That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 45 Winter is Coming

Two weeks passed in the blink of an eye.

The morning was overcast, and light snow began to fall. Soon, the earth was covered in a thin layer of silver. The western region is known for its cold and dry climate; this was the first snowfall of the winter, slightly earlier than last year.

In previous years, snow meant the beginning of a catastrophe.

It would cause a large number of ordinary people to die from hunger and cold, and those who had enough food reserves would have to stay at home to minimize energy consumption in order to increase their chances of surviving the winter.

Those who are strong and healthy and who haven't encountered any accidents are lucky.

If one catches a cold, or if one's winter food is stolen or robbed, it is tantamount to a death sentence.

This is especially true for a small, frontier collar like the Thorn Collar.

However, this year's Thornridge is completely different—

The people left their houses chatting and laughing, and went to work as usual. They were wrapped in thick cotton clothes they had earned with work points, and wore felt hats they had earned with work points. Most of them had a rosy complexion.

"Shall we go to school, Charlie?"

Seeing the neighbor's child strutting out the door with an air of nonchalance, Carter smiled and asked, "Did your dad agree to let you go to school?"

Charlie, hands on his hips, replied, "He can't disagree!"

Why?

"Because it was the lord's order to send me to school, and he even said he would talk to my dad about it himself!"

"Haha, that's amazing!"

Watching Charlie jog off towards the school, Carter smiled and shook his head, dismissing it as innocent childish talk.

However, Charlie's father was indeed rigid; he felt it was better to start working and supporting the family early than to waste time in school. Carter didn't readily judge others' opinions, but if he had children, he would definitely send them to school.

Since the new lord Ronan took office, there have been jobs in Thorn Territory that are in high demand. Whether it's repairing roads, building public facilities, or processing various gadgets in workshops, as long as you're not lazy, you can always find work.

However, for a while, all tasks were directly assigned by the lord; but recently, they have become things that can be chosen and signed up for by the lord himself.

Carter was initially very uncomfortable with this change.

He was a refugee, illiterate, and never felt the need to be literate. He only managed to do well in Thornlands thanks to his sheer brute strength. Besides Payne, he had eaten the most eggs before.

After the job assignment method changed, he couldn't understand what was written on the notice board for each period.

Although the guards Ronan sent would read the notice an hour after it was issued, by then it would be too late, and others would have already snatched up the most lucrative jobs.

Sometimes, even if he knows in advance which jobs are profitable, he may still be unable to take them because he lacks education.

For example, when it comes to repairing roads or houses, you can do the physical labor of moving bricks, but you can't do the planning of dimensions or the work that requires meticulous construction.

Almost overnight, Carter fell from the top tier of the pioneer team to a weak character in the current version.

This incident deeply affected him: in Thorn Territory, being illiterate was unacceptable!

Therefore, when the night school started, he was the first person to sit in the classroom, so much so that some people mistook him for a teacher.

When Carter channeled the same energy he used for physical labor into reading, he was surprised to find that reading wasn't so difficult after all; in fact, it was much easier and more interesting than physical labor.

Since starting his studies, he has learned a lot, including calculations up to 100, common vocabulary and terminology, and basic common sense about various industries... More importantly, he has learned why we should study.

Carter quickly stood out from the group of students.

Now, he is considered one of the most cultured people in the neighborhood, and his neighbors jokingly call him "Scholar Carter".

The notice board content was no longer a challenge for him, and he discovered that the knowledge he had learned could be combined with practical work. For example, by assigning tasks according to each person's strengths, the work could be completed in the shortest amount of time.

Carter thus became the foreman of the monastery.

More importantly, since he started learning that knowledge, he found that his whole being, inside and out, had changed. He couldn't quite explain what it felt like, but he liked the feeling he had now, and it was what reading had brought him.

Carter initially read books simply to understand the notices, but now he realizes that the significance of reading goes far beyond just understanding notices.

So he will continue his studies and will also send his children to school... assuming he can find a wife someday...

Good morning, Mr. Carter.

"Lord, my lord?"

