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The wandering magician, Merlin Hermes, or rather, Klein, who had once again created an identity for himself, showed Spectator in the square his empty top hat.
Then, with a tap of his magic wand, a slightly bewildered little rabbit popped out of the hat.
The children watching cheered for the magic trick.
Klein gave the little rabbit to some little girls, instructing them to take good care of it.
The seven or eight-year-old girl's eyes were filled with surprise and joy: "Mr. Magician, how did you know I've always wanted a little white rabbit?"
"Because besides performing magic, I can also make your wishes come true," Klein said with a smile to the children around him. "What wishes do you have?"
A little boy mustered his courage and said, "I... I want candy."
"That's an easy wish to grant." Klein waved his magic wand in a pretentious manner. "Child, feel your pocket."
The little boy reached into his pocket and immediately exclaimed excitedly, "Candy!"
He immediately took out a piece of candy, unwrapped it, and put it in his mouth, enjoying the delicious taste with a satisfied expression.
Seeing that this wandering magician could really grant wishes, the other children crowded around, eager to express their desires.
The children's wishes were relatively easy to fulfill. Some wanted a nice hat, some hoped for a piece of cream cake, and some wanted a pretty hairpin.
Their wishes were all granted one by one, which greatly surprised the people watching the magic show! They applauded repeatedly, marveling at the magician's performance.
Finally, a little boy timidly said, "Mr. Magician, could I see my father?"
Klein didn't agree immediately but asked with a smile, "Where is your father?"
"My father went to the Northern Continent to fight!" the little boy said with some pride, but then he became somewhat lost: "He was among the first soldiers to go to Backlund. It's been over a month, and he's only sent one letter home."
"Let me find him, where is your father," Klein said while using the little boy to divine his father's location.
For Klein, as long as he wasn't dead, it would be easy: "Ah, I've found him. Child, please repeat your wish?"
The little boy quickly said, "I want to see my father!"
Klein snapped his right fingers, and a soldier holding a gun, his helmet covering his face, who was sleeping, appeared in front of the little boy.
"Oh ~" The surrounding adult audience exclaimed in surprise.
The little boy had already recognized him: "Dad!"
The resting soldier shuddered and, when he took off his helmet, was already in tears: "Heavens, I must be dreaming. Blake, let me see, you seem to have grown taller again."
The little boy, called Blake, threw himself into the soldier's arms and asked with a sob, "When are you coming back, Dad?"
"I may have to stay for a while longer." The soldier stroked his son's head: "Until we defeat our enemies."
Blake asked again, "Can't you leave the fighting for later? Mom and I miss you very much!"
The soldier's eyes suddenly became firm: "No, son. If we defeat the enemy here, we can prevent them from attacking our homeland! You and Mom will be safe."
The officers repeatedly explained the significance of this battle to them and explained the current international situation, so they were very clear about why they were fighting.
This was a war to prevent the great powers from spreading the flames of war to the Duchy of South Balam again. As long as they defeated the enemy in the Northern Continent, they would not have the strength to attack the Duchy of South Balam.
Blake asked worriedly, "Are the Backlund police still so fierce?"
This family had immigrated from the East Borough of Backlund, and Blake had a deep impression of the fierceness of the police there.
The soldier pointed to the red rectangular badge on his chest: "With this symbol of the Duchy of South Balam, the police won't dare to approach us!"
At this time, a middle-aged man among the onlookers asked: "Soldier, is the fighting on the front lines going well?"
The soldier picked up his son, smiled, and said, "We gave the Intis people a good beating some time ago, hahaha, you should have seen them fleeing in disarray!"
Someone else asked: "It's daytime in the Northern Continent now, right? You seem to be resting?"
"Yes." The soldier smiled: "We just attacked the Intis camp last night."
"Time is almost up." Klein smiled at this moment: "Let this father and son say a few more words."
The soldier asked about Blake's studies and his mother's work situation, and they said goodbye reluctantly.
The little boy, Blake, stared in the direction where his father's figure disappeared for a long time. He felt that the experience just now was like a dream.
At this time, some of the adult onlookers also came forward to ask Klein: "Can any wish be fulfilled?"
"I can only fulfill some simple wishes." Klein smiled: "And today's performance time is up."
With that, Klein bowed slightly to everyone, put on his top hat, and left.
The surrounding people applauded: "You are the best magician I have ever seen!"
"Good luck, magician!"
Klein waved goodbye to them, then found a hotel to stay in, preparing to go to the night market in the evening to taste the delicious snacks there.
