That's not how you use a witch!

Chapter 9 Scarcity Marketing

In his courtyard, Ronan received the first group of fourteen militia members who had come to apply for the militia position.

"I remember you, Mr. Payne. You always worked so fast and well; I wish everyone could be like you."

Ronan patted Payne on the shoulder. "How have you been lately? Do you have enough food? Do you have enough clothes and charcoal for warmth? Are there any other difficulties at home?"

"Thank you for your concern, sir. I... I'm doing very well..."

Payne stammered in response.

At that moment, he had only one feeling: he was incredibly lucky! The noble lord actually cared about his life! When he got home, he would definitely tell his wife and children, as well as Sean next door... and Sean's dog!

Ronan used the same approach to inquire about the well-being of the others.

To his shame, Ronan actually has a bit of face blindness: if he hadn't asked Bart beforehand, he wouldn't have been able to match everyone's names. Because of this flaw, he'd been pointed out by his master more than once in his past life…

However, compared to some of the people in the previous life, the villagers of Thorn Territory were obviously much more simple and honest. After all, in this day and age, lords who were willing to care about the lives of ordinary people were extremely rare.

Afterwards, Ronan had them sit around a long table that had been set up in advance for a brief discussion.

In addition to asking about each person's basic information, Ronan also inquired about their reasons for not fleeing in the face of the evil beasts and their expectations for the militia.

As he expected, most of these people were usually quite diligent in their work and had accumulated a lot of work points and iron ingots. For them, running away meant losing everything, and they were willing to pay the price to protect their hard-earned wealth.

Some people had previously been attacked by evil beasts and knew that these things were different from ordinary wild animals. Even if they were full, they would still kill humans. Running away would not save them from death, so they might as well fight.

The reason why people choose the militia is also very practical: they can not only eat eggs and meat, but also earn more money.

"Excellent, you are exactly the kind of talent I need. From this moment forward, you are members of the Thorn Territory Militia."

After some discussion, Ronan nodded in satisfaction.

"Please come with me, and I will keep my promise and give each of you twenty pounds of iron ingots."

"Sir, you don't need so much!"

Payne was somewhat flattered. "Ten pounds is enough. Actually, I just wanted to stock up on more food and charcoal..."

"Mr. Payne, I will keep my promise. I promised twenty pounds of iron ingots, not a pound less. And from this moment on, your meals will be prepared exactly as I promised."

Ronan raised the corners of his mouth at the crowd.

"This is just the beginning; you'll get used to it. Keep up the good work, guardians of Thornlands."

Twenty minutes later, the first batch of fourteen militia applicants stood in a line in the square.

It was lunchtime, and in front of all the people, Ronan personally presented each person with twenty pounds of iron ingots—they were specially made into exquisite small strips, stacked on a wooden tray lined with red cloth, and looked exceptionally refined.

Exclamations of surprise echoed throughout the square: the unbelievable thing was actually true!

"Fellow citizens, today Thornlands was attacked by evil beasts, but we ultimately triumphed. The brave warriors who dared to defend their homeland deserve reward; please express your gratitude and blessings with a warm round of applause!"

Ronan seized the opportunity to give a speech and instructed the accomplices in the crowd to start clapping. Encouraged by this, applause and cheers quickly filled the entire square.

Ronan then announced that the conscription of militiamen would remain in effect until one hundred men were recruited.

This time, before the clerk in charge of registration could even sit down, a crowd of people rushed in to sign up.

If they hadn't learned to queue up during their daily egg collection process, they would have overturned the table.

"Isn't this the same idea as when you piled up iron ingots into a small mountain? Essentially, it's about building trust. When the people see that the rewards can be delivered, they won't doubt your decisions anymore, even those that seem... outrageous."

Bart seemed to be thinking about something.

"Not bad, you're quite good at applying what you've learned to other situations."

Ronan gave the chief knight a look of appreciation, feeling that his mind was more effective than his fists. "However, this way, the number of people signing up will definitely far exceed one hundred. Remember, only keep one hundred people, and give priority to those who are strong and healthy or have combat and hunting experience."

Bart opened his mouth: "But weren't you planning to form a team of two hundred people?"

"I do intend to form a militia of two hundred men, but for the time being, I will only keep one hundred, and I want the entire Thorn Territory to believe that I only have one hundred men."

Ronan smirked. "That's called scarcity marketing. You'll understand later."

"Yes……"

Bart was completely confused, but this wasn't the first time Ronan had said he didn't understand something, and he was used to it.

There must be a reason why the adults made this arrangement; just do as they say.

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In the afternoon, Ronan returned to his office.

After taking a short nap, he drank a cup of refreshing black tea before finally getting around to reading the newly unlocked memo.

[October 22, 2136, Sunny]

My conclusion is correct: the fastest way to accelerate a contracted entity's advancement is the 80/20 rule. Combining 80% low-intensity content with 20% high-difficulty content significantly improves their magical proficiency and reduces the resulting contamination. Compared to contracted entities using a medium-intensity training program, those using this method experienced a 33% reduction in contamination load and an 18% increase in advancement speed.

……

But Susan, there's nothing I can do. In a few minutes, I'll be leaving the space fortress in my spaceship. They say it's safer and more conducive to my research from the rear, but really they just don't want me interfering with their decisions anymore.

Soldiers on the front lines are constantly sacrificing their lives, many of which could have been avoided. Seeing their suffering, how can I go to the rear with a clear conscience? When the rear becomes the front line, where can we go?

I'm sorry, Susan, I shouldn't have said these things to you. I was just too sad, too angry, and too confused.

This author is also a person with a story... Ronan tapped his brow, digesting the information.

Based on the available information, the author is likely a scholar or similar figure who is disliked by the military? Although he reached the correct conclusions, he was snubbed because he disagreed with his superiors?

Ronan also noticed the words "space fortress" and "spaceship," which, combined with the "Earth's Moon III" mentioned in the previous article, which is suspected to be a certain planet, gave him a sense of déjà vu as if they were fighting an interstellar war.

The ending of the story is unknown, but if this memorandum comes from the past rather than the future, given the current state of this land, the ending is clearly not going to be good...

Of course, from another perspective, the fact that the spark of human civilization has been able to keep burning for so long shows that the outcome wasn't too bad.

Time heals all wounds, and Ronan tends to believe that the crisis and war the author experienced, along with that mysterious era, have long been buried in the annals of history. The saying "past storms, future clouds" aptly describes this.

For him, the most valuable part of the memo was the section on training witches.

The 80/20 rule—this explains why Maddale has made such rapid progress and recovered so efficiently recently. Her magical abilities are composed of a large number of low-intensity spells and a small number of high-intensity spells!

If the memo is true, sooner or later, this little girl who was once abandoned because she lost her value will grow into a super witch that all her opponents fear.

This is the correct way to use a witch!

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