The cold wind came from the north and invaded Lieutenant Nokmo's neck. He couldn't help shivering as he pulled his collar and shrunk his body back.
Looking up, the dark clouds in the sky were thicker than when they left the camp. It was like there was a layer of cotton that hadn't been completely removed from their heads.
"It seems like it's going to snow again." Lieutenant Nokmo let out a soft breath that formed a clear white mist in front of him.
It was already the middle of November. For this small town that was located in the central part of the Frankish Kingdom, as well as being a little north of the central part of the Sines, it wasn't strange for it to snow.
Lieutenant Nokmo was originally a native of a village near Greenview Town. He had lived here for more than ten years and only left after joining the Frankish Kingdom's army, so of course he understood the weather here.
"Hey, Captain, do you think we still need to patrol in this terrible weather?" complained a Frankish soldier who was following behind Nokmo with his neck shrunk back.
"Even the rabbits aren't willing to leave their nests, I don't believe that the Lampuri people will attack in this kind of weather."
Lieutenant Nokmo turned back to look at him and gave a cold snort, "Shut your beak, Makan.
This is an order from above, do you have the guts to not follow it? "
The soldier called Makan spat out and muttered, "It's not our Frankish commander's order, why do we have to follow it?
Those Malor Empire fellows only know how to order us to do this kind of dirty work for them, they can do it themselves if they have the skills. "
Lieutenant Nokmo knit his brows and looked at the other members of the patrol team behind him. He found that their expressions weren't that different from Makan's, revealing a trace of dissatisfaction, so he couldn't help giving a sigh.
This wasn't strange.
Not to mention his soldiers being dissatisfied, even he was a bit dissatisfied in his heart.
Although with the help of the Malor Empire, the Frankish Kingdom's government in exile and their army finally had the hope of taking back their territory from the Lampari Kingdom and the Drake Duchy, because the Malor Empire had the absolute advantage in the alliance, the Frankish Kingdom's soldiers were always sent out to do dirty work. When it came to military merits, they didn't exist, so naturally the Frankish Kingdom's soldiers would be very dissatisfied.
However, as an officer, First Lieutenant Noke Mo knew more than these ordinary soldiers, so he understood that there was nothing he could do about this situation.
If it wasn't for the help of the Malor Empire, the Frankish Kingdom would have been destroyed several months ago and there was no chance of a counterattack.
If it wasn't for the Malor Empire sending out a few Archmages to participate in the war, perhaps even the Malor Empire wouldn't be able to do anything to the Lampari Kingdom and the Drake Duchy. Then the Frankish Kingdom would have even less hope of recovering their country by relying on their own strength.
So in the end, the Frankish Kingdom was completely relying on the Malor Empire, so what qualifications did they have to talk about their own status?
Lieutenant Nokmo could understand the complaints of the soldiers, but relatively speaking, although he was a bit dissatisfied, he was more grateful.
If it wasn't for the help of the Malor Empire, he might not have been able to return to this familiar land in his life.
Since a few months ago, the Falk Kingdom and the Marlow Empire's army had been defeated by the Lampuri Kingdom and the Drake Duchy's army, surrendering this small city of Greentech. Lieutenant Nokmo had lost contact with his family in the nearby village.
Half a month ago, after the Malor Empire's allied forces had retaken Grimwe City from the Lampari Kingdom, Lieutenant Nokmo took the time to go back and reestablish contact with his family.
Because of this, Lieutenant Nokmo naturally held a trace of gratitude towards the Malor Empire.
But when he thought of the situation when he reunited with his family, Lieutenant Nokmo felt that his gratitude towards the Malor Empire wasn't so clear.
After reuniting with his family, contrary to his expectations, not only did his family not suffer the persecution of the Lampari Kingdom's army like he had imagined, rather they were all glowing and filled with energy. Other than being a bit worried about losing contact with him, their days were much better than before.
When it came to the Lampari Kingdom's situation after taking over this place, his family didn't complain at all about the Lampari Kingdom's side and were even filled with praise. They said that after the Lampari Kingdom took over this place, they exempted most of the heavy taxes that normal farmers had to pay each year. Moreover, they had sent out a small team of agricultural magic machines to help them harvest the crops, making this year's harvest very easy.
Because of this, Lieutenant Nokmo's parents and little brother who had already grown up could save some time to work in the offices of the Lampari Kingdom's companies in Grimwe City for a few months, earning a total of over thirty gold coins.
This situation greatly exceeded Lieutenant Nokmo's expectations and it filled his heart with a bit of doubt.
The small city of Grimvitai was originally the private territory of Count Grimvitai of the Frankish Kingdom. When this land was still under the rule of the Frankish Kingdom, the people of the Frankish Kingdom had to pay a large amount of taxes to Count Grimvitai according to tradition and could only leave some rations to fill their stomachs.
Even though Count Grimm was one of the few lords in the Frankish Kingdom who had a conscience and was willing to take care of the commoners, almost all of the people in his territory, including First Lieutenant Nokmo, were still very nervous. Hunger was a common occurrence.
