The night before, the young men dug up the tombs. They were in the cemetery of the Wolf Town Church, next to the rest of the old Dusaks.

At this moment, these young people who were born after their parents moved here and grew up were standing behind the tomb with shovels, waiting to add soil back.

A few pine boards and a pair of iron nails were the coffin of the old hunter. Winters, Gillard and two other old Dusaks carried the coffin all the way to the cemetery.

They placed the coffin next to the tomb and retreated to the side. The people who came to see Ralph farewell were unexpectedly many. Not only the Dussa people, but also some villagers from Hedong and Hexi villages also appeared at the funeral site. Some Protestants even made special trips from Nanxin and Beixin villages far away from the town center.

When the villagers of the other four villages mourned Bell, Winters learned that the hunter Ralph was also a veterinarian, herbalist and forest searcher. All the villagers of the other four villages who came to attend the funeral had received his favor.

Priest Anthony, who was wearing a full black sacrificial garment, presided over the ceremony himself. He held the Gospels in his hand and recited the scriptures in a long and sequential manner, leading everyone to pray at the funeral, and recited the prayers for the funeral of the Church again.

After spending a long time with Ralph, Winters never thought that the respectable hunter was a Catholic believer, nor was his son. The hunter and son did not attend Sunday services and there were no religious items at home.

But when the old hunter rested in peace, the funeral of the Catholics was held for him, which made those who knew the inside story really not know what to think.

Priest Anthony finished reading the prayer, he looked around and asked, “Whoever wants to say a few words?”

Just as Gillard was about to speak, Sergei stepped out of the crowd and stood in front of the coffin. It was too late to stop him.

Gillard Mitchell's heart suddenly rose to his throat.

It should be noted that only half of the disputes and fights between the Dusa people were because of the spirits, and the other half was because of the custom of "speaking a few words" at the funeral.

The funerals and the dead were particularly sacred by the Dusa people, and they did not have the tradition of picking up good things.

With great respect for death, the mourner will say whatever he has in his heart in front of the coffin and will not hide any true thoughts.

The consequence of being bluntly ignorant is often a big quarrel, and then Dusak, who is in a hot temper, will move his fists, and in some cases, it will even escalate to slashing swords, pulling guns and shooting each other, and more funerals.

Gillard is most worried that Sergey can't help but say anything inappropriate. No matter any argument or anyone is injured, it is the last thing he wants to see.

"Ralph Pradov, the second son of Old Yermo, you know him without me introducing me." Dusak, who was proudly thrusting his chest everywhere he went, disappeared, and the old man's eyes were filled with tears.

Sergei choked and said, "Yermonovich is our old buddy. Dusak, who is old enough on the field, has been with him. We cut the crops side by side, cut the northerners, and were sent to the south to kill the rebels and fight Hedman. I have never seen anyone who can shoot arrows than him... In the battle at Shitang Ferry, I don't know how many Dusak died. My horse was stabbed to death, and my thigh was stabbed by the rebel spearmen. If it weren't for Yermonovich carrying me out, I would have died there."

As he spoke, the old man was crying. The villagers in several other villages looked subtle, but many old Dusaks had secretly wiped their tears.

Sergei's son Vahika ran out to support Sergei, and the old man insisted on finishing his words: "One of us, one of us, dies less. I regret it! I regret not understanding it before! I regret it! Yermonovich is a real hero, a real Dusak. In the past, we excluded him and refused to let him enter the village. We are the king. Ba. Eighth. Egg! But he has paid his debts, and no matter what the past is, it should be written off. Dusak's son should also be Dusak, and Ralphnovic should be Dusak. My words are over! Whoever is not convinced, I am waiting for you at home!"

After saying a few words, Old Sergey shook his son's hand and strode back to the place where he was originally standing. Winters noticed that the other villagers had no feelings about the old man's words, but the Dussa people were obviously very surprised.

It seemed that because Sergei's speech was too shocking, no other Dussa people "say a few words". Instead, several villagers from other four villages talked about the favors of the old hunters to them and their gratitude.

After the final process, the old hunter's coffin was taken down into the tomb. The little hunter Bell cried and sprinkled the first handful of soil, and then shovels of soil were sprinkled on Ralph's coffin.

The old hunter's tomb was gradually filled up, and some people couldn't help crying in a low voice, and Winters was also very sad.

The old hunter's left arm was barely sewn on the body with needles and thread. Because the body was "too incomplete", no woman dared to carry the needles, and in the end she had to do it by Winters and Kaman.

Following the blood, the militia that arrived later found dead giant lions and young lions in a cave. In addition, they also found half of the fresh corpses and... the head of the youngest son of the Rostov family.

There are also some rags of clothing, but those don't matter.

It can be concluded that this is also a man-eating lion. Dusa Village was not attacked by a wild beast that night, but by two wild beasts.

In order to protect the horse's herd, Ma Zi Tellerqing lost to the giant bear, and when he was finally discovered, his internal organs were empty, which was in line with the bear's habits.

The man and woman who were having a tryst in the woods unfortunately became the prey of the giant lion. The giant lion dragged it away and ate the girl, and after a full meal, he killed the boy who was catching up.

