Li De was astonished by Harrison's learning ability.
Shortly after the residents had dispersed from the square in the afternoon, Harrison came to him with a relatively detailed plan.
"So you mean to say that you intend to first select the first batch of City Hall officials from among the humans?"
Harrison nodded excitedly.
"Clan Leader, you said that the number of vampires is too small, and in the future, we must rely on human strength.
If that’s the case, why not go all the way?
Having humans as City Hall officials would make these refugees more accepting."
Li De pondered for a moment, then nodded, acknowledging the other’s idea.
Involving humans in management was an inevitable trend. The number of vampires determined that it was impossible to handle everything themselves.
For now, he had no plans to expand the number of vampires. After the arrival of spring next year, when the Month of Deep Winter had passed and the Beastmen had retreated to the barren plains, and Dawn City was on track, he would expand the vampire population.
After developing new bloodline descendants, vampires would enter a period of weakness. During this critical time of plundering the population, every vampire was an important force.
Losing strength meant a significant increase in danger, and the probability of encountering Beastmen on the border would definitely not be low.
"However, there’s no rush for now. We need to take things step by step.
Let’s put the City Hall officials aside for now. Most of these commoners are farmers, and many can’t even read. The chances of finding suitable talent are slim.
For now, we can first recruit a team of humans to form a security squad to participate in daytime patrols. The selection of officials can wait."
Although this idea was feasible, it didn’t need to be implemented immediately. He had a whole set of complete plans for later; this matter didn’t need to be rushed.
After contemplating for a moment, Harrison nodded, realizing his idea was somewhat ahead of its time.
According to the statistics, among these 700-plus people, fewer than 30 could read. Most of those who could read were only capable of handling simple tasks. Appointing these people as City Hall administrators would be somewhat disappointing.
"Clan Leader, I will quickly refine the plan for the security squad."
"Mm, temporarily recruit 30 people for the security squad, assigning six vampires to manage them. Let the vampires and humans patrol together."
Though there were few people now, for a long time to come, the population of Dawn City would continue to grow steadily.
Forming a security squad was very necessary.
Li De handed over this task entirely to Harrison. These trivial matters would eventually need to be handled by his subordinates. His role was to control the overall direction, not waste time on these minor details.
He had many things to attend to right now.
The security squad was just one of them. More importantly — land distribution.
Li De deeply understood what land represented to commoners. If Dawn City fulfilled its promise and allowed these people to own their own land, it would mean that humans would truly integrate.
The significance of land to commoners was immense. How many people were attracted by the slogan of one great man who promised to overthrow landlords and distribute land to his followers.
Thus, land distribution was Li De’s trump card.
No one would oppose this.
Vampires owned vast tracts of land but regarded them as worthless.
Vampires who couldn’t farm placed almost zero importance on land, so Li De’s plan wouldn’t face internal obstacles. In a human country, this would likely cause those nobles to explode.
The monopoly of land was the strongest weapon of the nobility in this world.
The plan had already been written. Li De decided to let the vampires implement it fully. This was the best opportunity to promote relations between both parties.
"Post the recruitment notice for the security squad in a prominent place on the square, and from now on, use a wall specifically for posting announcements.
Have Rekel’s team find some literate humans to explain the announcements."
"Preferably, complete the recruitment of security squad members today and start measuring the land tomorrow. After measuring, begin distribution.
When recruiting the security squad, add a condition: security squad members will have priority in land allocation."
Harrison nodded, "Clan Leader, I understand."
In the afternoon, the crowd that had eaten the free food clearly felt the atmosphere become much livelier.
Compared to last night’s fear and worry, at this point, many humans dared to secretly observe the vampires lurking in the shadows.
After observing them more, many realized that the legendary vampires weren’t that scary. Moreover, they behaved like noble lords, placing great emphasis on etiquette, each exuding grace.
Even two female vampires made many young men constantly turn their heads to steal glances.
Many began to curiously wander around Dawn City. Initially, there was some concern, but upon discovering that these vampires didn’t drive them away, they became bolder.
At its most prosperous, Dawn City once housed more than 20,000 humans and 3,000 vampires, so its scale was decent. A few hundred people inside made it seem desolate.
Before long, the notices posted on the square caught the attention of many.
"What is this? Who can read?"
"Recruitment for the security squad?"
"Hurry up and read it."
Soon, the information about recruiting the security squad spread.
The high salaries of the security squad members attracted many, but what excited the residents most was one piece of information — security squad members would have priority in land allocation.
Goddess above, the City Lord must be an angel sent by the Creator to save them; they were actually going to start distributing land.
"Praise Lord Kachar, praise the Saintlight Vampires."
"You guys don’t push. This isn’t land distribution; it’s just recruiting for the security squad. Land measurement starts tomorrow, and distribution is still far off!"
"Hurry, let me in, Vampire Lord. I’m a hunter, I’m strong, I can become a member of the security squad, I want to sign up."
The crowd was boiling.
Oli, as Rekel’s follower, was the first to bring this news to Rekel.
"Brother Rekel, the vampires have posted a notice. They said they want to form a security squad, and the monthly salary is 12 Silver Pucks."
Oli was out of breath, his face full of excitement and agitation.
Rekel shook his head: "We’re doing well in the logistics team, and this is about feeding the entire town. There’s no need to join the security squad and cause a commotion."
He now roughly understood the vampires’ intentions: using humans to manage humans.
But this actually made him feel relieved. The actions of the Saintlight Vampires were indeed as they claimed, different from evil vampires.
He hoped they would remain this way.
"No, Brother Rekel, it also says that tomorrow they will start measuring the land, and after measuring, they will allocate it to everyone. Security squad members get priority."
Thinking of Lord Kachar’s words, Rekel’s heart suddenly skipped a beat.
He had a premonition that this wouldn’t be false either. He believed in that handsome city lord.
"Brother Rekel, you’re managing the logistics team, so you definitely can’t join the security squad. I think I will..."
Rekel patted Oli’s head, his face full of smiles.
"Oli, go ahead and work hard. Don’t embarrass me."
Oli’s face lit up with joy, "Brother Rekel, you agree?"
"Of course, why not? Since the Saintlight Vampires haven’t shown any malice towards us, what reason do we have to refuse?
Besides, this is a job paying 12 Silver Pucks. It’s hard to find such a good opportunity even in Green City."
Oli finally felt reassured and ran excitedly towards the nearby registration point.