Chapter 412

Postwar Measures
After the war ended, Vardmoi regained its peace.
To be precise, the citizens of Vardmoi had not been informed of anything up until the day of the battle itself, so rather than restoring peace, they were suddenly attacked—or so they thought—only to then receive an explanation from Marquis Vardmoi that the battle was already over.
At that time, the frozen soldiers were also shown to the public, highlighting Vardmoi’s strength, but this was likely a warning aimed at other territories.
If it leads to peace, then it's a good thing.

As for how the town changed afterwards, about the only differences were that the number of Kiblinki Saltas stationed at each gate for security increased to two, and the number of patrol soldiers, Kiblinki Saltas, and Rock Wolves also grew. Other than that, the town remained perfectly peaceful.
The residents of Vardmoi were no longer surprised by the presence of the Kiblinki Saltas and Rock Wolves, and they understood well that thanks to those monsters, public safety had further improved.
With the Kiblinki Saltas around, spotting suspicious individuals was easy, and as for pickpockets or thieves, the Rock Wolves would catch them immediately using their natural agility.
When the Rock Wolves first arrived in town last autumn, there was some confusion, but since they obediently followed the soldiers' commands and were kind to citizens, they quickly blended into the town.
As for the Kiblinki Saltas, that goes without saying.

In this way, the surveillance system within the city became just a little bit tighter.
The real tightening, however, happened outside the town.
The Kiblinki Saltas who had been working on land development were called back, and a massive sweep of the mountains around Vardmoi was carried out.
We also enlisted the help of hunters from neighboring villages and thoroughly searched mountain huts and similar shelters, and we found quite a few traces indicating someone had been using them without permission.
There were also signs of camping and evidence of battles with monsters.
It seemed that quite a bit of information about Vardmoi had been gathered.

Since the Kiblinki Saltas mainly searched areas where vegetables and wild plants could be found, they tended to avoid places showing human traces to prevent unnecessary conflicts.
This time, that approach seemed to have backfired.

When these reports were compiled and presented to Marquis Vardmoi, he apparently had some thoughts on the matter and decided to change the security system going forward.
Until now, the system had relied on the self-directed mountain patrols of the Kiblinki Saltas and the occasional scouting by the guards.
From now on, investigations in the mountains and fields would be conducted by forming pairs.
With Vardmoi’s guards accompanying them, if ordinary people happened to run into a Kiblinki Saltas, the guards could explain the situation.
Also, with the guards present, the Kiblinki Saltas would be able to search mountain huts and similar places.

While town security was adequate, the somewhat lax approach to outside security turned out to be a point of reflection.
It’s not something I can interfere with, but at the very least, I’ll try to keep the Kiblinki Saltas in good spirits.
First things first, I should place an order for vegetable and fruit seeds and seedlings to be planted next spring.

What do you think about this chapter?