第9章 政策（1/2）

“点火”

命令通过手势和呼喊传递下去。

那几处劣质燃煤堆燃起火来，通过枯枝助燃將周围的铁木艰难点燃，但火势越来越大。

在被预设的风向下，火焰传递的速度也越来越快。

计划进展得出乎意料的顺利，火焰很快吞噬了外围大量缠绕的蛛网，並向內蔓延。

只有一些小意外，有一只如同小型房屋般巨大的噬铁蛛其身上的黑色毛髮被点燃，发疯了到处乱撞。它將一簇火苗吹向预定的隔离带之外。

眼看火势可能要失控，波及到更远的区域。安德森反应极快，不待普莱尔下令，立刻带领一队护卫冲了上去，用备好的湿毯和积雪拼命扑打，硬生生在火线合拢前控制住了险情。

冲天的烈焰吞噬了大片铁木林，將那片区域的晦暗天空都映成了暗红。空气中瀰漫著树木和蛛网燃烧的奇异焦糊味，不时有些燃烧的脆响。

无数噬铁蛛惊慌失措地从火海中逃出，噬铁蛛群在高温下惊慌逃窜，远离了这片不再適合它们生存的家园。

村民们远远望著这片世代依赖又恐惧的森林在火中化为灰烬，脸上交织著震惊、恐惧和一丝难以置信的解脱。

燃烧还在继续。

当火势达到顶峰，开始渐弱时，普莱尔极目远望，他在火光摇曳的尽头，瞥见了一个如同小型房屋般巨大的阴影在火海中挣扎移动，最终它痛苦地翻滚了一下，隨即隱没在火焰与烟雾深处，那无疑是噬铁蛛的母体。

若非用火，寻常清剿想要对付这等怪物，难度可想而知。

大火过后，当浓烟渐散，整片铁木林的大部分区域已化作一片散发著高温和焦味的黑色废墟，只留下边缘地带一小片精心保留下来的铁木。

“清理余烬，收集木炭以及噬铁蛛残留物。”

普莱尔对精疲力竭的眾人吩咐道，

“阿尔文，组织村民，守好剩下的铁木。”

部分烧制完成的铁木炭被收集起来，这些优质的燃料本应极大缓解领地当前的取暖压力。

然而，寒鸦领与铁木村之间的交通极为不便——积雪深厚、道路狭窄陡峭，仅能容人徒步跋涉，连最基本的运载工具都没有。

儘管安德森派出卫兵协助搬运，但人力有限，加之返程还需攀爬那道环绕领地的天然雪坡，效率极其低下。

最终，仅有约三分之一的铁木炭被成功运回寒鸦领，其余只能暂存於铁木村的简陋棚屋內，派人看守，待日后道路稍通再分批运送。

监督並组织村民开始清理现场、为后续恢復生產做准备后，直到天开始变暗，温度开始下降才完成。

之后，普莱尔没有久留，转身在安德森和护卫的簇拥下，踏上了返回寒鸦领主堡的路。身后还跟著一些因为这次焚烧林地而失去“工作”的铁木村村民。

……

回到寒鸦领时，普莱尔总感觉有些不適，不知道是因为寒风，还是吸入了那些燃烧所造成的气体。但现在不该是他的软弱时刻。作为寒鸦领的子爵，领地的生存正悬於一线。

普莱尔立刻著手组织人手。他让人將运回的铁木炭整齐码放在能量塔附近相对显眼的位置。

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那黑沉沉的、质量远胜普通木炭的燃料堆，可以彰显著领主此次行动的成果。

这些不多，但也足够了，足以在凛冬末日中点燃希望。

趁著天还未暗，普莱尔召集了所有领民，来到城堡外的小广场上。

他站在一处稍高的台阶上，望著下方聚集起来的、面带疑虑与麻木的领民。

寒冷让他们的队列歪歪扭扭，大多数人只是低著头，蜷缩著身体。

普莱尔深吸一口冰冷的空气，声音清晰地传开：

“寒鸦领的领民们，你们都知道热源是我们生存的基石。这次，我获得了额外的燃料，这些足以度过下一场寒灾的储备。”

他指向那堆铁木炭，那堆燃料。