Not long after checking in, there was a knock on the door: "Police inspection."
Klein smiled: 'Very vigilant.'
Opening the door, there were three young men in police uniforms outside. The sergeant in the lead smiled and said: "Welcome to Angel City. May we come in and chat?"
"Of course." Klein invited them in.
After closing the door, the young sergeant said: "Alright, let's not beat around the bush. Angel City welcomes Beyonders from all over the world."
"But there is a prerequisite: you must register here, and you must also report to us when you leave. If you plan to live here permanently, you need to report your status to us once every two weeks."
The sergeant spread his hands: "This is for everyone's good. If you show signs of losing control, we will help you find a solution. It's better than you quietly dying in a dark corner and hurting others."
Klein looked at the official Beyonders who were very wary of him and suddenly felt a very familiar feeling. He smiled and said: "Okay, I will register, and I will notify you when I leave here."
The sergeant breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "I thought so. After seeing your magic show, I knew you were a kind gentleman."
At this time, one of the police officers stepped forward and took out a registration form: "Name."
"Merlin Hermes."
"Pathway."
"Seer."
"Sequence."
"Sequence 7."
The police officer smiled and said: "I remember now, this Sequence is called 'Magician'. No wonder your performance was so wonderful."
Then, the police officer told Klein about the process of reporting their status to them. The two parties agreed to meet at a small warehouse in the suburbs, which was a stronghold for official Beyonders.
Finally, they issued Klein a temporary residence permit and explained to him that this document could only be used in the Angel region. If he went to other places, he would have to apply for another temporary residence permit.
And this document only allowed him to enjoy some of the rights of citizens.
As they were about to leave, the sergeant added: "Oh, right, the 'Administrative Regulations on Unofficial Beyonders' was just issued some time ago. If we need your Beyonder abilities, we will ask you to help by paying you."
"Don't worry, we won't ask you to do tasks that are too dangerous."
"And if we cooperate more than ten times, you can also get the opportunity to join us."
Klein smiled and said: "This is a very humane policy."
It is estimated that in the near future, many wild Beyonders will flock to the Duchy of South Balam. Many wild Beyonders dream of becoming informants for official Beyonders but are afraid to actively contact official Beyonders.
And the Duchy of South Balam's policy on wild Beyonders will definitely allow official Beyonder organizations to obtain a large number of "temporary workers."
After seeing off the official Beyonders, Klein nodded secretly. He deliberately performed the ability to grant wishes in the square to see the Duchy of South Balam's response ability.
Now it seems quite good. The social atmosphere looks very relaxed, but the police and official Beyonders have always been very vigilant.
In the evening, Klein went to the food street to taste the food. Looking at the buildings here with obvious Eastern styles, he suddenly had the illusion of traveling in a scenic spot in China.
The snacks here have both the culinary style of this world and the Eastern-style snacks that Klein remembered.
And Klein noticed that the security here was very good.
When he had dinner in Backlund, he could feel more than one thief and rogue observing him in the corners, judging whether it was easy to get away with something.
In the colonies, it was easy to encounter pirates cursing each other or fighting while eating.
Here in Angel City, eating is just eating, and you are hardly disturbed by security issues.
Klein ate from one end of the food street to the other, and finally went to a nearby bar to have a beer to quench his thirst.
The bar here was similar to the bars in Backlund. Everyone drank and laughed loudly, but there was no smell of foot odor and sweat.
Listening to the customers chatting, Klein learned the reason. It turned out that since the weather turned warmer, the Duchy of South Balam issued the "Sanitation Management Regulations," requiring every citizen to bathe no less than twice a week, and there were requirements for the length of men's beards and hair. If they exceeded the requirements, they must be cut off.
If they did not follow the management regulations, they would lose the opportunity to work in public places.
To this end, Angel City is equipped with a large number of public bathhouses, where you can wash for an hour for 5 cents, except in winter, when a large amount of hot water is needed.
Speaking of the currency of the Duchy of Southern Balam, Klein couldn't help but laugh. Hobert completely copied the currency system of the AD era, dividing it into cents, dimes, and dollars.
The official exchange rate is that 1 cent is roughly equal to a quarter of a penny, 1 dime is roughly two and a half pennies, and 1 dollar is roughly 2 soli and 1 penny.
The face values of banknotes are 2 cents, 5 cents, 2 dimes, 5 dimes, 1 dollar, 2 dollars, 5 dollars, and 10 dollars, while coins are 1 cent, 1 dime, half-dollars, and 1 dollar.
