"Nanxin Village, Bart Xialing!"

"Hexi Village, 'Red Face' Philport!"

...

Vahika pulled out small pieces of paper with their name written from the iron pot and handed them to Pan Weiche beside him.

The old butler read out the words on the note loudly while registering on the roster.

One name after another resounded throughout the town square, and the farmer named was ashamed. The farmer who had not heard his name secretly escaped by chance.

There are more and more small pieces of paper piled up next to Pan Weiqi's right hand, and forty-eight places are about to be filled.

Someone in the town square counted out loud, and it had already reached forty-seven.

Everyone watched nervously as Vahika pulled the last note from the iron pot, and many believers were praying silently.

Pray that you do not hear your own or your family’s name next.

Pan Weiche took the last piece of paper from Wahika and was stunned for a moment.

"Read it quickly!" Someone in the square couldn't help but urge.

Pan Weiqi glanced deeply at the young man beside him and said loudly: "Dusa Village, Vahika Sergeinovic Morozov!"

...

All candidates who need to serve in the military have been determined.

With pity, eighty young men walked out of the crowd and stood on the open space in the town square. The Wolf Town Hundreds gathered for the first time.

Sergei shouted commands, and several old Dusaks ran in the queue, lined up the scattered young men in four neat rows.

As the queue took shape, these young farmers finally looked like soldiers.

Father Anthony began to lead the new militia to take the oath. He said something, and the militia followed. Then they walked to Father Anthony one by one and kissed the scriptures and holy tools.

The oath was over, and the militia re-arranged and listened to the lieutenant's speech.

"Escape is a serious crime. Relatives are responsible for taking risks." Winters opened with a brief explanation: "Many of you are not yet a member of you, many of you have never taken weapons, but after taking the oath, there are no children, no farmers, only soldiers. From this moment on, you are bound by military law. Go home and prepare and kiss your parents, wives and children."

Winters glanced at the faces in front of him and ended, "Now, soldiers, go home. May you all be blessed."

...

Winters thought the draw was the end of the draw, but things were not as simple as he thought. The draw ceremony only announced the end of the first half and the second half had just begun.

Before the people at the market had dispersed, Hoffman and his son came to Lieutenant Montane. The Hoffman family was the owner of Jinsui Manor and could be regarded as a landlord in Wolf Town.

The piece of paper with the name of Little Hoffman was just taken out of the iron pot, and the old Hoffman obviously did not want his son to leave home to serve.

"Mr. Hoffman." Winters politely and resolutely blocked the other party in advance: "The lottery ceremony is absolutely fair. If your son is not lucky, I can't help you."

"Understanding, sir, we understand." Old Hoffman rubbed his hands and said, "I mean... still follow the methods of previous years?"

"What's the solution in previous years?" Winters raised his eyebrows inadvertently.

Old Hoffmann replied naturally: "Sir, previous years are of course the way they did in previous years."

Soon, Winters knew what the old Hoffman was talking about.

The method is an unexpected person.

"Sir." Berryon-the young blacksmith stood before the lieutenant: "I volunteered to serve on behalf of Mr. Hoffman."

"Didn't I ask you?" Winters glanced at the blacksmith: "You said you didn't want to."

As early as the conscription order was issued, Winters asked the blacksmith, "Would you like to sign up for the militia?"

Blacksmiths can always be used in the army, especially those with ability.

Soldiers like Berryon who have a skill can not only be exempted from heavy physical labor such as digging trenches and building camps, but also receive double the salary.

At that time, Berryon smiled silently and shook his head, rejecting the lieutenant's proposal. But now he came to serve in place of Hoffman.

Hearing the lieutenant's question, Berryon calmly replied: "I am not willing to do it now."

"So that's it." Winters nodded: "How much did you sell yourself?"

"Mr. Hoffman gave a very fair price."

Winters has also heard of the recruited person who paid for him to serve on his behalf, but he is not sure whether it is legal.

After Berryon left, Winters found Gillard and asked, only to learn that "replacement" was common knowledge in Paratu.

As long as there are enough manpower, the Xinkendi garrison army does not care whether there are any substitutes.

In previous years, if the son of the owner of the Wolf Town Manor was drawn, he would spend some money to hire someone to replace him. Anyway, as long as the list has not been handed over to the garrison.

But if the substitute flees, the original service member must also be in charge, so the candidate must be honest and reliable.

