After half a month, Roland finally embarked on his journey home.

After swiftly cleansing the four major families and the black street rats with thunderous force, the Longsong Stronghold had temporarily become a blank canvas for him to work on. Various relief and resettlement measures were proceeding in an orderly manner. Although the gold royals and grain seized from the Maple Leaf, Running Wolf, and Wild Rose territories were not as abundant as those of Duke Ryan, they still amounted to a staggering sum. Precisely because of this, he was able to expand the scope of relief grain to all the people in the city without any worries, and use the porridge distribution time to carry out policy publicity, the effect of which was remarkably significant.

On the day of his departure, the Second Army had recruited the planned five hundred men, and the police department also had a new team of about two hundred people. Roland left half of the soldiers participating in the expedition and Wade in the stronghold. The purpose of this, in addition to daily defense and vigilance, was more to train these newcomers into usable soldiers as soon as possible.

He knew that this blank period would not last long. If he did not quickly establish a channel directly connecting the people and the city hall, and deepen his control into the grassroots level, then the decadent and old order would make a comeback and fill this vacuum of power. No destruction, no construction; destruction first, then construction. He had already completed the goal of great destruction, and the next stage was great construction.

What gave Roland confidence was the solid backing of Border Town. The total population had grown to more than 30,000, and more than half of the population was receiving basic education. In later generations, this would only be the scale of two middle schools, but in this era, it was an extremely amazing scale - the education popularized to every town resident was not simply literacy, but also basic common sense of nature, political thought... as well as the national consciousness instilled in them.

The progress of cultural level allowed him to have enough grassroots manpower to promote change; and compared to the ignorant people who did not know why they were fighting and who resigned themselves to suffering, the awakening of national consciousness would make them burst out with unimaginable power. These people in the town were the sparks he had sown, and one day, they would set off a prairie fire on this continent.

As the sky gradually darkened, the faint outline of the town appeared in Roland's eyes.

"Look... what's that?" a noble behind him exclaimed.

"A... bridge?" another person craned his neck to look, "My God, it's so long."

"That's impossible. There are only two pillars. How can it support such a long bridge deck?"

"Wait... it seems to be made of iron!"

On the way back, in addition to the witches, there were dozens more nobles on Roland's ship. They were either of shallow family background or low in爵位, and they stayed far away from the rebellion, thus avoiding his cleansing.

According to the plan, they would systematically learn the departmental classification management methods of the city hall in the town, and then return to the stronghold when the city was officially built, to assist Peiluo in establishing a lower-level city hall, and execute and feedback the orders he issued. After losing the privileges of noble fiefs, the only thing these people could rely on to go further was their own ability.

When the fleet passed through the steel bridge, which was stained with silver edges, Roland heard a gasp of surprise from the nobles behind him. A group of people couldn't help but hold their breath and silently watched the iron bridge spanning the river pass over their heads.

The prince couldn't help but find it a little funny. This group of people had been exclaiming non-stop since they got on the ship. First, they were surprised that the stone hull could float on the water, and then they were very curious about the rotating paddle wheel and the steam engine that spewed white mist. It was a pity that the town's three links project had not yet been completed, he thought maliciously, otherwise when these people saw the bright and stable lights, they would be shocked out of their minds.

As the whistle blew, the ship slowly docked at the dock. Barov, Carter, and a large group of city hall officials, who had already received the "pigeon post", had been waiting on the shore for a long time. When they saw Roland appear, they also sounded salutes in a decent manner and put on a set of welcoming ceremonies according to the etiquette of welcoming the king.

Roland smiled and patted the two on the shoulders, then brought Barov to the nobles of the stronghold and introduced them to each other. "It's up to you to arrange the accommodation, life, and study of these people," he whispered close to the chief steward's ear. "Don't take their status and titles to heart. At most, they are only barons. There are all kinds of people in the mines, and they still have to work honestly. Train them according to the way you train new graduates, I

want to see results as soon as possible."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Back at the castle, the witches who heard the news had gathered in the hall. As soon as Roland crossed the gate, before he had time to feel the long-lost warmth, a warm body had already pounced into his chest. Smelling the familiar fragrance from her hair, he smiled and touched the other person's head, "I'm back."

"Mm," Anna looked up, her lake-blue eyes rippling, "I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Me too!"

"Me too, goo!"

Soon Roland felt an extra weight on each side of his arms... Without looking, he knew that besides Lightning and Maggie, no other witches would bother him and Anna hugging at this time.

"Hey, you guys just went with him, okay?" Mystery Moon yelled.

"Exactly," Lily snorted, "Shameless!"

"It's good that you all came back safely," Wendy said softly with a smile.

"We have to celebrate tonight," Scroll suggested.

"Oh! I want ice cream bread!" Andrea cheered, "Plus Ashes and Shavi's share, I want to eat a big plate!"

The last one to come forward was Tilly Wimbledon.

She extended her hand and said with a relaxed expression, "You've worked hard."

"Thank you," Roland raised the corner of his mouth and grasped the hand extended by the other party.

...

After the sumptuous dinner, Roland returned to his office and let out a sigh of relief. Although the castle in the stronghold was much bigger, he felt more comfortable in this small place.

Just as he was about to sort out the books brought from the stronghold, Anna pushed the door open and walked in.

"You came just in time," Roland pointed to the books piled on the carpet, "Look, this is the gift I brought you. Most of them are historical records and legends, as well as some Western Region secrets, all moved out of the Duke's room. Oh, this one is –"

Before he could finish speaking, he felt a pair of soft lips press against his.

The fragrance carried a hint of burning heat, and the dryness mixed with a moist breath.

"I missed you so much." After separating, Anna looked calmly into his eyes and said word by word.

Looking at the ripples in the other person's eyes, Roland felt a surge of heat in his heart. "This..."

"I can read it later."

"I think so too."

The two kissed again.