That's How We Necromancers Do Things

Chapter 147: Chapter 96: Lynch! You Refuse the Path to Heaven

In the end, he didn’t dare say the word, but his meaning was obvious.

The more Aus listened, the more his brow furrowed. He couldn’t help but ask, "The Empire’s army? They don’t care if you live or die? They don’t protect you? Oh, and what about your Lord?"

Old John gave a bitter smile. "Young man, our Lord took his family and guards and fled to his manor in the northern province months ago. To those soldiers, we commoners are no different from crops in the field or fish in the lake... ripe for the picking by anyone who passes through. Protection? We’d be thanking the heavens if they just left us alone."

Aus opened his mouth, but was ultimately left speechless. Having grown up in a palace, when would he have ever encountered something like this?

Lynch, as a Transmigrator, was hardly surprised.

As the saying goes, "bandits pass like a comb, but soldiers pass like a fine-toothed comb." In a lawless land, the wolves wearing the government’s skin are often far more brazen than actual bandits.

Having gotten a rough idea of the situation in Lakefront Town, Lynch motioned for Aus to step forward.

Aus hurried to produce the two parchment documents, walked up to Old John, and unrolled them.

Old John was confused at first. But then he saw the insignia of the North Wind Legion on the documents, the signed seal of Battle Group Commander Raymond, and the text appointing "Knight Lynch as the Captain of the Ninth Battalion, Thirteenth Battle Group, with full jurisdiction over the military and civil affairs of Lakefront Town and its surrounding areas"—

He froze. Then, his face instantly turned ashen. Looking as though he’d been struck by lightning, he nearly collapsed.

"L-Lord... This... this..." His lips trembled so violently he couldn’t form a complete sentence.

’Another "regular" Imperial army has arrived, and it’s led by a terrifying Necromancer. Lakefront Town’s last few resources and people... we’re really and truly finished this time.’

Lynch saw his reaction but offered no explanation. There were some things you couldn’t convince people of with mere words.

"Take us to the garrison post. And have someone clean it up. It will serve as my temporary battalion headquarters and residence."

Old John didn’t dare refuse. He immediately began nodding and bowing, hastily leading the way.

The so-called garrison post was a two-story stone building beside the central town square. Its exterior looked a little grander than the surrounding homes, but it was equally thick with dust. Inside, the building was empty except for a few broken-down tables and chairs.

While the place was being cleaned, Lynch questioned Old John in detail once more.

He soon had a more complete picture of Lakefront Town’s current state.

It had once been a large, prosperous town. Relying on fish from Mirror Lake, nearby mines, village agriculture, and trade from several commercial routes, it had enjoyed a period of prosperity.

Including the seven or eight surrounding villages, the population had exceeded five thousand people in its heyday.

Dwarven blacksmiths, goblin merchants, and even engineers had taken up residence here. They even kept a group of Kobold miners in the mines west of town. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

In an Otherworld with a generally low population density, this was already a considerable scale.

But now...

"Nine homes out of ten are empty, Lord," Old John said with a heavy sigh. "Anyone with connections or a bit of strength fled long ago. The only ones left are those who couldn’t run or had nowhere else to go."

"All told, the men, women, and children in this town barely number over a hundred. As for the able-bodied youth... well, you saw them. There are only ten or twenty who can even hold a fishing spear or a hatchet. The surrounding villages have been empty for ages, and now even the farmland has been overrun by demonic rats." ƒгeewёbnovel.com

’Just over a hundred people?’

Lynch felt a headache coming on and rubbed his brow. The situation was proving to be quite thorny.

He had expected Lakefront Town’s population to be small, but he’d never imagined it would be *this* small.

With so few people, forget supporting a five-hundred-man battalion; they would struggle just to keep the town itself running.

"And food?" Lynch asked, getting to the most critical point. "These hundred-odd people have to eat every day, don’t they?"

The look of distress on Old John’s face deepened. "To be honest, Lord, our main source of food now comes from the fish in Mirror Lake. But... but Mirror Lake isn’t safe these days..."

"Fishmen?" Lynch remembered his senior having mentioned them.

"That’s right, those damn Green-skinned Fishmen." Mentioning them filled Old John’s face with rage, though his eyes still betrayed a flicker of fear. "We don’t know where they crawled out from, but there are more and more of them. They move in packs, and they’re vicious."

"The townsfolk don’t dare go out to fish alone anymore. If we want to fish, we have to gather a large group beforehand, armed and ready. We have to watch for attacks from the Fishmen underwater while we work. It’s like we’re fighting a war. Even so, we still lose people often, and the catch keeps getting smaller. Most days, we eat one meal and don’t know if there’ll be a next..."

As they spoke, the two of them reached the second floor of the garrison post.

Lynch walked to the window. Peering through the grimy glass, he could clearly see the empty streets and square below.

A heavy feeling settled in his chest.

Lakefront Town’s current predicament could be boiled down to a few key issues: a food shortage, a dwindling population, and being surrounded by external threats. These included, but were not limited to, Gnolls, the Blue Scarf gang, Fishmen, and even potential "allies."

Lynch couldn’t help but sigh.

’This "grand gift" from my senior is a real piece of work.’

’He certainly has a high opinion of me. Isn’t he worried that someone so young won’t be able to clean up this disaster?’

However, complaining was useless. What was done, was done.

The most pressing issue at hand was food.

Standing by the window, Lynch quickly began to strategize.

As the saying goes, food is the first necessity of the people.

The townspeople were already struggling to survive. Only by solving the basic problem of their subsistence could he get them to settle down and accept his authority. And only then might the refugees, who were hiding in the forests for fear of being press-ganged, even consider returning.