As for defence…

“Lawrence, I was hoping that you can train the men yourself. Arm them yourself, drill them yourself, I daresay that no one can do it better than you.” Craig said and Lawrence considered it for a moment.

“I’m not going to draft farmers, merchants and others for an army. If you find me a hundred labourers willing to try, I can give it a shot.” Lawrence said and Craig pondered over it for a moment.

“Every year, refugees swarm King Carmine’s territories due to the Wars of the Six Kings and Five Princes. If you do not mind, we can write a letter to the Border Patrol of Count Ludwig. We could certainly pay for his transporting of men here.” Craig suggested and Lawrence agreed readily.

“Why didn’t you say so earlier? In fact, I wish for you to bring me as many refugees as possible. As many as you can! I shall offer a single silver coin for each person.” Lawrence said and Jacob looked shocked.

“You are paying too much, Lawrence. I figured by now you are swimming in money, but by golly, young man!” Jacob said disapprovingly, his belly rumbling as well as if echoing his agreement.

“I have a use for them,” Lawrence said and Jacob could only shrug. Right now, even Roland was honestly just town chieftain in the paper. Lawrence had everyone in his pockets. He was paid well, so why argue?

With that, Roland sent a letter to Count Ludwig who was thrilled to receive the letter. In fact, he even extended an invitation to Lawrence and Roland to his border castle of Skyhaven, where he said he would be happy to entertain them.

In the next section of the letter, he detailed the number of slaves he could send over, which was about 4000 in which he was barely managing to feed.

Lawrence then asked Roland to seek Count Ludwig assistance, asking him to detail for each person, a parchment with the seal of Count Ludwig’s House, detailing what their careers were before they became refugees before sending them over.

With that, what historians called The Great Migration occurred, with over 4000 skilled refugees reaching Tears. Historians would detail that the lands of the Boulesky were filled with an ancient tradition called The Honoured Oath, where men, women and children of Boulesky were taught or even drilled since young to be fiercely loyal and thankful to those that have saved their lives.

It was said that when Lawrence served every refugee a steaming bowl of mutton and with the softest and most delicious croissant, every man, woman and child who had lost their homes in Boulesky due to the war of their lieges swore their undying loyalty to the Council of Four.

Lawrence had decided to create three forces from the refugees that had arrived after separating skilled labourers that were in particular demand.

For example, Roland was tasked to separate former merchants, farmers, herders and herbalists from the group. Lawrence then built a massive spiralling tower that was ten stories high and as per the Deity of Mercy in these lands, Lady Grace, a massive statue of hers was placed at the top of the hospital. Some even swore that at night, the statue glowed once in a while, flooding the tower in an unnatural white light.

In truth, Lawrence had built the Tower of Healing, in which large clans built in their lands in Ever Dawn to accommodate their injured. The statue at the top served as a massive vessel of holy energy, which channelled healing hourly so that injuries will heal faster.

The beds were comfortable and wide, water was pumped readily into the tower and patients even had time slots for taking baths.

One refugee from Boulesky, later Head Nurse in the Tower of Mercy, wrote in her memoirs:

The Tower of Mercy was more than just a medic’s camp in war or a place where people could go to for medical treatment for free, which was unheard of.

It did not discriminate against who came to the Tower of Mercy for healing, be it former slaves (Slavery was outlawed in Tears and gradually in Lord Black’s territory) or the most influential noble.

However, what ceases to amaze me is how The Honourable Carstein has provided the most efficient herbs and underneath the Tower of Mercy, he has built a massive facility he called a Greenhouse, where all these rare herbs continue to grow and I am sure, will continue to thrive even after I have joined the ground.

In the Tower of Mercy, even the most painful of diseases seem to be less so and I wonder why. A man with a raging fever ceased to moan and groan the moment he entered the Tower, while another who was whimpering from several broken ribs from a hunting accident said he felt the pain gradually dissipate.

In my naïve heart, I felt that perhaps, the Lady of Mercy on the tower had carried the pain herself.