Although she hadn’t slept all night, Amelia still couldn’t rest. She had just taken over Wales Castle and had many matters to arrange.
As the sky grew brighter, the city seemed to come alive, with residents waking up and stepping out to welcome the new day.
The changes in the city quickly spread throughout Wales Castle, becoming a hot topic of discussion among the people.
To be honest, the ordinary residents didn’t feel much about these changes. The shift in city management was too distant for them, and they continued with their lives as usual.
However, for those with a certain status and position, this was a very important matter that needed to be taken seriously.
Throughout the morning, Amelia received many people who came to see her, understanding each individual’s situation and making appropriate arrangements.
When the time reached the afternoon, the people sent by the garrison commander, Ralph Kent, to the Thorn Mountains in the morning returned, bringing back a large number of garrison troops.
After Ralph interacted with the returning garrison troops, he hurried to the baron’s residence to report the news. At that moment, he saw Carlotta passing by the door.
Ralph dared not neglect Miss Carlotta White. He had noticed that Carlotta and Amelia were quite close, so he asked someone from the Carnation Knights about Carlotta’s identity and received an answer that greatly shocked him.
Miss White was actually in a relationship with Miss Fenwick!
Ralph immediately approached her, "Miss White, all the garrison troops from the Thorn Mountains who could return have come back, but there are still some issues. I need to report to Miss Fenwick. May I see her now?"
Carlotta said, "Amelia is currently receiving someone. Wait a bit... What’s the problem?"
She casually asked, but Ralph felt obliged to answer.
The commander said seriously, "Some of the garrison troops we sent to the Thorn Mountains chose to become deserters. Only eleven thousand have returned."
Carlotta was stunned.
She remembered that Wales Castle had a total of twenty thousand garrison troops, with eighteen thousand sent to the Thorn Mountains. Did that mean...
"Seven thousand deserted? Why would so many choose to flee?"
Carlotta exclaimed in surprise.
Ralph smiled wryly, "It’s because those Velmorians gave excessive orders."
He slowly explained the situation.
When the eighteen thousand garrison troops went to the Thorn Mountains to dig, they didn’t bring much. They were ordered to solve their food, drink, and lodging on-site, which was somewhat challenging for the troops who had brought nothing.
Although there were wild animals in the Thorn Mountains, they had eighteen thousand people, and the amount of food needed was no small matter.
Moreover, they didn’t bring tents, so where could they sleep? Without permission, they couldn’t return to get tents, so they had to sleep on the ground, and they couldn’t change their clothes.
Over time, the morale of the garrison troops had completely dissipated.
"So seven thousand deserted?"
Carlotta rubbed her temples, feeling a headache. "Those Velmorians really caused trouble, leaving us with so many problems even after they died."
"Mainly because these garrison troops aren’t the original ones."
"What do you mean they’re not the original garrison troops?"
Ralph explained, "The original garrison troops numbered only eight thousand. The rest were temporarily recruited due to the war..."
As the war unfolded, Duke Francis ordered the local noble lords to increase their garrison forces.
In Wales Castle, the garrison was increased from eight thousand to twenty thousand.
But where would the people come from?
Simply recruiting wouldn’t yield enough people in a short time.
So someone thought of the prisoners in the jail... This operation was identical to the nobles in the capital pulling people from the prisons.
Ralph explained that due to Wales Castle’s proximity to the sea, they often dealt with pirates from the Starlight Sea. The Starlight Sea pirates were a persistent problem, causing headaches for both the Wendell Empire and the Velmoria Empire.
Both empires had suffered losses to the pirates, though the pirates also had their share of defeats.
Over the years, Wales Castle had captured many pirates, all of whom were imprisoned.
With the war approaching, these pirates were released, numbering around seven to eight thousand.
It could be said that the garrison troops who deserted in the Thorn Mountains were mostly these pirates.
Being pirates, they had no loyalty. Normally, they could be watched by regular soldiers, but once chaos broke out and even the regular soldiers became uncertain, many things became uncontrollable.
Carlotta rubbed her temples in frustration, "These pirates are really unreliable, but pulling people from prisons to fight isn’t reliable either."
Ralph said helplessly, "Anyway, that’s how it was arranged from above... because using pirates as soldiers doesn’t cost money, while others have to be paid."
Carlotta thought that Ralph’s last sentence was probably the key point.
At that moment, a merchant who had gone to see Amelia walked out of the residence and left.
Seeing this, Carlotta said, "It seems Amelia has time now. Go and tell her about this matter."
Ralph immediately entered the residence.
Carlotta thought for a moment and followed him in, sitting in the council hall, listening as Ralph repeated the matter of the deserters to Amelia.
Amelia’s expression grew increasingly serious as Ralph spoke.
"These deserters are all pirates?"
Amelia confirmed again.
"Mostly, there might be a few hundred non-pirate soldiers, but the rest are definitely pirates."
"This is troublesome."
She hadn’t expected that the late Baron Wales would leave her such a mess.
Although the nobles in the capital also pulled people from prisons, they had the confidence to control them. However, the garrison troops of Wales Castle clearly couldn’t control that group of pirates.
These were pirates, not kind-hearted folks. Having several thousand of them fleeing to the surrounding areas was definitely not a good thing. Who knew what they would do? It could likely cause chaos.
After some thought, Amelia issued a serious command, "Spread my order, all deserters must return and report. Those who return within three days will not be questioned about their past desertion. Those who do not return within three days will be executed as deserters!"