This explains Ralph's long-standing doubt: Why is the ferocious beast clearly full of horse meat, but he still has to attack the couple in Dusa Village?

On the day when the old hunter and the giant lion died together, the giant lion had actually killed a villager in Beixin Village and dragged the body back to the nest to enjoy - the half of the remains found by the militia.

After learning that a girl from Beixin Village went into the mountain to chop wood and had not returned, Ralph immediately set out to search. When he found traces of the giant beast, he asked his son to go to the second lieutenant to ask for help, and he himself continued to follow the traces.

What happened afterwards was unexpected by everyone.

After being identified by the knowledgeable monk Reed, the giant lion that died at the hands of the old hunter was probably the legendary "hole lion".

This giant lion was named after it was discovered on murals in caves, and there are also ivory statues and clay sculptures to prove its existence.

But the problem is that the murals that record the cave lions and sculptures are all created by prehistoric humans. Theologians of the Critical School even believe that the creation time of those murals may be higher than the time when the Tower of Babel was built.

Therefore, even monk Reed who traveled the world dared not conclude that the thing was the so-called "hole lion", because no one has seen what the cave lion looks like. Even historical document records have not recorded such a giant beast.

If that thing is really a cave lion, then this species has a history of at least thousands or even tens of thousands of years, which is simply unimaginable.

But the old beggar monk could be sure of one thing: that thing is definitely not an ordinary lion. Among all the people in Wolf Town, only monk Reed had seen a living lion - claiming to be.

The old monk insisted that ordinary lions did not look like this and their size was not that big. He had never seen such a giant lion in the East or the West. I'm afraid that only the Nimi A giant lion in the Twelve Trials of Hercules in the ancient mythology would have such a size.

Winters had only seen the image of a lion on the military flag, and the old Dusaks had also seen it on the enemy's military flag. Others had never even seen the pictures of the lion, let alone the living lion.

Therefore, monk Reed has absolute authority. Even if others believe and doubt, they can only accept the explanations of the old monk.

The old monk wrote letters to some naturalists, and the travelers sent them to the Cathedral of Revodantam and sent them through the church channels. But no one could know when the reply could be received.

The troublesome communication method reminded Winters where he is now--after living in Wolf Town for a while, he almost forgot that this is the edge of the "civilized world".

Winters took this opportunity to send a letter to his family, which was also a church channel for monk Reed. The letter itself was a message. He cautiously did not write too much, but just asked about the situation at home.

But the verification work is not urgent, and another heavy thing is pressing on the hearts of the people of Langtun Town: Why do such a giant beast runs to this small place in Langtun Town?

And Winters thought it even more: this is a lioness with cubs.

This means...at least there is a lion.

Even when it comes to that giant bear, it must at least have a father and a mother, right?

Are there more giant beasts in the towering mountains under the golden peaks in the depths of the forest, where humans have not yet been able to set foot?

Could it be that these two encounters are just the beginning?

Thinking of this, Winters couldn't help but shudder. He suddenly realized that although the two ferocious beasts were killed, the Wolf Town militia could not be disbanded. Not only could it not be disbanded, militia training must be normalized.

In addition, we must set up an arsenal and purchase some "real weapons". In this way, when encountering similar situations again, the Wolf Town people no longer have to use javelins and sabers to deal with ancient beasts.

Otherwise, when he leaves this position, if another animal disaster occurs, it will be very difficult for Mayor Mitchell, a person over 50 years old, to completely reorganize the militia.

What's more, the old hunter Ralph, the great hero who dealt with this beast disaster, is no longer there. Where can people from this border town find another spellcaster officer?

After Winters informed Gillard of the above ideas, he obtained Gillard's approval and strong support. Mayor Gillard Mitchell not only supported the normalization of militia, but also strongly suggested that the establishment of a formal security guard in Langtun Town.

For a town, sheriffs and policing guards are essential law enforcement forces. Sheriffs are generally full-time, and guard members can be full-time or part-time. The specific details depend on the size of the town and the budget.

The situation in Wolf Town is quite embarrassing. It is said that it is a town with less than ten permanent residents, only two dirt roads, one horizontally and one vertically, and there are no city walls.

By the way, in the common term, the word "Burger" extends from the word "Burg" and the "Burg" is the person who lives in the "Burg"".

There is nothing in Langtun Town, Revodan City, but in a legal sense, Wolf Town is indeed a "town". However, before Winters took office, it had neither a sheriff nor a security team member.

Therefore, when Gillard served as the mayor and was stationed in the town, the town government had almost no law enforcement capabilities.

Even if he just needs to deal with trivial matters like "lumberjacks and villagers fighting", Gillard had to go out with a sabre, otherwise he would have to go to Dusa Village to find his old subordinates to help.

In fact, "lumberjacks and villagers fight" are very frequent, and they happen almost once a week, and mayor Mitchell is troubled.

Even Winters, who had just arrived at the office, met once, and several young men in Hedong Village were beaten to the point of being bruised and swollen. At that time, Winters was busy guarding against beast disasters, and scolded each side and let them go.

To fulfill his desire to make Wolf Town a truly prosperous town, Gillard Mitchell is very eager to set up a formal policing guard.

