This first test was like a thunderclap, exploding in the minds of the four Affairs Officer, whose faces instantly lost color, turning as pale as the lime on the walls.
One of the older Affairs Officer's lips trembled, as if he wanted to say something, but not a single word came out.
Arthur looked at their reactions and sighed, knowing that they probably wouldn't complete this task well. His voice became cold, devoid of any warmth: "Go back immediately!"
"From the villagers to yourselves, I want a list, a list precise down to every single person: his name, his address in the military fortress, who his wife is, and how many children he has."
"Find out which families have men working as bandits in the mountains outside and create another separate list."
It seemed he couldn't do without some harsh words. Arthur stood up, and the invisible pressure almost made the four of them collapse to the ground.
"I made you Lord's Affairs Officer! I made you work for me! Not to live an easy life doing nothing!"
"Whoever does well will be rewarded! Whoever does poorly...!"
Arthur didn't finish, but the fear brought by his unspoken words was heavier than any direct threat.
"Bear the consequences yourselves!"
The four Affairs Officer practically used their hands and feet to retreat from the Lions Den. It wasn't until the cold night wind blew on their faces that they realized their backs were drenched in cold sweat.
This command, like a death warrant, was brought back to their respective military towns and communicated to their colleagues, the military officers and tax officers.
The news spread like wind, from the household heads to the lowest-level neighborhood heads, disseminating downwards layer by layer, quickly circulating among the populace.
The previously peaceful night was broken. Every military town was filled with commotion, and undercurrents of suspicion, doubt, and fear began to surge wildly among the simple wooden houses and stone dwellings.
The military officers were all junior officers from the three hundred veterans who had previously followed Arthur.
The military officer of Mount Reliance Fortress gathered all the household heads and relayed the Lord's command in the harshest terms, adding his own interpretation.
"You are all old soldiers who followed Lord Arthur! You received private land granted by Lord Arthur! This is an opportunity,
An opportunity for us to prove our worth to the Lord!"
He publicly announced that the first household head to report a valid list, along with his superior neighborhood head and household head, would all receive a bag of wheat as a reward.
Any family attempting to cover up or conceal information, once verified, would face severe punishment.
The command was passed down layer by layer. The household heads, neighborhood heads, and family heads were all old soldiers who had followed Arthur, and they worked with great enthusiasm to complete Lord Arthur's task.
For a time, an atmosphere of denunciation arose. Formerly harmonious neighbors began to eye each other with scrutiny and suspicion.
An unintentional remark, an unusual action, could potentially bring disaster.
Meanwhile, in Southern Gorge Fortress, a "family head" named Toma was experiencing unprecedented torment.
Including his own family, among the five households he was responsible for, lived the widow Amy, whose family information he had largely grasped.
Amy's husband had died last year after being conscripted for labor by the Terry Family, leaving behind her and two children. The elder one was named Laban, who had just turned sixteen this year.
His neighbor, another household he managed, came to him late the night before and told him that Laban had disappeared during the Terry Family's rule.
Amy publicly claimed that Laban had only gone out to earn some money so that he and his younger brother could eat their fill.
Toma knew that Laban was likely in the mountains, having become one of those bandits.
Late at night, Toma sat by his family's hearth, staring blankly at the dancing flames, not even responding to his wife's call to rest.
The words of the household head and neighborhood head from earlier in the day still echoed in his ears: "How good Lord Arthur is to us! You know it!
We must be grateful to Lord Arthur!"
"Secondly! One family conceals, five households are implicated! Think carefully! Are your own wives and children more important, or are others more important!"
Yes, he was one of the earliest old soldiers to follow Lord Arthur. Lord Arthur had distributed spoils to them and given them private land. How could he conceal information and not report it?
He closed his eyes, as if he could see Amy's haggard face and her younger son's frail figure.
But then he saw his wife mending clothes under the dim oil lamp, and his daughter sleeping on the straw mat, breathing evenly. He also thought of Lord Arthur, who had faced life and death with them in the Water Valley and handed the land deed into his hands.
After a long while, he suddenly stood up, grabbed a coat, and rushed into the cold night. He knocked on his neighborhood head's wooden door.
"Thump, thump, thump."
Each sound was like a knock on his heart.
"Who is it?" The door opened, and the neighborhood head, holding a candle, looked at him with sleepy eyes.
Toma's lips moved, his voice hoarse as if sandpapered:
"Ai... Mi's family... Her... Her... son, Laban."
Unlike the struggle in Southern Gorge Fortress, something unexpected happened in Rift Fortress.
A white-haired old woman, leaning on a wooden cane, guided by her granddaughter, voluntarily sought out her assigned "family head."
When the old woman saw the family head, two lines of tears flowed from her cloudy eyes, and she tremblingly spoke the name of her good-for-nothing son.
"I heard that the Lord only wants to investigate, not to wipe out everyone."
The old woman gripped the family head's hand, her withered fingers cold and firm.
"My wretched son, he really couldn't survive back then...
...I beg the Lord for mercy, give him a way to live." She believed in the benevolence Arthur had shown them when he took control of this land. That benevolence was her last hope.
A few days later, four lists were once again delivered to the Lions Den.
The four Affairs Officer stood in the same positions, but their expressions had changed from fear to extreme exhaustion and excitement.
Their hands were all trembling slightly.
Evelyn took the four rough parchment sheets and meticulously copied the unsightly names onto a more exquisite piece of paper, one by one.
Her quill pen scratched on the paper, and with each name written, it seemed to represent the fate of a family.
When the last name was written, she looked up, her face solemn, and reported to Arthur: "Lord Arthur, a total of one hundred and twelve names, involving one hundred and twelve families."
This number made Lucien and Hakon frown, and even Evelyn's eyes flashed with surprise, but Arthur showed no unexpected expression.
He stood up from his seat, walked over to Evelyn, and picked up the other heavy list that compiled all the villagers.
His blood was boiling. He didn't care how many families had relatives who were bandits; he valued this census register of all the villagers more.
Looking at the dense, detailed records, down to family relationships, a strong excitement welled up in his heart.
This system worked.
It was like an invisible giant net, having firmly encompassed the entire territory and every family within it, so that no disturbance could escape his control.
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