Ralph immediately took the order, "Yes."
As Ralph hurried away, Amelia sighed helplessly.
Carlotta comforted her, "Don’t worry too much. Our garrison still has thirteen thousand soldiers, plus three thousand from the knight order, which is enough to capture all the escaped pirates."
"This is a troublesome matter, but in Wales Castle, trouble is not limited to just this one."
After taking over Wales Castle and understanding its various situations, she realized that this place was far from as good as it appeared on the surface.
Carlotta curiously asked what other problems there were, and Amelia did not hide it, pointing out another major issue.
"It’s a financial problem. Wales Castle has no money."
Amelia said with a hint of worry.
Carlotta was a bit surprised, "Before the war started, wasn’t Wales Castle a famous resort in the Duchy of Francis? Such a place should have high revenue."
Moreover, in the matter of expanding the garrison, the Baron Wales Castle chose pirates from the prison and only recruited a small number of people, which didn’t cost much money. Where did all the saved money go?
"All the money was spent on building ships."
Amelia revealed the answer.
"Building ships? Many ships?"
Carlotta didn’t understand for a moment. Could building one ship really cause financial problems for a city like Wales Castle?
Amelia smiled bitterly, "Not an ordinary ship, but a quite luxurious one. I was planning to go and see it. Would you like to accompany me?"
The sea to the east of the continent is collectively called the Starlight Sea.
When Carlotta arrived at the port by carriage, she heard the continuous sound of waves crashing, like a symphony of nature.
She and Amelia got off the carriage and looked out, feeling the vast and magnificent sea view, which was incredibly beautiful.
As a coastal city, Wales Castle naturally made good use of the sea. Every day, many ships would leave the port or arrive from other places, contributing to the city’s prosperity.
When Carlotta’s gaze fell on the port, her eyes inevitably landed on the most beautiful ship among them.
This ship was not particularly large, but it was completely different from the other ships around it.
Most of the other ships were made of wood, with some steel materials occasionally embedded in the hull for reinforcement.
But this ship was entirely made of steel, shimmering coldly in the sunlight. Its streamlined hull made it look particularly stylish, and the intricate patterns carved on the hull added a mysterious feel to it.
At this moment, the ship was guarded by many garrison soldiers, quietly staying in the port. It was hard for anyone passing by not to take a second look at it.
Amelia spread her hands and said, "This is the reason for the financial shortage."
Carlotta examined it and said, "This ship doesn’t look very big, but this appearance... Could it be an alchemy ship?"
Amelia nodded, "Yes, it’s an alchemy ship, called the Moonlight. It is equipped with many alchemy weapons and entertainment facilities. The total cost is really astonishing."
She could see that Carlotta didn’t seem to know much about alchemy, so she explained in detail.
The price of alchemy items can vary greatly. An ordinary weapon with high-quality alchemy components could cost around ten thousand Orrae. But what if it’s not a weapon, but a ship?
The volume of a ship is incomparable to that of a weapon, requiring more materials and more technology, which can increase the price many times over.
Depending on the ship, the price can vary greatly. And this Moonlight is undoubtedly of high-quality alchemy standard, its price has reached an unimaginable level.
But this is just the initial expenditure.
Amelia told Carlotta that the Moonlight is also equipped with many alchemy weapons, and the prices of those weapons need to be calculated separately.
For example, a photon cannon costs as much as one hundred thousand Orrae, and there are thirty such photon cannons on the Moonlight, which is an expenditure of three million Orrae.
In addition, there are thirty-six different alchemy arrays carved on the ship, including ones that make the ship lighter, automatic cleaning, automatic navigation, automatic alarms, and various other functions.
As Amelia slowly explained, Carlotta couldn’t help but feel a headache, deeply realizing how much money this alchemy ship was burning. Baron Wales had invested all the money into this.
"For the sake of this ship, Wales Castle’s finances are in crisis. I don’t know what to say."
Carlotta knew that Baron Wales built this ship not to fight pirates or anything, but purely for sailing and entertainment, because apart from the various functions Amelia mentioned, the rest are all entertainment facilities.
All the entertainment methods that can be found in Starlight Bay can also be found on this ship.
Amelia said, "As a resort in the Duchy of Francis, Wales Castle really earns a lot of revenue. One Moonlight might not be enough to drain it. However... making alchemy items can also fail. Before this Moonlight, there were nearly ten failed alchemy ships, wasting a lot of financial resources."
Carlotta was speechless, "Couldn’t Baron Wales find some reliable alchemists to build the ship?"
Before the Moonlight was built, if there had been one less failure, Wales Castle’s financial situation could have been much better.
Amelia couldn’t say much about this. She didn’t know the background of the alchemist Baron Wales had hired. In the account books of the baron’s mansion, there was only an unfamiliar name, and she had never heard of it.
She once suspected that the Moonlight could have been built by that alchemist long ago, but the alchemist deliberately failed to defraud Baron Wales of money.
"So now, besides solving the problem of deserters, we also need to solve the financial problem, otherwise we won’t be able to pay next month’s military salary."
Amelia was quite troubled by this.
Carlotta thought about it. If it were not wartime, then as a resort, Wales Castle would still have a lot of tourists coming, and earning revenue would be easy. But now that war is raging, who would be in the mood to travel?
Relying on Wales Castle itself, it is obviously difficult to make money. We must find another way.
Carlotta thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps, the solution still lies with this Moonlight."