A grand celebration banquet was being held in the lord's hall of Border Town.

Apart from the witches, the high-ranking officials of the City Hall and the First Army were all present, including Barovs. Mons and Carter Lannis, who were originally nobles, and Iron Axe and Camo. Strale, who were of commoner origin. Especially the latter, Roland spent a lot of time persuading him to come from the laboratory to attend this banquet, which in his words was "meaningless."

In order to let the people share his feelings, in addition to public speeches, he also ordered the kitchen to use the refined starch left over from manufacturing zhàyào to bake a large batch of white bread and distribute it to the townspeople - as long as they had an ID card, they could lingqu a limited amount of delicious food at the City Hall. When the First Army was still on its way home, most people in the town already knew about the victory of this battle.

Of course, they may not understand the purpose and significance of this expedition, but as long as there is free bread, it is a day worth celebrating for them.

This was also Roland's first "elegant" banquet modeled after the royal capital.

There were no barbecues or large chunks of stewed meat. All the food was cut into small pieces and placed on white plates. The basins beside them were filled with various seasonings, which could be dipped according to one's own taste, similar to a buffet restaurant in later generations.

"Welcome back," he walked towards Anna with two glasses of fruit wine, "You've worked hard on the road."

"You've already said that, at the pier," Anna took the glass, "And my answer is still the same, it's not hard."

The glasses clinked lightly, and a sweet smile filled the girl's eyes. Roland resisted the urge to hug her on the spot, and then raised his glass to the other witches to celebrate.

"What about me? What about me?" Lightning shouted.

"You have a share too," Roland called a servant to bring wine, and took a glass of apple cider, "Thank you for your hard work."

"I want to drink white wine!" The little girl raised her head.

"Uh..." He thought for a while, and finally agreed to her request. This little devil was always particularly curious. If he kept refusing, she might learn from Nightingale and sneak into the kitchen to steal wine, "Okay, but only one glass."

"Okay!"

Just as Roland handed her a glass of low-alcohol white wine with ice and grape juice, she suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Cough cough... is this another Fjords etiquette?"

"That's right," Lightning nodded vigorously, "My daddy said so!"

Since it was not the first time they had seen it, the witches did not find it too strange. However, Sylvie and others widened their eyes, and then looked at Roland with accusatory eyes, which made the latter turn his head away in embarrassment - is there really such an etiquette in the Fjords of offering a kiss to the leader at a celebration banquet?

Next was to toast his subordinates.

When it was the chief alchemist's turn, he leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness, I have read your *Intermediate Chemistry* twice, but there are still many unclear points."

"It talks about the microscopic composition of matter. This part involves a lot of physics knowledge. You have to combine it with another book to read." Roland pointed out, "I suggest you read the *Elementary Physics* first, and then start the chemical fragments from the beginning. This way, many doubts can be answered."

"That's what I plan to do, but..." He hesitated, "Your Highness, why are the colors used on the covers of each ancient book different? Do they have any special meanings?"

"Well..." Roland pondered for a moment, "The color represents its level and the difficulty of obtaining it."

"Is that so?" Camo said thoughtfully, "From green to purple, it seems that the darker the color, the more mysterious the knowledge recorded. Then the *Advanced Chemistry* must be black?"

"No, it's orange."

"Ah?" Camo was stunned, "Why?"

Roland smiled, "Who knows."

...

Halfway through the banquet, he walked out of the hall and came to the castle terrace. The gentle breeze of the evening made Roland feel a chill. Half of autumn had passed.

He realized that before long, the long winter brought by the Months of Demons would cover the entire Western Region.

However, this year was completely different from last year. Trade with the Margie Chamber of Commerce brought a lot of liquid funds. In addition to exchanging food and materials, a considerable part of these gold dragons were distributed to the people in the form of salaries. According to statistics from the People's Market, sales of various commodities have increased a lot recently, and some goods that can significantly improve the quality of life, such as steaks and eggs, have increased very rapidly.

Undoubtedly, this was a sign that the living standards of the people were gradually improving. In particular, the natives had brand-new free housing, and their salaries had increased a lot compared to the past. They began to try to buy delicacies that they could only enjoy during festivals. The newly introduced population was still in the stage of saving money to buy houses. When they were able to settle down, the market would inevitably usher in a new sales peak.

What do people really need? Sometimes, they just need to be fed and clothed, and they will be grateful to the lord and follow him to the death.

In this era, most commoners are easily satisfied.

"Your Highness, be careful of catching a cold." Nightingale appeared from behind, holding a thin coat in her hand. She threw the coat to Roland, took out a piece of dried fish at random, and stood beside him, "What are you thinking about here?"

"Nothing," he smiled and put on his coat, "Just suddenly wanted to see my territory."

"The town seems to be quite lively," Nightingale pointed to the brightly lit square, "It's already evening, and there are still so many people who haven't gone home."

"Because today is the first performance of the new drama *Dawn*," Roland curled his lips, "And it is also the first performance of the troupe returning to the town after several months. The people are probably eager to see Mei xiaojie and Miss Eileen again."

But speaking of which, Mei xiaojie will soon become Mei Lannis. He really didn't expect that his chief knight would strike so quickly and abduct the star of the Western Region. When the other party mentioned it to him with a sincere face, it took him a while to react. The marriage of the chief knight needs to be recognized by the lord to whom he is loyal, and Roland naturally has no objection to such a happy event. Finally, the wedding date of the two was set after the Months of Demons, which is the day when Border Town is officially built into a city.

"When I first sneaked into the town, it was still a lifeless place," Nightingale sighed, "Now, even standing in the castle, I can feel their joy."

"Days are always getting better day by day," Roland raised his head, looked at the cloudless, bright night sky, and took a deep breath. There was still a lot he had to do, such as expanding the scope of education, establishing public medical care, strengthening cultural construction, encouraging childbirth, and so on... These would all be transformed into the solid strength of the Western Region, laying the foundation for unifying Graycastle.

"What about us?" Nightingale tilted her head and asked with a sly look in her eyes.

"Of course, it's the same," Roland patted her head, "I promise."(。)