The others traveled by land — after all, sea transport was expensive, charged per head. Kingsley believed that even if the earl had money, it shouldn't be squandered, so he made this arrangement.
As a result, Kingsley had already returned to Sardinson for quite some time, while the refugee group was still slowly making its way there. Because of his report, Felix had already arranged accommodations for them before their arrival — naturally, he sent them to the less populated Slot region.
Originally, Felix hadn't intended to recruit serfs at all. He thought it was better to directly grant these people the status of free citizens — not out of any lofty ideals about human rights or equality, but purely from personal consideration. While "serf" might sound inferior to "free citizen," in reality, a serf under a good lord could live far better than a free man. Though they paid higher taxes, they had numerous privileges — priority in renting the lord's land, protection from the lord, and even the chance to become estate stewards. Nobles preferred using their serfs over hiring free labor, and among these serfs, many stood out and became trusted aides or even knights.
In the early days of knighthood, it wasn't yet a privileged class. Becoming a knight didn't require noble birth — anyone who could gather the proper equipment could call themselves a knight. Back then, the proportion of serfs who became knights was higher than that of free citizens, because successful serfs were often wealthier than their free counterparts.
Felix wasn't boasting — everyone knew he was a good lord. His serfs lived incredibly well now. Even the free citizens in his domain were envious of them. Many even wanted to volunteer to become his serfs, though he refused them all — he already had enough people.
So, in terms of serfs, he didn't need any more. He already had several thousand under his command. Yes, they were more useful than free citizens, but they also required support. Felix didn't want to burden himself further.
Still, he couldn't bear to let all this ready labor go to waste. His territory had always been understaffed, and the surrounding lords had long been unhappy with how he kept poaching people. Now they all tightly monitored their free citizens, even raising their welfare slightly, just to keep them from running off to the Williams estate and leaving their lands barren.
Thus, recruiting more free citizens from neighboring territories became increasingly difficult. Felix had to hope that people from further away, driven by hardship, would come on their own. But such cases were rare — those farther away had never seen Sardinson and naturally preferred to head for more prosperous regions.
Although the king had agreed to let Felix send people to recruit refugees from other countries, he didn't agree to grant them the status of free citizens. He feared these people might include spies sent by other nations. As free citizens, they could move about freely within the country. Even foreigners could easily blend in and gather intelligence if they disguised themselves as Pradians — something the king absolutely wouldn't allow. So, if Felix wanted to recruit them, they had to be serfs or slaves — individuals without freedom of movement. They had to be bound to his domain and not allowed to leave the county easily.
Of course, once they became serfs, what Felix did with them was his own business — not even the king could interfere.
Those first hundred refugees, believing they'd nominally be serfs but would in reality be branded as slaves, traveled in constant anxiety. The closer they got to their destination, the more frightened they became. But just before they reached Sardinson, they were diverted to Slot by a messenger and were then dispersed and assigned, family by family, into nearby fishing villages populated by serfs. The mayors of those two fishing villages were tasked with overseeing and settling them.
"Whether you assign them to go out fishing or to farm is up to you — just take them in."
The local serfs of Slot, who had nearly starved to death a year ago, were now all well-fed and hearty. You'd never guess they'd once been desperate and hopeless. Even old men in their fifties walked with a spring in their step. Everyone bustled with energy — whether fishing, drying salt, or running inns that sold seafood to traveling merchants — they all wore cheerful expressions, working with zest and never complaining of fatigue. As the elders said, in all their years, they had never lived so well.
For the local serfs, receiving a new batch of serfs wasn't a problem at all. Back when they were starving, they might have worried that newcomers would mean less food for everyone. But now, their only concern was not having enough hands to get all the work done. As long as the new arrivals were willing to work, they were welcomed without question. Besides, when working, these serfs ate communal meals together with the dockworkers — two meals a day cooked by designated women from the village. Everyone just needed to bring their bowls and utensils at mealtime to receive food. There was a rule against taking extra, but as long as one could eat more, they were free to get refills after finishing their bowl. Since spring of last year, the gruel had become much thicker than before — enough to fill up anyone with a smaller appetite in one bowl. Only strong laborers needed seconds. Besides the gruel, there were side dishes too. Living by the sea meant they ate from the sea. Every lunch came with fish or other seafood, and sometimes even meat, vegetables, or fruit brought in from other places. The meals were far more nutritious and plentiful than before, which was why everyone had gained noticeable weight.