Because it is all decimal, it is very popular, unlike the pound, where 12 pence equals 1 soli, and 20 soli equals 1 pound, which is very troublesome to calculate.
Klein listened to the tavern patrons sighing that everything here is good, but there are too many rules. They are not allowed to urinate or defecate in the corners of the city. If caught, they will not only have to clean the streets for a week but also be fined.
Klein wholeheartedly agrees with this. In Backlund, the streets cleaned by sanitation workers are better, but the streets in the East Borough are simply appalling. They are like a collection of garbage dumps and public toilets.
Another thing that tavern patrons are talking about is that the Duchy of Southern Balam does not have a poorhouse, only an orphanage.
Because ordinary people have almost no chance of going bankrupt. Although these tavern patrons all work in the city, the Duchy government allocated land according to the population of the family when they immigrated.
It's just that, except during the busy farming season, the crops in the fields are taken care of by the elderly, wives, and children. The young and strong people have come to the city to look for opportunities to make money.
Even if they can't survive in the city, they can go back to the countryside, where at least there is a place to keep them fed and clothed.
This made Klein sigh inwardly: In fact, solving the problem of vagrants is not difficult, but it is very difficult for Loen, because these simple methods will harm the interests of the nobles.
After drinking a glass of beer, Klein came to the bustling street. This newly built city has many job opportunities, enough for these young and strong people to earn some money.
This reminded Him of the migrant workers who came to the city to work. The difference is that the people who immigrated from Backlund are used to spending money immediately when they have it, while the migrant workers in Klein's impression are very frugal.
From such small things, it can be seen that the people of Backlund have lived in a hopeless and futureless life for a long time.
There are many public entertainment facilities in Angel City at night. Klein also saw public dance halls, billiard halls, and so on.
These sports are basically exclusive to gentlemen in Backlund, but here they are open to everyone, with no entry threshold, and the fees are very fair.
Regarding these constructions, Klein felt Hobert's good intentions. Using dancing, singing, and playing billiards to consume people's remaining energy will definitely be of great help to public security.
But the premise is that the citizens can basically afford these things.
Klein stayed in Angel City for a few days. According to His plan, He also planned to go to the industrial area in the north and to Yason City to take a look.
But the delicacies here really made Him unwilling to leave.
Just as Klein was about to leave, He suddenly noticed that there were much fewer people in the city. Only after inquiring did He find out that the busy farming season had arrived.
So Klein simply went to the surrounding countryside to take a look. Outside the city, there was golden wheat everywhere, and people were sweating in the wheat fields, welcoming the joy of harvest.
On the vast plain, a person is very small. When there are people everywhere in the wheat field, it looks very spectacular.
Klein followed the road and went deeper and deeper into the countryside. He noticed that the wheat ears here were very large and full.
Regarding this point, He had heard Hobert mention that this year's harvest in the Duchy of Southern Balam was twice that of previous years, but after the harvest and until the first half of next year, almost nothing will be harvested no matter what is planted.
"Hey, you over there wearing a cloak!"
Just as Klein was standing by the road thinking wildly, He suddenly heard someone seemed to be calling Him.
Looking towards the place where the voice came from, Klein saw a middle-aged man dressed as a farmer: "Are you calling me?"
"Of course, I'm calling you." The other party asked, "Which village are you from?"
"I am a wandering magician." Klein replied as He had done the previous few days.
But the young man shook his head and said, "Poor young man."
Klein was slightly stunned: You, you must have some misunderstanding?
"Help our village harvest wheat." The middle-aged man said again, "After harvesting the wheat, I will use grain to pay your wages."
"It should be finished tomorrow. You can eat and live in my house for these two days."
Klein was about to explain: "I..."
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." The middle-aged man said while stuffing a sickle into Klein's hand, "Most people in the village have been vagrants and know how bad it feels to be a vagrant."
Klein was taken to the field in a daze.
At this time, the middle-aged man said again: "These clothes are not suitable, Elena, go home and bring my other clothes."
"No need," Klein said, "How about this, you make a wish to me, just say you hope that the grain in the field will be harvested, and I will fulfill your wish."
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "You are really humorous, hurry up and work, there will be plenty of bread later!"
Klein was just about to make a wish to Himself, but after seeing the smiling faces of the people in the field and hearing their laughter, He suddenly felt that if the wheat was harvested immediately at this time, it would be more like depriving them of their happiness.
So Klein picked up the sickle and silently began to cut the wheat.
The middle-aged man shouted: "Take advantage of the good weather! Work harder!"
At this time, they were afraid of rain or wind. Once it rained, the wheat would easily germinate, which would not be conducive to storage.