But when the territory around Grimwe City fell into the control of the Lampari Kingdom, most of the citizens were exempted from paying taxes, instantly causing a large change in the lives of these citizens.
Not mentioning anything else, just Lieutenant Nokmo's family had harvested a total of one thousand and three hundred pounds of wheat in this fall harvest.
If it was in the past, no less than four hundred pounds of wheat would have to be handed over to Count Grimwe City. After that, they would only be left with four hundred pounds of wheat.
Lieutenant Nokmo's family, excluding Lieutenant Nokmo who had already joined the army, had five other people. They had to rely on these four hundred pounds of wheat to survive until the next spring harvest. One could imagine how difficult their lives would be.
But when this place was taken over by the Lampuri Kingdom, according to the new policy announced by the Lampuri Kingdom, they only needed to pay three hundred pounds of this one thousand and three hundred pounds of wheat. The rest would be left for lieutenant Nokmo's family.
Compared to the previous four hundred pounds of wheat, a thousand pounds of wheat was more than twice as much. Naturally, it made Lieutenant Nokmo's family's lives a lot better.
Moreover, after the Lampari Kingdom occupied Grimwe City, several chambers of commerce from the Lampari Kingdom, the Kingdom of Ruhr, and the Drake Duchy entered and developed Grimwe City. They recruited a large number of local workers and allowed many people to find a job and receive several tens of shiny gold coins that the citizens didn't even dare to think about before.
With the help of gold coins, Lieutenant Nokmo's family's lives became more comfortable.
Because of the lack of food and clothing, every winter was the most difficult time for Lieutenant Nokmo's family. But after this year's winter, not only were the other five people able to eat their fill, they also used the tens of gold coins that their parents and younger brother had earned to buy two brand new cotton-padded jackets from the Lampari Kingdom's Armani Chamber of Commerce. They didn't have to endure the cold like before.
Thinking of the two new cotton-padded jackets that his younger brother and sister had flaunted to him, Lieutenant Nokmo couldn't help but lower his head to look at what he was wearing.
As an officer, his clothes were naturally better than normal soldiers, but it was only a thin layer of cotton-padded jacket under a layer of coarse leather armor that was about to be worn out.
He didn't need to touch it at all. He could feel how light and thin the cotton-padded jacket was just by his body. He could even feel the cold wind directly seeping in. It could be seen how poor the quality of the cotton-padded jacket was.
However, when this tattered cotton-padded jacket was given to him, a full three gold coins were deducted from his salary as an officer.
It had to be known that his salary as a lieutenant was only fifteen gold coins a year.
Thinking of this, Lieutenant Nokmo's mouth once again raised a trace of a bitter smile.
In the past, his fifteen gold coins a year was a great supplement to his family. It allowed his family to live a little better than other families in the village. This also allowed him to receive a lot of special treatment every time he returned home.
But now, just by his younger brother going to the Lampari Kingdom's office in the small town of Grimvitai for a few months, he had already earned more than ten gold coins.
Adding on the income of his parents, his fifteen gold coins didn't seem that important.
Even when his younger brother talked to him about this matter, he had a look of disdain and told him to simply not be a soldier and that it would be better for him to work in the Lampari Kingdom's Chamber of Commerce.
This was because he had heard that if he did well in those Chamber of Commerce, it wouldn't be strange for him to earn fifteen gold coins a month.
Apart from this, there was a very obvious difference.
The new cotton-padded jackets that his younger brother and sister were wearing were thick and warm, and they looked very good. When he bought them from the Armani Chamber of Commerce, they only cost one gold coin and forty silver coins.
If he bought two at a time, it would be ten silver coins cheaper.
Compared to this, the value of his thin cotton-padded jacket wasn't enough.
But it was hard for Lieutenant Nokmo to complain about anything because whether it was the previous Frankish Kingdom or the Marlow Empire he had been in for a few months, the price of a jacket filled with precious cotton was very high.
Just based on his thin cotton-padded jacket, it wouldn't be a problem to sell it for two gold coins.
God knows why the damned Armani Chamber of Commerce could sell it for such a low price. Weren't they afraid of making a loss?
But thinking about it, the Frankish Kingdom's refusal of the Armani Chamber of Commerce to enter the Frankish Kingdom was reasonable.
If the Armani Chamber of Commerce entered, the merchants of the Frankish Kingdom who relied on selling cotton-padded jackets every winter would all be squeezed out.
But … … What did this have to do with the commoners?
As a commoner who couldn't wait to spend a silver coin, who didn't want to be able to buy a cheap, warm, and beautiful new cotton-padded jacket?
"Brother, it would be great if this place was occupied by the Lampari Kingdom forever."
Thinking of his eleven year old sister's innocent words, the bitter smile on Lieutenant Nokmo's face deepened.
These words sounded naive, but how could it not be his sister's heartfelt words? It might even be the heartfelt words of his parents and brother, and even the heartfelt words of all the commoners in the small town of Grimvitai.