It is not uncommon for tenants and long-term workers to serve for others several times in a row, and it is not uncommon to use the money saved by the substitute to make land for self-cultivation farmers.

"Berion, Misha, who is the helper? Misha likes him." Gillard thought for a while and said, "Didn't he have a brother working in the Hoffman's house? I think it's to buy a house for his brother."

Winters couldn't stand hiring someone to replace him. But this was also a disguised fairness, and he didn't want to break the original operating rules.

So the name of Hoffmann on the roster was cut off, and "Berryon of the South New Village" was added.

Before the ink on the roster was dry, Bell ran over happily: "Sir, I volunteer to serve on behalf of Mr. Wilkes!"

Winters finally realized how Mr. Mitchell was feeling when he picked up the stick.

"What are you going to cause trouble?" He forced himself to beat the naughty child in front of him: "I haven't figured out what to do with your new pet!"

...

Time returned five days ago, in the Hunter's Lodge.

Winters, Bell and a young lion—not much bigger than a cat now but will certainly grow to hundreds of kilograms in the future—the young lions are in the same room.

This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Bell quickly picked up the young lion from the ground and protected it in his arms. The little lion made a dissatisfied howl and tried hard to climb on Bell's shoulder.

"Sir, please don't kill it." Bell begged, holding the young lion step by step, almost crying.

Silence lasts for more than ten seconds.

Winters sighed and asked, “Is it weaned now?”

"not yet."

"Then what do you feed it?"

"At the beginning it was dog milk. Someone in Hedong Village gave birth to a cub. Later, the dog milk was not enough, so I bought goat milk with them."

"You want money to do this?"

Bell nodded.

"Can you just tell me that you can't?" Winters dragged a chair and sat down: "Put it down. It's so uncomfortable for you to hold the little thing. If I want to kill it, you can't stop it."

Bell wiped his tears and put the young lion carefully on the ground. The little lion, who had regained his freedom, hid quickly in the corner of the room.

The pitiful look of the little hunter reminded Winters of Elizabeth whom he picked up from outside when he was a child and begged Cossa to adopt him - but he was not called the little general at that time, but he was just a cat whose eyes had not yet opened.

The scene in front of him accidentally touched a soft place in his heart.

[Don't be impatient.] Winters thought to himself, and he warned himself: [Say it in words Bell can understand.]

The poor second lieutenant is not married yet and is already experiencing the troubles of parenting.

"Male or female?" Winters signaled to another chair opposite the table: "Don't stand, sit down and say."

"Male." Bell sat obediently on the chair.

"When it is two months old, it will not be enough to drink milk alone. By that time it will need to eat meat, do you know?"

Bell shook his head first, then nodded quickly.

"It wants to eat meat, how do you prepare to feed it at that time?" Winters' question began to sharpen.

Bell hurriedly replied: "I can hunt! I will hunt rabbits, deer, and wild boars to feed it!"

"By your ability, you should be able to feed it before it is half a year old. I'm more generous, you can feed it until it is one year old." Winters gently tapped the table and stared at the little hunter's eyes: "But do you know how long a lioness will take with her cub?"

The little hunter stared blankly.

"Say at least two years." Winters said coldly: "According to Monk Reed, it is not surprising that the young lion follows the lioness for three years. Have you seen its mother's body shape? Will you still feed it after it is one year old?"

"At that time, I could put it back to the forest, and it could eat enough by preying on its own in the forest." Bell still argued with himself.

"Boy, have you ever raised a cat?" Winters asked an irrelevant question.

The little hunter shook his head.

"Only the kitten that is raised by a female cat will catch mice, because the female cat will teach the kitten how to hunt. Cats that are fed by people will not catch even if they put the mouse in front of them. Are you a lioness? Will they still hunt when they are used to eating what you feed?"

"I..." Bell couldn't speak.

"I'll ask you again, why did your father kill his mother even if he fights to death?" Winters asked and answered himself without giving the little hunter a chance to breathe, "Because his mother can eat people. Why does his mother can eat people? Isn't it because the prey in the forest cannot be full? If you send it back to the forest, it can eat enough? Isn't it going to repeat its mother's tragedy?"

After a long silence, Bell sobbed and said, "I don't care, I just can't kill it anyway."

The little lion hiding into the corner of the room gradually became no longer afraid. It could not suppress its curiosity and crawled towards the strange and terrifying upright ape by the table.
To be continued...