Once a strong wind blows, the wheat will easily fall down, which will not only increase the difficulty of harvesting, but some wheat grains will also easily scatter on the ground.
Although the officials above said that it would be sunny for the next few days, the middle-aged man still seemed a little worried. Only when the crops were harvested into his own granary would the harvest be considered complete.
When having lunch, Klein learned that this middle-aged man was actually the village chief, and many young people in the village had joined the army, so there was a shortage of labor.
Now the entire Duchy of Southern Balam is busy. The village can only find its own way to solve the shortage of labor. The wandering Klein is equivalent to the labor that came to the door himself.
As the village chief said just now, there is plenty of bread, and there is also sauerkraut made from pickled cabbage.
While chatting, they talked about the past. This village chief immigrated from Backlund. When he was young, his family also had some farmland, but the previous sharp drop in grain prices forced him to sell the farmland and work in the city.
But with the outbreak of the war, he quickly lost his job, and his family became vagrants.
Now he is very grateful that he chose to come to the Duchy of Southern Balam, otherwise he and his family would definitely starve to death on the streets of Backlund like those vagrants.
More than half of the people in the village have similar experiences to the village chief. The difference is that the village chief once taught himself to read and write and could write a few common words.
He happened to catch up with the town government opening a training class. He went to study for more than ten days during the slack farming season. At this time, the newly occupied Highland County needed a large number of grassroots cadres. The original village chief was transferred to Highland County, so he became the village chief.
According to him, the village chief next door is also a fresh graduate. He is also very hardworking, but he doesn't seem to know much about crops.
However, this will not delay things, because the town government has clear regulations on what to harvest and when to thresh. They only need to organize labor according to the documents issued by the town government.
These senior intellectual village chiefs are here to understand agricultural labor at the grassroots level. As long as there is a vacancy above, they will be the first batch to be supplemented to the town government.
Speaking of this, Klein asked: "Do you think this is fair?"
"What's unfair?" The village chief smiled and said, "People have studied for so many years, do they have to cut wheat here for the rest of their lives? That's unfair."
The village chief looked at his ten-year-old daughter, Elena: "It would be great if I could have a place to spend the rest of my life. It would be great if she could get into college in the future."
Klein smiled and said: "Your wish will come true."
"Okay, it's time to work." The village chief got up again and continued to harvest under the scorching sun.
In the following days, Klein not only helped to cut the wheat but also helped to thresh it and collect the grain.
After completing the harvest, everyone lit a bonfire and celebrated.
In front of the bonfire, Klein performed a magic trick for everyone, which attracted applause from everyone, and even people from neighboring villages came to watch the performance.
After the celebration, the village chief told Klein: "You are indeed a magician and should not be buried here. I will take you to the town government tomorrow to see if they can find you an opportunity there."
"Thank you." Klein thanked sincerely.
But that night, He left without saying goodbye.
The next day, the village chief found a note on Klein's pillow, which read: Performance and loneliness are the destiny of a magician.
At the same time, a letter from Klein appeared in the mailbox of the official Beyonder residence in Angel City, telling them that he had left Angel City.
He wrote in the letter: Yesterday I suddenly thought of one thing, happiness is happiness, there is no need to deliberately create happiness with magic or fulfilling wishes. What is truly beautiful is not the realization of a wish, but facing a beautiful future with a wish.
After bidding farewell to Angel City, Klein headed north, first visiting the massive industrial zone. There, all the factory machines were running at full capacity, supplying all kinds of industrial products to the entire Southern Balam Governorate.
Further north, there was also a huge agricultural base, but unlike other places, this agricultural base was operated by an agricultural company directly under the government.
In other words, although the Southern Balam Governorate did not collect agricultural taxes, they were not short of food. The grain from such a large area of land was all the income of the governorate.
Further north, he arrived at Yason City. This city was still very empty, but the outskirts of this city were very lively.
The harvest here was about a week earlier than in the Saint-Sern region, and they had already entered a period of major construction.
First, manpower was organized at the town level. Under the guidance of professionals, brick kilns were built, followed by logging, baking wood, and so on.
The next step was to transform all the buildings in the entire town. The requirement from above was that every building in the town should have the architectural style of Angel City, and those unwilling to rebuild would be forced to rebuild.
Under this semi-military management, weights and measures, clothing, language, and so on were also unified.
After observing Yason City for a few days, Klein prepared to go to Lanagua Port to see the church built for him.
Just then, he received a message that the outer defense line of Backlund had fallen.
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