As for housing the new serfs, that wasn't troublesome either. After several months of repairs, the two fishing villages were no longer the broken-down mess they used to be. There had always been many empty houses in the villages — even if they weren't occupied, the serfs had kept them patched up, either out of sentimentality or in preparation for population growth. Now that the new serfs had arrived, the village chiefs simply assigned them to these empty houses.
These newly converted serfs had arrived in Slot still nervous and fearful, especially since the original plan was for them to go to Sardinson. Midway through the journey, the change of destination had nearly scared them out of their wits. They thought this confirmed their worst suspicions — that they were being tricked into something worse, possibly even slavery or some unknown cruelty. They didn't know exactly what, but fear thrives on imagination, and people are always best at scaring themselves.
As they approached Slot, many were convinced they were walking toward their doom. But when they arrived, they discovered reality was nothing like they imagined.
No one branded them as slaves. None of the terrible things they feared came true. Instead, they were simply assigned to live in two fishing villages, just like ordinary residents. There were proper houses that didn't leak and offered shelter from the wind and rain. There was food to fill their stomachs. They worked, yes, but no one cracked a whip at them. The local serfs weren't overly friendly at first, but they didn't reject them either. As time passed, even with language barriers, gestures, and simple signs were enough to communicate. Slowly, the newcomers began to settle in and no longer lived in daily terror.
They hadn't even been there a full month before they stopped mentioning their former country. The new environment assimilated them quickly — they wore the same clothes, ate the same food, and behaved more and more like the Slot serfs. Other than their heavy accents and occasional use of their homeland's dialect, there was little left of their past identities.
Once their worries faded and life improved, the new serfs naturally began thinking of their family and friends. They had originally followed Kingsley to avoid dragging others down. But now that they knew this life — though hard — was peaceful and stable, free from war and famine, they hoped their loved ones could come to share it with them.
So some of them went to the village chiefs to ask if they could return to the border to bring more people back.
And they weren't the only ones with this idea.
They had learned during their journey that the knight who had "bought" them — Sir Kingsley — had left people behind at the border to continue recruitment. The refugees back there had long harbored resentment toward the nobility, who constantly drafted their able-bodied men for war and caused the collapse of countless families. They were understandably wary of any unknown noble or their representatives.
So these new serfs volunteered to return and help the Earl with recruitment. They wanted to tell their families and friends that life here was not only not miserable — it was good.
"With us as living proof, they'll believe it. They'll be willing to become the Earl's serfs."
It was indeed a good idea, but the village chiefs didn't have the authority to decide. They reported the request to the overseer in charge of managing them. That overseer, unable to leave his post, passed the message to two knights stationed in Slot, who then sent word back to the Earl.
One level of reporting after another — eventually, the news reached Felix.
It happened to be perfect timing. Felix had been fretting over the recruitment issue, especially after receiving a letter from the king. The king warned that soon, he would be dispatching troops to the border. If Felix hadn't relocated the people by then, there might not be another chance.
The king had informed him out of courtesy — partly because of their prior agreement, and partly because many of the noble territories near the western border were loyal to Duke Romanov, including Romanov's estates. The king didn't want to conquer that land only for Romanov to benefit. But with Romanov stirring up trouble, more and more nobles were demanding that the border issue be resolved. Even the king couldn't delay it much longer. His ideal outcome was for Felix to relocate all the refugees — that way, even if Romanov's faction seized the land, it would be empty and useless without a working population. To use the land, they'd have to transfer more people in, and controlling the border would remain the king's responsibility. That would at least weaken Romanov's power.
If Felix couldn't recruit them in time, the king's plan would change — even if they couldn't take the land, they'd still drive the people out. Under no circumstance would they let Romanov profit from it.
Clearly, after Prince Andrew's failed marriage, tensions between the king and Duke Romanov had worsened to the point where they would hurt each other even at their own expense.
