Chapter 16 Choice of the Public

The crowd gradually dispersed. Roy's wife, Lucy, brought a tray of hot breakfast to them.

"Come and have dinner."

Lucy greeted him.

There were roasted fish and a bowl of wheat porridge on the table.

Roy had no appetite and looked worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you think the arrival of marquis is good or bad?"

"How can I know that? But I do know that without marquis, the whole town will starve to death sooner or later."

When Lucy mentioned marquis, her words were full of gratitude.

The living environment of the thorny swamp was already bad, and with the influence of the fish monsters, the food reserves were about to run out.

The tax they paid every year was so little that the tax officer was unwilling to come here to collect tax. For a few years, he even forgot it.

Roy even felt a fever on his face when he handed the little tax to the tax officer before.

It was Sherman who came here. After he came here, he sent out wheat, which was enough for them to eat.

Besides, he also planned to build a wooden workshop, blacksmith, and silk workshop for them. He wanted them to have a job and earn some money.

Roy didn't eat his breakfast. Lucy was about to go out.

The silk weaving workshop is not on holiday today.

"No one knows what the future of the thorny swamp will be. I only know that the current change is brought by marquis."

Lucy said to Roy before going out.

The atmosphere in the silk workshop was a little depressed today.

Almost everyone was worried that they would lose this well-paid job.

"Do you know the attitude of marquis?"

The woman sitting next to Lucy asked in a low voice.

Although there was no supervision, she still lowered her voice unconsciously.

"How can I know marquis's attitude? You really asked the wrong person." Lucy said calmly.

How could she know?

And if the woman really wanted to know, she would know in the afternoon.

They had different thoughts and many emotions were written on their faces.

The young in the town were frivolous, dandiacal, emaciated, and thin.

It was rare to see strong people.

Most of them were middle-aged and their clothes were tattered with patches.

Sherman was standing high, and Sinard was sitting next to him, arrogantly treating the people below.

Their loyalties were mostly between ten and twenty-five, and the most typical negative one was Catlow.

It wasn't that he wasn't loyal to Sherman, but that he didn't have a sense of belonging to the thorny swamp.

He even hated this place.

There were only a few children, standing next to adults very honestly.

There still were some people walking towards them.

Sherman was relaxed, but he didn't look at them.

Most of the people were whispering to each other. They didn't know what to say and quieted down.

Soon there was a dead silence.

More than two hundred people were looking up at Sherman.

"Thorny swamp. The kingdom has been suffering the lowest annual tax in the past ten years. It's almost an abandoned land."

Sherman's words were well known to all.

"Of course, we know, but what can we do? Let alone the tax money, our whole family is going to starve to death!"

Sherman cast a glance at the angry man.

He stopped talking unconsciously.

"Five days after I came here to be your leader, you gave me a big gift,"

Sherman was calm, but the employees felt awkward and guilty.

Everyone knew about the arson.

"So I give you a chance. If you want me to leave, stand on my left hand. If you have the opposite opinion, stand on the right. And I hope the arsonist can stand out consciously and take the responsibility."

Sherman didn't get angry.

Anyway, the Kingdom wouldn't want him to leave this damned place, and he wouldn't easily allow himself to lose this land, causing the system to close.

It took him a long time to get his golden finger. Sherman didn't want it to disappear again.

Sinard wanted to say something, but Sherman cast a glance at her and said, "If you talk nonsense, you can go back."

Maybe these days Sinard had found some fun, she became much more obedient and no longer stirred up trouble. Sherman's attitude towards her was softened.

The employees were soon divided up.

Almost no one stood on the left.

The comparison of the numbers on the two sides was quite clear.

There were only a few people who were close to Catlow standing on the left.

Some other young men who usually played with Catlow glanced right and left, but under great pressure, they finally walked to Sherman's right hand with their heads down and tried their best to hide them in the crowd.

The arsonist still didn't stand out.

Sherman didn't say anything. The atmosphere was quiet and depressing.

Many people looked around, hoping the culprit could come forward conscientiously as soon as possible.

"Who on earth set the fire? Can you take the responsibility to stand out by yourself?"

Finally, someone shouted, and the others echoed.

Sherman remained silent.

Finally, there was a chorus of complaints.

"Who on earth did this kind of immoral thing and dare not admit it?"

"Come out quickly. Don't waste time!"

Seeing this, Sinard frowned slightly.

If so, it would be more impossible for the arsonist to stand out.

If he stood out, he might not be able to stay here any longer.

Rumors would drown him and his family.

She stole a glance at Sherman, but Sherman remained expressionless.

As if he was iron-hearted and would not give any chance.

"Marquis..."

"It's time for dinner."

Sherman looked at the sky, stood up, and left.

The men stopped shouting and went back home in dejection.

Anna walked slowly on the street, thinking about what she should embroider on the precious cloth.

Someone chased after her. "Stop!"

She sighed and slowed down.

Someone troublesome came.

The people behind her soon caught up with her.

"Did marquis talk to you about something?"

Mrs. Regan looked a little rude.

There were few friends Anna could confide in there, and the idea of partnership with marquis she wouldn't share with anyone.

"Yes, I did. What's wrong, Mrs. Regan?"

"I heard that marquis has sent you good cloth. Do you have any extra cloth?"

Mrs. Regan stated her purpose directly as if she was sure that Anna would give it to her.

"No."

Anna refused coldly, "Mrs. Regan, if there's nothing else, I'll go then."

Mrs. Regan sneered and left.

This woman was really a headache.

Anna didn't get along with Mrs. Regan, and the women who got along with her also didn't like Mrs. Regan.

She hoped that the rumors wouldn't go too far when she opened her eyes tomorrow.

Anna had never underestimated the speed at which rumors spread in this place.

The town was strangely quiet.

The wooden house had been burned down, and Sherman didn't go to repair it. Instead, he asked someone to clean up the ruins tomorrow.