In his opinion, the security guards can be used without them, but they cannot be used. Only by ensuring public security can we attract more people to live in the town center. It is best for guard members to be full-time, and it doesn’t matter if they work part-time.

Mayor Mitchell also offered to help Winters solve the budget problem. The town directly paid for arming and hired a security team.

The new land has great power to dispatch officers, and the mayor has equally great power. The Palatu Council only carries taxes, and as long as the taxes can be paid, it doesn't matter. The mayor almost has the power of an imperial tax officer.

Not only that, because all property rights belong to the Army, the people in the newly reclaimed land have to pay taxes almost everything they do. They have to pay taxes when going to the mountains to harvest firewood, go to the river to fish, and set up nets to catch birds, and all kinds of things are enough. Moreover, these taxes are taxes other than basic agricultural taxes and count taxes.

For example, in addition to paying head tax and road tax, hunting in the mountains also requires tax. They need to provide eight deer skins and eight fox skins as hunting taxes every year, or pay three large silver coins.

Besides, Mitchell's family has a small boat. Regardless of whether Gillard Mitchell fishes or not, they have to pay fishing tax.

These additional taxes are paid once a year, and some of them must be paid, such as firewood tax. Farmers have to pay taxes even if they only burn their own straw for a whole year, which is simply a disguised countenance tax.

When Winters heard monk Reed talk about these "hard taxes", he couldn't believe his ears. Because the taxes in the new land of Paratu are completely different from those of Venetta, and it can even be said to be very different.

The ruling class of the Venetta Republic was almost stocked in rural areas. The Merchant Republic was good at calculating at heart and was used to weighing everything on a scale, and everything was a business.

What the commercial republic needs is currency, real money and precious metals that can be traded. In addition, the republic also needs manpower and material supply to maintain the trade fleet and urban handicrafts.

What farmers lack the most is precious metals, and small families cannot save much money. The transactions between farmers are always carried out in the form of "barter" in the form of farmers. The smallest silver coins are too "face value" for farmers, and they must be cut into smaller slices before they can be used in the countryside - that is, "silver slots".

Therefore, in the eyes of the rulers of the Venetta Republic, the cost of scraping money from the peasants is too high. For every silver coin scraping from the peasants, two silver coins are spent on the standing army responsible for suppressing the peasants.

It’s a loss! It’s a loss! This is a sure thing to lose to my grandma’s house!

Moreover, frequent peasant rebellions will also destroy the supply of materials and manpower to the city.

Therefore, the taxation in rural areas of the Venetta Republic is mainly based on physical taxation, and the government supervises the government to collect taxes and suppress bandits annually (because bandits will rob caravans on the road of ruling, which is very bad for business).

All the wealth of the noble Veneta Commercial Republic is in cities, cities and cities.

The city is the key. As long as the city's energy sources continue to obtain supplies and manpower, will the farmers die or live? Consul Venetta actually doesn't care much.

However, for this reason, the farmers' taxes in the Veneta Republic are also the lowest among the republics, and farmers can pay the food according to the fixed quota every year.

Other times? Don't do anything, just fend for yourself. [Note: But the farmers in the Venetta Republic cannot enjoy any civil rights, such as not being able to carry weapons in cities.]

"Isn't this a rebellion? Can you bear it?" Winters said to the old beggar monk in disbelief: "If this tax is added to the heads of the Venetta peasants, even the sea blue city can be lit by the rebels."

"Boy, what do you think Dusak is useful? There is a Dusak village in every town in the new land. Why do you think the Palatu Council has to make such arrangements? Why is it that Dusak Gillard Mitchell, a Dusak native, who came to be the mayor?" Friar Reed narrowed his eyes and smiled and patted Winters on the shoulder: "You! Too young, too simple."

"Uh... Could it be that Dusak is specially used to suppress farmers?" Winters was almost shocked to the point of being incoherent: "But I think Dusak Village in Wolf Town has a good relationship with several other villages?"

"Is it okay?" the old monk asked with a smile: "Is it really okay? Boy, I just said that you have a slow sense of politics and you don't believe it. If you even out your martial arts skills to politics, you are still a talented person."

"Also...can...can...?" Winters was also hesitant and he thought about it carefully: "The two Protestant villages are indeed not friendly to the Dusa people, and the attitudes of the other two villages are somewhat subtle now."

The old monk laughed: "That's right, politics is very subtle. Do you know what the other four villages call Dusa Village behind the scenes?"

"Isn't it just called Dusa Village?"

"Wrong, they are called the 'Tartar' village. Tatars are barbarians, and those who eat raw meat and drink blood." The old monk begged the old monk chanted a few ancient Chinese verses around his head: "Do you understand?"

"Um..." Winters didn't know how to answer for a moment.

"The relationship between the villages in Langtun is actually quite good." Friar Reed chuckled and took a sip of Mitchell's home-made wine: "Although Gillard Mitchell looks rough, he is wise and stupid, and knows the way of politicism. He only pretends not to see the other villages, but he doesn't pay taxes and hunts rabbits. He turns a blind eye to the other villages.
Chapter completed!