Night Ranger
chapter-445

Marvin had been expecting some refugees. But he hadn't thought that White River Valley would attract so many people at the beginning of the Calamity.

A sudden increase of a thousand people was a lot of pressure on White River Valley.

Although there was a lot of food in the Golden Bulls, with the increase of people, the consumption also increased.

Moreover, this was only the beginning of the disaster. Marvin was certain that more and more people would rush to White River Valley.

It was time to set up new rules for this new era.

Marvin thought for a while and then started writing. A decree was immediately issued.

Soon, everyone in White River Valley received a personal decree.

Because of the circumstances, new rules began getting implemented in White River Valley.

Everyone had to finish registering within two days.

The registration was a very important choice: [Agriculture or Battle].

That's right, besides these two choices, Marvin didn't give any other options.

Because White River Valley had already recruited enough people of other occupations. Regardless of whether it was Blacksmith, Wine Brewer, Appraiser, or any others that were needed, these craftsmen had already been recruited.

Moreover, most of these occupations weren't the most important in such times.

For a Sanctuary to run in the long term, it needed a steady flow of food as well as the power to protect it.

The former was obvious, as taking care of the rations of so many refugees was already a headache for Marvin. As for the latter, the power of the Holy and Wish spells would expend energy to defend the Sanctuary and would run out of energy one day, so there needed to be people to defend it.

White River Valley looked great, but it was actually very close to the wilderness.

During the disaster, everyone heard the howl of the Wilderness Ruler.

That was a rallying cry to gather subordinates.

If the Beast Ruler decided to advance toward the South, it was very likely that those wilderness monsters would rush out. And White River Valley would bear the brunt of the attacks.

The current White River Valley had top-tier strength, but the core power was still lacking.

Marvin needed soldiers, a great amount of soldiers.

They might not be too powerful, but the quantity and coordination would make up for it. With upgraded equipment, they might be able to withstand the Major Planes' low-level army.

This was also the reason he exhorted Anna and the others to hire many retired veterans or officers at the prime of their lives from the North in Bass Harbor.

This would be a very long battle, one he couldn't win on his own.

...

He observed secretly and the result was within his expectations. Of the thousand refugees, most were Humans, with some Half-Elves. But they all had one characteristic: they were in the prime of their lives.

This actually showed a very cruel fact. The elderly and the young had already been annihilated when trying to escape the disaster.

Only the strongest people could survive and reach White River Valley.

But this was good news for Marvin.

Unless something was wrong, not many people would choose agriculture.

Regardless of their previous occupations, in the new Sanctuary system set up by Marvin, the fighters were clearly more important than the farmers. They would receive a larger amount of food, with more meat, and even ale. Their training would have priority, and they would have more freedom with their work. They only needed to participate in hunting once a week.

However, Marvin promised that those who chose to fight wouldn't be thrown out of the Sanctuary into battle before their training was completed. This gave people a lot of reassurance.

Moreover, these hot-blooded youths had too many friends or relatives who had died under the Wizard Monsters' hands.

They thirsted for revenge.

They would fight.

...

Just as expected, in only one day, a chart appeared in front of Marvin.

"Your expectations weren't off, most of them chose to fight."

Anna didn't seem happy about it. "To be honest, their courage is admirable, but we might not be able to raise so many fighters."

"Moreover, we don't have so much equipment…"

Marvin blinked. "Don't worry, food and equipment will soon arrive. Since they made their choice, let them do the preliminary militia training."

"Here are the – Sanctuary's New Regulations –. The upper management of White River Valley will gather tonight to perfect it, and if there are no problems, they'll be released tomorrow."

The Sanctuary's New Regulations were written down by Marvin before the Great Calamity.

Extraordinary situations needed extraordinary measures, there was no doubt about it.

The Sanctuary would protect everyone, but Marvin would never support these people for free. That would only make them lose their will to fight and would cause White River Valley to perish sooner or later.

In the New Regulations, he detailed the new currency system, the reward and penalty system, the Sanctuary's rules, the division of hierarchy, and so on.

Marvin only wanted to protect this land and these people, but that didn't mean that he would give everyone the same treatment and status.

Blind freedom and equality was not fair.

People who didn't invest themselves didn't deserve the same benefits. It was a simple reason.

The roles everyone had in the territory were different, so each person's status would inevitably be different.

Hierarchy would make it easier to manage, it would also encourage lower people to work their way up. After all, in the completely new background and system, those who made great effort were very likely to be promoted.

Those regulations were written down by Marvin after careful consideration.

They would dictate the future of White River Valley Sanctuary.

They would be the future laws of White River Valley!

And the guarantee behind those laws was Marvin's absolute might. It was his complete control over the Sanctuary and the people's acknowledgement.

...

By evening, everyone was gathered. Anna explained the new regulations once to everyone.

White River Valley's higher ups voiced their own opinions, but Marvin's regulations were truly thoughtful on multiple points of view. After they added some details, the New Regulations were more or less decided.

The New Regulations were released the next day and they created a stir in the entire White River Valley.

Many dissatisfied voices were heard after people read through them.

Especially about the hierarchy system.

This made many people feel discontented. A lot of these people were refugees who had escaped from all over the surroundings.

"Why do White River Valley's original inhabitants have a higher social class than those of us who bravely fought our way over here? And why is it that the people who arrived later and chose to farm are at the very bottom?"

"Right? Why can those people supervise us?"

"Didn't Lord Marvin advertise freedom and fairness? With him doing this, what's the difference between him and those Gods?"