Felix, upon reading the letter, was deeply troubled. He truly wanted to bring those people to Sardinson. Though thousands sounded like a lot, Slote was still underpopulated. It could accommodate thirty or fifty thousand more easily. Even Sardinson itself was far from reaching population capacity. The more people, the better.
But recruiting foreign refugees had proved very difficult. After all the suffering they'd been through, they remained deeply distrustful of nobles and refused to believe the recruiters Felix sent. To make things worse, nobles near the western border were subtly sabotaging his efforts and spreading malicious rumors about Sardinson. Without a better solution, Felix might have had to give up.
So when the newly arrived serfs volunteered to help recruit, he immediately agreed. To save time, he put them on a sea ship and sent them back to the border as quickly as possible — before the king sent in troops to drive the refugees away.
With this batch of volunteers returning, the recruitment finally started to go smoothly.
People who everyone thought they'd never see again suddenly reappeared — and the change in them was night and day. When they left, they were all skin and bones, sickly and numb. But in just a few months, they'd gained weight, recovered from illness, and now wore beaming smiles. It was clear they hadn't gone off to suffer — they'd gone to live well.
These returning serfs only had one goal: to bring their family and friends to this new life. As soon as they arrived, they started loudly calling out for their loved ones. When they found them, there were tearful reunions followed by excited chatter about the past month. No matter how eloquent they were, the stories they told were heartfelt and painted an incredibly appealing picture of life in Slot.
Their families, of course, completely believed them — these were people who had willingly sold themselves just to support their kin. Seeing that they were doing well and had come back to fetch them, most relatives were instantly moved and wanted to go too.
To be honest, life at the border wasn't great. Most people had arrived in winter, and several months in, their supplies were exhausted. The money these new serfs had earned and sent back was nearly gone, and others were already foraging for wild vegetables and tree bark. But it was early spring — there wasn't much to eat in the wild, and this unfamiliar land had no tools or seeds for farming. On top of that, local nobles kept harassing them. The atmosphere was tense, and people often disappeared. Rumors swirled — were they eaten? Sold? No one knew. Everyone lived in fear.
It was during this lean season that many people, unable to hold on, had already sold their wives and children — even as slaves because slaves sold for more than serfs.
Even before the return of the new serfs, most of their families had planned to register with Sardinson's recruiters anyway, hoping to be reunited.
Now that they had come back — and confirmed Sardinson was truly a good place — people felt even more confident and were eager to follow them back.
And it wasn't just their families. Neighbors nearby, hearing the commotion, came out to see what was going on. When they realized the ones who'd been taken away had returned — and looked like they were thriving — curiosity and envy drew a crowd. Soon, everyone was asking questions.
"You were sent to Sardinson, right? Why are you talking about some Slot place now?"
"The Earl has two territories — Sardinson and Slot. Slot has fewer people, so we were settled there."
"Is it as good as you say? Sounds fake."
"Of course not! You've never been to Pradi, so you don't know — Sardinson is famous there! Earl Williams is the richest and kindest noble in all of Pradi! Life in his lands is amazing! Serfs get houses, and daily meals, and even earn wages for extra work. I heard he even gives out New Year's gifts — want to know what? Wheat and meat! Several pounds of it!"
It all sounded too good to be true.
But the newly returned serf wasn't having it. He pulled out a bag of wheat and handed it to his family. "Why would I lie to you? Look, I earned this working at the docks. They need help there, and I know some carpentry. I helped cut wood and got several big copper coins after taxes. I used them to buy this wheat — brought it for you."
He could've bought cheaper food, like rye or beans, to get more volume. But since they couldn't carry much on the ship, and the guards would feed them on the way back, he decided to buy quality grain. He just wanted his family to have a good meal — then join him.
Seeing the food — even if it was less than two pounds — made the refugees' eyes go green with hunger. One old man immediately clutched the bag tightly to his chest, afraid someone would snatch it away.
That was his youngest son's gift — earned with his own hands. They couldn't afford to lose it.
And the boy was still saying, "Father, I learned carpentry from you. If you go work at the docks or with the construction crew, I bet you'll earn even more."