The handsome figure approaching him brought Carter back to his senses. Recognizing Ronan, he waved, flattered and overwhelmed, "Good morning! What brings you here?"

"Let's visit the home of one of the children's parents."

Ronan smiled and waved goodbye, "Goodbye, Mr. Carter, have a nice day."

"Thank you for your blessing! You are one too..."

Watching Ronan walk towards Charlie's house, Carter paused for a moment: So that kid wasn't bragging after all!

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Thornfield area near the suburbs —

"One, two, one! One, two, one! One, two, three, four!"

"One! Two! Three! Four!"

The militia assembled as usual and advanced in two columns, their destination being Fulong Valley.

Despite carrying over 40 kilograms of equipment and with light snow falling, the team's steps remained firm and powerful.

Under the training system of mentoring new recruits and focusing on actual combat, the 800 specially recruited new soldiers are now basically no different from the core veterans.

The high-intensity drills and frequent extermination of evil beasts allowed them to grow extremely quickly, not to mention that many of them already had combat experience. Under the training model of Thorn Territory, their physical fitness and willpower underwent a complete transformation.

They are now completely different from the defeated soldiers who were driven out by the rebels a month ago.

In addition to the high-intensity training, Ronan would also come regularly to do ideological work with them.

Instead of trying to downplay the situation to the militia, he would tell them that it was only a matter of time before the rebels besieged the city, and that their daily training was crucial to the survival of Thorn Territory.

Under this call, every militia member exerted all their strength to become stronger.

Because they understood that they were fighting not only for their lord, but also for their hard-won new life...

"First and second battalions, maintain your shield formation! You must withstand the enemy cavalry charge!"

"The third to fifth battalions will maintain suppression. Miss Madonna can only offer limited assistance; don't waste firepower unless absolutely necessary!"

"Sixth to Eighth Battalions, keep a close eye on intersections Two and Five. That's where they sneaked in to raid our base last time! The real rebels are definitely much more cunning than them!"

Upon receiving orders from his superiors, Fermi led his team to the forests on both sides of the valley to work with other teams to seal off the secret passage. This was one of the key aspects of the exercise, intended to defend against infiltration attacks by the rebels.

In addition, there are exercises such as high ground suppression, valley defense, and damage replenishment and rotation exercises—in fact, only a small part of these were directly formulated by Ronan himself, and the rest were formed through continuous simulation and practice.

This was because he had issued an order: whether on the attacking or defending side, everyone who won the exercise would receive an egg, and the order was valid indefinitely.

Therefore, both sides are working hard to keep up, and neither side wants to fall behind.

As one of the participants, Fermi also realized that he wouldn't know how capable he was until he pushed himself...

Then, completely bewildered, he was captured alive by the attackers who had quietly flanked him from behind.

"According to the exercise rules, you have been eliminated."

"ah??"

After an hour of intense competition, today's exercise ended with the attacking side emerging victorious.

"Damn it, we lost again!"

"Fermi, I think the responsibility this time lies with you. I've already told you to keep an eye on Exits 2 and 5."

"We went! But those guys from the 12th Battalion took a shortcut and circled around to our backs. Who knew they could pull this off?"

"Why not? If a real fight breaks out, will the rebels care about these things?"

"Well... never mind, I'll go back and analyze this carefully! Next time I'll definitely get my revenge!"

After the exercise, Batt organized a debriefing session for the battalion commanders of both the attacking and defending sides, summarizing their respective strengths and weaknesses.

Afterwards, they will also use camp meetings and group meetings to disseminate the results of the debriefing to each group and each soldier.

At first they were not quite used to this mode, but after two practice sessions they quickly got the hang of it – although they were no longer knights, their experience in riding horses and fighting did not disappear.

Now, even without Ronan's personal involvement, battalion commanders can efficiently organize and review exercises, which is exactly the effect Ronan hoped to achieve.

However, unlike in the past, after this exercise, Bart held a short meeting with all the battalion commanders and squad leaders: The lord has recently implemented an important new invention that is related to the future of Thorn Territory. All officers above the squad leader level will come to visit this afternoon!

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